Customer Ratings: 
List Price: $699.99
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I purchased this computer (S56CA-WH31) for my son to use at college, and have been configuring it for him for the past couple of days. Here are a few of my impressions so far:
The overall construction is very good except for one issue the DVD tray extends out from the side of the laptop by about 1 mm. One on-line reviewer noticed that the fit of the DVD tray was off in his review model also, but I am surprised that this got through into the production models. It is not a big issue, but it definitely detracts from the look of the aluminum body.
The screen is bright and clear and has good viewing angles. The keyboard is nice and big and works well with my hunt and peck. The large scroll pad is nice, and I am liking the imbedded buttons more than I thought I would.
The operating system is Windows 8 core (not pro). There is an ASUS-branded software DVD player, so I didn't have to upgrade to pro to get the windows media pack for DVD play as I feared I might have to. There is no utility to create recovery DVD's even though the paper manual refers to one called AI recovery. There is a Bluetooth module, so the "reviewer" who says that there isn't one is wrong.
The 500 GB hard drive is partitioned into a number of system and recovery partitions and a C: system partition of about 186 GB along with a D: data "drive" of about 258 GB. I used the Windows 8 disk manager to first remove the D: partition, expand the system "drive" to around 400 GB, and then used the rest of the space for a 39 GB D: drive just in case the recovery software expects to find the D: drive there.
I installed Start8 from Stardock to get a start menu back on the desktop, and have ordered a 4GB SODIMM to expand the memory up to 8 GB ($25) I figured more memory would be useful especially with the imbedded HD-4000 graphics.
I don't know what the reviewer who was complaining that this was a "slow" computer was talking about. It has a windows experience score of 4.8, which is not bad for an I-3 without turbo-boost and with imbedded graphics. It won't play highly graphics intensive games, but that's not what I bought it for, not should you expect it from the online specs.
Hope this is good enough for an initial review.
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Overall, this is a decent to good Ultrabook, providing fantastic value at the price point the i3 version is being offered for ($500 at time of purchase). I'd rate it at 3.5 stars. It's a handsome looking notebook and I bought this to replace a tiny netbook my wife had been using; the price of this Ultrabook is only a couple hundred more than a difficult to use small, brand new netbook, while having good functionality (good luck typing on a fancy, more expensive tablet, or sub 11" notebook), more processing grunt than tablets and most netbooks, all within a slim, relatively lightweight profile that is suitable for travel.
There are a lot of pros and cons to this ultrabook, but some of are non issues to casual users, while others make this ultrabook better suited to advanced users (or advanced users who set it up for a casual user).
OUT OF THE BOX:
The quality and appearance is great. The aluminum body and top lid are very sleek looking. The darker brushed aluminum on the top does tend to discolor and pick up fingerprints with ease. It's not terribly heavy and while the base is very sturdily built, the screen lid feels a bit flimsy. The top lid appears to be a combination of flimsier plastic, with a very thin brushed aluminum overlay. Lightly pressing on parts of the lid causes the LCD screen to have fluctuations. Despite the notebook being light, you'll want to resist picking up the notebook by the lid/screen, as it may risk damaging the LCD.
LCD QUALITY:
The glossy screen is clear, but has very poor viewing angles. 1366 x 768 resolution is merely adequate. Minor backlight bleeding on right and left edges. Colors are bright, vibrant, with a lot of contrast, but actual gamut (range of natural colors it can reproduce) is only average. This isn't a graphics workstation replacement nor intended for photographers/graphic artists who will be using this notebook for producing color perfect prints, so it's mostly a non issue.
TOUCHPAD:
The large touchpad seems to have fairly high dpi sensitivity, which is a very good thing. Swiping and navigating with the touchpad is fairly smooth, although I did experience an occasional stutters. Two and Three finger multitouch work as advertised. There is an easy to understand short manual showing users how to take advantage of the touchpad features. One of the nicer ones is to swipe in from the right edge to bring up the Windows 8 "Charms" bar.
KEYBOARD:
I'm a big fan of island style keyboards and having a full numpad. Keyboard feels very good to use and will have no problems for users who need to do a lot of typing and numerical input with it.
