When I first received the laptop I heard rattling inside the case.I took the bottom panel off, (when replacing the HDD with a Solid State drive I found two loose screws and pieces of plastic fragments on top of the motherboard just rolling around.I didn't see any missing screws, so whoever assembled this laptop must have dropped them inside and never bothered to check for anything loose before putting it together.It's a good thing it didn't short something out.Bad quality control ASUS!
This is a very nice looking notebook.It has an aluminum display back and what looks like aluminum where the keyboard is. It's actually just plastic.Everything else is also plastic.The problem with the metal plating on the back of the display is that it is a finger print magnet and they are very difficult to remove.The metal is just for show and really doesn't add to the build quality vs. a laptop that is all plastic.
It has a very fast Intel I5 processor which is crippled by the very slow Samsung 1TB 5400rpm hard drive.You can replace the hard drivewith a solid state drive by taking the bottom panel off and carefully prying it past the locking tabs all the way around the frame.I used a thick guitar pick and the bottom panel came off rather easily.There are 4 screws holding the HDD caddy in place.Once I replaced the HDD the performance was a monumental improvement.It's obvious the CPU was constantly waiting on the slow drive, making this laptop feel really slow.Boot times before were easily over a minute and after, with the SSD, it booted in less than 8 seconds.
There is no DVD drive,so you will have to buy an external if needed.
ASUS uses like 6 partitions on the HDD which is ridiculous.You get a C: partition for the OS and applications and a D: partition for data.I'm OK with this, but there are also multiple hidden partitions for restore and recovery.When I installed the SSD I just migrated the two OS partitions and made one large C drive on a 500GB Samsung EVO 850 SSD, saving a lot of space.I created an image of the original HDD so if I ever need to put it back to factory condition, I have the image on hand.I'll use the 1TB internal HDD as an external backup drive.By the way, the Samsung EVO Solid State drives are very affordable and work great.I have installed more than 10 of them now without a hitch.Why laptop manufacturers aren't putting SSD's in laptops now that the prices have dropped is beyond me.
The display was a big disappointment to me.It's a high resolution 1080p display but it is very dim and it has virtually no contrast.You just can't seem to adjust it to get a sharp image. It's not terrible, it's just not very good.Below average I would call it.The screen is very hard to read and has a glossy finish to it which makes it virtually impossible to use in any kind of bright lighting condition.Bad decision ASUS!They obviously saved money on this panel.It's a standard TN panel and a cheap one at that.I played around a little with the touch screen and it works fine.This may be the saving grace for the terrible touch pad - (see below)
I believe you can also upgrade the RAM from 8GB to 12GB's even though ASUS says you can't.There is a metal box over the memory with a single 4GB stick in it.The other is built into the motherboard which you can't replace.If you take the metal cover off, you should be able to replace the 4GB stick with an 8GB one.You also can replace the battery once you have the bottom panel off.
The next disappointment was with the touch pad.It's very sensitive and if you use any pressure at all, it just doesn't respond.What's even worse is there are no software adjustments for sensitivity.Why laptops manufacturers can't make a decent touch pad is frustrating.It's an essential component for using a laptop and this one just plain sucks.The left and right buttons are incorporated into the pad and are very hard to press.T I ended up using a Logitech wireless trackball with it, but this defeats the purpose of using it as a LAP top.
The speakers are just fair.ASUS touts how great the sound is, but in actuality, it is worse than my 7 year old cheap Lenovo laptop.This is just marketing hype - don't buy it.Not much to brag about here.
The keyboard is also pretty bad.It works, but has a cheap plastic feel to it.Manufacturers have all gone to the chicklet keyboard which is not an improvement IMO.I still love the old IBM Thinkpad keyboard on their older laptops.Unfortunately, even Lenovo has gone away from them to make more profit using cheap keyboards.
Another annoying thing about this laptop is they don't have a HDD activity LED.I really like knowing the HDD is active when using a laptop - nope it's not there.There are however, lights for the caps lock and numeric pad.Why no HDD activity light ASUS?
Windows 8 is really annoying - hopefully windows 10 will be better.I put the program Start 8 on windows 8 to make it run like Windows 7.It's at least tolerable now.
