Computer manufacturers are continuously in search of churning out great devices at very competitive prices. Asus is one of the companies that have cracked this delicate balance in the Asus VivoBook X200CA. What Asus has done with the X200 is equivalent to airline’s low-cost carriers: You will get to your destination, if you don’t mind the no-frills policy. This is not to say the VivoBook looks or appears cheap. It performs better than most laptops prices ranging on Sh30,000 – Sh35,000 scale, which is the price tag of the X200.
Features
If you are into mobile office or in school, the 11.6 inch, 1.24Kg Asus X200 is definitely worth carrying around without feeling the weight. The variety of colors (black, white, blue and hot pink) should give you plenty of choice. The plastic all-round casing gives the Asus X200 a sturdy yet classy look which is accentuated by the smooth curves around the corners. The size, however, is not built for accountants as there is hardly enough space for the number pad usually on the right of the keyboard.
The 1366×768 resolution is above average for computers at this price range but you have to adjust the screen angle if you are not aligned in an ideal sitting position. If you are not into bright screens, then the Asus X200 is suitable for you. But what it lacks in ideal screen, the laptop makes it up in the input/output section. It has three USB ports, two on the right and one on the left, plus a HDMI and SD card reader. The intuitive multi-touch touchpad allows users to scroll by pinch-zoom in and out of images, but it can feel a bit too over-sensitive to the uninitiated.
Specs
Compared to what is in the market in terms of size and price, you would expect the X200 to be below par in terms of performance but that’s not quite the case. I was pleasantly surprised by the performance of this Asus, powering in about 20 seconds. Running on the 1.5GHz Intel Celeron and backed by 4GB of RAM, the VivoBook has set a new standard for affordable notebooks.
The Core i3 Asus X200 is good enough for most day-to-day office or/and school tasks but can barely keep up for gamers, video editors and designers. You might need to recharge after every 4 hours, though it can stretch another half an hour if you are just writing a report or browsing. In addition to the 500GB drive, Asus tops up with 3GB of free web storage on the VivoBook. Not a lot, but helpful to back-up important documents.
Verdict: 8/10 mainly because you get more for much less.