SPEAKERS:
The speakers are pretty unique and are actually integrated into the laptop's battery and produce a fantastic range of sound for a laptop. Among the best I've heard. UPDATE: Apparently, they're in the laptop. The battery has a faux speaker cover looking applique.
CPU+GRAPHICS:
The i3 provides a nice balance between power consumption and speed. The i3 is not slow by any means and the Intel integrated graphics aren't either. While you won't be able to play the newest games on high settings on this, many games are completely playable at low-mid settings. 1080p videos play flawlessly (when output to a higher resolution screen). The Intel integrated graphics share graphics memory with the computer-if you add another 4GB of RAM (~$25), you can, through the BIOS settings, increase total graphics memory allocation to 512MB. I was able to play Shogun 2: Total War on decent quality settings after a small memory upgrade. The graphics power is around that of the Nvidia GT 610M or GT 630M (with max 512mb memory allocation).
HARD DRIVE:
This ultrabook has an integrated 24GB mSATA SSD (short type) on the motherboard and a 500GB 5400 rpm secondary hard drive, where both operate in tandem as a hybrid HDD (via Intel IRST). This provides relatively quick boot up and loading of most programs, but the 5400rpm hard drive a big crutch and despite any marketing, these 5400rpm drives are always a crutch and I've had a bit of slowdown on this notebook solely due to the 5400rpm drive. I swapped it out for an SSD, but it was a lot of work, which I'll get into later. This Ultrabook operates much faster and more reliably with an SSD in place of the 5400rpm mechanical drive.
INTEGRATED PERIPHERALS:
A nice amount of ports, USB 2.0 and 3.0 work at advertised speeds, HDMI and VGA out is nice, although I do wish it had an eSATA port. The camera is not very good and produced a very grainy picture. It's a typical low end webcam. Bluetooth, which was included in my model, has adequate range. I am surprised that a DVD drive can fit in this form factor, squeezing one in might have resulted in some QC issues with mine-the eject DVD button works strangely, requiring a abnormally hard button press to get the DVD tray to eject. The DVD drive motor is also incredibly loud. DC Power jack seems pretty reinforced and feels like it won't be the first thing to go, as opposed to some of the other laptops I've owned.
BATTERY:
I get close to 5 hours with regular use which is more than adequate, considering how slim the battery is. Not as high as other ultrabooks, but this ultrabook is also less expensive.
BLOATWARE:
Not too heavy on bloatware, as compared with other manufacturers. Only had about 6 unnecessary programs to remove, albeit some of the Asus apps may be useful for the casual user (as they can provide easy file swapping options for connecting smartphones, working with the webcam, and setting up power options).
ADVANCED USERS/UPGRADES:
RAM is pretty easy to add another 4 GB. I also do like that it is just one single panel to remove (2 screws) to access both the HDD and the extra RAM slot. If you want to remove both sticks, you will need to remove the entire bottom cover/enclosure (about 16 screws). The BIOS is very lacking in options, which is unusual for Asus. There are no options to remove the Asus boot logo, nor are there options to select which boot device to use. It doesn't appear that this ultrabook allows booting from a USB thumbdrive, as I tried several bootable thumbdrives when I was trying a clean install, each time met with failure. It does allow booting from DVD, but I would feel better knowing I could boot from USB in case of DVD drive failure. Additionally, regarding the BIOS, this uses Secure Boot and an SLIC BIOS, which for the layman, automatically loads licensing data and prevents "unsigned" bootable DVDs and thumbdrives from loading/booting. This is why the laptop has no Windows License sticker. This was a big issue for me as I tried doing a clean install of Windows 8 Pro, but the SLIC BIOS automatically kept loading up the manufacturer keys for Win 8 Standard OEM during install, preventing me from using my own Windows 8 license. I was ultimately able to do a clean install Win 8 Pro, but it required some very hacky methods and backwards logic that I'll detail in the comments.
