With games of Bang & Olufsen loudspeaker with a small external subwoofer, the ASUS N76 is built for multimedia.
The ASUS N76 is the version of 17-inch notebook of ASUS N56. Its design is identical, with a keyboard in surface melted plastic imitation aluminium. The entire machine is made of plastic, except the back of the screen, in real brushed aluminium. The ASUS N76 is equipped with latest generation Intel processor with four cores and an nVidia GeForce GT 650M. The originality of the laptop is mostly at its sound equipment, Bang & Olufsen stamped, decorated with a small external subwoofer.
Reality
Finished side, the ASUS N76 takes advantage of mobile expertise from ASUS. If it is mainly composed of plastic, the assembly is pretty neat. The machine inspires confidence in terms of strength and it is sober, very chic. Only its small keyboard seems lost in a big box format of 17 inches. ASUS has effectively integrated within the N76 the N56 keypad, its 15.6-inch notebook. Nothing to offend so far, all is very comfortable to use, just like the large touchpad that accompanies it.
Powerful multimedia, enough for video games
With a quad-core processor at 2.3 GHz and a GeForce GT 650M graphics chip, this laptop takes advantage of a platform of new generation very versatile. It is able to handle any type of business office and multimedia. The absence of the SSD penalizes certain heavy applications like video editing. The laptop has two hard drives – Independent – 750 GB at 7200 rev / min. Good point, the BIOS of the machine allows to couple these drives in Raid 0 (to speed up the system) or Raid 1 (to guard against failure of one disk).
For video games, the GeForce 650M can run all the current titles, provided details and to lower the screen resolution with the most demanding. In this discipline, the machine does not use its full HD with games “modest,” as World of Warcraft or Resident Evil 5.
A beautiful full HD and a Blu-ray
The LCD panel 17 inches from the ASUS N76 uses a display technology TN (Twisted Nematic) pretty basic. Viewing angles are limited, especially vertically. However, its matte coating is not prone to glare and image rendering in full HD is well controlled. In a test, it was measured a nice contrast ratio of 182:1 for a maximum brightness of 310 cd / m 2.
The ASUS N76 is equipped with a Blu-ray player and CyberLink. The image of Blu-ray is returned with a very good sharpness and vivid colors, very pleasing.
Stunning sound system
And what about the ASUS N76’s sound equipment, except that it is one of the best we’ve tested. The speakers are powerful wish. It will connect the small external subwoofer included with the notebook to enjoy its full potential. And if the sound lacks a bit of mediums, it is very pleasant to listen.
MaxxAudio 3 software installed on the machine can radically change the sound produced, but no miracle. Those who wish to enjoy their 5.1 kit salon can connect to the laptop through its S / PDIF output.
A 17 inch needed at home
With minimum consumption of 22 W and 122 W maximum, the Aus N76 is ranked in the right average. However, its battery could power it for only 2 hours and 23 minutes of video playback (maximum brightness, Wi-Fi enabled). Not enough to travel very long, but with a weight of 3.56 kg and a size 17-inch footprint, this notebook is clearly not intended to mobility.
The verdict
The ASUS N76 is a nice machine. Although he appears very stylish, its plastic materials are admittedly a little basic for a laptop to 1,300 Euros. But for those who require a portable design, the ASUS N76 has some good arguments. Especially it can be used without problem multimedia station with its Blu-ray, its 1.5 TB of storage, powerful chipset and good speakers.
