TorridlyBoredShopper "T(to the)B(to the)S" ("Daddy Dagon's Daycare" - Proud Sponsor of the Little Tendril Baseball Team, USA) ;
Customer review from the Amazon Vine Program (What's this?)
Spec and look-wise, I like this laptop. I'm not a big fan of Windows 8 and especially for laptops however, because it isn't designed for easy functionality without a touchscreen in mind. I'm not a big fan of the touchscreen either; maybe stubbornness or it seeming like a gimmick or more cost - I'm not sure. I did recently picked up another laptop before this one and had some time to acclimate to the program, but it is a pain for maneuvering. That seems worth noting since it is the systems OS, but since basically everything comes with it now, it really isn't the device's fault.
As far as looks go, I really like the design of this computer, with nothing fancy added to make it more aesthetically-pleasing. The keyboard type, with the spaced keys, is something I always liked. I've got long fingers and bunched keys are a pain, so this design with spacing works out well. They advertise it as being "cool to the touch," and the computer does stay that way. It also vents out toward the side as it heats up, which is important. I had a computer that vented down, and said I'd never buy one without checking again. It is also easy to grip on the outside, which is nice. Other, smoother laptops sometimes give me a scare when I'm holding them and wondering if this time will be that time it slips.
As far as doing, it runs media and games well, with no problem juggling multiple requests at the same time. For kicks, I tried running multiple types of media at the same time to see what it could handle, and was pleasantly surprised. Flash games run quickly, and more in-depth games do really well on it. I've been playing some MMORPGs as well as throwback horror survival games on it, and have been impressed. The picture on this thing is great, too. Very crisp, with beautiful details. The sound isn't bad for internal speakers, but I've never considered any laptop's sound great without external add-ons. I would've liked a BluRay player on this sucker for the price however, to add to that clarity.
8GBs of RAM, 2 TBs of storage plus, the 2 second wake time (which it really does), lots of USB slots; it really is a good laptop.
chaos:
This is a great laptop. The intel core i7 processor is powerful. It comes with 8Gb of memory. HDD is 2x 1TB 5400RPM
It has 4 USB ports in total (2 are USB 2.0 and 2 are USB 3.0)
The screen resolution/picture quality is excellent. Audio quality is also great. Watching movies on this laptop is awesome with it's big screen and high quality display.
I love the "Instant On" technology. This laptop starts up so quickly.
The one thing I did not like about this laptop is the keyboard. It is not backlit and it is set too far back (which makes it a bit awkward to use at times, especially for gaming).
I like that this laptop comes with 1 year accidental damage protection. (It covers accidental drops, spills, power surges and fire damage.)
The case is a nice dark gray color. It is sturdy and seems to be of very good quality.
S. R. (USA):
Let me start by stating that I am a novice laptop user, thus, this review will be free of the technical jargon that can otherwise be found in more expert reviews. My initial impression upon unboxing the Asus laptop was that it was very sleek and stylish looking. The concentric circle finish really does eliminate those annoying smudges and fingerprints. I was also surprised to see the layout of the keyboard was similar to a standard PC keyboard, with enough spacing between the keys so as to not be a hindrance to those with thicker fingers. The large size of the screen was also a welcome bonus for a die hard PC user such as myself. The laptop took longer than expected to start up and there was some slowness initially when browsing the internet or using the various programs. This was going to cause my rating of the laptop to fall considerably until I read the other reviews that warned of the unnecessary pre-loaded add-ons that were responsible for the undue lag. I deleted the programs and applications that seemed extraneous, which helped with the slowness considerably. It is confusing why the manufacturer would add so many seemingly useless applications that only serve to slow down the performance of the unit. Windows 8 took a lot of getting used to given that it is not the most user-friendly operating system. But this learning curve is due to my having never used it before and has no bearing on the value of the actual Asus unit.
I was, however, extremely disappointed to find that this laptop did not come with a blu-ray player. My friend has an HP Pavilion which costs considerably less than this Asus but comes with a blu-ray drive. Given that blu-ray discs have eclipsed DVDs in practically every way, it is frustrating that such a highly priced unit still only allows for DVDs to be played. While this may not be a deal breaker for some, for those with extensive blu-ray collections, it is a serious drawback. The battery life is listed as around 3.65 hours but my experience put it at closer to the 2.5 to 3 hour mark. I am not sure if I was doing anything that might have depleted the battery life at a faster rate but this did seem to be on low end when compared to similarly priced laptops. Overall, this is a well designed laptop with plenty of RAM and hard drive capacity. The lingering complaints from this user are the sub par battery life and the lack of a blu-ray drive. Considering the current high retail price for this unit, it might be best to wait until the price drops some more before deciding to purchase.
