20 Best Pc Laptop For Working From Home (Jan 2023 Update)

Overall, spec wise, this laptop is hard to beat for the price when on sale. All aluminum case feels super well built and is packed with features. Backlit keyboard is nice and feels amazing The screen is super colorful and bright (400 nits) Great cpu Fast charging and decent port selection. Where I question the build is….I got one and the screen did not sit 100% flush along the body. When the lid is open, you can see on the right side there is a gap in the corner between the screen lid and body and in the left side, it sits lower. This by a few mm but still noticeable The trackpad also, for this price, should be a glass trackpad but it's not. The click is nice and is super precise but, at 1100$ when not on sale, should be glass. It also sits uneven slightly in the body as the right bottom corner sits slightly lower than the other corners that are flush. Onboard ram, why……no upgradability but should be good for a few years. Just don't buy this with the intent of future proofing your purchase. 8 GB should be fine for most but not if you're into intense video editing for example. Overall, on sale, very good buy even with those questional build issues. They are minor and don't take away from the overall experience. Maybe just get an extended warrantyCdnman

Purchased this as a backup browse / work device. Love the design and performance. However, the HP x360 trackpad… is the worst I've ever encountered. Efforts to resolve with Support did not work and the tech acknowledged the problem after sharing a video. Simple summary: you cannot left click and then reliably use the trackpad to highlight, move or interact with the screen. Don't think that's a big deal? Try editing a document or creating a presentation where you have to move things around on the screen. It even sabotages basic browsing — often the "two-finger scroll" is flaky… but the left-click / drag for page scroll bars is completely broken. All this is solved if I plug in a USB mouse, but I didn't buy a laptop designed for self-contained use to have to plug-in essential hardware. And for context, none of our other laptops (Lenovo, Dell, Apple, or MS Surface) suffer from the input problems encountered with the HP trackpad. The other devices just work. I wanted to love this device and give it high marks for battery, speed, display, sound, and material build quality. But the Trackpad/Touchpad has ruined my experience. If the follow-up support (promised by HP) fails to resolve this issue, it's going back to best buy. You've been warned.Rfh01tx

I have mixed feelings about this PC. I actually wish I could return it for the smaller version I originally wanted, but I am out of the country and I assume it would pose a big hassle. Pros: Size of the screen is good for excel and using apps side by side and it works acceptably well with the hp pen (sold separately). For a student it's useful in this regard. The body looks and feels nice and it seems sturdy enough to survive being carried around daily. HDMI, USB and USB-C ports are a big plus and gives you variety. Touch screen and 360 movement gives you multiple viewing and use options. Cons: It's a 15.6" PC but somehow it's longer than it's peers, meaning it doesn't fit in any and every laptop sleeve. HP has special products that fit it though. The extra space used for the speakers on the side is not very useful since the audio is average and the keyboard placement of the home, end and delete keys is a pain and takes some getting used to. Too many times my curser jumps around the page when typing because of this (it really drives me crazy). There is a large speaker below the laptop that doesn't make much sense as even on solid surfaces the sound gets muffled. If this was rectified, the audio would pair well with the large screen for movie viewing. The RAM is not stellar and I've had the laptop freeze on me a few times already so be mindful if you like to run multiple apps at once and don't shut down daily. It runs hot pretty fast when in use and because of the large and Long size, plus the almost non-existent screen boarder makes using it in tablet mode very clunky and annoying. the touch screen reacts to any skin, so an accidental touch messes many things up. Overall, I wish I could be happy about this purchase but unfortunately I'm not. This doesn't mean it's a bad device, just not the right one for me.Sterlin

I was a Microsoft Surface Book 2 (15 inch) user that needed a new laptop and tried the Surface Laptop Studio as an upgrade. I had a ton of issues with that laptop and had to return it even if I liked the 2 in 1 functionalities of the laptop. Since I had to return the laptop and already was using mostly Apple Products (Apple Watch, iPhone, and iPad) I decided to bite the bullet and fully invest into the Apple Ecosystem by buying this laptop. I don't regret it. For starters, while the Surface Laptop Studio had a beautiful display, this MacBook still manages to beat it in colors. Plus MacOS takes better advantage of the 120hz display than Windows does with system animations so it is more noticeable that the screen is more nimble than the standard 60hz displays. The colors are extremely accurate and the mini LEDs in this display make it so you have near OLED levels of true blacks when displaying dark/contrasty images. The only gripe I have with the display is I still am not the biggest fan of the notch but it is something that you get used to pretty quickly. The performance of this laptop is another thing that is a sight to behold. While Apple silicon is still having some hiccups it does really work way more efficiently than the outgoing Intel processors. The processor in this MacBook stays impressively cool and doesn't get no where near as hot as the previous laptops I have had along with the fans seemingly never really having to kick in. Along with that, for the first time I have a laptop that doesn't have to throttle its processing power to make sure that the battery can last a decent amount. This makes it so I don't have to carry a laptop charger with me at all times even if I am doing something more intense than a word document or web browsing. Other notable things about this laptop is the impressive quality of sound and even bass coming from the built in speakers. The build quality is phenomenal especially when you compare it to the Surface Laptop Studio that I had before this (that laptop had a squeaky hinge and some flex to the laptop which was unsettling). The keyboard on this laptop is one of the best and on the same level as Microsoft's Surface line, but the track pad on this MacBook is something that still has to be beat. I do wish this had something of 2 in 1 capabilities and even just a touch screen because sometimes its just easier to touch it on the screen instead of moving the cursor around to get it where you want. Otherwise this is an impressive laptop that is great if you are productivity focused. It can run some games extremely well but due to not being compatible with the vast majority of PC games, gaming is one of the things that makes up this laptop's archille's heal.Chipped007

Let me just say, that at the current sale price (which may or may not be still going on at the time you read this review), this laptop is an absolute steal! I've been a lifelong Windows user and never even looked at Apple computers, but recently, I've been looking for a new laptop and after trying a couple of highly rated Windows laptops, found them to be disappointing, especially their battery life and thermal and acoustic performance, since virtually all laptops in the higher performance tier are still too hot and loud, with mediocre battery life. So, out of frustration with the current PC laptop market, I decided to give an Apple laptop a try. I knew going in that they have great battery life, performance, and supposedly run cool and quiet. I picked up the MacBook Pro 14, and I was simply blown away! Yes, it runs fast. I do some video editing and graphic design, and it handles Photoshop and DaVinchi Resolve flawlessly. I also play some games, mostly strategy, and it runs them too! What I like the most, is how it doesn't lose any performance when running on battery, vs plugged in. Sure, playing a game like Cities Skylines will likely drain the battery in 2-3 hours, but it's amazing to actually be able to play it, with high resolution and graphics settings, on a laptop, with no cables attached! And it's smooth. The screen is beautiful. The mini LED is basically like having an OLED colors and contrast, but 3-4X higher brightness. It looks stunning. The computer is virtually silent. The fans stay off 95% of the time (with my use), and even when playing a demanding game, I only know they're running by checking the system monitoring software. I can't hear them unless I put my ear right next to the keyboard. It's seriously impressive. Yes, at 100%, they can get somewhat loud, but I can only get them to run at 100% by forcing it in software, I don't know what you have to do on this laptop use to get them to run this fast. And the laptop can get a little warm at the top of the keyboard, but not uncomfortably hot like most gaming Windows laptops. It's really, barely warm, and again, only when pushing it a bit, in most day-to-day tasks, it stays at the room temperature. I can probably keep going with details for a while, there is so much to like about this machine, but I want to respect everyone's time, so let me just add a couple of quick points. The speakers are great. The web camera is better than most, it's very good, the design is clean and pleasant, the ports are good, and the fingerprint scanner works the first time, every time… it's an excellent laptop. I want to also mention a couple of negatives. Nothing too bad, and I still live the laptop overall, but nothing is perfect. The first thing that I'm not 100% happy with, is MacOS. I can get all the software I need, and it runs great, but Apple is still a bit too tyrannical with their software, requiring a bunch of passwords, and limiting your customization options. It can also be a bit glitchy, sometimes virtual buttons get stuck, or the OS can feel slower than this laptop actually is with its animations, or just in general the way it handles RAM. Same apps can sometimes launch in half a second, and at other times take 6-7 seconds to load, it can feel inconsistent. You can run Windows on it, with Parallels Desktop, or one of several free VM options, which I thought would make it perfect, but keep in mind that you can only use an ARM version of Windows, so not everything works on it too. Still, very impressive seeing Windows 11 running on it just as good if not better than many Windows laptops, even in the Virtual Machine. The next thing, that's just kind of meh, is keyboard. It's not bad, the keys feel nice, but its backlight might look uneven under certain angles, which cheapens the look of the machine a bit, IMO. It looks fine from above, though. I usually keep the backlight off for this reason. Not a bad keyboard, but there is also nothing "magic" about it. I've seen better, and I've seen worse. And finally, the build quality can be a hit or miss. The first unit that I got had a slightly misaligned lid (against the bottom half, when closed). I exchanged it, and the second unit was creaking around the keyboard when opening and closing the lid. I returned it too and almost gave up on them, but a few days later, decided to give it just one more shot with a different color (the first two were Space Grey). I picked up a Silver model, and this one is perfect. So if you get one and something doesn't feel right, you might want to check another unit to make sure you get the good one, or just don't be picky like me. I assume most people will never notice or questions things like that. One final thought. This Macbook Pro 14, even at the base level, is a real deal. It's worth every penny they ask for it, and if you can get it on sale, or a good open box unit, it's probably the best value out there at the moment!drumnbass

If you Um'd and Ah'd like I did for a long time over how you can get the best value for price out of a MacBook, this is the review for you haha. Disclaimer: I got my MacBook Pro (14" M1 Pro 2021) in a 10% off Sale. Which was $100 more than a M2 Air spec'd up (16GB RAM, 512GB SSD, 10-Core GPU) Reasons I picked this model over a Spec'd Air: – 512GB storage (factory standard) Means I can install Windows (via Bootcamp – a built in MacOS feature) and not worry about either OS not having enough room to unpack, install, temporarily store etc. Also means if I don't have access to my cloud storage in the future, I don't have to worry about dumping files to make room (Particularly good for Remote Working and Travellers) – 16GB RAM (factory standard) I can have multiple applications running and not notice. ie. I currently have a Live Background running, 9 different tabs open on safari, Apple Music hosting on my Mac but streaming to a Speaker all without it the CPU fan even turning on. – 14-Core GPU (factory standard) I can actually play my Sims 4 & it's expansions with no sacrifice to frame rates or smooth playability; plays better than it was on my Windows Tower with a GTX1650 GPU. Also good for Future Proofing, with everything getting more and more graphic heavy, I will be able to use this MacBook for quite a few years without needing to upgrade. (which if you're paying $$$$ for a computer? You don't want to be doing it again anytime soon.) – Interconnectivity Apple (in my opinion) has cornered the market on seamless synchronisation between their products, especially in the Household section. Automations and Family Sharing are really user friendly once you adjust. Having an iPhone & a HomePod myself, it's amazing the way I can handoff music, or create an automation from any device (for any device haha) and it not be difficult; even our Sony TV utilises the inbuilt Remote App on my iPhone, and works well with Airplay. Hope this helps; Good LuckIndecisiveCarter

So I just received this the other day and I can already tell I will definitely love this laptop! I am coming from a Macbook Air M1(not to put that laptop down), I just needed a Window's device for .NET development. As an added bonus I figured I could do some more gaming. This laptop is quite capable and offers a good experience with Windows. Games run very smoothly from what I've seen (this includes Minecraft, Phasmophobia, Spore, Starcraft the original and II, and I wouldn't be surprised to find many other games that work well). AMD did a great job with the Ryzen 6000 series and the fan noise does not come on too frequently and when it does it is not high pitched and annoying. The screen is nice, I have not used this outside yet but I think it would be ok in most cases especially in the shade. The battery life seems to be pretty good(definitely not as good as my macbook, but I expected this). The laptop is reasonably weighted and I don't have any problems lugging this around. The price of $795(after tax) is very good for a laptop of this quality. The keyboard is not as good as a macbook keyboard in my opinion, but honestly that opinion could change given time to adjust. The trackpad however is… ok I guess. I plan to use a mouse most of the time anyway. I am really glad that this laptop comes with 16GB of RAM as the only option, that is something I was looking for. The 1TB SSD is a nice bonus. At the end of the day: Would I recommend this laptop? Answer: YES!!Lime_Lite

