Pros:
- Beautiful design
- USB 3.0 & HDMI
- The extras inside the box
- Windows 7 natively (yup, I'm a guy that cannot stand Mac OS X)
Cons:
- Keyboard is among the worst I have ever used on a laptop
- Trackpad is decent after updates, but still not even close to Apple's
- The 256 SSD (SanDisk) model has very disappointing write speeds and received a well deserved 5.9 WEI
- Sharp corners on the palm rest
Scoring Breakdown:
Design 8 - It simply is an eye catcher. Doesn't receive a 10 because of the sharp corners
Keyboard 2 - It only received a 2 because it responds to firm button presses. This is a horrid keyboard
Touchpad 4 - Before the update, it was a 2. It's better than before, but still poor in my opinion
Display 7 - Not nearly as good as a MacBook Air, but not horrible.
Performance 9 - Incredible startup times. Awakens from sleep very quickly. Very smooth overall
Heat/Noise 10 - Purrs like a kitten
Battery Life 8 - Definitely lasts as long as advertised. No complaints
Software 10 - Well the OS is Windows 7, so that gets high marks already, but the only 'bloatware' included were ASUS utilities and Microsoft Essentials, both that are very usable. This is a rare PC that I opened up and used rather than re-installing the OS from scratch
Summary:
I wanted to love this laptop, but the keyboard was too much of an obstacle to overcome. I'm sticking with my MacBook Air till the 2nd Gen Ultrabooks with Ivy Bridge come out.
The Breakdown
-
Design
8
-
Keyboard
2
-
Touchpad
4
-
Display
7
-
Performance
9
-
Heat / noise
10
-
Battery life
8
-
Software
10
Show the rest of this review and the breakdown