Replacing the slow 500GB HDD with an SSD and installing an OS on it is a little tricky due to the integrated onboard mSATA SSD. If you're doing a clean install you'll have to reinitialize the mSATA SSD to restore the Intel IRST functions (Fast Boot, Fast Resume, Instant On, etc). You can also liberate and get full use of the onboard 24GB mSATA SSD as a conventional drive, alongside your own drive by deleting the GPT partitions and creating new volumes...but I recommend making a backup of all factory partitions+data from the 24GB mSATA SSD so you can return the laptop to factory settings, if necessary. The 24GB mSATA SSD is removeable, but it uses a short card; the longer, larger capacity standard size mSATA SSD cards, while they will fit, have no screw standoff to secure it. I'll be adding a laptop screw standoff so I can swap the 24GB integrated mSATA SSD with a 128GB mSATA SSD. Or you can completely remove the mSATA SSD and just have a single drive notebook. The wireless network card can be removed, but there may be a hardware lock that prevents other wireless network cards from working on the motherboard. For now, I'm happy with the Atheros card that's in there, as it's compatible with some penetration testing software I have. There's a limited amount of tinkering that can be done on this Ultrabook, and I do feel some is necessary to get the most out of this notebook (replace HDD with SSD).
Despite some of its flaws, the underlying common denominator that makes this worthy of a purchase is it's price. You get a lot of Ultrabook for not too much money. With some tweaks, such as replacing the HDD, and maybe reintigrating the Start button via the $4.99 Stardock Start 8 program, it can be a great Ultrabook for casual and advanced users alike.
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*UPDATE AFTER SSD PURCHASE*
Upgrading the internal HDD to a 240GB SSD has fixed all of the problems I mentioned in my previous update. The computer now runs incredibly fast.
I will add, however, that trying to reinstall Windows 8 with the same product key was impossible except by using an unmodified x64 iso of Windows 8. For some reason, I could not download the iso from Microsoft and had to find it elsewhere. After finally getting the proper iso, the reinstall was a breeze, and the OEM product key was entered in automatically (make sure you have secure boot enabled). I also formatted the internal 24GB SSD and now use it to store my internet browser's cache to extend the life of my 2.5" SSD. Not having the Intel Rapid Start or Asus Instant On features has not created any noticeable affect on performance or resume speeds.
*UPDATE AFTER 2 WEEKS OF USE*
Do NOT buy this laptop if you don't intend to upgrade the internal Hard Drive to an SSD. The performance of the internal HDD bottlenecks the entire computer. I cannot listen to a 320kbps mp3 while browsing the internet without it skipping/stuttering, and I cannot listen to a FLAC file doing nothing else without it skipping. I also cannot watch an SD .avi file without it skipping/stuttering at least 10 times during a 40 minute TV show, and I cannot play Worms: Reloaded (a very simple game that this computer should be able to handle) without it locking up for a second or two EVERY 3 SECONDS. Either the internal HDD is EXTREMELY slow (my guess because my RAM and CPU usage are always well below 100%, and it's not just video but also audio that skips) or my unit is defective in some other way. The HDD indicator light is pretty much constantly on when I try to do any of the previously mentioned tasks as well. I will be ordering a 240GB SSD within the next month to see if that fixes the problem. Otherwise I will be sending the unit in to Asus. If you need a working laptop for under $500, don't get this. I'm going to be spending at least $200 on this laptop within the next few months (SSD and 8GB more RAM).
If the SSD upgrade fixes the problems, I would rate this at 4 stars again, but these issues bring it down to 2 for now.
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ORIGINAL REVIEW:
This is a review for the Core i3 with 4GB of RAM.
PROS:
-Great keyboard w/ numpad, touchpad, and overall build quality with ample ports.
-Large, glossy screen and great audio quality on built in speakers.
-Snappy performance with Windows 8 on the internal SSD
-Laptop stays cool under load.
-Instant On resumes the OS very quickly.
-Latest 22nm version of the Intel CPU/GPU chipset (a lot of Ultrabooks in this price range are using the older 32nm architecture)
-ASUS Gesture makes Windows 8 a breeze on a non-touchscreen device.
CONS:
-Battery life is a bit lacking with the 4-cell battery (around 5 hours) BUT it also charges insanely fast (faster than my cell phone)
-LCD quality could be better; although it is perfectly adequate for a student or casual user. The viewing angles are limited and the color range is not the greatest. Tweaking the graphics settings helps quite a bit, but if the screen quality is the most important thing in a laptop to you, you probably won't be happy.
-The back is a fingerprint magnet, but that's nothing a little Windex can't help.
