Bought this from another retailer with the i5 processor, which was more than enough speed. I hadn't had any slowdowns even before I upgraded certain items. Windows 8 takes a bit to get used to but so far I like it. I'm getting more used to the app OS's like Android so the mixture in Windows 8 is becoming more convenient.I still like the 15" size over the smaller sizes so this was the way to go for me. I also find it convenient to have a keypad on the laptop since it cuts some inefficiency when doing a lot of accounting work. I also felt that if I were to get a new laptop with Win 8 I'd have to go touchscreen and that, I feel, has been a great advantage makes surfing the web and other tasks much quicker than using a mouse.
I'm used to an ASUS UL50VT so the screen was no drop off and thus I was still used to the 1366x768 resolution, some may find it lacking but for the price, you've gotta expect some shortcomings I'm tired of seeing people posting how the screen is terrible when you're only trying to spend $500-700 on the thing.
I'm not sure about the other touchscreen laptops (from my research many of the others are difficult to upgrade in the ultrabook sizing) but it's easy to take off the bottom cover to add RAM (I added aCorsair Vengeance 8GB (1x8GB) DDR3 1600 MHz (PC3 12800) Laptop Memory (CMSX8GX3M1A1600C10) bought off Amazon for $40 NOTE: many stats say you can only add another 4 GB but I've found others using the S400CA were able to upgrade up to 12 GB instead). This allowed me to push(through the BIOS) dedicated graphics RAM to 512 MB. I also replaced the drive with a SAMSUNG 830 Series 2.5-Inch 256GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) MZ-7PC256B/WW. The hard part was reinstalling an upgraded windows (Windows 8 core which this comes with lacks support for media center) which required putting the Win 8 Pro iso on a jump drive (adding an ei.cfg file stating
[Channel]
Volume
[VL]
1
to the sources folder) and turning off secure boot in the BIOS. Make sure to also download all the drivers on the ASUS website. The only thing requiring a specific install order is the IRST and Express Cache installation.
The touchpad can be a bit annoying sometimes but once I get used to the click points I'm sure it'll be fine.
I also wanted to add bluetooth since mine didn't come with the wireless so I added the Intel Network 6235AN.HMWWB Centrino WiFi Card Advanced-N 6235 Dual Band Bluetooth Retail for $22 which worked out perfectly. It would've been nice if I didn't have to replace some of these things but at the price I got my S500CA for, it was well worth the additional hassle. If you can find a better 15" touchscreen laptop with the ASUS warranty for these prices please let me know. Also with ASUS brand quality. I don't think there are any new ones at this price (refurbs may come close).
I believe the mSATA drive could be upgradeable if I took off the anchor removing the drive but I didn't want to fully void the warranty (the drive is located to the right of the black plastic covering under the MB ribbon).
Finally, I'm a bit old school so the only game I really play regularly is CS:Source and this laptop was good enough to run it at 60 frames/sec on mid level settings, even better than my UL50VT.
Overall it's a great laptop with quality build and I'd recommend it for anyone.
Fast, responsive, lightweight, solid.
Screen:
720p is off-putting after being used to 1080p or better. I overlook it because I knew those were the specs when I bought it.
The touchscreen aspect is solid, no lags, very responsive.
HDD:
Before I replaced the hard drive, I thought it was really fast. The use of the 24GB mSATA is key here. I don't think the ultrabook would be any use without it.
HDD upgrade to SSD:
And I thought the hybrid aspect was fast, this baby is blazing. 5 seconds or less to get this baby running, 5 seconds or less to shut down. I loaded Win 8 without all the bloatware, it's amazing. Very easy, the BIOS seems to have kept my Win8 license key, so the install of the OS was easy with a USB DVD drive.
6GB RAM:
Plenty of memory for what I need it for: browsers, word processing, pic/vid viewing, skype, eReader, etc. I might upgrade eventually, but so far so good. Windows OS handles RAM a little differently since VISTA. More free RAM isn't necessarily a good thing anymore. Win8 handles everything very efficiently.
WIFI:
Just had to update the driver and most problems go away. I still ordered the Intel Centrino Dual-band N wifi card because I have randomly lost wifi connection a couple of times. Not a big deal for me though.
Bluetooth:
Works as expected. My mouse connected perfectly. EDIT: at first it did but it's having trouble staying connected. I'm working on figuring out if it's the mouse, the OS, or the hardware. will update hopefully
Touchpad:
Takes a while to get used to, but once you "get it" you're good. There are two types of clicking, soft-click, which is like a traditional pad, and hard-click, where you physically depress and release the touchpad.
Battery:
I get about 3.5 hours with this baby full charged. Not bad for me, but I also haven't done an official test with it yet. I think I can get 4 hours of use if I wanted though. My power settings for battery-only are optimized to not sacrifice processing power, but other things like brightness and sleep-logic.
Other:
HDMI port works flawlessly, tried it out on my 50" PLasma for Game of Throne season premiere. 3 USB ports are plenty these days. I haven't tried out the LAN and SD card inputs yet. Will update when I have made any other upgrades.
