Asus K50IJ-BBZ5 review: Asus K50IJ-BBZ5

Editors' note: This review is part of our 2010 retail laptop and desktop back-to-school roundup, covering specific fixed configurations of popular systems that can be found in retail stores.

7.1

Asus K50IJ-BBZ5

The Good

Solid build quality; attractive yet understated design; comfortable keyboard; competitive performance; multitouch touch pad.

The Bad

No HDMI; a tad on the portly side; slim arrow keys.

The Bottom Line

The Asus K501J-BBZ5 is a well-built, good-looking budget laptop with enough power for most home users; however, many would-be buyers will bemoan its lack of an HDMI port.

The Asus K501J-BBZ5 is just about the lowest priced dual-core laptop you can find. At $529, it costs $180 more than single-core laptops such as the Compaq CQ62-215DX and the Toshiba Satellite C665-S5049. In a retail store, you'll likely see it on the shelf next to the Dell Inspiron iM501R-1212PBL and the HP G62-225DX, two other 15.6-inch laptops at the same price.

We prefer the Asus K501J of the three laptops, thanks to its competitive performance and solid construction. It weighs a few ounces more than the HP G62, but the extra heft lends a feeling of quality and ruggedness to the machine. Also, it offers the best battery life of this $529 trio. However, if you plan to output video or pictures to your HDTV with it, you're out of luck. Unlike the Dell and the HP, the Asus K501J does not have an HDMI port, which may a deal breaker for many home users.

The Asus K501J-BBZ5 uses the same textured plastic chassis as past K Series models, which features a subtle houndstooth pattern on the lid and keyboard deck. The lid and screen bezel are a glossy black, and the keyboard deck is a fingerprint-resistant matte black. The wrist rest below the keyboard is wider than usual, but the large plastic expanses to either side of the touch pad feel rigid, with little to no flex. The hinges, too, are sturdy and hold the display firmly in place.

The laptop weighs 5.8 pounds, which is the same as the Dell Inspiron iM501R-1212PBL and a few ounces heavier than the 5.5-pound HP G62-225DX. The Asus K501J feels more solidly built than either the Dell or the HP; its plastic chassis flexes less, and its display hinges are wider and stronger.

The keyboard has isolated Chiclet-style keys, like the ones popularized by the Apple MacBook, that offer a pleasant typing experience. Asus crams a narrow number pad to the right of the keyboard without shortening any keys except for the four arrow keys. You may not find the need to use them much; the touch supports multitouch gestures. So instead of using the up and down arrows to navigate long Web pages or documents, you can simple swipe your two fingers vertically on the touch pad. The touch pad is surprisingly small, though we never felt constrained when directing the cursor to and fro. The mouse buttons are generously proportioned, but they are a bit stiff and emit a loud clack when pressed.

The 15.6-inch display has a 1,366x768-pixel native resolution and LED backlights. The image is bright and crisp. The glossy screen coating strikes a fine balance between improving the image and keeping glare and reflections to a minimum. Above the display is a low-end 0.3-megapixel Webcam, which should be fine for basic Skype use.

The Asus K501J-BBZ5 features a pair of Altec Lansing speakers, which emit average sound. They'll suffice for movies and YouTube videos, but music playback is best done with a set of headphones or external speakers.

Connectivity on the Asus K501J-BBZ5 is sparse. There are two USB 2.0 ports on either side of the laptop, and it doesn't have an eSATA port. There is a media card reader, but there is no ExpressCard slot and a VGA port is your only video-out option. We wish the Asus had HDMI, which can be found on the competing Dell Inspiron iM501R-1212PBL and HP G62-225DX. We're happy to report that unlike previous K Series models, Asus has kept bloatware to a minimum. There are a number of Asus utilities of questionable value and a Best Buy software installer, but otherwise the hard drive is relatively pristine.

