Firstly, I BOUGHT THIS WHEN IT WAS 700$ I see the price is now $750-$800 now.Okay I bought this on TigerDirect when it was on sale on black friday, and I could not pass it up. I needed a laptop for school and gaming (mostly gaming..hehe), and I had to get this one. I have been searching for a YEAR to get the perfect laptop for me. Even waiting on the next generation Sandy Bridge! So glad I waited too, it's better than the original i7.
You won't find a laptop like this that can do it all, from gaming to school work to business.
Pros/some descriptions
It isn't bulky, it's average size 15.6inch laptop
Graphics card than can change from the Intel stock graphics card to nVidia GT 540m. If you aren't sure if this graphics card, here . This can play every game out there on the market, atleast on lowest settings for a couple of years to come.
Sturdy, aluminum palm rest and around the keyboard, scratch resistant.
Mid range gaming laptop
4GB Ram, and it is actually 4GB not something like 3.75GB of RAM. If you want more it can upgrade UP to 8GB. (UPDATE 1/16/2011 I upgraded to 8gb ram (4gb x 2) for 40 bucks from newegg, this laptop is even more amazing now)
FAST processor. This is the fastest processor on the market for a laptop at THIS PRICE ($700) WITH a real graphics card.
Doesn't overheat, can be quiet When I'm just surfing the net I don't even hear the fan, and the laptop is cool. Even when gaming it isn't hot. But you must have the left side of the laptop be a little clear, and not get things in the way of the fan. It blows hot air out which is a good thing. It stops it from overheating. Also like the IceCool Technology says, the palm rest keeps cool despite all of this. The fan revs up when gaming but it isn't insanely loud at all, I have heard WORSE from my dad's 14inch laptop.
FAST overall
Minimal bloatware. Just download CCleaner and just click away what you don't want. It took me like 20 minutes to take off all he bloatware with restarting, etc. Most of it is just Asus pushing their software. My 2005 desktop came with more bloatware.
-Average screen, not too glossy.
HAS USB 3.0!
The front isn't much of a finger magnet
Sound system is average but not bad
Just mentioning, but it has a chiclet keyboard.
Just saying, but a 5400RPM hard drive. This thing is still fast even if you wanted a 7200RPM.
Has modes like Entertainment Mode, High Performance Mode, Quiet Office mode and Battery saving mode. With a click of a button it switches. The panel will be on start up, and it's in the control panel somewhere. But I use the modes all the time.
If you didn't see in the description, it has a 5 in 1 card reader.
Windows 64 bit
Build in microphone
Cons
Before I do this, I'm not one of those people who say not having a certain aspect is a con, that is dumb to me. Like if it doesn't have blu-ray, that's not a con, you bought it like that...
Battery life is below average which is expected. You'd get like 4 hours max with just surfing the internet with Intel graphics card switched. To do this, go to the control panel, hard ware and you'll see the nVidia graphics control. Switch to make sure you get the right graphics to play games.
The battery port is on the left, that might be weird to some people.
THE BRICK IS HUUUUGGGGEEE. You can still carry it around, and it's expected to be huge because of what this laptop holds, and the power it possesses, but be wary it's huge. It'd like, eat my dad's 14inch HP's battery pack LOL. But it's not heavy or anything.
-The HDD (hard drive) is not 640GB, it is 571GB, and in two partitions. The main partition, local disk C was 239GB and the next partition, disk D was 332GB, which did NOT make sense because C is the main drive. HOWEVER, I just merged the partitions in 1 minute (youtube it,t here's a video and it works and its short), and now my local disk C (main drive) is 571GB and now I have more space.
The whole smart pad thing doesn't seem to work that great. When I don't have my mouse in, when I'm typing all of a sudden the cursor would move and it'd type somewhere else. It's weird, it seemed to work in the beginning but I just tried it and it's super sensitive. Before when I did brush my palm on it, it didn't move, now it does... must be the angle it's on. Right now it's on my lap haha.
The battery locks are a big shaky, something like a button on a toy that isn't all the way in. I know it won't come off, just wish it was a bit sturdier. When it's on my legs I can hear it moving like shackles. But it's not going to fall off or anything.
I don't know if this happens on all laptops, but this happens on mine. When I plug in my USB mouse, and my headphones at the same time, I can hear this annoying ringing sound, and it happens everytime the laser on my mouse gets brighter (when I move it). This happens because the USB slot and headphone slot are on the same side. TO GET RID OF THIS, USE A WIRELESS MOUSE. Probably more convenient anyway. FIXED get a wireless USB mouse to fix the noise. If any other problems occur, get one of those USB hubs. It's like 6 dollars on here.
Even though this did come with the laptop, some people might find the resolution a con. But I see no problem in it. It's average to me.
NEW con add, webcam sucks though. But what laptop has a good webcam lol.
So yeah overall his is a fantastic laptop. I think it's easy to open too if you have any trouble with the fan or overheating, so you can just open it up to clean it later on and not do crazy things like remove the screen.
Great for gaming and anything you want to do.
