ASUS - 11.6" Laptop - Intel Celeron - 4GB Memory - 32GB eMMC Flash Memory - Star Gray

This is a long review, so here’s the summary for those who don’t want to read much – I would highly recommend this computer if you’re willing to do a little bit of work to ensure the best experience. It’s a great deal for the price and makes a fantastic travel computer or second computer. I actually own two of these. Both are the versions with the Celeron N4000 and 4GB ram, but one has 32GB eMMC memory, and the other has 64GB eMMC memory (I don’t believe that configuration is sold at Best Buy). I have the 32GB one running Linux Mint 19.1 without any issues. It’s mostly an unmodified install, though I’ve add a couple of things like Pithos, Bleachbit, Steam and a few games. All hardware was recognized by the OS and everything is running smoothly. But I realize many (most?) people reading this are not interested in changing the OS from Windows to Linux, so I will write mostly about the other one I have, which is running a fully up-to-date version of Windows 10 Pro Build 1809 (the computer comes in Windows S mode, so you’ll want to activate regular Windows 10, which is free to do). The first thing I do with any Windows computer is to do a fresh installation of Windows using Microsoft’s Media Creation Tool to get rid of any bloatware. This tends to free up around 10 GB. Then, I perform any needed updates (to Windows, to Windows store apps, BIOS, etc.) and then uninstall those things that come with Windows itself for which I have no interest (Candy Crush, Office Apps, etc.). I also use Revo Uninstaller and CCleaner to keep the “drive” and registry tidy and to prevent unwanted things running at startup. I’m also using Windows 10 built-in antivirus software. Finally, I put a 200GB micro SD card in there to load up on programs/games. (The micro-SD card slot is spring loaded, and cards fit entirely within the laptop itself. This is extremely useful.) My thoughts so far are below. Positives: *Bang for the buck* - I managed to pick up each of these laptops for $110.00 on sale (the 64 GB one was an open box in like-new shape going for more, but I was able to talk the price down to the $109.99 sale price of the 32 GB, 2GB RAM version) and for the price, I think they are fantastic. They perform well enough to stream music in the background while I’m, say, browsing the web with a few tabs open. They can stream HD video without a problem also and can even be used for gaming (yes, it CAN run Crysis - more to say about gaming later). Thanks to the eMMC memory “drive”, boot up is very quick on my Windows machine (<10 seconds). *Display* - the screen is “only” 1366 x 768 HD resolution, but that is exactly right in my opinion for an 11.6” computer. Anything more would just decrease battery life for no real gain on such a small screen. The display itself is matte (which I prefer), very bright and I have no complaints. Also, the lid folds flat (180 degrees) which can occasionally be very useful when sharing your screen with others. *Battery Life* - excellent. I always go into Windows’ settings to tweak my laptops for maximum performance on battery power and despite this, battery life is excellent. Windows estimates over 10 hrs on a full charge, and while I haven’t pushed it that far before plugging in, I can easily get through an entire day of use. Not having to bring a charger along is really quite nice. *Weight* - this laptop barely weighs two pounds. Incredibly light. *Wi-Fi* - dual-band 802.11ac Wi-Fi is fine. No issues at all. (There are computers for sale now at 3-4X the price of this one that still don’t have dual-band.) *Ports* - surprisingly good for the price – USB-C, 2 USB 3.1, full-size HDMI, and micro SD. (spring-loaded, and micro SD card fits entirely within the laptop. This is incredibly useful). *Audio* - sound is very good on this laptop as long as you’re not expecting much bass. Max volume is surprisingly loud, and acoustic music sounds great. Acoustic steel-strung guitars sound particularly good, with nice detail and clarity. For the type of music I tend to listen to, this is good enough that I no longer travel with a Bluetooth speaker – I have a 200GB micro SD card onto which I load all of my programs and quite a bit of music, so I just play tunes off this laptop instead. There is one downside that made me briefly consider placing audio in the “neutral” category and that is speaker placement. This is one of the many laptops that has the speakers fire down instead of up. This is not the greatest choice for sound quality. Lifting the front of the laptop up shows just how much more detail you can get our of the speakers when they are not being muffled by the surface upon which they’re sitting. Still, overall the positives definitely outweigh this negative and I consider the audio a positive item. *Keyboard* - chicklet style keyboard with decent travel depth and no issues. Neutral: Build quality – there’s nothing actually wrong with the build quality, and it feels quite sturdy; it’s just plastic rather than metal. That’s not surprising given the price, but I’d always prefer metal builds. The lid is also a fingerprint magnet. Negatives: None. This is a fantastic laptop for the money, and has exceeded my initial expectations. A word about gaming: yes you can! So many times I read reviews of laptops where someone then asks “can it run game X?”, only to be told that “no, it’s not a gaming laptop.” While it’s definitely true that you're not going to run the latest AAA titles on something like an N4000 that lacks a discrete video card, I think people would be surprised at just how much you can do without one. As I like to say, any laptop is a gaming laptop if you choose the right games. :) There are many many great titles from that past that are more than capable of being on perfectly on this hardware, including things like first-person shooters running at over 60 fps. I am personally running the following games without incident: Unreal Gold Unreal Tournament 1999 Unreal Tournament 2004 Half-Life Half-Life 2 Far Cry Silent Hunter III Counter-strike Source Counter-strike Condition Zero Painkiller-Black Painkiller – Overdose Pinball Arcade Clive Barker’s Undying F.E.A.R. No One Lives Forever No One Lives Forever 2 Freespace 2 Medieval II: Total War Civilization IV Age of Wonders Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic Crysis (this one is on low settings and in Win 8 compatibility mode, but it plays just fine and quite frankly, it amazes me that I can run this at all.) Nox Android Emulator (to enable me to run some classic games I love, including Chess, Backgammon, Go, Gin Rummy and others.) Other software I am running on this computer without any problems includes: LibraOffice 6.1 (a free alternative to Microsoft’s Office Suite) Pandora Spotify Amazon Music TablEdit (a great program for creating sheet music or tablature) Firefox Chrome Overdrive Cloud Library Amazon Kindle Final thoughts: I love this thing, and it’s become my favorite travel laptop. The combination of performance, light weight, good audio, bright screen, and excellent battery life makes this an easy choice for traveling, or as a second computer. I would highly recommend it.

