List Price: $749.00
Sale Price: $632.95
Today's Bonus: 15% Off
I own three of the latest tablets/laptops and this is by far the best of the bunch in terms of balancing power, weight, and usability. The other two laptops I own are a Microsoft Surface Pro (too dinky and unstable) and a core-i7 Dell w/ a maxed out graphics card (too big and heavy).
Before I begin the technical part of my review, let me say how I use my computers. As an information systems & digital media professor I use my computers for basic tasks like writing papers, lecturing, and presentations. With it's 15.6 inch touchscreen, it's perfect for those. However, as part of my research and teaching, I also use my computers for programming, 3D modeling, animation, visual effects, digital inking, and video production.
My computers need to be powerful enough to not only run Microsoft Office, but Adobe Photoshop, After Effects, and Premier, as well as Autodesk Maya, and the Visual Studio programming environment.
Rather than just list features I'll describe why I feel the ASUS is better than my other computers.
Why the Asus is better than my Surface Pro: Both the Surface Pro and the Asus S550CA have core-i5 processors running at the same speed. The Surface Pro has better screen resolution (1920x1080 vs 1366x768). HOWEVER, the Surface packs 1080p into an 11 inch screen, which is too small to use especially in desktop mode where it's hard to touch the tiny icons. I find the ASUS's 1366x768 *perfect* for selecting icons in desktop mode. Of course the Surface Pro is more portable, but you pay for that portability. It only has a single USB 2.0 port, whereas the ASUS has 2 USB 2.0 ports and a USB 3.0 port. The ASUS also has a VGA port, which is still the standard when you're hooking up to projectors. If you want to hook up to a VGA projector on the Surface, you need to buy a $40 adapter. So to summarize, the ASUS is just as powerful, easier to use in terms of the touchscreen, and has better connectivity.
Why the ASUS is better than my maxed out Dell: the Dell's too heavy and gets too hot. Yes, when I need speed for my apps and when I want to play games I use my Dell with it's quad-i7 and discrete graphics card. But the Asus is fast enough for all the applications I mentioned and I only notice the lack of power when I render videos & animations--not while I'm creating them.
Anyway, I don't want this review to get too long. I want to end by saying that I compared the features of my Asus to other ultrabooks at the same price point like the Acers, HPs, and Lenovos, and what I found, to my surprise, was that these other ultrabooks were missing the DVD writer and the VGA port that my Asus had. You may not need these features, but they're important for what I do.
Bottom line: Highly Recommended!
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