ASUS Flip 2-in-1 TP500LA-AS53T Laptop (Windows 8, Intel Core i5-5200U 2.2 GHz, 15.6" LED-lit Screen, Storage: 1 TB, RAM: 8 GB) Black/Silver

I bought this computer last July, so it's been almost a year. It's a wonderful laptop! It continuously works lightning fast, and I've had no issues with how it runs at all. I multi-task on a rather extreme basis, and this thing still keeps up with me. The touchscreen works very well... better than the Acer touchscreen laptop that my husband has. On his, we sometimes have to touch it 2 or 3 times for the computer to figure out what we're trying to click, but this one always seems to know. (It appears to be a software difference, not a hardware difference because his laptop does register the touch with the little circle thing it does, it just doesn't seem to realize that we're trying to click the box 1mm away.)The screen brightness does not work well in sunlight, but I knew that buying it. I also knew the speakers weren't that good, which isn't an issue for me... I usually have headphones and it's great through those. It's also heavy, but that's what you get when you want a 15.6" laptop. It's still lighter than my old HP of the same size. It functions great and is fast, which is what I care about.The only thing that was less than perfect was that the letters wore off some of the keys only 4 months into owning it. My kids say it's my fault... most laptops don't have to withstand someone who types 100wpm and works on it for 15 hours/day... but my old HP laptop's keys usually lasted about 1 1/2 years before they were wearing off. I'd let it go for another 6 months or so until people wanting to borrow the laptop complained that they couldn't find the letters, and then I'd buy a $30 keyboard off eBay, open up the thing, replace the keyboard, and keep on going. I did that 3 times for that laptop. So I consider the letters and coating on these Asus keys to be lower quality.Unfortunately, as of right now, you cannot buy replacement keys or keyboards for this laptop... so I contacted Asus about the warranty.This is why I'm still giving 5-stars despite the keyboard issue... I contacted Asus about it, and they gave me an RMA with a postage-paid FedEx ground label with no problems. I sent it back (which took 5 days from OH to CA), and they signed for the laptop at 7:30am last Thursday.They sent it back to FedEx at 11:30pm the next day... and paid for expedited shipping back to me.And yes, it is my actual laptop. When they shipped it back so fast, I was slightly concerned that they'd swapped it out for another unit, but nope. It's mine with a new keyboard. I was not expecting 30-hour turnaround, nor was I expecting expedited shipping back to me, but I'm sure happy about it!

I've had this laptop for a while now, and I feel qualified to intelligently review it.First the good - the touchscreen works very well, including multi-touch input and gestures. The ability for the screen to flip back and become a quasi-tablet (albeit a heavy one) is actually incredibly useful in a professional/academic setting where the device is not going to be a desktop replacement. The sound is beautiful - much better than the Samsung it replaced. The display is bright and true, and though the color isn't quite up to the standard set by my desktop (with an $800 monitor), it is very nice. The battery life is also good, considering the display size, resolution, and brightness.Now the bad. First, the wireless adapter is NOT dual band, so you will be limited to 2.4 Ghz wifi. For most people this is acceptable, but if you need higher throughput, lower interference, and/or live in a crowded area, it's unacceptable. The model number wireless adapter equipped in the laptop should support dual band, but according to ASUS the hardware installed in the laptop is limited to 2.4 Ghz. I'm not saying this would have caused me to rethink my purchase if it had been disclosed, but it would have given me pause. It's simply unacceptable for any notebook manufactured after 2012 or so to not support 5 Ghz wifi. I've since purchased a USB high speed dual band adapter to use when I'm at home or at my desk, and I just make do when I'm moving around.Second, and worse, the software that come pre-installed on this machine is garbage. It runs badly, frequently crashes, and makes the whole system run slower. Eventually I wound up reformatting the hard drive and clean installing Windows 8.1 Pro, and installed only those ASUS utilities that I found necessary (for instance, the utility that disables the keyboard if the notebook is flipped around to tablet mode). Confirming that the pre-installed software was the problem, the machine runs so much better it's night and day, and it solved most of the issues other reviewers have complained about. However, there were a few devices listed in the device manager that Windows could not find drivers for, including the chipset and a couple of mystery devices.I went to the ASUS support website, entered my serial number, and downloaded the drivers that were supposed to be made for my system and OS. When I went to install a couple of them, I received an error stating that my computer did not meet the system requirements to install the software. I tried rebooting, running CCleaner, checking all BIOS settings, and repeatedly downloading and running the driver install application, even from external sources, all with the same error. I eventually emailed ASUS tech support, who told me that reformatting the hard drive may have removed the "ASUS firmware utility" and that to fix the issue I should send the computer into a service center for repair. Anyone who understands how computers work will immediately see some issues with this - a reformat of a hard drive will not effect firmware at all, hard drive firmware will not effect how other drivers function even if it did change, and drivers are, by definition, software, not firmware. I responded to that effect and said that I couldn't be without my notebook computer for that long but, as it was a software issue, I know what I'm doing and could easily fix the issue if they could point me to where I could get the right drivers. Once again, the tech support person (who was, to his/her credit, very polite) told me I should send the notebook in for service and would not tell me what steps to take to resolve the software issue on my own.I managed to get most of the drivers installed through extensive googling and, frankly, trying a few experiments - something that should not have been necessary. Two of the mystery devices I simply removed through device manager, and I haven't seen any impact on how the system functions. I've been extraordinarily disappointed in this experience, since my last desktop build used a few pieces of ASUS hardware that are fantastic, but I cannot support a company that either has such poorly trained support personnel or such little faith in their customers that they won't even help them to fix a software issue - that's why I don't have a Mac.I buy a computer for the hardware, and expect that hardware to function. Manufacturer-specific driver packages are just a fact of life, but they should be designed to work with hardware and not require any weird software just to install. I'll use this laptop until it needs replacement, but I will never buy another ASUS computer, and I will warn others against purchasing from them in the future.EDIT - Revising my review on 1/10/16 and adding a star. I decided to upgrade to Windows 10 and do a clean install, which meant installing drivers again. This time I didn't have any problem finding the correct drivers. The reason is because the ASUS website asked me which processor I had (Ix-4xxxx or Ix-5xxxx). I selected Ix-5xxxx, which is correct for my laptop, and had no problem finding the drivers. Now, this is good news, in that proper drivers are available. However, it means that ASUS didn't have drivers for Broadwell based notebooks available on their website when they started selling the notebook, and I was having problems because I was trying to install drivers for a Haswell based system (which has a different chipset). That's unacceptable. Even though the computer works wonderfully now, I still can't recommend that someone else purchase an ASUS notebook when their customer service is so dismally uneducated and they don't even have driver packages available when they update the hardware in a device. The feeling you're left with is that once they have your money, ASUS will do the bare minimum to support their products; that's just not going to cut it today.