I currently use this laptop for some personal home office/college use. I'll start off with the only two negatives I currently have. I know I chose the 15.6" because I use the heck out of a 10-key, but the size makes it pretty heavy in tablet mode, which I also wanted…..Therefore, if you can forgo the 10-key, I would recommend the smaller laptop if you will use tablet mode often. Also, like other reviews have stated, the lip around the edge of the screen is very flat when closed, which kind of makes it difficult to lift to open. Otherwise, I like everything else about the laptop. I bought it during the March spring sale and I feel you get a lot of bang for your buck. Plus Lenovo also gives additional discounts for First Responders/Teachers/Nurses, etc., which is awesome and can be used with other discounts! Set up was very intuitive. Screen quality/pixels are nice and crisp in my opinion. Sound/volume is fine for my needs. I like the track pad. My old laptop didn't have a track pad with integrated mouse buttons, so that's nice! Windows 11 is interesting but as usual it's fairly user-friendly. So far the 8gb ram is fine and nothing lags, but I don't do any sort of gaming. I bought the Lenovo Active Pen 2 separately (~$50) and it pairs very easily and works well. The pen also has an erase button which is very nice. You do have to have your hand off the screen to use properly, which is hard, but easily solved by a bit of fabric under my writing hand. The pen also doesn't slide as easily as I thought it should. Overall, I would buy the laptop again and would recommend it and Lenovo to anyone.KayHill

After possibly 6 months of learning and shopping for a 15 inch laptop, I am very happy to say that I made the right choice with this IdeaPad 5, with i7 and 16 GB RAM. I am not a professional reviewer, but here it goes. Overall Appearance & Feel The appearance is elegant and sleek. The case does not feel cheap and the friction on the lid allows you to position the lid angle anywhere from 0° (closed) to about 160° and holds strong. There are a significant amount of interface ports. However, it did NOT come with the charging port as shown in the photos and description. You can only charge using the only available UCB-C port and provided high-power charger – a typical USB-C plug-in charger will not charge the device. The keys could have a bit more stroke, but not too bad. They have a very minimal "tactile" feeling. One issue is the backslash key is nearly aligned against the top edge of the "Enter" key thus is is often inadvertently pressed. Why did they place the keys edge-to-edge? The trackpad is flawless, feels great and recognizes all gestures. However, I mostly use a Bluetooth mouse. The touchscreen works well. However, it often just stops working and requires either a reboot or go to Device Manager to disable and re-enable the HID Touchscreen device to get it working again. This happens maybe twice a week and is frustrating, but have not found a solution other than the manual remedy mentioned above. The camera on top of the lid has a mechanical shutter which I really like for privacy. Performance This laptop has no latency issues when using any of the basic office productivity applications, streaming videos, and web browsing. I can keep MANY apps open at once without any performance degradation. Start-up is extremely fast; the app-loading and commands are nearly instant, Amazing! The speed of this laptop is very impressive. It only takes about 5 seconds to start Windows from shutdown, I assume only if Windows "Fast Startup" is enabled, which it is. The finger print ID directly on center with the power button works flawlessly. I use it exclusively during login, I don't even remember my established password. Battery Excellent battery life. Windows automatically goes to sleep upon lid close, which is standard. Upon opening, you will need to enter your password or scan your fingerprint to unlock. I keep it generally plugged in, so not sure of full battery life. Sound Not impressive, but just ok for a 15 inch laptop. I am an audiophile so I would never listen to music on this thing. Connectivity More ports than other competition. I was especially looking for a full size SD Card reader because I do a lot of photo and video editing from SD Card storage. VERY DISAPPOINTING and MISLEADING that the laptop does not come with a dedicated charging jack, as shown in the image and description. The charging is done on the ONLY available USB-C port, thus you cannot simultaneously connect USB-C device while plugged-in. When not plugged in, I believe this port can deliver power to other mobile devices. Display Just ok. The brightness is not so good. For example, don't expect to do much work on a sunny day working in a park. My house has lots of windows and screen contents hard to see. The screen could be brighter. I'm not a gamer, so, otherwise, it suits me fine. Final Thoughts I would recommend this laptop for students and professionals, but not for serious gamers or graphic and video editing. I am very happy with the purchase and look forward to many years of use.Jason Sch

This is a beautiful laptop in color, design, form, and specs. Right out of the box I loved the way this machine looked with its dark slate blue colored shell. Open up that lid and be blown away with the impressive OLED screen which seems to be the main attraction for this Asus laptop. Included here is a USB-A port, 2 USB-C ports, HDMI port, audio input jack, and a micro SD card reader. In the box you will find the Asus Zenbook laptop and a laptop charger cable brick. The OLED screen has a 2880 x 1800 resolution and a 90hz refresh rate display which looks incredibly bright and is a joy to work on and also use for entertainment. The 14" OLED has the color and clarity on this portable and lightweight laptop, which are perfect for everyday multitasking duties for work and play. The Intel Evo 12th gen Intel Core i5 processor is fast and responsive under various tasks and I've been impressed at its snappy response time. You'll get the 256 SSD harddrive in this compact laptop, along with Windows 11 for the operating system. 8GB of RAM seems to work ok on this machine for this price point, but I do wish it came with 16GB for prolonging my longevity with this laptop. Portable size and taking it with me on the go is a must for me. This Asus Zenbook is 3.06 pounds in weight and .67" thin. I love the backlit keyboard for working at various hours of the day and night. I really have loved the touchpad and the ability to activate the illuminated number pad as I work on spreadsheets and formulas most of my day. The illuminated number pad can be turned on or off with the touch of a virtual button and took me some getting used to, but I love having this with the compact keyboard design. Another feature that was new to me was the Pantone Validated sticker on this machine. This simply means that this computer is up to par for designers and technicians since it's been verified to have adequate color correction technology to properly simulate the full range of Pantone colors. At a price of $749.99 this is a fantastic mid-tier computer that works well for so much of what I do for work from home tasks and also personal web browsing and shopping. This machine can also be used for light gaming and it still performs well, but it isn't meant for heavy usage on gaming. I have loved using the OLED screen, Dolby Atmos, and Harmon Kardon speakers to enjoy watching streaming movies and shows. The picture and sound are fantastic in my opinion. The laptop also has a nice hinge on the clamshell which allows for a 180-degree lay-flat design and also makes typing and keyboard feel more comfortable. PRO: Color design 14" OLED screen clarity Portable and lightweight Intel Evo i5 Great price and functionality for most users CON: More RAM and larger SSD would have been niceJKinSYR

The Asus ZenBook is definitely a compact, lightweight unit for those who don’t need a lot out of a laptop. While it has up-to-date technology, there’s nothing that makes it stand out, except for its small size and portability. Unboxing was a confusing experience. Normally, this is straightforward process, but somehow the labelling made it appear as if there was no “up” from which to open the box. Then, once the box was opened, the mechanism inside that gently lifts the laptop, to present it to the user, was slightly off, causing the laptop to become skewed, not lift, and subsequently difficult to extract. Initial setup was also strewn with difficulties that are normally not present. The power cord, for example, is much shorter than what I’m accustomed to. Whereas the cord on the laptop that I’m using to write this review has lots of slack to allow me to move around the table, the cord on the Asus is stretched taut as it has no slack at all. This would require a user, during travel, to have to be located very physically near an outlet to allow for charging. Another example of a setup head-scratcher was the logging into of Microsoft. I have an existing account that I use for just this situation, but MS would not recognize it. When I tried to create a new MS account, using the same info, MS reported that my requested username was already in existence…because it is…I’m using it. While I recognize that this is an MS issue, not an Asus issue, it was a sticking point, regardless. It’s not all bad, however. The display is fantastic. I purchased an LG OLED 4K UHD television several years ago because of the display. The colors are rich, and the blacks are black. The display on this laptop rivals that television. It’s extremely clear, with fantastic color saturation, and the graphics, while nothing to write home about, do a great job of filling out the display. The combination of the touchpad and the number pad is innovative; I’ve never seen that done before. Until I became used to it, I was always second-guessing myself as to whether I had hit the correct “buttons”. Without the tactile feedback of a button being “clicked” or depressed, I needed to confirm my accuracy. Finally, the ability of the screen to be laid back until it is flat is very helpful. The size and portability of the device allows it to be easily transported anywhere, but if it’s being used for assistance, such as a YouTube tutorial, one doesn’t want to always have to sit down to view the screen, then immediately stand back up again to perform the next task. Laying the screen flat allows one to stand over the laptop and easily view the screen without the glare one would expect. As discussed before, the excellent display allows this to happen. Overall, my perception is that this is a great starter laptop with basics that can be expanded upon in future purchases. It’s compact and lightweight, meaning that it can be easily transported for some distance/time. However, once the battery is depleted, the short charging cable requires the user to be very near an open outlet. Any issues experienced during setup are the responsibility of Microsoft, not Asus, but it’s worth noting as it may change Asus’s suppliers in the future. The functionality is great, especially the display. If one is using it while amid activity, the lay-flat screen adds efficiency by allowing the user to stand over it and continue viewing, and the graphics and colors don’t wash out. There is some innovation shown here that I would suspect appears in later and/or higher-end models in the future, such as the number pad overlay onto the touchpad. It does take some getting used to, but it works. If you feel uncomfortable with, or simply don’t want to, complete transactions on your mobile device, or tablet, this is the unit for you. It’s not a gaming system, and it’s not for pure business. It’s a vanilla, middle-of-the-road device that fills the gap between mobile devices and the need for a dedicated computer.DakotaDan

The Zenbook 14 OLED (UX3402, 12th Gen Intel) is a very nice laptop that has great features but also has some limitations. The features of this laptop are as follows: • An Evo platform core i5-1240p processor 1.7 GHz (12M cache, up to 4.4 GHz, 4P+8E cores) • 8 GB of RAM • 256 GB SSD • a 14" 2880×1800 OLED 90 Hz Display (2.8K) • a 75Wh Lithium Ion Battery. • a Harmon Kardon Dolby Atmos Audio System • ASUS AI Noise-cancelling audio for clear speech • 180 degree Lay-flat ErgoLift Hinge • US military-grade durability. • Left side has a 10 GB/Second USB 3.0 port. • Right side has: charging and backlight indicators, a microSD slot, 2 Thunderbolt(TM) 4 ports for display/power delivery port, a 3.5mm Combo Audio Jack, and an HDMI 2.0b port. This laptop weighs in a 3.06 lbs. and is 0.67" thin, making it highly portable. The included power supply is a 65W type-C AC Adapter and works in either of the thunderbolt ports. This model has windows 11 Home preinstalled. This Zenbook laptop has all of the typical WIFI and Bluetooth features one would expect in a system. The chicklet keyboard is nice and types well. The Harmon Kardon sound system sounds wonderful and is a really nice feature of this laptop. The included 2.8K OLED display is gorgeous and easy on the eyes. It would be a fantastic option in this series to have a touchscreen option available as that would make this an extremely awesome system, albeit at a high price point. The included thunderbolt ports along with the HMDI port makes for a useful set of external monitor options. I tested with my home setup that includes a USB – C based multiport display adapter and this laptop was able to drive primary laptop display and the 3 external monitors that I have connected to it at their recommended resolutions (main Screen 2880 x 1800, 2x 24"at 1920x 1200, and a 27" 4k monitor 3840 X 2160). I added a 4th external monitor via the HDMI port and was not able to drive this monitor with the other 3 – which is what I expected to happen but I had to give it a shot (on my home system this monitor is run via a USB based DisplayLink adapter). The most unique feature of this laptop is a special feature of the very large – some might say massive – 3" x 5" trackpad (my SurfaceBook's track pad is slightly larger than 4" x 3" for a much larger device as a comparison). When triggered this feature turns the trackpad into a keypad for quick data entry – this keypad can be activated in two ways – clicking and holds for a short press, on the upper right activates the key pad for what ever app you have open and also deactivates the keypad functionality once you are done with it. If you slide right from the upper left corner not only do you activate the keypad, but you also open the calculator app within the operating system. This upper left area can also be used to toggle the brightness of this keypad functionality between two brightness levels. Overall, I find that this device fits well for anyone who needs basic office automation functionality, along with some light picture and video editing capabilities along with portability. This could be professionals who are on the go, or students, or even parents who have a need for computing on the go. This is a very nice device and it would suit a large number of users and use cases. The only improvement I could wish for would be a touchscreen, but that would likely increase the price tag a bit.dnottingham4

