Pros: Fast, high resolution 1920x1080, screen lighting doesn't distort at extreme angles, exceptional speed on the SSD.

Cons: Irritating bloatware, Secondary drive has a power efficiency mode where it takes 5 seconds to load it up even though it's already on. Audio makes a cracking noise whenever audio is turned on due to power management. Bought an ASUS machine in 2010 and this 2016 model is hardly much an upgrade due to all the downgrades it actually brings with it. Gsync doesn't work when using HDMI for dual monitor support and in fact causes more screen tearing than my 2010 model. Solid state drive is in 2 partitions with windows on one making it nearly impossible to merge them safely. Power cable still doesn't have anything holding it in place and will fall out with just a slight touch. Battery is integrated with machine and requires to be sent to the factory for any kind of repair. There is nothing special about laptop batteries except they're meant to be able to be recharged a lot. This is just ASUS trying to rip off their consumers by integrating it into the machine.

Other Thoughts: ASUS is clearly out of touch with their user base. Will be my last asus purchase unless they fix this by the time I want a new machine. I will probably just go for a stationary PC next time. Too much emphasis on efficiency when it's a gaming laptop.
Most of us just want a light weight gaming PC for easy mobility for moving around a lot not power efficiency, buy a Dell if you want efficiency.

Manufacturer Response:

Dear Valued Customer,


Thank you for your positive comments on our product. Please accept our sincerest apologies for any inconvenience we may have caused you. I suggest running a bios update through your ASUS update utility application and reinstalling your audio/graphic drivers from our support page. We will take your review into consideration as we will apply fixes where necessary. Feel free to drop a line should you need any assistance regarding your device. My email is cl-tom@asus.com and our 24/7 support line is posted below. Have a great day!

Thank you for choosing ASUS
Best Regards,
Tom
Asus Customer Loyalty US Support
http://www.asus.com/us/support/CallUs

Pros: Fast and packs a lot of punch

Cons: Heavy but I knew that and it is ok by me.

Pros: Fast startup and great game handling. Sleek design. Great weight and dimensions for a desktop substitute. Handles graphics like a beast. it's been an easy adjustment to windows 8.1, plus I'm not at all interested in windows 10. some of the built-in hot keys are a little cumbersome, using the function key to adjust the volume would be better served to just have a dedicated volume key, though i will get used to this no problem. over all the machine feels very well built and stable.
not very much bloatware which has been a big relief. the use of windows 7 specified software has been no problem whatsoever so far.

Cons: hard drives continue to spontaneously disconnect, even when using the hard drive and moving files. makes me worried about losing stability of my files.

Other Thoughts: so far i'm still glad with the purchase and hopefully it's a windows issue with the external hard drives. if i could i'd give it a 3.5 so far.

Manufacturer Response:

Pros: Fast startup and great game handling. Sleek design. Great weight and dimensions for a desktop substitute. Handles graphics like a beast. it's been an easy adjustment to windows 8.1, plus I'm not at all interested in windows 10. some of the built-in hot keys are a little cumbersome, using the function key to adjust the volume would be better served to just have a dedicated volume key, though i will get used to this no problem. over all the machine feels very well built and stable. not very much bloatware which has been a big relief. the use of windows 7 specified software has been no problem whatsoever so far.

Cons: hard drives continue to spontaneously disconnect, even when using the hard drive and moving files. makes me worried about losing stability of my files.

Other Thoughts: so far i'm still glad with the purchase and hopefully it's a windows issue with the external hard drives. if i could i'd give it a 3.5 so far.

Pros: First off I'll say, this is the best laptop I've owned/Purchased so far out of 3 that I've owned. Aesthetic wise; it is light weight, I wouldn't listen to anyone who tells me that this laptop is heavy, it is not. I used to own an Alienware (worst idea...ever) this laptop is so much lighter than the brick of a laptop I used to own. Secondly, it is very smooth, I like that especially if you're gaming for long periods of time its just nice not having to peel your hand from your keyboard its just a very nice place to rest your hands on, and caress because this laptop is .....so pretty. Talking more about the actual functionality of the laptop, it is firstly very fast. You turn it on and it doesn't take 5hours to load, that's just SSD for you. The keyboard is very nice, no sticking not that it would because its brand new but STILL, also it glows which makes it easier to see and also shiny. The screen has great colors, they are not too intense, not washed out, the screen is 75 hertz which isn't too bad I'm used to 144hrz on my main PC but it works for what it is. The touch pad, I heard from others that it is probably the best touch pad on any laptop and they are correct. Best touch pad I don't think I've seen a better functioning touch pad on a laptop before but this is awesome. I know I'm comparing a lot to Alienware, but the fans on this laptop are silent. Even after using it for several hours I do not think the fans have ever overworked themselves. Not that being loud or quiet is unpleasing I just don't like hearing it because it makes me feel like the thing will explode any second, this laptop does not make me feel that way. This laptop can handle the abuse of hours of gaming or any other intensive programs, and it does it well. I mean this thing is almost constantly cold, and my room has about 4 computers in it running Nvidia cards, it is the only computer that doesn't freak out after long periods of time. Really if I had to do it again I would get this laptop and as far as laptops go, I will definitely buy an Asus in the future and recommend this to anyone.

