AMD Powers ASUS Laptop, K53TK

For some reason, Advanced Micro Devices didn't score many design wins with its Fusion architecture, even though the Llano accelerated processing units weren't half bad.

Now, everyone seems to be anticipating the Trinity APUs, as if the Llano barely had any significance. It goes to show how something can go through life without getting the recognition it deserves.

Fortunately, not all companies have turned their backs on the APUs.

In fact, ASUS has only just finished preparing the K53TK-SX0A8 laptop, or so PC Watch says.

The notebook measures 15.5 inches and relies on the AMD A8-3520M quad-core, whose base clock is 1.6 GHz and which boasts the Radeon HD 6620G graphics.

As if the integrated GPU wasn't enough on its own, ASUS also tossed in a Radeon HD 7670M discrete graphics chip, backed by 2 GB of memory.

This all makes for a pretty strong machine, and the memory is not going to drag behind either: 8 GB of DDR3-1333 MHz.

All these are supported by the AMD A70M FCH chipset and show their mettle on the LCD, whose resolution is 1,366 x 768 pixels.

Sure, it's not Full HD, but it's not like that image quality has much point on a screen of this size.

What's more, the high-quality video support can prove its worth when an HDTV or high-end monitor is connected to the laptop via D-Sub or HDMI.

Speaking of which, connectivity and I/O make a fairly impressive list, with 802.11 b/g/n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 3.0, Gigabit Ethernet, an SD/SDHC/MMC card reader, two USB 3.0 ports, two USB 2.0 ports, FireWire and a 1.3 MP webcam.

As for storage, ASUS gave the K53TK-SX0A8 an HDD (hard disk drive) with a capacity of 750 GB, plus a DVD SuperMulti optical unit.

Sales should start soon, if they haven't already, in Japan at least. The price is said to be 79,800 JPY ($970 / 744.51 Euro).