This is a beautiful laptop in color, design, form, and specs. Right out of the box I loved the way this machine looked with its dark slate blue colored shell. Open up that lid and be blown away with the impressive OLED screen which seems to be the main attraction for this Asus laptop. Included here is a USB-A port, 2 USB-C ports, HDMI port, audio input jack, and a micro SD card reader. In the box you will find the Asus Zenbook laptop and a laptop charger cable brick. The OLED screen has a 2880 x 1800 resolution and a 90hz refresh rate display which looks incredibly bright and is a joy to work on and also use for entertainment. The 14" OLED has the color and clarity on this portable and lightweight laptop, which are perfect for everyday multitasking duties for work and play. The Intel Evo 12th gen Intel Core i5 processor is fast and responsive under various tasks and I've been impressed at its snappy response time. You'll get the 256 SSD harddrive in this compact laptop, along with Windows 11 for the operating system. 8GB of RAM seems to work ok on this machine for this price point, but I do wish it came with 16GB for prolonging my longevity with this laptop. Portable size and taking it with me on the go is a must for me. This Asus Zenbook is 3.06 pounds in weight and .67" thin. I love the backlit keyboard for working at various hours of the day and night. I really have loved the touchpad and the ability to activate the illuminated number pad as I work on spreadsheets and formulas most of my day. The illuminated number pad can be turned on or off with the touch of a virtual button and took me some getting used to, but I love having this with the compact keyboard design. Another feature that was new to me was the Pantone Validated sticker on this machine. This simply means that this computer is up to par for designers and technicians since it's been verified to have adequate color correction technology to properly simulate the full range of Pantone colors. At a price of $749.99 this is a fantastic mid-tier computer that works well for so much of what I do for work from home tasks and also personal web browsing and shopping. This machine can also be used for light gaming and it still performs well, but it isn't meant for heavy usage on gaming. I have loved using the OLED screen, Dolby Atmos, and Harmon Kardon speakers to enjoy watching streaming movies and shows. The picture and sound are fantastic in my opinion. The laptop also has a nice hinge on the clamshell which allows for a 180-degree lay-flat design and also makes typing and keyboard feel more comfortable. PRO: Color design 14" OLED screen clarity Portable and lightweight Intel Evo i5 Great price and functionality for most users CON: More RAM and larger SSD would have been niceJKinSYR

The Asus ZenBook is definitely a compact, lightweight unit for those who don’t need a lot out of a laptop. While it has up-to-date technology, there’s nothing that makes it stand out, except for its small size and portability. Unboxing was a confusing experience. Normally, this is straightforward process, but somehow the labelling made it appear as if there was no “up” from which to open the box. Then, once the box was opened, the mechanism inside that gently lifts the laptop, to present it to the user, was slightly off, causing the laptop to become skewed, not lift, and subsequently difficult to extract. Initial setup was also strewn with difficulties that are normally not present. The power cord, for example, is much shorter than what I’m accustomed to. Whereas the cord on the laptop that I’m using to write this review has lots of slack to allow me to move around the table, the cord on the Asus is stretched taut as it has no slack at all. This would require a user, during travel, to have to be located very physically near an outlet to allow for charging. Another example of a setup head-scratcher was the logging into of Microsoft. I have an existing account that I use for just this situation, but MS would not recognize it. When I tried to create a new MS account, using the same info, MS reported that my requested username was already in existence…because it is…I’m using it. While I recognize that this is an MS issue, not an Asus issue, it was a sticking point, regardless. It’s not all bad, however. The display is fantastic. I purchased an LG OLED 4K UHD television several years ago because of the display. The colors are rich, and the blacks are black. The display on this laptop rivals that television. It’s extremely clear, with fantastic color saturation, and the graphics, while nothing to write home about, do a great job of filling out the display. The combination of the touchpad and the number pad is innovative; I’ve never seen that done before. Until I became used to it, I was always second-guessing myself as to whether I had hit the correct “buttons”. Without the tactile feedback of a button being “clicked” or depressed, I needed to confirm my accuracy. Finally, the ability of the screen to be laid back until it is flat is very helpful. The size and portability of the device allows it to be easily transported anywhere, but if it’s being used for assistance, such as a YouTube tutorial, one doesn’t want to always have to sit down to view the screen, then immediately stand back up again to perform the next task. Laying the screen flat allows one to stand over the laptop and easily view the screen without the glare one would expect. As discussed before, the excellent display allows this to happen. Overall, my perception is that this is a great starter laptop with basics that can be expanded upon in future purchases. It’s compact and lightweight, meaning that it can be easily transported for some distance/time. However, once the battery is depleted, the short charging cable requires the user to be very near an open outlet. Any issues experienced during setup are the responsibility of Microsoft, not Asus, but it’s worth noting as it may change Asus’s suppliers in the future. The functionality is great, especially the display. If one is using it while amid activity, the lay-flat screen adds efficiency by allowing the user to stand over it and continue viewing, and the graphics and colors don’t wash out. There is some innovation shown here that I would suspect appears in later and/or higher-end models in the future, such as the number pad overlay onto the touchpad. It does take some getting used to, but it works. If you feel uncomfortable with, or simply don’t want to, complete transactions on your mobile device, or tablet, this is the unit for you. It’s not a gaming system, and it’s not for pure business. It’s a vanilla, middle-of-the-road device that fills the gap between mobile devices and the need for a dedicated computer.DakotaDan

The Zenbook 14 OLED (UX3402, 12th Gen Intel) is a very nice laptop that has great features but also has some limitations. The features of this laptop are as follows: • An Evo platform core i5-1240p processor 1.7 GHz (12M cache, up to 4.4 GHz, 4P+8E cores) • 8 GB of RAM • 256 GB SSD • a 14" 2880×1800 OLED 90 Hz Display (2.8K) • a 75Wh Lithium Ion Battery. • a Harmon Kardon Dolby Atmos Audio System • ASUS AI Noise-cancelling audio for clear speech • 180 degree Lay-flat ErgoLift Hinge • US military-grade durability. • Left side has a 10 GB/Second USB 3.0 port. • Right side has: charging and backlight indicators, a microSD slot, 2 Thunderbolt(TM) 4 ports for display/power delivery port, a 3.5mm Combo Audio Jack, and an HDMI 2.0b port. This laptop weighs in a 3.06 lbs. and is 0.67" thin, making it highly portable. The included power supply is a 65W type-C AC Adapter and works in either of the thunderbolt ports. This model has windows 11 Home preinstalled. This Zenbook laptop has all of the typical WIFI and Bluetooth features one would expect in a system. The chicklet keyboard is nice and types well. The Harmon Kardon sound system sounds wonderful and is a really nice feature of this laptop. The included 2.8K OLED display is gorgeous and easy on the eyes. It would be a fantastic option in this series to have a touchscreen option available as that would make this an extremely awesome system, albeit at a high price point. The included thunderbolt ports along with the HMDI port makes for a useful set of external monitor options. I tested with my home setup that includes a USB – C based multiport display adapter and this laptop was able to drive primary laptop display and the 3 external monitors that I have connected to it at their recommended resolutions (main Screen 2880 x 1800, 2x 24"at 1920x 1200, and a 27" 4k monitor 3840 X 2160). I added a 4th external monitor via the HDMI port and was not able to drive this monitor with the other 3 – which is what I expected to happen but I had to give it a shot (on my home system this monitor is run via a USB based DisplayLink adapter). The most unique feature of this laptop is a special feature of the very large – some might say massive – 3" x 5" trackpad (my SurfaceBook's track pad is slightly larger than 4" x 3" for a much larger device as a comparison). When triggered this feature turns the trackpad into a keypad for quick data entry – this keypad can be activated in two ways – clicking and holds for a short press, on the upper right activates the key pad for what ever app you have open and also deactivates the keypad functionality once you are done with it. If you slide right from the upper left corner not only do you activate the keypad, but you also open the calculator app within the operating system. This upper left area can also be used to toggle the brightness of this keypad functionality between two brightness levels. Overall, I find that this device fits well for anyone who needs basic office automation functionality, along with some light picture and video editing capabilities along with portability. This could be professionals who are on the go, or students, or even parents who have a need for computing on the go. This is a very nice device and it would suit a large number of users and use cases. The only improvement I could wish for would be a touchscreen, but that would likely increase the price tag a bit.dnottingham4

This is a beautiful laptop in color, design, form, and specs. Right out of the box I loved the way this machine looked with its dark slate blue colored shell. Open up that lid and be blown away with the impressive OLED screen which seems to be the main attraction for this Asus laptop. Included here is a USB-A port, 2 USB-C ports, HDMI port, audio input jack, and a micro SD card reader. In the box you will find the Asus Zenbook laptop and a laptop charger cable brick. The OLED screen has a 2880 x 1800 resolution and a 90hz refresh rate display which looks incredibly bright and is a joy to work on and also use for entertainment. The 14" OLED has the color and clarity on this portable and lightweight laptop, which are perfect for everyday multitasking duties for work and play. The Intel Evo 12th gen Intel Core i5 processor is fast and responsive under various tasks and I've been impressed at its snappy response time. You'll get the 256 SSD harddrive in this compact laptop, along with Windows 11 for the operating system. 8GB of RAM seems to work ok on this machine for this price point, but I do wish it came with 16GB for prolonging my longevity with this laptop. Portable size and taking it with me on the go is a must for me. This Asus Zenbook is 3.06 pounds in weight and .67" thin. I love the backlit keyboard for working at various hours of the day and night. I really have loved the touchpad and the ability to activate the illuminated number pad as I work on spreadsheets and formulas most of my day. The illuminated number pad can be turned on or off with the touch of a virtual button and took me some getting used to, but I love having this with the compact keyboard design. Another feature that was new to me was the Pantone Validated sticker on this machine. This simply means that this computer is up to par for designers and technicians since it's been verified to have adequate color correction technology to properly simulate the full range of Pantone colors. At a price of $749.99 this is a fantastic mid-tier computer that works well for so much of what I do for work from home tasks and also personal web browsing and shopping. This machine can also be used for light gaming and it still performs well, but it isn't meant for heavy usage on gaming. I have loved using the OLED screen, Dolby Atmos, and Harmon Kardon speakers to enjoy watching streaming movies and shows. The picture and sound are fantastic in my opinion. The laptop also has a nice hinge on the clamshell which allows for a 180-degree lay-flat design and also makes typing and keyboard feel more comfortable. PRO: Color design 14" OLED screen clarity Portable and lightweight Intel Evo i5 Great price and functionality for most users CON: More RAM and larger SSD would have been niceJKinSYR

The Asus ZenBook is definitely a compact, lightweight unit for those who don’t need a lot out of a laptop. While it has up-to-date technology, there’s nothing that makes it stand out, except for its small size and portability. Unboxing was a confusing experience. Normally, this is straightforward process, but somehow the labelling made it appear as if there was no “up” from which to open the box. Then, once the box was opened, the mechanism inside that gently lifts the laptop, to present it to the user, was slightly off, causing the laptop to become skewed, not lift, and subsequently difficult to extract. Initial setup was also strewn with difficulties that are normally not present. The power cord, for example, is much shorter than what I’m accustomed to. Whereas the cord on the laptop that I’m using to write this review has lots of slack to allow me to move around the table, the cord on the Asus is stretched taut as it has no slack at all. This would require a user, during travel, to have to be located very physically near an outlet to allow for charging. Another example of a setup head-scratcher was the logging into of Microsoft. I have an existing account that I use for just this situation, but MS would not recognize it. When I tried to create a new MS account, using the same info, MS reported that my requested username was already in existence…because it is…I’m using it. While I recognize that this is an MS issue, not an Asus issue, it was a sticking point, regardless. It’s not all bad, however. The display is fantastic. I purchased an LG OLED 4K UHD television several years ago because of the display. The colors are rich, and the blacks are black. The display on this laptop rivals that television. It’s extremely clear, with fantastic color saturation, and the graphics, while nothing to write home about, do a great job of filling out the display. The combination of the touchpad and the number pad is innovative; I’ve never seen that done before. Until I became used to it, I was always second-guessing myself as to whether I had hit the correct “buttons”. Without the tactile feedback of a button being “clicked” or depressed, I needed to confirm my accuracy. Finally, the ability of the screen to be laid back until it is flat is very helpful. The size and portability of the device allows it to be easily transported anywhere, but if it’s being used for assistance, such as a YouTube tutorial, one doesn’t want to always have to sit down to view the screen, then immediately stand back up again to perform the next task. Laying the screen flat allows one to stand over the laptop and easily view the screen without the glare one would expect. As discussed before, the excellent display allows this to happen. Overall, my perception is that this is a great starter laptop with basics that can be expanded upon in future purchases. It’s compact and lightweight, meaning that it can be easily transported for some distance/time. However, once the battery is depleted, the short charging cable requires the user to be very near an open outlet. Any issues experienced during setup are the responsibility of Microsoft, not Asus, but it’s worth noting as it may change Asus’s suppliers in the future. The functionality is great, especially the display. If one is using it while amid activity, the lay-flat screen adds efficiency by allowing the user to stand over it and continue viewing, and the graphics and colors don’t wash out. There is some innovation shown here that I would suspect appears in later and/or higher-end models in the future, such as the number pad overlay onto the touchpad. It does take some getting used to, but it works. If you feel uncomfortable with, or simply don’t want to, complete transactions on your mobile device, or tablet, this is the unit for you. It’s not a gaming system, and it’s not for pure business. It’s a vanilla, middle-of-the-road device that fills the gap between mobile devices and the need for a dedicated computer.DakotaDan

