Side by Side Comparison of: Dell vs Asus

I use this computer for research along with my writing. It's working out very well.

Great product, great price!

Shipped fast very nice computer works great no problems so far thanks

Great purchase! Especially for the price. I bought this for my 6 and 4 year old and there hadn't been a single issue. Came out of the box ready to go!

I purchased this for my 80 year old mother. She will not be doing a whole lot with it, so being an older XP machine that is a rebuild and running Win 7 Home will work perfect for her. The price is well worth the quality. Thanks

Arrived two and half weeks ahead of schedule, and was well packaged. Within 30 minutes computer was up and running. Monitor, keyboard and mouse appear to be brand new. The only thing we've found wrong is a tiny foot missing from the bottom of the computer housing which made it rock a little bit. A tiny piece of folded paper taped to the bottom fixed this right up. Did not include Microsoft Office. For the price we paid for this system, we are very pleased as long as it continues performing like it has so far. Would absolutely order from this company again.

Bought this as a standby to replace my 12 year old Dell Optiplex 320MT as a spare if I ever have problems with my Intel i7 main computer. Before purchase I read all the one and two star reviews with responses from "Rodel from ASUS Customer Loyalty". Either he is right about making sure you download all windows 10 updates before you start using the computer or I just got lucky and got a good unit. I am leaning heavily to the former. I too, as many of you, watched as the computer was automatically getting its own updates, and when it had finished I was going to start using it. Then I remembered "Rodel" stressing about making sure all updates were completed first. So I went to windows update page and sure enough there were 5 more updates to download. It was then I realized that the first updates were from ASUS website and did not include the critical windows updates. I'm 60 years old and not very tech savvy so thank you "Rodel" for stressing the importance of the updates or I would have blown it. My unit is working flawlessly.

I bought this computer for my son for his birthday. I saw a lot of good reviews but not many about if this computer was good for gaming or not. First off, the I3 processor is pretty good, its not amazing but it will get the job done and is definately good enough for gaming. The ram is excellent as well, its not name brand but 8 GB of DDR4 ram is nothing to sneeze at! Again, it will definately get the job done for gaming. The biggest problem is that it doesnt have a graphics card, just the onboard graphics from the processor and it is definately NOT good enough for playing any newer games like "No Mans Sky" or any first person shooters. It is a simple fix to add a cheap graphics card to this computer and make it very decent. My son plays all of his games with no problems now that I threw in my old GTX 560 TI graphics card! Of course, if you want higher FPS you will want to make some upgrades down the road, but its a great starter! Obviously, if you are just wanting this for non-gaming (youtube, facebook, etc) this computer is more than sufficient! Just a couple notes, the power source that came with this was only like 300 or 350 watts so check the wattage requirements of the graphics card that you plan on putting in this computer. I had to drop a 600 watt power supply for my graphics card. Keep in mind that doing things like adding graohics cards and replacing components MAY void your warranty. Overall, for the price we are very happy with this purchase!

Excellent PC!
Over the last 16 years I have built 8 gaming PC's. But this was for my 75 year old dad. So I'm not going to benchmark it, I just needed an easy to use PC for my dad. For the price, I could barely build one myself.
This is a awesome PC for the price. The PC case was surprisingly VERY light and cleanly laid out. I opened the case already and was surprised at how neat, clean & simple the inside was. Great job.
The mouse works smooth and I like the keyboard layout and feel. Again, simple.
Another surprise is that its NOT loaded with a bunch of crap programs! I was expecting to spend several hours uninstalling Norton and other unnecessary trial programs and there were none! It was Windows 10 and some ASUS functionality programs was all. No bogging down start up programs or annoying features. Nothing to remove from Startup.
A final surprise was built in WiFi. I was getting ready to plug in a cable cord and my wireless popped up before I could stand up.
What an easy to use and easy to set up PC for my dad. I'm very impressed.

I have ordered this exact system numerous times and have had absolutely ZERO problems with every one of them (total of 6 orders for customers/family). This system is well configured for the price and comes with minimal software installed. I have noticed that these systems must be updated so it's important to know that when you first turn it on. Here's some suggestions:

1. When first setting up, create your user account and go through the initial setup.

2. When you get to the main desktop screen and see all your icons, click the Start menu in lower left corner.

3. Choose Settings and then choose Update and Security.

4. Immediately click Check for Updates and allow all necessary updates to download/install from Microsoft. This process might take some time but allow it to complete and restart the computer when prompted.

5. After each reboot, check for updates again and be sure to keep doing this until no more updates are found.

Once this process is complete, start using your computer as normal with necessary programs. A majority of the reviews I see are software related (and likely user error) and give this system a bad reputation.

