For roughly 550.00 this can hardly be beat for a small laptop that has windows 8 and a touchscreen. At first I was a little aggravated with the touch pad but, I installed the drivers from Samsung's website that are supposed to be for a series 5 laptop. This laptop along with several others have the same Elan touch pad in them. Once you install this driver it is a night and day difference in the touchpad.
The link for the drivers is in the first comment. Amazon won't let you link to an external website in the main review.
So go to the comment and get to the link then follow what is below.
You then need to click on the Manuals and Downloads link, then click Driver.
After that scroll down and click on the ZIP link for the Touch Pad driver 11.7.2.1
If you have the sorry Asus Smart Gesture installed, uninstall that first and reboot, then install this software. I have had various Macbooks for the better part of the last 7 years and this is my first PC laptop in a while. I was almost ready to return this laptop until I found these drivers. I would say the touch pad is 95% of a Macbook touch pad now and whether you like Apple or not, you have to admit they know what they are doing when it comes to track pads. Aside from all of that I'm extremely happy with the operation of this laptop now.
I am coming from a laptop that had an SSD drive in it so it does seem a little slow in some areas but, others it is working just fine. I have an extra SSD drive that I plan on putting in this machine as well as removing the half height mini PCI atheros wireless/bluetooth combo. I purchased an Intel Centrino 6235anhmw Mini Pci Express Bluetooth 4.0 to replace it with and based on my research I should be able to enable Intel Wireless Display on this laptop after that install. The card only cost me 30.00 bucks and I figured it was worth the gamble to see if it would work. I'll update this review once I get the card in a couple of days to state if it worked or not.
The sound coming from this laptop is actually quite good and I would say better than a lot of the previous laptops I am use to.
The touchscreen is extremely responsive and I haven't had any missed touches or erratic behavior out of it. I have played several touch based games and it worked flawlessly.
Last but, not least this thing is solid, the build quality on it is exceptional for something this cheap.
Okay, now for the bad which again considering this is a cheap laptop with a touchscreen really isn't that bad.
The fan runs constantly and while it is not overly annoying it does seem to run even when not doing much on the system. That is really my main complaint about the machine at this point. The second complaint is that the viewing angles on this machine are pretty poor but, again don't expect any machine at this price point with a touchscreen to have great viewing angles. Although viewing angles are bad, brightness is very good. I think with the brightness turned all the way up you could possibly do permanent damage to your eyes(a joke of course).
The keyboard is a little cramped but, really not all that bad. I would say I have slightly above average hand size but, again it isn't to bad and I'm able to kick out a reasonable speed without to many more mistakes than I usually make. Expect some adjustment if you are coming from a full size keyboard with large hands.
Again, the stock hard drive is a 5400rpm drive and it does seem a little slow for me but, if you are coming from another mechanical drive then you may not really notice it as a problem. I've been using SSD drives for some time so it does bother me a bit.
These might be major problems for others but, for me they are minor annoyances that I can live with on a cheap machine like this. This is basically an 11.6" Macbook Air that is missing the SSD(entry level is 64GB SSD), backlit keyboard, viewing angles aren't as good for the ASUS and fan runs more often than Macbook Air. However the Macbook Air doesn't have these features: touch screen, 500GB HDD that can be upgraded to a small or large SSD if you like and the Air cost about 450.00 more for the entry level. Granted the Macbook Air is considerably lighter but, it also makes your wallet lighter.
Sorry for all of the Macbook comparisons but, I have come from many years of having Macbooks and decided with Windows 8 to give PCs a try again. I'm glad I did.
Update 11/8/2012:
I installed the Intel wireless card I mentioned above, then installed the latest drivers for the card from the Intel website as well as the latest video drivers from the ASUS website. Then I installed the Widi display software and was able to connect to my Belkin Screencast. It took several tries and then it finally updated the software on the Belkin. After that it has been connecting perfectly with no problems. So I paid 40 bucks on Amazon for a refurbished Belkin Screencast and 32.00 for the intel card. Now for 72.00 bucks I'm able to use my 55" HDTV at 1080p as a second screen.
Update 11/14/2012
I finally got around to installing an SSD drive and replacing the mechanical drive. The drive that came in it was a Hitachi HTS5450A7E380 which is a 7mm thick drive. Unfortunately the SSD I had was a typical 9.5mm and was too thick to work at first. Luckily I was able to remove part of the casing on the SSD drive I used and that made for a perfect fit. So if you plan on swapping out for an SSD make sure it is no thicker than 7mm or it won't fit. I had some trouble where the laptop kept booting into the BIOS. when I went in and disabled fast boot as well as turned of drive security or something like that. I can't remember exactly now but, when the option is enabled you can go further into the BIOS and see PKI keys and DDB keys and a lot of other keys. I just disabled that portion and then it started recognizing the hard drive. This may not be a problem if you clone the hard drive to the SSD before you swap but, I did a fresh install. Laptop is blazing fast now as it boots into windows in about 10 seconds.
