ASUS VivoBook X202E 11.6-inch Notebook Review

[PAGETITLE=Introduction][Top Ad] The mobile market has sure changed over the course of the past couple of years. Prior to the launch of Apple's iPad, few people would have ever guessed that tablets had a real future - and to be frank, a lot of people (including me) continued to think that even after it launched. Yet, here we are, sitting among a market that's on fire with tablet releases but declining notebook sales. The fact that the tablet market had the potential to adversely affect the notebook market was a secret to no one. The original iPad was released in spring 2010, and Intel's Ultrabook concept was announced in the summer of 2011. This timing was no coincidence. To compete with the onslaught of tablets, and not to mention Apple's MacBook Air, Intel's Ultrabook designs insisted on super-slim, light-weight notebooks that performed closer to regular notebooks than netbooks. Since the launch of the first Ultrabook models, things have fared well enough for Intel, but the notebook market as a whole has continued to decline. That's not helped by the fact that Ultrabooks, due to their strict design requirements, tend to be more expensive than models that most non-Apple vendors focused on before. That's resulted in some vendors deciding to tweak the formula to deliver a better product even if it means it doesn't quite earn the Ultrabook status. Case-in-point, the model we're looking at today: ASUS' X202E. Does this look like a notebook that retails for only $500? ASUS' goals with its X202E are ambitious. It's attempting to deliver an affordable, small-sized notebook that delivers on three important bullet-points: performance, aesthetics and features. Throughout the review, we'll see just how well it manages to hit on each one of those, but for now, let's take a look at the tech specs and get a feel for what we're being offered here: ASUS VivoBook X202E 11.6" Notebook Processor Intel Core i3-3217U Dual-Core (1.8GHz, 3MB Cache) Memory 4GB DDR3-1333 (Single-Channel) Display AU Optronics B116XW03 V0 11.6" TN-based LCD 10-point Touch Screen Graphics Intel HD Graphics 4000 Storage Seagate ST500LT012-9WS142 500GB Hard Drive (5,400 RPM) Connectivity Qualcomm Atheros AR8162/8166/8168 PCIe 10/100Mbit/s Ethernet Qualcomm Atheros AR9485WB-EG 802.11b/g/n Wireless Bluetooth 4.0 Headphone / Microphone Combo Jack 2 x USB 2.0 1 x USB 3.0 Card Reader: SD, MMC, MS VGA HDMI Et cetera Windows 8 64-bit For its price-point, these specs are just about what we'd expect. We should point out though that unlike some of Intel's higher-end processors, the i3-3217U does not feature Turbo. So what we have here is a modest dual-core i3 that tops-out at 1.8GHz. That, coupled with the fact that the 4GB of RAM is accomplished with one stick (meaning, single-channel operations) should give you a good idea of what to expect performance-wise from the X202E. One of the best features of the X202E is its touchscreen, which throughout all of our testing proved to be a dream to use. While touchscreens on notebooks may be completely common a year or so from now, they're not now, so that does help this particular model stand out from the crowd a bit. Do you need a touchscreen? Maybe not, but after using one for a certain length of time, your opinion may sway. I'll talk more about my personal experiences later. While the X202E's hood is metal, the rest of the exterior build is comprised of hard plastics. No part of the notebook lacks durability, and none of it certainly feels or appears "cheap". This is especially true with the touchpad, which I usually worry about on notebooks at this price-range. It's simply one of the better ones I've ever used. Despite its use of simpler colors, the purplish hue on the notebook isn't quite as deep as it appears in the above photo. As ASUS itself manages to suffer the same issue with its own photos, I can't feel too bad. The X202E is also available in black, pink and pearl. I'm totally jealous of whoever it was that received a pink sample from ASUS. The hood of the X202E isn't the only part of the notebook that received a brushed aluminum treatment: so did the working area. I'm pleased to note that the effect isn't quite as pronounced as it is on some notebooks I've tested in the past, where it almost feels like you're getting micro-cuts on your finger when you slide along it. A chiclet keyboard design is employed here, which is quite fine by me. I've come to like the design more than any other as it's very easy to type on and (for me) results in less tpyos. Due to the fact that we're dealing with an 11.6-inch notebook here, it should come as no surprise that there is no numpad. That does lead me to a small beef, however: the fact that there is no alternate numpad for use with the Fn keys. Granted, a lot of people never use numpads, but if you ever do, either for gaming or work, it's really annoying when there isn't some makeshift option available. In relative size to the rest of the notebook, I'd wager that the touchpad is a perfect size, and going