Notebook advice (home use)

Hi guys,

Could you please recommend me a lappie for home use. Nothing spectacular. I am not into gaming or very heavy use.

I need a good ASUS model, fast and reliable. Set and forget kind of product and for a reasonable price (if possible).

Thanks in advance.

 

Please define reasonable price. Is reasonable $600, $700, $800? Also, define "fast" please. What programs do you use?

If you want the absolute minimum, you can look at either the A53SV or the K53SV.

 

If you want the most bang for your buck, you could check out the Asus K53TA which has a Llano APU and a discrete GPU for only 450 dollars.

ASUS - Laptop / AMD A-Series Processor / 15.6" Display / 4GB Memory / 500GB Hard Drive - Brown Suit - K53TA-BBR6

 

Thanks for your replies. I was looking at no more than $1000.

Fast as in having in Intel i7 but note sure which specific i7 is fast enough to have a speedy laptop.

Programs I will run: Windows 7 (which is probably standard today), DVD burner, Photoshop CS3, and various others which are commonly used by most people, nothing involved with Graphic design or any other heavy duty proggies.

Thanks again!

Edited: I was thinking of buying the N53SV, but I have noticed there are several subtypes of this particular notebook:

1. Asus N53SV-A1
2. Asus N53SV-A2
3. Asus N53SV-B1
4. Asus N53SV-XV1

What are the differences?

 

Then I'd recommend a N53SV-X1

Amazon.com: ASUS N53SV-XV1 15.6-Inch Versatile Entertainment Laptop (Silver Aluminum): Computers & Accessories

Its a bit expensive, and includes a pretty good discreet graphics card. However, Photoshop CS3 does support Nvidia's GPGPU technology (CUDA) for faster rendering, although currently it is in beta phase.

Another possibility would be K53E

Amazon.com: ASUS K53E-B1 15.6-Inch Versatile Entertainment Laptop (Dark Brown): Computers & Accessories

And another SSD to improve Windows 7 performance.

 

viperabyss,

I really appreciate your help. OK, it's time for me to decide between these last two notebooks you just recommended me. I did a bit of a search and have noticed that most of these notebooks come with Windows 7 Home Premium preloaded, is there a vendor that loads Windows 7 Pro or Ultimate with the boxes?

One last question, I guess both series are reliable in terms of not being lemons that break down after 1 year of use, right?

Cheers.

 

If you want different version of Windows 7, you can try notebook customizing company like GentechPC and XoticPC.

ASUS laptops are pretty reliable, and users rarely reports DOAs (lemons). However if you do somehow get the lemons, you can easily exchange for a new system within a month. The only downside is dealing with ASUS's tech support, which is horrible. However, if you purchase from vendors like GentechPC and XoticPC, they'll help you to deal with ASUS, which is much more effective and efficient.

Hope these help.

 

Thanks for the extra info.

 

I have decided to purchase the Asus K53SV-A1 via GenTechPC including some customised extras. i7-2630QM processor, extra RAM and bluetooth.

I have one final question:

One of the customisation options offered by GenTech is "Help me burn Drivers DVD". To skip this extra, how do I do it myself?

Cheers.

 

You can simply download all of them from here:

ASUSTeK Computer Inc. -Support- Drivers and Download K53SV

And select Windows 7 64bit.