ASUS A54C-AB91 15.6-Inch Laptop Review

List Price: $449.00
Price: $399.99

Product Features
Intel Pentium B980 2.4 GHz Processor
4 GB DDR3
320 GB 5400 rpm Hard Drive
15.6-Inch Screen, Intel HD 3000 Graphics
Windows 8

Other Opinion

By Eric Jacobs (Adams, MA United States)

We purchased an Asus laptop (ModelX54C-BBK24) three months ago from Best Buy for a business project, along with a Geek Squad service contract, and are seriously dissatisfied with the results. About two months after the purchase, the computer stopped working. We took it into Best Buy for diagnosis and repair. The Geek Squad determined that the problem was a defective hard drive and its replacement was covered under Asus's warranty. We were informed, however, that we needed to provide "recovery discs" that would allow the hard drive to accept an operating system so that the computer would be operational; without these discs the computer, even with a new hard drive, would not work. Although Best Buy is an authorized service provider for Asus products, we were told that they had no access to Asus recovery discs, and it was our responsibility to provide them.

Inasmuch as we had not created these discs, an oversight on our part that does not void any explicit or implicit warranties (it is reasonable expectation on our part that a newly purchased computer will work longer than two months), or give excuse to Asus for manufacturing a shoddy product, it was necessary to contact Asus. We did so, and Asus was willing to sell us these necessary recovery discs for fifty dollars. So, to rectify their inability to manufacture a serviceable product, we were expected to pay approximately twenty percent of our purchase price to remedy Asus's manufacturing incompetence. In our view, this was an outrageous demand, an effort by Asus to turn their shoddy quality control into a profit center at our expense.

We contacted Asus Customer Support and for three days worth of telephone calls received apologies and excuses from representatives and supervisors; all were terribly sorry about the inconvenience, etc., ad infinitum, ad nauseum, but showed no real effort on Asus's part to make good on their defective product, save for an offer to subtract $12.50 from the purchase price of the recovery discs. A mean spirited offer that we refused. In effect, unless we pay Asus a fee to rebuild our newly purchased computer, their corporate policies will effectively prevent us from using our property. Not a nice alternative and a terrible corporate policy that looks to avoid responsibility for the poor quality of their product, and demeans their customers by forcing them to subsidize Asus's corporate ineptitude, manufacturing incompetence and indifference to customer satisfaction.

We will never again buy an Asus computer and would advise other consumers to consider striking Asus products from any purchasing consideration. For our part, we will be filing a complaint against Asus with the Massachusetts Attorney General's Office.

Review ASUS S56CA-WH31 15.6-Inch Ultrabook

List Price: $699.99
Price: $499.99

Product Features
Style: Core i3
Intel Core i3-3217U 1.8 GHz
4 GB DDR3
500 GB 5400 rpm Hard Drive, 24 GB Solid-State Drive
15.6-Inch Screen, Intel GMA HD
Windows 8

Other Opinion

Many Caveats. Do your research and Decide Wisely!
By Amy Yeh

Pros:

Start-up is extremely fast with Instant On. 2-3 seconds.

A very modern-looking pc.

Affordable for those who cannot splurge on a more high-end ultrabook.

Cons:

CPU is i3, and not a more advanced version.

HDD is less than 444 GB! NOT 500 GB as described.

Poor viewing angle- unless you look at the screen face-on, the graphics aren't displayed right. This is problematic when watching videos.

POOR Graphics! HQ videos don't show up clearly, even though this is only a 15.6" screen. In fact, it's laughable that they are clearer on my 17" Toshiba Satellite laptop!

There are many restrictions as to what you can do. For ex, you can't save new programs where you want to save them (new programs under Program files). I keep getting error messages such as "contact the administrator for permission." I AM the administrator!

Windows Media player does not play DVDs on this computer. ASUS DVD, which is installed, delivers poor resolution playback. The pc won't let you download a different version of WMP to fix the problem. So you have to get something like VLC player.

