ASUS S56CA-DH51 15.6" Notebook Black

Pros: Design, price, spec's, warranty. Solid feel. Thin yet comes with a DVD drive. Hybrid Drive SSD for fast boot ups and OS functions. Yet larger space for other storage.

Cons: Track pad a little finicky. There aren't that many that are actually good.

Other Thoughts: I don't know what the first reviewer is talking/mad about. First is stating Cons that it isn't a "Touchscreen" that's because it's not. Windows 8 "steep" learning curve? I have recently setup windows 8 laptops with people in their 60's and they were good to go within a day or two, I wouldn't call it steep.

One has Con of "Spotty Wireless when not plugged in" There could be so many different factors that would cause spotty wireless. And that the "i5 has a low clock speed". That's because it's designed for low power consumption almost all Ultrabooks with an i5 have this clock speed.

My thoughts / probably unneeded Rant..sorry.

Pros: Nice build quality, light weight, warranty. SSD makes startup very quick.

Cons: Power State error, no touchscreen. Touch pad takes some getting used to. Windows 8 has steep learning curve.

Other Thoughts: When computer goes into standby mode, when you wake it up it has a "Driver Power State Failure" requires a reboot. Was rebooting extremely slow. I took it to the guys who wear white shirts with black ties. It failed hardware test. Sent in to replace motherboard under warranty. Will writ follow up review later.

Manufacturer Response:

Dear Valued Customer,

Sorry to hear that you were having issues with the BSOD error message.

Here is a link below where you can update to the latest bios and drivers to see if that will help with the power state failure.

https://www.asus.com/Notebooks_Ultrabooks/S56CA/#support_Download_36

Here is a link on tips to use windows 8 to help speed the learning curve.

http://www.techradar.com/us/news/software/operating-systems/50-windows-8-tips-tricks-and-secrets-1028220

If you have any questions or comments you can email me again at cl-jeffrey@asus.com which I reside in the U.S

ASUS strives to meet and exceeds our customer expectations within our warranty policy.

Regards,

Jeffrey
ASUS Customer Loyalty

Pros: Very pretty design at a good price. Core i5 is very nice, even the low power (uLV) version is very capable and runs flawlessly. would be perfect if it had 16GB of RAM and Bluetooth (some versions of the S56CA series have the Centrino card installed).

Cons: I contacted Asus customer support and I was appalled at the fact that the customer representative blatantly lied to me about the RAM capacity. The warranty policy and computer design that make it impossible to upgrade the simple and removable components of a laptop are frustrating and ridiculous (Half PCIe card for WIFI/Bluetooth upgrade not accessible, not having all available RAM slots customer accessible, and not having the mSATA card accessible). When I asked the customer representative what I can do about this (expecting to have to send/take it to a service center, which while not preferable still makes it feasible) the representative told me “we don't allow users to upgrade any notebook parts except RAM and HDD” and essentially told me that they don’t care. When I confronted the service representative about lying about the RAM (Intel directly states a maximum RAM capacity of 32GB and I know someone directly who is currently running 16GB in the same notebook) they gave me an attitude of not caring with “8GB has tested by asus and it is steable and safe”. I do understand that there can be an issue with customers opening up and tampering with the BIOS or other items, but to make it impossible to upgrade common parts is absurd. I had an ASUS F9Dc notebook before this and it was wonderful, but after this pain and frustration I do not believe I will buy another ASUS.

Other Thoughts: I am not a personal fan of Windows 8, it works and has some nice features added but is really meant for at least a touch screen but really seems to be meant for a tablet and "feels" a little clunky and awkward. Also I should not have to install third party applications to revert to the start menu setup.

Manufacturer Response:

Dear Valued Customer,

Sorry to hear that you believe that you were lied to. However our specs indicate that the maximum allowable RAM is 8GB. You can install 32GB if you wish at your own discretion.

You can upgrade any parts if you wish but just remember to carefully remove the voided label sticker to not void your warranty.

Regarding the start menu that is because of microsoft that they believed the charm bar would be more simplier.

If you have any questions or comments you can email me again at cl-jeffrey@asus.com which I reside in the U.S

ASUS strives to meet and exceeds our customer expectations within our warranty policy.

Regards,

Jeffrey
ASUS Customer Loyalty

Pros: Very slim and light weight,
Decent price point for "ultrabook" ( I got mine open box for $579 IMHO a more realistic price for this laptop ),
Ivy Bridge + SSD

Cons: Big screen bezel,
Spotty wireless when not plugged in (could be driver issue but also manufacturing),
core i5 has pretty low clock speed,
mediocre trackpad

Other Thoughts: Bought this for my girlfriend to replace an old AMD turion x2 powered laptop. She likes the portability and the decent graphics power of the ivy bridge intel hd 4000. Complains about wireless and the mouse pad. Also mb it is just because windows 8 is too new but I am not sure this laptop has enough cpu power to run all the glitz and on a side note windows 8 is terrible.

Manufacturer Response:

Dear Valued Customer,

Here is a link below to update your WLAN drivers.
http://www.asus.com/Notebooks_Ultrabooks/S56CA/#support_Download_36

Regarding about windows 8, here is a link with some tips and tricks that may have you change your mind about windows 8
http://www.techradar.com/us/news/software/operating-systems/50-windows-8-tips-tricks-and-secrets-1028220

If you have any questions or comments you can email me again at cl-jeffrey@asus.com which I reside in the U.S

ASUS strives to meet and exceeds our customer expectations within our warranty policy.

Regards,

Jeffrey
ASUS Customer Loyalty