Now on to my review:

This system is an excellent value and is configured quite well for a majority of users out there. It's Intel Core i3 processor is powerful enough for many basic tasks, internet browsing, playing music, checking e-mail, etc. It is not geared towards gamers or users who require a lot of processing power. If you are looking for a machine to handle graphics or gaming, this isn't the one for you (and you probably already know this).

At 8 GB of RAM, this system comes out of the box with an excellent amount of RAM. The recommended amount for systems is 8 GB to handle all the latest programs and allow you the power to multitask without any hesitation. 8 GB of RAM combined with Windows 10 is a great combination and the system is upgradeable to 16 GB.

1 TB hard drives have become the norm in most desktops. While most don't need this amount of storage space, it's still a large enough hard drive to store all your photos and music. As with any hard drive, make sure you have proper backups of your important files.

Overall, if you are looking for an inexpensive system that is well equipped, running Windows 10 and is capable of handling all your basic day to day tasks look no further than this system. At the current price of $375 you won't find a better deal out there.

This is very preliminary - only been running for a couple of days. Seems great so far. However, my purpose is not to try to review this product, but rather Amazon's incredible service. I ordered Wednesday and received Thursday - PC failed to launch properly. After several calls to ASUS techs (all great to work with) and one very disappointing call to Microsoft Windows help desk( very disappointing is putting it mildly), ASUS and I agreed there was a fatal problem on Friday AM after one more failed attempt to reset it. I sent a simple message to Amazon and instantly they responded that a replacement would be on my doorstep Saturday. It arrived as promised with the only thing needed from me was my agreement to allow Amazon to charge my card if they failed to get the returned item within a month. In this era of customer service deficits, Amazon stands out. The second machine is up and running - so quietly it's hard to believe it's running. Fast, efficient, greatly impressed so far. Oh, I had another "lack of service" call to Microsoft regarding my OWNED Office Suite for which disks are missing - MS's answer ... buy the new edition. They are the antithesis of Amazon when it comes to customer service.

im on this computer right now lol i love it and it was fairly cheap to get a nice one

All in all the computer is fine and as I had expected; however, the keyboard that came with it is cracked which may have occurred in shipping but nevertheless cracked and a piece fell off.

If I were evaluating this against a standard desktop computer, I would give it less than 4 stars. But for the price, this is a pretty good machine. It's not without its issues--even after purchasing and installing additional memory, I still get frequent low-memory warnings that force me to close my browser, and every time I turn the computer on I get the following message: "This version of audio esp is not intended for this operating system." I just X the message out and it doesn't seem to have any effect on the computer or sound, so it's more a nuisance than anything else, but it does seem like something that should have been taken care of before the computer was shipped out.The monitor, keyboard and mouse are all very nice quality and work great. I especially love that the monitor is adjustable in height (if your monitor arrives locked in the lowest position like mine was and won't slide up, just push it down a bit and the lock will release and let you slide it up to your preferred height). The tower has a couple of dings and scratches, but they are only cosmetic and don't appear to affect performance (at least as far as I can tell). The speakers were terrible--they were flimsy and produced a constant crackling noise like a radio with a bad signal, but I figured that they were the least critical piece of hardware, so I wasn't too disappointed. I bought these instead and they work great: AmazonBasics USB Powered Computer Speakers (A100).Again, my rating is for the value of the product for the price. For a little over $100, this is a great buy. As long as you are not expecting the versatility or performance you'd get with a newer, more high-end machine, this is definitely worth the money.

The Windows key was expired. But I don't use Windows. But still a very good deal

Only Thing Wrong With Mines I Got Was a Couple of the Keys On the Keyboard Was Broke Off but Other Than Thst Its a Good Deal!!!

This computer has suited my needs so far. Just recently discovered my printer is not working. Can't find a solution! !! Even reinstalled!

I just looked above to see the number of helpful votes I had... (484)
I TRY and never purchase something that would require a negative vote.

Hopefully this will give an Amazon shopper a little heads up.
I will update this as time goes on. A few suggestions nevertheless.
1) Check out very carefully so you can use the Amazon generous 1 month return policy.
2) Under no circumstances purchase without warranty protection. This will at least help with buyers remorse.
3) Be prepared for non english, very polite, ignorant support should you need it.
4) I just had a keyboard fail on my unit fail. I asked tech support if it could be a faulty keyboard.
I was told it could be and I should replace it.. AT MY EXPENSE.... ( unit 4 months old ) to see if that was it.
I was told they would give me an RA# to return the main unit, at my expense, and not to use the original packing.
I had to return machine to factory defaults... ( 4 months of getting a windows 10 customized ) . which did not fix the problem.
It gets more hair pulling but no need to beat it to death
5) The external warranty would have helped me had it been a year old.. since it was only 4 months old , they said , very politely
that I needed to work with the manufacturer.

