As one would expect from Asus this is a capable, well designed machine. An aluminium cased option would be even better and worth paying more for, my previous Asus is aluminium cased and has stood the test of time, the only reason I have upgraded at all is that recent software updates have rendered it obsolete for the purposes I require it for.Upgrading the RAM is simple, it will support 40gb easily enough after a straightforward BIOS update, I swapped the 8gb stick for a 32gb by Crucial (make sure to get the correct spec, it's important) and it improved its performance dramatically. It will also be receiving a storage capacity upgrade once I work out the best option, the 500gb provided is adequate for most users I would imagine but I would be happier with a minimum of 1tb onboard storage, like most modern laptops there aren't many ports available so external drives aren't ideal (I use it for live music performance and DJing which requires wired connections to controllers and professional sound card modules).