Asustek has a new lower-end notebook in its lineup. It’s the 15.6-inch Asus X54L.
It is available in the US in the form of the $429.99 Asus X54L-BBK4, which includes the 2nd Generation Intel Core i3-2330M 2.2GHz dual-core processor with the integrated Intel HD graphics, 4GB RAM, and a 500GB HDD, besides a DVD burner and 1366 x 768 screen resolution. The price tag is certainly not the lowest in the 15.6″ category, but it’s probably the cheapest one with a 2nd Gen Core i3 CPU.
The components are packed into a black 1.4″ thick chassis, altogether measuring 5.8 pounds. The lid and palmrests are covered with textured matte plastics. Unlike many new notebooks, its keyboard keys are not raised-style.
Asustek says the palm rest area on the notebook will stay cool even when the laptop is in prolonged use, because the heat-producing components are located far away from users’ palms. The hot parts are actually embedded on the underside of the motherboard.
The laptop features a 0.3MP web camera, Altec Lansing speakers, and a modest selection of ports and slots, including a USB 3.0 and a USB 2.0 connector, VGA out, and a multi-in-one media card reader. The Asus X54L-BBK4 has no HDMI port. That’s a big downside, especially given that on its website Asustek advertises the X54L as a notebook which delivers “immersive multimedia experience”.
On company’s website, there is also the X54HY model which includes the AMD Radeon HD 6470M dedicated graphics, besides an HDMI output.
Customers can get the Asus X54L-BBK4 at Best Buy.