Customer Ratings & Reviews

The computer kept going through a reboot cycle and it took me hours to get it started fresh out of the box. I contacted Best Buy geek squad and the fix they gave me was to turn it off and back on if that didn’t work bring it to the store. They then asked me if there was anything they could help me with. I politely told them they didn’t help me at all in this scenario. Both goods and services were a major letdown from the time it was delivered.

I used to think highly of Asus. This laptop is a complete disappointment. The screen quality is very poor. You can’t even use something like Word or Excel without lagging or freezing. I wish I could return it.

I have discovered that I loathe Windows 11. It is too demanding in its setup and security requirements and I do not want to ask permission from Microsoft each time I use my computer. I got locked out the first day. The reset to factory process did not work. The Asus system reset also did not work. Also, I did not like the numeric keypad integrated into the middle of the touchpad because I kept inadvertently activating it sending the system into a frenzy. I returned it today.

Nothing fantastic, I needed to access SPSS and had to get something quickly.

After two weeks it started making a noise and it's beyond the 15 day return

Had the opportunity to daily drive this device for a week in tax season. I can say, it is great value for money. DESIGN The case is made of hard plastic. The base is solid, and a little on the heavy side. There is some hollowness on the top cover but it is not squeaky. In fact, the cover is a little solid, even with average materials as its shell. It does have a smudge resistant surface. The hinges are nice and firm. I cannot open it with one finger, but the combination of the hinge strength and the sturdiness of the cover works with each other. It has a mainstream look—quite fitting for the retail price of the laptop. The bezels are decently thin vs. overall balance of the laptop and it perfectly houses the camera with the security cover, which has a nice clear indicator that the camera is closed. The overall pc looks good with the keyboard —and I am saying this with the idea that this is an i3 device; so entry level specs but mid-tier looks, is a plus. PERFORMANCE It is not fast. But that’s what to expect on an i3 with 8gb of ram. Updates took a while. I literally took all night to do windows updates. The progress bars do not seem to refresh live so it seems like I was waiting forever. If you are used to faster machines and mobile device snappiness, you will not be happy with the response times on this machine. I tried running the tax app using the network with files picking up from the server. It is insanely slow so I installed the app on this laptop then only picked up indexed database files. The performance was much better which makes me say, the network card on this is horribly slow. So, although 16gb is a standard nowadays, the performance of apps are reasonable once they are open, even on its 8gb ram. I just cannot trust it to run fast on its network card. The laying down screen is a good idea, so I can put this at the bottom of the monitor and just slide the screen back. However, the monitor angle is so narrow, I cannot really lay the screen down on a flat position and see clearly. It is not touchscreen either, so even though it has the flat feature, I do not see the value. The colors are decent, but I need to slide the display brightness way up to make the most of the screen especially that my desk is by a large window. Resolution is nice and crisp. The keyboard is wonderful: the response of the clicks, the feel and texture of the keys, and the size of each key. It does not have lighting, which is fine. The pad is great, however, the number pad on the touchpad as a feature did not work well for me. First of all, clicks are important when I input numbers. I need to know that when I tap, a number comes up. The touch is responsive for mouse movements—but it is not to be trusted for number operations. Besides the fact that the number zero, which is usually wider, lies on the same space as the decimal point, I found myself having to check back if the numbers are right. Because the pad works great if I only use the touch numpad since my fingers need to get used to the tapping. However, there is a good 20 percent of my numbers not coming up right because I am switching my finger muscles between tapping the pad and clicking the keyboard keys. So it ends up adding work to verifying my numbers. And if you are doing taxes, bad numbers is a no-no. CONNECTIVITY This PC does not support external screen on a USB dock, which is a bummer, and I am stuck to the power adapter vs. simple USB C charging. It does have an HDMI port so I can easily hookup one monitor to extend. The camera is actually pretty good for a device like this, and like I mentioned, it does come with a privacy switch. Speakers are usable but it does come with a headphone jack. So I can hook it up to speakers if I need to, but most speakers are Bluetooth these days. Bluetooth is reliable at least for my headphones. For my peripherals though, I use a dongle and the USB-As on this device do not disappoint. Battery life is okay. Drain is definitely much better than my power hungry devices. With this device however, it will be limited to daily web surfing, word processing and basic office apps, so it will fair well in terms of battery life. Overall it is a decent machine for light users. One would have to understand, this has entry level specs with a decent build. I was able to do basic tax work for a good hundred clients in a week. Customer service through emails, calendar scheduling, tax prep, bookkeeping spreadsheets, were easy on this PC. That is already more to ask for from a basic processor. It can be a daily driver for daily admin tasks. It is more of a consumption machine vs. a creation machine. It can find its way into a fleet of admin workers, or basic office work desks. It is good value device, and for people and offices on a tight budget, this is a hidden gem.

