Bought An ASUS X53E-BH71-CA (K53E?) On Boxing Day....

I sent the following into support -- through vip.asus.com -- 4 days ago, got a message that I'd get an answer in 48hrs, it's been almost 96hrs and counting:

I have the X53E-BH71-CA, but everytime I come to the support site, it auto-chooses the K53E as the model.

On the sticker on the laptop it mentions the model (X53E) & mobo version -- K53E -- which makes no sense to me; please see above comment.

Also, where can I find the specs on the X53E, because when trying on the ASUS site it comes up with a page not found error when clicking on the "specifications" tab. I am trying to find out if I can upgrade the RAM from 6GB, and if the DVD drive is removable to replace it with a Blu-ray drive, etc.

And, then there's the ASUS Live Update app, which finds updates but I am unable to tell what they are for because it doesn't really give any info on anything.

 

Found it.

http://support.asus.com/Search.aspx?SLanguage=en&keyword=x53e&ps=10&pn=1

You can upgrade the ram up to 8 gb for sure. You are limited to upgrading ram and hard drive. Don't know the point of upgrading to bluray when you can purchase a similar model with one already in it.

 

General Consensus is not to use ASUS live update, it is easier to control what you download and install from here
ASUSTeK Computer Inc. -Support-
I would recommend uninstalling ALU.

 

Did you even bother to read this part of my post:

...because when trying on the ASUS site it comes up with a page not found error when clicking on the "specifications"...

 

These are specs from best buy - they are not all inclusive - ram is max 8g
For the price $599 - a good buy for other than gaming.



Display
Screen Size
15.6 Inches
Native Screen Resolution
1366 x 768
LED Backlit Display
Yes
Processor
Processor Type
Intel Core i7-2670QM
Processor Cores
4
Processor Speed
2.2 GHz
Processor Cache
6 MB
Storage & Memory
Hard Drive Capacity
750 GB
Hard Drive Speed (Revolutions Per Minute)
5400 rpm
RAM Size
6 GB
RAM Type
Information Not Available
RAM Speed
Information Not Available
RAM Slots
Information Not Available
Optical Drive
Super Multi DVD-RW
Built-in Memory Card Reader
Yes
Memory Card Reader - Compatible Memory Type
SD; SDHC; MMC; MS; MS Pro
Graphics
Graphics Chipset
Intel HD 3000
Video Memory Configuration
Integrated
Dedicated Video Memory Size
Not Applicable
Wireless Display (WiDi) Capable
No
Audio
Speaker Wattage
Information Not Applicable
Integrated Microphone
Yes
Microphone Input
Yes
Digital Audio Output
Yes
Hardware Volume Control
No
Inputs & Outputs
Webcam
Yes
Keyboard Language
English
Numeric Keypad
Yes
Backlit Keyboard
No
Type of Pointing Device
TouchPad
Number of Touchpad Buttons
2
Type of Modem
Not Applicable
USB 2.0 Ports
3
USB 3.0 Ports
0
HDMI Output
Yes
HDCP Compliant
No
VGA Output
Yes
IEEE 1394 Input/Output
No
eSATA Port
No
ExpressCard/34 Input
No
ExpressCard/54 Input
No
IR Receiver
No
Other Input or Ouput Ports
None
Networking
Ethernet Port
10/100/1000
Integrated Wi-Fi
802.11b/g/n
Integrated Bluetooth
Yes - 3.0
Power
Approximate Battery Life
Up To 4 Hours
Battery Type
Lithium-Ion
Battery - Number of Cells
6
Battery - Capacity
5600 mAh
Energy Star Qualified
Yes
Software
Pre-loaded Operating System
Windows 7 Home Premium 64-Bit
Operating System Language
Bilingual
Loaded Software
None
Loaded Software 2
Loaded Software 3
Loaded Software 4
Physical Features
Laptop Thickness (closed)
3.6 cm
Laptop Depth
25.7 cm
Laptop Width
38.4 cm
Laptop Weight (including battery)
2.6 kg
Warranty Labour
1 Year(s)
Warranty Parts
1 Year(s)

 

I know about that, I bought it from Best Buy (Canada) on Boxing Day, I'd rather see the official spec page from ASUS, because whoever the idiot is who inputs the info for the BB web site doesn't know what they are doing.

 

I am not impressed with asus support - have always had HP - no comparison.
However for the price I could not find an I7-2670qm quad anywhere close to $600.

This might help!

ASUSTeK Computer Inc. - Notebooks- ASUS K53E

 

K53E is not the X53E.

 

If you go to "system information " on your computer(under system tools)
you will see that the system model is K53E.
This will signify the motherboard form factor.
The X53E must relate to the specific build - I7-2670qm 15.6 screen etc
It appears they only list specs on the system model which has a number of build options.

 

Also bought this laptop on boxing day and yes don't follow too much on the specs from best buy because it does come with a USB 3.0 port.

I want to know if I can upgrade to 16gb of ram and in short although Asus has not confirmed because it's the intel hm65 chipset the i7-2670qm can support upto 16gb, google it you will see.

Asus apparently only tested the notebook upto 8gb but the laptop will handle more. If Asus gets back to me I will also update you on their response.

 

I hope you are right about 16g - I know the chipset supports it.
Crucial shows 8g max.
A little disappointed in the graphics display - otherwise it seems good.

 

Yeah I know crucial's says not to exceed the asus's recommended max ram but even if you search through some of these forums you will find people who have been able to install more ram than Asus's website makes you believe.
I also read that some mentioned that the 8gb max is per slot.

Another plus if you install 16gb of ram is on eBay you can find it for as cheap as $120 with free shipping and intel's hd3000 graphics card will reserve upto a Max of 1.7 gb for graphics memory if needed.

