Asus G53 cosmetic review, software, screen separation, etc

I've had my G53 for a week now so I thought I'd put up a short mini-review dealing with my experiences so far.


Build Quality:
I'm not going to put any pictures up for this section, I think anyone interested has seen the system so far. I'll say the build quality is very good, without any cosmetic defects or major issue (see note below about screen separation).

The lid and body are made out of a non-glossy matte plastic. I've heard one or two people who were worried about the lid scratching but I cant see this happening unless you go out of your way to do so. I've run my fingernail across it without leaving a mark, and slipped it in and out of the supplied backpack a few times. I don't think it something you have to worry about unless you're rough with the notebook

The palmrest is a soft rubberized material, similar to the razer Abyssus mouse that comes with the system (this model: Razer | For Gamers. By Gamers.? | Online Store - Razer Abyssus High Precision Optical Gaming Mouse | 3500dpi Razer Precision? 3.5G Infrared Sensor. So far it hasn't been a fingerprint magnet, and all of the stickers came off without a problem.

Also, the system opens very wide. I was afraid the hump at the back would restrict the maximum angle, but there's nothing to worry about. Here's a shot of the system opened to the max position.



Bloatware removal:
I was happy to find out there wasn't too much bloatware on the system when I first loaded windows. There's a fair amount of what I would call 'optionware' - things that may or not be useful but are fairly unobtrusive. For those interested here's a list of what I took off/removed:

Uninstalled:
Acrobat.com
Adobe AIR
ASUS - AI recovery
-lifeframe3
-liveupdate
-mult
-smartlogon
-splendid video
-virtualcamera
Trend micro internet security
G series screensaver
Express Gate Cloud
Control Deck
Realtek audio drivers

Debating: Roxio Cineplayer

Turned off:
Disk Indexing
System Restore
Defragmenter (don't need this with a solid state drive)
System Hibernation
Sidebar Gadget Platform

Disabled in MSconfig startup:
Sidebar
Creative updreg
bluetooth
setwallpaper
sessionloon
cpmonitor
wireless console3
ATK media
Synaptic

Removed taskbar icons:
touchpad
realtek audio
bluetooth

Audio:
When I turned on my system my speakers sounded like crap. The actual computer speakers were great, they are very loud and clear, better than any laptop I've owned. However, audio out over my 2.1 system sounded muddy and muffled. I tried tweaking the equalizer and downloaded multiple versions of the audio drivers but couldn't fix the problem. I ended up getting frustrated and uninstalled the realtek software completely and it totally fixed the problem. If you feel like your audio isn't quite right try the above, you can always put the drivers back on if nothing changes.

Keyboard:
The keyboard has a nice amount of spring and feels good. I haven't had any input lag, and I miss a key here and there but that's simply the learning curve that comes from switching systems after using my previous laptop for three years. I find myself being way too gentle while typing, and as the past week went by I've found myself using more force and making less mistakes.

The backlight is quite nice and goes in three levels. Whats also nice is if you turn off all the 'system lights' with the hotkey in the upper left corner, you can still turn on the backlit keyboard (big plus for me).





There is a bit of spring in the lower left hand corner. Its slightly spongy and you can tell the Ctrl key rests too close to the surrounding boarder. Putting a finger on the corner reveals a bit of play, but it doesn't effect the typing at all. I've taken the keyboard off to figure out a solution but it's not a seating issue. If I get some double sided tape I'll try to put a small piece in that corner to see if it changes the action of the keys.





Screen

I've found the screen to be very nice. Its vibrant and exceptionally bright (I use it about 3 tics from max brightness at work and at home). The desktop came at the medium 125% default, which is very usable.



I did have the problem that a few others on this site have mentioned, which is a separation of the lid and the screen. It feels like its held in place with some kind of weak tape, so opening and closing the system by holding the corners of the screen causes this problem. Here's a shot of the right and left - made as terrible as possible with me putting pressure on the crease. Again - its never usually this bad, but it did only take moderate force to make this happen.





