3. Asus K50IJ-C1

Asus K50IJ-C1

Asus.com, $699.99

The Best-Supported Vanilla On Campus

We’ve been very pleased over the years with nearly all of Asus’ product lines, and the K-series notebooks are no exception. Stocked with an Intel Core 2 Duo T6500 (2.1 GHz) CPU, 4 GB of 800 MHz DDR2 memory, a 250 GB hard drive, and a 15.6", 1366x768 resolution display, this unit covers all of the essentials. Better yet, you’ll find 802.11n, Gigabit Ethernet, a card reader, a 1.3-megapixel Webcam, a six-cell battery, DVD Super Multi burner, and Windows Vista Home Premium 32-bit with a free upgrade coupon to Windows 7.

If that doesn’t sound like it’ll make you the envy of the class, we’re not surprised. This configuration is about as vanilla as they come. That’s not a bad thing, however. To try to drum up a little drama, Asus gets a bit carried away with the marketing. The “green” LCD panel is eco-friendly because it’s backlit by white LEDs, which consume less energy than fluorescents but also offer a poorer viewing angle. Asus trots out Altec Lansing speakers. Once upon a time, Altec had something resembling prestige at the mainstream level, but the truth is that we have yet to hear any integrated notebook speakers that didn’t bear a familial resemblance to vibrating beer cans. Best of all is the “Asus IceCool Technology,” a super-impressive branding effort meant to convey that the arrangement of intake vents under the notebook will keep the palm rest lower than “average human body temperature.” We haven’t put a thermometer to this, but we’ve done enough laptop computing on pillows, beds, and similar non-flat surfaces (oh, including laps) to be pretty sure that IceCool might be closer to luke-warm.

The Intel GMA X4500M graphics are sufficient for non-3D tasks, and if this is starting to sound repetitive, it’s because integrated graphics generally fall into one of two categories: slow and really slow. Fortunately, everyday, text-oriented student tasks don’t require much in the way of graphics speed. But if your studies take you into the realms of CAD modeling, video production, or even complex photo editing, you’re going to want more than integrated graphics and your options will probably start in the $800 to $1,000 range.

Regarding Asus, here’s the kicker. If you buy the K50IJ, you get the Asus one-year accidental damage warranty (ADW). As stated on the Amazon site, “Whether your notebook is damaged by accidental spills, drops, electrical surges, or fire, Asus will fix it or replace it for you during the first year after purchase (a $100 value!).” Given the haphazard life of students, this is a great perk. After this author recently killed a notebook by spilling espresso on the keyboard, the ADW can be a life-saver. Better yet, the Asus 360 has a two-year global warranty with free overnight shipping both ways—an incredible support offering at this price level.

Amazon/Asus builds the ADW and 360 into the sale price, which is good. But it makes us wonder if the notebook might have been about $100 cheaper without these extras. Processor excepted, this notebook isn’t so different from the Gateway model. With similar clock speeds, the Intel device will outperform the AMD CPU by roughly 20%, yet the Asus comes with a 30% price premium—no small difference when you’re living on student loans. If $150 means the difference between eating and starving (hey, we took free meals at the campus church outreach, too), the Gateway offers more bang for the buck. If you’ve got more budget leeway and can’t be without your system for more than a day, go with Asus.

• K50IJ-C1 Notebook...
• • CompUSA
  • $676.99