ASUS VivoBook X202E-DH31T-SL 11.6-Inch Deals

By Charles Felker "Special K 42" (Oxford, MS USA)
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This review is from: ASUS VivoBook X202E-DH31T 11.6-Inch Touch Laptop (Personal Computers)
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.

 By Andrew -(CA)
This review is from: ASUS VivoBook X202E-DH31T 11.6-Inch Touch Laptop (Personal Computers)
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.

By McBain "wgars1234" (Kirkland, WA USA) -
This review is from: ASUS VivoBook X202E-DH31T 11.6-Inch Touch Laptop (Personal Computers)
I bought mine from the Microsoft store a couple days ago. This review does not cover my experience with Windows 8.

I've been looking for a new machine to carry on trips and to do presentations with to customers. So, it has to have the ability to do emails, browsing, pdf display, have a vga out connector, and a usb connector for the remote.

I've used larger laptops on trips, and smaller ones. This one seems about just the right size and weight. I've always hated the touchpads on them, and would use a plugin external mouse. To my pleasure, the touchscreen interface eliminates most of the problems with the touchpad.

The machine does all that I require, and exceeds my expectations with a giant disk drive. I'm surprised by how much I like it. It feels solid and well made. It boots and shuts down faster than any other machine I've had.

On the downside, I would like to have the retina display, and the machine isn't silent - there's the fan and the rotating disk drive which makes a little noise when you tilt the machine. I'd rather have an SSD, but I did not take any stars off for these issues because they would have added considerably to the price.