Asus U47VC-DS51 14.1" Notebook - Intel Core i5 i5-2450M 2.50 GHz - Si

I've had it for a few weeks, and this computer is running great so far. I got it for work, upgraded from a ~4 year old macbook. I can notice the speed difference in loading up files and programs, start-up time, etc. All of my programs are running smoothly. Screen is nice and crisp. Speakers are nothing too special, but as far as internal laptop speakers go, probably some of the better ones you'll get. Also a kinda cool feature is if you close the lid, it triggers what seems to be a power-save mode, and when you open it back up, it will load up instantly. Literally as fast as you open it, the screen will light up, ready to go. If you shut it down fully, it takes a bit longer, but still quite quick. There were a few small hassles on initial setup, where I had to restart a few times while updating software, and had to uninstall some bloatware including McAfee and some widgets Asus put on the desktop. However, the bloatware seemed to go away cleanly and I haven't had any issues with it since removal. Also, it tried to get me to make a recovery disk, but said it would take like 5 DVD's to make it. This seemed excessive, so I skipped that step, since I happen to have a spare Windows 7 disk I can use in case reinstallation becomes necessary. This laptop was not shipped with a Windows disk. Unboxing was a pleasure. This laptop's style is almost on-par with Macintosh products. Very sleek & shiny brushed aluminum texture on the case; black keys with large, easily-legible white letters, back-lights on the keys (that you can turn off).. overall, I love it. It feels pretty sturdy, but it is very light for its size, which is convenient. I use an external mouse most of the time, but when I need to use the track-pad, it works fine & is very responsive. The only part of the hardware I'm not 100% confident in is the disk drive. I'm probably just used to the internal ones without the tray that pops out, but the tray seems a bit flimsy and frail. If you treat it with care, it shouldn't be a problem. Overall very happy with the purchase and have recommended this model & other Asus products to friends.

• How did the image on site compare with the actual product? the image does not capture how cool this laptop looks.
• Was the product free of any manufacturer defects? yes
• Please tell us about the quality of the product. well-built, runs smooth, neat & sleek, very lightweight
• Would you recommend this to a friend? Yes