Asus N56VZ-DS71 first impressions

[The_Finder]

Just got my N56VZ-DS71 last night. Ordered it from Excaliber PC here. Called to see if they had it in stock Tuesday afternoon and they shipped it the same day! Thought I'd share some of my first impressions.

Build Quality
-This is my first ASUS laptop and I have to say I'm really impressed with the build quality. It feels really solid, the brushed aluminum is awesome!

Screen
-The screen is amazing! The viewing angle is very good and colors look really good on it. I'm not sure if it's an IPS panel but it sure looks like it.

Keyboard
-Feels like your typical chicklet style keyboard. Backlite keyboard is really nice. You can even adjust the brightness.

Touchpad
-This is the one area of the laptop I'm not very impressed with. The touchpad is really large and the right\left mouse buttons are integrated with the touch surface so it takes some getting used to. On the positive side the keyboard has a quick key to disable the touchpad.

Performance
-I haven't run any benchmarks but I tried playing Diablo 3 on it on max settings and it didn't even break a sweat. It didn't get extremely hot while playing, but the vent on the side does pump out a lot of hot air. The placement of the vent on the side is a nice features since it prevents blocking if you rest it up against something.

Sound
-The speakers are really impressive on this thing. It includes a detachable sub woofer that adds depth.

Bloatware
-There is a significant amount of ASUS bloatware that comes pre-installed. Typical of laptops I guess.

Anyway, if anyone has any requests I'd be happy to run benchmarks etc. later this afternoon.

[slapshot30]

How is the keyboard? Are the keys wiggly at all or are they pretty firm? Is the backlighting on the keyboard the same brightness from end to end or does it taper off a little bit near some keys?

Sent from my HTC PH39100 using Tapatalk 2

[Andrew33]

Looks nice from what I've seen

I'm interested in the noise level
If you're just browsing, does the fan turn off, or is it working continuously ?
And, is the screen glossy, or matte ?

[The_Finder]

I only noticed the fan coming on while playing Diablo 3 and it was not very noticeable compared to other laptops I've had(Dell Stuido XPS 16 , HP Dv6). I'm impressed with the noise level so far.

[JXulo]

I'm writting in one right one. I need go to a birthday party, but tomorrow i can tell you everything you want to know.

Mine is:
6GB (2GB+4GB) DDR3 1600
750GB 7200rpm SATA
Drive DVDRW Supermulti
15.6" FHD LED non glare
650M 2G

[JoshPiger]

I am very interested in learning about the performance of the laptop with games (Crysis, Skyrim, BF3) as well as seeing some up close pictures of it. Seems like one of the best laptops for the price right now.

[sl0519]

Can you make a video of playing music from the internal speaker? It would be even better to have a comparison with competitor.

[JoshPiger]

I forgot to mention I am also curious whether the holes for the speakers go throughout the entire top of the laptop and whether this will collect dust easily.

Can you make a video of playing music from the internal speaker? It would be even better to have a comparison with competitor.

I am also interested in seeing a video.

[Linuks]

Thanks for the post
It's probably too soon to talk about that but have you some numbers about the battery life ?

[Cabb]

Can you tell anything about the temps on the exterior? Is it still comfortable to work with while playing games? Can you post some pictures?
Thanks!