ASUS F80Q-A1 NoteBook Intel Core 2 Duo T6400(2.00GHz) 14.1" Wide XGA 2GB Memory DDR2 800 250GB HDD 5400rpm DVD Super Multi Intel GMA 4500M - Retail

Good for the money.

Reviewed By: cswolfe on 9/18/2009

Tech Level: high - Ownership: 1 day to 1 week

This user purchased this item from Newegg

Pros: -newegg ROCKS. The price was killer.
-looks aren't great, but they are not "boy racer" embarrassing either.
-port outlets are sensibly placed for my preferences.
-image quality is good.
-the 2GB of mem is a 1 x 2GB, and doesn't take up both slots. THANK ME for telling you, because you'll find it near impossible to find that obvious "need to know" info elsewhere.
-alleged XP downgrade included, for those who a) think vista sucks; and b) would rather go backward than forward.
-EASY (free) upgrade to Win 7.
-the warranty is strong.
-though I usually avoid extended warranties like the plague, the cheaper 2 year warranty for $99 is actually impressive, and will carry you beyond obsolescence.
-power brick is truly tiny.
-power input (extremely common notebook failure issue) plug is not designed by a monkey.
-ASUS makes a whole bunch of claims about idiot proofing for damage, incl. alleged moisture resistant keyboard.
-ASUS hardware reliability for me has been top notch.
-nice

Cons: -average amount of bloatware.
-typical 19,742 recovery disk, with no clean windows disk.
-vista business
-design/looks are funeral-worthy.
-the speed diff between equipped windows vista 32 and 7 is shocking. Equipping this x64 capable book with 32 op sys &32 bit 7 upgrade is beyond moronic.
-battery life is nothing to write home about.
-don't be cheap and dumb. Buy 2GB for the second slot. Better yet, buy 2x2GB matching from newegg, and toss the stock "Samsung" 2GB chip.
-ASUS now & in the past has been PATHETIC with software upgrades, and worse for the F80Q, where the highest choice of ANYTHING other than bios is 32 bit vista. ASUS is just plain nasty when it comes to stop update support to try to force you to buy new stuff.
-stock sound is as subpar as you'd expect.
- would prefer newegg to have sold the >250GB version.
-no cover lock/unlock. good or bad? Dunno yet.
-don't you dare buy this for a gamer book.
-could have cut costs by dumping dumb stuff (e.g., bad mo

Other Thoughts: I've owned at least 12 laptops, including some of the most expensive notebooks in the world, costing half as much as a brand NEW car, and they've eventually failed. Unrepairable MB failures, hinges that beg for disaster, completely unrepairable internal internal power plug failures, case cracks that go from cosmetic to threatening, and many other failures despite that I BABY all my computers. There might well be better deals out there, however, for me ASUS reliability has been MUCH higher than average. Maybe the average rater will eventually give this a 5. DON'T be scared off by my harshness. It's all good SO FAR.

I'd have given it a 4+ myself but for a) this book doesn't scream of design quality to avoid where others failed; b) ASUS downloads are ALWAYS horrifyingly behind the times and stop 90% earlier than they should; Vista 32(!) biz is absolutely brain dead, & if u don't toss it immediately the book will seem MUCH slower than it is.

SEEMS like heck of a deal. But we'll

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