Not content with the slightest imperfection I decided to have at this defect. My biggest fear was that over time with the repeated opening and closing of the lid it would only get worse. My solution was to use a tiny amount of super glue, enough to hold it in place but not so much I couldn't break the seal if I needed to get to the screen for some reason. Luckily I work in a lab with tons of equipment available, so I grabbed a 24 gauge needle, some superglue, and got creative.



Using the thin needle and drawing a small droplet into the syringe, I was able to put a small dot on the top and sides of the plastic below the frame, then hold it together for a minute or two. It seems the left and right sides were the key parts, the top of the screen actually doesn't contact the frame very much.



If unlike me, you don't just have mutiple gauges of needles lying around, I'm sure a thin paper clip or the tip of an exacto knife would work the same, just use a very small amount of glue. The result was great, none of the glue spilled out and the screen is now held firmly in place. I can barely see the small glue spot, and I'm certain I could pop the two pieces apart again if the need arises.





Overall I'm very happy with the build of the machine. It looks nice and feels sturdy, without an major problems. It runs extremely quite (coming from the Envy14 and MSI 640 it's heaven) and even when I game for an hour or so I can barely hear any noise coming from it. I'd recommend a fair amount of venting from the rear however, don't push the system up against the wall or you might make the fans work a bit harder than needed.

Portability wise its pushing the limit for me. The system is fairly large (it doesn't fit in my old 15'' laptop backpack so I'm glad it came with its own slim bag) and its got a lot of heft. The power brick is also a beast and will add a couple pounds to your commute. Its definately do-able but if you're looking for something mobile it might be wise to examine all your options before taking the plunge.

The only other negative at the moment is the dvd drive buzzes a bit when I type hard or tap on the table. It feels loose on the bottom and when I wedge a piece of paper underneath or put my finger there it stops. I've opened the dvd drive and tightened all the screws around the laser, but it looks like I'm going to have to open the whole case sometime and re-seat the drive. The good news, for me at least, is that a rattly DVD drive is a much easier fix than digging through the innards for some unknown loose part, and my small wedge of paper is working wonders in the meantime.

Let me know if you have any questions - and for a parting pic proof that the asus logo on the lid really does light up.

 

Nice writeup. +1 for you.

 

Really informative.Thanks for taking your time for this review +1 rep xD

 

yeh agreed +1, I can't wait to get mine...

About the software you took off, I haven't used Win7 before, is any of it needed for any extra type of functionality for the machine, or is it just extras to make it windows more "flashy" so to speak. I like running my OS with as little frills as possible and will probably take off most if not all of what you have unless there's some reason not to.

Thanks

 

Good post. I own the G53 and agree for the most part. Such an amazing cooling system in a 15" laptop I think is what impresses me the most. It's so quiet. The only time it really gets audible is when I ran furmark to test the GPU temps (fan only kicks into high gear when the GPU goes above 80C).

The corners of my screen never separated but if i put pressure on the corners there's a tiny bit of movement - I think I'll just leave it for now since I only found it after reading posts on here.

As for the case, it will fit in very snugly into a 16" laptop case but as the OP said there's no way you are getting this into a 15" case.

Oh and the lightup Asus logo on the back of the lid is awesome.

 

Hi everyone,

New to the forum but a proud owner of the G53 for a few weeks now. Opinions of other members, to date, are helpful but, have a few of my own to offer.

1. Location of the plug for A/C adapter is awful if you use a external mouse as I do.

2. Location of USB ports not convenient, wish they were mounted further back.

3. A royal pain to switch drives. Not difficult once you've done it but, in my humble opinion, unnecessarily complicated.

4. Like some of you, I've removed, or disabled many programs that are not necessary and it certainly helps.

5. Ordered mine with a Crucial C300 SSD and I'm pleased with the performance. Did a cloning ( as a safety backup ) to a WD Scorpio Black 320GB HDD and, after getting use to the SSD, found it to be a real slug!

5. Overall, very pleased so far. Screen is fine. keyboard OK but don't particularly like the layout. Conservative but attractive appearance and performance so far, very good. Did a Nvidia driver update thru Nvidia site, rather than Asus and, no problem whatsoever, unlike some stories I heard about the G73's.