The Zenbook 14 OLED (UX3402, 12th Gen Intel) is a very nice laptop that has great features but also has some limitations. The features of this laptop are as follows: • An Evo platform core i5-1240p processor 1.7 GHz (12M cache, up to 4.4 GHz, 4P+8E cores) • 8 GB of RAM • 256 GB SSD • a 14" 2880×1800 OLED 90 Hz Display (2.8K) • a 75Wh Lithium Ion Battery. • a Harmon Kardon Dolby Atmos Audio System • ASUS AI Noise-cancelling audio for clear speech • 180 degree Lay-flat ErgoLift Hinge • US military-grade durability. • Left side has a 10 GB/Second USB 3.0 port. • Right side has: charging and backlight indicators, a microSD slot, 2 Thunderbolt(TM) 4 ports for display/power delivery port, a 3.5mm Combo Audio Jack, and an HDMI 2.0b port. This laptop weighs in a 3.06 lbs. and is 0.67" thin, making it highly portable. The included power supply is a 65W type-C AC Adapter and works in either of the thunderbolt ports. This model has windows 11 Home preinstalled. This Zenbook laptop has all of the typical WIFI and Bluetooth features one would expect in a system. The chicklet keyboard is nice and types well. The Harmon Kardon sound system sounds wonderful and is a really nice feature of this laptop. The included 2.8K OLED display is gorgeous and easy on the eyes. It would be a fantastic option in this series to have a touchscreen option available as that would make this an extremely awesome system, albeit at a high price point. The included thunderbolt ports along with the HMDI port makes for a useful set of external monitor options. I tested with my home setup that includes a USB – C based multiport display adapter and this laptop was able to drive primary laptop display and the 3 external monitors that I have connected to it at their recommended resolutions (main Screen 2880 x 1800, 2x 24"at 1920x 1200, and a 27" 4k monitor 3840 X 2160). I added a 4th external monitor via the HDMI port and was not able to drive this monitor with the other 3 – which is what I expected to happen but I had to give it a shot (on my home system this monitor is run via a USB based DisplayLink adapter). The most unique feature of this laptop is a special feature of the very large – some might say massive – 3" x 5" trackpad (my SurfaceBook's track pad is slightly larger than 4" x 3" for a much larger device as a comparison). When triggered this feature turns the trackpad into a keypad for quick data entry – this keypad can be activated in two ways – clicking and holds for a short press, on the upper right activates the key pad for what ever app you have open and also deactivates the keypad functionality once you are done with it. If you slide right from the upper left corner not only do you activate the keypad, but you also open the calculator app within the operating system. This upper left area can also be used to toggle the brightness of this keypad functionality between two brightness levels. Overall, I find that this device fits well for anyone who needs basic office automation functionality, along with some light picture and video editing capabilities along with portability. This could be professionals who are on the go, or students, or even parents who have a need for computing on the go. This is a very nice device and it would suit a large number of users and use cases. The only improvement I could wish for would be a touchscreen, but that would likely increase the price tag a bit.dnottingham4

This is a beautiful laptop in color, design, form, and specs. Right out of the box I loved the way this machine looked with its dark slate blue colored shell. Open up that lid and be blown away with the impressive OLED screen which seems to be the main attraction for this Asus laptop. Included here is a USB-A port, 2 USB-C ports, HDMI port, audio input jack, and a micro SD card reader. In the box you will find the Asus Zenbook laptop and a laptop charger cable brick. The OLED screen has a 2880 x 1800 resolution and a 90hz refresh rate display which looks incredibly bright and is a joy to work on and also use for entertainment. The 14" OLED has the color and clarity on this portable and lightweight laptop, which are perfect for everyday multitasking duties for work and play. The Intel Evo 12th gen Intel Core i5 processor is fast and responsive under various tasks and I've been impressed at its snappy response time. You'll get the 256 SSD harddrive in this compact laptop, along with Windows 11 for the operating system. 8GB of RAM seems to work ok on this machine for this price point, but I do wish it came with 16GB for prolonging my longevity with this laptop. Portable size and taking it with me on the go is a must for me. This Asus Zenbook is 3.06 pounds in weight and .67" thin. I love the backlit keyboard for working at various hours of the day and night. I really have loved the touchpad and the ability to activate the illuminated number pad as I work on spreadsheets and formulas most of my day. The illuminated number pad can be turned on or off with the touch of a virtual button and took me some getting used to, but I love having this with the compact keyboard design. Another feature that was new to me was the Pantone Validated sticker on this machine. This simply means that this computer is up to par for designers and technicians since it's been verified to have adequate color correction technology to properly simulate the full range of Pantone colors. At a price of $749.99 this is a fantastic mid-tier computer that works well for so much of what I do for work from home tasks and also personal web browsing and shopping. This machine can also be used for light gaming and it still performs well, but it isn't meant for heavy usage on gaming. I have loved using the OLED screen, Dolby Atmos, and Harmon Kardon speakers to enjoy watching streaming movies and shows. The picture and sound are fantastic in my opinion. The laptop also has a nice hinge on the clamshell which allows for a 180-degree lay-flat design and also makes typing and keyboard feel more comfortable. PRO: Color design 14" OLED screen clarity Portable and lightweight Intel Evo i5 Great price and functionality for most users CON: More RAM and larger SSD would have been niceJKinSYR

The Asus ZenBook is definitely a compact, lightweight unit for those who don’t need a lot out of a laptop. While it has up-to-date technology, there’s nothing that makes it stand out, except for its small size and portability. Unboxing was a confusing experience. Normally, this is straightforward process, but somehow the labelling made it appear as if there was no “up” from which to open the box. Then, once the box was opened, the mechanism inside that gently lifts the laptop, to present it to the user, was slightly off, causing the laptop to become skewed, not lift, and subsequently difficult to extract. Initial setup was also strewn with difficulties that are normally not present. The power cord, for example, is much shorter than what I’m accustomed to. Whereas the cord on the laptop that I’m using to write this review has lots of slack to allow me to move around the table, the cord on the Asus is stretched taut as it has no slack at all. This would require a user, during travel, to have to be located very physically near an outlet to allow for charging. Another example of a setup head-scratcher was the logging into of Microsoft. I have an existing account that I use for just this situation, but MS would not recognize it. When I tried to create a new MS account, using the same info, MS reported that my requested username was already in existence…because it is…I’m using it. While I recognize that this is an MS issue, not an Asus issue, it was a sticking point, regardless. It’s not all bad, however. The display is fantastic. I purchased an LG OLED 4K UHD television several years ago because of the display. The colors are rich, and the blacks are black. The display on this laptop rivals that television. It’s extremely clear, with fantastic color saturation, and the graphics, while nothing to write home about, do a great job of filling out the display. The combination of the touchpad and the number pad is innovative; I’ve never seen that done before. Until I became used to it, I was always second-guessing myself as to whether I had hit the correct “buttons”. Without the tactile feedback of a button being “clicked” or depressed, I needed to confirm my accuracy. Finally, the ability of the screen to be laid back until it is flat is very helpful. The size and portability of the device allows it to be easily transported anywhere, but if it’s being used for assistance, such as a YouTube tutorial, one doesn’t want to always have to sit down to view the screen, then immediately stand back up again to perform the next task. Laying the screen flat allows one to stand over the laptop and easily view the screen without the glare one would expect. As discussed before, the excellent display allows this to happen. Overall, my perception is that this is a great starter laptop with basics that can be expanded upon in future purchases. It’s compact and lightweight, meaning that it can be easily transported for some distance/time. However, once the battery is depleted, the short charging cable requires the user to be very near an open outlet. Any issues experienced during setup are the responsibility of Microsoft, not Asus, but it’s worth noting as it may change Asus’s suppliers in the future. The functionality is great, especially the display. If one is using it while amid activity, the lay-flat screen adds efficiency by allowing the user to stand over it and continue viewing, and the graphics and colors don’t wash out. There is some innovation shown here that I would suspect appears in later and/or higher-end models in the future, such as the number pad overlay onto the touchpad. It does take some getting used to, but it works. If you feel uncomfortable with, or simply don’t want to, complete transactions on your mobile device, or tablet, this is the unit for you. It’s not a gaming system, and it’s not for pure business. It’s a vanilla, middle-of-the-road device that fills the gap between mobile devices and the need for a dedicated computer.DakotaDan

The Zenbook 14 OLED (UX3402, 12th Gen Intel) is a very nice laptop that has great features but also has some limitations. The features of this laptop are as follows: • An Evo platform core i5-1240p processor 1.7 GHz (12M cache, up to 4.4 GHz, 4P+8E cores) • 8 GB of RAM • 256 GB SSD • a 14" 2880×1800 OLED 90 Hz Display (2.8K) • a 75Wh Lithium Ion Battery. • a Harmon Kardon Dolby Atmos Audio System • ASUS AI Noise-cancelling audio for clear speech • 180 degree Lay-flat ErgoLift Hinge • US military-grade durability. • Left side has a 10 GB/Second USB 3.0 port. • Right side has: charging and backlight indicators, a microSD slot, 2 Thunderbolt(TM) 4 ports for display/power delivery port, a 3.5mm Combo Audio Jack, and an HDMI 2.0b port. This laptop weighs in a 3.06 lbs. and is 0.67" thin, making it highly portable. The included power supply is a 65W type-C AC Adapter and works in either of the thunderbolt ports. This model has windows 11 Home preinstalled. This Zenbook laptop has all of the typical WIFI and Bluetooth features one would expect in a system. The chicklet keyboard is nice and types well. The Harmon Kardon sound system sounds wonderful and is a really nice feature of this laptop. The included 2.8K OLED display is gorgeous and easy on the eyes. It would be a fantastic option in this series to have a touchscreen option available as that would make this an extremely awesome system, albeit at a high price point. The included thunderbolt ports along with the HMDI port makes for a useful set of external monitor options. I tested with my home setup that includes a USB – C based multiport display adapter and this laptop was able to drive primary laptop display and the 3 external monitors that I have connected to it at their recommended resolutions (main Screen 2880 x 1800, 2x 24"at 1920x 1200, and a 27" 4k monitor 3840 X 2160). I added a 4th external monitor via the HDMI port and was not able to drive this monitor with the other 3 – which is what I expected to happen but I had to give it a shot (on my home system this monitor is run via a USB based DisplayLink adapter). The most unique feature of this laptop is a special feature of the very large – some might say massive – 3" x 5" trackpad (my SurfaceBook's track pad is slightly larger than 4" x 3" for a much larger device as a comparison). When triggered this feature turns the trackpad into a keypad for quick data entry – this keypad can be activated in two ways – clicking and holds for a short press, on the upper right activates the key pad for what ever app you have open and also deactivates the keypad functionality once you are done with it. If you slide right from the upper left corner not only do you activate the keypad, but you also open the calculator app within the operating system. This upper left area can also be used to toggle the brightness of this keypad functionality between two brightness levels. Overall, I find that this device fits well for anyone who needs basic office automation functionality, along with some light picture and video editing capabilities along with portability. This could be professionals who are on the go, or students, or even parents who have a need for computing on the go. This is a very nice device and it would suit a large number of users and use cases. The only improvement I could wish for would be a touchscreen, but that would likely increase the price tag a bit.dnottingham4

