That's too bad, Mike. Needless to say I am not a big fan of big-box stores like Best Buy or their staff. I do hope you will find & buy an ASUS that you like; you will never regret it! Their laptops are not only excellent but, extremely well built, well constructed. Believe me I've had both ASUS & other brand laptops opened up and the materials, sturdiness & sophistication of them comparatively is like night & day. They, also, have one of the best warranties in the industry. 1st year even, and this is rare, includes Accidental Damage replacement coverage ie. if the cat pushes it off onto the floor. And another aspect is screen replacement if there is even 1 bad or missing pixel. ASUS laptop cooling is fantastic, use one for hours and one won't feel any heat from it. I could go on & on but, they are fine, fine, machines.
I've sold several to clients of mine and they have always been so very happy & impressed w/ them.
I am very interested to know how you fare and what you end up getting.
Oh yeah and that scenario you had w/ the HP large format scanner... HP is infamous for driver issues like that or the lack thereof. I've run into it countless times. I recall few years ago 2 or 3 months after Windows 7 was released a customer's HP Desktop had to be rebuilt. It was not running 7 but, it was a good opportunity to rebuild it to or w/ 7. I knew that after the install, Win7 drivers would be needed... except... good ole HP had none offered or available for 7.
Yep, I'm sure, over the years, I've dealt w/ more screwed up Dells & HPs than any other brand. And after the hell I've gone through on behalf of clients w/ HPs customer service, I wouldn't wish it on anyone.
Cheers,
Drew