Ever since I first tested an Asus N laptop, I’ve been a fan of this family. Its members, while not the best multimedia machines on the market, managed to offer a nearly unbeatable price/features ratio.
In this article we’ll talk about the Asus N550, the 2013 series of Ns. To be more exact, I have the Asus N550JV over here, one of the top configurations that will be available in stores.
I’ve tested the Asus N750 last week and if you read that article, you probably know by now that Asus changed quite a few things from their previous series. The N550 succeeds the Asus N56, a very appreciated laptop during 2012. And from what I can tell after using it for a while, it has what i takes to become even more popular than its predecessor.
There are of course things that could have been done better, but overall the N550 is a gorgeous and powerful laptop, able to deal with everything you might throw at it, while going for about 1000 euros over here, which translates in a bit over one grand across the pond.
But enough jibber jabbering, let’s see why I liked the new Asus N550 so much.
Important note: the Asus N550JV I got for this test is a press sample, a pre-production unit. Hardware wise, this is identical to the final versions you’ll be able to get in stores, but the exact configurations might be slightly different. Also, final versions might offer better performances, as drivers are still fresh right now, at the time of this post.
Update: Check out this link for the latest discounts on the Asus N550JV.
Update2: Asus has a new version of the N550 in stores, called the N550JK. It’s identical to the JV tested here, with one major difference: it bundles and Nvidia GTX 850M graphics chip, as opposed to the GT 750M chip on this one. And that translates in better gaming results, as the *50M is closer to the GTX 760M than to the 750M. Even so, I’d expect 10-15% better numbers in most games, so the gap is not impressive. More details about the N550JK, including user reviews and up-to-date prices are available via this link.
Update3: Asus recently launched the N551 series, which addresses some of the N550’s line issues. Check out my detailed review of the Asus N551JK model for more details.
Update4: There’s also a gaming version of this device, the G551 series, meant for those of you looking for a bit extra performance and a more gaming oriented design. My detailed review is available over here.
The Asus N550JV is a Top Multimedia Laptop
Asus N550JV Video Review
The video review will take you through most of the important aspects of this laptop.
The specs – Asus N550J / N550JV
And before we get in deep, let’s have a look at the specs, so you’ll know what we’re dealing with here.
| Asus N550 series – Asus N550JV | |
| Screen | 15.6 inch, 1920 x 1080 px resolution, IPS touchscreen |
| Processor | Intel Haswell Core i7-4700HQ |
| Chipset | Intel HM86 |
| Video | integrated Intel 4600 HD and dedicated Nvidia 750M graphics |
| Memory | 16 GB DDR3 |
| Hard-disk | 750 GB 5400 rpm |
| Connectivity | Wireless N, Gigabit Lan, Bluetooth 4.0 |
| Ports | 3 x USB 3.0, HDMI, mini DisplayPort, LAN, card-reader, webcam |
| Baterry | 6 Cell 4000 mAh 59 Wh |
| Operating system | Windows 8 |
| Size | 383 x 255 x 27.7 mm |
| Weight | about 2.5 kg (5.5 pounds) |
Update: The Asus N550JK-DS71 is a newer version of the N550JV, released in 2014, and it comes with an Nvidia GTX 850M 2GB DDR3 graphics chip. That aside, the JV and the JK models are identical.
Overview – exterior and looks
We’ll start with the looks. Asus slightly redesigned the N550 and more importantly, made it thinner and lighter than last year’s model. As a result, while this is not as sleek as an ultrabook, it still is a fairly portable 15 incher.
The N550 also looks good and feels sturdy, reliable, mainly because aluminum is used for the entire casing. There are some darker sheets of metal on the hood and on the belly, while the silver interior is cast from a solid piece of the same material.
Asus took special care of the details as well. There’s a backlit logo on the lid, the same beveled edges we saw on the bigger N750 and also the same punctured patterns around the two buttons found above the keyboard. The one on the right is the Power button, while the one on the left launches the Asus Console, but can also be configured to launch an app of your liking, if you want to.
Sleek and beautiful
While still looking at the interior, you’ll notice the large palm rest with a smooth, metallic finishing, and the screen’s new hinge, but more about it a bit later.
All in all, design and build quality wise, the N550 really is a masterpiece. However, there is one thing I didn’t like: the lower joint between the sheet of metal on the bottom of this laptop and the silver inner body, that leaves out some very sharp edges. You’ll find them very annoying when grabbing the laptop.
