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Battery Life
Buy new ASUS X301A Series Laptop Battery,10.8V 47Wh 4400mAh computer batteries
It does not depend on a few watts more or less, the important thing in the end is the A32-X401 battery life, and this is very acceptable for this low cost notebook: the WLAN test (150 cd/m² luminance) ends after 4 hours 41 minutes. Also videos were played in that time. If used economically, the user might even get another hour.
The capacity of the removable A32-X401 battery is not even that great: 47 watt hours. In WLAN test, the competitor Aspire V5-431 only runs for three hours, which is due to the low capacity of 37 Wh. The Lenovo IdeaPad S400 with its 3 hours 18 minutes is not much better, which again is due to 32 Wh. A HP ProBook 4530s-B0Y11EA with the same hardware (47 watt hours) keeps going for 4 hours 20 minutes, which shows that Asus makes the most of its battery.
Case
All this, however, cannot take away from a firm but creaking chassis. This creaking noise appears when the notebook is lifted by one hand. The hinges are mounted rather loosely and make the lid wobble. The lid surface gives in slightly upon a bit of pressure; the corners flex even without much force.
Due to the lack of maintenance flaps, users have to disassemble the entire device to exchange RAM or HDD. For the benefit of the lender, we avoided that rigmarole. On the other hand, it is surprising that the manufacturer did not create a rock solid chassis, in spite of doing without optical drive and flaps. The flexing of the keyboard is particularly disappointing.
Comes packed with a Intel GMA HD card with a 1024 RAM size. You will get a decent gaming experience with this. The graphics are smooth and able to keep up with the ever changing intensity of in game motion and textures.
Connectivity
Asus does not use the absence of a DVD drive for a row of ports, but simply bundles them up on the right-hand side. The card reader can only read two formats (SD, MMC); however, in return, an SD card fully disappears in the case, and cannot break during use, which is not always the case with notebooks (Aspire V5-431).
Keyboard
The detached keys have a lot of space in between, and pressure point and key stroke are distinctive. The key depression, however, is that soft and wobbly that it ruins everything. The surface gives in considerably across the full width.
The direction keys are set apart from the other keys, but very small. The clear labeling of the keys is pleasant, as well as the big layout and the upwards angle of the work surface, This means your hands rest on the keyboard like in a flat bowl.
Touchpad
The Elan Touchpad works precisely and lets the fingers slide with little friction over the surface, measuring 10.7 cm in diameter. The pad can be turned off by the Fn key. The multi-touch gestures recognize the use of two fingers. Finger gestures are therefore possible (zooming, scrolling, page turning). There is no longer a one finger scrollbar, and they cannot be added either. (ASUS EXA0703YH adapters)
As ClickPad, this mouse replacement does not feature any separate buttons, but they are under its surface. Additionally, a right mouse click can be generated anywhere on the pad. The finger should not wander further above than the center of the touchpad though, as there is no more touch detection. The biggest drawback of the Elan Touchpad is its loud, dull clicking noise. Those who use it in the library or during a lecture will quickly go out of favor with their neighbors.
Display
The surface of the 13.3 inch screen (16:9; 1366 x 768 pixels), which has no anti reflection coating, disappointss the reviewer, and this glare-type-display will also scare away some potential buyers. Although in the price segment of under 800 euros, screens like the CMO N133BGE-L41 are common, low cost devices by HP (HP 650) or Lenovo (Edge E330) show that also matte screens can be low budget.
A broad color range would be vital for professional image processors, who would, however, not go near the X301A with a barge-pole, due to its poor performance. For the sake of completeness, we still tested the color ranges. sRGB and Adobe RGB are not covered. Moreover, the high black value of 1.41 causes pale colors and a hazy black. This is not a given though, as proven by devices such as the Asus UX31A, which costs three times as much though.
The reflecting TFT surface and the relatively low brightness of 217 cd/m² on average make the ASUS X301A unsuitable for use outdoors in the summer. The user should at least look for a shadowy place, as shown by picture 1. Otherwise, the glare-type reflects the surroundings that much that work becomes impossible. To be able to read the display even in the sun, luminance would have to be at least 300 cd/m.
The viewing angles of cheap notebooks are usually less than good. This is due to the TN panel type (Twisted Nematics). Also in the X301A, it only allows for horizontal views up to 45 degrees maximum (view from the side, see picture). Beyond this, there are massive inversions. These are caused by a vertical deviation upwards or downwards, already with the slightest change of angle (from 10 degrees).
Speakers
Where are the stereo speakers? Hidden away under the wrist rest, they use the table, if existent, as reflective surface for the sound pressure. That is why the sound turns nasty when the notebook is being carried. A carpet or the like makes it sound as if someone had hidden speakers under a blanket.
The ideal scenario on a table emphasizes mid-range sounds and neglects low sounds. There is no bass at all, and pitches are not presented in a differentiated way. To cut a long story short: This is the typical sound of notebook speakers, but without volume or character. Multimedia books usually come with a subwoofer, but this is not common in this price range.
The volume can be turned on fully, but this does not make anything better, as high pitches come with a rattling noise. The small speakers produce a deafening noise, which is quite unusual for a 13.3 inch notebook. Music lovers should connect a headset or external speakers via the analogue audio/microphone combination.
Verdict
The Asus X301A-RX005V gets noticed - hovewer, not so much because of its positive qualities, but mainly because of its looks in white and black, matte surfaces, pleasant haptics without fingerprints and a cool case. Who needs anything else?
The user! Besides attractive looks, users need mobile qualities fit for working. Battery life with more than four hours (WLAN test) is great, but the reflecting screen with its mediocre brightness is not. OK, let's stay inside then. The noisy keyboard and the loud clicking of the touchpad annoys us as well. It is just not necessary, as pressure point and key stroke are pleasant otherwise. The wobbly key depression ruins this impression again though.
Emissions are similar: There is little waste heat, the noise of the fan is within limits, and the cooling system even turns off in idle mode. However, this perfect picture gets destroyed by a noisy rattling hard drive. This makes the notebook impossible to use in libraries.
More info: laptop-batteries.com.au , laptop-battery.org.uk , battery-store.eu
