Pros: The specs for the price point are very good. The laptop has a very clean look, and the rubberized exterior is nice touch. The keyboard is high quality, better than many run of the mil laptop keyboards. The keyboard is also back-lit, and has 3 levels of dimming. I love that the fans venting out the back have removable filters that can be easily cleaned and replaced. A second hard drive bay is available for an SSD or more storage. High res screen looks great, and the finish is not glossy (great for gaming).

Cons: The laptop comes with Windows 8 which still has compatibility issues and bugs. It comes pre-loaded with: trial software, bloatware, and badly designed update software that can corrupt your system and cause various issue. The LCD failed after a few hours of light use. I have set up an RMA, but now I will have to wait (guessing several weeks) before I can get it back and start using it.

Overall Review: Suggestions: Get an SSD to use as a boot drive as it can extend battery life, decrease load times, and increase performance. Install Windows 7 on the SSD, and format the 500gb HDD to use as storage. Even if you don't get an SSD, I highly recommend a clean install of the OS to remove the pre-installed software. Overall it seems to be a great laptop, but I think the QA at Asus is lacking compared to other (much more expensive) laptop brands.