ASUSVivobook Laptop, 14" FHD Display, i3-1215U, 24GB RAM, 2TB SSD, Wi-Fi 6, HDMI, Webcam, Touchpad, Windows 11 Home, Blue

I desperately needed a new laptop earlier this year to keep up with my new job that demanded multitasking from my device- hosting Zoom meetings, having multiple Word docs open, having 2+ PDFs open, maybe Discord in the background, and several browser tabs. This laptop handles all of it. Bootup is SUPER fast. I was able to "hack" my way into setup without logging into a 'Microsoft account'. One of my favorite features is the webcam privacy tab. I've gotten lots of compliments on the trackpad's numpad. This smaller size is perfect for me as a college student. The battery life is fine not bad not amazing. The speakers aren't great but I don't care because I use headphones. The protruding square on the back with the ASUS logo is only a little annoying as somebody who likes to decorate my laptop with tons of stickers. I personally don't have any issues with the trackpad or feel of the laptop.Let it be known my standards may be low. I haven't used many laptops and my previous one was absolutely atrocious, so to be fair anything would make me happy after coming from that piece of junk.

I bought the 16GB Ram/512GB SSD model and have been very happy with my purchase thus far. I do have one significant gripe with the product, so I'll get it out of the way briefly: the screen is very bad. The only acceptable viewing angle is very specific. Move your head left/right or up/down and you'll be seeing a photo negative of the display. It honestly feels like playing a 3DS on 3D mode.Luckily, I'm not using this while jumping on a trampoline or weaving out of the way of punches, so this isn't a total deal-breaker, but it is something I'm always aware of. The pros of this laptop are its good processor, great RAM capacity, and bang-for-your-buck SSD size. For $300, a lot is packed into this tiny chassis. I have a separate mini pc and steam deck that i use for gaming, so i was really on the market for something that could handle light browsing tasks and social stuff for a long time; this laptop is perfect for that, and with its specs, I suspect it is future-proof.Windows 11 Home is kind of annoying. It bugs you if you try to install something that isn't in their store. Microsoft Edge is very difficult to remove, and many don't recommend removing it out of fear that it is structural. The first thing I did was uninstall the bloaty default Windows apps, of which there were many. For the first time, I'm considering switching to Linux since I won't be using this for gaming or running any apps that are incompatible with Linux. My advice, if you hate this version of Windows, is to consider Linux or, even better, go to CDKeys or some other keyshop and buy a discounted redemption code for a version of Windows that suits you better.Lastly, the build quality of this device is remarkable for its price. The keyboard feels amazing. The touch pad is large and features a cleverly-integrated touch-sensitive num-pad that can be conveniently toggled on and off. It boasts "military-grade" build quality, and I'm not sure exactly what that means lol, but I can confirm that it's sturdy and probably built to last. There's also a nifty cover for your webcam lens.I understand that at $300, a sacrifice had to be made in some aspect. In this case, that is the screen. Normally I wouldn't take off a star if the sacrifice made sense in the overall value and didn't affect usability too much, but I really am annoyed by the screen, because I believe that a halfway-decent screen wouldn't have driven up the cost too much.I recommend this to anyone who needs a laptop for light tasks such as browsing, social media, and travel. A lot of its issues could be fixed by connecting it to an external display, so it could even be good if you're doing photo editing or using it to stream stuff. I love it!

Update: Just took a trip with this new computer. I bought a laptop sleeve for it and I could not be happier with how easy it was to travel with this little thing. My wife always commented on the weight of my backpack and it was mostly the computer. it was so much heavier. In all fairness, it had a metal top and a 12hr battery, so it was going t be heavier. But this is so much easier to carry around. I do notice fingerprints a lot more and the battery life is not as long, but for the price, I'd buy it again and recommend it.I had an Acer business laptop since 2018. It was a bigger, heavy-duty laptop and was also pretty heavy. I was on a cruise the month of March and it just died. I frustratingly searched for a lightweight computer with suitable power for my needs. So many processor options with too many versions of each. Then there was the question of RAM and storage and screens... I also really liked Windows 10 Pro but support for that is ending. Then I realized I don't need a workhorse computer anymore. I settled on this and got the 24GB RAM with 1TB SSD. I don't need the extra storage but I do like RAM. I was searching for a Ryzen 5 processor but in the end this Intel i3 gen 12 processor seems to be just fine for me. It was easy to setup and required about 20min to do. I like the speed and I really like the light weight. The keyboard feels nice. It is not backlit like my previous Lenovo and Acer, but I don't mind. I'm not blown away by the screen, but it is better than the screen on my previous much more expensive unit and fine for me. Also, the touchpad has a number pad feature that can be turned on and off. I think I'm going to like that. I have not tried to install any software yet. I do have Microsoft Office Home also purchased through Amazon (I previously had the pro version). I'm wondering if I'll ever need Office again. That's a decision I'll have to make before the return window closes.My wife and I are traveling a lot more these days and this thin 14" laptop will make it much easier. Everything, including the power supply is smaller and lighter than my previous laptops. That will definitely make this much more friendly for travel.