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Asus is renowned for products that offer great value for money, but even we were surprised when we read the specification for its latest budget laptop. Despite its 15in screen, 500GB hard disk and dual-core processor, the very inexpensive X53Z isn’t going to break the bank. If you’re looking for a laptop that covers all the basics, the X53Z could be the laptop for you.
An AMD Llano A4 processor provides its desktop power, so the X53Z isn’t immensely fast, and even though its 1.9GHz dual-core chip can reach 2.5GHz using AMD’s Turbo Core feature, it only managed an overall score of 23 in our multimedia benchmarks. We could run everyday applications smoothly, and we even ran several at the same time thanks to its 6GB of RAM, but more CPU-intensive applications slow the system down.
Its graphics performance is also average, despite its integrated GPU supporting DirectX 11 and sharing plenty of system RAM. The Radeon 6480G could only manage 16.4fps in our demanding Dirt 3 test, which proves that you’ll need to reduce extra detail settings, such as anti-aliasing, if you want to achieve a playable frame rate. Older games should still be playable, though.
It might not be the fastest performer, but the X53Z certainly surprised us with its excellent battery life, and it even managed to last over seven hours in our light-use test, despite having a power-draining 15in screen. If you stick to simple tasks, such as word processing or web browsing, you should be able to last nearly a whole working day away from the mains.
The X53Z coped reasonably well in everyday use thanks to its comfortable keyboard. The full-size keys are very tightly grouped, but are still large enough that we rarely made any typing mistakes. There’s room for a numerical keypad and each key has plenty of bounce. We also appreciated the large touchpad, which has two physical buttons located directly beneath it. They have plenty of tactile feedback, so we were always sure that our clicks had registered.
Unfortunately, the screen’s image quality was distinctly average, with the 15.6in screen appearing rather dim and lacking vivid colours. Asus provides an application for tweaking the display, but even this failed to improve things dramatically. The screen’s viewing angles were reasonable, as was screen tilt, but its glossy finish meant that light reflections were slightly troublesome. The 1,366×768 resolution is also run of the mill for a 15in laptop, but images and text looked reasonably sharp.
Its I/O connectivity is excellent for a budget laptop, with a single USB3 port taking pride of place. There are also two regular USB ports, audio input and output jacks, a multiformat card reader and a DVD re-writer optical drive, as well as an Ethernet port and VGA and HDMI video outputs.
With its plastic construction, average screen and entry-level processor, it’s fairly easy to see how Asus has managed to sell the X53Z at such a low price, but it still copes with everyday tasks well enough thanks to its long-lasting battery and comfortable keyboard. It won’t be able to play modern games, though, so we suggest going for the fantastic HP Pavilion DV6 instead if your budget stretches to it. Nevertheless, the £369 Asus X53Z provides plenty of laptop for the money.