This is a beautiful laptop in color, design, form, and specs. Right out of the box I loved the way this machine looked with its dark slate blue colored shell. Open up that lid and be blown away with the impressive OLED screen which seems to be the main attraction for this Asus laptop. Included here is a USB-A port, 2 USB-C ports, HDMI port, audio input jack, and a micro SD card reader. In the box you will find the Asus Zenbook laptop and a laptop charger cable brick. The OLED screen has a 2880 x 1800 resolution and a 90hz refresh rate display which looks incredibly bright and is a joy to work on and also use for entertainment. The 14" OLED has the color and clarity on this portable and lightweight laptop, which are perfect for everyday multitasking duties for work and play. The Intel Evo 12th gen Intel Core i5 processor is fast and responsive under various tasks and I've been impressed at its snappy response time. You'll get the 256 SSD harddrive in this compact laptop, along with Windows 11 for the operating system. 8GB of RAM seems to work ok on this machine for this price point, but I do wish it came with 16GB for prolonging my longevity with this laptop. Portable size and taking it with me on the go is a must for me. This Asus Zenbook is 3.06 pounds in weight and .67" thin. I love the backlit keyboard for working at various hours of the day and night. I really have loved the touchpad and the ability to activate the illuminated number pad as I work on spreadsheets and formulas most of my day. The illuminated number pad can be turned on or off with the touch of a virtual button and took me some getting used to, but I love having this with the compact keyboard design. Another feature that was new to me was the Pantone Validated sticker on this machine. This simply means that this computer is up to par for designers and technicians since it's been verified to have adequate color correction technology to properly simulate the full range of Pantone colors. At a price of $749.99 this is a fantastic mid-tier computer that works well for so much of what I do for work from home tasks and also personal web browsing and shopping. This machine can also be used for light gaming and it still performs well, but it isn't meant for heavy usage on gaming. I have loved using the OLED screen, Dolby Atmos, and Harmon Kardon speakers to enjoy watching streaming movies and shows. The picture and sound are fantastic in my opinion. The laptop also has a nice hinge on the clamshell which allows for a 180-degree lay-flat design and also makes typing and keyboard feel more comfortable. PRO: Color design 14" OLED screen clarity Portable and lightweight Intel Evo i5 Great price and functionality for most users CON: More RAM and larger SSD would have been niceJKinSYR

The Asus ZenBook is definitely a compact, lightweight unit for those who don’t need a lot out of a laptop. While it has up-to-date technology, there’s nothing that makes it stand out, except for its small size and portability. Unboxing was a confusing experience. Normally, this is straightforward process, but somehow the labelling made it appear as if there was no “up” from which to open the box. Then, once the box was opened, the mechanism inside that gently lifts the laptop, to present it to the user, was slightly off, causing the laptop to become skewed, not lift, and subsequently difficult to extract. Initial setup was also strewn with difficulties that are normally not present. The power cord, for example, is much shorter than what I’m accustomed to. Whereas the cord on the laptop that I’m using to write this review has lots of slack to allow me to move around the table, the cord on the Asus is stretched taut as it has no slack at all. This would require a user, during travel, to have to be located very physically near an outlet to allow for charging. Another example of a setup head-scratcher was the logging into of Microsoft. I have an existing account that I use for just this situation, but MS would not recognize it. When I tried to create a new MS account, using the same info, MS reported that my requested username was already in existence…because it is…I’m using it. While I recognize that this is an MS issue, not an Asus issue, it was a sticking point, regardless. It’s not all bad, however. The display is fantastic. I purchased an LG OLED 4K UHD television several years ago because of the display. The colors are rich, and the blacks are black. The display on this laptop rivals that television. It’s extremely clear, with fantastic color saturation, and the graphics, while nothing to write home about, do a great job of filling out the display. The combination of the touchpad and the number pad is innovative; I’ve never seen that done before. Until I became used to it, I was always second-guessing myself as to whether I had hit the correct “buttons”. Without the tactile feedback of a button being “clicked” or depressed, I needed to confirm my accuracy. Finally, the ability of the screen to be laid back until it is flat is very helpful. The size and portability of the device allows it to be easily transported anywhere, but if it’s being used for assistance, such as a YouTube tutorial, one doesn’t want to always have to sit down to view the screen, then immediately stand back up again to perform the next task. Laying the screen flat allows one to stand over the laptop and easily view the screen without the glare one would expect. As discussed before, the excellent display allows this to happen. Overall, my perception is that this is a great starter laptop with basics that can be expanded upon in future purchases. It’s compact and lightweight, meaning that it can be easily transported for some distance/time. However, once the battery is depleted, the short charging cable requires the user to be very near an open outlet. Any issues experienced during setup are the responsibility of Microsoft, not Asus, but it’s worth noting as it may change Asus’s suppliers in the future. The functionality is great, especially the display. If one is using it while amid activity, the lay-flat screen adds efficiency by allowing the user to stand over it and continue viewing, and the graphics and colors don’t wash out. There is some innovation shown here that I would suspect appears in later and/or higher-end models in the future, such as the number pad overlay onto the touchpad. It does take some getting used to, but it works. If you feel uncomfortable with, or simply don’t want to, complete transactions on your mobile device, or tablet, this is the unit for you. It’s not a gaming system, and it’s not for pure business. It’s a vanilla, middle-of-the-road device that fills the gap between mobile devices and the need for a dedicated computer.DakotaDan

The Zenbook 14 OLED (UX3402, 12th Gen Intel) is a very nice laptop that has great features but also has some limitations. The features of this laptop are as follows: • An Evo platform core i5-1240p processor 1.7 GHz (12M cache, up to 4.4 GHz, 4P+8E cores) • 8 GB of RAM • 256 GB SSD • a 14" 2880×1800 OLED 90 Hz Display (2.8K) • a 75Wh Lithium Ion Battery. • a Harmon Kardon Dolby Atmos Audio System • ASUS AI Noise-cancelling audio for clear speech • 180 degree Lay-flat ErgoLift Hinge • US military-grade durability. • Left side has a 10 GB/Second USB 3.0 port. • Right side has: charging and backlight indicators, a microSD slot, 2 Thunderbolt(TM) 4 ports for display/power delivery port, a 3.5mm Combo Audio Jack, and an HDMI 2.0b port. This laptop weighs in a 3.06 lbs. and is 0.67" thin, making it highly portable. The included power supply is a 65W type-C AC Adapter and works in either of the thunderbolt ports. This model has windows 11 Home preinstalled. This Zenbook laptop has all of the typical WIFI and Bluetooth features one would expect in a system. The chicklet keyboard is nice and types well. The Harmon Kardon sound system sounds wonderful and is a really nice feature of this laptop. The included 2.8K OLED display is gorgeous and easy on the eyes. It would be a fantastic option in this series to have a touchscreen option available as that would make this an extremely awesome system, albeit at a high price point. The included thunderbolt ports along with the HMDI port makes for a useful set of external monitor options. I tested with my home setup that includes a USB – C based multiport display adapter and this laptop was able to drive primary laptop display and the 3 external monitors that I have connected to it at their recommended resolutions (main Screen 2880 x 1800, 2x 24"at 1920x 1200, and a 27" 4k monitor 3840 X 2160). I added a 4th external monitor via the HDMI port and was not able to drive this monitor with the other 3 – which is what I expected to happen but I had to give it a shot (on my home system this monitor is run via a USB based DisplayLink adapter). The most unique feature of this laptop is a special feature of the very large – some might say massive – 3" x 5" trackpad (my SurfaceBook's track pad is slightly larger than 4" x 3" for a much larger device as a comparison). When triggered this feature turns the trackpad into a keypad for quick data entry – this keypad can be activated in two ways – clicking and holds for a short press, on the upper right activates the key pad for what ever app you have open and also deactivates the keypad functionality once you are done with it. If you slide right from the upper left corner not only do you activate the keypad, but you also open the calculator app within the operating system. This upper left area can also be used to toggle the brightness of this keypad functionality between two brightness levels. Overall, I find that this device fits well for anyone who needs basic office automation functionality, along with some light picture and video editing capabilities along with portability. This could be professionals who are on the go, or students, or even parents who have a need for computing on the go. This is a very nice device and it would suit a large number of users and use cases. The only improvement I could wish for would be a touchscreen, but that would likely increase the price tag a bit.dnottingham4

So I just received this the other day and I can already tell I will definitely love this laptop! I am coming from a Macbook Air M1(not to put that laptop down), I just needed a Window's device for .NET development. As an added bonus I figured I could do some more gaming. This laptop is quite capable and offers a good experience with Windows. Games run very smoothly from what I've seen (this includes Minecraft, Phasmophobia, Spore, Starcraft the original and II, and I wouldn't be surprised to find many other games that work well). AMD did a great job with the Ryzen 6000 series and the fan noise does not come on too frequently and when it does it is not high pitched and annoying. The screen is nice, I have not used this outside yet but I think it would be ok in most cases especially in the shade. The battery life seems to be pretty good(definitely not as good as my macbook, but I expected this). The laptop is reasonably weighted and I don't have any problems lugging this around. The price of $795(after tax) is very good for a laptop of this quality. The keyboard is not as good as a macbook keyboard in my opinion, but honestly that opinion could change given time to adjust. The trackpad however is… ok I guess. I plan to use a mouse most of the time anyway. I am really glad that this laptop comes with 16GB of RAM as the only option, that is something I was looking for. The 1TB SSD is a nice bonus. At the end of the day: Would I recommend this laptop? Answer: YES!!Lime_Lite

I currently use this laptop for some personal home office/college use. I'll start off with the only two negatives I currently have. I know I chose the 15.6" because I use the heck out of a 10-key, but the size makes it pretty heavy in tablet mode, which I also wanted…..Therefore, if you can forgo the 10-key, I would recommend the smaller laptop if you will use tablet mode often. Also, like other reviews have stated, the lip around the edge of the screen is very flat when closed, which kind of makes it difficult to lift to open. Otherwise, I like everything else about the laptop. I bought it during the March spring sale and I feel you get a lot of bang for your buck. Plus Lenovo also gives additional discounts for First Responders/Teachers/Nurses, etc., which is awesome and can be used with other discounts! Set up was very intuitive. Screen quality/pixels are nice and crisp in my opinion. Sound/volume is fine for my needs. I like the track pad. My old laptop didn't have a track pad with integrated mouse buttons, so that's nice! Windows 11 is interesting but as usual it's fairly user-friendly. So far the 8gb ram is fine and nothing lags, but I don't do any sort of gaming. I bought the Lenovo Active Pen 2 separately (~$50) and it pairs very easily and works well. The pen also has an erase button which is very nice. You do have to have your hand off the screen to use properly, which is hard, but easily solved by a bit of fabric under my writing hand. The pen also doesn't slide as easily as I thought it should. Overall, I would buy the laptop again and would recommend it and Lenovo to anyone.KayHill

After possibly 6 months of learning and shopping for a 15 inch laptop, I am very happy to say that I made the right choice with this IdeaPad 5, with i7 and 16 GB RAM. I am not a professional reviewer, but here it goes. Overall Appearance & Feel The appearance is elegant and sleek. The case does not feel cheap and the friction on the lid allows you to position the lid angle anywhere from 0° (closed) to about 160° and holds strong. There are a significant amount of interface ports. However, it did NOT come with the charging port as shown in the photos and description. You can only charge using the only available UCB-C port and provided high-power charger – a typical USB-C plug-in charger will not charge the device. The keys could have a bit more stroke, but not too bad. They have a very minimal "tactile" feeling. One issue is the backslash key is nearly aligned against the top edge of the "Enter" key thus is is often inadvertently pressed. Why did they place the keys edge-to-edge? The trackpad is flawless, feels great and recognizes all gestures. However, I mostly use a Bluetooth mouse. The touchscreen works well. However, it often just stops working and requires either a reboot or go to Device Manager to disable and re-enable the HID Touchscreen device to get it working again. This happens maybe twice a week and is frustrating, but have not found a solution other than the manual remedy mentioned above. The camera on top of the lid has a mechanical shutter which I really like for privacy. Performance This laptop has no latency issues when using any of the basic office productivity applications, streaming videos, and web browsing. I can keep MANY apps open at once without any performance degradation. Start-up is extremely fast; the app-loading and commands are nearly instant, Amazing! The speed of this laptop is very impressive. It only takes about 5 seconds to start Windows from shutdown, I assume only if Windows "Fast Startup" is enabled, which it is. The finger print ID directly on center with the power button works flawlessly. I use it exclusively during login, I don't even remember my established password. Battery Excellent battery life. Windows automatically goes to sleep upon lid close, which is standard. Upon opening, you will need to enter your password or scan your fingerprint to unlock. I keep it generally plugged in, so not sure of full battery life. Sound Not impressive, but just ok for a 15 inch laptop. I am an audiophile so I would never listen to music on this thing. Connectivity More ports than other competition. I was especially looking for a full size SD Card reader because I do a lot of photo and video editing from SD Card storage. VERY DISAPPOINTING and MISLEADING that the laptop does not come with a dedicated charging jack, as shown in the image and description. The charging is done on the ONLY available USB-C port, thus you cannot simultaneously connect USB-C device while plugged-in. When not plugged in, I believe this port can deliver power to other mobile devices. Display Just ok. The brightness is not so good. For example, don't expect to do much work on a sunny day working in a park. My house has lots of windows and screen contents hard to see. The screen could be brighter. I'm not a gamer, so, otherwise, it suits me fine. Final Thoughts I would recommend this laptop for students and professionals, but not for serious gamers or graphic and video editing. I am very happy with the purchase and look forward to many years of use.Jason Sch

