Room for one more, "What do you think of this laptop?"

[Belle0101]

Sorry but I have to ask because after my last laptop purchase I am a little leary of my using my own judgement. I got the blue screen of death about a year ago. It was repaired and it happened again two weeks ago. I'm not having it repaired this time. Time for an upgrade.

Here's the link:
http://www.staples.com/Asus-K55A-BI5093B-156-Laptop/product_982655

And here are the specs:

CPU Cache 3MB L3

Laptop Processor Speed 2.5 GHz

Laptop Processor Type 3rd generation Intel Core i5-3210M

Laptop Color silver

Laptop Refurbished No

Laptop Screen Size 15.6"

Laptop Optical Drive SuperMulti DVDRW Drive

Laptop Memory Type DDR3 1333MHz

Laptop Memory RAM 4GB

Laptop Use Everyday

Laptop Hard Drive Speed 5400RPM

Laptop Hard Drive Capacity 500GB

Bluetooth Compatibility no

Laptop Display Type HD LED-backlit 1366 x 768

Laptop Memory Expandable 8GB

Media Card Reader SD+MMC+MS+MS PRO SDHC(SD 2.0)

Video Graphics Memory n/a

Laptop Video Graphics n/a

Laptop Hard Drive Type SATA III

Laptop Extra Features 348mm Chiclet Keyboard

Laptop Operating System Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit

Laptop Warranty 1 year limited

Laptop Weight 5.6 lbs

Laptop Dimensions (L x W x H) 14.9" x 9.9" x 1.3"

Laptop Battery Type 6 cell lithium ion

Laptop Network Card 802.11 n

Laptop USB Slots 1 USB v2.0 ports, 2 USB V3.0 port

Laptop Audio Built-in Azalia compliant audio chip, with 3D effect & full duplex

Laptop Style Laptop/Notebook

Windows Select PC No

Laptop Battery Life 6 hours and 38 minutes

Laptop Webcam 0.3MP

Laptop Other ports 1 HDMI, 1 VGA, 1 D-sub, 1 RJ-45, 1 headphone, 1 microphone


Now what do I want to do with the laptop? General web browsing (social media, shopping, vacation planning, etc), photo storage (I'd like to honestly say that I scrapbook but I mostly store the photos and collect SVG files), online banking, listen to online radio stations, I generally don't do any online gaming (maybe Mahjong but not WoW or anything like that) and I guess that's about it.

I don't want Win8. I wouldn't use the Touch Screen feature. My husband laughs at me as it is when I use my Kindle or his iPodwhatever. My hands are almost always cold, not so great when you're trying to use a touch screen.

I checked tigerdirect, newegg, amazon, Office Depot, Best Buy, Office Max and one other (microcenter?) and if there's a similar one at a comparable price, or better, I've missed it. Easy enough to do. After a while everything started to look the same.

Thanks - in advance - for your help!

 

[Lewisc]

Blue screen of death can be software related. Did you try to use your recovery disk/recovery partition? Backup your data, documents and photos first.

 

[Belle0101]

Blue screen of death can be software related. Did you try to use your recovery disk/recovery partition? Backup your data, documents and photos first.

And therein lies part of my problem - no recovery disks. That time I was told that it was due to the OS and they (the store I took it too) reinstalled Win7 for me.

This time, I had been using it, hadn't installed anything new, properly shut it down,and when I went to start it the next morning, it just kept recycling (shutting itself off and restarting). Real quick the blue screen would flash that it was due to a registry error. There's more info on that page but it recycles so fast that I can't read it. I did get it to start in Safe Mode once but after that I was kind of lost on what to do.

I imagine I could google it and read some suggestions ... might be the less expensive option. I probably can't make it any worse.

 

[PrincessSuzanne]

Personally, I wouldn't purchase an ASUS, I have not heard anything good about them. I an HP and DH has a Toshiba Satellite that I sometimes use. We got the Toshiba for $300 at Best Buy and it has really withstood the overuse DH puts his laptops thru.

 

[kwelch10377]

Sorry but I have to ask because after my last laptop purchase I am a little leary of my using my own judgement. I got the blue screen of death about a year ago. It was repaired and it happened again two weeks ago. I'm not having it repaired this time. Time for an upgrade.

Here's the link:
http://www.staples.com/Asus-K55A-BI5093B-156-Laptop/product_982655

And here are the specs:

CPU Cache 3MB L3

Laptop Processor Speed 2.5 GHz

Laptop Processor Type 3rd generation Intel Core i5-3210M

Laptop Color silver

Laptop Refurbished No

Laptop Screen Size 15.6"

Laptop Optical Drive SuperMulti DVDRW Drive

Laptop Memory Type DDR3 1333MHz

Laptop Memory RAM 4GB

Laptop Use Everyday

Laptop Hard Drive Speed 5400RPM

Laptop Hard Drive Capacity 500GB

Bluetooth Compatibility no

Laptop Display Type HD LED-backlit 1366 x 768

Laptop Memory Expandable 8GB

Media Card Reader SD+MMC+MS+MS PRO SDHC(SD 2.0)

Video Graphics Memory n/a

Laptop Video Graphics n/a

Laptop Hard Drive Type SATA III

Laptop Extra Features 348mm Chiclet Keyboard

Laptop Operating System Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit

Laptop Warranty 1 year limited

Laptop Weight 5.6 lbs

Laptop Dimensions (L x W x H) 14.9" x 9.9" x 1.3"

Laptop Battery Type 6 cell lithium ion

Laptop Network Card 802.11 n

Laptop USB Slots 1 USB v2.0 ports, 2 USB V3.0 port

Laptop Audio Built-in Azalia compliant audio chip, with 3D effect & full duplex

Laptop Style Laptop/Notebook

Windows Select PC No

Laptop Battery Life 6 hours and 38 minutes

Laptop Webcam 0.3MP

Laptop Other ports 1 HDMI, 1 VGA, 1 D-sub, 1 RJ-45, 1 headphone, 1 microphone


Now what do I want to do with the laptop? General web browsing (social media, shopping, vacation planning, etc), photo storage (I'd like to honestly say that I scrapbook but I mostly store the photos and collect SVG files), online banking, listen to online radio stations, I generally don't do any online gaming (maybe Mahjong but not WoW or anything like that) and I guess that's about it.