The only game I have played so far is League of Legends on this, and it plays on high at 60fps (as high as it goes, LoL doesn't get any higher overall, so this plays it to the max) and the game is more good looking than I thought LOL. On VERY high it runs at 40fps. I also played it for hours (I'm a nerd I know) and it DID NOT overheat and I had no problems at all. Of course the fan revved up but of course it will. It's not too loud either (I have heard laptop fans that sound like planes) I think if any laptop started to overheat, it has dust in the fan or it needs a new thermal stock (google it). I mention heating and stuff a lot because I have read MANY laptops overheating that are mid-range gaming laptops. I am just trying to get the point across, this isn't one of them. Even the Acer laptops that like $600, it's a deal but they will burn over and die (HP too).
GET THIS LAPTOP!!!!!!!!!!
I'll update anything if I feel it's important, I've had this laptop for 2 weeks.
EDIT : by the way, this computer gets to about 65 degrees celsius when playing League of Legends, which isn't bad. Some peoples computers go to 80 degrees celsius when playing games!
Edit 2 : I fixed the ringing sound when you have an USB mouse and headphones on... just get a WIRELESS mouse. I got this one and it works perfectly
edit 3 : I forgot to mention, the webcam sucks but what do you expect from a 0.3 mega pixel camera lol. There is a mic as well, and I am guessing the audio is fine because my friends were able to hear me perfectly through the mic. Seems amazon deleted the websites I put up on this review... just google the graphics card and click the notebookcheck link and you'll see what the graphics card can do.
I have had no issues or crashes. I was so scared I was going to get a lemon. I've had the laptop for 3 weeks now. LOVE IT!!!!
I have tried more games. I tried Combat Arms and another MMORPG. IT RUNS SMOOTHLY! No issues whatsoever. Again though hot air blows out of the left side, don't be alarmed. If you aren't too vein you can have the graphics on low and that wouldn't rev up the fan so much. If you go into the cities you don't lag like crap haha.
update 1/16/2011 : btw I recommend you do the recovery DVD's. Also if you decide to keep the Power4Gear (you'll see) when gaming put it into HIGH PERFORMANCE. It really makes a difference. I had mines on "Quiet Office" mode and I was getting like 5 fps on Vindictus. I put it on high performance and I was getting like 60 fps. It's a click of a button, you'll see.
This laptop when gaming has not gotten higher than 81 degrees CELSIUS. Yes that's hot, but the palm rest is cool. It just blows hot air. Don't let anything get in the way of the vents. But this laptop does NOT overheat. It's just hot on the left side. Again, get a laptop cooler anyway. This is good considering laptops get to 100 degrees Celsius (that's overheating)
when gaming.
This laptop has 5 stars at TigerDirect (where I bought this from) from 26 reviews. I wasn't kidding when I said this laptop was amazing.
update 5/20/2012 I've tried other games too. Now the fan is audible. It blows out hot air and this laptop as gotten as hot as 85 CELSIUS. This is unavoidable playing demanding games. But anyway, games I've played are GunZ, NBA2k12, Team Fortress, S4League, and all of them run smoothly. I have no problems at all. I'm one of those people who actually don't care about the looks and just the performance. So they played even better under low quality or medium quality. But this thing can handle anything. ANYTHING!!!!!!!! it doesn't even try with those games lmao. My comp has actually gotten the hottest under the game SECOND LIFE. I think it's because of the way it's structured... it's not really a 5GB game you download or something. It's like through a browser type thing which requires more energy and whatnot. I don't like Second Life anyway. Those anime looking MMORPG's are the way to go lol!!
update 9/20/2012 Aw I see this laptop isn't available right now. It's been a year and a half now. I don't even have dust in my vents. This laptop runs everything, it's fast, it still multitasks. Runs games so smoothly still. I love my lappy!
Update 12/9/2012 Updating just the fact that I've had this for a year now. Still going strong. Doesn't overheat or anything. I have a laptop cooler in case. But I have no complications. I love my laptop like a pet! lol. For games I've played Dragon Nest, LEFT 4 DEAD 2! No complications. This can play any game I feel. The fan might run crazy though. I am more of a gameplay type person so I put everything on low anyway.
I received this laptop on January 24,2012 and to this day it is still working like it came right out of the box.
Speed: Incredible. It makes me want to cry. Even if My internet is slow...it just..it just moves fast. I don't know how to describe it....but its an incredible experience.
If you need a laptop for everyday purposes. THis will fit you perfectly. Business...Schoolwork...etc.
Gaming: It's not a gaming laptop...but hell yeah it can GAME!. IT was able to Bioshock Infinite on High with some settings on Ultra. Yes the fans emit heat and sound loudly, but on low it is way better. And hey the screen isnt 1920 x 1080 so having the settings on low will still look fine.
Ram: At first I thought 4gb wouldn't be enough. I saw laptops that had 32 and just felt I was being cheap. But hell I have never felt like I needed more Ram...running games..browsers...video clips..simultaneously..still no need for me.
Keyboard:...Fantastic. When I first purchased this product, I was worried because I hate flat keys. I feel they making gaming difficult. This keyboard changed my opinion. Infact I know prefer them.
Mouse: Awesome as well. Sensitive and it has the common extra features (pinch to zoom and use two fingers to scroll up and down). It is also sensitive to these features.
Design: Just beautiful...Just Plane Beautiful
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