Conclusions
The ASUS N53 is a laptop that takes on a lot. It isn’t exactly a gaming laptop, but it’s built to play games well; it’s not exactly a portable laptop, but it’s built to provide reasonable battery life; it isn’t exactly a luxury laptop, but it has features appropriate for its price tag.
In the past, laptops that tried to take this jack-of-all-trades approach were often disappointing. The previous ASUS N53 (as well as a number of other mid-range ASUS quad core laptop) was a case-in-point; although decent, it had very poor battery life and only so-so gaming performance. The first-gen Core i7 quad-core could run quite warm, as well.
Sandy Bridge seems to be the key that unlocks the potential in a laptop such as the N53. Because of the incredible power efficiency of Intel’s new mobile chips, the N53 is able to provide reasonable battery life while also offering class-leading performance. The addition of discrete graphics does not negatively impact the battery life, either, due to the Optimus graphics switching feature. Yes, buying a laptop with this much computing power still requires some compromises, but they’re significantly less inconvenient than those that mainstream laptops once required.
There are a few rough edges. The display of the N53 is quite poor for a laptop of this price, and the squishy keyboard is a nasty oversight in a laptop with an otherwise luxurious finish. However, these problems are tolerable considering this laptop’s performance. The ASUS N53 is a hardware powerhouse; indeed, it’s a testament to the fact that computer processors – quick though they may be – still have significant room for improvement in the future, and those improvements will positively impact the quality of the computer you receive for your money.
The short and sweet of it is this; the ASUS N53 is an excellent, do-anything desktop replacement. It’s not the best at anything, but it’s very good at everything, and it’s the perfect choice for a user who demands versatility.
You can pick up the ASUS N53 at Newegg.com for $1199 and Amazon.com for $1049.
Further Reading
- Sandy Bridge Mobile Performance Review
- Toshiba Satellite C655D AMD E-240 Fusion APU Notebook Review
- Apple MacBook Pro 2.3GHz Sandy Bridge 13.3" Review (2011 Model)
- Lenovo IdeaPad U260 Core i3 12.5-in Notebook Review
- ASUS G53JW-3DE Core i7 GTX 460M 3D Vision Gaming Notebook Review
- Acer Aspire 5551G-4591 15.6-in AMD Turion II Notebook Review
- Lenovo T410s 14-in Core i5 Optimus Notebook Review
- Alienware M11x 11-in Core i7-640UM Gaming Notebook Review
- ASUS U33JC Core i3 13-in Bamboo Notebook Review – ASUS Gets Classy
This article is unreadable
This article is unreadable under firefox 4
What do you mean? I am
What do you mean? I am reading it under FF4 right now…
Same here, the article is
Same here, the article is compressed to a one inch column.
Dan
Just clean the cookies for
Just clean the cookies for pcper.com
what about full hd screen
what about full hd screen with gt550m graphics? I want to see benchmark scores with msi’s new gen crazy models
i own one of these laptops
i own one of these laptops and i play games with it…
yeah it ain’t exactly the best thing u can have but there is a good way to play games…
put everythig on high and very high and just lower the resoloution to 1280×720…
fps will go up wildly!
well,u always need to do sth about weakness of ur system… 😉
Not much a computer for the
Not much a computer for the price
Can you comment about the
Can you comment about the 1080p display available for this series of notebooks?
My muse pad on the Laptop
My muse pad on the Laptop stopped working any idea how to fix it.?
install the drivers found at
install the drivers found at your manufacturers website.
To ryan shrout….This week in computer hardware is a great podcast. thanks for providing it to the community of hardware nerds like myself, and for someone to finally review my asus n53s laptop properly. Before I bought this laptop no one reviewed it besides a couple of mentions in forums. I think Matt Smith the author spoke graciously and precisely about the asus laptop. this is my first laptop and i enjoy the power and versatility. Also pcper.com is refreshing in a world of websites with articles that read like ad space with lame marketing terminology copied straight from the manufactures website. Not sure if anyone notices the abundance of these misleading, non informal sites but i do. thanks ryan and matt
Also to anyone who buys this laptop it can be upgraded to 16GB of ram…which i did for a mere 60 bucks from amazon….Virtual Machines, Hello. A word of warning my right hands thumb always bumps the mouse pad and takes the focus off of what im typing this is a real nuisance and i have had to consciously keep my hand titled to the right..this is more annoying than a problem to me i am very forgiving and this is a reason this is my first and probably my last laptop ever. I am a desktop junky with the need for gaming horsepower and really dont travel or need a laptop i do however utilize this as a roaming(friends and families homes) gaming machine which it works very well for and you must bring the large power brick with you…(i hit the mouse pad two times while typing that last sentence)and i have medium sized hands ..I played skyrim on this machine and it plays very well(smooth framerates) with everything maxed out with default resolution of 1366×768 side by side with my desktop(q9450@3.2GHz, 6GB DDR2ram, gtx570, 2.5″ velociraptor drive) I think my asus laptop played it a bit more smooth…I am beginning to think my q9450 is showing its age but not sure because i had to reinstall due to strange popping with my audio and extreme stuttering with video playback …Im not sure what the problem was but after a clean reinstall and more scrutiny to my tinkering habits my desktop is running fine but i havent retested skyrim due to a lack of interest of that game…I cant stop playing team fortress 2 lol I love valve. sorry for the crazy rant im a computer junky.
