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Review on πŸ’» Asus VivoBook 15 Thin and Light Laptop, 15.6-inch Full HD Display, Intel Core i3-8145U Processor, 8GB Memory, 128GB SSD, Windows 10 in S Mode, F512FA-AB34, Slate Gray by Scott Welch

Revainrating 5 out of 5

Better than I hoped

I was looking for a replacement laptop for my eight year old hippo. My criteria were: light weight, 8GB RAM, 64GB+ SSD, 1080p, full size HDMI port (not mini), Windows OS. I wanted it mostly for web browsing, word processing and some pretty light gaming (modded minecraft, java version). After about a month I am satisfied with this computer for all these tasks so far. In fact, it exceeded my gaming expectations. I wasn't expecting it to be able to run more than a few mods, but so far it's taken everything I've thrown at it. I didn't overclock the CPU (on purpose anyway - maybe Windows does that automatically now?), so I'm running at the 2.3GHz (I think). Screen quality/viewing angle. However, I'm happy to report that I haven't had any issues with screen visibility or distorted edges. Maybe I'm just a plebeian in my tastes, but it seems fine to me. It came with Windows 10 S, which I certainly didn't want, but it was quite easy to turn it off. The backlit keyboard is honestly a lifesaver. I wasn't specifically looking for this feature, but it's awesome. It comes with variable brightness instead of a switch, which is frankly unnecessary as the lowest setting is bright enough. However, as mentioned in other reviews, this reduces the battery life significantly (it seems). Battery life is my only gripe, but admittedly it's mostly to do with my usage and not the machine itself. I have multiple Chrome tabs running all the time, as well as Visual Studio Code and often Minecraft. At this level of use, the battery lasts an average of 2-3 hours. I didn't time it though, so this is just an estimate on my part. Overall I am much happier with this $300 laptop than my old laptop which cost twice as much 8 years ago. No doubt you can find better performance on a higher budget, but if you're on a tight budget I highly recommend this device.

Pros
  • A dream come true
Cons
  • Hard to remember, but it was