ASUS Series K50 Series Model K50IJ-G1B
Operating System Windows 7 Professional 64-bit + XP Pro downgrade CD
CPU Type Intel Core 2 Duo T6570 2.1G
Screen 15.6"
Memory Size 3GB DDR2
Hard Disk 250GB
Optical Drive DVD Super Multi
Graphics Card Intel GMA 4500M
Video Memory Shared memory
Physical specifications:
Dimensions 14.80" x 10.24" x 1.30" - 1.40"
Weight 6.00 lbs.
After checking newegg.com I went to ASUS's web site and looked to see if they
were offering a SSD instead of the SATA II mechanical drive, only the high end
ASUS laptops come with the SSD in 64, 128, and 256 GB sizes. That wouldn't
preclude you (or me) from upgrading to an SSD, it would how ever void the
warranty unless the hard drive failed and you asked ASUS to replace it with a
SSD.
After looking at the computer on four other web sites that sell computer
products I decided to go with Newegg.com because they had a lower price (on
sale) and they have a direct exchange program if the computer fails, no
questions asked.
One of the main reasons for picking ASUS over say Leveno or Dell is the down
grade to XP offer that comes with the laptop. If my wife doesn't like the
Windows 7 then I will down grade the laptop to XP for her.
Two things about the K50 Series K50IJ-G1B NoteBook I don't like:
The video is landscape mode only, I set the video for portrait and it switched
on the side instead of going to a normal screen in portrait. I haven't figured
out why it did that yet.
ASUS loads up a bunch of shareware, Office 2010, Trend Micro (Anti
virus/firewall) and some games. It took about thirty minutes to uninstall all
that junk. (Although $180 for MS Office 2010 license isn't to bad but we already
have an office suite that is paid for).
When the computer is started for the first time a pop up advises you to make the
'System recovery disks', that was five DVD's so I opted out and will do a ghost
image of the partition once I have the security setup the way I want it.
Unlike other manufactures the hard drive is split in to two partitions, the
System and Data. This I like because if I down grade to XP I don't think I will
have to worry about the data being wiped, how ever if I do downgrade I will back
it up just in case.
The computer is fast, it has a Core 2 Duo 2.1 GHz processor, but the memory
usage is a little high at 830 MB with out any programs running. One of the
reason for the high memory usage is the system memory is shared with the video.
I will add a 1 GB memory module if it has any problems. If I downgrade the OS to
XP then I won't have to add any memory.
Although the hard drive is only 250 GB it is more than enough for the what the
computer will be used for.
Over all I think this is a nice low end laptop for someone that doesn't need all
the power of say a Quad processor and over 3 gig of non shared memory. It is
fairly fast and the video quality is very high. It isn't a game machine but
videos display with great quality. The battery life is just over three hours
when it is set performance and around four hours when set for maximum battery.
Now the bad news -
I didn't notice that the USB ports were 2.0/1.1 and not the new 3.0 ports. After
looking at ASUS none of the current laptops have USB 3. Although the high end
Leveno laptop does have USB 3. I think I will wait and save $900...
As a test I connected up my new USB 3 external drive, the computer sees it and
it works so the backward compatibly of the USB 3 interface in the drive is good.
Well, as I thought Windows 7 didn't work out, have to load XP on the computer.
As soon as I brought the computer in to our local domain the Computer Management
and Advanced Computer Properties were locked out. I can however get to them in
Safe Mode (the wife locked her user id out when the caps lock was on - the caps
lock led is very small and she didn't notice the led or the pop up that said the
caps lock was on...). She says she like Windows 7, will have to convince her XP
is easier to use. :)
So far she likes it although it is a little heavier than my IBM T-30 that she is
used to. She quickly found the touch pad easy to use, which is unusual, she
usually balks at new hardware. The web cam was a learning experience of a
different kind.
Note: Read more about this product in the Hardware category at the
www.fix-it-blog.com
Support offerings:
Online support for manuals, bois upgrades, and device drivers.
One year warranty for most ASUS laptops. Having dealt with ASUS over the years I
would give their support a 9 out 10
However newegg.com does offer a one year no questions asked replacement for a
nominal fee, I suggest you take them up on the warranty, this bumps the ASUS
normal 1 year guarantee to two years.
This was one of those surprises that could have gone the other way and I would
have had a new laptop instead. And I wonder if I would like it as much as the
new one I have picked out??
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