ASUS VivoBook S400CA-DH51T 14" Touchscreen Ultrabook Gray

Pros: Stylish and Elegant Design. Great Price.

Cons: Control pad positioning is a big drawback for this computer.
the Control is suppose to be in the Middle instead of on the left side.

Hard to use the control pad and not smoothy as the Dell PC.

Other Thoughts: Should improve the control pad and re-positioning the pa in the middle.

Pros: Light, thin, fast, and looks good.

Cons: The system keeps pausing sometimes, not all the time. It looks like crash issue; so, I have had to remove the wireless adapter driver and reinstall again and again everytime the pausing issue occur. And, as others mentiond, touchscreen sometimes stops function.

Other Thoughts: Max memory is not limited to 4g only, It's expandable. I upgraded to 8g and have no problem with it.

Pros: None

Cons: I have had this computer for more then 3 month and have use less then 2 week's. The hard drive went out on day one and now it freezes every time i turn it on. Save your money and not buy this product!

Manufacturer Response:

Dear Valued Customer,

I am sorry to read that you are having issues with the computer. Your computer shouldn't be having the issues that you are describing. If I may, I would like to help.

Just send me an email to cl-mark@asus.com. Please include the laptop's model and serial number.

Regards,

Mark
ASUS Customer Loyalty

Pros: Looks great, runs fast.

Cons: Wifi Card has an extremely short range. Works well when I am in the same room as the router, but after leaving the room and walking out around 15-20 feet internet gets extremely sluggish. This completely ruined my "New Laptop" experience. I have decided to get a USB network adapter card.

Manufacturer Response:

Dear Valued Customer,

I apologize for the issues that you are having with the Wifi. Does it work completely fine with the USB adapter? It’s a nice work-around, but if you ever wanted to have your notebook checked out, remember you do have a warranty on it, and it’s always an option to send it in. If you would like more information; or if you have any questions, please feel free to e-mail me at cl-tien@asus.com. I’ll be more than happy to assist you in any way that I can.

Best Regards,

Tien
ASUS Customer Loyalty

Pros: Portable but full featured with a decent battery life, even when on high power

Cons: Touch screen is flakey at best. After uninstalling some ASUS programs, the touch screen does not work at all. Speaking of the ASUS programs, many of their settings pages are there only for show, and do not actually change the behavior of input devices.

Biggest con of all is Windows 8. I really wanted to like it, but it is just clunky and not at all user friendly. Does not work well with this device

Manufacturer Response:

Dear Valued Customer,

Which programs did you install that caused the touchscreen not to work anymore? Were you able to get it working again or is your touchscreen still out of commission? If it’s not working properly, please feel free to e-mail me at cl-tien@asus.com. I’ll be happy to help you figure out what’s going on with your laptop.

Best Regards,

Tien
ASUS Customer Loyalty

Pros: I research many webpage for almost a year before buying my next laptop. I research Sony, Acer, Toshiba, IBM Lenovo and Asus Notebooks. At first i wanted just a notebook for gaming, but then i realize how much more valuable and useful where ultrabooks. To be honest, this is neither the lightest ultrabook nor the thinnest. The major contenders where the Toshiba U845/U945 with Blue aluminum finish, Acer M5 Series Aluminum finish, Lenovo Yoga, Asus Zenbooks series, Asus Vivo Series and Sony ultrabooks.

Let me state this clearly, no ultrabook seems to have it all, at least not right for everyone. Some have touchscreens, some backlit keyboards, some optical drives or SSD drives. Keeping that in mind, some features are worth more than others for people depending on their needs or desires. However the Asus vivo book excels in many of its features.

Pros:
- Chiclet Keyboard, very nice response
-I5-3317U Processor 1.7ghz
-4gb DDR3 1600mhz/ Free Memory slot
-14.1" LCD Touchscreen
-24gb SSD Cache, Fast
-3 Usb Ports (2x 2.0 usb and 1x 3.0 usb)
-HDMI Port
-Battery life approx. 4-5 hrs
-Sonic Master speakers ( Incredible sound, really good and loud)
-Touch pad is very good, detect 4 finger features.

Cons: Like i said, not all laptops can have it all, and especially not cheap in price. These aren't necessary all Cons but what some or i at least desire to have. I didn't go for sony because they are expensive and feel cheap, sad. Lenovo yoga very nice but read review were lcd break easily. Acer M5, almost went for it, but the vivobook finish is was much better, almost like a macbook air. Toshiba, well i am a Toshiba tech and i got tire of them but if it wasn't vivobook it was Toshiba ultrabook u945 series.

-No optical drive (i dont care, some will)
-No backlit Keyboard (why i don’t know, sigh it’s all it needed IMO)
-No Bluetooth
-LCD is a little faint in color (You can fix this with Saturation or color Enhancement)
-4.4 pounds, not the lightest still really good ( pro or con, depends on person)
-Headphone Jack and Mic in the same port (Hmmmm)

Other Thoughts: Now this laptop has been as low as 578.99-640.00 in some webpages or stores. I got mine for 400 practically new. This notebooks is worth getting if all your looking for is for a laptop with Touchscreen, Good keyboard, Fairly light and thin, really fast ( specially with their 2 sec boot program) and very good Sound. Built quality is superb and feels like a high quality product. However, I suggest something’s be upgraded.
1. SSD Drive, you will bring even more life and full potential to your laptop in speed, reliability and better battery life
2.Memory, at least another 8gb Ram 1600mhz ( recommend Vengeance Corsair Memory)

Pros: I research many webpage for almost a year before buying my next laptop. I research Sony, Acer, Toshiba, IBM Lenovo and Asus Notebooks. At first i wanted just a notebook for gaming, but then i realize how much more valuable and useful where ultrabooks. To be honest, this is not the lightest ultrabook nor the thinnest. The major contenders where the toshiba U845/U945 with Blue aluminum finish, Acer M5 Series Aluminum finish, Lenovo Yoga, Asus Zenbooks series, ASus Vivo Series and Sony ultrabooks.