The Asus K501J-BBZ5 features the Intel Pentium T4500 processor, a dual-core chip clocked at 2.3GHz. It's an entry-level dual-core processor a rung below Intel's venerable Core 2 Duo line and a couple rungs below the Core i3 and i5 series. Budget buyers will find that it delivers enough muscle for general use, including multitasking scenarios. It was 11 percent faster than the Pentium T4500-based HP G62-225DX on CNET Labs' multitasking benchmark, thanks in large part to its extra gigabyte of memory (4GB compared with the HP's 3GB). On the same test, it was a considerable 44 percent faster than the Dell Inspiron i501M-1212PBL, which uses a 2.1GHz AMD Athlon II P320. We saw similar results on our Photoshop and iTunes tests, with the Asus K501J-BBZ5 and HP H62 posting similar scores that were faster than the Dell Inspiron i501M.

Juice box
Asus K501J-BBZ5	Average watts per hour
Off	0.41
Sleep	1.09
Idle	9.15
Load	37.27
Raw kWh Number	39.47
Annual power consumption cost	$4.48

The Asus K501J-BBZ5 uses a standard six-cell battery and lasted 2 hours 54 minutes on CNET Labs' demanding video playback battery drain test. That's a fairly average score, though it did top its two $529 competitors from Dell and HP. On a midsize laptop, we look for a minimum of 3 hours of battery life in general.

The Asus K501J-BBZ5 is backed with a standard one-year parts-and-labor warranty. Unfortunately, Asus' accidental damage warranty does not apply to laptops purchased at retail outlets such as Best Buy, which protects you against damage from fire, electrical surges, drops, and spills. You'll find the typical online help--FAQ and troubleshooting pages, driver downloads, and user forums--on the Asus support site, but we couldn't find any specific mention of any K501J models.

Find out more about how we test laptops.

System configurations:
Asus K50IJ-BBZ5
Windows 7 Home Premium (64-bit); 2.3GHz Intel Pentium Dual-Core T4500; 4,096MB DDR3 SDRAM 1,066MHz; 64MB (Dedicated)/1,696MB (Total) Mobile Intel GMA 4500MHD; 320GB Western Digital 5,400rpm

Asus K50IJ-BNC5
Windows 7 Home Premium (64-bit); 2.3GHz Intel Pentium Dual-Core T4500; 4,096MB DDR3 SDRAM 667MHz; 64MB (Dedicated)/1,696MB (Total) Mobile Intel GMA 4500MHD; 500GB Western Digital 5,400rpm

Compaq Presario CQ62-215DX
Windows 7 Home Premium (64-bit); 2.19GHz AMD Sempron V120; 2,048MB DDR3 SDRAM 1,066MHz; 256MB ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4250; 250GB Western Digital 5,400rpm

Dell iM501R-1212PBL
Windows 7 Home Premium (64-bit); 2.1GHz AMD Athlon II P320 Dual-Core; 3,072MB DDR2 SDRAM 1,333MHz; 384MB ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4250; 320GB Toshiba 5,400rpm

HP G62-225DX
Windows 7 Home Premium (64-bit); 2.3GHz Intel Pentium Dual-Core T4500; 3,072MB DDR2 SDRAM 800MHz; 64MB (Dedicated)/1,696MB (Total) Mobile Intel GMA 4500MHD; 320GB Samsung 5,400rpm

HP Pavilion dv5-2035dx
Windows 7 Home Premium (64-bit); 2.29GHz AMD Turion II P520 Dual-Core; 4,096MB DDR3 SDRAM 1,066MHz; 320MB ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4250; 320GB Seagate 5,400rpm

Toshiba Satellite A665-S6050
Windows 7 Home Premium (64-bit); 2.27GHz Intel Core i3 M350; 4,096MB DDR3 SDRAM 1,066MHz; 64MB (Dedicated)/1,696MB (Total) Intel GMA HD; 500GB Seagate 7,200rpm

Toshiba Satellite C655-S5049
Windows 7 Home Premium (64-bit); 2.2GHz Intel Celeron 900; 2,048MB DDR3 SDRAM 1,066MHz; 128MB (Dedicated)/829MB (Total) Mobile Intel GMA 4500MHD; 250GB Toshiba 5,400rpm