ASUS X200MA-US01T-BL 11.6 inch Touchscreen Notebook Review

11.6" ASUS X200MA-US01T-BL
via Amazon

Blue ASUS X200MA-US01T-BL is a stylish budget 11.6 inch touchscreen laptop with the entry level power of Intel Celeron N2815 processor, good amounts of storage space and memory for multitasking, good variety of connectivity ports despite the size and Windows 8.1 operating system. It is compact and one of the lightest laptops you can have which makes it ideal for those that want to perform their simple everyday tasks when they’re out and about and is good for entertainment, multimedia, school and business as long as the software you’re running are not very complex and demanding and games you want to play are not the latest.

ASUS X200MA is offered with the dual core Intel Celeron N2815 processor at 1.86 GHz speed that goes up to 2.13GHz with Burst but with no hyper threading function, 4GB DDR3 SDRAM at 1600 MHz for everyday use and to multitask efficiently and seamlessly (good amount at this level), roomy 500GB SATA hard drive at 5400rpm spindle speed as decent amount of storage space for whatever you want to save and 64-bit Windows 8.1 OS that is easier to use with the touch display that comes with this machine. Overall technical specs seem to be the regular configuration for a low cost machine and the Celeron processor has a Passmark benchmark score of 894 as of this review day and a Thermal Design Power- TDP of only 7.5 watts.

11.6 inch HD LED-backlit touch display with responsive 10-finger multi-touch support to make it easier to navigate on Windows 8 platform, 1366 x 768 max pixel resolution (standard 720p resolution) and 16:9 cinematic aspect ratio is equal to good enough picture quality with balanced colours and sharp text but the viewing angles are not the best as you move more than 5-10 degrees to the left or right off-centre, picture will no longer be optimal. Intel HD Bay Trail graphics is only entry level and obviously not for advanced gaming and only the less demanding older titles will run fluently at lower settings. It has a low cost HD webcam with a built-in microphone that will handle informal chats or video conferences but the image quality is not the best in dimmer light or dark and the microphone is not the best quality and will not block background noise. Audio quality is OK through the stereo speakers but what stands out most here in terms of multimedia features is the accurate and responsive multi-touch screen.

Blue and black Asus X200MA is well-constructed with solid plastic case and stiff hinges (good for when using touchscreen but not for opening it with one hand), not particularly sleek or premium like the much more expensive models but feels smooth and comfortable. It weighs only 2.86 pounds and measures 11.90 x 7.90 x 1.20 inches- is compact, light and portable and you can easily take it wherever you go. Battery life is average to a bit above average at up to 5 hours from its 3-cell lithium ion battery. Keyboard is standard US English and without the 10-key numpad due to size restrictions but the keys seem to be spaced out and touchpad is large and can handle three finger gestures. There is no DVD drive and no Bluetooth 4.0 by default but a good range of other connectivity options including a HDMI port so you’ll be able to experience better picture and sound quality on your HDTV with a good quality HDMI cable, 1 x USB 3.0 port for very fast data transfers at 5gbps, 2 x USB 2.0 ports, 2 in 1 Media card reader (SD/SDHC/SDXC/MMC), a VGA port, 802.11bgn standard wireless, 10/100 Ethernet with RJ-45 connectivity (not Gigabit), a Headphone output/Microphone input combo and a Kensington security slot.

Conclusion: ASUS X200MA-US01T-BL is one of the best value low end computers on the market- for specs, features and build quality. It looks good, is lightweight at less than 2.9 pounds, has a 10 finger multi touch support touchscreen, 500GB size ample space hard drive, 4GB RAM for smooth multitasking, a HDMI port and a USB 3.0 port. Cons would be the lack of Bluetooth (and you can just purchase a USB dongle that will cost as little as a few dollars), Windows 8 operating system (but you’ll be able to upgrade it to the soon to be released Windows 10 OS and the fact that this is a touchscreen computer makes the use of Windows 8 much easier anyway) and that you can’t play those latest demanding games as you would need a proper discrete or one of the highest integrated GPU’s like Intel Iris Pro and naturally a more powerful CPU. You can listen to songs, browse the internet, do your school work, chat on Skype, work on Word and Excel or do anything you’d do on a daily basis as long as not very complex or demanding. This is an Asus and at this price level you really don’t have many other alternatives that can compete with this model, especially if you are not into Chrome operating system and want a machine with Windows OS.

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