GL552 Potential Buyer with a few questions

[Ninja95778]

Hey forums,

I need to buy a laptop, and was considering a GL552VW DH74 as a potential candidate. It would be used for both school and gaming, and not be modified or upgraded in any way. That being said, the way I get it is the way I plan to use it for the next few years. Before I make any decision however, I have a few questions to ask you all.

1. I live in the United States, so if I order the GL552 from the online Asus store, will I receive the model with the brushed aluminum back, or the one with the plastic back?
2. Is the DH74 model that comes with the 128G SSD worth the extra $260, or is it better to not waste my money and get the cheaper DH71 that comes with no SSD?
3. Besides the touchpad which I have heard about, are there any other flaws with the laptop that I should be aware of?
4. What is the average life expectancy of this laptop?
5. For those of you that have owned a GL552 for a couple of months now, what is your opinion of the laptop? Worth it, or could I do so much better for this price range? Are there any discrepencies with the GL552 that you have noticed after owning it for a while? (For instance, a flaw in build quality like the touchpad) Please give me your honest opinion about whether or not I should buy this computer.

If you know the answer to any of the questions, then please do tell. Thanks everyone!

[maf23]

I have had my GL552VW-DH71 since Dec 2015 and have replaced the 7200 rpm 1 TB HD with a 480GB Corsair Force LE SSD (app $150). I cloned the original partions (Macrium) and used the remaining space for a dual-boot partition for Window 7. I received the aluminum model and am pleased overall with the build quality (aside from touchpad). Most of the issues are related to the Skylake chipset and Windows OS and seem to be common to all manufactures. I would say speaker quality is the one thing I am disappointed with (my previous Lenovo had much better quality JBL speakers). Display drivers (Intel) have been quirky (display adaptor resets when running some apps), but is a common problem that can be resolved with power settings and nVidia control panel options, but display quality is fine. I bought mine from Costco and got a three year accidental damage policy for $99. Four years seems to be above average for most laptops. Having a SSD drive and routine fan cleaning will definitely help. As far as the M2 drive, 128 GB seems small, but can work if you organize you programs on the larger hard drive. If you plan on utilizing the m2 I would order one with it as getting things worked out adding one yourself without a complete OS reinstall are unlikely and ASUS support will not be much help. I see no reason to use the m2 except for extra storage capacity and 128GB for $250 is steep. My Windows 10 folder is 100 GB and I have disabled updates. After several years of mandatory Windows Updates I can see space running out eventually. My boot times are about 20 sec with the non-M2 drive and I still have the original-installed OS/HD should I ever need warranty service.