ASUS VivoBook S550CA Pro Reviews

Getting the full Windows 8 experience—touchscreen and all—doesn’t have to be expensive. The Asus VivoBook S550CA falls short in some performance areas and features, but for many mainstream users, it's still a decent computer for a great price.

The VivoBook’s standout feature is not the Ultrabook label … it’s the touchscreen. Many inexpensive systems offer touch, and prices creep downwards by the month, but this is the first laptop we’ve tested to offer edge-to-edge glass. We’d prefer a higher-quality panel beneath, but most competitors do no better. Build quality and material choice also impress. Though not on par with more expensive Asus products, such as the N56 and Zenbook, this laptop compares well to others sold around the same price. Toshiba, Dell, and HP offer laptops that look nearly as good, but most have inferior keyboards. Lenovo serves up a better keyboard, but its large laptops are a bit dull. Benchmarks are the one area where this laptop can’t keep up with its peers. Results in our performance tests were average to below average, even for a $720 laptop. As a 15.6-inch system, the S550CA will likely be shopped against slightly thicker laptops that have faster Core i5 and Core i7 processors. The difference won’t be obvious in typical use, but the VivoBook is at a disadvantage when called on for demanding work. Though we thought this $700 Asus was a top contender in its class, we’d ultimately have to recommend the Lenovo ThinkPad Edge or the stripped-down version of the Sony T14 (we reviewed the souped-up version, but the basic configuration is a better value). However, out of the thousands of other cheap laptops on the market, we can safely say you’ll be in good hands with the Asus VivoBook S550CA.