After a few charge/discharge cycles to get things started, the battery lasts about 3-4 hours under normal circumstances with normal settings (e.g., LED screen is on medium brightness). It will last fewer hours if you play movies or something because it takes more power to spin the DVD disc. It's annoying how Amazon listed everything EXCEPT that vital stat, huh? I hope they fix that soon.This is a good laptop for normal usage like websurfing, MS Word, Excel, light gaming (Plants v Zombies, etc.), and playing movies/watching Youtube/etc.. The P6100 is basically a 2-GHz Core i3 without hyperthreading (but hyperthreading is only useful when you are doing very heavy multitasking or using a highly threaded program). It's even made on the same process/fabs as the Core i3. Thanks to the P6100's integrated memory controller and other efficiencies inherent in the Core i3-style design, it's about as fast as a 2.5-GHz Core 2 Duo. In fact, if you look at PassMark's CPU benchmark list, you can see that the P6100 CPU is in-between a Core 2 Duo E5200 2.50GHz and a Core i3-2312M 2.10GHz. Thus it's well-balanced with a reasonably fast processor and competent GPU (graphics processing unit) that can handle 1080p playback very smoothly in my experience.
The weakest part of this laptop is the relatively slow hard drive, a WD Scorpio Blue at 5400 rpm, which is pretty good for a laptop, but not up to par with a good desktop 7200rpm or SSD. (NOTE: The WD Scorpio Blue's clicking noise is apparently normal and a result of the drive head parking or moving around or something, probably as an energy-saving feature. It's louder than what I've experienced with Thinkpads, but it's not defective just because it's loud.) By the way, if you think ASUS's reliability is bad, wait till you get a load of other companies' "reliability." ASUS is tops in Squaretrade's reliability index (they keep track of which laptops need the fewest repairs), and laptop magazines sometimes run reliability articles where ASUS usually places first or second. Laptop parts can and do fail, so I wouldn't read into one or two bad apples as meaning the entire batch is bad.
This laptop will ask you to make recovery DVDs when you first boot up, though you don't have to make the backups there and then and can delay the backup indefinitely. Backup takes 5 DVD-Rs and several hours. Use quality DVD-Rs if you are getting readback errors. Don't skimp; this is your BACKUP COPY we are talking about here! I recommend Verbatim and especially Taiyo Yuden discs sold by rima.com. The higher-end Kodaks are fine but probably excessive; you don't need the archival-grade gold stuff. Sony DVD-Rs are okay. RITEK is hit or miss, depending on the variant. I dunno about the rest, but chances are that a no-name brand won't last long. If you buy a DVD movie at the store, it is stamped. There is no ink and thus the DVD will last for decades. Stampers are extremely expensive (more expensive than many people's houses, so only big companies own them). Most home users use DVD burners to make DVD-Rs, like this laptop does. The problem is that burned DVD-Rs may last mere months if they use cheap, unstable dyes or have poor bonding (DVD-Rs are made like sandwiches, unlike CD-Rs which are asymmetric and basically a slab of plastic with some dye and lacquer; this is why it's almost impossible to find a "bad" CD-R but much easier to find a "bad" DVD-R).
The laptop doesn't get that hot, so feel free to put it on your lap without fear of sterilizing yourself.
Edited to add: I ran some benchmarks and it seems that there is probably a mediocre RAID controller in the laptop's motherboard, so average sequential read is around 150 MB/s with my Sandforce-powered Vertex 2 SSD, which is laughably slow compared to the >250 MB/s that a Vertex 2 ought to be getting. So feel free to get a slower SSD for this laptop, since it can't max out the faster SSDs on the market anyway. At least you retain the other benefits, like low random access times and shockproof data storage.
The rest of this review is just my general recommendation beyond this laptop:
In my opinion, it's not worth getting a A52F variant with a faster CPU. If you pile on the CPU speed it's still hamstrung by the video so there's no point in getting the faster versions--what are you going to do with a much faster CPU and the exact same GPU? The only times it would matter would be if you were doing something highly threaded that required little to no video, and how many of us do heavy, multi-threaded number-crunching tasks on a laptop? If you want a gaming rig, look elsewhere because the video card here won't be good enough for new games, with maybe a few exceptions here and there. Ditto if you transcode tons of video: get a laptop with a higher-end GPU for that, or get a desktop to pair with the laptop.
By contrast, the difference between a laptop with HDD and with SSD is night and day, so you may want to skimp on the CPU and pour the saved money into an SSD instead. Switching to an SSD is painless: just remove the backplate of the laptop, remove the 2.5" drive carriage, swap drives, and put it back together again, all while touching something grounded or a big piece of metal or something like that, to ensure that your static electricity doesn't kill the drives. It literally took me five minutes to switch to an SSD. You can either use data migration software like Acronis to clone your hard drive onto the SSD (as long as the SSD is large enough to handle the data on the hard drive), or you can install via a spare copy of an OS, which is problematic because this laptop doesn't come with a Windows install disc, and using the recovery DVDs may not work right if you don't install it back onto the original 320GB hard drive. (Note: You can probably use any regular Windows 7 64-bit install disc and use the product key that comes with this laptop [it's on the bottom of the laptop on a sticker]. The product key is the thing that tells the Windows installation DVD which version of Windows to install.) Then use the DVD that ASUS includes with the laptop to install the proprietary drivers.