A couple of other things to note:Only 1 USB 3 port.It would have been nice to have more but you can always buy a USB 3 hub.Again, why can't they just make all ports USB 3?They are backward compatible anyway.
Built in camera only is VGA quality.I don't Skype with my laptop, but if you do, you will be disappointed in the camera quality.
In summary, this laptop is a mixed bag:
Pros:
Fast, Energy efficient Intel processor I5 processor
Decent built in GPU with new Intel 5500 chip
Great versatility of having a touch screen with Windows 8/10 - helps with the navigation with a very bad touch pad
High resolution display, but lacks brightness and contrast - to much glare ona glossy screen
No problem with the current Atheros WIFI adapter as others have commented on before - latest drivers installed
You can at least get to the HDD without tearing apart the entire computer like other models.
Fairly light and thin form factor
Metal backing for the back of the display and keyboard frame - however, creates finger prints like crazy
Very little bloatware except for ASUS registration and McAfee Antivirus, which is easy to remove
Cons:
Crippling slow hard disk drive - plan on replacing with an SSD
No internal DVD drive
Can't easily upgrade memory due to large shield over the removable memory - however 8GB's should be enough for most people
Bad touch pad - not responsive and left/right buttons too hard to press
Screen is very dim and lacks contrast and punch
No back-lit keyboard - BIG ISSUE IN MY BOOK
Only 1 USB 3 port
No WIFI AC mode
No HDD activity light
Terrible VGA built in camera
Chiclet keyboard is fair at best
Sound is fair at best
No user replaceable battery
Documentation is installed on your hard drive
Convoluted partition setup and difficult restore procedures
Quality control is lacking with loose parts inside my new machine
ASUS service is known to be terrible
I'll update this review after I have had more time to use the laptop.I'd rate it just fair for now.The notebook was priced OK, but previous models were better for the same price.I don't like where manufacturers are going with the new laptops today.They are after higher margins at the expense of quality and the consumer, who usually doesn't know better is going to get the short end of the stick.
ASUS is not the only manufacturer doing this, however, according to a recent laptop manufacture review, ASUS has slipped to near last for quality control and service.They get high ratings on design, but be prepared for a lot of compromises.
Update July 30, 2015:
I just upgraded to Windows 10 without much of a problem.Be aware that if you do this you will have to download the new track pad gesture software for Windows 10 from the ASUS website.Other than that, no issues and Windows 10 is a very nice upgrade over Windows 8.1.Windows 10 has some really nice features for 2 in one laptop like this to use as a tablet.I haven't explored all of the functions yet, but plan to in the near future.
I found there are adjustments for the monitor {Gama, etc.) in the Intel GPU software - but it's buried)I wasn't able to make the monitor much better, but I am getting more used to it now.I think there is some adjustment going from a 720P screen to a 1080P.
ASUS says you can't upgrade the HDD to an SSD - YES YOU CAN ASUS!!!!I just did it and it works like a new computer now.In fact, it is very easy to do.Send me a PM if you need some assistance.I didn't bother upgrading the RAM, but I believe you can upgrade to 12GB's if want as well.You just need to remove the metal shield from the motherboard to get access to the memory slot.I've also found that battery life is significantly better with a SSD drive installed.My average boot times with the SSD are around 6-8 seconds.I ran the Samsung performance benchmarks and this system exceeds all of them by a good margin.
The things that bug me the most about this laptop is the lack of back lit keys and lack of sensitivity adjustment to the touch pad.The touch pad works fine as long as you touch it very lightly.Even so, I find I'm constantly launching something I didn't intend to.The glare from the screen is also annoying.I think the glossy finish this screen has makes the screen seem so washed out.I use the machine a lot in a dark environment and find myself constantly turning the light on to see the keys.The screen is very sharp, but being so glossy just makes it difficult to use in any kind of bright lighting condition.
If you go into the Intel GPU software control panel you can adjust Gamma under the Color settings.If you drop it down to .7 from the default of 1, it makes the screen much easier to read.
Other than these issues, I'm starting to like the laptop the more I use it, but this is only contingent upon replacing the slow HDD with an SSD.Otherwise, this is just a very average laptop and is only worthy of three stars.If you replace the HDD with an SSD, I would rate this laptop as a solid 4 star rating.The performance is amazing with an SSD installed and it's a crime to put a standard HDD with such a fast computer.