This review is to dispel any incorrect info in the "User Reviews".
I'll quickly explain that I am a technician and have been modifying all the non touch Win 8 machines, to look and run like 7. It's a 2 minute job that requires a small program like Classic Shell or iobit's Start 8.
As I give tech advice on some forums, I felt the need to get some experience on Win 8's touch interface, Otherwise, how could I help others, if I've never even used it.
So let's get down to business and set the record straight of what it is, and what it isn't.
WIFI
Those folks who have wifi connectivity problems, have a defect. If they reinstall the OS from the partition that is provided for that purpose, and then it still has wifi problems, then it's time to return the machine or get it fixed, or even get another wifi card. Anyone who thinks that it's inherent to this machine and has decided to put up with it, is mistaken and being inconvenienced unnecessarily.
TOUCHPAD
Those who find that the touchpad is wonky, are either palming it while typing, or have a defect. The same applies as above. Try installing the OS again and if it is still acting up and you're 100% sure that you're not palming the touchpad, then it is defective and needs to be returned or repaired. This is NOT a normal condition.
BUILD & SCREEN
This laptop is well built with premium quality materials. Anyone who feels their screen is weak, should return it. It is NOT a normal condition for this machine, and for those who complained about the bezel being too wide, it is built that way to be structurally strong enough. A touchscreen receives light impact from being touched, thus it needs to be built a bit more solidly than a normal screen.
Complaints about the screen being shiny are valid in a sense. It is truly shiny, but it's a necessary evil. Matte surfaces get dirty faster and are harder to clean.
KEYBOARD
The keyboard is neither exceptionally good or bad. Everyone has a different concept of what a keyboard should be, so there's no right or wrong. It's just an individual's preference. If the keyboard doesn't work perfectly, the machine should be returned or repaired.
BATTERY LIFE
We've heard a wide range of claims, from 2 to 7 hours. Obviously, someone is wrong. Most of the User Reviews, have it straight, when they claim approx. 4 hours. Even if you dimmed the screen and avoided multitasking, you'd still be hard pressed to get 5 hours out of it, and it's unrealistic to expect that, as the screen would be hard to see, at that low brightness. Those who have claimed 3 hours or less, may be running power consuming programs, like watching video/movies at full brightness, in which case, it is 100% true that it will only get 3 hours or less, under those conditions.(See Suggestions below for some revised info)
CAMERA
Yes, it is true, that it's horrible. If you are not in a brightly lit area, the image will be grainy. It is certainly way below the quality of the average laptop webcam.(see SUGGESTIONS below for a revised evaluation)
POWER & SPEED
Those who find that this notebook is slow, or it hesitates/stutters or freezes up, have a defect. Redo the system as mentioned above and if it persists, it is a defective machine. Even with all the bloatware running, this Vivobook has ample power, to handle all the normal use, without ever hesitating or freezing up.(See SUGGESTIONS below for additional info on power plans for better performance)
SSD
Yes it is true that it will be substantially faster and more responsive, if you swap out the hard drive for an SSD. Any and all laptops will benefit, but it is not necessary to swap the hard drive out, as it performs just fine as it is. It's a luxury to go with an SSD. I have swapped the HD out for an SSD in this machine, because I wanted to know how much of a difference it would make, and not because it ran poorly with the included 500 gig hard drive.
While on this subject, those who feel that it is difficult to remove the backplate to access the hard drive, are mistaken. Yes, it is firmly in place and it requires the right tool to pry it apart, but that is entirely normal for almost all laptops. Swapping out the hard drive on this unit, is a breeze.
FINGERPRINTS
I got lucky and received the Silver model (looks like champagne to me) as the silver lid does not show fingerprints as much as the black version. Again, this is normal. Black brushed aluminum laptops, are fingerprint magnets and they need to be cleaned everyday.
VALUE
The sum total of this Vivobook's exceptional build with premium materials, slim and light, great performance, decent battery life, all the necessary ports, good wifi reception and a very decent touchscreen, make it a real bargain at $500 or less.
COMMENTS, CONS & COMPLAINTS
The webcam is very poor.
It would be wonderful to have a backlit keyboard, even though it would shorten the laptop's battery life.
This unit is slow to charge. From bone empty, it may take as long as 4 hours to get to 100%. This may inconvenience some folks (not me), but on the positive side, the internal battery may last several more years than if it were fast charged.
