Asus N550JV (DB71 and DB72T) Multimedia Powerhouse Laptops

Asus N550JV-DB71 and N550JV-DB72T

The Asus N550JV is a relatively new 15.6-inch notebook PC series, characterized by high-performance, entertainment-centric features, and premium aluminum design. It’s available in the US in form of two configurations: the non-touch N550JV-DB71 and touch-enabled N550JV-DB72T.

In other aspects, the models have same specifications, so touchscreen capability is their only difference. In addition to that, the Asus N550JV-DB71 has anti-reflective display finish, while N550JV-DB72T is glossy. Both notebooks sport the Intel Core i7-4700HQ 2.4GHz-3.4GHz quad-core processor and the Nvidia GeForce GT 750M 2GB DDR3 video card. The i7-4700HQ is one of the fastest mobile CPUs at the time of this writing and you can find out more about it here. It is a great solution for media creation and editing, besides media playback and normal daily tasks. It also improves gaming experience, but for that purpose the GeForce GT 750 GPU is primarily responsible. It’s a step below the GTX-labeled video cards found in modern gaming laptops, but it’ll help you to gain higher frame rates than with the Intel HD 4600 GPU, embedded in the i7 chip, as well as the widely used HD 4400.

Asus N550JV-DB71 and N550JV-DB72T Left

Asus N550JV-DB71 and N550JV-DB72T Right

The systems have the biggest RAM and hard drive capacities among consumer laptops, except real gaming-class systems: 8GB and 1-Terabyte, respectively. For a great visual and audio experience, there are the full HD 1080p screen resolution, IPS screen technology for wide viewing angles, and a sound system which consists of four speakers located the front of the bottom lip and an external bass speaker included in the packages. Audio is fine-tuned in cooperation with Bang & Olufsen. For those still using DVDs and CDs, it’s worth noting that the N550JV-DB71 and N550JV-DB72T have multiformat DVD±RW/CD-RW drives.

The keyboard has chiclet-style square keys with adjustable backlight intensity and is embedded into silver aluminum deck, with bottom made of black plastics. The lid is done up in dark gray aluminum. The systems weigh 5.7 pounds, a tad heavier than the usual ~5.3-pound 15.6-inchers, but keep in mind that the N550JV has a dedicated video card and four speakers in it. Measuring 1.1″ in profile, the laptops are not the thinnest on the market, but their thinness is below the ~1.3″ average and quite impressive considering the extra components included.

Selection of ports and slots is almost like on the average 2013 consumer laptop. There are three USB ports, all on 3.0 speed, HDMI, and combo audio jack, but instead of a VGA video port the Asus provides a mini Display Port. The media card reader supports SD, SDXC, and MMC. The built-in web cam supports 720p video capturing, while for putting you online the laptop use Wi-Fi and Gigabit LAN. Bluetooth 4.0 is also included.

According to Laptop Mag’s review, the laptop is well built and runs cool, has a bright display but with darker picture when viewing from the sides, and a keyboard with good key travel. The review also reveals the speakers are pretty much loud, but there’s an complaint about flat sound and awkward placement of the speakers, responsible for significantly muffled audio. The battery life is 4:52 hrs, reportedly.

The included 4-cell 59Whrs battery isn’t a removable one, since it’s sealed inside the chassis and upgrading RAM and HDD requires removal of tens of screws on the bottom of the laptops.

The Asus N550JV-DB71 and N550JV-DB72T are priced at about $950 and $1,030, respectively.

N550JV-DB71 and N550JV-DB72T Keyboard

Lid

2 thoughts on “Asus N550JV (DB71 and DB72T) Multimedia Powerhouse Laptops”

  1. Will this computer perform well for Engineering Software (CAD, Solidworks, etc)?

    Your reviews are great, thanks for taking the time to do these!

    -D

    Reply
    • Thanks, the N550JV should be one of the best performers among consumer laptops when it comes to engineering because it has one of the fastest CPUs plus a decent dedicated video card. Of course, mobile workstations like Dell Precision or HP Zbook are better since they’re specially made for engineering, but they’re also much more expensive.

      Reply

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