But first, let's talk about why I think this is a good value. This is one of the few laptops at this price point to contain a 3rd generation i5 processor, which can be considered one of the faster laptop processors as of right now. It's speedy enough to run pretty much anything you throw at it. Graphics-wise, this laptop comes with the standard Intel HD 4000, which isn't a great graphics card, but it's not as bad as most people make it out to be either. Intel has had a history of terrible integrated graphics cards, but the Intel HD 4000 is decent enough to run all low end games, and even more graphically-intensive games at a low setting. All in all, this laptop has enough power to satisfy the average user. If you're a power user, you probably know what you need and wouldn't be reading this review.
It also comes with 4GB of ram. If that's not enough for you, it's easy to buy extra memory for an upgrade. For the tinkerers here, the computer comes with 2 slots, and only one is used, so if you want to upgrade it, all you need to buy is another 4GB stick. This upgrade is relatively simple-two screws under the laptop and you simply slide off the cover and insert your new stick of RAM.
Another great thing about this laptop is the battery life. This laptop actually has a 4+ hour battery life, which is excellent in my opinion considering the size. 15 inch laptops tend to be huge power drainers, and ~4 hours is a lot for a laptop this size. The 750GB hard drive is also more than big enough for most people's needs.
Now, I'll address some of the complaints of the other reviewers as well as some flaws I've noticed. First, there's been a bunch of reviews complaining about the keyboard, specifically the spacebar, and I'm going to have to agree with those reviewers. The spacebar is bad. If you come from any laptop with a normal spacebar, you'll hate this spacebar. It's because the spacebar is very... insensitive. You have to press it pretty hard for it to register, and for touch typists, this is a pretty big pain. I hated it for the first 2-3 weeks, but now I'm more or less used to it (I press a lot harder now). My typing speed definitely drops a bit with this keyboard though. Also I bought this Universal Silicone Keyboard Protector Skin for Laptops Notebooks 15" 15.6" 16" 16.4" 17" 17.1" 17.3" inch which helped out my typing a bit. There were also some reviews complaining about the computer randomly shutting down, and I'll say that this has happened to me once in the 2 months that I've been using this computer (during my first week of use). I'm not exactly what causes this, but it hasn't happened since that first week. Finally there are some complaints regarding the touchpad. In my opinion, though, I think that it's all just a personal preference. The gestures all work fine for me. If they don't work, maybe you can reinstall the drivers.
Some final notes:
The screen is fine. It works, and it's bright enough. It's not super high-resolution, but I personally don't see enough of a difference between a typical 1366x768 screen versus a high-resolution screen to justify spending ~500 dollars more. Anyways, this is a matter of personal preference so I won't comment on it too much in this review. The webcam also works. It's not going to make you look like a super star, but it's good enough for your typical skype chats. It seems like a .9MP webcam, but I can't be sure on that as it doesn't say.
It does come with Windows 8, and it is a lot different from the previous versions. Personally, I'm indifferent towards it. What I did not like though, was that ASUS does install a set of their own bloatware onto the PC, which took a little while to uninstall. Overall however, this is a solid computer for it's price. While the spacebar and some of the glitches might make you question the overall quality, I personally think it's worth it. Of course, not everyone has the same tastes, and if you absolutely cannot handle a bad spacebar or uncertainty in terms of the laptop quality, then look elsewhere.
==UPDATE: 4/30/13==
So I've spent 3 months now with this computer and I'm more or less used to this keyboard now (pretty sure my thumb muscles have gotten stronger from pressing harder on this space bar). Everything's still running great.
==UPDATE: 7/14/13==
I'm updating this because as of this date, it seems that Amazon has ran out of stock and a 3rd party is selling it for $670.00, which I feel is just not a good deal for this laptop. If you're reading this review and still looking for a laptop w/ an Intel processor, there are laptops out now with 4th generation Intel processors (technology moves fast!). I think the 3rd generation processors (including the one in this laptop) is fast enough, but if you really want to stay up to date, then perhaps consider buying a laptop with the newest processor (it's a lot more pricey though).
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My review consists of reviewing the Asus Laptop + Windows 8.Background:
This laptop plays a dual role in my household, it's used daily for normal tasks such as web use & office documents and will be used as a Windows OS + Windows Phone OS development laptop.
Laptop:
Plastic construction, nothing spectacular.
Lid isn't easily opened with 1 hand however this may change in the future when the hinge loosens up a bit.
Another reviewer complained about the mouse/trackpad, a few days of use is needed to break it in so your finger glides on the surface vs. jumps due to the lack of oils when new.
As a MacBook gesture power user, I wanted to see similar functionality in Windows 8 laptops that don't have touch-screens. This device supports basic Windows 8 trackpad gestures. E.g. swipe in from right to left brings up charms, left to right switches between apps. It would be nice to have many more gesture to be really fast; not sure if this is an Asus trackpad limitation of if Windows 8 currently doesn't support more advanced multi-finger gestures.
The screen is decent on this laptop but some text with the Windows 8 interface is not crisp (ClearType is on).
Quick boot time especially if you have the Asus boot in performance mode.
Windows 8:
I personally am a fan of Windows 8's UI/UX but I was able to see first hand how challenging this new interface will be for non-techie users. Others in my household have quite a difficult time understanding the new user experience and utilizing it, and often choose one of our iPads vs. this Windows 8 laptop. Perhaps Microsoft will release some improvements soon, but for now I only recommend Windows 8 to techies.