I've upgraded from a 2012 Macbook Pro to this M1 Max version. And quite frankly, most of the surface differences are quite minor. It's roughly the same size as my 2012 version except brighter, bigger screen without the Macbook logo at the bottom but with a new notch on top; a bigger trackpad that isn't mechanically driven; a keyboard that's nice and clicky, but with less travel than the old version and with a black background, and the ports have more modern USB-C upgrades; magsafe is pretty much the same and back but the cord is textured and i assume less resistant to breaking. All these things are the same but better, and I appreciate these small differences. I think people tend to overstate these differences though, with no shortage of over-enthusiasm, rational or not. But none of that really matters to me. What I love, love, love is the power, efficiency, and elegance of the design under the hood for programming, video editing, color grading, audio engineering in a form factor that I'm familiar with, that lasts forever on a battery and that doesn't burn my lap for heating inefficiency or deafen audio from an overbearing fan. For a long time I felt like Apple was just making incremental improvements (and some backsliding with the intention to innovate, but without the same revolutionary vision that made many of us fall in love with Apple). But it was really inspiring to see Apple return to true innovation and design by designing their chipset in-house, bearing all of the lessons from their success in phones and tablets. I won't have to buy another laptop for a long time because of this powerful, capable, and reliable machine.Thong

Where do I even start with this review – I suspect I can start with stating this is the best portable computer I have ever purchased. When I heard Apple was moving to their silicon, I was somewhat apprehensive. I thought my days of using the Mac would be over, as it would lead down a path of apps that only work on M1 or only work on Intel, and there would be compatibility issues and bugs to work out for the first few generations. My expectations couldn't have been farther from the truth. All but one or two ancillary applications I use have been compiled for native Apple Silicon and those that aren't run without issue. The most prominent app I use that is still not native for Apple Silicon is Microsoft Teams. Previous to this, I had a 2017 MacBook Pro with Touch Bar – it was a dual-core i7 with 16GB of memory. A solid performer at the time, but I was never impressed with battery life, and the amount of heat that the machine produced was evident of the inefficiencies in that platform. The new M1 machine is light years ahead in this regard. No matter how long I use the machine or whatever I throw at it, it NEVER heats up – and along these lines, the battery lasts forever. I'm not sure I've had the battery drop past 75% even after using for upwards of four hours untethered to the charger. I was hesitant to go anywhere without the charger with my old MBP. With this device, I have no issues going out for a few hours with the computer and not worrying about if I've got my charger with me. The display on this machine is fantastic. It's bright, colors are vivid, and the ProMotion Refresh is killer. Scrolling through any type of content is so smooth. Did I mention it's fast? Apps open instantly, and 16GB of memory seems to be enough. I now use this as my main computer, displacing my 27" Quad Core i5 iMac with 24GB of memory on my desktop machine for seven years. I have tons of apps open all the time, including most of the core MS Office suite, text editors, SSH sessions, Slack, Zoom, and countless browsers with multiple tabs, and this machine doesn't slow down in the least. All in all, I can't say anything bad about this computer, even for its size, the extra pound and change that it weighs over my previous generation 13" MBP. If you twisted my arm, I'd say that this machine is slightly too large to use comfortably in economy seats on most aircraft – so keep that in mind.DonnieZ

So far, the only let down is that the magnets holding the laptop closed are really strong and prevents me with bigger fingers from opening it one handed. The rest is mostly positive… Great performance, keyboard is good, screen is great, trackpad is accurate (though small). Microphone and camera are leaps better than my previous laptop and reviews state that they are amongst the best in the market for those telepresence meetings. Glad I got this before Microsoft decided to focus on the surface laptop studio instead of make another surface book.djjr50

It's essentially a Surface Book 2 that's significantly more powerful and capable… At a significantly higher price. While the price on the highest end of this product is borderline unacceptable; you'll immediately notice that workloads that caused the most powerful SB2 to struggle are brisk walks in the park to the highest end SB3. All in all, I wouldn't recommend this over the 2 if you're not handling stressing workloads that requires the pen and versatility of the Surface Book line.c.bangstrip

Unboxed it. Reading through features, I though I would try "presentation mode". This is attaching the screen facing away from the keyboard. In this configuration, the screen will no longer detach from the keyboard. The unit does not recognize that the screen is docked. The screen battery is dead. At any pricepoint this catastrophic design failure is unacceptable. At close to $4k it is beyond aggravating. Microsoft support was helpful in confirming the unit is useless.Suckered

I have a love-hate relationship with laptops. Even when purchasing a brand new one, I came across software & performance issues at every turn. It was so frustrating that even though all I wanted to do was simple tasks like just browsing the web, attending zoom calls for school, etc, I was unable to. And then I decided to get this Chromebook. Setting up the Chromebook took about 8 minutes, and a bulk of the time was just spent signing in and syncing my settings. The display is gorgeous and there is not a single time where anything is pixelated, out of focus, or distorted. Browsing the web on this Chromebook is fast, customizable, and very efficient. I also love how you can customize your privacy settings for each website you visit very easily (which is just a Chrome feature, but still!) Tablet mode on this device works so smoothly and I cannot wait to purchase a stylus for it! Battery life on this device is just as promised–AMAZING. It will last me a solid 9-10 hours, even with streaming movies or tv. The flip-able component of this laptop is great, and the hinges seem very durable. Perhaps my one-and-only complaint about this device is the fact that the speakers are located on the bottom of the device, which is not so good if you want to have it set up as a laptop. The speakers are also not as loud as I would have liked. This Chromebook is perfect for someone who is just looking for something compact, simple, and reliable. You can also download apps from the Android app store ( Google Play Store) which is very cool!Leah

This is only my second time using a Chromebook, which uses ChromeOS, and must start by saying this is not a Chromebook or Chromebox you have used before. Included in the packaging, is the Chromebook a USB C charger and detachable USB C Cord, and the Warranty/Ownership Manuals. I should note that this review covers the use and ownership of the Intel i3 Processor model and not the Celeron based unit. Unpacking is straightforward, with minimal packaging and the normal amount of peel off plastic. The Chromebook will welcome you with a beautiful red casing, which has a metallic like look and feel, a 13-inch touch capable screen, a built-in webcam, and a well sized backlit keyboard. On the right-hand side, you will find the power button with LED indicator (charging/power indicator) and a USB C port, while on the left-hand side you will find a volume button, a headphone jack, a MicroSD card slot, and another USB C port. I should point out that both ports allow for use with the included USB C charger, so you do not need to guess which port to plug in to. I am not sure if that is a standard feature in USB C compatible laptops but found this to be a small detail which took the anxiety out of charging the device. While this does advertise 128 GB storage, you should remember that approx. 20 GB is used for the OS. If you have used an Android based phone, you’ll find that most apps are available for use/install on the Google Play store. There was a quick system update after first power up, followed by a setup process with my Google (Gmail) account used for account setup and login. You can add more than one (1) user to the Chromebook, so if you are purchasing this for more than one user, you’re in luck! Apparently, you can have a much quicker setup if you use an Android phone with your Google account. If you’re afraid of space, simply pop in a MicroSD card and format as needed. I installed a 32 GB MicroSD, which was immediately recognized by the device, and was easily able to store apps and files. With the included Wi-Fi 6 capable hardware, and a compatible router or mesh network system, you’ll see quick speeds, and even quicker in-network speeds. I was impressed by the chromeOS’s ability to add a network mapped drive in Settings to access files on my local network server. This saved me the time of having to figure out a Google Drive connection or use an external thumb drive to facilitate any file access or transfer issues. In network speeds easily exceeded 500 Mbps and higher depending on file size. Internet speeds are also near ISP provided speeds with my mesh network (Wi-Fi 6 capable network), when running speed tests in the browser or using one of the more popular speed apps. Accessing websites using the included Google Chrome browser delivers the desktop like experience you’re used to seeing on any other laptop or desktop with the app. The browser quickly synced with my saved bookmarks and passwords with my Google account, and all my extensions installed automatically. This allowed me to use the Chromebook immediately after setup and updating. You may need to confirm some settings, but ultimately found this to be painless. Most tasks with Google apps are done within Chrome browser, even when launching the Google Apps shortcuts. Apps found on the Google Play store install in a similar way, and my only real annoyance is the lack of apps designed for use on a Chromebook, with a much larger desktop space. You will see apps sized the same way as the mobile app, and function essentially the same as any Android app you’re used to. The i3 processor ensures apps and browsing is snappy. I did not find any slow down of the apps being used, or when browsing websites with the chrome browser. Faster Wi-Fi also ensured that any cloud-based documents stored on my network server or on Google Drive were quickly synced, accessed, and updated. Switching to tablet mode is as easy as flipping the screen around. You can also position the screen to allow for the Chromebook to stand the screen up in landscape or portrait mode. The screen orients itself based on how it is being held or positioned, and the touchscreen is responsive. The keyboard does automatically disable, so you do not need to worry about accidentally tapping a key when holding. If you are using an external keyboard/mouse, those will continue to function normally, with the mouse icon only showing up during mouse movement. Having an iPad Pro, I am already used to a large area screen, but was surprised with the speed on the Chromebook. The tablet use does not feel like an afterthought, and I found myself using the device mostly in tablet mode after about a day. The QLED screen is vivid and clear and is probably one of the best monitors I have seen attached to a laptop since the IPS display technology launched. While the Samsung Galaxy Chromebook 2 supports and has a native 1920×1080 screen, you will find the size scaled down to allow for larger text. You can easily set the dispSamrio

My Google Pixelbook just died in midstream four days ago, after not quite four years of service, and I ordered this replacement. After reading reviews, I chose it over the Lenovo with a non-Intel processor (which costs about almost $300 less, with tax). There were two main reasons. First, I'm a lazy desktop cleaner and often have dozens of tabs open in separate windows. The Samsung's Intel i3 processor and reviews praising its relative speed made me think I'd be better off with it. Second, the Samsung has an all-metal case, as distinguished from the Lenovo's part-fabric one. I often isopropyl my computer and peripherals for hygiene, especially in the Covid era, and I didn't want to be saturating fabric. The keyboard, touchscreen and trackpad were not big factors for me, as I use an external keyboard, mouse, and monitor (in extension mode) except when traveling. It took me less than 50 minutes to set this machine up, including removing my keyboard and mouse from my wife's Mac, cleaning everything with isopropyl, and attaching my peripherals and all the dongles needed for them. It was basically plug and play, as the Chrome OS did all the heavy lifting. It recognized my peripherals and external monitor immediately and even kept my two foreign languages in the shelf menu. But it didn't transfer my oft-used Google Docs that I had pinned to the dock, or the changes to my modifier keys. All my bookmarks, stored passwords and other stored data were ready to go. It won't be this easy for those who are moving from Windows or Mac to Chrome for the first time. The Chrome OS and browser constitute a whole new system, with a distinct GUI and "feel." They take some getting used to. But I made transition when I was 73 and learned in time. The Google software is generally cleaner, simpler and faster than its Mac counterpart, but less graphically elegant and flexible. Google's software also has more trouble with text wrap and size scaling than the Mac's. One reason I made the transition was to avoid the feature bloat and constant changes that Apple seems to impose on users. But I still have my nine-year old Mac Mini at my own home. One hint for newbies to the Google Garden: since Google owns the search engine, it makes sure that instructions for Chromebooks and Pixelbooks are easily available. For example, just search for "How to pin a Google gdoc to the shelf" and the AI will tell you. Or you can just use Google Assistant ("Hey, Google") and ask it directly. The biggest problem is learning Google's sometimes different terminology (e.g., "shelf" = "dock," and "autofill" for passwords.) It takes time but isn't hard. I like having both a Google "laptop" and a Mac desktop for reliability, redundancy and security. These days, you never know when or where a software, hardware, or security vulnerability will crop up. So I think it's good to hedge your bets and use two completely different systems. I'll try to remember to supplement this review if the processor is too slow to handle may lazy desktop management well. But I can't imagine any change going below four stars.Cyberlawprof