Anyway, let’s have a look around the sides. Most of the ports are smartly lined on the left edge, with the PSU, the subwoofer’s connector, the Lan adapter, full-size HDMI and Mini DisplayPort video output, plus two USBs and the audio/microphone jack. The Status LEDs sit on the front edge, just beneath the trackpad, while on the right there’s the optical unit, flanked by a Kensington lock, a third USB slot and a card-reader.
Flipping the laptop upside down, you’ll notice only some cooling grills in the middle, as the battery in encased and the laptop is not that easy to upgrade. Still, with the right Philips screwdriver you can get rid of the 10 or so screws holding the entire back panel in place and access all the components inside.
You’ll notice there’s a single hard-drive on this unit with the battery next to it, two memory modules and two large fans and heat pipes towards the back. However, there’s no free eSATA that could take a caching SSD or an extra small SSD for your operating system, the only one available being occupied by the Wireless module.
Screen
Now, on to that hinge. It stretches over most of the screen’s length and is sturdy, keeping that display firmly in place, exactly how you’ll set it up. And that’s a good thing, especially since the N550 comes with a touchscreen that you’ll keep poking with your fingers.
A very good one by the way, that reacted snappy and accurate to my touches. Of course, having a touchscreen brings along the glossy glass on top of the actual panel, with its reflections in strong light, but since the N550 is going to live most of its days inside, that shouldn’t bother you that much.
As for the actual panel, Asus bundles a 1080p IPS one on this laptop (hardware ID: LGD0323 ), the same they offer on the Zenbook UX51. It’s a bright enough display that offers fairly good colors and contrast, so definitely a big leap from the TN screens we’ve seen on Asus multimedia laptops in the past. Of course, most IPS screens come with light bleeding around the edges and there’s some visible on this particular unit as well. You’ll probably only notice this when watching movies flanked by black bars and you’ll eventually grow to ignore it. At least I did…
Full HD IPS Touchscreen on this top version of the Asus N550JV
On top of that, I should also mention the solid viewing angles and the fact that the screen bends quite a lot on the back. And that makes the N550 a viable laptop not just for desk-use, but for more casual scenarios as well (couch or bed use, for instance), something I wish I could say about more and more devices in the future.
Of course, it’s worth noting that there are better IPS panels out there, able to display more accurate colors and offer deeper contrast. But you’ll find those on more expensive laptops. And unless you’re a graphic artist or something related, I doubt you’ll ever complain about this screen on the N550.
Keyboard and trackpad
Anyway, enough about that, let’s talk about the keyboard. I’ve reviewed the Asus N750 last week and the N550 bundles exactly the same one we saw on that unit. It comes with the US layout on this smaller laptop, but that will differ from region to region. And regardless of this, the Directional and NumPad keys are still narrower than the others and way too cramped.
You’ll also notice that someone at Asus decided to use silver keys on a silver background, so there’s very little contrast and as a result, this keyboard looks… dull, even ugly I might say.
Decent trackpad and keyboard, but there’s room for improvement
It doesn’t offer the best typing experience either, mainly because the keys feel somewhat plastiky and are a bit too tall for my liking, but it’s a good performer nonetheless.
Oh, and I should mention that this is backlit and you can adjust the illumination by pressing FN and the F3 or F4 keys.
The trackpad is alright, fairly accurate most of the time, smooth and responsive. It supports all kinds of gestures, with up to three different fingers or when dragging from the sides, for those Windows 8 commands. However, like all the clickpads I’ve seen on Asus machines in these last years, this one can still get jerky and jumpy from time to time. It only happens occasionally, but it’s enough to jade the overall experience.
The clickpad supports plenty of gestures
Hardware and performances
Alright, with those already on the table, let’s go ahead and Press the Power button and see what we can actually do with this machine.
The N550 runs Windows 8 and boots from cold in about 15 seconds. Our unit, the Asus N550JV, is one of the top configurations that will be available for this laptop, with an Intel Core i7-4700HQ processor, 16 GB of RAM, dual-graphics with an Nvidia 750M dedicated chip, and a standard 5400 rpm 750 GB hard-drive. There’s no caching SSD on this particular model we have here (in fact, it looks like the N550 will not offer this, since I didn’t see any spare mSata connector inside), and that’s why the entire storage solution will drag down the overall performances of this notebook.
You can of course easily upgrade the RAM if your unit comes with less (supports up to 16 GB), you can replace the hard-drive with an SSD and that’s about it. You could probably remove the optical bay if you want to, but Asus doesn’t offer any replacements for that, like a extra graphics chip (Lenovo does that on they similar model) or an extra battery.
Anyway, I will tell you that this laptop is overall a beast, even with the slow HDD. It can deal with anything you might throw at it, from basic tasks, like browsing, editing texts and pictures, working with documents and so on, all the way to more complex activities, like editing video, running programming software and so on. It handles multitasking as well and the large working area helps too.