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This is a good laptop for the price, and is all-rounded, good enough for everything. The graphics and sound is not excellent, but it is very reasonable for most users. It is light enough for the price/processor combination, and your can just upgrade the RAM yourself.I had a faulty laptop at first. The first laptop that came crashes often. It hanged the first day it arrived when I was setting up the computer for the first time. I thought it may be Windows 8's problem and tried to resolve it by factory resetting it / partitioning the drives dual boot it. Nothing worked and the crashes made me suspect there was something wrong with the hardware. I contacted Amazon and they offered to exchange the laptop. The new one is perfectly fine.
Pros
1. The touch and feel of the laptop is really nice
2. The weight is quite light for an i5 processor laptop
3. Price was quite low when I bought it (490 after tax and a 10% discount coupon, I think the price went up recently)
4. Windows 8 that came with it is pretty clean. Easy to use after some time spent exploring
5. There is a 1 year accidental damage protecting which covers things like spills and drops, which is useful for many people.
Cons
1. Don't like the touchpad at all the touchpad is really sensitive and moves when you are typing
2. The touchpad driver seems to have something wrong with it. It turns off by itself sometimes without warning. Your multitouch and scrolling will fail when that happens.
3. It is quite hard to change to a different OS because of the motherboard's secureboot configuration. If you are thinking of dualbooting or downgrading to windows 7, you will have to do some googling own your own
4. Didn't really like ASUS' bloatware
5. ASUS' website for drivers on this laptop were quite vague (I took a lot of time to figure out which ones were the right ones)
Overall, this laptop is value for money and I would recommend it to anyone looking for a laptop for general use.
Honest reviews on ASUS A55A-AH51-BU 15.6-Inch LED Laptop ( Blue )
I'm an Apple girl. Been an Apple girl for 20 years. Never even used a PC, except on rare occasion, and I always described the experience (compared to my beloved Macintosh) as, "Trying to reach around your head to scratch your a**!"However, my precious MacBook Pro flatlined on me last December. (I could hardly blame it; it was five years old and I do tend to give my laptops a workout!) I was not in the financial position to replace it, even with a used one. For my purposes (as a Graphic Artist), the model I would need, even being last generation's Macintosh, was running at around $1,700.
So I resigned to actually shopping for something other than a Macintosh. I was, understandably, lost, overwhelmed, and had no clue how to go about narrowing the vast array of choices out there. My fiance, being SuperITGeekMan, said his favorite brands were Sony and Asus, and promised to help me learn more about the functionality of the PC.
I came across this red one, and had to admit that, according to the specs, it met or exceeded everything I wanted in a Macintosh. And it looked cool, too! :) The $500 pricetag was like a breath of fresh air considering I was trying to figure out where to find $1,700!
I've had it for about 5 months now. I'm almost ashamed to admit it: It's not so bad... Okay, I like it! I actually like it. The Windows 8 thing doesn't bother me the way it seems to bother everyone else, I think, because I don't really know what I'm missing. I will agree with some of the other reviewers that the touchpad can be a bit quirky. It DOES register your palm touching at times and jumps your mouse all over the place. And the two-finger scrolling is apparently only functional for certain amount of time before you have to reboot it. (For my fellow Mac-lovers out there, you know that the 2-finger scrolling is a habit you develop EXTREMELY quickly and it's almost impossible to break) I don't know what causes it to stop working, (can't find any documentation about it) and I don't know if there's a way to reset it to work internally, all I know is that rebooting it seems to get it working again. And it doesn't work in all windows with all programs haven't figured out if there's a pattern to that or not.
It tends to randomly and unexpectedly just turn off on occasion? Not enough to worry about, or even enough to make me want to call tech support about it (it's done it maybe 5 or 6 times total), and it seemed to stop doing it for a couple of months and then it did it the other night once more. And it doesn't have bluetooth. If you want bluetooth, you'll need a USB adapter. (So I'm not ONLY giving it 4 stars because it's not a Mac. That's part of it :-P But not all of it.)
It's got 3 USB ports on it, which is really cool! I think one of them is of a lesser protocol than the others because certain devices don't want to work in the one USB port. It has HDMI, standard monitor port, and Ethernet; built-in WiFi, tray-loading DVD writer to the side (I haven't tested the DVD writing capabilities of it yet), and standard headphone and mic jacks. The screen is glossy HD, and it also has a complete number pad on the right side, which is something I have NEVER understood why Apple refuses to do. The battery life is pretty decent on it. It seemed I couldn't work an hour or so on my MBP before it was warning me to give it power (but it WAS five years old...).
So, okay, I'm admitting it. I like the darn thing! I'm a PC-convert. (Wow, did I just say that?) I still miss my Mac, don't get me wrong, and will continue to debate from that side of the podium, but having a PC opens up a lot of doors out there. Lots of things available to me now and I don't have to constantly look for or research "Will it work on a Mac?" or have to pass up something I really want or need because it won't or can't work on a Mac. This thing looks sleek, runs fast, and has made the transition *fairly* painless.
And for the price!?!? Have all you PC people out there been enjoying these kinds of prices for laptops all along??!?!? Man, was I clueless!
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I bought this laptop on Cyber Monday Sale for a total of $545, after tax and shipping. It was a pretty good investment considering that it is i5 and 750GB hard drive. The only setback on this laptop is the sound. The sound sounds a little choppy and, but you can just buy speakers or use a headset to fix this problem. Overall, good laptop for school/gaming and I would recommend this laptop to my friends/family.
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