New Asus X551MAV RCLN06 15 6 Laptop Processor

New Asus X551MAV-RCLN06 15.6" Laptop PC - Intel Celeron N2830 Processor 2.16GHz 4GB Memory 500GB Hard Drive DVD±RW/CD-RW Webcam Windows 8.1 64-bit, Black

This is My Opinion About This Product

After I buy this New Asus X551MAV-RCLN06 15.6" Laptop PC - Intel Celeron N2830 Processor 2.16GHz 4GB Memory 500GB Hard Drive DVD±RW/CD-RW Webcam Windows 8.1 64-bit, Black (Personal Computers)

This is an excellent entry-level laptop with decent performance, a nice bright screen, and a light footprint at about 5 pounds. It also has a smaller a/c adapter sort of like an iPad instead of the older style "bricks" which is nice - I'm surprised it's taking manufacturers so long to copy Apple's lead in the small a/c adapter area. The keyboard does feel exceedingly cheap (much cheaper than my $299 HP Chromebook) and the entire keyboard vibrates as you are typing. If you push down on the "G" key with normal force, you will see that entire part of the keyboard (T,F,H,V,B) sink in which is a little disconcerting. The keyboard is definitely the weak link in this system. ALSO, it pays you to shop around.... there is a major price war going on and I was able to buy this at a local office supply chain which matched the price at the big box electronics store down the street....both of which were significantly less than the current price here on Amazon. ONE MORE TIP: There are two models of this computer that are identical EXCEPT one has a DVD player and one does not. As of this writing the one without has been hovering around $200 and the one with the DVD player is around $220. It is very easy to get them confused as they have the same box and almost the same model number, so be sure to look for the full model number when you are searching: X551MAV-RCLN06. Both boxes will say "X551" in big letters but you have to read the small print next to the serial number to make sure you are getting the correct one. I ordered this one and was shipped the non-DVD drive unit by an Amazon seller and had to return it.

Wow, this keyboard is really cheap.. I'm typing this review on it and it keeps dropping letters as I type. I will update this review as I'm concerned if it's this bad in week one it will not last.

Pro's and Con's...

Pro's:

- Price

- Basic black, not stylish but doesn't scream "cheap"... just looks like a basic laptop

- Great screen - bright, good resolution

- Fast enough for word processing and internet surfing. This is obviously not a gaming computer.

- Small profile a/c adapter brick, one piece

- NO bloatware preinstalled.... no "Click on this for Ebay" links or trial versions of bad virus software

- Really fast boot... 2-4 seconds

- Windows 8 not so bad once you install free utility called "Classic Shell" which makes start button etc work like Windows 7

- Major price war going on with this computer, so you will get a good deal

- USB ports, one of which is 3.0, also HDMI out and ethernet connections. Everything you could need.

- DVD player / writer, works well... still need one of these.

Con's:

- Touchpad sensitivity.... way too sensitive and I've searched all the ASUS gesture configurations and there seems to be NO adjustment for sensitivity. Google ASUS touchpad sensitivity and there are major threads on this so clearly a significant issue that ASUS is not effectively addressing.

- Keyboard. Exceedingly cheap. OMG. As I type this it sounds like a rock rolling around on a dashboard of a car as you drive it. The whole thing shakes and shimmies. I think I can live with this but will update this review if I can't. Try it out at local store first if you can.

For me, the pro's outweigh the con's, with a lingering concern about the keyboard. If there is interest, I will update this review as I use this system more, but overall I think it's a good one and I will end up keeping it.

Hope this helps!