I also have an issue with the battery not charging correctly. I cannot power on the laptop from the battery. I must use the AC adapter. If I disconnect the AC adapter, the laptop will shut off. The battery indicator icon says that the battery is charging, but it has been stuck at 46% for the past couple of hours. Researching this issue on the internet, it seems that Windows 7 might be causing this. I guess I could blow the HD away and install XP, but I only have the 32-bit version and would waste 1 gig of memory. Not worth the headache.
Unfortunately I have already opened the laptop, so instead of returning it and only getting back 85% of the purchase price. I will take my chances and exchange it for another one. Hopefully the odds will be stacked in my favor the next time around...
Buy ASUS A52F-XA1 15.6-Inch Versatile Entertainment Laptop (Black) Now
The Asus A52F-XA1 is essentially the same machine as the Asus K52F-BBR5 with the latter having 1GB less memory.It's a nice overall package without breaking the bank. HDMI, Bluetooth, and separate numeric keys are nice additions you don't usually find at this price point. Not a gaming machine (not expecting it) but does the job for everyday use. Programs, startups, shutdowns are pretty fast. It even runs iTunes (64-bit) without much noticeable lag. Battery lasts about three hours if the screen is dimmed and put in battery saving mode. Good for home use or desktop replacement and the occasionally hookup to a flat-screen TV with HDMI connection. This model also comes with a one-year accidental damage coverage, on top of the standard one-year warranty.
The little things matter. The built-in media card reader comes in very handy for downloading pictures from a digital camera (no need for a USB cable). The touchpad can be turned off by simply hitting the FN + F9 keys or you can tell the software to turn it off when an external mouse is plugged in, good for avoiding that jumping cursor during typing when the palm is accidentally brushed against the touchpad.
In case anyone encounters errors during the recovery DVDs burning process, you don't have to start over -the process takes hours to complete. You can retrieve the ISO images of the recovery discs in this folder: c:\users\username\my documents\recovery_tmp\ , provided you don't exit out of the recovery disc burning software (AI Recovery Burner). You need to copy and save these ISO images to a different folder and burn the DVDs at a later time. Be aware that the \recovery_tmp\ folder will be automatically deleted once you exit the AI Recovery Burner program.
If the \recovery_tmp\ folder is hidden, you can unhide it by going through the Explorer menu: Organize > Folder and search options > Hidden files and folders > Show hidden files, folders, and drives.
All five DVD images (ISO files) are ready for copying when the first disc is being burned. The ISO files are named CD1, CD2, CD3, CD4, and CD5. These ISO files are not available prior to the actual (physical) burning of the first DVD disc.
Overall, it's a good value.
Read Best Reviews of ASUS A52F-XA1 15.6-Inch Versatile Entertainment Laptop (Black) Here
I purchased this laptop for a family member. I was a bit concerned because I was not that familiar with the ASUS brand. After receiving the product and taking it out of the box, I was fairly impressed. Its a good looking laptop with a nice keyboard and screen. Though my experience with it is limited, I feel pretty good about the value and what it has to offer. Lots of little touches like HDMI connection, facial recognition tech, and Office for Students add to the overall value. The technical specs are good enough to use it for just about any task except for hard core gaming. If you can get this unit for a good price, its a very nice purchase.Want ASUS A52F-XA1 15.6-Inch Versatile Entertainment Laptop (Black) Discount?
Excelente laptop, funciona a la perfección, me sorprendió que pudiera seleccionar idioma en español cuando la inicié por primera vez, así mismo me sorprendió muchísimo que Asus pensó en aquellos "Pro-users" y estableció una partición para el sistema operativo y otra partición que es libre para uno hacer con ella lo que uno quiera...!!.Me hubiese encantado una tercera partición para el recovery pero tendré que optar por crearlo mediante dvds (Utilizando un software que trae instalado la laptop), para lo cual hacen falta 5...!!, lo malo es que si uno solo de esos dvds se daña o se pierde, el recovery no servirá...! así que hare 2 recovery para "irme por lo seguro"...
Pros:
-4 Gb. DDR3 (Excelente para estar cómodo).
-320 Gb. de disco (Buen espacio para almacenar tu gran variedad de cosas personales).
-Teclado numérico integrado.
-Buen acabado, la laptop es MUY presentable.
-Disco duro particionado.
-Windows con opción de Español.
-Complete care.
Cons:
-La pantalla LED si la vez en diagonal, no se aprecia muy bien la imagen, como ocurría al principio con las pantallas LCD, es como ver "sombras", aún así le doy 5 estrellas al producto, hay que entender que estas pantallas LED aún le falta cierto desarrollo.
-Con el rendimiento al máximo, la batería dura menos de 2 horas... así que no me da la oportunidad de poder ver una película entera mientras no esté cargando, pero ya se...!! Es una laptop...!
-Dual Core 2.0, Mmmmmmm.... Es bueno para hacer cosas básicas, muy rendidor, pero puedes fácilmente notar las diferencias que hay entre usar ese y un dual core o quad core....
Para concluir y en pocas palabras, me encantó, cumple con mis espectativas, excelente para estudiar y trabajar...!
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