This review is from: Asus S400CA 14-inch VivoBook Touchscreen Laptop (Intel Core i3 3217U 1.8GHz, 4GB RAM, 500GB HDD, LAN, WLAN, Webcam, BT, Integrated Graphics, Windows 8) (Personal Computers)
The ASUS S400CA is a solid laptop, there’s no denying that fact. However, there are some issues with it that can cause concern, especially since this isn’t a cheap option by any means.
So what’s good about the laptop? – It’s stylish looking, light and thin. – Battery life is “good” and I’ve managed to get 4-6 hours from it. – The keyboard is a joy to type on and feedback is good. – Trackpad is large for Windows 8 and is of good quality. – Has a responsive touch screen. – Runs silent and cool, even when performing demanding tasks. – i3 chip, ASUS motherboard and more can handle major tasks (Photoshop, etc.) – Easy to upgrade with both RAM slot and HDD easy to access. – Sports a USB 3 port.
Now the negatives: – Touchpad can have a mind of its own and incorrectly register gestures. – Screen reflects sun glare and light too much – but is more than usable in shade / darker environments. – Keyboard can sometimes miss a key being pressed (particularly the spacebar – could be the model I received from Amazon). – Display tech used has view angle limitations, but not a major setback.
The laptop does run Windows 8 comfortably on 4GB of RAM, but I threw another 4GB in just in case, and all that’s left to upgrade is the 500GB mechanical hard drive to an SSD solution.
Overall I’m happy with the purchase and would recommend to anyone looking for a pleasantly priced laptop with a touch screen. My only wish is for ASUS to sort out the trackpad issues.
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This review is from: Asus S400CA 14-inch VivoBook Touchscreen Laptop (Intel Core i3 3217U 1.8GHz, 4GB RAM, 500GB HDD, LAN, WLAN, Webcam, BT, Integrated Graphics, Windows 8) (Personal Computers)
If you’ve checked any interweb reviews of this laptop, you’ll have seen they tend to pick it apart on 3 things:
1) Battery Life. The battery does indeed run out fairly quick if you are gaming, especially with WiFi on. Don’t expect more than a couple of hours from this scenario. If however, you knock the screen down to medium brightness and are doing basic productivity tasks like typing up a document, you’ll get nearer 4 hours. Turn off WiFi (it’s a quick hotkey so don’t be afraid to turn it on and off as you need it) and you can be upwards of 5. Not sure what the pro-reviews usually have available, but to me 4-5 hours out of a laptop is very acceptable!
2) Keyboard flex. If you press in between the keys, yes it bends a little. When typing however, unless your fists are made of ham, you really shouldn’t have a problem. The keys are quiet and soft, and there’s no obvious click, which may or may not suit your preference. I’ve had no issues with non-responsive keys, though a few times I’ve just not pressed them hard enough due to misjudging the soft feel – just something to get used to.
3) Weight. Apparently 1.8kg is heavy now. If you’ve ever had your job provide you a business laptop, this is probably much lighter. It’s quite thin, which I think makes people expect a lighter machine than it is, but it does have an aluminium lid and top surface, and a glass screen. The “excess” weight seems to be quality building materials.
Those aside, MY thoughts on the Asus S400CA:
Looks-wise, this thing is lovely and by far the prettiest laptop I’ve ever owned. The lid is smooth and black aluminium, though it does seem to collect fingerprints. The keyboard is reminiscent of a macbook with chiclet/island style keys, and the underside is soft touch plastic. The quiet dignity of this laptop will not embarrass you in meeting rooms. Build quality is excellent, no gaps, and the lid is within a millimetre of being centred on the base – you won’t see the asymmetry unless you look closely for it.
The screen is reasonably bright, reasonably colourful, and remarkably good at not picking up fingerprints. In fact the screen has less prints on it than the lid…
Performance is what you’d expect from an Ivy Bridge i3 with no dedicated graphics. It’s completely acceptable for non-gaming tasks, but it doesn’t turbo, so 1.8GHz is all you get. It is however a dual core with hyperthreading, and compares favourably against, say, Core2Duo laptops from 2-3 years ago which you may be considering replacing.
The hard drive is listed by Asus has having a 24GB SSD cache, but I haven’t found anything in device manager to either confirm or deny this. Nice bonus if it proves to be in there, as your favourite programs will speed up after a few uses. Either way, this laptop hibernates and resumes in about 10 seconds, which I consider very acceptable. Drive is basically inaudible, which may or may not mean it’s working mostly from that ambiguous SSD cache right now.
