A textured and comfortable finish is on the lid. The keyboard is laid out with set-in keys and is can be easily cleaned. The keyboard boasts an IceCool palm rest, and does help keep the keyboard from becoming uncomfortably warm. The fan must be impressive, as it only becomes a bit warm during heavy gaming. The screen supports 720p HD, but not the full 1080p. However, there is an HDMI port that can be used to connect to a full 1080p TV to fix that. Overall, a very sturdy computer.However, the speakers are not that great, and I recommend purchasing separate speakers.
A hybrid of NVIDIA and INTEL processors, this computer can run high-end computer smoothly at high settings. I tested the gaming capabilities on Amnesia the Dark Descent, and it ran almost completely high settings, though it SSAO should be set to medium to prevent lagging issues. It can also run Dead Space 1 and 2 at their highest settings with no hiccups. It may lag with Anti-Aliasing enabled, though older games like Half-Life 2 do not suffer from enabling it at the highest AA settings. It also runs PCSX2 games pretty well, and at the highest of 2x Native resolution without lag. However, enabling the hardware anti-aliasing causes slight slowdown (5-10 frames at the lowest AA setting) at 2x resolution and a few garbage graphics appear.
IMPORTANT: The 750 hard drive is divided into two partitions, one that hold the OS and general files (279 GB) and one that holds general files called DATA (394 GB, I suggest using DATA for heavy-duty files like music, videos, and games). REMEMBER: programs like iTunes and gaming services need to be in the same partition as the music and game files they will be using. I tried placing all the music files into the DATA hard drive and using iTunes's, which was in OS partition, directory settings to try to pick them up from the DATA partition. It didn't detect them for some reason.
Also, there is the NVIDIA settings program that junctions the NVIDIA processor to certain programs. Choosing the automatic option will just allow the program to choose between running a program with the high performance, but battery-draining, NVIDIA processor, or the slower integrated processor. I suggest leaving most to auto, but programs that run games should be set to high as a default for a considerably more enjoyable experience. Just right-click either the game or the service that runs it and the NVIDIA settings tab should be under the drop-down menu. Find and add the program to the given list and set it to the high processor and not the integrated option.
Among the flaws I could find were the brightness and color settings (it can be quite bright), but just use the color management program to calibrate the screen and/or use the Intel HD Graphics settings to set brightness, contrast, and color profiles. Also, there is some bloatware that Asus leaves behind, but a few are important, like LifeFrame, which is vital for webcam adjustments; research each carefully. Also, the mouse can be a bit touchy sometimes, and you might want to buy a separate USB mouse.
+ Fast! Super, Blazing Fast!!!
+ Pretty the textured cover makes it look like art and the bronze finish is beautiful
+ Huge Hard Drive 750GB divided into 2 partitions. I'm a software engineer and this laptop handles all my development software easily.
+ Boots up quickly. I even have dual boot: Windows 7 and the Windows 8 developer's preview. Both Operating Systems boot up quickly.
+ Unit runs as coolly as promised. It doesn't even heat my lap up if I use it in bed.
+ The keyboard is well insulated against debris and sturdy.
Things that annoy me:
THe keyboard is AWFUL to type on. You have to hit the keys pretty hard, especially the space bar and enter.
The touchpad is way too sensitive. If I let any part of my hand hover over (NOT touch just hover over) the touchpad while typing then my cursor will move and I'll be typing in a different place. This is becoming more annoying by the day.
THe power settings reset themselves in both operating systems. I set them to maximize performance and not turn off the computer so I can download large files while I sleep and the next time I turn the computer on, the settings are back the way they were.
Pre-installed software(not a complete list):
The off brand PDF reader is very good, I almost un-installed it, but really like it now that I've given it a chance.
Office Starter already installed, you do have to go online and buy a license though
Trend Micro already installed, but you have to buy a license to keep it or uninstall it if you want to use different anti-virus software.
This is a great machine, but the keyboard and touchpad are such a nuisance, I would buy a different laptop if I had it to do it over.
UPDATE 2/16/13: Even though this has been my "house computer" rarely leaving it's place on the desk, the hard drive crashed last week and I had to replace it. I suppose it's still under warranty, so I could have sent it in for repair but I can't live without my computer for that long. I purchased a new hard drive and installed Windows 8 and it's working fine but very annoying that the hard drive failed so quickly. Also, the Windows 8 doesn't have any vendor software on it, so the machine runs faster now.
