I was in my local bestbuy (La Jolla, CA) today hoping for one of clearance deals. I came across these laptops. Apparently, they wnew that they didn't even have the display model out yet. They had the tag under an empty space for a display model and they hd 4- in stock in the locked cabinet underThemodel was K55A-HI5103D. I searched for the model on my phone and it didn't even come up. It may be that this store released them early.
This seems like a pretty good non-clearance price for 3rd Gen Core i5, 500GBHD, 4GB RAM and running Windows 8 (this could be a good or bad thing, heh). That's ALL the card said and since there was no display model I couldn't get anymore info on it. I may head back in a bit to take some pictures of the tag and the box for those that demand evidence.
According to the Asus website all K55A models have: Display: 15.6" 16:9 HD (1366x768) LED Backlight WiFi: Integrated 802.11 b/g/n Bluetooth: Built-in Bluetooth™ V3.0 Webcam: 0.3 Mega Pixel Fixed web camera Connections 10/100/1000 Base T 1 x Microphone-in jack 1 x Headphone-out jack 1 x VGA port/Mini D-sub 15-pin for external monitor 2 x USB 3.0 port(s) 1 x USB 2.0 port(s) 1 x RJ45 LAN Jack for LAN insert 1 x HDMI
Hopefully this helps someone out!
EDIT: Added the promised pics, fixed the model number and corrected a few other small errors.
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PedroDaGr8
Senior Member
posted: Oct. 27, 2012 @ 4:23p
Added some general k55a specs from asus website
macosx
Senior Member - 1K
posted: Oct. 27, 2012 @ 5:00p
Nice midrange laptop. WalMart has the 6 gb 750 hd for $500. There may be other differences. Lists up to 6.5 hours battery life. Package weight is 8 lbs. Asus website puts unit weight at 2.5 kg.
macosx said: Nice midrange laptop. WalMart has the 6 gb 750 hd for $500. There may be other differences. Lists up to 6.5 hours battery life. Package weight is 8 lbs. Asus website puts unit weight at 2.5 kg.
The WalMart one is a 2nd generation Core i5 for $500. My guess is that this one and the $600 Amazon one are more comparable. They are both the same 3rd generation Intel Core i5 CPUs, 4GB ram, 500GB HD. The main difference appears to be that the Amazon one comes with Windows 7 while this one comes with windows 8.
PedroDaGr8
Senior Member
posted: Oct. 27, 2012 @ 5:27p
OK, someone just posted this over at SD a few minutes ago. They said that this price is supposed to go into effect tomorrow. So you may be able to score one today before the ad is released and they quickly sell out. I have removed the YMMV
macosx
Senior Member - 1K
posted: Oct. 27, 2012 @ 6:08p
PedroDaGr8 said: The WalMart one is a 2nd generation Core i5 for $500. My guess is that this one and the $600 Amazon one are more comparable. They are both the same 3rd generation Intel Core i5 CPUs, 4GB ram, 500GB HD. The main difference appears to be that the Amazon one comes with Windows 7 while this one comes with windows 8.
Good pickup. I didn't pay attention to the processor beyond i5, but I did wonder for a second about the 2.5 ghz on one vs 2.1 on another. Anyway, I assume the case is same, and I saw some else the thickness is about 1.25 or 1.5" which may not be too thick, but with all the ultrabooks coming out, are relatively thick.
If you need something rit now, this ipseems like a good choice, but I expect this will be a tough season for laptops with all the iPads and other tablets gathering lots of interest. Come January, I think these systems will be 30-50% off, and I'll be looking for an ultrabook clearance closing in on this price range. Or saving $100-200 off the price of systems like this one.
PedroDaGr8
Senior Member
posted: Oct. 27, 2012 @ 7:03p
I just purchased the Asus, so I can confirm the price is already live in store.
minpa
Member
posted: Oct. 27, 2012 @ 8:13p
We tested 5 of these at work and they all failed simple day to day use. Be prepaired to have most of your apps crashing at random. The bios is loads of fun if you try to go ssd. Enjoy.
tdavis5432
Member
posted: Oct. 27, 2012 @ 11:48p
Oops its a slightly different model, nm!
cyfan
Senior Member - 2K
posted: Oct. 28, 2012 @ 10:33a
I just bought three i3 processor laptops on clearance Friday from WalMart. Each was 20% off so two were about 230 and the other (slimline notebook) was about 350. Upgraded all to Win8 yesterday and installed SSDs. All were moderately fast before but super fast now. I laugh when people say an i3 or i5 is a little slower than what they need. What you NEED is a faster hard drive. Go SSD or Hybrid drive and you'll love your new machine. I bet for most tasks my cheap i3 laptop with an SSD smokes a high-end i7 without an SSD.
PedroDaGr8
Senior Member
posted: Oct. 28, 2012 @ 8:40p
I'd completely agree on that analysis cyfan. I fully plan on replacing the optical drive with a HD bay adapter and putting an SSD in there. That being said having used this laptop for a day I LOVE it. This thing is powerful, solid feeling and the screen is bright (too bright actually I had to dial it back some which I never do). Also, it runs cool and QUIET. I had it running non-stop all day and I cannot hear the fan with it sitting in my lap. I faintly hear the fan in my wifes computer from across the room. Additionally, despite it being on all day the bottom doesn't even feel remotely warm. The keyboard is excellent for my large fingers (I'm 6' 4") and I like the full number pad on the side for data processing.
