I've had this laptop for a few days now, and I'm extremely satisfied. Here's my take on all the pros and cons of this machine so you can make a more informed purchase.
::::::PROS::::::
+ Ridiculously awesome deal. I got this when it was 20% off ($860) and free shipping, and within a day after my purchase they ran out of stock, and it came back a day or two later at only 15% discount. Those quickly went out as well, and the discount dropped to 14%. The deal on this is dropping fast, so try to get it as soon as you can.
+ Keyboad is very sturdy with very little flex. I've seen another reviewer or two complain about the flex from the keyboard, however I'm concerned they might be commenting on the wrong model. Flexing is indeed an issue on similar items near this series, but in this particular one it feels perfectly fine. The keyboard features a numpad, which it fits in by sharing a few keys, which is a nice bit of optimization. This is actually one of the more comfortable keyboards I've ever used on a laptop. I was really happy when I got to check this out, because this was my only real concern from reading reviews, and I absolutely must have a quality keyboard because I expect to do a lot of written work on this laptop. Luckily, it feels great!
+ Turbo Booster is a really nice feature. Your CPU(s) will automatically overclock based upon the current demands on your system. I'm not much for extra-accessory desktop items, but this comes with a nifty blue bar that sits on your desktop and shows you in real time what your CPUs are being overclocked to at that moment. Very useful.
+ Awesome transfer speed. Was moving a lot of large files around, unzipping things and the likes, and it moved at a really awesome speed. No doubt thanks to the quad core i7 processor.
+ Sound can go up decently loud for a laptop, and has pretty good audio by that same standard. The sound is supposed to be one of the strong selling points for this laptop, but I didn't buy it for that reason, it's just a nice bonus.
+ A great mid-level gaming laptop that will improve in performance over time. Right now, there aren't too many games that truly make use of quad core CPUs, however as more and more do, your performance in games should go up. You sacrifice a little bit of performance today, in exchange for a better overall machine and substantially more performance tomorrow. For example, a dual core machine that is clocked higher may out-perform a quad core i7 by as much as 10% in some games, however if you compare it to a game that supports quad core technology, the quad core jumps in performance by 60-80% (example: Dragon Age), which is a huge boost. This machine also supports up to 16GB of ram, so you'll be able to scale up over time accordingly. A great laptop that should last a long time. Be sure to switch over to "performance mode" when you are plugged in and want to game, for maximum performance (remember to turn it off performance mode when you're done).
Some games I recommend trying with your new laptop:
TheHunter (free) -this is a free hunting game, that looks absolutely amazing and is hyper realistic.
Alien Swarm (free) -this is a free co-op game on Steam that is based on the source engine, and deals with lots of units on the screen.
Dragon Age -the sequel is coming soon, but the original Dragon Age is probably the best quad core game on the market right now, a good test!
StarCraft 2 (get the demo) -This actually is optimized for dual core and not quad core, but will still be a good test for you.
Shogun Total War 2 -this isn't out yet, but it releases in March and if they are smart, the game will be optimized for quad core technologies. This would be a perfect game to make use of your i7, I just hope they make use of it.
::::::CONS::::::
Touchpad will annoy you. Firstly, the touchpad is far off to the left which I find to be an odd design decision considering most people are used to operating a mousing device with their right hand (I'm left-handed, and even I prefer to operate computers with my right hand from years of conditioning). Another problem with the touch pad is that because it's so far to the left, it routinely comes in your way while typing and causes you to mess up or drop keys when your forearm accidentally activates the touchpad. The clicker is also a rough click, which will make this very poor for mobile gaming purposes. The tracking itself is actually fantastic, it feels really good, but because of its positioning and its tendency to get in the way of your typing, you'll want to get a nice wireless mouse, and disable the touchpad from within your windows system. This way, you'll have a good mouse, and won't have to worry about the touchpad getting in your way while typing.
