ASUS K55N-DS81 Notebook AMD A-Series A8-4500M(1.90GHz) 15.6" 4GB Memory 500GB HDD 5400rpm DL DVD+-RW/CD-RW AMD Radeon HD 7640G

Pros: Bought this as a gift for my sister, she couldn't be happier. The Trinity APU, while not as powerful of a CPU as the i5 or the i7 in terms of IPC, still packs enough of a wallop for what people use their computers for in the everyday sense. She doesn't need the power to do high end gaming or high level video rendering. Also, the built in GPU is much better than the HD4000 that Intel currently has. The RAM is 1x4GB of 1600MHZ DDR3 - great for ensuring that APU has enough memory bandwidth to be properly fed, though having another stick for Dual Channel mode would be optimal - easily remedied. Having a built-in DVD drive is a plus as more and more laptops are shipping without one. In short, as long as you don't expect this laptop to be comparable to a full-sized desktop gaming laptop, it will definitely exceed your expectations!

Cons: Not too many cons here. Windows 8 would probably be the biggest, but honestly you can't judge a laptop by its OS. Also, Win8 isn't all that bad once you learn how to work around the Metro part of it. Microsoft is releasing "Blue" in the near future, hopefully the fixes will be well received. The HDD is only 500GB and on 5400RPMs, but i'm not expecting a SSD for the price point and usually people put their big ticket items on an external anyway so I don't see 500GB being too much of a limitation. It would be nice if there were 2 sticks of RAM to enable dual channel mode, but I would rather have 1x4GB than 2x2GB - they honestly made the right choice there.

Other Thoughts: For the price you can't get better. I was trying to stay away from the ultra low powered CPUs such as the Atom and the E series APUs, and those run in a similar price range to this. Some might suggest spending a little more to get the i5, but I would rather take this - sometimes I would like to be able to play Minecraft on it :)

Pros: The processor is pretty snappy, decent amount of RAM to start with; seems fairly upgradable. With Linux installed, I have more harddrive space available and the system is really quick. I can even play a good amount of my Steam games on here.

Cons: Comes with Windows 8 installed. This was easily remedied by installing Ubuntu 12.04 however.

Other Thoughts: The USB ports are a little tight at first and the palm rests pick up a lot of prints, but these are not major concerns. I figured this would feel heavier, especially since upgrading from a netbook, but it is pretty light considering.

Pros: good sleek computer
great light gaming computer (it runs Team fortress 2 and Portal 2 like a charm)

Cons: windows 8 (Still not a fan but honestly it's nothing really of a Con, it just takes time to get used too)
The Fn button that you need to activate the F1-F12 buttons. (i'm used to just having to push them on my previous laptop)

Other Thoughts: The reason this laptop caught my eye was mainly cause of the Quad Core that it says it has. It's actually an amazing laptop for the price. (compared to others from other retail stores and such) The only problem I had with it starting out was the Fn buttons but that's when I realized there's an Fn button on the keyboard (duh) that activates them and such for volume control and brightness.
overall really satisfied with the purchase!

Pros: -Excellent performance from the APU
-Nice keyboard
-Relatively cool and quiet

Cons: -Plastic around screen has a cheap appearance
-Performance takes a slight hit when multitasking
-Bloatware
-Touchpad is a bit oversensitive.

Other Thoughts: I use a desktop for gaming and bought this simply for web browsing and Office programs. I removed the bloatware and added an additional 4 GB of memory and decided to test out a few games just to see what it could do. I was pretty surprised to be able to run Skyrim at the recommended high settings. It's no replacement for a desktop, but for the price, you can't beat the performance this laptop can put out.

The bloatware is easy enough to remove. The only issues I've had so far are the cheapness of the plastic framing the screen and the slight performance drop when multitasking. Even with the additional memory I've added, I can still notice a bit of a delay when opening a new window or program when I've already got a few running. Not a serious drop, but just barely noticeable. The touchpad is the same as found in all of Asus's low end models these days. It's oversensitive, but not unusably so.

Overall I'm very pleased with this purchase.

Pros: * Price point.
* Decent display.

Cons: * Certain keys stopped working on the keyboard after 2 weeks of minimal use.
* Shipped with a scratched display.
* Track pad gets in the way when typing.

Other Thoughts: I needed a basic laptop for development work when on the road. Decent laptop for the price, but failing hardware after 2 weeks of very minimal use suggests poor manufacturing. I would like to get a different replacement.

Manufacturer Response:

Dear Valued Customer,

I am sorry that the computer was not what you expected and had issues. I am glad everything will be taken care of by Newegg. If, in the future, you have any questions, concerns,or comments on an ASUS product, please let me know. My email is cl-mark@asus.com.