A few users have suggested changing graphics setting to -20 brightness, 51 contrast and 0.9 gamma, and I agree that it looks better that way.
I ran a timer since turning the laptop on at 100% charged and it is now up to 2 hours and 7 minutes, having used 44% of its battery life, so that would come out to a potential 4 hours and 48 minutes, however the machine will shut down before reaching 0%, and it should be noted that I was only running this webpage and the timer, nothing else, so it would be unrealistic to expect that much battery life under normal circumstances.
The Win 8 touch interface is vastly superior to iOS (iPad), Android, webOS or any after market ones. It is true that the store does not have very many apps, but that will come with time. You'd be hard pressed to find any high quality free games, so don't get your hopes up, YET!
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edit.
SUGGESTIONS
1) Download an app called "Show Me", which will give you detailed visual explanations of everything you can do in Win 8's touch interface. Even if you think you know it all, I bet you'll learn a few new things.
2) Clean the screen around the webcam area and you may discover (as I just did) that the camera is a lot better than it was, presumably a bit dirty from top of the screen swipes.
3) If your machine hesitates, stutters or freezes while on battery but performs well when plugged in, you may have to change your power plan to "High Performance". The Power4Gear system, halves the CPU, ram graphics and Wifi power. If you do go to High Performance while on battery, you may want to turn down the brightness a bit, so as to improve battery life.
4) If you use the Powe4Gear power plan while on battery, it is possible to reach 5 hours of usage, provided you are not running many processes in the background, and are not playing games or viewing video.
5) After updating your Vivobook with Asus' Live update program, uninstall it, to stop it running in the background (it can't be stopped otherwise). If you need it again in the future, you can download the installer from the Asus website.
6) If you run Windows Defender, there is no need for any additional Anti Virus programs, as Defender in Win 8, is a full Anti Virus program that is reputed to do as good a job as any other free AV program. If you are running another AV program, either uninstall it and use Defender, or keep it and turn Defender off in "Services". Running both at the same time will seriously slow down your computer.
Buy ASUS VivoBook X202E-DH31T-PK 11.6-Inch Touchscreen Laptop (Pink) Now
I'm an IT professional, and have dealt with a few ASUS laptops, which I now prefer to Dell.
If you take remove the 9 phillips screws on the bottom, you have access to some of the internal components.
You will need to tug a little, as the case is still held in place by little plastic clippies all around.
You might break a nail, so be careful.
MEMORY:
The memory is soldered into the board, so 4GB is all you will ever have. Period.
DISK DRIVE:
The HDD is a Hitachi HTS5450A7E380 (7mm 2.5") and can be replaced with another "Low Profile" 7mm SSD or HDD. You simply remove 3 screws that hold the cage in (the 4th screw is already removed from removing the back panel), remove the cage, remove 4 screws holding drive in cage, replace with a SATA II/III drive. (It is a SATA 3 6.0 GB/s connection).
I recommend the Samsung 840 series, as they are 7mm 2.5" and very low on power usage. When you remove the old HDD, it has a plastic backing glued on it with two rubber foam strips.
Don't worry with removing it from the old HDD. An SSD doesn't need the shock absorption and will be mounted securely with the screws.
WIRELESS:
The Atheros AR5B225 Half Mini PCIe WiFi/Bluetooth 4.0 module is replaceable.
I am replacing mine with Intel Centrino Advanced-N 6235 so I can use WiDi and Dual Band Wifi.
It was as easy as removing the two antenna wires from the Atheros, popping in new card, reattaching two antenna wires to the Intel 6235.
BATTERY:
The 5136 mAh 2 cell battery is replaceable, albeit proprietary. Not sure what this means for the future.
MY GENERAL OPINION OF THE LAPTOP and Windows 8:
I have been using Windows 8 at work for a bit, and as an OS, it's hard and confusing with a dual monitor desktop power user setup (as I have no need for the Metro interface there, and I feel like I'm fighting it). I had to tweak it to get my start menu back (Open source utility called "Classic Start"). However, with a touch screen laptop, it is very easy to use. I've been thoroughly been enjoying it as a tablet replacement. I admit, I did install an SSD in it, and it is SO much more responsive now (and shaved some ounces on weight as well has dropping at least a watt of power draw). I also have access to a Windows 8 volume license key, and mine is running Windows 8 Enterprise.
Read Best Reviews of ASUS VivoBook X202E-DH31T-PK 11.6-Inch Touchscreen Laptop (Pink) Here
The form factor, specs, and cost all made the Vivobook a product that I was excited to have and to recommend to whoever I came across. Of course, the highlight was the touchscreen which is VITAL if you're using Windows 8. Adding to that was the excellent workmanship (metallic palmrest) and the perfect size and weight (liked it better than the Zenbook or MacBook Air).
