20:01
Laptop Trouble Tips
A powerful feature rich multimedia notebook
Sturdy build quality, great performance, powerful components, USB 3.0, decently priced, good bundle, decent battery life, speakers sound good for certain music genres
Trackpad gets in the way while typing, SonicMaster program doesn't work well all the time, no backlit keys
Expert Rating :
Just like cell phones, choosing a notebook is no a walk in the park these days. From basic netbooks to multimedia notebooks to high-end gaming laptops, we are spoilt for choice today and while it's still nowhere close to the choice and pricing of the West, I think we are getting there very soon. We've done plenty of Asus EeePCs in the past and quite recently, some of its high-end gaming systems were tested, but we haven't covered the middle playground - notebooks that offer a healthy mix of performance, rich features and a decent battery life to boot. Asus has recently launched a bunch to notebooks catering to this very segment and today, we have one of its top-end models called the N53SN. The entire 'N' series line-up focuses on the audio aspect of the notebook with Bang and Olufsen's ICE audio processing chip inside.
The N53SN is all about multimedia performance and in order to get the best, it is packing some of the latest hardware. For starters, we have Intel's latest SandyBridge CPU, the Core i7 2630QM which is a quad core multithreaded CPU running at 2.0GHz with Turbo upto 2.9GHz. The other big addition is the new Nvidia GT 550M with Nvidia Optimus and 2GB GDDR3 dedicated memory. The rest of the system specifications include 4GB RAM, 750GB 7200rpm drive, full HD 15.6-inch screen and finally a BluRay combo drive. Let's see how all this translates in the real world tests.
Asus bundles along the charger with drivers and instruction manuals. Design
The N53SN comes with a single color option, silver and black. The lid has a matt finish so finger prints are not a problem. The hinge area has a curvy design which breaks the monotony of rectangular notebook.
The RAM and hard drive area is not particularly easy to access as all the screws are hidden underneath the rubber feet.
Unfortunately, the keyboard is not backlit, which would have been a nice addition especially for a notebook this pricey. While there is ample of room for your palm to rest comfortably, we noticed while typing the cursor jumps around. This is mainly due to the fact that the trackpad is square shaped rather than rectangular so it gets in the way at times.
Performance
PCMark Vantage
3DMark Vantage
SiSOFT SANDRA 2010
Needless to say, the N53SN performs really well whether it is just simply browsing the Internet, playing a video or some gaming; the N53SN does this without breaking a sweat. Besides the powerful internals, Asus's main focus on the N53SN is the sound quality courtesy Bang and Olufsen. Asus has developed a special software program called SonicMaster which gives you a more pronounced sound. Soft rock and Jazz music sound really loud and clear and it easily fills the entire room. Songs which use few instruments really shine but songs with lots of bass tend to distort quite a bit with the volume set to anything above 50 percent. The SonicMaster software does create a more spatial effect but you have to play around with the settings to get it right. Overall, the speakers are great for Classical music or even Jazz or Lounge music but otherwise the result is a bit of a mixed bag.
Another piece of software that Asus boasts on the website is its Video Magic technology which at first we assumed it was a media player or a software specially designed to enhance low resolution movies. As it turns out, it's just a software that collates other media players like Cyberlink PowerDVD and Media Show Espresso in one place for easy access. So, Asus has just provided a one stop solution to 3rd party media players from other companies.
Touching upon the gaming department, we ran our Dirt 2 benchmark with the resolution set to 1920x1080 and everything 'High' we got 32FPS which is pretty good. Thanks to Nvidia's Optimus, the GT 550M only kicks in when there is a heavy graphical task at hand which means we get a decent battery life as well.
The keyboard and trackpad are very comfortable to use even for long durations. We do wish the keys were backlit though as this is a premium multimedia notebook; it should have been an option at the very least. While the multi-touch trackpad works well, the placement or design could have been better as many times, you'll find the cursor jumping around the place when typing which can get really annoying.
Battery Life
In our 720p video drain test with the brightness set to max, we got a battery life of 2hrs and 46min which is quite good. This means under careful usage, you can easily clock in a battery life of 4Hrs or even more.
Pricing and Verdict
The fully specked out N53SN will set you back about Rs. 73,199 that comes with a 1 year global on-site warranty. This is similar to the one we reviewed except it has 8GB RAM and that bundle does come with a mouse and bag.
