Asus X501A review

The 15.5in glossy display is the X501A’s real stand-out feature for its price. The gloss finish means that there’s some reflectiveness if you work on dark screens, but colours are generally bright and pleasing, with a slight emphasis on yellow tones. The resolution is an unremarkable 1,366×768, but there’s still plenty of space on screen, and it has an HDMI port that lets you connect the laptop to an external high-definition display.

The integrated Altec Lansing speakers are a shade better than most and even have a hint of bass, but they’re still best for system sounds and spoken word, because the mid-range tones of our most complex musical test tracks sounded a little muddy.

The X501A is great value, especially given its screen size, but the lack of a disc drive, and particularly the paucity of ports, may be an issue for some. However, its Core i3 processor, 15.5in screen and an excellent keyboard make it a very good deal for £349. If you have a bit more to spend then the Acer Aspire V3-571 is more powerful and has a disc drive.