LG X-Note A520-D 3D Notebook Review

We have seen the Asus G74SX as well as the HP Envy 17 both of which have a unique 3D feature where one can view 3D content on them by using active 3D glasses. Both the notebooks had fairly decent performances. LG is a late comer in the 3D gaming notebook market but the brand looks to make a mark with the LG A520-D by using passive 3D glasses along with it. Unlike the other two notebooks, this features LG’s Full HD FPR technology which is found on their televisions. The notebook features some neat attributes such as Intel’s second generation Core i7 processor and NVIDIA Optimus technology. Read on to know if this notebook is worth the buy or not.

Keyboard is comfortable to use

Design and Build Quality
The LG X-Note is a fairly slim laptop as compared with other 3D notebooks we have seen such as the Asus G74SX. The laptop has a brushed metal appearance on top that is finished in purple. It makes for an appealing looking laptop to sport around. The sides of the laptop along with the keyboard have a matte black finish. The area surrounding the keyboard have the same purple appearance just like the top panel.

On Video: LG X-Note A520-D notebook

We have mixed opinions about the build quality of the notebook. The hinges feel a bit unsteady while the area surrounding the keyboard appear strong. The bezel around the screen feels a bit flimsy as well and when pressed a clicking sound appears. Apart from this, the hinges are cheap looking. Bearing this in mind, this by no means is an ugly looking laptop and in fact it has quite a stylish appearance. The keyboard featured on this laptop is a chiclet style, this is a very common keyboard design used by most manufacturers. The trackpad has an LED indicator that dims when a finger is over the fingerprint sensor located between the left and right click buttons. Near the on/ off switch, there is another LED light that shows that the laptop is powered on.

No USB 3.0 ports found on the notebook

Connectivity options for the A520 are located on either side. To the left are ports for HDMI, USB, Ethernet, VGA, a 5-in-1 memory card reader slot as well as a 3.5mm audio jack and a mic jack. On the other side are two USB ports, the charging port and an optical drive. There are no USB 3.0 ports on this laptop, we found this odd as nowadays most notebooks priced in this region have them. Summing up the design and build quality, the notebook is pretty stylish and can be suitable for either gender. The A520-D comes with passive 3D glasses and these glasses are lightweight and extremely comfortable to use. There are also clip-on 3D glasses that come bundled with the notebook for those who use spectacles, these glasses can be easily fitted on most spectacles. The overall build quality of the A520-D is not bad but there are a few areas on this laptop that feel weak.

Features
The LG A520-D has some pretty impressive features with the headlining one of them being the 3D capabilities that it possesses. This is not a typical gaming notebook but with specifications that it possesses, the laptop can be certainly used for gaming, though one may need to tone down the settings to avoid framing. Moving back to the highlighted feature, the 3D capabilities found on this notebook are similar to that of LG televisions which use FPR technology. By using this technology, one can experience a lesser amount of flicker because of the passive glasses used as opposed to the active 3D glasses that come with other notebooks.

The A520-D uses Intel’s second generation Core i7 processor which is the Core i7-2720QM that offers an integrated Intel HD3000 GPU. This processor is based on Intel’s Sandy Bridge processor and features a quad-core processor that is designed for laptops. Apart from the integrated graphics card, the notebook also features an NVIDIA GeForce GT 540M 1GB graphics card which is based on the GeForce GT 435M graphics card for laptops but has slightly higher clock speeds in comparison to its predecessor. LG uses NVIDIA’s Optimus technology with this notebook and by using this it switches between the discreet graphics card while playing games and when not it uses the onboard GPU. This notebook also features 4GB of RAM and a 640GB HDD.

Passive 3D glasses are lightweight

The LG A520-D features a a 15.6-inch full HD 3D display that is really good and one can get immersed while viewing content on the 1920 x 1080 display. Unlike most notebooks available in the market, this notebook features a resolution of 1920 x 1080 rather than the more common 1366 x 768 resolution. LG has bundled the TriDef 3D software so one can easily convert all forms of 2D media into 3D such as games, movies and images. The interface of TriDef is easy to navigate through and one can play games, videos and images in 3D. As far as power goes, the notebook uses a 6-cell battery to run it. Besides this, the A520-D sports features such as 3D surround sound, a finger print scanner and Windows 7 Home Premium Edition. Feature-wise, this is a great laptop for multimedia purposes as well as casual gaming.