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    Looking at the N550JV (non touch)

    Discussion in 'Asus' started by Zatharis, Aug 29, 2013.

  1. Zatharis

    Zatharis Newbie

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    Hi all, been lurking for the past couple of weeks and figured it's time jump in and say Hi. I'm moving in the next couple of months and one of the things I plan on doing is moving away from having a desktop PC as my primary PC. As such I've been trying to find a laptop with the right combo of power, price, features and I think the N550 might just meet them all. I'm trying to replace a desktop PC I built myself a while back with the following specs...

    AMD Phenom quad-core 2.8 ghz
    8G of ram
    Nvidia GTS450 1G video card
    120G ssd plus 1TB Sata spinning drive

    While at the time I built it, it was pretty fast, I think the N550 could outperform it. Let me make clear that I really don't game, but rather run Photoshop, Premiere, and similar apps. That's why I need the nvidia graphics with all of its CUDA cores to help in video processing. I don't do that a lot so I think a laptop like this can get away with doing this on occasion without heating it up too much.

    I have been looking at a Sager laptop that is obviously more customizable, can take more memory, and additional MSata drives, etc. By the time I get it where i want it it will be well over $1500.00 and it will be pretty heavy.

    My plan is to get an N550, max out the RAM and install my Intel SATA III 180G SSD I have on hand. Also I would take the spinning disk and install it in an HDD caddy. I think this would make the machine fast enough for the work I do, image raw conversion, image editing, light video editing.

    Here are my concerns and why I'm posting here. Since I plan on ditching the desktop, I will be connecting this laptop to my Dell U2711 monitor which is 2560X1440 res. As such i need a display port output (one of the main reasons to look at the N550) as the HDMI may not deliver the full resolution, or at least the monitor may not accept it (from what I understand about the monitor).
    So, I know Displayport can send audio along with the video so has anyone tested this and can confirm that the mini display port is available as an audio output? This would save me having to connect an extra audio cable every time I bring the machine back to my desk.
    The other concern, or just question really is I have an HDD caddy for my Asus K53e. Anyone have a thought on if this might fit in the N550? I realize it may not be pretty but functionality wins here.

    Thanks for reading this lengthy post,
    Brandon
     
    Zatharis, Aug 29, 2013
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  2. sangemaru

    sangemaru Notebook Deity

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    Displayport should allow you to output audio just fine.
    Regarding the HDD caddy, you'd have to compare its form to the optical unit of the N550, if you have any around to look at.
     
    sangemaru, Aug 29, 2013
    #2