So I just received this the other day and I can already tell I will definitely love this laptop! I am coming from a Macbook Air M1(not to put that laptop down), I just needed a Window's device for .NET development. As an added bonus I figured I could do some more gaming. This laptop is quite capable and offers a good experience with Windows. Games run very smoothly from what I've seen (this includes Minecraft, Phasmophobia, Spore, Starcraft the original and II, and I wouldn't be surprised to find many other games that work well). AMD did a great job with the Ryzen 6000 series and the fan noise does not come on too frequently and when it does it is not high pitched and annoying. The screen is nice, I have not used this outside yet but I think it would be ok in most cases especially in the shade. The battery life seems to be pretty good(definitely not as good as my macbook, but I expected this). The laptop is reasonably weighted and I don't have any problems lugging this around. The price of $795(after tax) is very good for a laptop of this quality. The keyboard is not as good as a macbook keyboard in my opinion, but honestly that opinion could change given time to adjust. The trackpad however is… ok I guess. I plan to use a mouse most of the time anyway. I am really glad that this laptop comes with 16GB of RAM as the only option, that is something I was looking for. The 1TB SSD is a nice bonus. At the end of the day: Would I recommend this laptop? Answer: YES!!Lime_Lite

I currently use this laptop for some personal home office/college use. I'll start off with the only two negatives I currently have. I know I chose the 15.6" because I use the heck out of a 10-key, but the size makes it pretty heavy in tablet mode, which I also wanted…..Therefore, if you can forgo the 10-key, I would recommend the smaller laptop if you will use tablet mode often. Also, like other reviews have stated, the lip around the edge of the screen is very flat when closed, which kind of makes it difficult to lift to open. Otherwise, I like everything else about the laptop. I bought it during the March spring sale and I feel you get a lot of bang for your buck. Plus Lenovo also gives additional discounts for First Responders/Teachers/Nurses, etc., which is awesome and can be used with other discounts! Set up was very intuitive. Screen quality/pixels are nice and crisp in my opinion. Sound/volume is fine for my needs. I like the track pad. My old laptop didn't have a track pad with integrated mouse buttons, so that's nice! Windows 11 is interesting but as usual it's fairly user-friendly. So far the 8gb ram is fine and nothing lags, but I don't do any sort of gaming. I bought the Lenovo Active Pen 2 separately (~$50) and it pairs very easily and works well. The pen also has an erase button which is very nice. You do have to have your hand off the screen to use properly, which is hard, but easily solved by a bit of fabric under my writing hand. The pen also doesn't slide as easily as I thought it should. Overall, I would buy the laptop again and would recommend it and Lenovo to anyone.KayHill

After possibly 6 months of learning and shopping for a 15 inch laptop, I am very happy to say that I made the right choice with this IdeaPad 5, with i7 and 16 GB RAM. I am not a professional reviewer, but here it goes. Overall Appearance & Feel The appearance is elegant and sleek. The case does not feel cheap and the friction on the lid allows you to position the lid angle anywhere from 0° (closed) to about 160° and holds strong. There are a significant amount of interface ports. However, it did NOT come with the charging port as shown in the photos and description. You can only charge using the only available UCB-C port and provided high-power charger – a typical USB-C plug-in charger will not charge the device. The keys could have a bit more stroke, but not too bad. They have a very minimal "tactile" feeling. One issue is the backslash key is nearly aligned against the top edge of the "Enter" key thus is is often inadvertently pressed. Why did they place the keys edge-to-edge? The trackpad is flawless, feels great and recognizes all gestures. However, I mostly use a Bluetooth mouse. The touchscreen works well. However, it often just stops working and requires either a reboot or go to Device Manager to disable and re-enable the HID Touchscreen device to get it working again. This happens maybe twice a week and is frustrating, but have not found a solution other than the manual remedy mentioned above. The camera on top of the lid has a mechanical shutter which I really like for privacy. Performance This laptop has no latency issues when using any of the basic office productivity applications, streaming videos, and web browsing. I can keep MANY apps open at once without any performance degradation. Start-up is extremely fast; the app-loading and commands are nearly instant, Amazing! The speed of this laptop is very impressive. It only takes about 5 seconds to start Windows from shutdown, I assume only if Windows "Fast Startup" is enabled, which it is. The finger print ID directly on center with the power button works flawlessly. I use it exclusively during login, I don't even remember my established password. Battery Excellent battery life. Windows automatically goes to sleep upon lid close, which is standard. Upon opening, you will need to enter your password or scan your fingerprint to unlock. I keep it generally plugged in, so not sure of full battery life. Sound Not impressive, but just ok for a 15 inch laptop. I am an audiophile so I would never listen to music on this thing. Connectivity More ports than other competition. I was especially looking for a full size SD Card reader because I do a lot of photo and video editing from SD Card storage. VERY DISAPPOINTING and MISLEADING that the laptop does not come with a dedicated charging jack, as shown in the image and description. The charging is done on the ONLY available USB-C port, thus you cannot simultaneously connect USB-C device while plugged-in. When not plugged in, I believe this port can deliver power to other mobile devices. Display Just ok. The brightness is not so good. For example, don't expect to do much work on a sunny day working in a park. My house has lots of windows and screen contents hard to see. The screen could be brighter. I'm not a gamer, so, otherwise, it suits me fine. Final Thoughts I would recommend this laptop for students and professionals, but not for serious gamers or graphic and video editing. I am very happy with the purchase and look forward to many years of use.Jason Sch

I like the overall idea of this device and its a nice, sleek. light-weight unit, but I have noticed in a short time of only 3 weeks that the track pad becomes unresponsive requiring either the use of a mouse, or the touch screen. Its way too early for this to be acting this way after on a few weeks of use and its not exactly a convenience for me to have to go thru a whole lets go get repair and see what is going on – with a brand new unit. Some operations depending on what you are doing are not always touchscreen friendly so the track pad as the only other option for operating needs some work. I also noticed that when using the folding style folded option the keyboard does not pop up on the screen always. Overall this is decent for a student doing basic operations. I did not like the way it was packaged – (I included a photo of this before removing any of the contents – it was poorly packaged (see photos) with too many gaps within the box for me, especially since it is a delicate item that can be damaged or compromised so easily depending on how it has been handled during shipment.HomeSchoolMom

Picked up this Chromebook for my sister, she just needed it for basic surfing, email and light printing tasks. This is perfect for her and has been a great replacement for her older, slower Windows notebook. The touchscreen is great, the display is beautiful, and coming from a financial background she loves the numeric keypad. Have had no issues, all apps are running perfectly and the Chrome browser is easy to use. I did have an issue getting her Epson printer setup and I ended up installing an app called Epson iPrint which took care of that issue nicely. All in all a very capable mid-level touchscreen Chromebook.Wayne

I would recommend this product to anyone. This can be used for personal or professional purposes. The abyss blue is a beautiful color, very different compared to the typical gray or black. The "intel" is amazing; I am able to load anything within seconds. The touchscreen aspect is of course an added bonus if you are into that kind of thing. The most fascinating part in my opinion is the fact that the screen folds all the way back; it's like having a huge tablet. Really worth the money.neffygist

Truly disappointed with ASUS. The specs seemed fantastic and got it on a slight sale. I had to return it even though I tried to like it and put up with it. The sound system is horrible and need to push volume to 100% max while you sit right in front of the laptop. If you're using it for eg. online exercise, you'll need to hook up to external speakers as you step back from the hardware to properly hear the instructor. Also noticeable weak audio performance (even at max volume) if there are other noise around you or noticeable sounds from outside your window like your neighbour's snow blower. Generally video images are not sharp. Eg. YouTube videos or streaming shows. The webcam or screen (not sure) when having zoom meetings show me as blurry and other attendees' images aren't sharp either. The battery life won't last past half a day — 3.5 hrs when I was streaming shows before it asks to plug in. It might be slightly better if I'm just scrolling through FB, replying to emails, do a bit of online banking, read some articles and play some video clips — pretty basic uses nowadays. I am just using Google Chrome with maybe 4 tabs open. So caution about carrying your laptop to school/work without your charger. I am frustrated when the laptop is marketed as 8 hrs battery life when it's actual use isn't close. Who buys a laptop for an IDLE battery lifespan? Salespeople have told me to half this figure which is shocking but probably the most honest tip. Any positives? Yes, I like that there are 3 USB ports when many laptops are down to 2. The bigger GB RAM is nice. INTEL core i5 is nice. Good size at 15.6" with number keypad. I like the ergo lift of the keyboard when opening screen. If you're needing the laptop for just work/school, this is probably a good buy on sale. But if you want to use it for some entertainment, which you will, be prepared to be frustrated. This was such a weak performer for the eye catching specs that it has — the audio, screen images and battery life were deal breakers for me.Lynn

After thorough research for a new laptop, I came across the Asus Vivobook. I of course was curious about the 3 and a half stars this laptop was rated as the specs are amazing and exactly what I was looking for. There were lots of complaints about the screen being too dim and the sound being bad quality. First off, you can adjust the screen brighter in the settings. I actually left mine as is (50%) because any brighter than that, your eyes are straining. Secondly, I guess I understand the feedback on the sound quality as it does sound a bit muffled. However, you ARE able to understand what you are watching or listening on this laptop. I personally use my earphones to listen to things on my laptop as I don’t like to disturb whoever is around me and the sound is perfect. Now, I’m not a computer wizard but I currently have a MacBook and my new Vivobook is just as impressive. Just figured I’d jump on here to let whoever is looking for a laptop with amazing specs for a good price, this is the laptop for you!payitforward

Honestly this laptop on paper looks fine, but that's about it. There is an annoying high pitched sound that emits from the keyboard (assuming it's the fan) – it sounds like one of those pixelated noises. All the other reviewers' comments about the screen and fan are true. The screen is terrible. You'll have to jack up the brightness to see anything. I've bought this laptop for about 2 months now and for the most part it serves its purpose. There are definitely more cons than pros. I might add, I've also purchased this same laptop about 3 times, all 3 times there were something wrong with it. Such as, the infamous bluescreen, screen unresponsiveness (as in it was black even though the laptop was on), and issues with blue tooth. Now for some reason the trackpad has stopped working, I had a call with Asus the other evening and did everything they could to try and rectify the issue but to no avail. They have sent me back to Best Buy – wish me luck! The only good thing is that the keyboard is very nice to type on. The feedback on it is great! My old Asus laptop lasted me 7 years, so I was very disappointed to see that this piece of garbage was stamped with the same brand name. If you have a little more money, please buy something else and save yourself a headache.Herm

So, being a techy nerdy type, but not so much that I do many reviews. I bought this honestly for its speed, military specs, really freaking solid case. The Abyss blue is fantastic it looks sharp, aluminum brushed slightly, seriously it is a beauty.I've been complimented on it several times already. Even though there's 4gb ram Chromes OS takes nothing to run, then Ryzen 3 processor and 128gb storage, I'll give AMD a go. Fast, easy switch between desktops, yes multiple desktops are supported, easy button access, I'm sure there's a gesture, I just haven't gotten through all the material explaining them all. So far no heat issues, good battery life while using, stand by and powered off. Its taking a bit of getting used to Chrome OS, I've already been updated to 99, I guess 100 is still testing. My only con(s) would be that widgets are native, there is a very distinct difference between Android 12 and Chrome OS, I knew this going in, but that is not Lenovo's issue. Weight, coming in at 3+lbs its a carry if you've got books, note pads, headphones and in my case a couple tools and letter size note pad for inspections. If I was doing work like a few months ago where I needed a variety of tools this would just add too much weight. Lenovo could implement palm detection when stylus is out for times when you need to rest your hand to draw, note, edit etc as you would on paper. It's easily solved with a $5 glove off Amazon.Danial C

Originally, I was looking at going a few steps higher to replace my old Acer chromebook. When the deal came up after Christmas on this Lenovo laptop, this seemed Iike a good investment. After using it for a few days, I am still on the fence about it. Let's start with what met expectations. First I knew the laptop would be a big heavier than my previous Acer. So there were no surprise there. Keyboard and mouse pad are an upgrade from what I had earlier and the overall performance – since it's a powerful chip and has larger RAM – is obviously better. Screen, humm… HD screen is also an upgrade, but it is not as bright as my old laptop and the whites are not as clear; they have a yellowish hue which is totally not what I expected from a brand new laptop. Another disappointment was the battery. When specifications mention the battery is meant to last around 10hrs, that's an overstatement. After giving it a full charge, the usage I could get out of it was closer to about 5h 30min. I cannot say I am happy about this at all. This was the main reason I changed: battery life. My old Acer used to be up and running for 10-11hrs non stop but now it's less than 5hrs. So the change to Yoga Chromebook only made me gain about 1hrs… I think everyone will agree this is NOT meeting expectations. So overall, I am still on the fence about this laptop. Will I send it back… I don't know yet. Would I recommend it… same answer…Michel B