If you’re interested in some benchmark results, you’ll find them below. Note that all the tests we’re run with the Nvidia 311.54 driver, the latest at the moment of this review, so when more mature drivers will be released in the future, you might see some small bumps.
- PC Mark Vantage: 9748;
- PC Mark 07: 5031;
- 3D Mark 11: Entry – E4277; Performance – P2723; Extreme – X781;
- 3D Mark 13: Ice Storm – 73665; Cloud Gate – 6856 ;Fire Strike – 1450; Fire Strike Extreme – 709;
- Cinebench 11.5: CPU – 6.96 pts ; OpenGL – 53.04 fps.
And then, the N550 can be used for fun, as it is after all a multimedia laptop. Movies are going to look awesome on this punchy IPS screen and the system can handle all sorts of video files.
And it can handle games as well. That Nvidia 750M chip (the 4GB DDR3 version) is not a top performer, but I was able to run most modern titles on 1080p resolution with medium details just fine. See the results below:
- Metro: Last Light – 44 fps;
- Bioshock Infinite – 32 fps;
- Crysis 3 – 19 fps;
- Grid 2 – 56 fps;
- Starcraft 2: Heart of the Swarm – 45 fps (around 40 fps in a 4 v 4 game);
- Need for Speed: Most Wanted – 28 fps;
- The Elder Scroll: Skyrim – 41 fps.
You might wonder why I ran all these games on medium details? Becausethe N550 is not a dedicated gaming machine and that’s why it will not be able to deal with these recent titles on max settings. Look for an Asus ROG laptop if you want that.
Heat and Noise
Of course, when packing fast hardware inside a thin laptop, this usually leads to overheating. The same happens with this Asus N550, but only when pushing the laptop, when running games or other intensive tasks for hours. In these cases, the area on top of the keyboard, where there’s that Audio by Bang and Olufsen inscription, gets very hot, so hot that you can’t actually touch it for longer than 2 seconds without feeling pain. The same part on the bottom of the laptop gets hot as well.
New cooling system
Taking a quick look at the hardware inside the laptop, you’ll notice that those massive heat-sinks are placed around there and when they do get hot, they disperse the heat onto the metal frame. So Asus could have done a better job isolating the heat-sinks from the exterior, but even so, high temperatures are always going to be part of the story if you want a powerful, sleek machine.
I would really be bothered by heat if it would lead to hardware throttling, as I do want such a computer to perform to the best of its abilities, if required. Luckily, this doesn’t happen here. Check out the pictures below, showing the temperatures/status achieved while running PC Mark vantage and while playing Skyrim for more than one hour. If you’re interested in the detailed LOG for Skyrim (after playing for about 3 hours), let me know, I will add a link to it as well
Anyway, I should also add that If you’re not pushing the N550, it will run quiet and cool. The fans are constantly spinning though, so this is never completely silent.
Speaking about the cooling grill, Asus completely redesigned it. Most of the air is sucked from below the laptop (some is sucked from the right side of the hinge as well, as you can see from that quick peak at the hardware), that’s why it’s important not to cover those grills. It is then blown out through the cuts (middle and left) behind the hinge, which sends most of the hot air towards the back of the laptop, but there’s still a fair amount coming towards us, the users. On the N750, the hinge was sculpted to direct the air towards the back, it’s not the same with the N550, probably because the it is more compact here.
The Asus N550 runs cool and quiet during everyday use
I can’t say that the new solution is a lot better than the old one, but there is one thing that I like: on the older N56, the entire left side of the keyboard and palmrest got hot when running games, areas you would always come in contact with. That no longer happens with the N550, that’s why I do find the new model more comfortable to use for intensive tasks.
Sound system
Temperatures aside, we should talk about the audio system, a trademark for the Asus N line.
Like many other Asus multimedia laptops, the N550 comes with an external subwoofer, that will take care of all the basses when connected. However, Asus ditched the front-facing speakers hidden behind those punctured grills on the interior and replaced them with some smaller ones, placed on the front-lower edge of the body, pushing sound towards the desk.
New set of speakers
There are four of them now and Asus claims this does improve the overall sound quality over their previous generation laptop. But I beg to differ. Even so, the speakers are loud and the sound quality good enough as long as you don’t push the volume too high. Once you get pass 70%, distortions come to play, annoying ones. Hear for yourselves.
Bottom point, Asus decided to change the speakers in order to accommodate the sleeker body and the new cooling system; and while the N550 is still a good performer, for sure among the best in its class, it can’t really stay next to the older N56 when it comes to the overall audio quality.
