Asustek has a new 15.6-inch sub-$500 laptop on offer. It’s the Asus K55A-HI5014L with the Intel Core i5-3210M processor with 2 cores and the Intel HD 4000 integrated graphics, as well as a 500GB hard disk and 4GB of system memory. With these specs, the K55A-HI5014L is the same as the older and discontinued HI5103D model, but the former features a refreshed chassis design. Although the new version appears to have a brushed aluminum chassis, it’s actually just dark gray plastics with brushed aluminum-like texture.
On the other side, the K55A-HI5014L has a similar shape to the K55N-HA8123K, which is based on the AMD A8 with a lower raw CPU speed but faster Radeon graphics.
Intel-based models are usually more expensive than their AMD counterparts and so is the case here. The HI5014L is about $450, whereas the latter costs about $380.
Asus K55A-HI5014L Specifications
- Display: 15.6″ LED-backlit HD widescreen display (1366 x 768 resolution)
- Processor: 3rd Gen Intel Core i5-3210M dual-core processor, 3MB L3 cache and 2.5-to-3.1GHz speed
- Graphics: Intel HD 4000 graphics
- Memory: 4GB DDR3 memory, expandable to 8GB
- Storage: 500GB HDD (5400 rpm)
- Optical drive: DVD burner
- Webcam: 1.0MP webcam
- Audio: stereo speakers
- Network: Wireless-N, Gigabit Ethernet, no Bluetooth
- Input: Chiclet-style keyboard with numeric-pad and wide 16:9 touchpad
- Ports and Slots: 2 x USB 3.0 ports, 1 x USB 2.0 port, 1 x HDMI, 1 x VGA, 5-in-1 media reader
- Battery: 6-cell battery
- Dimensions: 1.3 x 14.9 x 9.9 inches
- Weight: 5.6 pounds
- OS: Windows 8
- Warranty: 1-year