I picked this up on sale for $480 after looking around for a "premium" Chromebook as most Chromebooks suffer from poor materials and build quality and durability issues with poor to mediocre displays and processors. I specifically wanted a bright, hi-res GLASS display (for cleaning and clarity purposes) and a lighted keyboard in a sturdy package, and the C13 ticked all the boxes. The aluminum casing is super stiff and rigid and not prone to flexing and creaking of every other Chromebook I've used, and not prone to "ghost" input on the trackpad from the casing flexing like on cheap plastic models. I didn't really care about the convertible tablet features, but now that I have it, I find myself using the tablet feature quite a bit and am very impressed with how well it functions as a tablet. My experience with Android based tablets early on was terrible, but this actually feels as though it was designed to function in full as a tablet vs. being a laptop with a screen that folds back. In my normal day to day computer time, I find myself using the stylus in "laptop mode" for scrolling and browsing which has been suprisingly convenient and useful. Now the drawbacks: it's heavy. If you can't rest this on your lap, you won't want to use it as a tablet, and even then, over extended periods, it gets heavy. It also gets hot — the fan really kicks in a lot, and certain spots on the aluminum casing get very warm/nearly hot to the touch, especially noticeable in tablet mode as one spot is right where I imagine most people would hold the "tablet." And price — at $879 I would never have looked at this model. I don't think I would have considered it at $697, even. But at $479 it's a clear value leader in the Chromebook category.J Edward

So far, the only let down is that the magnets holding the laptop closed are really strong and prevents me with bigger fingers from opening it one handed. The rest is mostly positive… Great performance, keyboard is good, screen is great, trackpad is accurate (though small). Microphone and camera are leaps better than my previous laptop and reviews state that they are amongst the best in the market for those telepresence meetings. Glad I got this before Microsoft decided to focus on the surface laptop studio instead of make another surface book.djjr50

It's essentially a Surface Book 2 that's significantly more powerful and capable… At a significantly higher price. While the price on the highest end of this product is borderline unacceptable; you'll immediately notice that workloads that caused the most powerful SB2 to struggle are brisk walks in the park to the highest end SB3. All in all, I wouldn't recommend this over the 2 if you're not handling stressing workloads that requires the pen and versatility of the Surface Book line.c.bangstrip

Unboxed it. Reading through features, I though I would try "presentation mode". This is attaching the screen facing away from the keyboard. In this configuration, the screen will no longer detach from the keyboard. The unit does not recognize that the screen is docked. The screen battery is dead. At any pricepoint this catastrophic design failure is unacceptable. At close to $4k it is beyond aggravating. Microsoft support was helpful in confirming the unit is useless.Suckered

Overall I am generally very happy with this product. – The processing speed is very good for the $ spent, the computer boots up very quickly and I often play games, watch videos/movies online and the computer has been able to handle that perfectly. – The touchscreen is very good, I am very happy with that. – The battery life is not terrible, but I have not been able to operate the computer for anywhere close to the 9 hours even when only surfing the internet & not playing games or watching movies. The battery seems to drain when I close the computer so I have just resorted to powering down the laptop instead of putting it to sleep. – As this was a refurninshed laptop, I was very happy with the condition with only one exception. There are no scratches, dents or any other blemishs when looking at the computer (looks brand new). However the mouse pad does not function perfectly. This is only a minor annoyance and the other benefits outweigh this one defect.josrod8736

When I buy something new I research everything to the nth degree. This machine was no exception. I considered laptops from Dell and HP as well. Almost bought the one from HP. But, I really wanted a touchscreen and stylus; I find them to be really useful. As with most laptops in this price range, you have to be prepared to make concessions. There is no Optane memory but, with the NVME hard drive, that really isn't an issue. This machine is really fast, even with the slow base processor speed. If you haven't bought a computer in a few years you will be amazed at how far things have come. This thing boots up in less than 5 seconds! And it contains tech usually reserved for higher end models like a fingerprint sensor and a thunderbolt port. Then, there is the price. I have always been a fan of factory refurbished products for this reason and have never had any issues. Plus, the 2 year warranty makes me feel good about taking a chance-most refurbished products have a 30 or 90 warranty. You get a lot of bang for your buck here. A $650 machine for $499 and then I got 15% off on top of that. It was a steal. If you are on the fence and need a computer for work or home and don't do anything like play games or edit videos, take a chance, you won't be disappointed.cke_us_4imktj

Package arrive in 3 days brand new sealed. This is an older model so buy the warranty if you need to. I upgraded it to windows 11. Even for an older model I think it’s a great choice I wanted a 2 in 1 Pc for drawing with the stylus included that I can use as a back up work computer. This is the only. Black Friday PC that fit the criteria at the $399 priceJheanel

This is a beautiful laptop with very reliable build quality. It's battery life is enough for general purpose computing throughout the day. The fan is silent and inactive most of the time. The system speed is very fast and can be upgraded to newer versions of macosx. The aluminum chasis, thin profile, and lightweight make it VERY convenient to carry around and travel. Windows 7, 8, 10 can be installed via boot camp. It's keyboard is back-lit, and it's on board memory and drive can be upgraded for more capacity to future proof the system. It is very reliable and doesn't lag. Menus respond instantly. Wifi and Bluetooth have Amazing range, and can reach wireless access points regular laptops can't. There's a magnetic charging cable, so if you accidentally tugged on the wire it won't pull the laptop off the table. There's a variety of input ports such as USB, dvi, thunderbolt, etc. The microphone grill is cleverly hidden and you won't even know it has a microphone. The webcam has acceptable image quality, and frame rates are smooth. If you install windows, you have the best of both worlds with a dual booting macosx and windows device.mavhaim.k

In a world where macs will run you thousands of dollars, this one is a nice option for less than half the price of new. The specs are pretty low but they still will work for light work, especially for the age and how popular cloud services are. The size is nice and portable so can really replace using a tablet if you wanted. Downside is that it certainly can't handle heavy workloads. Even basic flash games usually lag too much to really play. The space to store your own stuff is small but, as I said before, livable in this world of cloud services. The RAM though, that is rough. My memory usage regularly hangs around 50-80% usage, which can start to hang things up a bit. Don't plan on having a bunch of tabs open or too many programs. But you can get used to how to handle it easily enough. Overall, for the price you can get these at, paired with still being able to use the latest OS and being quick enough for the modern world, it's easily worth it. I've used this as my daily driver since I got it a few years ago and I've only recently felt the desire to get something else to play games on.hannah.e

was a little skeptic of the keyboard since I also use a retina macbook 12. Now after using the new 15 macbook pro for a few weeks, every time I go back to the flat keyboard of the rMB12, it feels awkward. The keyboard on the new macbook pros are definitely superior to those found on earlier retina macbooks. Other than the good keyboard both the performance, screen quality and the battery longevity are the strong points for Apple's flagship laptop. I am getting around 8-9 hours on 40-50% sreen brightness. I have learned the hard way that the screen brightness is the ultimate battery killer, since I simply can not run the CPU more than 10% (even if I run multiple browser tabs and browsers, mail app and watch videos at the same time – although no rendering or cpu demanding tasks, watching video on browser or video conferencing were quite hard on the rMB12), if I run the screen with 90-100% brightness I get around 4-5 hours runtime. Since 50% is more than enough for a satisfactory screen experience, I will give this macbook 5 stars for Apple's engineering requirements of making the laptop lighter by putting a ~75% smaller battery than the older rMBP15, and the other 5 stars goes to intel's energy efficient but powerful 7th gen quad core cpu. To sum it up 2017 MBP15 is the way to go if do not have very strict backpack/carry on choices that pushes you towards MBP13. I am happy with both of my choices and will be upgrading when the time comes both MB12 as an always with me and MBP15 as the ultimate workhorse all round laptop. Both worth the money and highly recommended.rose.m

After possibly 6 months of learning and shopping for a 15 inch laptop, I am very happy to say that I made the right choice with this IdeaPad 5, with i7 and 16 GB RAM. I am not a professional reviewer, but here it goes. Overall Appearance & Feel The appearance is elegant and sleek. The case does not feel cheap and the friction on the lid allows you to position the lid angle anywhere from 0° (closed) to about 160° and holds strong. There are a significant amount of interface ports. However, it did NOT come with the charging port as shown in the photos and description. You can only charge using the only available UCB-C port and provided high-power charger – a typical USB-C plug-in charger will not charge the device. The keys could have a bit more stroke, but not too bad. They have a very minimal "tactile" feeling. One issue is the backslash key is nearly aligned against the top edge of the "Enter" key thus is is often inadvertently pressed. Why did they place the keys edge-to-edge? The trackpad is flawless, feels great and recognizes all gestures. However, I mostly use a Bluetooth mouse. The touchscreen works well. However, it often just stops working and requires either a reboot or go to Device Manager to disable and re-enable the HID Touchscreen device to get it working again. This happens maybe twice a week and is frustrating, but have not found a solution other than the manual remedy mentioned above. The camera on top of the lid has a mechanical shutter which I really like for privacy. Performance This laptop has no latency issues when using any of the basic office productivity applications, streaming videos, and web browsing. I can keep MANY apps open at once without any performance degradation. Start-up is extremely fast; the app-loading and commands are nearly instant, Amazing! The speed of this laptop is very impressive. It only takes about 5 seconds to start Windows from shutdown, I assume only if Windows "Fast Startup" is enabled, which it is. The finger print ID directly on center with the power button works flawlessly. I use it exclusively during login, I don't even remember my established password. Battery Excellent battery life. Windows automatically goes to sleep upon lid close, which is standard. Upon opening, you will need to enter your password or scan your fingerprint to unlock. I keep it generally plugged in, so not sure of full battery life. Sound Not impressive, but just ok for a 15 inch laptop. I am an audiophile so I would never listen to music on this thing. Connectivity More ports than other competition. I was especially looking for a full size SD Card reader because I do a lot of photo and video editing from SD Card storage. VERY DISAPPOINTING and MISLEADING that the laptop does not come with a dedicated charging jack, as shown in the image and description. The charging is done on the ONLY available USB-C port, thus you cannot simultaneously connect USB-C device while plugged-in. When not plugged in, I believe this port can deliver power to other mobile devices. Display Just ok. The brightness is not so good. For example, don't expect to do much work on a sunny day working in a park. My house has lots of windows and screen contents hard to see. The screen could be brighter. I'm not a gamer, so, otherwise, it suits me fine. Final Thoughts I would recommend this laptop for students and professionals, but not for serious gamers or graphic and video editing. I am very happy with the purchase and look forward to many years of use.Jason Sch

This Lenovo is no good for high memory-intensive applications. It also has a paucity of USB ports, so I had to purchase a 10-port USB hub in order to use it without hassle. I bought the laptop as a emergency measure after my old HP Envy (also purchased at JL years ago) one day developed a serious issue and suddenly became unusable. I chose this Lenovo until I could decide on a more money-intensive model to invest in. However, I am still currently using it. Tolerating it, really. The member of staff who sold this to me at Peter Jones in London was very helpful. I needed something to purchase on the spot to get by and this was the only laptop available in store that day with the bear minimum configuration I could accept, until I could find something better. I use it with an external monitor and USB keyboard and mouse, so I can't say anything about the comfort or layout of the laptop's keypad. I don't save any documents on the tiny hard drive because I use an external storage drive (always now fearing the worst). The laptop's fan isn't particularly noisy (at least, it wasn't for the first 2 months, but recently has started to whirr a bit too often). But the main negative for me is that this Lenovo comes installed with Windows 10 "S Mode", which I knew nothing about (and which was not pointed out at the time of purchase). S Mode means you can only download and use apps from the Windows Store — this means I can't, for example, install Google Chrome (I am stuck with Microsoft Edge, which I hate — it might be built like Google Chrome, but somehow it lacks…something) and I can't use any of my Adobe Creative Cloud apps. In order to use everything I had on my previous laptop, I have to upgrade to full Windows 10 (and once you do that, you can't go back to S Mode). But with only 8GB RAM on this Lenovo, those Adobe apps will be effectively unusable anyway. Don't get me wrong, I am happy to have a laptop that focuses on security and blocks potentially harmful issues (the reason I had to ditch my old laptop) but it shouldn't prevent apps which are in common use and have been trusted for years. So overall, this Lenovo is average, nothing special, and sometimes a real pain. But it hasn't crashed since I've had it, so that's something.Marge