ASUS or Acer (i7, 540m)

[Abyssalx]

Tiger Direct has an Asus A53SV-XT1 Laptop, has a 2.0ghz Sandy Bridge Core i7, 4gb RAM, a GT 540m and a 500gb HDD.
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=552780&CatId=4938

Newegg has an Acer AS5750G-9639, has a 2.0ghz Sandy Bridge Core i7, 4gb RAM, a GT 540m and a 500gb HDD also.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834215004

They are both $769.

The only difference I can see is that the Asus looks better, and has a status bar below the trackpad, and the Acer has a better webcam. (The webcam isn't much of an issue. Unless the .3mp Asus cam makes me incomprehensibly blurry.)

The Asus costs more because of shipping on Tiger Direct, but also comes with 1 year accidental damage warranty.


What would you guys recommend? As far as I can see they have about the same battery life, too. Thanks.

 

[amk-aka-Phantom]

From my experience, I'd take an Asus, they always make good stuff. And that extra warranty couldn't hurt... plus you like the looks!

 

[AntiZig]

In my personal opinion Asus > Acer.

 

[Abyssalx]

I just noticed that the Acer also has a full 2gb of video memory on the GT 540m, and is equipped with nVidia Optimus for battery life. Maybe that would bring the Acer ahead despite the brand?

-Edit - I'm not sure if it has 2gb of memory. It says 1gb on the Newegg specs but the nVidia GT540m sticker says 2gb on the actual laptop.

 

[amk-aka-Phantom]

Amount of video memory may vary from card to card. I don't think that having 2GB on GT540M will greatly influence its performance on a laptop screen, but I might be wrong... let's wait for more opinions. Meanwhile, check the Asus - it's gotta have Optimus, too... check the official Asus website rather then NewEgg, too.

 

[Abyssalx]

The thing is, the Asus model is A53SV - and Asus' website doesn't ever acknowledge that they have ANY A53 model laptops. I can't find it anywhere, and the only videos I've seen are strange amazon advertisement videos.

Edit - I found it. http://my.asus.com/Notebooks/Versatile_Performance/A53SV/

I couldn't get to it from there website any way at all. But it was there on google. Hmm.

 

[amk-aka-Phantom]

Huh, you're right... usually the US site is the first to list new models, and it's not there. It's on Amazon, though. Found a very short review here http://www.notebookcheck.net/Asus-A53SV-SX041V.52155.0.html - strange, normally this site has very good, thorough reviews... is A53SV a very new model or something?

 

[Abyssalx]

Yeah the review has the right base model but the different version - the i5 version. I'm not super concerned about it to be honest. Just seems weird, it must be new, that Acer has tons of benchmark reviews and game fps benchmark videos on youtube. But nothing like that for the Asus.

 

[amk-aka-Phantom]

http://www.amazon.com/A53SV-XE1-15-6-Inch-Versatile-Entertainment-Laptop/dp/B0052D5BY0 - here's another kinda-review on this laptop. Says it has Optimus, after all! =) But, apparently, a slower 5400 RPM HDD, which can be replaced for 7200 RPM HDD after... check the HDD speed on the Acer.

 

[Abyssalx]

It's a 5400rpm also. I plan on upgrading to 7200rpm sometime in the future. How soon should I though? I mean, how big of a performance drop is a 5400rpm from a 7200rpm. I know it's slower but, yeah. I noticed that the Acer also has a USB 3.0 port in it. I know its faster but I dunno if it really matters at the moment.

 

[amk-aka-Phantom]

USB 3.0 is an advantage unless you plan to change your laptop soon... and I doubt you do. It requires a USB 3.0 external device (2.0 devices will just work at same old 2.0 speeds), but it's worth it, IMO.

I don't know about how big of a performance drop there is between 5400 and 7200 RPM... I think that changing parts in your laptop voids the warrancy, doesn't it? Not sure. If so, then I'd change once the warranty expires - nothing to lose, faster HDD = some performance boost, and you're minimizing the chances of HDD failure due to age, since you just replaced it

Are you sure you want 1366x768? I hate that resolution, for some reason...

 

[Abyssalx]

To get similar specs with anything but 1366x768 is at least $900. 1080p is not worth $130 to me. And my 19" monitor that I'm on right now is 1440x900 and I love it, and seeing as 1366x768 is barely lower, on a 3.4" different screen, it seems pretty good to me.

 

[Saljen]

ASUS has always worked very well for me. They have an extremely good build quality. The last 3 mobo's I've bought over the last several years have been ASUS and I havn't had a single issue.

 

[christop]

I would get the Asus.

 

[Abyssalx]

Alright, thanks guys. I'm gonna get the Asus, I'll let you know how it works out.

 

[Abyssalx]

Best answer selected by abyssalx.