Connectivity and others
Connectivity wise, the N550 offers all the things you might need, with Bluetooth, Gigabit Lan and Fast and reliable Wireless (an Intel Centrino N6235 chip, with WiDi). However, support for the 802-11AC standard would have been nice and would have made this laptop more future proof.
There’s also a webcam on this laptop with dual microphones, decent for occasional Skype calls, but not impressive.
Last but not least, it’s worth knowing that Asus bundles the N550 with a bunch of preinstalled software and services. Some of them could be useful, like the free Cloud storage offered for 3 years or the Splendid, AudioWizard or Tutor applications, all easily accessible from the Asus Console interface.
But there are several others you should uninstall if you want to make your laptop snappier. McAfee, Microsoft Office Trial and a bunch of software from CyberLink should be on that list, unless you plan on editing videos, in which case the bundled CyberLink PowerDirector 8 can be useful, although it’s an older version of this software.
In fact, some of you might want to get rid of all of these programs, and I can’t blame you for that.
Plenty of goodies packed on this N550
Prices and availability
Those being said, the Asus N550 is not the perfect multimedia laptop. But for the money, you’re certainly getting plenty.
The N550JV, with the i7 processor, a 750 GB 7200 rpm HDD and 8 GB of RAM starts at around 1000-1100 euros over here. This however comes with the non-glare, non-touch Full HD TFT screen, probably the one we saw on the G55 and the N56 last year. For the IPS touchscreen configuration you’ll have to add around 100 euro extra. The top configurations, with the same processor, more memory and a 256 GB SSD instead of the slow HDD we had on this unit, will get to 1400-1500 euros.
Of course, the N550 will be available in several different version, and I expect cheaper configurations to be launched later this year, with Core i5 processors and slightly slower graphics (probably a 730M chip). But that’s yet to be confirmed.
— — —
Update: The Asus N550JV has been replaced by the N550JK these days, and the Core i7-4700HQ configuration with 8 GB of RAM, 1 TB HDD and the Nvidia GTX 850M graphics chip sells for under $1100 these days. Check out this link for more details.
— — —
Battery Life
Alright, before we get to draw the conclusions, there are a few other things i have to add. First, the N550 is impressive when it comes to battery life. There’s a 59 Wh battery inside this unit and corroborated with the Haswell platform and the hybrid graphics system (with Optimus), allows the laptop to last 5+ hours on a charge, if used lightly (text editing, a browser with 3-4 tabs, screen at 30%, Wi-Fi ON).
During everyday use though, with some browsing, movies, music, text editing and so on, I got around 3.30 – 4 hours, with the screen at 50%, WI-FI ON and Power4Gear Battery Saving mode selected. And that’s not bad at all for such a machine.
Of course, when playing games, you’ll only get a little over one hour of battery life, but that was expected. Haswell is not designed to be more efficient under heavy load.
The N550 comes with the same 120Wh battery brick we saw on the N750, big and heavy, but a necessary foul needed to power the beast. The battery charges completely in about 2 hours or so.
There will be several configuration options for the Asus N550
Wrap-up
Those being said, the Asus N550 is a good multimedia laptop. Not the best on the market, but for sure a very interesting choice in its price range.
Asus made their 15 incher sleeker and lighter than before and added an IPS touchscreen to the mix, while not sacrificing power of the battery life. There are still things that could have been done differently, like the redesigned audio and cooling systems, and to some extent, the keyboard and trackpad. But even so, for the money, you’ll have a hard time finding anything better right now.
How does the N550 stand next to the older N56? There’s not a big performance gap between them, but the new version is more efficient when used lightly. It’s also more compact, etc. The cooling system, while still makes the laptop hot under load, is not such a big inconvenience anymore, as the top part of the interior (the area that gets hot) is not something you’re usually going to come in contact with. The IPS screen is great, but comes with those annoying reflections. You can go for the matte FTF panel, but hopefully a non-glare IPS option will be available as well in the near future. Last but not least, the sound system is a step backwards on the N550; still good, but not as loud or as clear as on the N56.
While not perfect, the Asus N550JV is a good multimedia laptop
Thus, if you own a N56, there’s little reason to upgrade to the N550. But if you’re considering choosing one over the other, unless the older version is a lot cheaper, I’d go for the new N series member. As for how the N550 stands next to its rivals from Dell, HP, Lenovo and others, I’ll hold any judgement until I get to spend at least some time with those.