 

Oh yes, the AC adapter location is unfortunate. It would have been alleviated somewhat if the cord was bent 90 degrees at the tip that plugs in so it didn't stick straight out. Hmm I wonder if you can buy little adapters that do just that?

 

Nothing I took off is needed for the machine to run, its mostly 'flashy' applications and accessories. For instance, one application lets you play around with the webcam, but since I use skype its unnecessary. My computer runs at 0% processor usage even with a browser open or music playing, and there's very little running in the process list, just the way I like it.

I'd leave it a lone too. Mine had some slight separation naturally, just a few millimeters but I didn't want it getting worse and I was afraid dust could get in there. A little give shouldn't be a problem as long as you cant see a physical space between the two pieces.

 

I agree with your points
but would like to know which programs should be disabled ?

Thanks

 

Nice review man. But so? What are the needles for, eh?
*wink*



edit: jk

 

I posted this in another forum but was overlooked by people. Was wondering here if anyone has had any experience?

I've seen Dell laptops that have removable optical drives been able to take the drive out and put a USB cable straight from the drive to any USB port and thus get functionality. Nice little addition for these types of drives.

Does anyone with the G53~ with a bluray know if these drives have this USB connection capability?

Thanks

 

Thanks for the writeup. +1 rep

 

Hah - nothing too exciting I'm afraid. I do scientific research for a living and we use syringes to add chemicals/liquids to sterile cell cultures.

Sorry psteiny, I haven't had a chance to get into the guts of the system yet. Its not the simplest system to access the mother board, you have to disassemble most of the laptop and remove tons of screws. You'd probably have the best chance of getting an answer if you asked one of the vendors: BTOtech, Gentech, Powernotebooks, or XoticPC. They regularly upgrade these units so they may know if you can mod the dvd bay to be USB connected.

 

Regarding program removal or disabling, I pretty much agree with the suggestions of Butr0sButr0s.

 

Thank you

 

Just to add a few pointers to this review.

1) For the screen, you do not need to use any glue. Just apply a bit of force and it should snap right into place. It just seem that when they were assembling the beast, they didn't snap it into place.

2) for the keyboard control key, adding something underneath (I put three layers of masking tape) will make it sturdy.

Otherwise, nice review.

 

Do you just shove the tape underneath, or do you have to remove the individual key and then put it underneath, or do you mean put it under the entire kb by removing the kb and putting it like how we put double-sided tape underneath the entire kb pallet?

 

I snapped the corners of the screen a few times but any kind of force (such as opening the lid) would case the two parts to separate again. Mine actually felt more like there was some tape type adhesive holding the two pieces together rather than a pressure lock.

 

i am thinking about replacing my $2150 USD dell xps l702x for this machine because i want performance and portability. Spec-vise the g53 is better.
dell xps
intel i7 2630qm
6gb 1333mhz ram
gt 555m 3gb
500gb 7200k hdd
900p screen

asus g53

intel core i7 2670qm
12gb 1333mhz ram
gtx 560m 2gb
500gb + 4gb ssd (hybrid)
1080p screen
bluetooth 3.0
better wifi chip

they cost about the same. what do you think?

 

Well the 555m might give about the same performance as the 2 gig 560m model. So if I were you I would make sure that I dont buy the gimped 560m model. the one you want is the 3 gig version .

 

so what kind of laptop have a 570m/580m/590m (or equivalent ) and a screen size of 15,6" ?

sager np8150? MY EYES BLEEEDS!!

 

Well im saying that the 2 gig version of the 560m is not as powerful as the 3 gig version. Hell even my 1.5 gig 460m can beat a 2 gig 560m. What you need to do is get the 192 bit version of the 560m. OR even get a 460m 192 bit. For example:
Newegg.com - ASUS G Series G53SW-XN1 Notebook Intel Core i7 2630QM(2.00GHz) 15.6" 6GB Memory 500GB HDD 7200rpm DVD Super Multi NVIDIA GeForce GTX 460M.
It is only 799.99 after rebate! and can beat that XPS