Currently, Asus is one of the few companies (possibly the first) to launch SandyBridge based notebooks in the market and if you compared the specifications with a similarly priced Dell XPS 14, the N53SN ends up offering you more value for the same price. Other than the newer generation CPU and graphics card that it uses, it also packs in more storage, more memory and better accessories. This is a premium notebook for those who want the best of both worlds, great performance and a decent battery life.
We did have small issues with the notebook though like the placement and design of the trackpad tends to get in the way every time while typing. Also, the Bang and Olufsen speakers tend to distort a lot when the music gets a bit complex like Rap, Rock, etc where there are many instruments and bass playing the background. On this front, the Dell XPS really shines with its ability to playback any type of music very well. Overall, we liked the design and performance of the N53SN and though the price tag seems high at first, you should remember that you are getting the latest in terms of hardware with quite a bit of future proofing like USB 3.0 support, something which the competition doesn't even come close to.
The N53SN is all about multimedia performance and in order to get the best, it is packing some of the latest hardware. For starters, we have Intel's latest SandyBridge CPU, the Core i7 2630QM which is a quad core multithreaded CPU running at 2.0GHz with Turbo upto 2.9GHz. The other big addition is the new Nvidia GT 550M with Nvidia Optimus and 2GB GDDR3 dedicated memory. The rest of the system specifications include 4GB RAM, 750GB 7200rpm drive, full HD 15.6-inch screen and finally a BluRay combo drive. Let's see how all this translates in the real world tests.
Asus bundles along the charger with drivers and instruction manuals.
The N53SN comes with a single color option, silver and black. The lid has a matt finish so finger prints are not a problem. The hinge area has a curvy design which breaks the monotony of rectangular notebook.
The RAM and hard drive area is not particularly easy to access as all the screws are hidden underneath the rubber feet.
Unfortunately, the keyboard is not backlit, which would have been a nice addition especially for a notebook this pricey. While there is ample of room for your palm to rest comfortably, we noticed while typing the cursor jumps around. This is mainly due to the fact that the trackpad is square shaped rather than rectangular so it gets in the way at times.
Performance
PCMark Vantage
3DMark Vantage
SiSOFT SANDRA 2010
Another piece of software that Asus boasts on the website is its Video Magic technology which at first we assumed it was a media player or a software specially designed to enhance low resolution movies. As it turns out, it's just a software that collates other media players like Cyberlink PowerDVD and Media Show Espresso in one place for easy access. So, Asus has just provided a one stop solution to 3rd party media players from other companies.
Touching upon the gaming department, we ran our Dirt 2 benchmark with the resolution set to 1920x1080 and everything 'High' we got 32FPS which is pretty good. Thanks to Nvidia's Optimus, the GT 550M only kicks in when there is a heavy graphical task at hand which means we get a decent battery life as well.
The keyboard and trackpad are very comfortable to use even for long durations. We do wish the keys were backlit though as this is a premium multimedia notebook; it should have been an option at the very least. While the multi-touch trackpad works well, the placement or design could have been better as many times, you'll find the cursor jumping around the place when typing which can get really annoying.
Battery Life
In our 720p video drain test with the brightness set to max, we got a battery life of 2hrs and 46min which is quite good. This means under careful usage, you can easily clock in a battery life of 4Hrs or even more.
Pricing and Verdict
The fully specked out N53SN will set you back about Rs. 73,199 that comes with a 1 year global on-site warranty. This is similar to the one we reviewed except it has 8GB RAM and that bundle does come with a mouse and bag.
Currently, Asus is one of the few companies (possibly the first) to launch SandyBridge based notebooks in the market and if you compared the specifications with a similarly priced Dell XPS 14, the N53SN ends up offering you more value for the same price. Other than the newer generation CPU and graphics card that it uses, it also packs in more storage, more memory and better accessories. This is a premium notebook for those who want the best of both worlds, great performance and a decent battery life.
We did have small issues with the notebook though like the placement and design of the trackpad tends to get in the way every time while typing. Also, the Bang and Olufsen speakers tend to distort a lot when the music gets a bit complex like Rap, Rock, etc where there are many instruments and bass playing the background. On this front, the Dell XPS really shines with its ability to playback any type of music very well. Overall, we liked the design and performance of the N53SN and though the price tag seems high at first, you should remember that you are getting the latest in terms of hardware with quite a bit of future proofing like USB 3.0 support, something which the competition doesn't even come close to.
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