Asus Laptop with Intel Pentium Processor - Midnight Blue

"This is a great product. Love it."

"I bought this a few weeks ago to replace my HP Pavilion 9000, which if you have had one, you'll probably know why it needed to be replaced. It's tempting to compare the two, but not a fair comparison. In several ways, my HP was superior, but in other ways (such as RAM), the Asus is superior. To be sure, the Asus is not a high performance gaming rig, but it's a great-looking basic laptop that can play and burn DVDs and do your basic computer stuff. My review will go through the good and bad. There really is no ugly here.



First, it worked great right out of the box. My wireless connectivity was instant. No trouble at all. The default desktop looks like it was sponsored by a pharmaceutical corporation. The nondescript flying pills and tablets are kind of funny. The system does not come with a lot of bloatware. I did not need to delete very much.



It is a fingerprint magnet. Can't really complain about that, though. I bought it in the store and knew it would get fingerprints. If you're compulsive about it (I'm not), then you might want to take it into consideration.



The LED display takes some getting used to. I needed to adjust the screen brightness because it was just too bright for my eyes. Good thing there is plenty of adjustment. Everyone should be able to find a comfortable brightness.



I have seen a lot of customer complaints, on this site and others, about the volume. The volume was really low and cranking up the speakers did not help. Adjusting the regular main volume control did not help, but here's the fix:



Go to the control panel>Hardware & Sound>Sound

Click on the speakers icon on the Playback tab

Click on the (now clickable) Properties button

Click on the SRS Enhancement button

Bring up all levels that have the SRS logo.



You'll now be able to hear your videos. In fact, have a video streaming while you do this so you can hear the volume come up. Then you'll know you're dragging the correct levels.



The mousepad is kind of touchy. Once in a while, I'll hit it with the side of my thumb when I hit the space bar and I'll end up typing in another place. Plus, when I do the two-fingered scroll, sometimes it registers a two-fingered tap and that enables a different kind of scroll that goes too fast. Of course, I can use a USB mouse and I sometimes do.



The viewing angle on the screen is fairly narrow. You don't have to be too far off dead center for the picture to wash out. Still, it's a decent picture and the widescreen is a definite plus, especially when viewing windows side-by-side in Windows 7.



Windows 7 works great. The boot time is fast. The whole system runs so quiet and cool that I don't even need the laptop cooling fan I bought for my dead HP. I run this laptop all day long and it's not even warm.



I love the full-size keyboard. I'm a number pad fan, so this was a nice bonus. The function keys are new to me, but I like them, especially the calculator. You can engage the webcam (never had one before) with a function key and you can adjust the screen brightness with function keys.



You can run several applications at once and this Asus can handle it. The processor and video cards and not exactly workhorses, but they'll get the job done as long as you don't try running anything too graphics and/or processor intensive. I'm planning to get an iMac to do the graphics intensive work that I want to do (that my old laptop did), so graphics was not a huge thing for me here.



There are a few features that I would like to have seen on this unit, such as HDMI output and Bluetooth (so I can print wirelessly), but I can get a Bluetooth dongle and I can live without HDMI. Those would have been nice, but they weren't dealbreakers. I would like to be able to upgrade beyond 4GB of RAM, but it's still twice as much RAM as I had on my HP.



The bottom line is that this laptop has a terrific set of features for the money. It's a $500 laptop that has a heck of a lot going for it. There are a few minuses, but a lot more pluses. Besides, most of the minuses aren't more than minor things. There are other laptops with similar features in this price range, but I think the Asus looks better and is a great value for the money. I bought it to do basic web surfing, word processing, research, light game playing, DVD watching and I bought it for portablilty. It also acts as a media extender so that I can stream content from another computer.



So far, it is doing everything I've asked of it. I am very happy with this purchase. Check if your local Best Buy has it and get it if you can."