This is a pretty decent light duty laptop for just about anyone. Spec wise, it's pretty basic but it does the job for web surfing, word doc and light photo editing tasks. Good travel laptop if you're looking for one. With the specs on this laptop, it's no AI powerhouse or gaming rig but for simple, light duty tasks, this will be more than enough for any user. The i3 processor and 8GB RAM are pretty light in terms of functionality, as is the 128GB hard rive but, for this model, that's not what the intended use is. I sdee this more as a student laptop or travel/backup laptop. It's inexpensive enough where this would be a great laptop for your student. It'll be more than enough for their day to day tasks and assignments. Also, if you already have a laptop/desktop, then this could be a travel/work laptop as well. As far as ports, there's a surprising amount of ports for this which is nice. Most laptops these days come with 1 or 2 ports (either USB-C/A or Thunderbolt) and this one has 3 USB-A ports, 1 USB-C, HDMI and headphone jack. Good for using/charging any of your accessories without issue and you could also extend to another monitor with the HDMI. Good thing to note is that this laptop is upgradeable in terms of RAM and HD. I've seen some users state the RAM can max out at 32GB or 40GBsso I'm not 100% sure on max capacity. HD is listed as SSD so you can easily upgrade that to a larger size if needed. Overall, nice light duty laptop if you're in the need for one. Battery life seems OK though I wouldn't say it's an all day battery. Size wise, it's a little thicker than I was expecting for such a light duty laptop and the weight does seem a little heavier than expected as well. But the price point for this is a big factor IMO as it's low enough where these minor inconveniences are worht it.

This was a terrible purchase. First, they gave me the laptop with the wrong charger. When I brought it back to get the charger, they told me I had to pay for a charger that might work and that it was an open-box product. That's how it is. but I wasn't aware that it did have a charger. After three week the laptop shut down and stopped working, so I had to return and pay extra for the new laptop.

You get what you pay for, used for a college class, track pad a little wonky. Separate mouse may be necessary

Avoid this ASUS. Battery life is misleading; it drops from 5 hours to 2 hours in minutes. Forget online support; it takes too much time. I am pleading with the store to take it back. VIVOBOOK 14 126gb

I tried to return not less than a month after purchasing. Had never been used & they wouldn’t return, said I had 15 days to return but when I ordered online it said 60 days

The laptop died on the 60 day mark from purchasing. We luckily had the Plus membership with extended return window so we weren’t out any money on the defective laptop.

This is not a powerhouse laptop for gaming...but what it is a very efficient lower-level laptop that would be perfect for a high school or college student to use for schoolwork, excel, and watching YouTube. Out of the box, it’s a sleek and lightweight machine. It weighs less than 4 pounds. The screen is crisp, clear and bright but only has a 60hz refresh rate…so again…not for high powered gaming but just fine of videos and shows. Charges quickly, but it took forever to update…so I don’t know if that is a representative of performance or how many and big the updates were. I do not like having to register everything, but for warranty and all that stuff it’s required. It is Wi-Fi 5 compatible, so it’s not the latest and greatest but I had no speed or connectivity issues. It does have a front facing camera with a 720p resolution with a built-in microphone. I haven’t really used either of those features. The speakers seemed to be very good quality and gave off very clear sound with no distortion or static. There are plenty of ports : 1 HDMI, 4 USB (1 – USB-A (2.0), 2 – USB-A (3.2) and 1 – USB-C (3.2), and a headphone jack. Overall – This is a great basic laptop that has power enough to tackle most student needs other than video editing (past basic needs) or gaming. It has a good display, and the speakers are above quality from what I could tell. For the price I don’t think you can go wrong with this.

I just want to return it and get my money back I wouldn’t be using it very slow and blurry

It doesn't work right. Im not at all happy with iit and will be returning it.

