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Asus K53SC review

Our Rating :
Price when reviewed : £505
inc VAT

Because of its dedicated graphics card, beefy Core i5 processor, and bright, colourful screen, the K53SC is a brilliant all-rounder

A dedicated graphics card is a luxury not often seen in a budget laptop, but the Asus K53SC not only has an Nvidia GeForce GT 520MX fitted, but an Intel Core i5-2410M processor as well. It’s a dual-core model running at 2.3GHz and that, along with 4GB of RAM, powered the K53SC to a great overall score of 54 in our benchmarks.

Simply put, this laptop should be able to handle all but the most processor intensive tasks that you can throw at it.

Asus K53SC

Decent performance continues in games. Granted, Nvidia’s GT 520MX isn’t the fastest component, but a score of 29fps in our Dirt3 benchmark proved it to be fast enough to handle most games, although you may need to reduce some settings in more graphically intensive titles to run them at smooth frame rates. It’ll also speed up certain operations in applications that support GPU acceleration, such as Adobe Photoshop and, because of its beefier processor, the K53SC is one of the few laptops here that could be used for photo or video editing.

Battery life was around five-and-a-half hours, which is plenty for most of day’s work or the average commute. You’re more likely to use this laptop around the house, though, as you wouldn’t want to carry this laptop’s 2.6kg bulk around too often.

Although it’s not light, the K53SC is still attractive. With its slim profile, textured lid and metallic finish, it’s a smart-looking laptop, and it feels well-built too, apart from the keyboard which has a slight flex to it.

Asus K53SC

At first glance, the keyboard looks a bit cramped. Even though the keys are smaller than on a normal keyboard, Asus hasn’t used the entire width of the case and has placed a numberpad to the right. Thankfully, this hasn’t adversely affected the layout and we were glad to see the Control and Function keys in the correct positions, with the Function key working to modify the F1-12 keys, as we’d expect.

Despite having flat tops, the keys didn’t feel slippery or wobbly, and their action was light and crisp, providing excellent feedback. The large touchpad is responsive. Its two separate buttons have a light action, and are placed close to the edge of the case where your thumb naturally rests.

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Basic Specifications

Rating*****
ProcessorIntel Core i5-2430M
Processor clock speed2.4GHz
Memory4.00GB
Memory slots2
Memory slots free0
Maximum memory8GB
Size36x378x253mm
Weight2.6kg
SoundRealtek HD Audio
Pointing devicetouchpad

Display

Viewable size15.6 in
Native resolution1,366×768
Graphics ProcessorNvidia GeForce GT 520MX
Graphics/video portsVGA, HDMI
Graphics Memory1,024MB

Storage

Total storage capacity500GB
Optical drive typeDVD+/-RW +/-DL

Ports and Expansion

USB ports3
Bluetoothno
Wired network ports1x 10/100/1000
Wireless networking support802.11n
PC Card slotsnone
Supported memory cardsSDHC, MMC, Memory Stick Pro/Duo, xD
Other portsminijack audio output, minijack microphone input

Miscellaneous

Carrying caseNo
Operating systemWindows 7 Home Premium 64-bit
Operating system restore optionrestore partition
Software includedCyberLink Power2Go v6, Microsoft Office 2010 Starter

Buying Information

Warrantyone year RTB
Price£505
Detailshttp://uk.asus.com
Supplierhttp://www.box.co.uk

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