Lovely... just lovely... 5 calls to Asus, 1 to the external warranty purchased vendor.... 1 month of sketchy operation... 3 days of working with Asus
2 complete formats of the machine to make certain nothing I had added had corrupted the machine. ( remember how long it took to initially
set up the machine?).
I am disabled so I had a friend go to a local store...puchase a keyboard ( both my suggestion and troubleshooting) to discover that I would have spent time , money, and aggravation returning a good CPU, that had only a failed keyboard.. that the manufacturer would only replace if I paid for it not guaranteeing that that would fix the problem.. What a mess.

Update// December 4 2016
I was contacted by customer support in email and by phone call ... I increased my stars by 2 out of fairness.
In heinsight, the problem was a #12 keyboard.
The replacment was on my dime.. no problem... kind of sucked only being less than 3 months old.
I had overall one EXCELLENT response from customer support female who diagnosed a bad driver for wifi problem
I had one lousy support due to a possible new employee who had zero command of english.
I am in the position to need another computer today and I am trying to decide if I should go with another....
Otherwise, it is a good, very quiet, great priced computer .
Perhaps it would be different if support spoke better english.
Anyway, out of fairness.. i Upped the rating to 4.

I got this desktop based on the good reviews, price and the fact that my laptop of almost 6 years was really slowing down. My boyfriend also told me that in terms of value/longevity, it's better to get a desktop than a laptop. Here is what he wrote me as to why to get this computer: "I think the ASUS would be my first choice (but have not owned one): the overall specs vs the price is impressive, 3.7 GHz Core i3-6100 is an excellent processor, the PC case looks practical and upgradeable, it is the only one that has WIFI, Windows 10 is alright, it is not refurbished and ASUS scored second to Apple in reliability per PC World." In addition to all of this, I went back to school for counseling and have to do all of my homework online - so, it's crucial that I have a reliable computer. I've had this computer for 1 week, and figured I could start a review on it and follow up more in a few months.
So, how's the computer doing?
In terms of installation, although I didn't do it, my bf said it was quick and easy. He really appreciated the accessibility to necessary ports and was super happy that the WiFi was recognized immediately. As far as the operating system/software setup, he was glad there was not a lot of crap pre-loaded, and that it was one of the easiest out-of-box to workable computer experiences he has had. Unfortunately, the computer has "frozen" about 1x every day since I've had it. This has happened while watching Amazon Prime movies, on my school website and maybe one other place. My bf believes that this is a software issue possibly with the Windows 10 OS, and perhaps not all of the device drivers are up to date for Windows 10.
So, I'm going to keep a watch on it and keep ya'll up to date with any potential issues and or positives.
Also, while using my Toshiba laptop (the one that was dying) I was experiencing problems with Firefox or at least I think it was FF. I was encouraged to use Chrome (I actually polled people on Facebook what browser they preferred and Chrome was the most popular.). I also edited and posted pictures..I hope they are showing up!!!

This computer booted up just fine the first time I started it. I've read other reviews of this machine that have complained about monitor/display problems. After having problems with another monitor when I upgraded my older computer to Windows 10, I bought a new monitor before starting this computer. That worked very well. I think that people who are having monitor/display issues should probably blame Windows 10 rather than ASUS. I just don't think Windows 10 has enough drivers available for legacy hardware. Hopefuly Win 10 service pack 1 will address this issue. The only other issue I've had is getting my rear-channel surround speakers to work with the integrated sound card. Although the sound software says its set up for 5.1 surround sound, I don't get any sound from the surround speakers no matter what the source. Hopefully its just a setting and ASUS tech support can help me with that. Overall, I think this computer is a great value for the price, and plenty capable of handling home office and net streaming tasks.

Original 2- star review: I bought this computer as a replacement for my 9 year old computer which needed repairs, because the ASUS was inexpensive. It seems to have video driver problems. I get error messages that the video driver has crashed and recovered. After scrolling through FaceBook for a few minutes, the computer freezes and requires a power-off restart. I've contacted ASUS, awaiting their response. At this point I'm wishing I'd paid more for a Dell or HP. (The keyboard doesn't have a good feel, either, but I could live with that or replace it.)

Update: I needed to update a program on the computer and I was instructed that I first had to update Windows 10. The Win 10 update turned out to be a major upgrade, taking a couple of hours to download and install. But the freezes and crashes seem to have gone away so I have raised my rating to 4 stars. It's a good computer at an inexpensive price.

