"PS9" (PS9)
09/29/2015 at 17:05 • Filed to: None
1
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"PS9" (PS9)
09/29/2015 at 17:05 • Filed to: None | 1
| 5 |
!!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , I fumbled across the clearance rack. On it sat a $200 Laptop discounted to $130 because the box was open. $70 off because somebody opened the box and used it for a bit is kind of an insane deal, so I snatched the thing off the shelf. Here’s my impressions of it.
Intel Has Redeemed The Atom Name
Anyone still remember the dark pre-windows 8 days of portable intel hardware? ‘Atom’ was an accursed name then. You only looked for a machine with one of those in it if you were cool with chugging through MS notepad while watching internet videos at approximately ‘AHAHAHAHA-no.’ FPS. Well, that was then and this is now. Bay trail has death star’d any complaints I might have about the performance of a $200 machine that must run windows on it. Also, can I talk about how much more awesome windows has gotten at low-memory management? because Vista used to choke on it’s own bile with 4 GBs at it’s disposal and Windows 8 is more than fine with half of that on this machine.
Best Trackpad Ever?
Best. Trackpad. Ever. On asus’ own website, they show an animation of a capacitive screen being lifted off a phone and superimposed over the x205ta’s trackpad. That bit of marketing fluff would be annoying if using it didn’t actually feel like that. It knows the difference between a palm and a finger tip. Gestures you’d use on a smartphone do exactly what you’d think they’d do here on your windows machine. There’s never a mistake; it always correctly interprets a gesture from mouse manipulation and it’s super accurate. Before I picked this thing up, I contemplated getting a cheap mouse to go with it because everyone knows trackpads suck. Well, not anymore because this trackpad is so good, I don’t even need a mouse on the go.
The Screen Ain’t So Hot
And it won’t be for $200. You don’t get to complain about the screen at this price point (especially when you saved $70 on the purchase!) Not an IPS panel, so viewing angles ain’t so great, and dark colors kinda suffer on it. It’s all good, though.
Holy Mother Of Coop Pope, That Battery Life
We here at Asustek have heard your concerns about the battery life of low end, netbook style laptops. So we want to show you that we mean business when confronting this issue. As you can see here on our HeavenCam, we’ve put god himself in a hamster wheel connected to all of our low end laptops. he’s running at the speed of light, so that means infinite battery life!
...Okay it’s not quite infinite, but goddamn, 12 freaking hours on a single bloody charge. My old Nexus 7 + external battery combo only managed 10! That probably means charging it back up from zero is an overnight affair though, right? NOPE, this thing when plugged in can go from 50% to full in less than an hour. LESS THAN AN HOUR.
And Now Time For Some Low End Gaming. What, WHAT!?
That’s right! This machine can play things like Hearthstone and older games just fine. Your GTA Vs and your Witcher 3s are going to have to sit one out on this machine, though. And that’s fine, because a $200 windows machine doesn’t have any business doing any gaming at all. I guess a decade and a half of mobile GPU advancements were going to have some consequences. Not into it at all, but now I’m kinda curious how League of Legends would play on this thing...
Final Verdict
If you’re looking for a portable Final Cut Pro/Maya machine...you’re gonna have to step yo game up a bit more, because you won’t find that for $200. If you just need something to browse the internet, write things, watch videos, play low-end games and NEVER EVER EVER A-FUCKING-GAIN FIGHT THAT ONE DOUCHEBAG AT THE COFFEE SHOP OVER THE ONLY OUTLET THEY HAVE then you might have found the perfect match. Fairly priced at $200. A steal if you can find one for what I paid.
Mr. Ontop, No Strokes, No Smokes...Goes Fast.
> PS9
09/29/2015 at 17:36 |
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They also make great HTPC once you add Kodi to it, providing yours has an HDMI connection. Source: It is what I did with mine.
Nibby
> PS9
09/29/2015 at 17:36 |
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Nice review. It inspired me to write one of my own. :P
Glad you enjoy it. Seems like a good price too!
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PS9
> Nibby
09/29/2015 at 17:43 |
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Me you and Mercedes have temporarily turned this place into Gizmodo.
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Nibby
> PS9
09/29/2015 at 17:44 |
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We’re pro writers yo.
tromoly
> PS9
09/29/2015 at 18:07 |
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I recently bought an Asus TP500LA, when I got to the trackpad part I was like “that looks just like my trackpad” and then did the can-I-drag-the-cursor-with-my-palm test and it didn’t move, mind = blown.