-DVD drive sticks out a NEGLIGENT amount on the backside. It's less than 1mm for me, and the front is flush. I've seen people complaining about it, but don't see it as being a huge deal.
-The speakers are on the bottom, so when the laptop is sitting on a bed, sound is a bit muffled but still loud enough.
-Grainy webcam
As a student, this laptop suits me very well. It's got enough battery life to make it through a day of classes without charging, and it's extremely light due to the stylish and thin aluminum design. Sound quality is great, and the display is adequate for mobile use (I'll do my Photoshopping at home on my desktop though). The processor is very fast as well. I've always been an AMD user except for an eeePC that had an Intel Atom. I'm very happy with the speeds of the i3; in comparison to my desktop's Phenom II X3 2.8Ghz the i3 transcoded an album from FLAC to V0 in 160% of the time it took the Phenom. Not bad at all. I've yet to do any gaming yet on this laptop, but I have a feeling with a total 6-8GB of RAM the Ultrabook would have no problem playing many recent games on low-medium settings. As far as video, the HD 4000 graphics provide a perfect HD media streaming experience. The webcam, however, is mediocre at best with a grainy, but decently high resolution image.
As far as future modifications, I intend to purchase a 128GB SSD to replace the internal HDD as well as pick up another 4GB of RAM. A freshly booted system configured to my liking (Rocketdock & Rainmeter) uses 66% of the internal 4GB due to the onboard GPU. I also would consider buying a larger battery if offered and if it's the same dimensions as the stock one. These are all things that are unnecessary due to the incredible price of this Ultrabook ($439.99 after rebate for me), but they will unlock this device's full potential.
In the end, I am very happy with my purchase; although I could have gotten a more expensive Ultrabook with more power, this packs a great punch for the price. It will be more than adequate for my internet browsing, mobile music production, word processing, media streaming, and casual gaming. Plus it makes a great fashion statement because it looks even sexier than a Mac ;)
Honest reviews on ASUS S56CA-WH31 15.6-Inch Ultrabook
I'd like to start out by saying that the majority of the grievances spelled out by other individuals typically revolve around the software. That is, Windows 8 and the suite of Asus prepacked crap.
And they're not wrong. It truly is horrendous. Windows 8 was a massive misstep by Microsoft and Asus' bundleware doesn't exactly enhance the experience.
SCREW WINDOWS 8:
Fortunately this was destined to be a Linux laptop, specifically Fedora 19 (https://fedoraproject.org/). I'll be using it as a software engineering student starting in the fall and this is looking to shape up to be a wonderful Linux laptop. It is fairly standard hardware and appears to be well supported (ethernet, WLAN, bluetooth, power management, webcam, etc.). I have also heard reports that it works well with the Debian based distros as well as the more "server-esque" distros such as CentOS and Arch Linux. The diagnostics done on this laptop were through Hiren's Boot CD which recognized all of the hardware just fine.
BIOS CONFIGURATION:
The first thing done was to update the laptop's BIOS to the latest version (208 as of writing this. Was 206). This, and morbid curiosity, was the only reason I booted into Windows 8 in the first place as using Asus' Windows based flash utility is the easiest way to get this done. Doing this did flip SecureBoot to enabled (it was actually disabled by default in 206). Just go back into the BIOS and disable it again. If you can't boot from CD be sure that "Launch CSM" is enabled under boot options in the BIOS and that the DVD drive is set to have boot priority over the Windows boot loader. If you intend to do a PXE installation you can enable that as well. Otherwise you can ignore it.
HARD DRIVES:
Both the 500GB hard drive and the 24GB SSD survived an extended test in GSmartControl with zero errors. The SSD benchmarked a read/write of 4.2GB/s and 344MB/s, very respectable.
The drives were immediately zeroed and given the following partitioning scheme:
/dev/sda1 swap (encrypt) 4GB
/dev/sda2 /boot ext4 500MB
/dev/sda3 / ext4 (encrypt) 19.5GB
/dev/sdb1 /home ext4 (encrypt) 500GB
This gives the OS, swap and applications the entire SSD and reserves the slow hard drive for data (office and Eclipse workspaces, mostly). Disk encryption works fine and as expected. Boot and application load times are snappy and responsive.
