ASUS G53SX-A1 Review: Powerful Portable Gaming Discussion

This latest addition to the ASUS G-series gaming notebook lineup has fantastic performance, a great 15-inch 1080p screen, and a stealthy design. See why we recommend it.

Read the full content of this Article: ASUS G53SX-A1 Review: Powerful Portable Gaming

Related Articles:

• ASUS G53SW-A1 Review
• ASUS G73JW-A1 Review
• ASUS G73JH Review

 

How can a computer company who gets something as complex as effective-yet-quiet cooling so right continue to get something as basic as a decent keyboard so wrong? I don't get it.

 

Excellent review, well done.
It's too bad they decided to use a weaker GPU on the latest model, but overall it's still a pretty good deal for the price.
If it wasn't so darn big and heavy for a 15" laptop I would definetly own one.

 

Thanks for the comments.

Yes I was surprised at the inclusion of the GTX 560M; conventional logic would make it seem better than the 460M (and a generation newer), but it's clearly significantly slower. Still capable of playing all the latest games at high settings, but the GTX 460M would do it a certain percentage better.

The keyboard is a shame, it's definitely not that great. Usable and not the worst I've tried; ASUS continues to struggle to make decent keyboards.

 

Can anyone tell me why Asus loves the stealth fighter design so much? My second to the last Asus monitor had it as well. I bet this notebook has a radar cross-section of a pencil.
This is a real question that I'm asking by the way. I do think the design is pretty neat though.

 

Probably because it looks cool. People like aesthetically pleasing things.

Kind of like, why does Ferrari spend so much on exterior design, why not just use a plain old car body.

 

Personally, I think the stealth fighter styling is awesome. It definitely was a mark in favor of the G74 when I was trying to figure out I was going to buy.

It's a nice balance between "so boring that it's just a box" (Sager) and "so garishly overstyled I'd be hesitant to bust it out at work" (Alienware, MSI, Qosmio). It says "gamer," but in a subtle way. Very nice.

 

It makes sense.

 

I like the way my SAGER looks, ASUS is nice too but it's all just personal preference.

 

Absolutely, and I certainly didn't mean to suggest otherwise.

 

There's an error in the review. It says that the G53 has a 3 hour battery life respectable for a 17 inch notebook. I though the 53' line was all 15 inch laptops?

 

Because most of the buyers are men.

 

Hi all. I am looking at buying this laptop and did a google search to find out more about it and I found this very informative site.

My question is, I would like to use a Dell LED 21.5" external display with this PC but see there is only VGA on the comp. Can I get widescreen with the VGA output into the Dell? What are my options to get the best picture quality using the Dell LED monitor (Model: S2230MX) with this computer?

Thanks!

 

John - does the monitor have an HDMI port? If so, the G53SX does, you can simply use that.

 

This is what the Monitor has:

Signal Input: DVI-D, VGA


Interfaces:
VGA
1 x DVI-D - 24 pin digital DVI,
1 x - 15 pin HD D-Sub (HD-15),
1 x - 19 pin HDMI Type A ( With adapter )

 

I am going to Best Buy tomorrow for the Dell Monitor (ordered it on the Internet) and see if I can't exchange it for a Monitor with a HDMI.

 

Interesting that it does not have HDMI built-in. I found it on Dell's site just to make sure .....
Dell S2230MX 21.5" Ultra-Slim Monitor with LED

Comes with the DVI-D to HDMI adapter, so you could use an HDMI cable from the notebook to the monitor and use the adapter. That seems to be the best solution if you want to keep that monitor. Monitor looks OK on paper.

 

How about the Audio card with this laptop? Any good? I have an external 2.1 speaker system (2 speakers plus subwoofer) I was looking to plug into it for external sound. Is this possible?

 

Does this laptop contain a dual layer DVD burner or single layer?

 

It's a dual-layer burner.

Audio card in the laptop is fine for general use, just hook up the speakers to the headphone jack.

 

Thank you, Sir.

 

can MW3 be support on the asus G53sx???

 

Yes it can play MW3 just fine.

 

"Warning! 2nd Hard Drive for Asus G53SX is Manufacture/Distributor Upgradeable only. No user can install!" Can anyone tell me is this simply a warranty thing to aggravate people. I don't want to spring for the 2nd drive now, maybe 6 months, or a year whenever. I guess I don't understand the reasoning behind it. Though I only see it mentioned on Asus G53SX-XR1 Gaming Laptop | Asus G53SX Gaming Laptop | Asus Custom Built Gaming Laptop

 

It's a warranty thing, but unless screws are missing, service centers probably can't tell if it has been opened. Installing a second HDD in a G53 is not as straightforward as some notebooks, but overly difficult either, assuming this particular XR1 model has a second HDD caddy already installed.

 

I'm still disapointed in the 128 bit gpu screwed a lot of buyers over.

 

Hi,
i m about to buy a g53sx and want to directly buy a good cooler with.
so far i know that one bigger fan is better than two smaller etc and the position of the holes on the back trap are really important.
But i really cant choose one, there are too many. Do you guys have one on their g53 ?
Could you help me their cause i m a bit lost ?

erf yeah sorry for my derp english i m rlly bad with foreign languages.
Peace

 

A cooler is not necessary for the G53SX. It has a great cooling system built-in.

 

I do know that. He got the best system ever made on earth xD
But i know it s never enough when you are an hardcore gamer like me
And afterall i want him to have a long life and it s defenitly better with a cooler.

thx anyway

 

Is this something that only applies to Asus laptops? Or any laptop with the GTX 560M graphics card?

I'm trying to decide between this laptop and the Sager NP8130, both with this graphics card. If it does apply to all of the cards regardless of the system, how big of a deal is it for gaming?