But less than 2 months later, it all turned into a nightmare.
I can give the conclusion from the very beginning: Swap out the 500GB HDD for a 256GB SSD as soon as you take it out the box. I'm convinced that Asus put in a cheap part (HDD) in order to keep the cost low. But you will pay dearly for that error.
1. During normal usage, the dreaded "Click of Death" came, which is when the head/arm in the HDD touches the platter (disk). I tried to shut it down as soon as possible. But the next time it turned on, the OS wouldn't load and only the BIOS screen would appear. The machine was effectively dead.
2. Asus's warranty would replace the HDD but wouldn't recover the data, all while taking 2 weeks to return the machine to you. And just opening the machine to swap the HDD yourself would void that warranty.
3. Upon opening the HDD, I found that the head was defective (after just 2 months) and tried everything to recover the data. The pros would charge approx $2,400 (no exageration) to repair this kind of HDD problem. After 3 days, this became a lost cause and I knew I'd have to start from scratch.
4. I installed a 256GB SSD.
5. Asus wouldn't give me an ISO image of the factory Vivobook. They told me I also had to get the OS from Microsoft directly, who in turn said they couldn't get me a full version Windows 8, but only an upgrade from Windows 7. This meant I had to install Windows 7 first, then upgrade to Windows 8.
Now I'm stuck because the BIOS won't let me set the boot order to the USB drive. And, yes, I've flashed it to version 206. IF YOU KNOW HOW TO DO THIS, PLEASE COMMENT.
In spite of all the headache, my only advice is to swap for a SSD immediately. 95% of my docs were backed-up but I didn't make an ISO image of the whole system, so I'm paying for it.
In the end, I still think this is a good machine which just had 1 cheap part which went bad very quickly. (BTW, the floor model at the store also had the same problem.)
Want ASUS VivoBook X202E-DH31T-PK 11.6-Inch Touchscreen Laptop (Pink) Discount?
Firstly, some reviewers have referred to this laptop as a netbook. I have nothing against netbooks, but this is actually an ultraportable notebook. In fact, if it had even a hybrid SSD it would meet ultrabook specs. It certainly has the build quality of an ultrabook.
The good:
As I said, excellent build quality including the very responsive touchscreen. People have been guessing that I must have paid at least $800 for this machine based on its look and feel alone. It looks and feels like something between a Macbook Air and Pro.
Remarkably thin considering that it has built in VGA and ethernet ports, and yes, some people still need those!
It's fast. Obviously with a Core i3 and 4GB of RAM it's not the most powerful device on the market, but if you're not a gamer or into heavy multimedia editing it runs like a breeze. It boots up faster than ANY computer I have ever seen not equipped with an SSD. I guess Windows 8 is to thank for that.
Speaking of Windows 8, this is a review of the machine not the OS, but I'll just say that it's basically Windows 7 with a better start menu and some handy touched based functionality. On a touchscreen device like this one, I don't see any reason to complain about it.
Incredibly compact power cable. No brick. It's like a tablet charger. You can literally coil it up and carry it in your pocket.
The Bad:
Battery life is indeed about 4-5 hours... that is, with careful power management and light use. Not stellar, but I guess it does deliver the "up to 5 hours" promised.
A little heavy for its size, certainly not so much to be tiring to carry.
Some reviewers have complained about the trackpad. I haven't updated any drivers and I don't find it to be terrible by any means, but it can be a hair too sensitive at times, sometimes registering a single tap as a double.
Overall:
I'd actually give it a 4.5 if I could. I've looked into a lot of alternatives, and I don't believe there is currently a better laptop for under $600 on the market right now. Certainly not in the 11.6" form factor, where the alternatives are either netbooks of inferior build quality and specs, or an ultrabook/Macbook Air for hundreds of dollars more.
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Wow! I am an early adopter of technology and an engineer go figure. My wife accidentally damaged (beyond repair) my favorite super powerful laptop FX7811. Suddenly I am trying to evaluate new laptops. The Ultrabooks are the latest thing and the bleeding edge of technology is the 10 point touch screen combined with FHD full high def. Most laptops offer a limited slate of the right technology, at high prices, others are cheap and easily convince you of the same. I studied them all for two months solid and settled on the top of the line (but not yet released) ASUS ux500vz touch for an as yet (still) unnamed price probably upwards of $2500. After becoming weary of waiting on ASUS delays with manufacturing setbacks and their general lack of information regarding releases and availability schedules, sketchy or incomplete spec information, and no pricing, I was left uncertain as to whether or when and at what cost my dream ultrabook might be on the market.
