Wootalyzer's Pricing Post! - The price of today's woot item is saved here for future reference
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Asus 15.6" Dual-Core Laptop
$299.99 + $5 Standard Shipping
Condition: New

*DISCLAIMER* Wootalyzer! is in no way affiliated with Woot!, and this post may not always be here!

I have the x401a Asus laptop, and if this is the same 'Elan' touchpad, it is the worst thing ever in my opinion. It looks the same -- the entire touchpad surface is active when you click the pseudo-buttons on the bottom of it, causing the mouse pointer to move while you 'click'. Worsening the problem, you are unable to adjust the area that is touchable.

AuraDave wrote:I have the x401a Asus laptop, and if this is the same 'Elan' touchpad, it is the worst thing ever in my opinion. It looks the same -- the entire touchpad surface is active when you click the pseudo-buttons on the bottom of it, causing the mouse pointer to move while you 'click'. Worsening the problem, you are unable to adjust the area that is touchable.

Thanks. Sketchy touchpads drive me all sorts of crazy.

Does it come with Angry Birds? Angry Birds or GTFO!

My fiance has an Asus of (at least) similar model. She loves it!

The touch-pad takes some getting used to, but she is very proficient with it--more efficient than I, and she isn't even a Wooter(yet)!

If it really bothers you, check the razr gear sale going on now:

http://tech.woot.com/plus/rockin-razer-gear
;)

[update: my computer has a i3-2330M processor, which is better than this one.]

I think I'm using this model machine right now. It can be tough to tell with Asus model numbers. I purchased from Best Buy in June for $350.

The good: fast. Fair battery life--3 hr or so. Quiet. Lighter than I expected given the size. The fan's nice and quiet when it runs. USB 3.0 can come in handy.

The bad: trackpad is bad, but it's better if you have the Asus driver. Don't overlook the pathetic 768 pixel vertical resolution of the screen. Body is all plastic with a cheap-looking and feeling finish (though it seems nice and strong). Speakers are weak. The arrow keys aren't offset from the rest of the keyboard making them hard to pick out by touch.

The hard drive is incompetently partitioned from the factory and I wanted an SSD, so I put an SSD in with a new Win 7 install. I was impressed by how easy it was to install the drivers--Asus Live Update took care of everything, versus my having to find and track a bunch of drivers as separate processes.

Won't win any design awards but I'm happy with mine.

At the time being I currently wouldn't purchase this. Many sales, check out best buy and you can find better specs for the same price.

The 'good' has already been covered, the bad, from reviews: bottom-of-the-barrel Celeron processor offers nearly Netbook level performance

As a touch typist, with some bad laptop keyboard experiences, I tend to really focus on the keyboard layout. In particular there are two issues that seem to plague me more than others. The first of which is when the Fn (alternate function modifier) is in the corner instead of the ctrl button. In this case, the corner seems to be control, with Fn to the right of it. The second is the size and positioning of the right-shift. I never noticed how much having that key in the right position can be necessary. On this keyboard it seems a bit out of place, and may be an issue for people like me who tend to favor the right-shift.

This is not to mention the build and quality of the touchpad. To be honest, I feel the Apple/Macbook touchpads are second to none, given a physical click, instead of the virtual tap you get with most. That said, I think the virtual buttons may be an issue for most. For me all out performance is second only to the physical interface.. if it doesn't feel right, it's a poor experience.

Bearing in mind, I have a physical switch keyboard, and a weighted mouse on my desktop. Most laptops feel spongy by comparison, and relatively unpleasant. The perfomance is probably workable especially if you are mainly consuming media on it, and not really doing anything intensive.

Here is the Passmark number on the processor. Numbers look a lot better than my Atom N450 netbook!

http://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu.php?cpu=Intel+Celeron+B815+%40+1.60GHz&id=670

So if I buy this for my son to play League of Legends on will it explode? The computer he has now is my wife's old laptop so I'd assume it would be some sort of upgrade. It's hard to tell how it's performing because of all the food stuck to it.

deathopie wrote:So if I buy this for my son to play League of Legends on will it explode? The computer he has now is my wife's old laptop so I'd assume it would be some sort of upgrade. It's hard to tell how it's performing because of all the food stuck to it.

Be patient and watch dealnews site. You will see better offers for the same $300

There's s sale on a laptop at Target where the space is 500 full gigs. Black Friday into Saturday special. Is that a better laptop for the price or is it this one? It's for my mom to be able to read her email and watch online shows from Poland.

Would cut n paste but I'm on my kindle Atm.

mevande wrote:The 'good' has already been covered, the bad, from reviews: bottom-of-the-barrel Celeron processor offers nearly Netbook level performance

The new Celerons are so much better than "bottom of the barrel" anymore...it's a shame that for years the label WAS attached to their lowest end CPUs, and these new ones also carry that stigma. The performance is twice as good as any of the AMD budget offerings (C or E series, which truly are netbook-quality processors).