And that pretty much wraps this out. Bottom point, I liked the N550 and I do think it’s a worthy successor for the N56. But I’d love to know what do you guys think about it too. So leave your replies, and questions if you have any, below.
backslash
June 28, 2013 at 8:49 pm
thanks for this good review
first i can finally read about this model 🙂
N56
June 28, 2013 at 11:45 pm
Hello. Thanks for the review! I’m planing to get N550 later this year and I have a couple of questions ( I already own N56 ). How’s the build quality compered with N56? N56 has plastic bottom and a LOT of flex on display lid and area around optical drive. When I’m caring my N56 around the house and holding it in one hand around optical drive whole chassis bends and squeak. Is situation with N500 any better? You also mention worse audio quality than on N56, is there still weird noise coming from the subwoofer when using multi-touch commands on Touchpad or when opening Wave MaxxAudio as on N56? A lot of people have this problem with N56 – including me. Any improvements in that regard? Also, do you know when will Asus officially announce this machine – put spec info on their web site? Thanks!
Andrei Girbea
June 30, 2013 at 5:10 pm
Build quality is OK, but not much better than with the N56. The bottom is now made from metal and still squeaks and cranks when grabbing the laptop. There’s some flex, but not that much to find it annoying. The Lid cover is pretty solid, more solid than on the older model.
Haven’t noticed any weird sound issues with the subwoofer, but to be frank, I didn’t look into this particular detail 🙁 I’ll try to see if I can get my hands on the N550 again and test this.
The N550 will land in stores in about a week or two over here in East Europe, so I reckon we should see the laptop on their site very soon as well.
Kay Njehia
July 1, 2013 at 4:07 am
Hi… appreciate this review. Been looking forwad to knowing about the new N series so that I can compare with Hp’s new Envy 15t-j000 (not the touch version)
If u can, please do a review of that HP model. Good work men.
Logan
July 18, 2013 at 9:39 am
I am also deciding between these laptops (Except quad edition touch HP) Let me know what you decide and if you think one is superior. HP can be a bit cheaper (Awesome coupons for like 20% off on occasion if you look around, at one point 825 bucks pimped out, (4702mq, 1 Dimm ram, backlit, Nvidia Graphics, 1080p IPS) but heard some horror stories about their Quality Control. Let me know your experience with either if you have time. Thanks!
Andrei Girbea
July 19, 2013 at 1:13 am
I’ll do my best, but can’t promise. HP haven’t sent any review units my way for a while now…
Lucas Siwek
July 1, 2013 at 3:51 pm
Hello there! I was planing to buy a N56Vz, but then i saw your video review on YouTube. Now I have to decide: N56Vz or N550. I am going to use it for some video games, the most advanced being Far Cry 3 or Battlefield 3 (of course). Now, I’ve compared the 3DMark 11 score to the one of the N56Vz and it seems much more powerful. So is it worth the extra money, just to play such titles on high settings? Oh and is the sound really that “not good”?
Andrei Girbea
July 1, 2013 at 5:35 pm
Lucas, my N56 that I reviewed came with the 630M graphics. The top option comes with the Nvidia 650M. There’s really not a big difference between the 650M and the 750M chips.
Either way, unless the N56 is a lot cheaper, I’d go with the N550. Except for the sound system and keyboard, it’s a superior model. I also like that while it gets hot, that’s not a big inconvenience, since the area on top of the keyboard is the one that gets hot when running games, and not the entire left side, like on the N56.
Lucas Siwek
July 1, 2013 at 7:03 pm
Thank you for the reply. It really helped me alot. 🙂
Rajan
December 10, 2013 at 7:56 am
Let me begin by stating that I dont consider myself as an expert. But i do own N550JV.
Its an amazing laptop and highly recommended unless you are looking for more than 4.5 hours of battery life.
Mine has GT 750M with 4GB Ram.
It works wonders. So i guess you should strongly reconsider it as a viable option, if you haven’t already made a choice yet.
Regards.
Alexandru
July 1, 2013 at 7:23 pm
Thanks for the review, I’m thinking about buying a replacement for my old 17″ gaming laptop and the N550 sounds about right (especially if I’ll put a Samsung 840 inside). I don’t play games anymore, except for a bit of Starcraft 2 now and then. If it can handle 4v4s at 1080p and medium resolution, that’s good enough for me.
Andrei Girbea
July 1, 2013 at 8:17 pm
it can, I’ll a video showing how it handles starcraft and other games. will be published later today
jacob
July 3, 2013 at 6:00 am
On another site, it’s claiming that this machine, at least in the US market will only have 2gb of gpu ram and not a FDH screen, any validity to this claim or insider scoops to reveal?