"This laptop is very well designed, quite simple looking, without any bells and whistles. Nevertheless, you will find it can do everything you need and more. The keyboard is very fast and responsive, with a big numeric pad on the right side. The touch pad is one of the best I have seen, you can comfortably work without the need of an extra mouse. The display is great, big widescreen with bright and vivid colors. The general performance is more than enough for general work / entertainment purposes, although you will not be able to play graphics intensive games. You will also find that 4 GB of RAM on Windows 7 is all you need for intensive multitasking. It comes with driver and recovery DVDs, absolutely NO bloatware/adware (unlike Toshiba, HP, Compaq and Gateway laptops), meaning you do not need to spend a day uninstalling annoying applications, you can simply start using it out of the box. The only thing I uninstalled was a Trendmicro Internet security application trial (I installed AVG antivirus free edition instead).



The Asus included applications (for managing multimedia, power and the webcam, which is one of the highlights of this laptop) are non intrusive, very useful and very well designed. In spite of the big widescreen display, the laptop is amazingly light, you will not be carrying around a heavy monster.



I've managed to get more than 4 hours of battery life on this laptop using one of Asus battery saving mode profiles on its first charge. The laptop comes with Windows 7 64 bits, which is an absolute delight to use. Finally, the laptop is VERY silent and it does not get hot, even after using it extensively for several hours. I am still testing the laptop, but so far I have not found anything wrong with it.



To conclude this review: If you are looking for a solid, affordable, fast and reliable laptop for your work (especially if you do a lot of videoconferencing), look no further, buy this one!"

"I purchased this laptop nine days ago (11/23/09). I had never owned a laptop before and prior to buying one, I did my homework. I am a college student and needed a laptop for my work and such. I read all the reviews and determined this one not only fit my budget but had a lot of extras I would appreciate down the road. I knew prior to buying that the battery life was not the greatest and was determined to buy a bigger battery from the manufacturer... First, I started setting up the computer which was fairly easy. Then started creating the back-up disks. The system indicated a total of four (4) DVDs were required yet it only recorded data on two (2). I figured, oh well, I guess it was not accurate and left it at that. The computer worked like a beauty until it died yesterday. It would not allow me to sign in to Windows. The keyboard was posessed! I would type one letter and it would type 20! I looked to see if a key was sticking but none appeared to be doing so. I shut it down, restarted and it continued to do the same process over and over again. Fed up, I packaged it up and am in the process of exchanging it today. I don't want to be unfair, this is a great laptop and I am willing to give it a second chance. I read both Asus and Toshiba, statistically, have the lowest hardware malfunction rate in the market versus the other popular brands. Maybe I got one from a bad batch... We'll see if the new one works."

"I love this laptop. I spent many many hours researching a new laptop since our five year old Dell finally died. I needed something fast, able to keep up with my multitasking, and for online schooling. I didn't have a lot to spend on a laptop, so I went to my local Best Buy to check out the laptops. I like to see, I just can't buy online and take a gamble. After literally talking to one of the associates for over an hour about laptops, I chose this one after his recommendations and what I plan to use it for. Not only does it have 4gb of RAM, but a Pentium processor and huge hardrive. The harddrive wasn't really a selling point, since I have most of my stuff on external harddrives, but I was pleased. The price was exactly in my price range. I'll be honest, I wanted an Apple, but I just cannot justify the expense at this time. At $499, this one was hard to beat. Windows 7 is emulating the Apple's OS, and so far I like it. The color of the computer itself is a beautiful blue. There seems to be more fingerprints than usual because of the glossy finish, but it doesn't bother me too much.

I think it is a fast, beautiful computer. I'm very pleased with my purchase and my experience with Best Buy and associate "Timmy" could not have been any better! I did buy the Geek squad 3 year service plan, since I like having computers for a while. I highly recommend this computer and buying it from Best Buy!"

"As a Mac user, it was a bit difficult to convince myself to buy a PC. But since the Macbook wasn't in my budget and I needed a laptop, I had to buy a PC. I'm very pleasantly surprised at the performance of this laptop! The 4GB of RAM ensures that the applications open and load quickly, and I'm enjoying Windows 7, it's the best Windows OS I've used so far.



