Introduction and design
Netbooks, it seems, are making a remarkable comeback thanks to the likes of Asus. The Taiwanese manufacturer single-handedly kickstarted that revolution back in 2007 when it launched the Eee PC range. Over the next five years, millions of these low-cost, small form factor laptops were sold until Android tablets flooded the market.
But now, buoyed by Microsoft's decision to give Windows 8.1 (and possibly Windows 10) away for free on devices with displays smaller than 9-inch (and possibly bigger), and Intel's commitment to undercut rival ARM manufacturers, traditional PC makers are launching netbook-like products again, especially around the £200 (about $300, AU$370) price mark, which is where this Asus effort is pitched.
The Vivobook X200MA that we're reviewing today reminds me a lot of the Asus Eee PC Seashell 1101 that was reviewed by TechRadar more than five years ago. They have similar dimensions, similar screen sizes and resolution (11.6-inch LED backlit, 1366 x 768 pixels) and an equally impressive array of connectivity options.
The model sent to us came with a blue metallic lid and a black matte finish, which I very much prefer to the glossy shiny one of some of its earlier predecessors.
At 30.2 x 20 x 2.56cm (W x D x H; 11.9 x 7.9 x 1-inch) and weighing 1.2kg (about 2.6lbs), it's bulkier than Apple's MacBook Air but still just slightly larger than an A4 sheet of paper.
It could have been thinner had it not been for a bulge located where the battery is (that battery is not removable by the way). Asus engineers must have left it there to make sure that there's adequate air flow underneath the laptop to prevent overheating.
A lower level of power consumption thanks to newer, more energy-efficient parts, means that Asus has been able to squeeze the power supply unit into a plug, something little bigger than most smartphone power adaptors.
Asus has plumped for an island-style keyboard and opted for tiny arrow keys, a decision which is likely to irritate some users.
I always exercise a cautious approach when it comes to keyboard testing – as it is a very subjective matter – and in the case of the X200MA, the keyboard can best be described as being springy and accurate enough for touch typing. Don't expect it to provide an experience similar to that of a desktop keyboard, though.
The vendor also opted for a conventional touchpad, one that's surprisingly comfortable to use and larger than on some top-of-the-range Ultrabooks (like the Lenovo Yoga 3 Pro). The third way of interacting with the Vivobook is via its touchscreen display.
Since it is essentially a glass pane, it is reflective and a fingerprint magnet; some higher-end laptops that I've played with seem to have an oleophobic coating that prevents too much smudging. With the X200MA, touch control turned out to be a seamless experience in most tasks, with the odd stuttering when scrolling web pages.
Image quality was average, not a surprise given the device's price range. The display isn't particularly bright but is more than adequate for everyday usage.
The build quality is more than decent with very little flex or give on the laptop's chassis, which is a welcome change compared to yesteryear's netbooks.
Performance and verdict
Inside the X200MA, there's an Intel Celeron N2815, based on Bay Trail rather than on the much more powerful Ivy Bridge or Haswell architectures. That particular CPU has two cores, each with one thread; it clocks at up to 2.13GHz and has a TDP of 7.5W. As expected, it comes with an Intel HD graphics subsystem with a base frequency of 313MHz, overclocking to 756MHz when needed.
Since this is an entry level part, don't expect any bells and whistles, but as far as cut corners go, that's about it really. There's 4GB of DDR3L-1066 RAM (you can double that if you fancy it) and a massive 500GB hard disk drive spinning at 5400 RPM, partitioned in two.
The rest of the feature set is actually very good for a device in this price bracket: there's a card reader, a webcam, 802.11n Wi-Fi (but no Bluetooth), a D-Sub and HDMI port (pretty impressive), a combo audio jack, an Ethernet port and three USB ports (one is USB 3.0 and that can charge a device when in standby).
A pair of tiny speakers powered by Asus SonicMaster sound technology, a 3-cell, 33Whr battery, 5GB of online cloud storage for three years and Windows 8.1 (64-bit edition) round off the specification list.
Unsurprisingly the X200MA is laden with Asus applications like WebStorage and LiveUpdate which tend to eat away available resources – disabling them at startup will make things better although you may lose out on functionality.
For some odd reason, I couldn't get the laptop to fully charge. The battery gauge remained stuck at 96%, although battery life was good as it managed to score 882 on PCMark 8's battery test (lasting almost five and a half hours). However, the three main scores (Home, Work and Creative) were far behind the competition at 899, 1271 and 644 respectively.
This means that the X200MA could be perceived as a slouch but everything is relative. In terms of raw performance, the PassMark benchmark shows that it's up there with the likes of the (first-generation) Core Duo T2500 and the Core 2 Duo U9300, mainstream processors that powered mainstream laptops not so long ago.
Verdict
Does the X200MA represent the renaissance of netbooks? We doubt it. Is it one of the better affordable laptops out there? Certainly. At £199 at Ebuyer (about $300, AU$370), it remains the cheapest touchscreen display laptop we've ever seen, and the fact that it packs so much for that price bodes well for the future of the Vivobook brand.
We liked
The X200MA is solidly built, packs ample storage and system memory, and offers a surprisingly good array of connectors including the still-popular D-Sub. It has a touchscreen, decent battery life, a tiny power adaptor and an equally tiny price.
We disliked
We'd gladly swap some of that hard drive space for a more powerful processor (and graphics subsystem) but that's unlikely to happen. The lack of Bluetooth is a let-down, as is the keyboard quality. The display could be slightly better but that's probably asking too much for a laptop that costs the same as an Apple iPad mini tablet.
Final verdict
Just make sure that your expectations are adjusted accordingly and that you don't believe you're getting a laptop that can play the latest games. Intriguingly, the X200MA would make an interesting (and potentially more powerful) Chromebook with a lower outlay compared to its bigger brother, the C300MA.
Alternatively, have a look at the Acer Travelmate B115 which costs a bit more but has Bluetooth and a faster processor.
(Note: The laptop reviewed was provided by Ebuyer and at the time of writing, the retailer was giving away a free laptop bag, mouse and an 8GB USB drive with the product.)
from TechRadar: Technology reviews http://ift.tt/1B04P0B
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