This little laptop is an amazing companion for anyone on the go or students. We bought ours today and Ive been using it for 6 hours now and Im impressed with it. Let me start by saying the specs are good and anyone who has given this a negative review either got a lemon or just dosnt know PCs. First of all with only 32GB drive you need to add a micro SD card to the slot and use it as a D drive where you can save all your data, pics etc. We added a 128GB and space is not a worry anymore. Next you will go nuts trying to find out how to get this out of S mode. S mode is Microsoft's way of checking all apps installed and keeping your pc secure. But if you are not a security freak and just want to use it like a regular Windows 10 Home edition all you need to do is try to install Google Chrome browser and it wont let you, but there it will show you the link to the settings and give you the option to convert to Home and get out of S Mode . Granted once out it will NOT let you back into S Mode. Unlike some others I have read on reviews with other brands, this gem will NOT slow down once you go with Home version (Pro). Frankly a lot of people just like using Chrome so you may want to go that route as I did. No regrets here. Now I just must rave about the touch pad! what a great new idea! Its no wonder that Asus is rated best in this size category.Be sure to check out settings and go to the touch pad for all of its features. This also has a full size keyboard I am typing away with my large hands and no problem here either. This PC has great features and good performance for the price point you just cant beat it! Follow my advice and do not hesitate buying this sweet little laptop. Also has full size HDMI and USB-C the new USB connector like on most Samsung's new phones with the round edges on each side. The WIFI is the best and sensitive with good performance at distances 40 ft away. Get one while they last! Enjoy!

I purchased this laptop for my daughter who is in 5th grade. I loved the size and the weight of the unit. I wanted my daughter to get experience with Windows and this seemed like a good choice that would not break the bank. We got the unit home, plugged it in, and set it up without issue. The unit comes with Windows 10 in S mode. The performance for the price was decent. Asus does put a ton of bloatware on the machine. The next morning, my daughter tried to turn on the computer and nothing. Dead. We tried plugging it back in and still noting, We plugged it back in and still nothing. We packed the unit up and went back to the store, where the Geek Squad associate confirmed that it was dead. This is the second Asus unit I have had issues with. I would recommend looking at a different brand / unit. Thank you to Best Buy as usual for the wonderful service.

I wasn’t expecting a lot considering the price and specs, but was pleasantly surprised at the fact that pages loaded quickly. I’m not a gamer, but you can’t expect that out of this type of laptop. Took quite awhile to upload all the start up windows features, but then, that’s a windows issue, My go to machine has been my iPad Pro for the past year, but when I came across an issue with cox that I couldn’t get into tools, I needed something with windows, so I picked this up.. SO glad I did! Between this and my iPad Pro I can do everything I need to do. I had to eliminate the S factor that keeps you from downloading programs that aren’t from their site.. I wanted McAfee anti virus from Cox and it wouldn’t let me until I took out the S factor, but that wasn’t hard and I’m not a geek! I did have problems with my cox email and ended up at the Geek Squad desk, but he had it up and running in about 2 minutes. For the price, this can’t be beat... I did buy an open box and other than the plastic wrapping, it was complete with no damage or problems.

Super price, it's really a great looking laptop, with a solid, fast Intel processor, nice keyboard, and super battery life. It's excellent for basic tasks, as well as light games. 32gb storage is minimal, along with bloatware, and having Windows S installed is a negative, so I changed to Win. Home (Pro) is also easily installed for free. I then downloaded CCleaner to assist in deleting All bloatware, and unwanted apps. I now have 16gb free. If I require more storage, will use the Cloud, and/or SD card. Asus makes excellent equipment, and offers superior customer service, as this is my 4th Asus computer, and have never regretted any Asus computer purchase!

You're not going to do anything that requires a ton of power on this thing, but the truth is that few of us require a lot of power to get our work done these days. As a consumption device, it gets the job done. Video streaming works great in every service I've tried, and if the screen isn't good enough, you have HDMI out. As a creation/productivity device: Writers should love this thing. The battery lasts forever, and the keyboard is not so cramped to become a problem. The computer is also very lightweight. Photo/video creatives should use this only for file management and transferring in the field, but it's actually very useful in that role. It's snappy. I like it.

I purchased this on black Friday of 2018 as a new PC not refurbished and was excited to have it delivered. I charged it up and started testing out the features. I was quickly saddened though as I quickly realised that the keys were mixed up. Case in point is the @ key which is not where it's labelled, in addition to the double quotation marks " that's somewhere else too, plus the # £ \ ~ symbols to name a few. This is very frustrating and disappointing as the sole purpose of this PC was for word processing, and it is unable to do that well. Now I'm seriously doubtful this is a legitimate Asus PC. Please don't buy.

Well Santa Claus came in to buy these two computers and Santa Claus didn't have quite enough money so as Santa was walking out the door the manager stop Santa Claus and said Hey listen if you want those computers we have a scratch and dent and you can get those. Christmas turn out to be great because my kids are very happy with those two computers. They are able to use these computers to do their school assignments. Thank you very much, the manager what's a blessing, he helped Santa Claus make Christmas possible.