Asus VivoBook S400CA review: Won’t be the life of the party

Windows 8 may have one foot solidly planted in the future, but in the present it needs to be a reliable OS for everyday computers, too. While Macs are pricier, Windows PCs have always been what to look at if you’re on a budget: this Asus VivoBook S400CA is meant to be exactly that sort of value machine, with a price tag of $700 and a touch screen to boot.

“VivoBook” is a new Asus brand, adding to an already densely crowded galaxy of Asus laptop products. But, top to bottom, the VivoBook S400CA is really just your classic 2012 mainstream budget ultrabook, made a little thicker and outfitted with a touch screen. That’s not such a bad thing, but it’s hardly unique: we’ve seen a lot of budget picks recently, including the Acer Aspire V5 and M5 481PT. The Acer M5 has a DVD drive, too.

What does the VivoBook offer that other laptops don’t? Nothing, really. The design’s reasonably attractive, but a slim Zenbook this is not. The battery life is serviceable, not stellar, and the laptop’s not all that comfortable to use.

Considering the VivoBook S400CA as a total package, I’m left with a lukewarm feeling. It’s less expensive than many touch-enabled laptops, but still not cheap enough, thin enough, powerful enough, or well-designed enough to stake a definitive spot above the competition. It’s good, but not great — and I have a feeling that 2013 will present a ton of similar-looking, more competitively priced alternatives.

Price as reviewed	$699
Processor	1.7GHz Intel Core i5-3317U
Memory	4GB, 1,600MHz DDR3
Hard drive	500GB, 5,400rpm + 24GB SSD hybrid
Chipset	Intel HM77
Graphics	Intel HD 4000
Operating system	Windows 8 (64-bit)
Dimensions (WD)	13.4×9.4 inches
Height	0.8 inch
Screen size (diagonal)	14 inches
System weight / Weight with AC adapter	4.1 pounds / 4.8 pounds
Category	Midsize

Bigger than your average ultrabook
The Asus Zenbook was notable largely for being the closest thing in terms of surface design to a MacBook Air for Windows. The VivoBook takes some of those touches and incorporates them into a larger, thicker laptop made with a combination of metal and plastic.

The VivoBook certainly looks nice: from its black brushed-metal back lid to its silver aluminum interior and black-bezeled screen covered in edge-to-edge glass, I found myself wanting to pick it up and review it immediately. Once I did, some of that initial joy faded away.

The VivoBook S400CA is heavy — not a block of lead, but heavier than an ultrabook. It looks astonishingly like a MacBook Air from the front (with the addition of the edge-to-edge glass and black bezels), but it’s 0.83 inch thick and weighs 4 pounds. Granted, this is a 14-inch laptop, but it lacks a DVD drive or any higher-end graphics and features other than a touch screen.

Touch screen vs. keyboard and touch pad
That capacitive touch screen, much like the screens on other Windows 8 computers and tablets, feels very responsive, similar to screens on modern smartphones or tablets. The lid bends back pretty far on a somewhat stiff hinge, and the upper lid feels like it doesn’t flex when you’re touching and tapping at any angle.

The screen quality, however, is fair at best. A 1,366×768-pixel resolution is the generic baseline for laptops, and the screen brightness feels soft. Off-axis vertical viewing isn’t good, either, but you can at least see the screen decently from side to side. The screen threw off some glare in my office, too. It’s good enough for average use, and touch works very well.

Another letdown: the keyboard. The raised chiclet-style keys aren’t backlit, and feel mushier to the touch than those of other high-end keyboards. The only backlit key is the power button. Volume and screen brightness controls layered on top of the Fn keys aren’t function-reversed, either, which means to use them you need to hunt down the Fn key to press simultaneously.

A very large multitouch clickpad lies flush with the palm rest, making off-edge finger gestures a breeze. Responsiveness feels mixed, but it’s a better experience than on other recent Windows 8 laptops I’ve seen from Sony and Toshiba…when it doesn’t crash. On my review unit, the gesture support suddenly dropped out and I was unable to switch apps from the clickpad after watching a movie using the Netflix app.

Speakers and software
SonicMaster-branded stereo speakers with Waves MaxxAudio 3 are tucked away under grilles on the left and right sides of the laptop bottom, and offer better-than-average pop for movies and TV shows. “The Adventures of Tintin” sounded crisp and enjoyable.

Asus didn’t overcrowd the assortment of preinstalled apps and software on the VivoBook S400CA, focusing on basic dashboardlike settings apps that help streamline basic fine-tuning of Windows 8. For newcomers, finding your way around Windows 8’s multifaceted layout can be pretty confusing.

Video	HDMI, VGA	VGA plus HDMI or DisplayPort
Audio	Stereo speakers, headphone/microphone combo jack	Stereo speakers, headphone/microphone jacks
Data	2 USB 2.0, 1 USB 3.0, SD card reader	2 USB 3.0, 2 USB 2.0, SD card reader
Networking	Ethernet, 802.11n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth	Ethernet, 802.11n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth
Optical drive	None	DVD burner

Ports, performance, and bang for the buck
You can see the ports and connections in the photo above, but I’ll just say that the Acer Aspire M5 managed to fit an optical drive into a similarly sized space, partly because it moved its ports to the rear. Otherwise, the VivoBook matches the average laptop’s feature set.