I bought two of these for a home network. Both of my machines work fine. I made the decision to put the internals in a new corsair case and replace the power supply with one I could trust more. I also installed a SSD drive to run my Xubuntu OS.
This i3 machine runs as fast as a i5 Skylake with 16 gigs of ddr4 ram I built after purchasing these. If you want to speed your i5 or i3 100 to 200 percent, invest in a SSD drive.
It is quite amazing how much of a speed performance you get over a spinning hard drive.
For the money these are ok machines, but I will build my own setups from now rather than buy something off the shelf.
It appears most of the problems with this line is with the i5 machines. Looking at the problems I would say Windows 10 is responsible for many of the problems people are having with the i5.
My advice would be build your own setup from the ground up. If you don't want to do that these systems are reasonably price and pretty good overall.
PS: Update: Both of mine still work fine as far as the internals. I would like to make one correction in the description for the i3 version. The i3 that comes with this machine is the 4th generation cpu, not the 5th unless Asus changed the cpu version.

worked good for 3 months then monitor went out. can't complain PC still works great bought a bigger monitor anyway good service. 3 stars because of monitor

No good for online gaming. Too bad

The "tower" arrived but never received the screen or the keyboard/mouse. For now I'm satisfied with the tower and its overall performance.

problems with black out it will just go blank on you for no reason. Keyboard suck but its really cheap and mouse also. so its refurbished and good buy for price but has issues. Monitor is rally nice for someone who has vision issues and its adjustable.

Disappointed with the condition and quality of the items. The computer was Dell but nothing else was (monitor/mouse/keyboard). The monitor had a piece broken off the corner, though it does still work. There were no speakers included and the usb port on the mouse was broken so I couldn't plug it in. Lastly, the the items appeared physically dirty, when I would expect that they would be given a quick wipe-down before shipping. I understood that this would be a used computer not in perfect condition, but this fell short of what I think can reasonably be called good quality used/refurbished.

It works.

Good PC with ONE exception, the WiFi keeps dropping connection, randomly. All drivers are up to date. 3 other devices on my wireless network function perfectly. Finally, I turned off the internal wireless connection and purchased an external USB wireless adapter and it works fine with no more dropped connections. Asus should reimburse me for the USB wireless adapter.

So it's almost a 4star. But, its really just an ok computer. I had a problem from the start with the hard drive disk running 100% of the time, under all conditions. Startup was ok, not stellar from the beginning. But my Adobe Photo software and ASUS update software was freezing. Thought it was the software. Troubleshot an hdd issue that caused a lot of headaches and time. I'll leave the link that finally solved my issue. I've owned for 1 month now and I finally have a good working machine, but it was not easy.

[...]

Not a bad machine at all. Spiffy enough for twin 1080p displays and all the internetting you could want.
I have to admit I was not so sure after the first unit arrived DOA, but Amazon came through pretty quick with the replacement and it was just what the doctor ordered.

I did have to go into the EFI/BIOS to disable some of the (not so) smart power saving features of the motherboard/chipset, because it would go to sleep and NOT wake up without a complete power cycle. Since then, it's been smooth sailing.

Just bought this and got it started. Very nice except for HORRIBLE internet speed. Asus tech support claims it is my internet provider, but every other computer in the house is getting 75 mbps download and my new Asus is getting 1.8???? Virtually unusable. Has anyone else had the same problem and if so, has adding a different wi fi card with external antennas helped?

One update. I downloaded the manual for the Asus M32AD and it claims that the computer came with an Asus WLAN card with external antennas. My computer is configured with a Realtek 8821AE integrated card. No external antennas.

Second update. Bought the TP link AC750 range extender. On the 5G setting my internet speed jumped up to 57 mbps! Much happier now.

The computet workwd very well until it didn't. It booted super fast and didnt have any issue with multi tasking. Unfortunately, after a couple of weeks, it booted directly to the BIOS screen. I couldnt fix the issue despite searching for suggestions on the web or calling customer service. Fortunately the issue was covered by the warranty but I had to pay return shipping which is not cheap for a PC.

It was a 64 bit not 32 which I needed

I bbought 2 of these refurbished computers for kids and they are now trash because they won't turn on and the weirdest thing is they both stopped at the same time.... the monitors worked but computers didn't..

Didnt have monitor power plug or compatible keyboard

Not at all what I expected in a refurbished computer. Non-stop error messages, very slow, and getting worse. Every other refurbished item I have bought worked like new.

windows keeps giving a warning that software not certified

It's diffrence with the picture that what My expectation but it's ok not bad!

