Rachel Broways - 02/29/2012 
I've now owned this laptop for 5 months, so I figure it's time for a review.
All together when I finished customizing my this laptop, out the door with warranties, taxes, etc. I spent $3500. So please consider that if you are reading my review in consideration of buying this machine - I've upgraded almost every component. That is why I purchased from XoticPC. I wanted to customize my own computer. The equivalent of purchasing this machine from Dell (which is where I got my last laptop) was over $5k. Macbooks are not available in anything even close to this laptop in terms of hardware, so that was not even an option. This was by far the most bang for the buck.
My primary purpose for this machine is for video editing and graphic design. I do not play games on this computer so I have no input regarding gaming in my review of this product. I can tell you that the rendering speed for editing and wireless connection speeds are very impressive and this laptop would probably perform better than most in any gaming environment.
To simplify things, I will make a list of pros and cons about the machine:
Cons:
Size and weight: I knew what I was buying, so of course I did not count this in my review. However, to be clear to any potential buyers: this laptop is a beast. If you don't need a portable desktop, than I would recommend purchasing a smaller machine.
Battery: I also knew I would have no battery life, so don't buy this is that's going to be an issue. It lasts about 1 hr (max) if I'm working on a video.
Tracker pad: The mouse tracker pad performs poorly. It sticks and is way too slow even if I have the sensitivity turned to max. I always use a USB mouse, so this has not been a major issue. But if I forget my mouse, I can barely stand to work on the computer (graphic design becomes very tedious).
Keyboard: The keys require too much pressure. I feel like I'm pounding on the keyboard. As I have become accustom to using this keyboard, it's become less of an issue, but when I initially moved from my last laptop to this one, typing felt labored.
Stuck Pixel: I have had a stuck pixel that comes and goes. It's only one little red pixel, but it drives me insane. Other than this one issue, which hopefully I'm just unlucky, the monitor is very nice. I work with people that use Apple laptops and my monitor is definitely better than theirs. I elected not to get the 1 year warranty for no dead pixels - I DON'T suggest you do the same.
Ports: No firewire port - this may be my mistake for not realizing that this computer did not have firewire, but it screwed me since I can't add one and there is no way to import directly from my camera that uses firewire ( I know this technology is dieing, but i'm just pointing it out).
Pros:
Customization: As I stated before, I was able to upgrade almost every component of this machine. It's more powerful than my coworkers 27" iMac that he just bought for $3k (it's a desktop). Also, ASUS uses name brand hardware - which in my experience makes a HUGE difference and speaks to the quality of these machines.
Speed: Forget about it. 16gb 1600mhz ram. Solid state hard drive. Screaming processor (I upgraded to the i7 2760). Windows 7 ultimate. Bigfoot networks killer card (3 antennae is worth it!). I just don't know that you can beat this thing in terms of hardware. And then to get it overclocked....
I can run Adobe Premiere pro, After effects, photoshop and illustrator all at the same time. It's pretty amazing. This is a laptop after all. I also work in photoshop on my laptop monitor while streaming video on to my big screen tv via netflix. So it can handle doing both those things at the same time. I do get a little lag when I save files but that's it! The rest of the time it runs smoothly.
Storage: Having the second drive is key. I have the primary solid state drive which works well in terms of speed and a secondary 500gb hd that is needed for storage, it's a perfect balance.
Display: Aside from my one stuck pixel that comes and goes, the display is large and has great back lighting. I can often see details in designs that aren't visible on other monitors.
Customer service: I haven't had any major issues, but Xotic PC does seem to have good customer service. I would say they made one mistake: letting me order a product that wasn't in stock and never told me - they just put it on back order! So I got my laptop without the extra accessories and NO explanation to why these items were missing. When I contacted them they told me that the items were on back order and they weren't sure when they would be in. I didn't feel this was the right way to handle things. But when I contacted them via chat, they were very understanding and refunded the money immediately. |
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