Andrei Girbea
July 3, 2013 at 12:04 pm
there will be several different configurations for sure. However, from what i know, the top options will offer this exact GPU tested here and FUllHD screen, TFT (matte) or IPS touchscreens (glossy, only for the most expensive versions)
chen
July 3, 2013 at 5:52 pm
I am going to buy to a laptop, it is difficult for me to decide to have N550 or lenovo Y510P. Can you pls give me some advice? I have checked that the Y510P has a better graphics,which is GDDR 5 vs GDDR 3, if the difference plays an important role in the gaming performance?
chen
July 3, 2013 at 5:55 pm
Further, is that the Y510P’s camera and audio performs better than N550
Andrei Girbea
July 3, 2013 at 7:16 pm
I doubt the audio is better on the Y510P, but yet again, I’m not judging anything until I get my hands on it
Andrei Girbea
July 3, 2013 at 7:16 pm
haven’t tried it yet, can’t say much about the Y510P…
AC
July 11, 2013 at 4:02 am
Great review! Can you confirm the 1080 resolution on both the touch and non-touch models? The ones available for preorder at Amazon say they are both 1366*768 pixels, but I suspect they may be wrong.
Andrei Girbea
July 11, 2013 at 11:48 am
over here the non-touch version will have 1080p resolution. however, i can’t confirm that’s going to be the same worldwide, Asaus have tens of configurations for their devices…
ss
July 13, 2013 at 3:38 pm
is there 14 inch version ?
Kalty
July 14, 2013 at 10:53 am
Great review and the first on the Net about this awesome notebook. For clarification, can you confirm that the battery is not user replaceable on this notebook. That would be a huge minus and I would rather buy the old N56VZ despite the other advances in construction.
On Amazon.de there is mention of a Leap Motion Sensor technology. Can you comment on that?
Thanks again for the great review.
Andrei Girbea
July 15, 2013 at 9:16 pm
the battery is encased and not easily user replaceable. if you’re skilled enough though and if you can find a spare one, it’s not going to be that complicated to replace it.
Yeap, leap Motion is supported, do a Google search on that.
Keith Franklin
July 16, 2013 at 12:02 am
How about changing HDD with an SSD. How difficult would that be in this machine?
vedya
July 16, 2013 at 7:31 pm
Could you specify which monitor id and manufacturer it has, as there is 15.6 FHD IPS LED matte LG LP156WF4-SPB1 on other model. That one clearly suffers on gamut coverage, interesting what about yours…
Andrei Girbea
July 17, 2013 at 6:56 pm
that’s mentioned in the review, in the Screen section…
Kalty
July 17, 2013 at 10:19 am
Thanks for the reply. My skills are good enough, but I am concerned that the battery is glued to the chassis like it is on the Macbook Pro 15 Retina.
According to ifixit.com that would render it unreplaceable due to the danger of puncturing the lithium polymer battery during removal.
The Leap Motion technology is very exciting. I have already ordered the N56VZ when I found out last month about the new N550 having this technology. What I didn’t know was that the touchscreen enabled notebooks are also having this technology.
Thanks for the clarification.
Andrei Girbea
July 17, 2013 at 6:54 pm
from what I could tell, the battery is not glued in place. But I can’t really say just by watching it from the top and I didn’t actually try to remove it to confirm this or not…
Kay
July 19, 2013 at 7:22 pm
Hi Andrei, I have now dropped my thoughts on the HP Envy 15 for the Samsung Ativ Book 8 and 6 notebooks. Simply b/c I gather the Samsung GPUs 8870 and 8770 are better than the Nvidia GT650 and 750. Plus less an optical drive meaning slimmer, less weight and choice of an optional FHD matte screen or FHD gloss touch screen. Topped up with longer battery life (5+ hrs normal usage) but the Samsung is like 1,400 dollars in Best Buy. I’d appreciate your opinion on this. Thanks
Nick.T
July 19, 2013 at 9:09 pm
This model no ssd+harddisk version. Only N750 model? A bit disappointed.
Nicolas
July 22, 2013 at 5:50 am
Great review! it was difficult to decide between the y510p and this laptop, but after i read this review i think ill go for this one :D, should i worry about the heat when using it on my legs?
B1B1
July 22, 2013 at 6:15 pm
Hi,
Thank you for this great review.
I’m looking for a powerfull and very mobile laptop to edit HD videos, taken with a GoPro Hero 3 Black.
Those videos are very heavy, and I wonder if this N550 is ok for this job.
I was also looking for a U500VZ, or this successor (if there is one)
What do you think ?
Thank you
Andrei Girbea
July 26, 2013 at 6:59 pm
both are OK for the job.
Terran1212
July 23, 2013 at 6:32 am
Did you try crysis 3 on low settings and 1080p to see if you could at least get 30 fps? 19 fps seems a bit unplayable.