Sound is decent, but not thunderously loud. But then it’s a laptop; how much bass do you really expect from its small and unobtrusive speakers?
If you check the net, you’ll find that it is possible to take the base off, and there are 2 slots for DDR3 SODIMMs, so you could bump it up to 8GB memory (possibly 16) or fit an SSD at a later date if you wish.
WiFi is flawless, never dropped out or stalled, even at a “2 bar” range from my hub (2 floors up). It does have an ethernet port if you prefer wired networking.
Even after an hour of relatively high load, the underside doesn’t get very warm, and the keyboard remains cool to the touch. I’m not even sure if there is a fan, it makes no noticeable noise… Guess that’s the 17 watt ULV processor at work.
The only thing I would pick apart is that the power, USB 3, VGA, ethernet, and HDMI sockets are all on the right hand side. If you want to dual screen and use a mouse, the latter will have to compete with a cable tangle. The power plug itself is L-shaped and doesn’t cause a problem if it’s the only thing connected.
TLDR: It’s not a performance beast, but the price point is too low for it to ever have been such. For your reasonable investment you get a tidy looking laptop with a touchscreen to bring sense to Windows 8. You get good looks, and acceptable performance at general non-intensive tasks. The keyboard is comfortable once you’re used to it, and you’ll generally get through half a day’s worth of office work before needing a recharge. If it’s your only PC I’d consider something a bit more powerful with discrete graphics, but as a “sofa PC” and travelling companion, I have no complaints about this at all. And I am a picky picky man 🙂
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This review is from: Asus S400CA 14-inch VivoBook Touchscreen Laptop (Intel Core i3 3217U 1.8GHz, 4GB RAM, 500GB HDD, LAN, WLAN, Webcam, BT, Integrated Graphics, Windows 8) (Personal Computers)
Having had this laptop for a few days now I can confirm that having a laptop with a touchscreen is necessary to get the best Windows 8 experience. The best thing about this laptop for me is the stylish aluminium casing, which is similar in some ways to what Cupertino has been doing with its laptops but is arguably even better-looking due to the way the design tapers towards the front. In terms of hardware, this laptop doesn’t have the muscle that non-touchscreen laptops of a similar price have, but Windows 8 is definitely feels a lot lighter and faster than previous versions of Windows and so I don’t really notice the slower processor. Definitely a top recommendation!
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A solid laptop, but not without its issues,
The ASUS S400CA is a solid laptop, there’s no denying that fact. However, there are some issues with it that can cause concern, especially since this isn’t a cheap option by any means.
So what’s good about the laptop?
– It’s stylish looking, light and thin.
– Battery life is “good” and I’ve managed to get 4-6 hours from it.
– The keyboard is a joy to type on and feedback is good.
– Trackpad is large for Windows 8 and is of good quality.
– Has a responsive touch screen.
– Runs silent and cool, even when performing demanding tasks.
– i3 chip, ASUS motherboard and more can handle major tasks (Photoshop, etc.)
– Easy to upgrade with both RAM slot and HDD easy to access.
– Sports a USB 3 port.
Now the negatives:
– Touchpad can have a mind of its own and incorrectly register gestures.
– Screen reflects sun glare and light too much – but is more than usable in shade / darker environments.
– Keyboard can sometimes miss a key being pressed (particularly the spacebar – could be the model I received from Amazon).
– Display tech used has view angle limitations, but not a major setback.
The laptop does run Windows 8 comfortably on 4GB of RAM, but I threw another 4GB in just in case, and all that’s left to upgrade is the 500GB mechanical hard drive to an SSD solution.
Overall I’m happy with the purchase and would recommend to anyone looking for a pleasantly priced laptop with a touch screen. My only wish is for ASUS to sort out the trackpad issues.
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|Very good for the price,
If you’ve checked any interweb reviews of this laptop, you’ll have seen they tend to pick it apart on 3 things:
1) Battery Life. The battery does indeed run out fairly quick if you are gaming, especially with WiFi on. Don’t expect more than a couple of hours from this scenario. If however, you knock the screen down to medium brightness and are doing basic productivity tasks like typing up a document, you’ll get nearer 4 hours. Turn off WiFi (it’s a quick hotkey so don’t be afraid to turn it on and off as you need it) and you can be upwards of 5. Not sure what the pro-reviews usually have available, but to me 4-5 hours out of a laptop is very acceptable!