Cons: There are con's to this amazing machinery that unfortunately happened but it's more based on luck than it is a problem with the computer itself. It is also the reason I gave it 4 stars. First off when I first received the laptop I got a defective model. Now I remember reading on the newegg site that they test their products before shipping them, maybe this is just if newegg actually builds the laptop and not if it's prepackaged but this product was obviously not checked before shipment. The second I turned it on the fan started spinning wildly out of control and making a high pitched wining sound. This should not happen so I called newegg and had them RMA it immediately. Newegg did comply, and the process was very fast. I did have to wait an extra week to get the laptop but it was worth it in the end. Secondly, and this is more of personal preference than it is anything, The way Asus has the hard drives set up is absolutely ridiculous. I do a lot of work related to art, and I know this is a gaming rig but generally gaming rigs are THE BEST for art because they are usually built to handle the software. Not that I don't game either I do a lot of online gaming which usually lasts for up to 9 hours for a single gaming session for me so I am on this thing a lot. The hard drives are set up as a partition in 4 parts. There are 2 drives that come with this specific system, an SSD (smaller) and a secondary terabyte drive (non-SSD). Splitting this system into 4 parts is about the top worst thing that Asus could of ever done in my opinion. Not only do my programs not work correctly, but I am constantly getting errors because the information being generated from these programs cannot cache correctly because the main drive is essentially forcing itself to be smaller being separated than it would be if it were just 1 full drive and not partitioned. The laptop also didn't come with a disk drive containing the operating system. It is apparently some "NEW THING" Asus is doing to be "green". Now that's great that companies want to be green now but, come on, I can't even take off the partition now because there is no way to wipe the drive. I did call Asus asking if there was anyway I could buy a disk and they told me there was nothing they could do for me because this laptop does not come nor does it have any disks available for them to send me. The only way you can take the partition off is by purchasing an operating system disk separately ($100-$200) OR there is a website that you can download the specific model of your laptop and then burn the operating system corresponding to this laptop onto a dual layer disk. This to me is super cruddy of Asus to do and really made me question their business decisions but again, this is my opinion and the way I usually have my systems set up is different than most people but it still kind of disheartened my purchase a bit.

Other Thoughts: I hope my con's didn't change anyone's decision on this laptop because the partition aside, this laptop works very nicely. I gave it 4 stars not because it is a bad laptop but because of the trouble of RMAing my first shipment and because Asus programmed this thing horribly. Game wise, I've had no problem, no overheating no freezing or lag or anything. I really am happy with this purchase and this laptop I'm sure will last me a great amount of time and most likely if I chose to buy another laptop in the future I will go with Asus, I'll just make sure that I either purchase or have an operating system disk on hand to take off those partitions.

Pros: It's fast, quiet and runs cool. I like that it exhausts out the back instead of the side. I like the keyboard layout for the most part. Fast shipping from Newegg, like always.

Cons: I hate the record key above the ESC key and don't like that it can not be disabled or remapped. Everytime I hit it the game gets dumped to the tray which can be unfortunate at times. Not everyone feels the need to record their game play. Not real fond of the placement of the optical drive open button. I hit it way too often when picking the laptop up off my lap.

I hate Windows 8.1, really wish I could have ordered this with Windows 7 instead. I would have payed extra for the Windows 7 option.

Other Thoughts: Overall I like this laptop a lot except for the record key and the optical drive button.

Pros: The machine is blazing fast. I have started running games at highest settings. I play mostly MMO's (SWTOR, Eve Online and recently Elite: Dangerous). I run these games at the best possible graphics settings with only slight stuttering when in busy, communal areas. I have only started to determine if this is an internet bandwidth issue or a hardware issue.

Cons: Heavy, but I don't mind. I have carried around worse.

Other Thoughts: Open spot for an additional stick of RAM. Uses the M.2 version of SSD's. Had to remove partitions and combine as one. For some reason ASUS decided it was a good idea to split the 1TB physical drive into 2 500 GB partitions. Wish I could view the UEFI/BIOS before POST. I am not sure if I have the option to boot from a different source (such as a Linux live disk for diagnosing/repairing problems). I also wish I could find a way to make recovery DVD's should the operating system crash.

Pros: Very fast! Great display and G-Sync for games.

Cons: After 2 weeks of use I had a dead pixel and had to send it back for an RMA. Such a pity for a device that costs over $2,000 when my mom's 4 year old laptop that was purchased at cheap brick-and-mortar store for Black Friday for $400 has never had any issues at all...

Other Thoughts: I'll review my new unit after I give it time to exhibit any other problems but this is unacceptable for a laptop of that price!

Pros: - This laptop is incredibly fast, the only thing that it had trouble running was Metro 2033 redux at max settings.

- SSD is blazing fast, it's great if you hate load times like myself.

- Screen is super clear, I love the matte style that ASUS uses.

- The design is amazing, the keyboard feels great, the way your hands sit on the device is great. You can tell this laptop was clearly design for long sessions of gaming without any discomfort.

Cons: - Windows 8.1

- Heavy, I'd advise anyone who needs to carry around a laptop a lot to be wary. This is a 10lb laptop.

- USB port on the left back side disconnects a lot. Cannot use a external hard drive because the transfer will fail. I got around this by using a USB hub on the port that does work.

- I've had an issue with the sound using Windows 10. Not 100% sure if it's an OS bug, a driver bug or a hardware problem. What happens is if I'm listening to music, pause it, then unpause it 3 minutes later the sound increases exponentially. Then when I hit any volume keys, it goes back to the original level.

Ex. If I have the volume at 28% and pause my music or video, unpause it and the sound will sound like it's at 40-50%

Other Thoughts: I'm going to do some more testing to see if it's a Windows 10 problem by installing a Windows 7 partition and using that for a bit to see if it happens again.

I'll add anymore if anything else arises.

Pros: Amazing machine and good features / dollar.

Cons: First time I hit the power button, nothing on display. Backlight won't even come on. Works fine when hooked up to external monitor. Definitely hardware issue, not a Windows 8 / software / hibernate issue as some speculate. Sending back for RMA. We'll see what happens with the next one.

Other Thoughts: Get's three eggs just based on the features & value and hope that it's a fluke. Will follow up when replacement is received.