As confident in its looks as it is in its performance, the Asus U56E-RBL8 ($779.99 list at Staples) has almost everything going for it, inside and out. Only a couple of demerits dull the impact of its robust selection of hardware, not the least of which is another Asus budget laptop that offers an almost identical configuration at a lower price. Even if the U56E-RBL8 isn't the absolute best value to be found out there, it?s nonetheless a good one.
Design
There?s distinct "mod business" flair to the U56E-RBL8, thanks to its eye-catching two-tone design scheme. The laptop?s brushed-metal lid is a shiny blue-gray "slate" color, with the silvery Asus logo positioned just above center. You?ll find this color inside the laptop as well: on the keyboard deck, where it?s solidly visible between all the chiclet-style keys. Those keys are a dark gray, with white printing, and include a half-size number pad on the right, though there are no dedicated media keys: The arrow keys double as play controls, and F10, F11, and F12 double as volume controls. Another design fillip that might annoy some users: There?s no right Window key.
The display bezel, which features a webcam on the top edge, is a matte dark gray color, and provides a nice visual contrast, especially when the 15.6-inch, 1,366-by-768 widescreen is activated. The bezel's color is replicated, albeit in a rubberized form, on the palm rest; the touch pad is likewise the same hue, but of a smoother texture. The shiny metal buttons are firm and clicky, but not distractingly so.
The U56E-RBL8 measures 1.1 by 14.9 by 10.7 inches (HWD), which is about average for a laptop of this class and price. Weighing 5.7 pounds, it's marginally heavier than most other comparable systems, but you shouldn't experience too much trouble lugging it around.
Features
If you're buying a laptop priced in the upper portion of the budget range, you'd expect it to be decently equipped from a hardware perspective. There, the U56E-RBL8 does not disappoint. The laptop is driven by an Intel Core i5-2430M processor, a dual-core chip that runs natively at 2.4GHz but can increase in speed to as much as 3GHz when the maximum amount of Turbo Boost is activated. Plus, thanks to Intel's Hyper-Threading technology, the processor can handle four threads at a time, which will bestow a significant performance boost on multithread-aware software. The processor also grants access to the full collection of technologies from the second-generation Core family of products, including Quick Sync Video for accelerated transcoding and Wireless Display 2.0 (WiDi) for streaming video to your HDTV if you have a Netgear Push2TV adapter (a $99 extra).
Sweetening the deal here are the system's 8GB of RAM and 750GB hard drive, which respectively grant you performance efficiency and more space for storing files and installing programs. The port selection is a bit more run-of-the-mill: Ethernet (to complement the 802.11n Wi-Fi), VGA and HDMI for outputting to external displays, and a single USB 2.0 port on the left edge; a multiformat card slot and downward-facing 1.5-watt Altec Lansing speakers on the front edge; and headphone and microphone jacks, two more USB 2.0 ports, and the DVD burner on the right edge. There are no USB 3.0 ports here; they're getting to be staples on even budget PCs, and are significant for their absence.
Asus includes on the U56E-RBL8 a number of its own tools and utilities, including FancyStart (for changing the laptop's boot logo), LifeFrame 3 (for image and video recording and capturing), Power4 Gear eXtreme for easily switching between power-saving settings, and SmartLogon facial recognition software. Of potentially more use is a trial version of Trend Micro Titanium Internet Security.
In addition to a one-year warranty, several additional services are available from Staples for customers who buy the U56E-RBL8 there. These include setting up the new system, data transfer from your old PC to your new one, software installation, and tech support and protection plans that range in price from $14.99 to $169.99.
Performance
The U56E-RBL8 faltered only on our gaming tests, just like the Lenovo V570-1066AJU and Asus U56E-BBL6. It scored highest on our two 1,024-by-768 DirectX 9 tests, 3DMark 06 (5,120 versus 4,831 for the Asus U56E-BBL6 and 4,865 for the Lenovo V570-1066AJU), and Lost Planet 2 (20.2 frames per second, or fps, versus 19.1 for the Asus U56E-BBL6 and 19.3 for the Lenovo V570-1066AJU), but lowest on the real-world games of Crysis (13.1fps versus 15.7 for the Asus U56E-BBL6 and 15.6 for the Lenovo V570-1066AJU). ?High? and ?low? are largely irrelevant concepts here, however, as none of these represent actual playability. For that, you'll need better graphics than the integrated Intel HD Graphics 3000 system here; one of the few low-cost laptops we've seen recently that can deftly handle lower-resolution gaming is the Gateway NV55S05u ($579.99 list, 4 stars), which managed 36.7fps in Crysis and 38fps in Lost Planet 2.
Though the U56E-RBL8 did not prove a medal-winning champion as far as battery life, it did very well. Its 74Wh battery helped it last 6 hours 30 minutes in our MobileMark 2007 battery-rundown test was well behind the time of the Asus U56E-BBL6 (7:42) and just a shade short of the 6:37 time of the much less expensive Samsung NP300E5A-A01UB ($599.99 list, 4 stars).
Given its excellent components, the Asus U56E-RBL8 is a compelling choice from a performance standpoint: If you need a relatively powerful laptop but don't want to spend more than $800, it has almost everything you need. Its cousin, the Editors' Choice-winning Asus U56E-BBL6, however, delivers equivalent performance in most areas, runs longer on its battery, is equipped with a USB 3.0 port, and costs $80 less. The extra 2GB of RAM in the U56E-RBL8 isn't quite worth that much, so our final recommendation remains with the Asus U56E-BBL6. Even so, the U56E-RBL8 is a fine machine.
BENCHMARK TEST RESULTS:
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