Windows 8 is the newest thing, and while it's important to stay up-to-date, it really takes some getting used to. Read the manual that comes with the pc. It is very helpful!

Conclusion:

I have only owned this pc for a few days, and have discovered many problems with it. If you want a basic computer, you'll prbly be okay with it, but there ARE a lot of caveats. Definitely not for a gamer (I'm not one).

Okay, I hope that this review helps those of you considering the purchase of their first ultrabook. Happy shopping!

Come on, you can do better ASUS Transformer TF300 T-B1-BL 10.1-Inch 32 GB Tablet

List Price: $399.99
Price: $348.79
You Save: $51.20 (13%)

Product Features
Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich
NVIDIA Tegra 3 Quad-Core Processor
10.1-inch LED screen
32GB SSD, 1 GB DIMM
GPS-enabled

Other Opinion

By Dave Kline

I really liked this tablet. It was fast, the price was right, the keyboard dock was interesting, but I returned all three. Tablet one had a stuck-on pixel close to the center of the screen. Tablet two appeared to have a foreign object stuck under the glass of the screen. Tablet three had a dead pixel near the center of the screen. Not good when one of the touted features is the display. I've always gathered that Asus was among the leaders in the Android tablet game, so I'm rather disappointed. I suppose I can try the Transformer Infinity when it comes out or the Google tablet that is rumored to be made by Asus and hope this is a problem with this particular model. Unfortunately, there isn't much comparable by other manufacturers and Asus is one of the only manufacturers making high performance Android tablets...I guess we'll see what happens.

Come on, Asus, you can do better. A $390 product should be right.

Short in More ways ASUS VivoBook X202E-DH31T

This IS a good value Windows 8 Netbook w/Touchscreen but to me it came short in more ways than one.
Considering the recent Tablets and Ultrabook creations by Asus, I was really looking forward to getting this one.
It finally arrived Nov-1-2012 but sadly, I ended up returning it on the following day.

Asus made the frame quite large for an 11.6" screen. I set it next to my 14" laptop and it's almost as big. A wide screen frame makes sense when you hold a tablet but not for a laptop.

Although it weighs in at 3.2lb, the size makes the leverage/tilt/moment feel much heavier than if it were smaller. Some may say it is well built. But to me it mostly felt like a heavy brick in my hand.

Then, the battery cannot be replaced easily. You will need to remove some 15 screws from the bottom cover to get to it.
Worse still, the battery is pretty small. 2 cell and only really good for 4-5 hours. A year from now it will hold only half that time. Asus equipped many recent tablets with twice as long lasting batteries. Why not here?

I did not find the spaced out keys particularly comfortable or with good feedback either.

The screen only goes back to a little past vertical, which is far from being able to lay it flat in case you wanted to turn the Netbook around (i.e. the keyboard is away from you) and access the touchscreen comfortably, in order to use the on-screen keyboard with non-English chars, or play games.
Considering that it comes with a touchscreen, how difficult was it for Asus to make the hinge go back 180 degrees making it incredibly more usable?

The screen itself is super glossy and reflective. Does not yield to best viewing experience if you have lights or bright windows in your back.

Also, when you put an SD card into the slot, it sticks out almost half an inch, which means you might hit it when carrying the laptop around.

Too many strikes and it was out - out the door and shipped back to the seller. Sorry Asus.

The coming 10.1"-10.6" Tablets with Windows 8 Pro will probably suit my needs much better. It might even be an Asus. They generally do make good products. btw, try slickdeals or other shopping sites for better prices
Patience is Golden.

Product Features
Intel Core i3-3217U 1.8 GHz Processor
4 GB DDR3
500 GB 5400 rpm Hard Drive
11.6-Inch LED Touchscreen, Intel HD 4000 Graphics
Windows 8

Other perspective-Click Here

By Y. Z.