Epic bloatware from ASUS. As with any new computer, I was expecting to wipe it of a bunch of pre-installed junk, but I was really disappointed with how much extra garbage they had pre-installed. I was only expecting to remove a few things, but there were probably around 20 things I had to remove. For this purpose, I would recommend Revo Uninstaller, which is a great free uninstaller that will even delete the registry files along with the programs to make sure there's not any lingering performance setbacks. After you get past this, life is good again.
1366x768 max resolution. This is a bit disappointing for such an awesome deal, but I bought this knowing this was a limitation on this unit. If you play a lot of high-res games, or need really high res for art/editing projects and the like then this may be a deal breaker, so consider this strongly before making a purchase.
Webcam is not very good. You never want to rely on a laptop webcam, but I was expecting something a bit more useful. This is disappointing because the laptop has a nice shutter-slider security system, which lets you block your webcam's viewing lens at will for extra security even when you have your laptop turned off.
Weight and size is just slightly too much to be truly comfortable using it on your lap, but that's fine. This is more of a mobile desktop replacement than a sit-in-the-car type of laptop. It'll work great on-the-go provided you have a table to work with.
This laptop is basically the width of a 17 inch screened laptop, rather than your standard 15.6. This is because there is a good inch on both sides of the unit being wasted. This difference is obvious when you sit it next to any other standard-sized 15.6 screen laptop, so if you buy this just keep in mind that you're only getting a 15.6 inch screen for what basically amounts to a 17 inch laptop's space.
Glare on the screen can be pretty intense in light conditions, but you'll quickly learn to ignore it (there are also anti-glare screen covers you can buy off of amazon). In fact I've completely forgotten about it up until I began thinking back to my first impressions when opening up the laptop.
::::::PRO/CON::::::
+/The hard drive will come in two partitions (windows 7's fault), which means your OS will be installed on about a 100-something gig space, while the rest of the computer space will be allocated to a new D drive. This isn't technically a con, a lot of people do this because there are a lot of advantages to it, but for me personally I wanted both the OS and the main data from the system on the same partition. This was an extremely easy fix that was resolved in about 2 minutes (look up how to merge windows 7 partitions).
::::::WHAT TO ALSO GET::::::
~ If you're using this for gaming, don't forget to install Direct X. It doesn't come pre-packaged with the driver software. This can be an easy thing to forget!
~ Get a laptop cover. This thing collects fingerprints very easily. If you look up this specific model name (N53JQ) they have a nice black and red trimmed sleeve here on amazon that fits it perfectly.
~ Wireless mouse. The tracking and feel of the touchpad is great, but there are a lot of problems with where the touchpad is positioned, so make sure you get a wireless mouse (as you really should anyway, touchpads should always be a last resort). I got two wireless mice, a Berklin USB Retractable mouse (which is very tiny and plugs into the USB and has awesome tracking), and a Microsoft Wireless 3500 for more every-day use as well as gaming. Both mice track very well, even on your leg if necessary.
~ Electronics cleaning cloth. I got 3M 9027 High Performance Cloth from amazon, hasn't arrived yet but I knew the first day I got it that I wanted to keep this laptop screen clean. I suggest you do the same (plus, it will work on your android, iphone and tablet screens! So it's a good idea to grab one regardless.
Webcam. The webcam that comes stock with this laptop is very poor, but that's easily resolved by investing a few bucks in a high-quality webcam.
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A laptop with a quad core processor and holds up to 16Gb of RAM for $1000.00! Are you kidding? The specs on this thing are awesome! I stuck another 8GB of RAM in mine for $114.00 and have 12GB now.
Pros:
-Quad core Intel with hyperthreading shows up as 8 processors in Windows and Linux. (7.9 score in Windows)
-up to 16GB RAM!(7.9 score in Windows)
-HDMI pretty standard on laptops except for Macbooks (Just sold mine so I could buy this!)
