The latest Intel processors are really fast and they can easily do any task that you can throw at it. The speed has been drastically improved as compared to the last year models. One thing missing here on the Asus K53E-B1 is a dedicated graphic card. This system has Intel integrated graphics. I played Unreal Tournament III and got 43.7 fps or frames per second. Street Fighter IV fared 28.2 fps. This isn’t great for high end and new PC games but will still go well with casual gamers.
When put through my battery drain test, the Asus K53E-B1 survived for a little over four and half hours and this is good for a 15 incher. For this size, I have a minimum benchmark of three hours and was glad to see that this laptop went past that limit. Credit must be given to the new efficient processors from Intel; they have performed very impressively in a lot of 2011 laptops that I have tested so far.
Another interesting feature on the Asus K53E-B1 is that the manufacturer is offering a two year warranty and there is also a one year accidental damage protection. Other companies just give you one year for service and parts and you need to pay more money for additional coverage if you want. Asus also has a 24-7 toll free number and on the manufacturer’s Website, you will find driver downloads and support info. But be wary of the fact that there are a lot of Asus laptops out there and hence it can be hard to track down content for your model.
ASUS K53E-B1 review unit has the following specifications:
* 15.6-inch 720p (1366x768) glossy panel with LED backlighting
* Intel "Sandy Bridge" Core i5-2410M dual-core processor (2.3GHz~2.9GHz Turbo Boost, 3MB L3, 35W TDP)
* Intel HM65 chipset
* Integrated Intel HD graphics
* 6GB DDR3-1333 dual-channel RAM (1x 4GB, 1x 2GB)
* 640GB 5400RPM Seagate hard drive (ST9640423AS)
* Atheros AR9285 Wireless network adapter
* DVD burner (MATSHITA DVD-RAM UJ8A0ASW)
* 6-cell li-ion battery (10.8V, 52Wh, 5600mAh)
* Weight: 5.72 lbs.
* Dimensions: 15.2 x 1.4 x 10.2 inches
* Two-year warranty
* MSRP: $799