Well it only lasted less than a month so I returned it and don’t want another one

SUMMARY: Priced like a chromebook, but a laptop running Windows 11, I am impressed with how far ASUS stretched the dollar with the Vivobook 14. Admittedly it has no dancing keyboard lights and there are very few specs that couldn’t be improved with more money, but ASUS’s target is a well-constructed budget computer, and they nailed it. The Vivobook 14 has it where it counts for students, good keyboard, good screen, low weight and enough horsepower for reports, web research, and video streaming. It's not a gaming or creator powerhouse, so you need to dig into the details (below) to figure out if this is for you, but it is good value if it is. PRO’s - Runs routine tasks like email, office apps, web browsing and YouTube watching. - 3 lbs light, reasonably compact, easy to carry, looks good - Good screen (1920 x 1080 FHD resolution) - Good keyboard (responsive, easy to type on and not too cramped) - Decent Speakers (I was surprised) - Decent 720p webcam - Empty RAM slot for DYI upgrade - Number pad as part of the trackpad. - Fingerprint reader built into the trackpad - Windows 11 - A MATTER OF TASTE (usually I don’t give a caveat, but here it is, this is a BUDGET computer, I am not going to list something as a con just because with more money it could be better) - Low Ram (8 Gb) and storage (128 gb) means you need to juggle requirements and not run too many apps at once. - Not a touch screen - Relatively short battery life (half day at most) - WiFi 5. Gets the job done, just not the fastest. - Reasonable number of ports, most are legacy, only 1 USB-C 3.2 port (not for charging) - Nearly constant fan operation. CON’s - Non-standard charging cord (NOT usb-c) MORE WORDS – At first it is hard to get overly excited about this laptop, because it’s not designed to excite. It’s designed to get the student’s job done. It does that fine. Well made for the price, it looks more than it costs. And there are unique touches, including built in number pad and fingerprint reader in the trackpad, a keyboard that’s a joy to use, and a good sharp screen that lets you know someone was thinking when they designed this laptop. It not just a reduced cost version of something else. It’s made to be productive. No one is going to thank you for its lack of real game playing ability. But heck, they have their phones for that. For entertainment purposes it will stream movies fine. But you will thank yourself for it being relatively robust (won’t break easily with responsible use) and easy on the wallet. The only negative I will warn about is that the charger is nonstandard (USB-C). If the student loses that, it must be replaced with time lost. Good price, good build, good screen, good keyboard, low price… now, let’s get to the no frills part. 8 gb ram and 128 storage (almost half taken by the OS) means you need to juggle requirements and not run too many apps at once. If you want to open 100 tabs in chrome, rethink that. Cloud storage is strongly recommended, but if you are using MS office, as you probably will be with this laptop, that will be built in. But if you don’t use cloud storage then you will want to use an external drive. Pick your poison. Couple that with an I3 with integrated graphics, we are back to talking only basic games. BOTTOM LINE: ASUS means quality, and the Vivobook 15 is no exception. I have a student in mind for this and know it will get the job done without providing too many distractions. But for business I can use it as a second computer in tight places like a plane tray table. Not for movie editing or game playing, but the price is right.

Slow and froze. Had to return it. It wouldn’t allow me to do anything.

Lets get the rating out of the way. This is a compact laptop made for casual use. If it not for the charging cable, I would have given 5 stars based on quality, and the class of device it is. In this day in age there should be no and I mean NO device that uses anything other than a USB C input for charging. Ok, now that that is out of the way. ASUS products have always preformed well and have been durable in my experience. The base is plastic and the top seems to be metal. Generally with these lower end laptops there is a lot of flex and if you pick them up by just the corner, the touch pad is sometimes activated. Not the case here! I love this size for traveling and if you are on a short trip and don't need to charge or don't mind keeping another cable in your bag of wires this would also be a good choice. It did take over two hours to initialize so go do laundry and let it cook. Once it is finished it works and responds well. The keyboard is pleasant to use and the touch pad can double as a number pad. This seems to be a new trend and I am on board especially if I am going for something small and compact. The display is nice and bright with acceptable sound. I almost always use ear buds or head phones so, for me this is usually not important. This is a good value for the money.

I found this laptop to have the right combination of value and features for home, school or work purpose. Setup was easy and seamless, with enough storage for a range of applications. It's lightweight and easy to carry around. It sports a full range of USB options, and includes HDMI. In everyday use it’s the design details that I appreciated. A full size keyboard with a great feel. A display that’s flicker free and low blue light levels. After a long day of usage, my eyes didn’t feel exhausted. It has unique features that set this one apart for me. A trackpad that turns into a number pad is a very useful feature. In the past I’ve used external number pads and having one built in saved me quite the hassle. When using it for remote work sessions or video conferencing, the AI audio noise canceling feature really cleared things up. The webcam has a feature called 3DNR which improves the clarity during those calls. It keeps your best face forward! I found those features worked really well. Keeping it easy to use, it has a fingerprint reader built into the touchpad, which I found to be very reliable. It even has a coating to help stop the spread of germs. If you’re looking for a gaming laptop, this isn’t it. As a daily use system for web browsing, business apps, email, and keeping connected with family and friends, this laptop does it all very well.