Asus VivoBook X202E Touch Screen Notebook: Core i3 3217U 1.8GHz, 4GB DDR3, 500GB HDD, 11.6" 1366x768 LED, WiFi N, 5100mAh Battery, Win 8 $400 + Free shipping

Been seeing this deal a lot, but I can't seem to bite. Too many cons:
1. I rather have a decent quality screen instead of a lame crap quality touchscreen.
2. Easily removable battery. always having battery connected when plugged in kills the battery longevity. Also, you get the option of carrying a much lighter laptop when you don't need the battery.
3. Having to replace the wifi network card more costs.
4. Most importantly, I heard this laptop either overheats (with old Bios) or the APU throttles (new bios). Either way, it sounds like a poor design to me. And Asus usually makes great products.

I'm holding out, or maybe buying an Acer that's smaller without all the flaws for $100 more.

This is all good...laptops are getting cheaper and the performance features are really decent. Must haves; SSD, 1080p, USB3.0, HDMI

Good luck finding a laptop with 1080p in price under $1000. I have a Dell XPS 12 and it was 1400, but that is for the core i7 version and ironically it does not have a HDMI port. It does have a display port that you can with an adapter use for HDMI (adapter must be bought separately)

whats the point of a touchscreen on a laptop?

Is this a serious question? Uhm, the only reason to have a touch screen is for Windows 8. They have this new tile/metro touch interface. Not sure you've heard about it. In any case, expect touch to be standard on laptops in 12-18 months. Unless the S.S. Microsoft decides to change course.

Personally, a laptop does seem like an odd place to have touch, as you can't hold hold it close to you because of the keyboard/body of the system would get in the way. On a Windows 8 laptop, a convertible would make more sense. Unfortunately, that would be a pretty thick, and heavy, tablet.

Did you find a higher rated battery?

I'd like to find a dual band adapter