ASUS G53SW-A1 Review Discussion

ASUS has shrunk down its popular 17.3-inch G73 gaming notebook into a more manageable 15.6-inch size with the introduction of its G53SW. Is this travel-friendly gaming laptop as impressive as its bigger brother? We find out.

Read the full content of this Article: ASUS G53SW-A1 Review

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Nice review and pretty good deal, only thing it should have is a 560M GTX.

 

Strange that PC laptop makers still cannot design a good touchpad. There is an obvious great touchpad out there that they can "copy". In this case I don't care who's copying who, just stop producing garbage touchpads please. Such a waste of years.

 

When it comes to gaming notebooks, all touchpads are horrible ... even the good ones. Most people (myself included) think gaming with a touchpad is a miserable experience compared to using even the worst standard mouse.

I am glad to have a touchpad on a gaming notebook for the times when I'm traveling and just need to move the cursor around in Windows ... but I'd rather not game at all if I have to game with a touchpad.

Which probably begs the question: Why don't ALL gaming notebooks come with wireless gaming mice?

 

good review chaz. a link to the dissasembly guide would be nice

 

The GTX 560M isn't even available at the time of the G53SW's release. ASUS has already announced a G53SX, which has the GTX 560M.

 

Good, I hate seeing good laptoos using older hardware, I'm not saying the 460m is a bad card( its very good) but the 560m GTX should be a bit better.
Anyone know when the G53SX goes for sale.

 

Soon. Various stores will probably start pre-orders very soon (if they haven't already) and they will "probably" start shipping in July here in the US.

 

I do have to thank Eddie for showing me how to do it:
YouTube - ‪BTOtech.com | G53Jw & G53Sw Disassembly Take Apart G53 g53j service manual‬‏

 

Asus' matte touchpads are good. It's their touchpad buttons that are awful

 

It baffles me that after all these years of producing notebooks, these companies still manage to design touchpads that suck. The buttons as boogieman99 noted on the G53SW are terrible - see the review for full details.

Touchpad buttons should:
-Require an equal amount of pressure to depress no matter where they're pushed
-be QUIET
-be easy to find by feel
-not suck

Touchpads should:
-have a matte/non-glossy surface
-be appropriately sized (not too small)
-not be ELAN or ALPS
-not suck

 

I'm quite pleased with both the touchpad and the touchpad buttons on the G53SW, actually. And I'm coming from using a Macbook Pro, which I do feel had a far superior touchpad in almost every sense - although in my estimation, an inferior button. Despite the MBP having a better touchpad, the G53SW still is no slouch - the Synaptics multitouch gestures are quite good, and the two-fingered tracking works perfectly - like I said, not as good as the MBP but certainly good as compared to what I've encountered on most PC notebooks. Part of this may be personal preference, in that I generally prefer smooth touchpads to textured ones.

As for the buttons, I can see why you would have such a negative review of them, as I assume you weren't using the G53SW for an extended period of time. At first the buttons are terribly stiff, and not particularly nice or pleasant to use - they're too noisy, and require too much force, as you said. But over several weeks, my experience has been that through regular use these factors have decreased noticeably. They're definitely a little stiffer (and "clickier" for lack of a better adjective) than perhaps what you would find on most notebooks, but nowhere near as much as they were at first. To an extent, one also "gets used" to things like this. They certainly don't "suck", because they're absolutely functional, responsive, and well-made. I don't know why you say that they don't require an equal amount of pressure no matter where you push them - mine certainly do, it makes no difference whether you press the center or the edges. Again, this might be because they've been worn in slightly, or there could be a variable level of build quality with regard to some of these factors. But in general, I think your list of criticisms mostly consist of personal preferences, and not necessarily bottom-line industry standards of how these things should be made.

Now, I do feel that the keyboard could have been better and leaves something to be desired. It's got far too much flex for my liking, and the workmanship seems to be a little bit on the cheap side. I feel that they quality of the keyboard is of much greater concern than the touchpad/buttons. But that's just my opinion after two months of using the G53SW on a daily basis.

 

Evaluation periods for notebooks are typically 1-2 weeks, I can believe the touchpad buttons break in after a while.

The keyboard flex in the G53SW is pretty bad. Not a bad keyboard by itself, but it needs better support.

 

ive had my g53jw for several months now, and i just experienced what seems to happen to alot of other people online. the pin from inside that laptops port for the AC charger came out and is stuck in the AC adapter now. be warned that asking asus support to fix this will result in them charging you for shipping costs and possibly repair costs. I called and asked for a manager to explain the problem. i was forwarded to who i believe is dwayne, or whoever has an australian accent. he is a complete who refuses to listen to whatever you say. other than that, i like my laptop alot its just that one and those few employees in there

 

This laptop is on sale starting today at Frys.. $899..

for this price point, i think its a pretty great value.

was looking for a 13.3" or smaller screen, but at that price/power, its hard to pass up this Asus.

i don't suppose this Asus supports SATA3 SSD disks? (at SATA3 speeds?)

is the GTX560M upgrade on the new model worth an extra $400??

 

it has full support for sata3 ssd's
the 560m on the g53sx is actually just a tad weaker due to the bus speed
this one is superbly underpriced. frys is actually selling them at cost

 

dammit... your answers make me want one even more... my one problem.. the weight. and the keyboard usually gets bad reviews.. i guess you can't have everything..

the alternative would be to buy a Sony SA23 or SA25 for $1300-$1600 for a smaller screen and lighter weight.. and probably not as good gaming...

 

Well, you've read our review so I'm not sure what else I can tell you. I could definitely live with this machine on a day-to-day basis. However, considering you were set on a 13.3" or smaller notebook, that's a problem. The G53W is not even close to being as portable.

Just because something's a good deal doesn't mean you HAVE to buy it.