Back in stock at newegg is the ASUS Intel Celeron 1.7GHz 15.6" Laptop, model no. X501A-WH01, for $249.99 with free shipping. That ties our mention from three days ago and is the lowest price we've seen for any dual-core-equipped 16" laptop with Windows 8. Features include an Intel Celeron B820 1.7GHz dual-core processor, 15.6" 1366x768 LCD display, 2GB RAM, 320GB hard drive, 802.11n wireless, webcam, HDMI, 6-cell battery, and Windows 8.

First time I have seen 1366 x 768 listed as "stunning" clarity.

I have been considering getting a low-end laptop like this so have been watching prices for the last couple of months. This is the same price that Microcenter has for this class of machine, and they are local so I could stop by and pick one up instead of wondering if Woot could deliver the thing before Christmas. But, I am waiting for the i3 500gb laptops to drop another $50 to $300 before I buy one.

The proc benchmarks at the absolute bottom of he barrel for current gen systems.

wootturf wrote:I have been considering getting a low-end laptop like this so have been watching prices for the last couple of months. This is the same price that Microcenter has for this class of machine, and they are local so I could stop by and pick one up instead of wondering if Woot could deliver the thing before Christmas. But, I am waiting for the i3 500gb laptops to drop another $50 to $300 before I buy one.

Fry's Electronics offers the 5.7-lb. Lenovo G580 Intel Ivy Bridge Core i3 2.4GHz 15.6" LED-Backlit Laptop, model no. 59344050, for $349 with around $11 for shipping. That's the least-expensive 16" laptop we've seen with an Ivy Bridge processor. It's also a current low for this system by $113. Sales tax is added where applicable. Features include an Intel Core i3-3110M 2.4GHz Ivy Bridge dual-core processor, 15.6" 1366x768 LED-backlit LCD, 4GB RAM, 500GB hard drive, DVD burner, 802.11n wireless, webcam, USB 3.0, media card reader, 6-cell battery, and Windows 8.

mnbigguy wrote:First time I have seen 1366 x 768 listed as "stunning" clarity.

You'll be stunned at how bad the clarity is. So technically, that's a true statement.

Toys R' Us - $279 + Free Shipping

http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=17288916&skuid=14644593

dliidlii wrote:Fry's Electronics offers the 5.7-lb. Lenovo G580 Intel Ivy Bridge Core i3 2.4GHz 15.6" LED-Backlit Laptop, model no. 59344050, for $349 with around $11 for shipping. That's the least-expensive 16" laptop we've seen with an Ivy Bridge processor. It's also a current low for this system by $113. Sales tax is added where applicable. Features include an Intel Core i3-3110M 2.4GHz Ivy Bridge dual-core processor, 15.6" 1366x768 LED-backlit LCD, 4GB RAM, 500GB hard drive, DVD burner, 802.11n wireless, webcam, USB 3.0, media card reader, 6-cell battery, and Windows 8.

Yes - that's the same class machine they have at Microcenter for $350, and the one I am waiting to drop another $50, which I thought it would do for black Friday, but it did not.

JackJD wrote:Toys R' Us - $279 + Free Shipping

http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=17288916&skuid=14644593

They don't tell you what processor it is???

I just purchased this computer for my daughter for Christmas. I contacted my computer geeks and got thumbs up all around. Everything I have ever purchased from WOOT! has lived up to or exceeded expectations. I have not had one single problem with anything I have purchased. I suppose if I ever did, they would handle it in a professional, courteous, and expedited manner. Shop for Christmas at WOOT! I recommend it!

sandbar67 wrote:You'll be stunned at how bad the clarity is. So technically, that's a true statement.

Someone please link me to a 15.6" laptop under $500 with better screen resolution. If it exists I have never seen it. Ever.

phoenix12 wrote:Someone please link me to a 15.6" laptop under $500 with better screen resolution. If it exists I have never seen it. Ever.

Excellent point!! Ever check out what the overpriced MacBook Pro's res is?

wamco wrote:They don't tell you what processor it is???

I had researched and listed the complete specs for the Toys R' Us Acer machine when I posted (it was a comparable celeron, by the way.)

Woot! edited and removed all the detailed information regarding the laptop from my post, practically rendering the post as completely useless without extended user research.

Woot! doesn't seem to fancy fair, competitive and educated postings by users anymore.

I notice all of these comments are day-of-sale, or the day after. Has anyone who bought this tablet actually seen it ship yet. I'm still looking at "awaiting shipping" and am finding "sit tight, bud" to be increasingly annoying.