Asus VivoBook review - Decent value overall

Discussion in 'hardware' started by Mrkvonic, Sep 29, 2013.

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  1. Mrkvonic

    Mrkvonic Linux Systems Expert

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    I have something rather interesting today. It's a story of Windows and Linux and touch and failure. It's a thorough review of Asus VivoBook S300CA ultrabook, with i5 processor, 4GB RAM, 500GB disk, and Windows 8 operating system, covering look & feel, spec & peripherals, first boot and impression, vendor branding, touch experience, usability & customization, problems with some of the bundled software, network connectivity issues due to bad drivers, battery life, possible Linux alternatives and associated problems, Secure Boot in EUFI menu, multi-boot and partitioning considerations, live testing of multiple distributions, operative considerations, other details, and more. Do take a look.

    http://www.dedoimedo.com/computers/asus-vivobook.html


    Cheers,
    Mrk
     
  2. Noob

    Noob Registered Member

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    I've been considering a Vivobook as a replacement for my current crappy Acer.
     
  3. roger_m

    roger_m Registered Member

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    Asus is a much better quality brand than Acer (although Acer's Timeline business laptops are supposedly very high quality).
     
  4. roger_m

    roger_m Registered Member

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    Another excellent article from you :)
     
  5. ams963

    ams963 Registered Member

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    +1:thumb:....My brother's acer laptop just died beyond repair.:thumbd: :mad:....been only 4 years.:blink:
     
  6. Noob

    Noob Registered Member

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    I bought it because it was quite cheap. The thing i hate about it is not the build quality (Not the best but what do you expect from a cheap laptop).
    The problem is that it's tooooooooooooooooooooo slow. I thought an AMD E-350 would be enough . . . i was very, very WRONG. :D

    Also the HDD takes ages to load things.
     
  7. guest

    guest Guest

    ANY laptop families/flagships aimed at business users have higher quality than the products aimed at home users, both for the products themselves and the support. The brand usually doesn't matter.
     
  8. roger_m

    roger_m Registered Member

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    True, but in the case of Acer this :) is somewhat surprising considering the poor quality of their non business laptops.
     
  9. guest

    guest Guest

    I've never used Acer laptops myself, but I do hear lots of bad experience from the people who have used/is using their products.

    I agree that Asus is a great product though. My old netbook was pretty durable, I even used it for HD video encodings and video editing. When it finally met its end, I think it was because I played a game which is supposed to be played on i7.

    Then again, I'm a Toshiba fanboy now so I would think it's better than Asus overall. :D
     
  10. roger_m

    roger_m Registered Member

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    I prefer Asus to Toshiba because there is an actual removable cover underneath the fan which allows for easy access and removal of fan for removing excess dust without having to disassemble the whole laptop. Also I've seen some BIOS issues on Toshiba laptops which I haven't seen on other brands. However, I'm not disputing the general quality of Toshiba laptops, and would say that the quality of Asus and Toshiba is pretty close and generally quite a bit better than HP/Compaq, Dell or Acer.
     
  11. ams963

    ams963 Registered Member

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    I couldn't dare remove and clean the fans of my brother's and my acer laptops. To remove the fan I've to disassemble the whole laptop- front cover, keyboard, speakers, i/o board, mainboard, everything.:mad: Oh I wouldn't have possibly remembered all the steps and screws to assemble back together.:D
     
    Last edited: Sep 30, 2013
  12. roger_m

    roger_m Registered Member

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    Yes it's really quite a hassle on many if not most laptops - time consuming and the first few times I attempted disassembling laptops I gave up part way through because I was worried I might break something. On for example my Compal and most Asus laptops I've seen, you just have to unscrew a few screws to remove the cover, and then just a few to remove the fan, which makes it really quick and easy to remove all the dust which has accumulated between the fan and the cooling vents.
     
  13. ams963

    ams963 Registered Member

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    My laptop roars all the time. The dust in the fan is so much it gets hot easily. I'm thinking of either finally disassembling the whole thing and get the fan cleaned or sending it to a nearby servicing center. Which one would you prefer considering my level least level of expertise if I have any and not your high expertise:D?
     
  14. roger_m

    roger_m Registered Member

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    I would look at buying an electric duster, and use that to dissipate the dust, without having to disassemble your laptop.
     
  15. ams963

    ams963 Registered Member

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    Isn't it a little costlier way?o_O Wouldn't sending to a servicing center for cleaning be less costly?
     
  16. roger_m

    roger_m Registered Member

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    I doubt it. Plus you will be able to keep using the duster regularly to stop the computer getting to clogged up with dust.
     
  17. ams963

    ams963 Registered Member

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    You're right. Thanks.:):thumb:
     
  18. Baserk

    Baserk Registered Member

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    Mrk, must be disappointing to have such linux experience.
    OT; Sometimes your reviews truly deserve a NSFW tag, the fiat line made me laugh so loud, colleagues started looking weird at me. :p
     
  19. sgr

    sgr Registered Member

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    Great review mate but please don't give up on Linux plus is there any chance that dedoimedo.com puts its hands on yacy.net ?


    Best Regards
     
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