Best regards,

Mark
ASUS Customer

Pros: decent processor
memory upgradable to 16 gb
2 usb 3.0
delivered within 2 days-)

its a new laptop with windows 8 preinstalled so of course eufi & secure boot are enabled. i did read the product description so i am not going to list either of the 2 items above as a con since the description is fairly straight forward when you read it.
i do not use windows, i am a linux only user & the eufi & secure boot did give me a run for a couple of hours though. so i contacted asus live chat and the issue was taken care of in about 45 seconds, kudo's to asus support on that.
i had disable secure boot and enabled the "csm" module (which i read in a earlier review) and was still having problems booting into linux, after contacting asus tech support i was advised to hold the "esc" key while system rebooted (something i had never heard of doing) and whammo, booted into linux (ubuntu 13.04) & installed without a glitch.

also for a low spec built-in cam the overall pic quality is very good.

construction/build quality for this laptop is excellant, especially for the price. lid/screen is stable when open, no wobbliness-)

i haven't had any of the touchpad problems some others have mentioned, but that could be because i am running ubuntu & the fact that i always use a external keyboard & mouse on my laptops.

have run the following games under steam without any problems:
the killing floor
serious sam (cpu medium, gpu proc/mem low)
counter strike-source
as you can see i am not much of a gamer but the games i play this laptop handles them very well without any lag or screen tearing.

Cons: battery life isnt very good, i got a little under 2 hours while i was downloading & installing all the apps i use in ubuntu, but since i dont use a laptop any where other than at my desk this isnt a issue for me, but may be for others.

Other Thoughts: anyone giving any thoughts about buying this laptop, i say buy it- you will be happy with it.

Pros: - 4 core processor
-supports dual channel DDR3-1600 memory
- okay graphic for low-mid setting gaming
- no hiccup using internet & youtube
- plays full HD video no problem
- wakes up from sleep in 1.5 SEC ! ! !
- minimal number of pre-installed application
- 2 USB3 slots (FAST!!)

Cons: - low speed 5400 rpm HDD
- low speed memory (replacing with 2 stick dual channel memory will increase the overall performance significantly)
- I don't like having the HDD already partitioned into C:150GB D:350GB. I wish it gave me an option to custom partition during the first booting sequence.
- no illuminating keys
- screen has narrow viewing angle

Other Thoughts: This laptop offers an absolute bang for the buck. I am playing starcraft2 on mid setting on this laptop and it does not lag.

You can wait half year for the next generation A-Series processor. But it is not going to be much better than the current one since they are based on the same architecture.

Pros: A solid laptop! Great for students or everyday use that you don't need the power of an i5 along with it's price. It does everything you ask it to do as long as you don't expect it to run extreme games. Nice crisp display.

Cons: None

Other Thoughts: I don't understand those who knock it down for having Win8 installed. Win8 is a much better OS than Win7 for laptops and desktops. If you don't like the "Start" screen don't use it. I fail to see the big deal. It very simple to turn off.
I did add another 4gb ram

Pros: This computer is fast for the price. Best laptop deal out there, and its well made too. For 379.99 you can't go wrong. Types nicely, textured, and the mousepad is nice.

Cons: Windows 8, but im getting over it

Pros: I'm very pleased with this laptop overall. I really like the instant on feature. Boot speed was average until I upgraded Ram and Hard Drive (see Other Thoughts). There's not alot of bloatware loaded. Touchpad issues were resolved quickly with driver/utility downloads. Win 8 took a couple day to get used to and I even thought of going to win 7 with my new hard drive but after learning how Win8 worked I realized it does everything WIN7 does and more. I think alot of peoples real issue is they don't like change or learning curves !

Cons: Win 8 media not included. Keyboard flexes a little bit though I'm used to it already. When you pick up the laptop the dvd drive face moves a little ( bad design IMO )

Other Thoughts: I Installed 4GB Ram for a total of 8GB. The performance difference is notable, I would recommend Ram upgrade. I also installed a Seagate Momentus XT Hybrid 750GB 7200 RPM. Sweet Drive, great laptop performance. Installing the new drive took some prolonged work but was worth it. Not having Win 8 media I tried the usual methods ; cloning, image restore, recovery from thumb drive. None of these methods worked so I contacted ASUS and they provided me a link to Win 8 .ISO, and of course that worked. Very happy with ASUS for not srewin around with red tape and rabbit trails. A clean install of OS from media is always the best way to upgrade a hard drive IMO.