Andrei Girbea
July 26, 2013 at 6:59 pm
I haven’t, and yes, 19 fps is too low
noah
September 16, 2013 at 2:59 am
I’d reccomend playing the most heavy games at 720p since they would play at like 60fps 🙂
Shane
July 23, 2013 at 6:32 am
Hey, thanks for the beautiful review. I would like to know how sturdy the laptop lid is. Is there any flex in it?
Andrei Girbea
July 26, 2013 at 6:58 pm
fairly sturdy, with only a bit of flex
Lutz
July 31, 2013 at 11:34 am
Great review, thanks. Couple of issues, please: despite the fact that for a short time Asus launched the N550JV-CN163D (SSH & 16GB RAM), they withdraw it fast and the only available is N550JV-CN228D, which has only a 4 cells battery and possible no IPS screen. Do you know why? Beside that, the most important issue: Asus has only windows 8 drivers on their site, even if a Free Dos N550JV-CN228D is available. Did anybody tried it with Windows 7? I am also in doubts choosing it in favor of y510p but this drivers issue can be a major one, Asus can stick their devotion to windows 8 deep in their marketing experts available ports.
Andrei Girbea
August 6, 2013 at 10:07 am
they will have more models available in the near future, from what I’ve been told. i haven’t tried installing win 7 on it but i think it shold work just fine with the generic drivers
waldek
August 1, 2013 at 9:51 pm
LOG for Skyrim – can you share it ?
Umair
August 2, 2013 at 4:56 am
Hey andre, i’m a long time lurker on your website and a big fan of your reviews. I just purchased the N550JV-DB72T and was planning to install an SSD.
My question is… what kind of screwdriver do I need to open the back of this laptop…
The screws are extremely tiny and weirdly star shaped.. the only star shaped screw driver i could find at my local hardware store was slightly too big… and the regular philips screwdriver I have that is the correct size won’t catch the screw since the screw is star shaped… thanks in advance.
Andrei Girbea
August 6, 2013 at 10:07 am
Torx 6 screwdriver. try to get a good one, otherwise you’ll damage the screws
Dan Texter
February 10, 2014 at 10:29 pm
Tried a Torx 6 – it’s too big. I think Torx 5 is the correct one.
Cosmin
August 2, 2013 at 12:10 pm
Hey Andrei,
Any information about availability (in Romania) of configuration that you tested?
Andrei Girbea
August 6, 2013 at 10:08 am
I was told early-mid August
Julia
August 2, 2013 at 5:01 pm
Hi,
Thank you for great and very comprehensive reviews! I am really an amateur in the field and your reviews helped me a lot to figure out what is going on in the computer market at the moment.
I need to buy a new laptop and with the Haswell and Windows 8 coming out I hought it would be sensible to invest in the i5 or i7 Haswell and a touch screen. I was hoping that maybe you could help me to decide between Asus N550 and Asus S551LB-CJ013H. I’ll not use the laptop for (any serious) gaming. I need it for work. I work with the usual office programmes (Word, Powerpoint), Adobe and Internet. I need a loptop which would allow me to work with these programmes at the same time, to switch quickly and smoothly between many opened documents, files and programmes without them freezing up on me. I also work with the images (nothing complicated the usual editing stuff). I need at least 15” screen and an ok resolution because I am going to sit with the text and images on the screen the whole day.
Would Asus S551LB, which is somewhat cheaper, allow me to do it? Or should I invest in the Asus N550 with a better processer, a higher resolution, etc. Do these specification differences matter for me, for the work that I’ll be doing on the laptop? Or maybe I should look for other laptops than Asus, let’s say Dell or Acer, or HP. I would appreciate greatly and recommendations and advice?
Andrei Girbea
August 6, 2013 at 10:10 am
Performance wise, the S551 should do for what you need.
But, you’re getting the rather bad 1366 x 768 px screen and since you said you’re going to need that real estate, that’s not good enough. I’ve reviwed the S551 on ultrabookreview.com , if you’re interested in what i think about it
Josh
August 2, 2013 at 9:49 pm
Please I would like to know if the wireless networking card can be changed of if it is sealed or soldered to the board
Andrei Girbea
August 6, 2013 at 10:11 am
check out the detailed hardware pics. it doesn’t seem soldered to me
Key of Knowing
August 3, 2013 at 8:39 am
hello andrei, I would like to know what exactly is the model of your N550. it’s pretty much the only thing missing in this review. for example, there’s an N550JV-DB72T. what’s yours?
