Kai's K50AB-SX021L review

After 2 month of heavy usage, Now its time for me to write up my own review of this laptop.

Detailed Specification
+ AMD Athlon X2 QL-64 ( 2.1GHz 1MB L2 Cache)
+ AMD780G+SB700
+ Hynix 2GB DDR2 800MHz
- Due to Limitation on QL-64 processor, the ram speed is capped to 667MHz.
+ Hitachi HTS543225L9A3 (SATA 250GB 5400rpm 8MB AHCI mode)
+ ATi HD4570 (512MB DDR2 8ROPs 80SP 680MHz/500MHz)
- onboard IGP ATi HD3200 (256MB HM 8ROPS 40SP 500MHz)
+ Altheros AR9285 802.11 b/g/n WiFi
+ Realtek RTL8168B Gigabit LAN 10/100/1000
+ 15.6" 16:9 LCD LED Backlight (1366 x 768)
+ Altec Lansing + VIA HD VT1708S + SRS Premium
+ Full Key Keyboard with numpad
+ Weight: 5.83 lb. including 6-cell battery
+ Dimensions: 14.57 (W) x 10.08 (L) x 1.22-1.40 (H) inches
+ Battery: 6-cell battery
+ Warranty: 2-year global warranty, 1-year accidental damage, 1-month zero bright dot LCD warranty
+ Extras: Notebook carrying case and mouse

Pictures
+ will be updated later

Design and Aesthetics
The outer design of the casing is quite pleasing. With different angle, the color can be black or dark-brown. Closer look will reveal dots n short horizontal line, with also, in different angle, will change its color either black or gray. It makes the K50AB looks more expensive. But the cons here is the casing is really prone to fingerprint and other smudges.

Keyboard
The Keyboard with numpad is a big plus for people that worked with a lot of number. With the key adequately spaced, my medium sized hand(compared with a dozen of my friends hand) feels really comfortable. In this model, Asus have opted for fn + key for any other functions. More than half of the fn + key need driver installed to be functional, and this really irritate me, because I like my windows to be ran in minimal process as possible. Abandoning these software makes 10 key nonfunctional. The plus point is, the key is really responsive, I have no problem in typing my long assignments.

Touchpad
The touchpad is quite weird. It integrates with the casing, and it is not as responsive as other touchpad I've touch so far. Most of the time, I rather be using a provided USB mouse. The touchpad uses multitouch technology, with that, 2 finger operation will make it scroll, 3 finger tap will open up context menu(the right-click in our mouse). Sometimes, it doesnt work.

Screen
The 15.6" screen is a welcomed and the main reason why I choose K50AB over the lighter and longer lasting brother K40AB. The viewing angle is average. With minimum brightness settings, you have to be viewing the right angle to get to see full screen without the color to be washed away. The brightness however, is great. I have no problem watching DVD in bright sunlight.

TBC...

Chrome

I have heard of Google chrome for quite some time now. and also, hearing is not the same as seeing for himself, so i decided to use Chrome.

As a heavy user of internet, i do a lot of things. Be it social networking, participating in discussion forums, flash games, reading blogs, etc... i do use a web browser to the extend i never even bother to close them. they are either closed/restarted when i shut down my laptop(on rare occasion, i usually hibernate), or when there are updates or only when i have installed new add-ons.

Lately on rare occasion, firefox have an issue of 'hang' for 1-2 seconds, it is registered as not responding. and then it went back to normal. Although some would say "hey, it is only for 1-2 seconds" or "At least it is not crashed like IE" but it is rather annoying.

Enter Google Chrome. It is simple, but tad too simple. I always customize every aspect of my softwares. and I aspect my Chrome can be tailored to me also. But the only thing I notice so far is theme. What? just theme? Ok, dont fret, maybe there are hidden settings elsewhere. But i dont see the hidden setting. coz it is hidden. duh.

2 days worth of work in chrome, so the conclusion?

Switch back to Firefox!