RAM:
I purchased an extra 4GB of RAM to go with this unit (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B006EWUP4Y/ref=oh_details_o02_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 ) which was an easy install. Simply take out two screws, slide off a back panel and snap the module in. Numerous YouTube videos can be found demonstrating this. Both the laptop memory and the purchased memory survived six runs (10+ hours) of Memtest86 without issue (http://www.memtest86.com/). I only
GRAPHICS:
The Intel HD4000 graphics is more than enough for HD video and some basic gaming (hey, Steam is on Linux these days!). If you install more RAM into the laptop you can feel free to up the available memory for the graphics to 512MB via the BIOS (the default is a miserly 64MB so you may want to up it regardless). Games such as Portal and Bastion boot up and play fine. In fact, they load surprisingly fast considering that I have my Steam games installed to the HDD.
TEMPERATURES:
~41C-45C while idle or internet browsing. Prime95 brought the temps up to approx. 61C. Not too bad.
MISC:
Yes, the webcam is as grainy as others have reported. If this is an issue for you, avoid this unit. If not, then...feh? The ethernet, wireless and bluetooth work at the advertised speeds. The inclusion of a DVD drive is nice for those of us who cannot let go. The screen is large and bright.
The summary is the hardware will do its job quite well. The issue is with Windows 8 and Asus' bundleware. If you can I would suggest downgrading to Windows 7 or dropping an alternative OS under the hood. With the right configuration this is an absolutely wonderful piece of hardware at an unbelievable price.
Find helpful customer reviews and review ratings for ASUS S56CA-WH31 15.6-Inch Ultrabook
I wanted a laptop that's attractive, reliable, at least i3 processor and under $500. Amazon had a gold box deal on the Dell 15N and, while it met my minimum qualifications, it was somewhat of a dud. The thick plastic body and the cheap feel of the keyboard was disappointing but I would have kept it for just over $300 I paid if it weren't for the wi-fi connection issues. I returned to Amazon and was credited fully right away. Personally I feel that there's no better retailer than Amazon right now.
As soon as I got my credit for the Dell return, this laptop goes on gold box deal. Talk about good fortune. This laptop that qualifies as an ultrabook (barely) is easily 5 stars for the price I paid. Not many people can say that they paid just over $400 for an ultrabook.
Performance is commendable. Even though I'm a casual user and don't do much that is graphics or processor intensive, I have yet to see any slowness of my applications and, with the hybrid HD setup, is the fastest booting computer I ever owned.
Reliability is top notch. Not a single hiccup detected at nearly a month's use. You also get the Asus warranty including accidental drop/spill damage protection.
Full of features including Bluetooth, HDMI out, USB 3.0 and an optical drive that not all ultrabooks have. Drive tray does stick out by a sliver when closed and isn't completely flush as some other reviewers noted but I wouldn't even have noticed if I hadn't read that on others' posts.
Sounds great. Best sounding laptop I ever owned. The speakers are down firing so having this on a flat surface is best for listening.
Excellent design. At .83" and 4.6 lbs, it is thin and light and I am a big fan of the brushed metal look of the aluminum body. Yes, it does leave finger prints but what laptop doesn't?
Decent battery life. Was able to squeeze 5hrs. Not the best but good for having 4 cell battery.
The keyboard, while not backlit, is nice and feels well built. Touchpad is responsive but is big, bigger than other laptops I owned so it took a little getting use to.
The screen is average. Like most mid level laptop screens it has good color and contrast with a little backlight bleed at the corners and short viewing angles. It definitely is not an Apple Retina Display.
Win8. Some hate, some like and some get use to. I got use to it. Works fine for my needs. Just glad that it came with minimal bloatware.
The 500gb HDD is 5400 rpm not 7200 as stated in some places but it fits my needs. Swapping it out for a SSD would improve performance no doubt but I really don't have the need to invest in that. I did put a $25 4gb RAM in the open slot and that will be the extent of my hardware upgrades.
Some states that the cooling fan is very loud. I have yet to notice after 3+ weeks of use and is quiet as a whisper. Will update post if it starts doing so.
This computer looks, feels and sounds great. While not the ultra of the ultrabooks, its performance is excellent for a casual user.