The biggest draw backs I see are that the display is a typical TN panel (most laptops are, I'm spoiled by the IPS displays at work), it isn't the lightest or thinnest laptop out there and the screen resolution could be higher to make it more enjoyable. THat being said, none of those are to be expected at this price point. Additionally, I like how all of the upgradeable parts are easily available under a SINGLE door on the bottom. No separate HDD, ram, wifi card, etc. doors.
In conclusion, I am loving this laptop. It's a HUGE upgrade over my old Core2Duo laptop (even though it was the top mobile C2D available).
tdavis5432
Member
posted: Oct. 28, 2012 @ 9:31p
Does this bad boy have facial recognition logon? The model I just bought does and I'm loving it!
Skillet17
Thrifty Member
posted: Oct. 30, 2012 @ 6:49p
Is this a sale price? Or should we expect to see these models on sale next month? Any thoughts?
PedroDaGr8
Senior Member
posted: Oct. 31, 2012 @ 1:14p
@tdavis - no this one doesn't have facial recognition logon.
It says special purchase on the tag. Not sure what that means. I will say that all of the similar spec'd laptops nearby were typically $150 more in price. The ones that were closer in price all had core i3's. That doesn't mean this isn't just the first in a market shift in price. I can just say right now this is a good price from what I have seen and having used the laptop for a while there is ZERO lag in anything I do.
Skillet17
Thrifty Member
posted: Oct. 31, 2012 @ 7:12p
I went to BB to look at these and they didnt have any on display, can anyone comment on how the feel of the keyboard and touchpad is? From what I saw they can differ quite a bit from one Asus to another.
jitz
New Member
posted: Nov. 15, 2012 @ 12:45a
has someone benchmarked the K55A-HI5103D .. hows the performance.
difference between processors on 2 different asus models:
I just bought the best buy model. It says on the product description that it has facial recognition, but can't find it on the computer, making me pretty skeptical. I'm not really a fan of Windows 8 (yet) but it is a very quiet computer, runs smoothly. I had to take one back because Asus hadn't installed Windows on it, but the one I have now is amazing. I just wish it had (or I could find) the facial recognition that the product description included. Product Description from Best Buy
acmartfeld
New Member
posted: Nov. 16, 2012 @ 4:04p
Alright, after talking to customer support (very easy, by the way), the facial recognition feature is on the model sold at best buy. However, it is not supported by Windows 8. If you had this computer with windows 7, you could use it. I love this keyboard though, and the touch pad has some neat tricks as well (on a tutorial video on the computer).
jitz
New Member
posted: Nov. 17, 2012 @ 1:58a
good to hear a positive review
senyamc
New Member
posted: Nov. 25, 2012 @ 2:45a
hi all, thanks for the reviews. just a quick question - this laptop is still listed on bb website, the price is the same. if you do a comparison with other, more expensive k55a models, the only difference seems to be the graphics - for this one, BB specifies UMA, for others - HD4000. Is that even possible? Sorry, looking to replace my 7-year-old Celeron laptop, so I'm not quite up to snuff on what's been happening with CPUs/GPUs over the past half a decade or so. Thanks!
FrugalFreak
Roll Tide
posted: Dec. 31, 2012 @ 1:53p
any updated reviews on this? I am waiting for a k55a-db51 with win 7 and wondered if anyone had experienced any issues?
prasun9
New Member
posted: Jan. 30, 2013 @ 10:10p
The ASUS K55A 3rd gen i5 is the shittiest computer you can get in the market. The trackpad is useless. Customer service/technical support is horrible... If you are thinking about getting a ASUS machine, please don't and look into something else. My HD died after 3 months and ASUS asked me to pay from my own pocket to send it in. I threw it in the trash because of the experience I had from them.
megachacker
Member
posted: Jan. 31, 2013 @ 10:15a
cyfan said: I just bought three i3 processor laptops on clearance Friday from WalMart. Each was 20% off so two were about 230 and the other (slimline notebook) was about 350. Upgraded all to Win8 yesterday and installed SSDs. All were moderately fast before but super fast now. I laugh when people say an i3 or i5 is a little slower than what they need. What you NEED is a faster hard drive. Go SSD or Hybrid drive and you'll love your new machine. I bet for most tasks my cheap i3 laptop with an SSD smokes a high-end i7 without an SSD.
So if I buy this for instance: http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Toshiba+-+Satellite+15.6%26%2334%3B+... Probably a very basic, i3 computer. What type of SSD would I buy to make it super fast? That's all I really want. No online gaming/mmorpg, no big business work, just: internet, Netflix, youtube, videos, etc But I want it to fly to each page or not buffer period or take forever to load.
I'd really appreciate your input. Spending $329 is pretty cheap, but if I have to spend another $50-$150 on more RAM and SSD then it may be cheaper just buying another laptop.
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