ASUS 15.6" Intel Core i5-3230M 6GB Memory DDR3 1600 Windows 8 64-Bit

Pros: I absolutely love the keyboard and touch pad. Don't be fooled by all of these naysayers who aren't capable of learning how to move their fat palms out of the way of the pad. I've read many reviews for Asus laptops complaining about how big the touch pad is...I think it's nothing but useful; now I can actually get the mouse across the screen in ONE swipe. Excellent for those of use who know how to use and are efficient with a computer.

Everything else I love so far, EXCEPT windows 8. What a joke. I will be installing Ubuntu or Linux Mint as soon as I figure out how to work the BIOS on this machine and boot from the optical drive (it's been a while since I've gotten a new computer - haven't been exposed to UEFI yet). For those of you who aren't aware, if you hold shift down while clicking "Restart" from the shutdown menu in Windows 8's "Charm bar" - what a catchy name, right? - you can navigate your way to a menu that will let you reboot into BIOS settings.

The laptop is thin enough, lightweight enough and has more than enough class to keep me satisfied. I'm curious to see how it is with Linux though as I'm convinced Windows can bring even the beastiest of machines to its knees.

Cons: Windows 8 is a near-disaster, but you get used to it I suppose. I can't come up with any legitimate cons for the laptop itself other than the operating system it comes installed with and some minor nitpicks (I'd rather just have the option to not have an OS installed than to be forced to use one of the most anti-intuitive interfaces to date, rivaling the likes of Ubuntu's unity interface).

The UEFI BIOS could be a little more open and accessible but I attribute this to the industry push towards a more locked down approach to booting an operating system. What is this world coming to when I have to nearly 'break in' to my machine to install (or even BOOT) another operating system?? Has the entire industry given in to Apple's mantra? I sure hope not..though I suppose I can't complain until I actually see how hard it is to get another OS installed.

Overall Review: Seems to be a pretty darn legit buy for the price I got (~$550). It was a spur-of-the-moment buy as I noticed newegg's 72-hour sale. I have been looking around for a laptop for school for about a year now and I finally just nutted up and went for it. I'm extremely pleased so far and I hope I continue to get the ASUS experience I'm used to.

Pros: Very light weight, outstanding graphics and has an HDMI port.

Cons: This machine is a lemon. It has been shipped to Asus 3 times for repair. Since I've owned it the HDD, and system board have been replaced. The last time it was returned to me it was DOA and it had to go back to ASUS a third time.

Overall Review: Until now I have had very good experiences with ASUS products. I wish they would just cut their losses with this machine and send me a new one. This machine is a lemon.