This computer started out strong, but the internet adapter has become very erratic. Now (one year into its two-year warranty) it will hold the internet connection for only five minutes before I need to restart the computer. I have been in touch with ASUS and followed their instructions to reinstall the drivers, but the problem continues. Now they want me--at considerable inconvenience--to send it in for repair. I feel stuck in a place where I do not want to be.

For the first four months, this computer was great. Decently quick, capable of playing most games, and cooperative- albeit somewhat sluggish- at video encoding.

However, yesterday when I plugged in a new monitor, that changed.

I got the dreaded BSOD, and after eight hours of negotiating between safe mode and BIOS and uninstalling and reinstalling drivers, the PC was bricked. Even a factory restore didn't fix it.

Apparently, the issue has something to do with display drivers. I'm not sure if the blame here falls on ASUS or Microsoft, but either way, a PC shouldn't be rendered useless by simply plugging in a monitor.

In addition, I never liked the fact that it only had one HDMI output. If you're going to be hooking it up to a dual monitor setup, or a monitor and a TV, that just isn't convenient.

I'm so unhappy with this computer. I'm a graphic artist and this should work fine with Photoshop...not. Or video games. I'm a designer in the MMO Second Life and this computer freezes if I open another program or if a sim is laggy forcing hard boots. EVEN before I put a video card into my older system, this did not happen. I'm going to send it back and keep the monitor. It's just a sad joke for me. I'm not well enough to dilly-dally around like this. I'm not going to bother with customer service after reading all this EVEN though I bought the warrenty.

About the Purchase: Bought like new on sale through Amazon Warehouse Deals.

Pros: It was relatively fast for an i3. Keyboard and mouse felt solid and of better quality than the mid level Logitech. The PC is surprisingly lighter than it looks. Still had that new smell. Amazon's amazing customer service and return policy.

Cons: Blue screen and crash within 2 minutes of my second startup. Repeated blue screen and restarting with a new error each time. Unfortunately no help from Asus on the issues.

The computer would not work when it first arrived. I called tech support and they were next to nothing. I finally decided to take off the cover and determined that the hard drive was not plugged in.

This computer broke in two weeks we cant getit fixed anywhere it was a waste of money

I got a computer that didn't work and besides that I had to pay $54.44 to ship it back.

The power supply and motherboard went out in two weeks. The memory is too little and without downloading anything the computer was freezing. The monitor and keyboard were ok

What The Hell, I Ordered a complete Dell Computer Desktop with Monitor Keyboard and Mouse. What I received was an Off Brand Laptop.

Ordered for Christmas came on time but monitor wouldn't turn on and keyboard was completely broken. Couldn't tell you if the computer even worked!!!

does not work

My girlfriend and I both bought this pc last August. We live in different parts of the state. The computer..both hers and mine..keeps losing wifi connection. Updating the drivers helped for awhile but now it is back to losing connection. Hers has always lost connection. DO NOT BUY THIS.

Had it 6 months less than 100 hrs on it. Only did my 2016 taxes,.was still using my vista computer.
Pushed the start button and it made a loud snap never started again. ASUS wants me to sent in in at my expense to get a refurbish computer back,probably with 1000s of hrs on it. Going to BBB and file a complaint

Since 1995 I have spent thousands of dollars on Amazon and been satisfied with all of them, until this one. Although I had intended to buy a HP, which I had used for years, Amazon's strong endorsement, convinced me to choose this one. What a terrible decision!
From the start it was difficult to use, but beyond that, often it would just stop working. The lights were on, everything looked fine but it would not boot up. This happened many times over the two years. I would then call ASUS and they would walk me through the steps to start it. However, on the last call, they said they couldn't help because there was 'hardware' problem. Last week I had it examined by a technician who found the motherboard irretrievably defective.

Because of these problems, I never used it as my prime PC, as I had intended, but had to continue using my old HP PC. In short, I spent over $350 for nothing

Not working properly, keeps getting stuck in just about every process; like installing software, opening settings menus, restarting is taking for ever and the goes to blue screen with message about error.. Called Asus tech support and their only advice was to restore to default settings. Well now I'm trying to do a restore and it's stuck in that process too. I already requested a replacement from Amazon and it's shipping Monday, so lets see how that one goes. But so far this has been a big setback for the new store we just opened.. The ironic thing about it is that this is the first non off lease or refurbished computer I have bought out of 8 total for my business, and it's the only one I have ever had issues with out of the box. I'm starting to think I should have just bough an off-lease or refurbished again and saved my self a few buck and the hassle.

Multiple equipment failures in the 2nd month of use. Will change once I get a hold of ASUS and see what their resolution is.