The Asus X550C is getting on a bit in technological terms, equipped with only a two-generations-old Intel Sandy Bridge 1.4GHz Core i3-2365M processor and its on-chip Intel HD Graphics 3000 graphics chipset. Despite this, it’s still powerful enough to serve as a low-cost general purpose laptop and has performance comparable to other laptops in the same price range.
The laptop’s chassis is particularly attractive, with complementary textured finishes on the lid and interior. Closed, it measures 31mm at its thickest point, and weighs 2.3kg. It’s not exactly an ultraportable, but is still light enough to take around in a backpack without any significant discomfort.
The 15.6in widescreen display has a matt finish, so there’s less chance of any unwanted glare or reflections, even if you’re working in bright daylight. It looks a little dull, though, with a greyish-blue tint visible in pale areas. It doesn’t compare well to even an average desktop monitor, but in our subjective tests we thought it was reasonable for a budget laptop display. Our tests with a colour calibrator bore out our subjective view, rating the display as showing 55.1% of the sRGB colour gamut, with a slightly better-than-expected contrast ratio of 407: 1. The screen has a standard laptop resolution of 1, 366x768, which works well enough on a display of this size.