ASUS K50IJ REVIEW

The Asus K50IJ is a good desktop replacement laptop delivering competent performance at a budget price. It can be bought for $699.

ASUS K50IJ-C1 Specifications:
Operating system: Windows Vista Home Premium (SP1, 32-bit)
Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo processor T6500 Processor (2.1GHz)
Display: 15.6" 16:9 Wide Format (1366 x 768) HD LCD Display
Memory: 4GB DDR2 800MHz RAM, 1 slot, 4GB Max
Graphics: Intel GMA X4500M integrated graphics
HDD: 250GB 5400RPM SATA Hard Drive

Build and Design
The K50IJ is well built. The chassis is made of good quality plastics and doesn’t suffer from flex or squeaks. The notebook weighs nearly six pounds with its 15-inch display, so this isn’t quite the machine to buy if you are mobile professional. Build quality is reasonably good. The screen lid, nevertheless, shows some flex under pressure.

There are no access panels at the bottom of the laptop for upgrading the memory, hard drive or wireless cards. Actually the K50IJ doesn’t offer much upgradeability options as it as only a single RAM slot.


Screen and Speakers
The 15.6 inch HD display has 1366 x 768 pixels. The display is good with vibrant colors and excellent contrast. Horizontal viewing angles are good. But vertical viewing angles are average.

The Altec Lansing speakers produce good quality audio when you place the machine on a desk. As the speakers are placed beneath the left and right palm rests, you will get only muffled sound when you place the notebook on your lap. Another drawback is the lack of a subwoofer.

Keyboard and Touchpad
The K50IJ has a full-sized keyboard with dedicated number pad. The keyboard is comfortable to type on. The keys are large with good spacing. However, the keyboard shows some flex under heavy typing pressure. There is no backlighting, so typing in a dark room won’t be easy.

The touchpad has multi-touch capabilities and a nice texture. On the flip side sensitivity isn’t very great. The touchpad also shows some lag during fast movement. The buttons are noisy when pressed.

Ports and Features
Port selection is average. There are very few ports, and they include 4 USB 2.0 ports, VGA out, audio jacks, Ethernet, a 3-in-1 card reader, a power jack and optical drive. There is no eSATA, HDMI, FireWire or ExpressCard.

Performance
The machine performs reasonably well with the Intel Core 2 Duo T6500 processor and Intel X4500M integrated GPU. It can easily run applications like MS Office and Photoshop. It will also have no difficulty decoding 720p or 1080p HD video. But the lack of a discrete GPU makes high-end 3D gaming out of question.

Battery
At 3.5 hours, the battery life is reasonably good. But keep in mind that several 15 inch notebooks in the market with discrete GPUs offer better battery life.

Heat and Noise
Heat and noise levels are within normal limits. The K50IJ has an efficient cooling system and a reasonably quiet hard drive.

Pros:
Good display
Nice keyboard
Reasonably good performance for the price

Cons:
Very few ports
Limited upgradeability options