Monday, August 22, 2011

Asus U56E-BBL5

Asus U56E-BBL5





Not looking to empty your pockets for the latest and greatest in laptop technology? If you want a laptop that has some portability, long battery life, and can play and store your media easily, and even let you dabble in a little content creation, then the Asus U56E-BBL5 ($649.99 list at Best Buy), our new Editors' Choice for the budget laptop category, is worth some serious consideration.
Design
Smooth, brushed aluminum encases the lid of the U56E-BBL5, much like the Lenovo IdeaPad V570-1066A9U ($629.99 list, 4 stars)—looks like budget laptops aren't merely reduced to plastic enclosures as they have been in the past. The palm rest, however, includes a special design feature not seen on most laptops: A soft rubberized texture, much like the one encasing the Alienware M17X (Sandy Bridge) ($2,254 direct, 4.5 stars) and on the Asus G74SX-BBK7's ($1,199 list, 3.5 stars) palm rest. Underhand, it feels great and adds a bit of traction when typing. The system weighs 5.5 pounds, on par with other same-sized laptops, like the Lenovo V570-1066A9U (5.47 pounds) and 5.6-pound HP Pavilion dv6-6013cl ($649.99 list, 4.5 stars).


The 15.6-inch screen has a 1,366 by 768 resolution display, which translates to 720p HD viewing. If you're looking to get full 1080p HD, then you'll have to utilize the HDMI port or the Wireless Display 2.0 (WiDi 2.0) option, which can wirelessly stream your computer's content onto an HDTV—provided you have a Netgear Push2TV receiver (a $99 option). Your HD content, however, will be limited to digital downloads or streaming video as the U56E-BBL5 only comes with a DVD-RW drive—no Blu-ray. If you are looking for Blu-ray and a 1080p HD screen to watch it on, then you'll have to pay a premium for a laptop like the Acer Aspire AS8950G-9839 ($1,499.99 street, 4 stars).
The keyboard is full-sized and in the chiclet-style. There's also a numeric, but the keys are half the size. The multi-touchpad was smooth and the multitouch functions like, pinch-zoom and two-finger scroll were responsive. The mouse buttons were a little stiff for my tastes, but these things are very subjective, so be sure to try before you buy if you're concerned.

Specifications

Type
General Purpose, Media, Value
Processor Name
Intel Core i5-2410M
Operating System
Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium
Processor Speed
2.3 GHz
RAM
6 GB
Weight
5.5 lb
Screen Size
15.6 inches
Screen Size Type
widescreen
Graphics Card
Intel GMA HD
Storage Capacity (as Tested)
640 GB
Networking Options
802.11n
Primary Optical Drive
DVD+RW (Plus)
Features
At the top of the list of features for the U56E-BBL5 is WiMAX, a 4G wireless subscription service available in major metropolitan areas (over 54 cities). Wi-Fi 802.11n is also available, as well as an Ethernet jack. Other connection options include a card reader (MMC/SD/SD HC), VGA, audio jacks, two USB 2.0 ports, and a USB 3.0 port, which will allow you to connect faster hard drives. The Asus U56E-BBL5 comes with 640GB 5,400rpm worth of storage space, which should be enough to store all your media.
Performance
The U56E-BBL5 is equipped with a 2.3GHz Intel Core i5-2410M processor and 6GB of memory. On PCMark 7 (1,920) it scored 146 points below the Lenovo V570-1066A9U, which is not a huge difference in scores. In multimedia tests the U56E-BBL5's scores were nearly identical to that of the Lenovo V570-1066A9U times on our Handbrake video encoding test (1 minute 55seconds) and Photoshop CS5 image filtering test (4:13). Cinebench R11.5 garnered the same 2.6 score.
Even though the U56E-BBL5 doesn't come equipped with a discrete graphics chip, its scores indicate it could have some value among more casual gamers. World of Warcraft enthusiasts and fans of light 3D games like Torchlight should be satisfied with what this laptop has to offer. Games likeCrysis (DirectX 10) (12.96 frames per second on Medium setting) and Lost Planet 2 (22fps on Medium settings, DX9) will be unplayable without a discrete graphics chipset.
Battery life was phenomenal, some of the best-in-class numbers I've seen. In our MobileMark 2007 test, the U56E-BBL5's 8-cell74Wh battery lasted 7 hours 34 minutes. The HP dv6-6013cl lasted 5:17 with a 6-cell 55Wh battery and the Lenovo V570-1066A9U's 48Wh 6-cell battery lasted 4:41.
The Asus U56E-BBL5 offers a multitude of ways to connect you to the internet: Via WiMAX, Ethernet, and Wi-Fi 802.11n. The Lenovo IdeaPadV570-1066A9U also offers these options. Both laptops are similar in everything from performance to aluminum design. Where they depart is in ports and battery life: The Asus U56E-BBL5 offers a more standardized USB 3.0 port and over 7 hours of battery life whereas the Lenovo V570-1066A9U offers an eSATA port and only 4:41 battery time. So if you're more the road warrior, the U56E-BBL5 sounds like the better option. It may only cost $20 more the Lenovo V570-1066A9U, but the U56E-BBL5's bigger battery, 2GB more memory, and USB 3.0 will make the difference when transferring files to your external hard drives. It's for these reasons that the Asus U56E-BBL5 replaces the Lenovo IdeaPad V570-1066A9U as the new Editors' Choice for budget laptops.

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Kapil Arora

I am a Programmer and Certified Ethical Hacker.I loves to play with codes and Tech Gadgets. I provide the Latest Tech reviews, Tech News and Tips related to mobile phone and Operating Systems.
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