Asus X54C-SX261D Laptop (2nd Gen Ci3/ 2GB/ 500GB/ DOS)

After doing a great deal of research on laptops i decided to settle on something cheap, portable and most importantly durable.
Since reliability was a big concern for me after a few weeks of intensive digging i found out Asus makes the most reliable laptops.
I have never owned an ASUS product before, i owned to HP laptops and both of them failed on me. I found the x54c to be of a great price and config.
I received my laptop 2 days after booking it online. Flipkart's tracking was accurate and quick. Unfortunately there was a motherboard problem and i reported it to flipkart. After 10 days of continuous phone calls to flipkart they kept their word and did send me a new piece. And it works well now.
I have installed ubuntu 12.04 LTS 64-bit after installing 2GB of extra ram. And i can say everything works perfectly out of the box. About the laptop itself...

* The laptop has a great keyboard , i really like the layout and the numpad is an added bonus.

* he screen is not the best in the category and lacks the contrast available on other brands.

* The feel of the body is plastic but the texture design gives it some character.

* The webcam is below average But sufficient for video calls on skype and similar programs.

* The laptop remains cool even under load which is very good.

* i3 2330m is good processor to watch your hd movies, browser and other casual games, but don't expect the laptop to play anything beyond call of duty 4 graphics.

* 2GB inbuilt + 2GB = 4gb 1333mhz ram is more than sufficient for any kind of work you might do on this laptop.

* The only thing I dislike about this laptop are the speakers. Do not be fooled by the 'altec lansing' badge, I have seen china-made radios under 200rs which have better sounding speakers than this.

To sum it all off, its a brilliant laptop for the price and is a true example of bang for buck. Best in its class for laptops under 25k. It will not disappoint you. Also i highly recommend ubuntu 12.04 with this. It is fast as ever.

I give flipkart service a 4.5/5
The laptop a 3.5/5
and Asus service a 2/5

As far as booking the laptop ,getting it delivered and the laptop's experience is concerned.. a 4/5

Cheers!

good packing.delivered in 5 days to malappuram.its good enough for my usage.

pros:-

-Cheaper i3
-plays newer games like sniper elite v2 and dead rising 2 :otr at low.plays c&c generals (my most favorite game) in high.
-decent battery life(~3 hours regular use.plays 4 hours of HD movies)
-environmentally sound packing materials.
-wiiiiide screen.decent clarity.its an LCD. NOT an LED screen!!
-fast DVD writer
-usb 3.0 ,Bluetooth 3.0
-exceptionally good software bundle.note: software included is for x64 OS.installing 32 bit OS on an i3 is just plain wasteful
-solid build.feels plasticky, but is sturdy.great texture on the body.remains cool under stress.

cons:-

-crap speakers. don't be fooled by the altec lansing badge.sound is not at all good.
-total only 2 USB slots(including usb 3.0)
-lousy webcam.good enough for skype/gmail but everything else is govinda.terrible in low light
- only 2 GB ram.but don't worry.. upgrading is as simple as 2 screws and a click!!be sure to get 1333 mhz ddr3 ram.
-air vents get hot if using demanding applications.manageable heat though.

all in all a good lap for my usage.know what you want from your lap if you play games get a gaming lap with dedicated gfx.for watching movies and using internet, get a netbook for everything else get this one d.^_^.b

bonus content:-
[to install ram hold it at a 45* angle to the slot.it should be completely fall in now.then press(don't push)down on the corners.]

This is a very good laptop for the price. Yes, Ivy Bridge is out, but the i3's are coming much later this year. This laptop is good for most purposes: email, running Office, browsing the web, watching HD videos; and some basic video editing, just to name a few. The disappointment is that there are only two USB ports. Yes, one of them is USB 3.0, but being a 15.6" laptop, at least three USB ports ought to be present. Nowadays, netbooks based on the latest Intel Atom platform cost between 17-18k. So if you're willing to spend a little extra, you will have a laptop that offers good storage capacity, fairly good performance and decent battery life. Remember, 2 GB RAM is very little if you want to run Windows 7 x64 comfortably. So when you order this laptop, also get additional RAM: at least, 4 GB. The CAS latency is: 9-9-9-24.

The webcam, needless to say, is pathetic. The sound from the so-called 'Altec Lansing' speakers is appalling. Though the screen is bright, the screen quality can still be improved. I still give this laptop a 4-star rating because of its outstanding value for money. HP or Dell would never offer such a product at this price point.

This laptop is awesome. First time when i thought to buy this i was a bit confused about the keyboard. I am a fan of chicklet keyboards. Everything else was good. Know a little surprise here. Keyboard is awesome. Keyboard is comfortable. Super comfortable.
Now Lets come to other pros and cons.
Pros:
Ram: 2gb, obviously not enough, But at rs. 700, you can buy another one.
Budget: Price increased, when i bought it was 24860. It was the best deal, and cheapest i3 2nd gen.
Speed: Super cool. Windows score is more than other laptops i seen
Screen: Lg screen is used. Screen is awesome.
Ice cool technology: Fan of asus ice cool, it really keeps the laptop cool.
Audio: Speakers are not as good as other laptops i seen, But at the same time not as bad as i seen. So my rating here is average.
LINUX SUPPORTS ALL DRIVERS OUT OF THE BOX. I AM USING UBUNTU AND ITS SUPER GOOD. BEST FEATURE OF LAPTOP.
You may have hibernate issues but bios update fixed this. so not a single issue with ubuntu. 100% supported.
Usb 3.0: I never used it but its good this laptop have one. as we know 3.0 is backwrd compatible.

Design: ergonomic and looks good.
cons:
2 usb ports: one for wireless keyboard mouse and second one for pen drive, most of the time i want one more port but this system do not have a third usb port.

Battery: 3 on ubuntu and 3:30 hours on windows: I know samsung laptop lasts more.but linux support is not confirmed.

Camera: 0.3 megapixels only. below average video quality.

At last. You can buy this machine and you will never gonna regret.

Cons:-
1. Speakers are simply crap don't go by altec lansing brand. You have to buy an external speakers for good listening experience.

2. Keyboards are not that great as wud hav expected them to be nothing compared to thinkpad's keyboard.

3. After comparing it with other good brands u get the feel of cheap product.

4. Asus service is pathetic can't trust these guys at all. Hung up my phone 3 times during call.Ultimately Flipkart people came to my rescue & helped me resolved the problem with BIOS settings.

Prons:-

1. Good product at the price point.

2. Reasonable value for money buy proposition all good brands with these specification are atleast 5-6 k expensive.

3.Overall nice product in the price point except for the speaker thing which u may have to buy an external one for good listening experience