Let me state this clearly, no ultrabook seems to have it all, at least not right for everyone. Some have touchscreens, some backlit keyboards, some optical drives or SSD drives. Keeping that in mind, some features are worth more then others for people depending on their needs or desires. However the Asus vivo book excels in many of its features.

Pros:
- Chiclet Keyboard, very nice response
-I5-3317U Processor 1.7ghz
-4gb DDR3 1600mhz/ Free Memory slot
-14.1" LCD Touchscreen
-24gb SSD Cache, Fast
-3 Usb Ports (2x 2.0 usb and 1x 3.0 usb)
-HDMI Port
-Battery life approx. 4-5 hrs
-Sonic Master speakers ( Incredible sound, really good and loud)
-Touch pad is very good, detect 4 finger features.

Cons: Like i said, not all laptops can have it all, and specially not cheap in price. These aren't necessary all Cons but what some or i at least desire to have. I didn't go for sony because they are expensive and feel cheap, sad. Lenovo yoga very nice but read review were lcd break easily. Acer M5, almost went for it, but the vivobook finish is was much better, almost like a macbook air. Toshiba, well i am a Toshiba tech and i got tire of them but if it wasn't vivobook it was Toshiba ultrabook u945 series.

-No optical drive (i dont care, some will)
-No backlit Keyboard ( why i dont no know, sigh its all it needed IMO)
-No bluetooth
-LCD is a little faint in color ( You can fix this with Saturation or color Enhancement)
-4.4 pounds, not the lightest still really good ( pro or con, depends on person)
-Headphone Jack and Mic in the same port (Hmmmm)

Other Thoughts: Now this laptop has been as low as 578.99-640.00 in some webpages or stores. I got mine for 400 practically new. This notebooks is worth getting if all your looking for is for a laptop with Touchscreen, Good keyboard, Fairly light and thin, really fast ( specially with their 2 sec boot program) and very good Sound. Built quality is superb and feels like a high quality product. However, i suggest somethings be upgraded.
1. SSD Drive, you will bring even more life and full potential to your laptop in speed, reliability and better battery life
2.Memory, at least another 8gb Ram 1600mhz ( recommend Vengeance Corsair Memory)
3. Wifi Card to Intel 6235 Dual Band with Bluetooth
I performed these upgrades as suggested by another reviewer. Worth every penny. I already loved my laptop and now i love it even more. Yes i recommend this laptop and these upgrades on any ultrabook but best on Asus Vivo Ultrabook S400CA-DH51T.

Pros: It's light, thin, and....that's it.

Cons: I hate this laptop. I can't seem to use it efficiently. I thought it was just beginner's issues but I've now had it for three months and I just hate it more and more. I can't get certain things to work, the scroll doesn't work well, I can't get windows to close, if you touch the mouse pad just the right way you can delete everything you just typed...the keys are horrible...I just hate it. I wish I could return it and go back to my 10 year old Dell. For an average tech person who just wants to do papers, business things, and have a computer to work the right way, this thing is horrible.

Other Thoughts: As said before, maybe it's just me and my lack of learning but some of the aesthetics are really annoying...like the lack of the touch on the mousepad when you want it and then having it when you don't.

Manufacturer Response:

Dear Valued Customer,

Sorry to hear that you are having issues with the touch pad. Here is a link below that will help resolve your issue and let you be able to update to the latest bios and drivers.

Just make sure you download the ATKACPI drivers under utilities and then update the driver for touch pad.

http://www.asus.com/Notebooks_Ultrabooks/ASUS_VivoBook_S400CA/#support_Download_36

Here is another link to help you learn some tricks to help you get around windows 8

http://www.techradar.com/us/news/software/operating-systems/50-windows-8-tips-tricks-and-secrets-1028220

If you have any questions or comments you can email me again at cl-jeffrey@asus.com which I reside in the U.S

ASUS strives to meet and exceeds our customer expectations within our warranty policy.

Regards,

Jeffrey

Pros: This laptop is portable, stylish and fast. This laptop is perfect for college or anyone that needs to have portability but also have the performance.

Cons: nothing

Pros: Unlike a few other reviews I think the screen is decent. I didn't expect a much higher end display at this price point. The i5 seems to keep up OK but again not completely blown away.

Cons: The lack of bluetooth is something that I honestly overlooked because at this point I felt that it would be standard.. I didn't think anything considered an "ultrabook" would come standard without such a basic feature..

The RJ45 jack on the right hand side of the unit flips open, which I have seen before.. Unfortunately I have seen a few broken at the hinge as well. This one feel sturdy but it's always a weakness when I rely on the connection frequently.

The Mic and Headphone port are the same physical port, the functionality is just switched with an Asus tool. This is unfortunate when you need input along with headphones. Again this shows the lack of bluetooth to be an issue as a paired headset would resolve this as well.

Other Thoughts: Overall a solid unit. The exterior feels well built and the keyboard is easy to type on. The screen looks nice and responds to touch well. HDMI is always a plus and I use it daily. The USB 3 port is fantastic for high throughput but I wish all three ports were USB 3. Installed Asus stuff isn't too invasive from OEM but of course some other bloatware is present.

A positive investment sub 700 price point currently.