High-end laptop winner
Asus N56VM
Verdict
Great build quality, good performance and refined design push Asus' gorgeous N56VM to the top of the Ivy Bridge heap
Review Date: 23 Aug 2012
Price when reviewed: £666
Overall Rating
Alternative products
Dell Inspiron 15R Special Edition
Plasticky build and plain looks mask a luscious display and top-notch specification - the Dell is a fine all-rounder
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Comparison
| Product |
Dell Inspiron 15R Special Edition
|
Asus N56VM
|
| Details | ||
|---|---|---|
| Part Code | Inspiron 15R Special Edition | N56VM-S3113V |
| Review Date | 24 Aug 2012 | 23 Aug 2012 |
| Price ex VAT | £716 | £666 |
| Price inc VAT | £859 | £799 |
| Overall rating |
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| Features & Design |
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| Value for Money |
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| Performance |
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| Warranty | ||
| Warranty | 1yr on-site | 2 yr return to base |
| Physical specifications | ||
| Dimensions | 378 x 252 x 35mm (WDH) | 380 x 255 x 28mm (WDH) |
| Weight | 2.900kg | 2.750kg |
| Travelling weight | 3.4kg | 3.5kg |
| Processor and memory | ||
| Processor | Intel Core i7-3612QM | Intel Core i7-3610QM |
| Motherboard chipset | Intel HM77 | Intel HM76 |
| RAM capacity | 8.00GB | 8.00GB |
| Memory type | DDR3 | DDR3 |
| SODIMM sockets free | 0 | |
| SODIMM sockets total | 2 | |
| Screen and video | ||
| Screen size | 15.6in | 15.6in |
| Resolution screen horizontal | 1,920 | 1,920 |
| Resolution screen vertical | 1,080 | 1,080 |
| Resolution | 1920 x 1080 | 1920 x 1080 |
| Graphics chipset | AMD Radeon HD 7730M | Nvidia GeForce GT 630M |
| Graphics card RAM | 2.00GB | |
| VGA (D-SUB) outputs | 1 | 1 |
| HDMI outputs | 1 | 1 |
| S-Video outputs | 0 | |
| DVI-I outputs | 0 | |
| DVI-D outputs | 0 | |
| DisplayPort outputs | 0 | |
| Drives | ||
| Capacity | 1.00TB | 750GB |
| Hard disk usable capacity | 931GB | 698GB |
| Spindle speed | 5,400RPM | 7,200RPM |
| Internal disk interface | SATA 6Gbit/s | |
| Optical disc technology | Blu-ray reader/DVD writer combo | Blu-ray reader |
| Battery capacity | 4,200mAh | 5,200mAh |
| Replacement battery price inc VAT | £0 | £0 |
| Networking | ||
| Wired adapter speed | 1,000Mbits/sec | 1,000Mbits/sec |
| 802.11a support |
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| 802.11b support |
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| 802.11g support |
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| 802.11 draft-n support |
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| Integrated 3G adapter |
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| Bluetooth support |
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| Other Features | ||
| Wireless hardware on/off switch |
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| Wireless key-combination switch |
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| Modem |
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| ExpressCard34 slots | 0 | |
| ExpressCard54 slots | 0 | |
| PC Card slots | 0 | |
| FireWire ports | 0 | |
| PS/2 mouse port |
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| 9-pin serial ports | 0 | |
| Parallel ports | 0 | |
| Optical S/PDIF audio output ports | 0 | 1 |
| Electrical S/PDIF audio ports | 0 | |
| 3.5mm audio jacks | 2 | 2 |
| SD card reader |
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| Memory Stick reader |
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| MMC (multimedia card) reader |
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| Smart Media reader |
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| Compact Flash reader |
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| xD-card reader |
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| Pointing device type | Touchpad | Touchpad |
| Hardware volume control? |
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| Integrated microphone? |
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| Integrated webcam? |
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| Camera megapixel rating | 1.3mp | 1.3mp |
| TPM |
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| Fingerprint reader |
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| Smartcard reader |
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| Carry case |
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| Operating system and software | ||
| Operating system | Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit | Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit |
| OS family | Windows 7 | Windows 7 |
| Recovery method | Recovery partition | Burn own recovery discs |
| Battery and performance tests | ||
| Battery life, light use | 5hr 27min | 5hr 24min |
| 3D performance (crysis) low settings | 22fps | 18fps |
| 3D performance setting | High | High |
| Overall Real World Benchmark score | 0.91 | 0.95 |
