The brown mocha frame seems very ordinary from a slight distance, but you can't fully appreciate the design until you put your hands on it. The plastic feels like synthetic leather, while the interior of the laptop is covered in aluminum—a nice play on two of the most commonly used materials in laptop designs. Though the design isn't the caliber of the aluminum-covered Apple 15-inch (Thunderbolt) and Dell XPS 15 (Sandy Bridge) ($1,785 direct, 4 stars), the K53E-B1 is a better looking laptop than the Samsung RF510-S01US ($750 street, 3.5 stars) and Dell Inspiron 15R-1847MRB ($730 list, 3.5 stars). At 5.8 pounds, it's only a few ounces heavier than the Apple 15-inch (5.5 lbs).
Asus K53E-B1 Laptop Features
The feature set isn't going to blow you away, but it's adequate for a desktop replacement. It comes with three USB 2.0 ports; the Samsung RF510-S01US and Dell XPS 15 raised the bar with USB 3.0 ports, which transfers data at ten times the speed of USB 2.0. It has a dual layer DVD burner and an HDMI port, in case you want to connect the laptop to an HDTV to watch a Netflix DVD. The 640GB, 5,400rpm hard drive has more than enough storage for the average videophile. Pricier systems like the Dell XPS 15 and Asus N53SV-A1 come with faster spinning 750GB, 7,200rpm drives. There's a standard Webcam for video chatting, along with a media card slot in the front bezel.
Asus K53E-B1 Laptop Specifications
Type
General Purpose, Media, Desktop Replacement
Processor Name
Intel Core i5-2520M
Operating System
Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium
Processor Speed
2.5 GHz
RAM
6 GB
Weight
5.8 lb
Screen Size
15.6 inches
Screen Size Type
widescreen
Graphics Card
Intel HD Graphics 3000
Storage Capacity (as Tested)
640 GB
Networking Options
802.11n
Primary Optical Drive
DVD+R DL
Asus K53E-B1 Laptop Features
The feature set isn't going to blow you away, but it's adequate for a desktop replacement. It comes with three USB 2.0 ports; the Samsung RF510-S01US and Dell XPS 15 raised the bar with USB 3.0 ports, which transfers data at ten times the speed of USB 2.0. It has a dual layer DVD burner and an HDMI port, in case you want to connect the laptop to an HDTV to watch a Netflix DVD. The 640GB, 5,400rpm hard drive has more than enough storage for the average videophile. Pricier systems like the Dell XPS 15 and Asus N53SV-A1 come with faster spinning 750GB, 7,200rpm drives. There's a standard Webcam for video chatting, along with a media card slot in the front bezel.
Asus K53E-B1 Laptop Specifications
Type
General Purpose, Media, Desktop Replacement
Processor Name
Intel Core i5-2520M
Operating System
Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium
Processor Speed
2.5 GHz
RAM
6 GB
Weight
5.8 lb
Screen Size
15.6 inches
Screen Size Type
widescreen
Graphics Card
Intel HD Graphics 3000
Storage Capacity (as Tested)
640 GB
Networking Options
802.11n
Primary Optical Drive
DVD+R DL