Also be patient with asus's response it still is the holidays and I'm sure they mean 48hrs during business hours either way they beat out named brands like hp. Asus is also known out of all the laptop brands to have the least problems and lowest recalls. Hp again being worse hence if you go onto best buy or futureshop you'll hp has the most refurbed notebooks for sale. Should make you think.

 

Good to know!
What is your assessment of it so far?

 

I think it's great. First thing I did after making the backup DVDs is I have a dvd of windows home prem. So I did a fresh install and it runs very smooth.
I bought it for mainly photoshop and lightroom so I won't be doing any gaming on it, that's why the 16gb is needed and intel hd3000 graphics is suffice.

For the price you can't go wrong.

Hope all goes well with yours.

 

Glad I found this thread. I bought it for lightroom as well. Haven't opened it yet. :S It's sitting here driving me nuts because i just want to open it. lol. But I fear as soon as i do i will find a better deal haha.

The only PC gaming I do is starcraft 2. Have been looking around to see if I can find a better deal, and haven't found any yet. I don't really *need* a dedicated graphics card, but if I can find one at a good price it would be nice

So you made the backup DVDs and then used them to re-install the OS? Did this clean up some unneeded software?

I picked up a 4gb stick of G.Skill 1333MHz ram for $14 at canada computers the other day. So will have 8gb..

 

No I made the backup DVDs and then not using them but an original windows 7 disc installed only windows 7 so I don't have all the extra stuff on the pc from Asus.

Yeah having 8 gb of ram is good so you can take advantage of the dual channel capability. With the 4gb + 2gb stick we only get single channel.

Let me know if you do find a better deal, I doubt it But you never know.
600 for an i7 even with integrated graphics is about as good as it gets unless you want to spend 800 or more.

I think this was one of the first notebooks to sell out.

 

Oh ok. I don't have a windows 7 disc
Oh really? I didn't even realize that about the Ram. $14 for 4gb just seemed so cheap so i picked it up.
Thanks for the reply

Ya, tomorrow I'm just going to see if there's anything after the boxing week deals expire. If there's nothing, then I'm keeping the asus. I'll mention if I see anything.

Ya it did sell out quickly

The next best deal would be that $899 Lenovo Y570 at canada computers. But I didn't really want to spend that much. Great deal though.

The $799 Lenovo Y570 Doorbuster deal was good too. (when the coupon worked). But $200 more basically for a dedicated graphics card. Maybe if I used my laptop more for gaming i would have gotten it. I could buy an extra playbook for $200

 

Well, I didn't find any better deals for the kind of laptop I wanted before the deadline I set, so i'm keeping it.

Glad I use an external keyboard, because the TINY left shift key on the bilingual keyboard on the laptop is horrible. Would be nice to have one more USB port.
Also really need an external monitor with this laptop. The resolution is so low. Using lightroom on it is interesting. My 6 year old HP Compaq laptop has higher resolution. :S
So am glad I'm using an external monitor too... Having the HDMI connection is nice.

Other than that, it's plenty of power for what i use it for. The USB 3.0 is great with an external HDD. Will put in the extra ram shortly. I'm sure video editing/encoding on this laptop would be great compared to my old laptop. Lightroom seems very fast as well.

Edit:
I tried Starcraft 2 and it works fine. Set all CPU based setting to Max. The rest on medium or low. Works great

 

I recently purchased an ASUS X53E-SX1167V. Do i need to update anything (Firmware) once i turn it on for the first time?

 

I didn't really notice anything (drivers, bios) that needed updating. Mine was manufactured in November.

Plenty of windows updates though

 

I updated my Bios to the most recent one.
You can find the utility and BIOS version here.

My version was BIOS 216 and the newest being BIOS 217

ASUSTeK Computer Inc. -Support- Drivers and Download X53E

Not a bad idea to see if any of the drivers might be newer for your machine too.

I agree for photo editing an external monitor is a must.
Beyond that the power of this PC is awesome. Even with the stock 6GB of ram, it fly's through everything I through at it so far.

Installing applications to using them by far beats my old HP.

 

Any comment on why bestbuy.ca is now priced this laptop(X53E-BH71-CA) for 649.95 while it was 1099 a week before boxing day?
Also anybody noticed that it blanks out as soon as i remove the charger for 2 secs!!

 

in regards to the blanking out, what do you mean?
does it go into sleep mode or the monitor just turns off but the computer is still on and functioning?

This does not happen with mine.
Although I did a fresh install of windows home premium and don't have a lot of the asus utilities installed such as the power4gear.

Maybe see if you uninstall the power4gear if this still happens.

 

Confirmed that 16GB runs like a charm Especially when teamed with Corsair Force 3 SSD. No more waiting to boot or resume, after 4 weeks it still catches me by surprise how quickly this thing loads.



So far spent £480 for the original machine, £120 for the SSD and £75 for the memory -£15 for selling the 4GB stick that came in the machine. = £660
or 1,035 USD.

£5 for a USB 3.0 caddy and the hard disk I took out is now my lightning fast 320GB backup drive!

I don't think you can get more for your money anywhere else! (although always annoyingly about 20% more expensive for stuff in "Rip Off Britain")

 

Thanks for the note about the 16gb!
Good to know.
What size of SSD are you using?

 

120GB, more than enough for my needs

Just an FYI though Win7 Will automatically set the page file size to 16GB... If you would rather have that space on your disk then you might want to consider lowering that value and putting it back up in the unlikely event where you need to get a memory dump.

 

Hi there.... What RAM did you use? I see Corsair 8GB sticks but I'd like to know what you're using (since your system is working fine with 16GB)