One of the new entertainment-class laptop models on the market is the nicely equipped and nicely designed Asus N56DP-DH11, with a 15.6-inch full HD display, AMD’s top-of-the-line processor, dedicated graphics, big RAM and hard drive, an above average sound system, and an elegant aluminum chassis.
The 1080p screen of the N56DP-DH11 is powered by the AMD Radeon HD 7730G video card with 2GB of DDR3 video memory, while the main computing calculations are done on the quad-core AMD A10-4600M CPU. Although the A10 chip contains its own integrated Radeon HD 7660G graphics, Asus has decided to put the 7730G inside the laptop for somewhat better performance. However, we don’t have benchmark results for the 7730G, but it is certainly better than the 7660G and uses its own video memory instead of taking up system’s RAM.
For a rich audio experience, Asus has developed a sound system in cooperation with Bang & Olufsen and included an external cylinder-shaped subwoofer, besides built-in stereo speakers.
The N56DP-DH11 has a chiclet backlight keyboard. The notebook is made of aluminum and has a silver base and a dark gray lid.
It currently costs around $850.
If you are not so interested in audio and graphics aspects of a laptop, the Toshiba Satellite P875-S7102 for $800 also offers 1080p resolution on a bigger 17.3″ screen, a much faster Intel Core i7 chip, and aluminum case. Another one option to consider, with performance similar to the Asus N56DP-DH11, is the 15.6″ Samsung NP350V5C-T02US with a Core i5 and Radeon 7730M for below $700.
Asus N56DP-DH11 Specifications
- Display: 15.6-inch full HD (1080p, 1920×1080), 300 cd/m² brightness, anti-glare
- Processor: AMD A10-4600M quad-core at 2.3-3.2GHz, 4MB cache
- Graphics: AMD Radeon HD 7730M with 2GB DDR3 video memory
- Memory: 8GB DDR3 1,600MHz, upgradeable to 16GB
- Storage: 1TB hard drive (5,400 rpm)
- Optical drive: DVD burner
- Webcam: 2MP
- Audio: stereo speakers + external subwoofer, ASUS SonicMaster Premium technology co-developed with Bang& Olufsen ICEpower, Dolby Audio
- Network: Wireless-N, Gigabit Ethernet LAN, Bluetooth 4.0-enabled
- Input: full-sized chiclet keyboard with numeric-pad, keyboard backlight, touchpad
- Ports and Slots: 4 x USB 3.0, 1 x HDMI, 1 x VGA, 4-in-1 memory card reader
- Battery: 6-cell lithium-ion battery (4800 mAh)
- Dimensions: 15″ x 10″ x 1.3″
- Weight: 6 pounds
- OS: Windows 8
- Warranty: 1-year