-USB 3.0
-eSATA
-1GB Video RAM
-Bluetooth 2.1 EDR
-Supports hardware virtualization
-ASUS has one of the best reputations in the motherboard market
-THIS IS AN ABSOLUTE WORKHORSE!
Cons:
-A little heavy to be carrying around all day
-battery life not that great (buy an extra charger to carry with you)
-keyboard feel is not very good. There is too much flex (spongy) I use a bluetooth keyboard and mouse when at my desk.
This type of power is a must have for IT pros and computer enthusiasts alike. As much as everybody is moving to virtualization and cloud computing this is the perfect tool for your arsenal. Actually, you can virtualize your entire arsenal and carry it with you! I'm not really sure what the other reviewer's problem was. This PC is great. Other comparable laptops I've seen go for $2000-$6000.
Edit: 3-15-11
The only reason I posted a comment in the first place was because I had purchased the machine and was amazed at how much I got for such a cheap price (relatively.) When I went online to see what people were saying about this machine the only comment I found was from the first reviewer that gave it 2 stars which I thought was absurd, inaccurate, and unfair. I never said the overall Win score was 7.9 and I never said this was a great gaming rig (although it's not bad with external monitors.) It is a great "workhorse". Meaning it has awesome RAW COMPUTING POWER Binary, 01's, it can process data very quickly and efficiently. It's by far, the most POWERFUL laptop I've ever owned. It's not he prettiest (Apple), it's not the coolest (Apple), it's not the best gaming laptop (whatever Alienware?), it IS a viable desktop replacement for power users. I have 2 22 inch monitors attached at 1680x1050, running Ubuntu 10.10, with several virtual machines (including OSX) and I couldn't be happier.
Best Deals for ASUS N53JQ-XV1 15.6-Inch Versatile Entertainment Laptop (Silver
I love this laptop. It's super fast (once I removed all the bloatware and installed Firefox, I hate IE) and super quiet. It stays very cool, except for a vent on the side. The battery life is better than my Asus i5 that I have, too. Lasts about 2 hours when watching movies online. Fine by me, I mostly leave it plugged in anyway.
The screen is beautiful, the silver finish is GORGEOUS.
The ONLY thing I hate about this computer is the keyboard. It's flexy and spongy and cheap feeling. If you are picky about keyboards, then search somewhere else. This one bothers me. But, I guess, not really enough to send it back, because everything else is perfect with the laptop. Argh! Please, Asus, stick with quality keyboards and light them up!! That would be perfect.
I use my laptop for photo and video editing. Also some graphic design with Adobe Illustrator. I've got Photoshop and Sony Vegas installed and they run fast and perfectly. This laptop is a work horse!!
Update: I have had this laptop for a few weeks now and I had to come back and say that I love the keyboard now. I got used to it and it feels great now. Maybe it was just me before. LOL. I LOVE this laptop!!!
Honest reviews on ASUS N53JQ-XV1 15.6-Inch Versatile Entertainment Laptop (Silver
It is rare that you can find an out-of-the-box laptop with the power to perform without hesitation for 3D graphic designers, video editors and audio recording/editing. I am currently using mine for all of the above...
This laptop has the power of a high-end workstation and actually can cost you less. If you're looking for power on the go or small foot print for the mentioned applications this is a must-have. Asus is a top-notch motherboard manufacture and contrary to one review here I thought it also looked great out-of-the-box.
Pros:
no need in the mentioning the specs but they say it all.
Cons:
all the junk software that was preinstalled...
Find helpful customer reviews and review ratings for ASUS N53JQ-XV1 15.6-Inch Versatile Entertainment Laptop (Silver
After much researched, I concluded that this was the best equipped laptop for the money. The specs, as stated, are a ridiculous bargain for the price. Asus hardware oozes quality and durability.
For those wanting to upgrade the ram, the screws are under the rubber stumps at the bottom.
Negatives (if pressed) include lack of bluray drive, weight, and bloatware.
Overall, I am super happy with it.