I don't want Win8. I wouldn't use the Touch Screen feature. My husband laughs at me as it is when I use my Kindle or his iPodwhatever. My hands are almost always cold, not so great when you're trying to use a touch screen.

I checked tigerdirect, newegg, amazon, Office Depot, Best Buy, Office Max and one other (microcenter?) and if there's a similar one at a comparable price, or better, I've missed it. Easy enough to do. After a while everything started to look the same.

Thanks - in advance - for your help!

Stay away from Asus. I work for Staples and we get a ton of compliants on them. (This one is out of stock anyay and I'm not sure if we are getting more back in) If you have a Staples store near you I would go there and check to see what they have on clearance. With the Win 8 release there were a lot of computers put on clearance since new ones were coming out.

 

[Lewisc]

And therein lies part of my problem - no recovery disks. That time I was told that it was due to the OS and they (the store I took it too) reinstalled Win7 for me.

This time, I had been using it, hadn't installed anything new, properly shut it down,and when I went to start it the next morning, it just kept recycling (shutting itself off and restarting). Real quick the blue screen would flash that it was due to a registry error. There's more info on that page but it recycles so fast that I can't read it. I did get it to start in Safe Mode once but after that I was kind of lost on what to do.

I imagine I could google it and read some suggestions ... might be the less expensive option. I probably can't make it any worse.

Almost all computers either come with recovery disks or have the equivalent in a "hidden" recovery partition. You probably have some kind of recovery partition. Google and you should be able to find out how to access it, or maybe find a place to D/L recovery disks.

 

[timmac]

I was just about to say exactly the opposite about Asus... usually I hear pretty positive experiences with them.

I see the price of this system as pretty good.

One thing I've had pointed out to me (and with which I agree), is that many of the laptops that have a 15.6" 1366x768 display use a similar class of cheaper LCD display panels, and many don't look that good. (The given resolution at the given size isn't necessarily an issue in and of itself, just a clue that it might be one of the ones that is 'known' to not look that great). That would be my only potential sticking point. Even still, the given price point for an i5 based laptop is quite respectable; were I in the market at this price range I'd probably still pull the trigger on it.

 

[BeachLove]

Step away from the Asus.

My mom bought 3 of these things within a 15 - 16 month span. First one broke within months and went to get it repaired. Cost her a bunch of money. Broke again and again she got it fixed. Broke AGAIN and she gave it up. Ended up buying the same junk brand for her and my sister. So, at this point they have two new ones. They both broke within months and she went to get two Toshiba laptops. What a waste of money with those ASUS laptops and she only bought them originally because of the initial cost. At this point she could have bought two really nice laptops like I told her in the first place. The Toshiba brand is working well so far. They are 6 months old.


Personally, I'm a believer in the Sony brand

 

[IUTBAM]

I'm typing this on an Acer Aspire 4330 I bought at Walmart 4 years ago for less than $500, and have never had a major problem with it. The 2 USB ports are both a little loose (sometimes I have to jiggle them), but considering this laptop has lasted 4 years (and still going) for less than $500 makes it shine compared to the Dell $2,000 desktop in my den that's 6 years old and has had problems off and on for the last 2 years.

I just ordered another laptop from the Target cyberweek ad...the $379 Gateway 15.6 laptop with 750 GB hard drive. My first ever PC was a Gateway, and I think they still have a good reputation.

 

[pigletto]

I'm typing this on an Acer Aspire 4330 I bought at Walmart 4 years ago for less than $500, and have never had a major problem with it. The 2 USB ports are both a little loose (sometimes I have to jiggle them), but considering this laptop has lasted 4 years (and still going) for less than $500 makes it shine compared to the Dell $2,000 desktop in my den that's 6 years old and has had problems off and on for the last 2 years.

I just ordered another laptop from the Target cyberweek ad...the $379 Gateway 15.6 laptop with 750 GB hard drive. My first ever PC was a Gateway, and I think they still have a good reputation.

DD also got the Acer Aspire and has had no issues with it in two years. Dh went over 1200 dollars for his HP laptop because he runs so much on them, including AutoCad which is a beast of a program. Battery is dead, it has been overheating since day one and it is slooooow. Obviously it's no good for what is running on it, but it's disappointing because we researched like crazy to make sure it could do what we needed it to do.

Typically I have heard good things about Asus around here and from techie guys if all you need it for is your basic everyday stuff. But YMMV.

 

[Mrs. Bradbury]

I got this Asus laptop a few months ago and have no complaints, especially for the price: http://http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Asus+-+14%26%2334%3B+Laptop+-+4GB+Memory+-+320GB+Hard+Drive+-+Matte+Pink/6780111.p;jsessionid=320DB1A980D86AB0C0BF9A71CEDDE572.bbolsp-app01-77?id=1218807631466&skuId=6780111&st=asus laptop pink&cp=1&lp=1

That said, I have few requirements for a laptop. I want to surf the net, get email, and when recovering from surgery recently I would dial in to my work computer every so often. No gaming, no downloading movies, etc.

And it's PINK!