further, it has a perfect feel, as well. On lesser-expensive notebooks, it's not uncommon to have to deal with a touchpad that's built using less-than-ideal materials which in turn makes it hard on the fingers, but the X202E managed to escape that fate. It's super-smooth and doesn't get warm after long use - it's a winner in my book. On the left side of the notebook, the power adapter port kicks things off, to be followed by Ethernet, HDMI, USB 3.0, USB 2.0 and Kensington lock. Moving over to the right side and starting from the left, we have an SD/MMC card reader, In/Out audio combo-port, another USB 2.0 port followed by a VGA port. Overall, a nice collection of connectivity options with nothing notable missing. To wrap up our glamour shots, let's take a quick look at the front-right corner. In order, these LEDs represent: power on, battery charging, hard disk activity, WiFi enabled and, of all things, caps lock. In terms of both aesthetics and design, I can't find a real fault with ASUS' X202E. Things are made all the better when its modest price-point of $500 is taken into consideration. Are there any "gotchas" waiting around the corner? We'll soon find out. For now, let's tackle software. [PAGEBREAK][PAGETITLE=A Look at the X202E's Software][Top Ad] Alongside the release of Windows 8 came the need for companies like ASUS to re-think the way they manage software on their products. Take bundled software, for example. It's hardly been atypical to see vendors load the desktop up with shortcut icons for applications it believes you should notice right away, but with Windows 8, the desktop is no longer the focus, and the clean aesthetics of the "Modern UI" simply don't favor such clutter. We'll talk about what can result from this in just a short bit. Also changed is the way companies are able to handle restoring the PC to a factory-fresh state. Previously, companies would employ their own, sometimes not-so-elegant solutions. However, because Windows 8 includes similar functionality, some companies, including ASUS, have merged the two recovery solutions together. The result is a recovery solution that runs through Microsoft's Windows 8 solution, but is tweaked for ASUS' purposes - aka: to install the bundled software and drivers. For the purpose, this particular notebook has three partitions sitting next to the other two that are for personal use. These consist of a 300 MB "EFI" partition and dual "Recovery" partitions - one weighing in at 300 MB, the other at 20 GB. The price we pay for being able to recover our PCs the easiest way possible. With that sorted out, let's move along and boot the X202E up: It's long been difficult for companies to differentiate their OS installs from the competition, and Windows 8 does nothing to remedy that. In fact, things have been made even worse, thanks to the absolute lack of flexibility of the Start screen. Windows 8 on this notebook looks little different than it does on any other notebook. The first hint of uniqueness can be seen when the Start screen is scrolled to the right. Here, we can see some pre-installed Xbox Arcade games along with ASUS World Clock, Calculator and Converter. These are simple apps that do as their name implies, with Converter being the most interesting as it covers weight, length, volume, temperature, data storage and area. Want to know how many bytes make up 56 GB? This app will quickly tell you the answer. Being a notebook review, I don't want to harp too much on the OS aspect of things, but a personal beef of mine with Microsoft's latest OS hit me in the face when navigating the X202E's software. Unlike the classic Start Menu, the Start screen doesn't support folders for tiles. This leaves companies the option of relegating certain applications to the All Apps screen, creating their own faux folder application that acts as a launcher (which rarely look good) or litter the Start screen with a bunch of tiles that most people will never use. The choices here are not exactly great. For this notebook, ASUS took the route of hiding most of its own software inside of the All Apps menu. For those new to Windows 8, this menu is not easy to stumble on - especially on a touch device. That leads me to another problem: Microsoft doesn't explain in any real detail how to use the Start screen, save for two of the most basic explanations at install time. There's no tutor of any sort, despite there being 10 or so functions that those using the Start screen should know about. Here's where things become ironic. As seen in the shot above, ASUS has bundled in an app called "ASUS Tutor" which, to me, represents what Microsoft itself should have included with Windows 8. The irony stems from the fact that one thing this program teaches you is how to go to the All Apps menu in order to access apps like it and others. Ignoring the fact that ASUS should have included a tile shortcut for this on the main Start screen, let's take a...

ASUS VivoBook X202E 11.6-inch Notebook Review

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Rob Williams