 

A compromise between the two would be the Alienware M14x. Cheaper and more powerful than a well-equipped SA (especially now that the 900p screen is standard), more portable than a G53...and by all reports, the keyboard is very good.

 

Good call on alienware, another possibility

 

$1399

might buy the alienware M14X this week then. compromise of both. I think i recall Frys showing some in stock which is kinda unusual. Yup, its available at ALL my local stores.. but $1499.. ouch. but my Microcenter has 1 in stock for $1399.. I was hoping for 900 resolution in the display tho.. I assume I can swap that disk for a SSD also. Frys would price match it down to $1399..

Alienware M14X i5-2430M
Model: AM14X-6667SBK
Intel® Core™ i5-2430M
8GB DDR3-1333 RAM
750GB 7,200RPM Hard Drive
14" HD Widescreen LED-backlit Display
NVIDIA® GeForce® GT 555M
Intel© Centrino© Wireless-N 1000
Resolution 1366x768

 

$1278

For $1399, thats the same price as a Sony SA23.. also in stock at Frys. SWEET Frys can price match this Sony down to $1278 from Amazon..

Sony has a slightly slower processor: i5-2410M
Sony only has 4GB ram
Sony has better resolution: 900
Sony comes with a 128GB SSD disk. (can you upgrade it, prob not?)
Sony has HD6630 graphics, is that better than Aliens GT555M above?
Sony is 13.3" and is probably lighter.

 

$899

or the Asus G53SW-A1.. for only $899.... only negative is its weight..

Processor: Intel® Core™ i7-2630QM processor
Grahics: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 460M graphics with 1.5GB GDDR5 VRAM
Display: 15.6" FHD Display
Memory: 8GB DDR3 SDRAM Memory
Storage Drive: 750GB Hard Drive

 

I actually find physical size to be more of a travel detriment than weight. The G53SW is very bulky compared to the 13.3".

 

What should i get????

G53SX = 1300EURO that's tax and delivery

CPU/Processor: Intel i7-2820QM (2.30 GHz x 8 Threads) | 8 MB L3 Cache | Turbo Boost up to 3.40 GHz (x 4 threads) | 45Watt
Graphics Card: nVIDIA® GeForce™ GTX 560M 2048MB DDR5 Video Memory
RAM/Memory:16 GB (4 x 4GB) DDR3 1333MHz
Hard Drive: 750GB 7200rpm
Display: 15.6" FHD, Color-Shine (Matte-type) (1920x1080)
Bluetooth: Built-in Bluetooth™ V2.1+EDR

G53SW = 970EURO that's tax and delivery

Processor: Intel® Core i7-2630QM, 2.0-2.9GHz, 6MB, 45W
Memory: 8GB DDR3 1333mhz
Hard Drive: 750GB 7200.4RPM (1x 750gb)
Video Graphics: nVidia GeForce GTX 460M 1.5GB GDDR5 DX11
Display: 15.6" 1920x1080 FHD LED Backlit 1080P Glossy
Optical Drive: 8X DVDRW Super Multi
Operating System Genuine Windows7® Home Premium

I know they basically run the same and the SW does run better but does the SX with the better processor and 560 is it better i know nothing about computers any help will be good !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

For those prices, SW wins hands down. There is so little difference between the 460 and 560 cards, and you will never notice the difference between a 2630 and 2820 unless you are a benchmark fanatic: Compare Intel® Products. I can't see a reason for more than 8GB of RAM unless you are doing something insane like running 5 virtual machines at the same time plus have a habit of opening a million web browser tabs all with flash videos.

The difference is not even close to being worth 330 euro.

As far as the machine is concerned, the SW and SX are the same exact chassis and I think the screens are exactly the same. Your quoted specs say matte type on the SX, but color-shine has always meant glossy so I think it is probably a typo.

 

on sale again at my local Frys for $899.. man its a steal. but i already have the Vaio SA25..

http://www.frys.com/product/6796985

 

Holy crap... Thats 200 bucks cheaper than Amazon... is this place reliable?

 

Fry's Electronics is a brick-and-mortar electronics store that also sells products online (with a much smaller presence), definitely reliable.

 

your problem is.... they have none for shipping. only store stock for pickup.

 

I'm about to pick this thing up, there's one 21 miles away

Are the warranty on Asus laptops bought from Fry's come with the excellent Asus warranty, or is it similar to Best Buy where they want you to buy their crappy Geek Squad service?

 

899 is really a good deal, same question about the frys' service.

 

It sounds a good deal, but I am not familiar with frys. So same question, how is their service?

 

found this on Asus website:

For notebooks purchased on or after Sept. 10, 2007. The ASUS 360 Notebook Service Program and Accidental Damage Warranty covers “ASUS” brand notebooks only, and does NOT extend to: “Built on ASUS,” “ASMobile,” “Powered by ASUS,” or some other models. These retailers are currently among the companies that do NOT participate in the ASUS 360 Notebook Service Program and Accidental Damage Warranty: Best Buy USA (stores and website), Best Buy Canada (stores and website), OfficeMax (stores and website), Staples USA (stores and website), Costco Wholesale (warehouses only), Microsoft (stores and website). Limited of one claim per notebook for Accidental Damage Warranty. ASUS reserves the right to discontinue this program and to modify the terms and conditions thereof at any time. ASUS Accidental Damage Warranty Program starts from the date of your ASUS notebook purchase, when all the requirements are met.

 

just picked this up at Fry's. It does indeed come with 2 year and 1 year accidental.

Of course the girl working there still asked me if I wanted to purchase an extended warranty lol

 

Where ever you buy from make sure you get the salesmans name and mention the crappy pin on the power supply socket the charger plugs into, you'll be back in 3-4 months to complain...design defect, too much stress on the pin