ASUS A53E-XA1 15.6-Inch Versatile Entertainment Laptop (Black)

After a (probably far too) long time of scouring Amazon’s laptop selection, I eventually settled on this model. I’ve had it for about 1 week, and in that time, I can say I am fairly happy with the purchase.

Pros:
Price. Considering what you are getting, this computer seems like a quality product for the amount it costs.
Display: It’s slightly larger than I expected and quite crisp.
Battery: While this doesn’t boast the 8+hours I’ve seen on smaller models, it has been hovering around 4-5 hours on batter.
Keyboard: I enjoy the well-spaced out chiclet keys. It feels less cramped than other laptops I’ve used in the past, although, having the full numerical keys on the right will take some getting used to.
Speed: This thing is a powerhouse compared to my last laptop (Acer Aspire 5100 with 1 GB RAM). The i3 seems quite quick and the 4 GB of RAM appear to have ample processor speed to handle most of what I do (Web browsing, streaming and light gaming). I think I will, however be upgrading to 8 GB RAM shortly, mostly because I can, when I figure out which sticks will work best.
Windows 7 Home Premium: Having used the starter kit on some netbooks, this seems like a much better user experience.
Protection plan: Since I haven’t needed it (yet), I can’t speak to how Asus is about fulfilling the drops and spills protection, but, being a clumsy person, I appreciate the piece of mind.
Frame: The aluminum around the keyboard makes it seem like a much nicer computer than the price tag suggests, and so far it has stayed quite cool despite sitting in my lap.

Undecided:
Track pad: It has a nice feel to it and I enjoy the multi-touch functions, however, I have inadvertently clicked while trying to type emails on several occasions. This is a bit annoying, but I may just need to fiddle with the options.

Cons:
Setup/bloatware: For the most part this was easy; the initial setup took maybe 10 minutes or so. The downloading of the necessary updates from Windows, while not Asus’ fault, took quite some time. Another gripe I have is the amount of bloatware. That probably took 2 hours to figure out what was necessary and what was useless crap (the facial recognition, while kind of a cool idea, is pointless to me [especially when I wear so many disguises]). One wish I have is that computer manufactures will start selling PCs with minimal software to allow customization without having to undo what they have already planted. Pipe dream, but I can bitch nonetheless.
Cord: I wish it was just a bit longer. It’s pretty easy to pick up a replacement, and I may do that.
Speakers: They are laptop speakers, what did I expect? They are generally adequate for me (my apartment is pretty quiet), but if you live in a noisy environment, I would invest in some external speakers, or choose a different model.

Conclusion: For the price, I think this laptop is a nice buy. I think this would be a great computer for people who do not frequently need to do labor-intensive computing (i.e. Photoshop, heavier-type games [WoW, etc.]). I imagine this will be fine for the occasional Photoshop session, but I think it would be slightly frustrating over time. It’s a little larger than a netbook, but IMHO, it is far more functional and comfortable, while not adding significantly to the cost or heft. I would also suggest this to people heading to college as a computer that is portable, yet large enough to be comfortable.

I’ll post edits after I (find the correct and) install the RAM upgrade.

• Intel Core i3-2310M (2.1GHz);
• 4GB DDR3 1333MHz, 2 SODIMM Sockets, up to 8GB
• 320GB Hard Drive; SuperMulti Optical Drive
• 15.6-Inch HD (1366×768) LED Display; Intel GMA HD
• Windows 7 Home Premium (64-bit)

15.6″ HD (1366×768) LED/i3-2310M Dual Core (2.1GHz)/4GB DDR3 RAM/Intel GMA HD/320GB HDD/SuperMulti ODD/Windows 7 Home Premium (64bit)/802.11BGN/0.3M Pixel/6 Cell battery/3 USB 2.0 ports/5-in-1 card reader/1YR Global warranty/1YR Accidental Damage Warranty/30-Day Zero Bright Dot/2-way FREE shipping/24-7 tech support Not Just another Pretty Face
Smart, Reliable & Efficient

List Price: $ 549.99

Price: $ 449.99

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