2) Keyboard flex. If you press in between the keys, yes it bends a little. When typing however, unless your fists are made of ham, you really shouldn’t have a problem. The keys are quiet and soft, and there’s no obvious click, which may or may not suit your preference. I’ve had no issues with non-responsive keys, though a few times I’ve just not pressed them hard enough due to misjudging the soft feel – just something to get used to.
3) Weight. Apparently 1.8kg is heavy now. If you’ve ever had your job provide you a business laptop, this is probably much lighter. It’s quite thin, which I think makes people expect a lighter machine than it is, but it does have an aluminium lid and top surface, and a glass screen. The “excess” weight seems to be quality building materials.
Those aside, MY thoughts on the Asus S400CA:
Looks-wise, this thing is lovely and by far the prettiest laptop I’ve ever owned. The lid is smooth and black aluminium, though it does seem to collect fingerprints. The keyboard is reminiscent of a macbook with chiclet/island style keys, and the underside is soft touch plastic. The quiet dignity of this laptop will not embarrass you in meeting rooms. Build quality is excellent, no gaps, and the lid is within a millimetre of being centred on the base – you won’t see the asymmetry unless you look closely for it.
The screen is reasonably bright, reasonably colourful, and remarkably good at not picking up fingerprints. In fact the screen has less prints on it than the lid…
Performance is what you’d expect from an Ivy Bridge i3 with no dedicated graphics. It’s completely acceptable for non-gaming tasks, but it doesn’t turbo, so 1.8GHz is all you get. It is however a dual core with hyperthreading, and compares favourably against, say, Core2Duo laptops from 2-3 years ago which you may be considering replacing.
The hard drive is listed by Asus has having a 24GB SSD cache, but I haven’t found anything in device manager to either confirm or deny this. Nice bonus if it proves to be in there, as your favourite programs will speed up after a few uses. Either way, this laptop hibernates and resumes in about 10 seconds, which I consider very acceptable. Drive is basically inaudible, which may or may not mean it’s working mostly from that ambiguous SSD cache right now.
Sound is decent, but not thunderously loud. But then it’s a laptop; how much bass do you really expect from its small and unobtrusive speakers?
If you check the net, you’ll find that it is possible to take the base off, and there are 2 slots for DDR3 SODIMMs, so you could bump it up to 8GB memory (possibly 16) or fit an SSD at a later date if you wish.
WiFi is flawless, never dropped out or stalled, even at a “2 bar” range from my hub (2 floors up). It does have an ethernet port if you prefer wired networking.
Even after an hour of relatively high load, the underside doesn’t get very warm, and the keyboard remains cool to the touch. I’m not even sure if there is a fan, it makes no noticeable noise… Guess that’s the 17 watt ULV processor at work.
The only thing I would pick apart is that the power, USB 3, VGA, ethernet, and HDMI sockets are all on the right hand side. If you want to dual screen and use a mouse, the latter will have to compete with a cable tangle. The power plug itself is L-shaped and doesn’t cause a problem if it’s the only thing connected.
TLDR: It’s not a performance beast, but the price point is too low for it to ever have been such. For your reasonable investment you get a tidy looking laptop with a touchscreen to bring sense to Windows 8. You get good looks, and acceptable performance at general non-intensive tasks. The keyboard is comfortable once you’re used to it, and you’ll generally get through half a day’s worth of office work before needing a recharge. If it’s your only PC I’d consider something a bit more powerful with discrete graphics, but as a “sofa PC” and travelling companion, I have no complaints about this at all. And I am a picky picky man 🙂
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|Quality at a good price,
Having had this laptop for a few days now I can confirm that having a laptop with a touchscreen is necessary to get the best Windows 8 experience. The best thing about this laptop for me is the stylish aluminium casing, which is similar in some ways to what Cupertino has been doing with its laptops but is arguably even better-looking due to the way the design tapers towards the front. In terms of hardware, this laptop doesn’t have the muscle that non-touchscreen laptops of a similar price have, but Windows 8 is definitely feels a lot lighter and faster than previous versions of Windows and so I don’t really notice the slower processor. Definitely a top recommendation!
Was this review helpful to you?
|