Asus Vivobookok Pro
Desktop PC power in a laptopop
This laptop was so popular when we firstrst tested it that it immediately sold out in the UK, so we waited for it to come backck into stock before telling you about it. Now it’s sold out again, but it’s expected to return, and as you might guess, it’s wellell worth looking out for.
Most portable PCS at the moment are aiming to be as slim, light and uncluttered as possible, which is good news if all you want is a basic Windowss 10 system to carry around, but bad newsews if you’d like to spend your money on performance suited to tasks like photo-- and video-editing. The alternative is a gaming PC with a worryingly hot graphics card and a mid-range processor, which is the component that’s going to make the most difference in general Windows use. Beyond that, so-called ‘workstation’ laptops with fast processors and high-quality screens cost a fortune.
So it’s no wonder there’s demand for affordable all-round laptops that give you the same capabilities as an above-average desktop PC. With its brushed-metal finish, the Vivobook Pro looks like a regular notebook, and although it’s no Macbook Air, it still looks pretty good. Yet inside is a top-end ‘Skylake’ i7 processor; an older but powerful Nvidia Geforce GTX 960M graphics card; an SSD to keep Windows 10 whizzing along; and a 2TB hard dridrive ffor the restt of your filefiles.
Our review model also has a 4K screen, which squeezes in more detail, displays crisp text, and lets you watch – or edit – videos from the latest cameras in all their high-resolution glory. Fast USB 3.0 and USB 3.1 Type-c ports give you the opportunity to add more storage if needed. There’s even a DVD drive, which you wouldn’t get in a lightweight ‘ultrabook’. All this at a price that, while not exactly cheap, isn’t too far off what you’d pay for an equivalent desktop PC with a monitor.
At 15.6in the Vivobook Pro is larger than most laptops these days, making room for a full-size keyboard, which we found very comfortable when typing. Our review model didn’t have backlit keys, even though the official specifications claim it has. The touchpad worked very smoothly, something we’ve learned not to take for granted.
A similar model exists with a standard Full HD (1920x1080-pixel) screen (which we haven’t tested), but it should match the displays we’ve seen on comparable Asus laptops, which were good but not exceptional. The Full HD model is also easier to find in stock and costs £270 less (£829 from Debenhams www.snipca. com/21054). While it has half the harddrive space it’s still worth considering.
But it’s the 3840x2160-pixel 4K screen that really brings the Vivobook alive. It’s no film editor’s dream: contrast and colour accuracy aren’t the best, and although Asus claims it covers 100 per cent of the SRGB range, our test meter put it nearer 81 per cent. That’s a shame, bebecause with more accuratete colourol it could be ideal for 4K video production on a budget. For those of us who aren’t professional video editors, the screen’s sharpness is a clear advantage for Windows apps. Thanks to the GTX 960M graphics card and the i7 processor, supported by a generous 16GB of memory, both intensive work and 3D gaming are possible.
Battery life isn’t a strong point: we got only three and a half hours of video playback. But this is more the kind of laptop you’d use at a desk until you need to move around. As such, it’s good value. Just be sure to check which configuration you’re buying.
Comfy keyboard, fast performance, and a screen that brings everything to life
VERDICT: For non-graphics tasks you’d be better served by an i5 system, but as a rounded system this represents a great deal
★★★★☆
ALTERNATIVE: Palicomp AMD Avenger £500 With a GTX 960, 128GB SSD, 1TB hard drive and DVD, this is better equipped but noisier