Laptop Thoughts: The ASUS K53SV-B1: Gaming for a Grand

"The ASUS K53SV-B1 is a handsome machine well suited for mainstream users. It offers plenty of power for day-to-day use, and when put to the test with video and games, its Intel Core i7 and Nvidia GT 540M graphics processor ensure that this system can handle itself. But at $969, is the K53SV a stud or a dud?"

At 6-pounds, with a crazy name, but with prices starting at $799 with an i5 processor, 6GB of memory, a 640GB drive, and a robust NVIDIA graphics card, this appears to be a great multimedia and gaming system. An extra $170 kicks up the processor to an i7, but the rest of the configuration is the same. The system is cool running, with a very good keyboard and touchpad, very good 1366x768 display, pretty good Altec Lansing speakers, a full complement of ports (but no USB 3.0), a webcam that was somewhat grainy, great graphics, a battery lasting about 4-hours (a bit below the average for this laptop class), but with relatively weak wifi performance. Another huge plus is ASUS' 2-year warranty, with 1-year of accidental damage protection. Not the lightest laptop in its class, but if you're looking for a multimedia / gaming laptop, this may be well worth a look.