It's nice and fast, reliable, and doesn't heat up like my old Dell did. If you predominantly use your laptop on your lap (as opposed to a desk) then you know that the placement of the vents can sometimes cause the computer to heat up quickly (bad for the laptop and your lap!) But the vents are placed well, as are the USB ports, and other inputs. Also, the 802.11n wireless is fabulous, I receive strong signal throughout my house.



It is a bit heavy, I don't know I'd recommended if you carry it around a lot, there are certainly lighter weight options out there. But if you don't need a ton of portability, it doesn't really matter. My only complaint is that the keyboard isn't backlit, so using it in the dark or without some ambient light can be difficult.



For $499, this is a great machine! I've only had it a month, but so far so good! Thanks for reading. :-)"

"This really is a great computer for the money. Nice, big screen...lots of memory...low price tag! The fingerprints don't bother me, but if they do bother you then you should look elsewhere. It's a fingerprint magnet! I hated the mousepad at first because it was clicking on everything on the screen. However, once I customized it to the way I want it (turned off the tap feature and decreased sensitivity),it is wonderful. I don't even use my external mouse anymore. It does have a scroll feature, both vertical and horizontal....drag two finger on the pad either up and down or side to side. If you go to the mouse settings it will give you instructions on how to do anything you'd like. Speakers have also been a complaint, but I knew not to expect much with a laptop. I did follow someone else's advice and used the HD Vaudio deck to adjust the equalizer and the sound is 100 times better!



Great computer in my opinion...bought two of them with the no interest financing offer and couldn't be happier! I don't have to fight for computer time anymore!!



Thanks Best Buy!"

"So it's true that Asus is not that well known yet. It got the "never heard of them" scowl from my girlfriend, but CNET.com speaks well of the brand and that's good enough for me. First, this laptop has the best combination of features for the price that I could find. It's also extremely good looking in person. Very handsome deep blue color, beautiful display and very functional layout. It has great RAM and plenty of hard drive for most anyone's needs. It's fast, very fast for my computing needs. I'm very satisfied with the purchase.



There were a couple of minor quirks. Some will complain that it smudges easily due to the finish. This is true. It doesn't bother me though. It also includes a webcam, but it took me 1/2 hour to figure out how to launch it. I read through the manual. Nothing. I searched the computer with terms like "camera" and "webcam." Nothing. Finally after googling it many times I found that it's called Lifeframe and is in a program folder I would never have found. Just a goofy annoying thing."

"well, its just out of the box today so this is a early review. The machine itself is pretty darn sweet. it looks great from a style standpoint, and the screen is amazing from a utility standpoint. The touch pad is nice, but i can see how some may not like the added functionality (i myself prefer a cordless mouse).



speakers--pretty good for a notebook. no bass, but good range.



speed--the 4gb ram is great for multitasking. i was installing itunes, java, downloading pics, and listening to pandora all at once, with no blips.



keyboad--feels cheap and bends lightly when you type hard (liek I do). i also dont like the number pad to teh right b/c it keeps getting in teh way when I reach for "backspace"...but that just takes getting used to.



software--windows 7 is great so far. easy to use, but for those of you (like me) switching from XP to W7, there is a learning curve.



best of all--this machine comes at an incredible value at 500 bucks"

"I love this computer. I only which it had lasted me more than 20 days before it was going to have a problem like this. I dont know if its the OS or some other file in the computer but it decided to stop working properly. It wont start up regularly (only in safe modes).

While it WAS working properly, I was in love with this computer. For 500 bucks, you basically get a mac book. Thats about half the price. It looks beautiful. Runs super smooth. The facial recognition software always impresses anyone who sees it. The computer is great for school work. Great for movies (if you have headphones, the speakers arent very loud. You will be so impressed by the screen. It really makes up for it.) The only thing I would suggest is getting a small wireless mouse for it if you can. Its just a little more comfortable.

So after all of this. Im going to have the computer fixed and im really really hoping its not too expensive."