What RAM did you buy? Having
What RAM did you buy? Having 4 GB of RAM sucks, I’m thinking 8 GB?
the link is below….
Corsair
the link is below….
Corsair 8GB (2x 4GB) 1333mhz PC3-10666 204-pin DDR3 SODIMM Laptop Memory Kit CMSO8GX3M2A1333C9
http://amzn.to/xPT1Ll
This asus is suppose to have
This asus is suppose to have more everything, than the sony fz480e I’ve had since 2008. The Asus isn’t near the computer to me , one of the main things is the wireless connection is not near as good as the sony,normally the sony has 2 more bars than the asus,so if the connection is marginal,which it is where I’m at the sony has much better reception
This computer is not worth
This computer is not worth the price at all. It is very slow, and crashes a lot. Do not buy this.
Have been using Asus N53S for
Have been using Asus N53S for about 6 months now and I can honestly say it is the WORST laptop I have ever owned, and I have owned a LOT. Even worse than HP!
1. Dark keys, light lettering on keys. In half light you can’t see what you are doing. This is one of the most annoying things about it.
2. Keyboard is like a trampoline. Horrible to use.
3. Battery dying at a fast rate – from normal, careful use.
4. BLUE SCREENED REGULARLY until I re installed it and now it blue screens only occasionally – despite running Win 7 64 bit.
5. Blu-Ray looks terrible for a Blu-Ray.
6. NVIDIA Graphics driver frequently comes in “Solve PC Issues”
7. Kept update with required Windows patches IT IS SLOW to boot slow to shut down.
8. Freezes for up to 45 seconds FOR NO REASON often. Yes, OFTEN. Then it comes out of it.
9. Has an overall CHEAP feel about it. Cheap and nasty.
ASUS N53S is truly an annoying, aggrivating P.O.S.
i have had none of the
i have had none of the problems you mention what so ever. added 16GM 1600MHz RAM. I LOVE this machine
I agree, this laptop is one
I agree, this laptop is one of the fastest and best I have had next to a top line mac. blows other pc away.
fast, no delay, 11 second start up to surfing online, 5 seconds from standby. I have the newer version vz2. Anyone who doesn’t like it is probably never run a defrag or know anything about computers.
This laptop is totally great!
This laptop is totally great! Works soooo well. I used it for more than a year now. I’m working on Adobe softwares a lot (Photoshop, Illustrator, etc.) and works like a charm. This is the best laptop I ever had!
My Asus N53S has the same
My Asus N53S has the same issues. Its lags make me crazy.
https://pcper.com/news/Gra
https://pcper.com/news/Graphics-Cards/Video-Perspective-AMD-A10-4600M-vs-Core-i7-3720QM-Diablo-III
Take anything Matt says with a grain of salt. He is a known Intel fanboy.
http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/amds-trinity-laptop-apu-makeuseof-explains/
Proof of his fanboyism.
New AMD A-Series APUs Win
New AMD A-Series APUs Win 2012 Best Choice of COMPUTEX
Straight from http://www.techpowerup.com/166813/New-AMD-A-Series-APUs-Win-2012-Best-Choice-of-COMPUTEX-TAIPEI-Award.html And Matt says they are bad. But then again he said “Noone cares about battery life” in that same article.
Sad but true.
J’ai un ASUS N53S
Je voudrais
J’ai un ASUS N53S
Je voudrais savoir si mon portable possède un tuner TV…
Si ce n’est le cas quelle serait la (ou les) marque(s) que vous me conseilleriez d’acquérir pour pouvoir recevoir la TV sur mon ordinateur portable.
Je possède l’option VOO passionément (TV, Internet, Téléphone)
et je ne sais comment m’organiser…
Merci d’avance pour votre réponse.
Yves Loriau (0495 54 96 30)
i have the 8gb one, i7 2630qm
i have the 8gb one, i7 2630qm and gt550m model for 2 years now. Its really excellent machine, no problems whatsoever, played the games i wanted really nicely, like skyrim etc, its fast, i really recommend it. Battery is enough for almost 2 movies time which is more than i need.
I have one that was given to
I have one that was given to me by employer. It is crap. too large and heavy to call it laptop. It is better to name it portable desktop.
I found this model to be very
I found this model to be very disappointing. The power supply blew TWICE. First time was under warranty and they fixed it but it lasted less than a year. Didn’t have the speed I would expect from a 7200 rpm hard drive. All in all, not a good experience. My second and last try with ASUS.
Can the gpu be upgraded or is
Can the gpu be upgraded or is it permanently on board?
hey guy sorry for my bad
hey guy sorry for my bad english I’am Serbien and live in Australia I have got an Asus N53 SV seconde hand that I want to sell I can’t find how much could i seel it for it works well the only thing is missing is the hard driver. thank you very much, have a good one
Cheers
I’ve had this computer for about 10 years. I don’t even remember it’s been so long. It’s great. Fast reliable. I don’t travel with it. I don’t use the monitor. I hook up two monitors one with the VGA and one with the HDMI. Very rarely do I have problems with it I upgraded to 16 GB of memory which works great. Overall I would say this is a really wonderful machine. Every machine has its issues but the life and performance that I’ve gotten out of this one has been Stellar. I love it so much I just upgraded to Windows 10 on it. Looks like all my applications will still be there and I’ll still be running and I’ll be compatible hopefully with the future applications that require Windows 10.