Disclaimer:
IF you plan on buying this device, and don't swap out any of the parts, be sure to UPDATE YOUR DRIVERS (. Additionally, ASUS has some bloatware that does more harm-than-good, I believe the power-something utility is the worst. Just uninstall it and then your device is good to go.
Buy ASUS ViVoBook S500CA-DS51T 15.6-Inch Laptop ( Black ) Now
First, I didn't get this laptop at Amazon, but from another retailer (for $600).The reason why I chose this laptop is because it's portable (it meets intel's requirement for ultrabook specification) and meet all of my specification as a school's laptop. I debated for a long time between a touchscreen laptop (portable) versus a laptop that has superior processing capability with a good video card (a dinosaur). However, I realized that I wanted something to be able to take to a café or a library and be able to do my homework and other work.
So from this point on, I'm just going to write my review based on what information that I find useful in the buying process.
LOOKS
Smooth edges all around, aluminum all around with the exception of the bottom panel, which is a smooth-rubberized finished. Screen is glossy and contained mostly glass, so it is a good idea to invest in a typical clear screen protector. There's none at the moment, but you can find by a third-party seller on ebay.
OPERATING SYSTEM
Get retroUI or startdock version to bring the "start" button back
HARDWARE
This laptop has a 4GB built in ram with one additional ram slot. This model comes with 6GB so there's an additional 2GB stick in the slot. Speakers are on the bottom (they sounds great by the way! I would say it's louder and clearer than the typical speakers and "beats" brand on HP's envy line). SD slot is there but your card will stick out like a sore thumb.
TOUCHSCREEN/TOUCHPAD
Navigating on the touchscreen is smooth and doesn't produce that much lag when you're zooming in or out. The response is quick and accurate. The touchpad too, is responsive. The thing I like about the touchpad is that it is not raised above or below the hand-rest area (it's also a bigger than most touchpads). If you press down firmly in the center, it'll do a right-click.
UPGRADES
I'm waiting for my SSD to come in next week so I can have it run all SSD instead of the slower 500GB HDD. There's a lot of guides out there explaining how to upgrade if you are interested. However, since I don't have a windows 8 installer cd (yeah I know fresh install is better), I usually use Acronis to clone my SSD (I did this with my other two laptops and it works fine after minor adjustment post-cloning).
PROBLEMS ENCOUNTERED
I had an issue with my wifi not working after updating windows, installing avg and updating asus update utility. I couldn't figure which of the three caused the problem in the first place so I tried doing a system restore. Of course, that didn't work, so I was forced to do a factor reset since the laptop was pretty new anyway. After updating windows update again, I didn't install avg, but rather avast, and I haven't update the asus update utility yet. So far I don't have any wifi issue and I've backed up all of my files, just in case.
Check out my other images of this laptop, it might be helpful!
UPDATE 4.09.13
Just installed a Samsung 840 series 250GB SSD (7mm) this afternoon and everything is running fast, very fast. Boot and shut-down time is significantly reduced. I wanted to get the crucial m4 version but I couldn't find the "7mm" version on sale so I had to go with the Samsung.
No problem(s) at the moment.
UPDATE 3.30.13
I had some issues with smart gesture not working. It would automatically disappear after I resume and reappear after I restart the laptop. It already happened twice, so I went and uninstalled the old driver and updated it with a new one from ASUS website. So far it's working fine and I noticed improvement in the touch response Ex. two finger touch (to bring up menu) is quick and more accurate compared to the older driver.
The keyboard protector in my pictures can be purchased by a third party if you search for keyboard for ASUS K55A-DH71.
Read Best Reviews of ASUS ViVoBook S500CA-DS51T 15.6-Inch Laptop ( Black ) Here
I was so excited when my computer arrived. I glanced at the directions, turned it on, and was ready to be impressed. It is a really nice machine, seems well-built, and I got through most of the initial set-up with no problems. The real problem began when I tried to type full sentences. The space bar, despite being fully pressed, would only register about half the time. This is absolutely not going to fly. I can't imagine a scenario when I would need a computer without a working keyboard. I had read in reviews of other Asus laptops that there were issues with the keyboard, but assumed that those complaints were not the norm (they very well may not be, but my experience indicates otherwise).I am now in the process of returning my computer.I will say, though, that the packaging was great and the computer arrived really quickly. The return policy seems fair, so hopefully this review will be followed by one singing Asus's praises.
Want ASUS ViVoBook S500CA-DS51T 15.6-Inch Laptop ( Black ) Discount?
The Asus vivobook was a great laptop for the price. I am glad to have a laptop that feels thin, and I used to be a Mac guy, so I'm happy to have the brushes aluminum.The bottom is a nice hard rubber that doesn't ever get hot.
Battery life is good, I am probably getting 4-5 hours consistently.
The touch screen is a great feature with windows 8, and I really enjoy it for browsing the web.
Unfortunately, the screen can glare pretty badly in sunlight, because of the touch screen.
The keyboard does have some qwirks. Sometimes it won't register a stroke you made, but it's not too bad.
I was able to dedicate 512mb of RAM to the video memory, which (assuming you have the battery settings on high) plays my video game (LOL) on high settings at 40-60 fps.
For 700 bucks, it's hard to beat this laptop if you want something that doesn't look like it was made 6 years ago...
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