Notebook ASUS X200CA

The rapid "mobilization" of modern gadgets has led to the fact that laptops with only one mouse and touchpad have become perceived by many as uncomfortable. Smartphones and tablets have already taught us to "manual" control. ASUS is always sensitive to the wishes of users, and today we want to present you an overview of the new model of the ASUS X200CA laptop. This is a small compact laptop with a touch (!) Screen with a diagonal of 11.6 inches and Windows 8 Pro. But first, let's take a look at the specification of the device.

• Processor : Intel® ULV Pentium® 2117U 1800 MHz
• Operating system : Windows 8 Pro
• Chipset : Intel® HM76 / HM70 Express
• RAM : DDR3 1333 MHz SDRAM, OnBoard Memory 2 GB
• Screen : Touchscreen, 11.6 ", 16: 9 HD (1366x768) LED Backlight
• Graphics card : Integrated Intel® HD Graphics, 780 MB
• Winchester : 2.5 "SATA 320GB 5400 RPM. Can also be completed with 500 GB, 750 GB, 1 TB hard drives.
• 2-in-1 card reader (SD / SDHC / SDXC / MMC)
• Webcam : 0.9 MP
• Network :
  
  • Wi-Fi 802.11 b / g / n or 802.11 b / g / n / ac,
  • Bluetooth ™ V4.0,
  • 10/100 Base T
  
  
• Connectors :
  
  • 1 x headphone / microphone combo jack
  • 1 x VGA / Mini D-sub
  • 1 x USB 3.0
  • 2 x USB 2.0
  • 1 x RJ45 LAN
  • 1 x HDMI
  
  
• Audio : built-in speakers and microphone
• Battery : built-in, 3-cell, 3300 mA / h
• Power supply :
  
  • Outgoing: 19 V DC, 1.75 A, 33 W
  • Incoming: 100-240 V AC, 50/60 Hz
  
  
• Overall dimensions : 30.2 x 20 x 2.56 cm (Width x Depth x Height)
• Weight : 1.24 kg (with battery)

Packaging

The laptop comes in a very compact box, which reflects the manufacturer's concern for the environment: 80% of the cardboard consists of recycled materials, and all the inscriptions on the box are made with soy ink of pleasant brown and beige colors.
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A pre-sale sample was provided for testing, therefore, in the box, in addition to the laptop itself, there are two compact power supplies: under the “Russian” and “American” sockets. More in the kit does not go. The final version of both the configuration and the configuration of the laptop itself will differ somewhat from that considered in this post.

Appearance

We got a white laptop for testing. The body made of plastic has a pleasant but fine touch “woven” texture. Compared with the usual smooth plastic, this surface has several advantages: it improves the appearance of the laptop, prevents minor scratches, prevents the notebook from slipping out of your hands and does not collect fingerprints.



In the center of the laptop lid is placed a silver logo ASUS. The lid also has a small plastic tongue protruding half a millimeter at the edge, making it easier for the finger to pry off the lid when opening. It seems to be a trifle, but thanks to him it is really easier to lift a fairly tight cover.

Inside the notebook is a living illustration of the dialectic: the struggle of opposites, black and white. The entire inner area of ​​the lid is a single black glossy surface, which includes the screen itself and the contour frame.



Above the screen is a webcam eye and a white LED indicator of its operation. The entire panel around the keyboard has the same “woven” texture as the external surface of the laptop. The keys themselves also have not a smooth, but a slightly rough surface. Under the keyboard there is a large touchpad with a multitouch function, the lower part of which traditionally represents the analogue of the left and right mouse buttons. The build quality does not cause any complaints, no gaps and backlash. The keys do not "walk", the move is soft and precise.



In the lower right corner there is a row of green LED indicators for laptop operation, battery charge, hard drive operation, wireless network and sleep mode. On the bottom of the notebook there are two ventilation grilles and loudspeakers, closed with mesh, extended to the front edge of the notebook.



On the left side are: power sockets, DVI, HDMI, USB 3.0, as well as the ventilation grille.



On the right side are a card reader, a headphone jack, two USB 2.0 ports, a LAN connector (RJ45) and a Kensington Lock slot.

First start

The laptop has already been pre-installed Windows 8 Pro. Therefore, when you first turn on, you will be asked to set the primary settings: select a language, country, keyboard layout, computer name, wireless network, download updates, and so on. The user account in the OS is created on the basis of email, the password must consist of at least 8 characters: numbers and letters of different registers. After thinking for a while, you will get to the Windows 8 desktop. We will not describe in detail the operation of this operating system, since this is beyond the scope of this review.

Screen

TN matrix gives a clear juicy picture. LED backlight is uniform throughout the field and has no noticeable highlights. The glossy surface of the screen improves image quality, but at the same time reflects the various sources of light. One of the main disadvantages of the screen is a significant change in contrast and color depending on the viewing angle:









However, the most important property of the screen is its touch, not simple, but with the support of "multitouch". For us, who grew up in a time when touchscreens were a lot of science fiction films, it was very unusual to control a laptop with a full keyboard and touchpad, running your finger across the screen. Of course, the installed OS encourages this, and a number of actions in it are really faster and more convenient to perform in a “tablet” way. The reaction of the computer to touch fast and accurate, no worse than tablets. Of course, on the glossy surface of the screen there are still traces of hands, but still noticeably less than on the screens of smartphones, for example. Apparently, the screen cover used in this laptop has some oleophobicity.

Sound

The sound system of the laptop is created using SonicMaster technology, thanks to which the laptop has excellent sound. The most complete sound quality is revealed when listening in headphones, however, the quality of external speakers is quite enough for games and comfortable watching movies.

Performance

Below you can see more detailed information about the key components of the laptop.
CPU:





Motherboard:



RAM:



Video card:



Winchester:



Despite the fact that the laptop does not use a solid-state drive, but a traditional hard drive, the time from turning on the laptop to entering the OS password is only about 20 seconds. Exit from sleep mode takes a couple of seconds. Winchester benchmark results:



The laptop has good performance and easily pulls video in FullHD resolution. This is not a hardcore gaming machine, and enjoy 3D shooters on it will be difficult, except Counter Strike. However, 2D-games work on it very cheerfully. Office applications, browser and other applications work quickly and without problems.

Benchmark 3DMark06 results:



Benchmark 3DMark11 results:

Duration of work

Surfing the Internet via wi-fi, with clicks on the links about every 10-20 seconds, the average screen brightness: 3 hours 20 minutes.
View FullHD-movies (1920 * 1080), the average screen brightness: 2 hours and 20 minutes.
The total battery charging time was 2 hours.

Conclusion

ASUS X200CA can be recommended to a wide range of people as a small, lightweight, fairly fast and inexpensive laptop that can be controlled not only by the mouse, but also by the most intuitive interface of all existing ones - with your fingers. In our smartphone-tablet age, such friendliness on the part of the “classic” computer is rare. So if you need a small and lightweight laptop that you can easily take with you, take a look at ASUS X200CA. The older model in this line has a recommended retail price of 17,600 rubles. The younger model, equipped with a conventional non-touch screen, will cost from 11,000 rubles.