Andrei Girbea
August 6, 2013 at 10:11 am
it’s a pre-release sample, so I can’t tell you much about the exact model
94wiwi94
August 4, 2013 at 9:15 pm
Which screwdriver used you ? Please i need to replace my HDD.
Andrei Girbea
August 6, 2013 at 10:12 am
Torx 6
Paul Martin
August 5, 2013 at 6:08 pm
Hi, between N550 and lenovo z500 touch, what would you choose? thansk
robbyh
August 5, 2013 at 10:26 pm
Is this a N550JV-DB71 or N550JV-DB72T?
Julia
August 6, 2013 at 10:59 am
Thank you very much for the reply, Andrei.
Key of Knowing
August 10, 2013 at 4:41 pm
Hey Andrei, what happened to the YouTube channel? I was searching your review for this N550JV the other day and your account disappeared. I even clicked the play on the embedded video on this page and it says your account is terminated. What happened?
Andrei Girbea
August 10, 2013 at 5:31 pm
i’m not entirely sure what happened, it was closed down by Youtube. Hopefully I’ll get it back soon, if not, I’ll re-upload the videos
Ryan
August 13, 2013 at 2:35 am
Does this support displayport 1.2 where I can attach to a monitor that supports displayport 1.2 and then daisy chain out to a 2nd monitor? I’d like to attach two 2560×1600 displays.
Also, does the HDMI support only 1920×1080 or does it support higher resolutions?
I rang ASUS but their tech support didn’t know and they don’t mention these details on their website.
Andrei Girbea
August 16, 2013 at 1:17 pm
I’ve tried the HDMI output with a 2880 x 1024 screen and it worked fine. so i belie it will support 2560 x 1600 as well, but i haven’t tried that out. Anyway, can’t say anything about the DP matter, haven’t tested it, sry
Hal
August 13, 2013 at 3:03 am
Andrei, is it difficult to replace the HDD with an SSD? I’m confused as to where to buy also…Asus’s online site is not remotely helpful.
Andrei Girbea
August 16, 2013 at 1:17 pm
it’s not, just unscrew the back cover, the screws holding in place the hdd, pop it out and replace it with an ssd
Hal
August 13, 2013 at 9:17 pm
Considering this laptop but am worried about battery life…is it upgradeable at all? I’m not sure what kind of model I’d be able to replace the stock battery with. Any light you can shine on this Andrei?
Ethan
August 14, 2013 at 4:22 pm
Hi everyone I just want you guys to know the battery can be removed.
http://www.notebookcheck.net/Review-Asus-N550JV-CN201H-Notebook.98311.0.html
Scroll down till you see the picture abou the battery. 🙂 Great review btw, but a bit disappointed your videos are being reported by some other people..when will you have your back on
Andrei Girbea
August 16, 2013 at 1:18 pm
they are back right now, luckily the issue got solved
PM5399
August 15, 2013 at 2:33 am
Hey Andre, great review. I am uncertain whether to buy the Asus N550JV-DB72T or the lenovo z500 touch 59367151. My primary needs are portability (for work) and capability for moderate gaming (black ops 2, skyrim etc.) I would like the touchscreen as well, quadcore i7 and nvidia graphics, narrowing it down to these two. Which do you think is best? Are there any other laptops in my category worth knowing about?
Thanks,
PM5399
August
August 16, 2013 at 12:02 am
Thanks for your review. I’m planning to buy this laptop. Do you have other suggestion or do you think it is the best of his class?
Cosmin
August 16, 2013 at 1:24 pm
hei Andrei,
I ask you about a few days ago about availability of configuration that you tested here in Romania and you reply somewhere in mid August. I don’t find it anywhere in the country. Do you have any information when the computer hits the stores?
Andrei Girbea
August 21, 2013 at 2:01 pm
that’s what i was told… unfortunately things can get delayed. i’ll ask again, an di’ll get back if i find out anything new
Marius
August 16, 2013 at 9:10 pm
Salut! intentionez sa-mi cumpar unul pentru a-l folosi cu programe CAD( 3ds max ,autocad,etc.) consideri ca e suficient de performant pentru a face fața unei untilizari încarcate si mobile? Multumesc! p.s. bun review!
Andrei Girbea
August 21, 2013 at 2:01 pm
ar trebui sa fie ok
Cesar
August 20, 2013 at 11:06 am
Hey Andrei!
Very very nice review! I have the laptop and I am wondering if the esata is SATA 3 or SATA 2, or if I can replace it with an msata ssd and just use a pico usb-wifi adapter instead? Please answer. Thank you!
Andrei Girbea
August 21, 2013 at 2:02 pm
Not sure, haven’t checked those things when i got it for tests. sry