J.D. Hodges

I recently purchased an Asus VivoBook S200E from Staples. The actual purchase was a bit spur of the moment as it occured during a business trip to SC.  However, I had been eyeing that particular laptop since Christmas so when I happened to find a coupon to get the laptop for $399, the low price tag was too good to pass. Especially for a relatively powerful laptop, complete with touch capability, in a very nice travel-size. 🙂

Pros:

• Nice size
• Touchscreen works well
• Good port selection
• Reasonable price if you shop around

Cons:

• No Gigabit Ethernet, only Fast Ethernet (100 Mbit/s)
• Slow hard drive (system really needs a SSD)
• Thermal throttling (system gets hot enough that the CPU is throttled)
• Non-upgradeable memory (the memory is soldered in so you are stuck with 4GB forever)

I will be posting my full review and SSD upgrade instructions soon, but for now here is a preliminary rating of 4/5 stars and links to other S200E resources:

UPDATE: photos showing how to replace the hard drive with a SSD are up now, here’s a sample… make sure to click the link to see ALL of the photos!

🙂

Other reviews of the S200E etc.

http://www.notebookcheck.net/Review-Asus-VivoBook-S200E-Subnotebook.85787.0.html
http://www.notebookcheck.net/Intel-Core-i3-3217U-Notebook-Processor.74465.0.html
http://slickdeals.net/f/5819330-Asus-VivoBook-S200E-Touch-Screen-Laptop-Core-i3-3217U-1-8GHz-4GB-DDR3-500GB-HDD-11-6-Display-Windows-8-External-DVD-Drive-400-Free-Shipping
http://forum.notebookreview.com/notebook-tech-bargains/705796-asus-11-6-touchscreen-laptop-399-staples.html
http://www.studentbuyingguide.com/2013/01/asus-s200e-touchscreen-11-6-screen-laptop-on-sale-399-staples/
http://www.avforums.com/forums/laptops-netbooks/1704974-help-asus-s200e-hdd-upgrade.html

http://techonbudget.com/laptops/asus-vivobook-s200e-x202e-q200e-touch-mini-laptop-overview

http://www.amazon.com/difference-between-S200E-computer-cheaper/forum/Fx3N1LZIK34Y16I/Tx2VLM2F3XXDXT/1?_encoding=UTF8&asin=B009F1I1C4

 

Upgrade instructions in comments:

Differences between X202E / Q200E / S200E

ASUS has a variety of very similar models in this line, including:

 

• X202E (it even comes in pink now!), 

• S200E (Staples), and 

Q200E (Best Buy)

 

They are all identical in basic construction and the hard drive upgrade process is exactly the same for all of them. The differences are in the CPUs, bluetooth capabilities, and bundled accessories. Specifically:

• X202E
  • +Intel Core i3-3217U 1.8 GHz, 3rd Generation Core Processor
  • +Intel HD4000 Graphics
  • ~Qualcomm/Atheros Bluetooth 4.0
  • +Sold by Amazon and others
• Q200E
  • -Intel Core i3-2365M, 2nd Generation Core Processor
  • -Intel HD Graphics 3000
  • -No Bluetooth
  • -Sold exclusively at Best Buy (and eBay etc. of course  )
• S200E
  • +Intel Core i3-3217U 1.8 GHz, 3rd Generation Core Processor
  • +Intel HD4000 Graphics
  • -No Bluetooth
  • +DVD drive included in the box
  • -Sold exclusively by Staples (and eBay etc. of course  )

Disassembly comments:

Actual disassembly photos:

 

 

[to be updated when full review is ready]