Asus Vivobook X202E / S200 review – compact, snappy and affordable

34 Comments

  1. Shiv

    May 2, 2013 at 6:44 pm

    I am confused between buying vivobook x200e i3 and s400ca i7. My main requirement is portability and power as for carrying it seldom to college and powerful enough to easily run VMware. Can you please suggest something.

  2. oz sa

    May 28, 2013 at 10:27 am

    Can we run tools like visual studio and matlab on such a laptop?

    • Andrei Girbea

      May 29, 2013 at 11:17 am

      barely, if you have small projects. otherwise, it’s going to get quite sluggish fast.

  3. Ron

    June 13, 2013 at 5:48 am

    Very nice review!!! After spending some time reading a lot of reviews about Asus Vivobook X202E, this evaluation of yours convinced me,finally, to buy a new laptop as a replacement to my old one.

  4. Ian

    June 15, 2013 at 7:24 pm

    The new UK 15.6 inch version at 279 pounds sterling just came out today – any good? – its a bit heavier and I don’t need the extra screen size or 750GB disk I’d rather have the 11.6 I think

    • Andrei Girbea

      June 16, 2013 at 12:20 pm

      that with an i3 or what? tell me the exact model number so i can have a look at it. still, if ou want something portable, easy to carry around, go for a smaller option, 11.6 or 13.3 inches tops

      • Ian

        July 17, 2013 at 3:51 pm

        sorry for late reply – I got the i3 s400ca – great laptop – runs medium to large apps like dreamweaver no problem – pain in the butt trying to change over to a ssd though it was not necessary as it runs totally cool and quiet with the normal 500GB disk – upgraded with an extra 4GB ram which again in unnecessary as the 4GB did fine job

        Windows 8 is new to me and a pain for fist couple days then I loved it – it comes with zero manual so you have to google just to find out how to switch it off :)

      • Andrei Girbea

        July 17, 2013 at 3:58 pm

        glad you liked it. and yes, Win 8 is a pain at start. I for one am still using win 7 on all my devices, for the time being

  5. Dre

    July 8, 2013 at 11:30 pm

    I brought one not too long ago and I can easily say that it is like a laptop worth $800 for only $500 ( I got mine for $430 with taxes and that included Microsoft 365 university for free) it is the best laptop I’ve had an it has a sexy sleek design, perfect for college or personal uses. It’s even good with games as well depending on the game, the touch is very fast and responsive,and it has 3 USB ports with am HDMI port. Can it get any better that that?

  6. Ac

    July 13, 2013 at 1:33 pm

    Can it run iTunes?

  7. Andy Sowden

    July 16, 2013 at 10:17 pm

    I’m looking at 2 models in the UK and not sure which to go for – Asus VivoBook S200E-CT216H or the slightly more expensive S200E-CT158H which appears to be the older model? I also need to know if they can run iTunes?

    • Andrei Girbea

      July 17, 2013 at 11:47 am

      both can run iTunes.

      from what i found, the CT-158H is the newer version , with an Intel Core i3-3217U processor. The CT216H comes with an older processor. There’s no big difference between the two in terms of everyday performances, however, the 158H version bundles better graphics. Thus, it will run full hd movies easier and also some games.

      Al the other things seem identical.

      Not sure what the price difference between the two is, but if it’s not that big, I’d go for the 158H version (if I got you right, you’re saying that this option is actually cheaper, in which case you should definitely go for it). If you found this useful and you’re buying from Amazon in UK, maybe you can use my link? Let me know :P

  8. Ian

    July 17, 2013 at 3:56 pm

    Says everywhere I can over clock the i3 processor in my s400ca but nowhere can I find out how – much appreciate if you can tell us how

    Andrei great website you have and good you spend the time helping us!

    • Andrei Girbea

      July 18, 2013 at 10:12 pm

      Not sure what to say about overclocking that I3 on your laptop, my expertise on that is rather limited… But I’ll have a look and put an article together if a I find anything worthwhile.

  9. Lenna

    August 6, 2013 at 11:53 pm

    Your information on the X202E was great.

    You wrote: The exact Asus VivoBook we tested here is called the Asus Vivobook X202E-DH31T
    Are the Vivobook X202E-DH31T and CT-158H one and the same as the X202E-CT009H?
    On your specification it says 1.7 GHz Oother specifications says 1,8 GHz. Which is the right one?

    • Andrei Girbea

      August 9, 2013 at 1:02 pm

      looks like all these are the same. and the CPU is clocked at 1.8 Ghz, there as a small error in my specs

  10. Joselin

    August 27, 2013 at 11:19 pm

    Between Acer Aspire S3 13.3″ and this laptop Asus Vivobook X202E 11.6″, which one is a better choice?

    • Andrei Girbea

      August 29, 2013 at 8:38 am

      you’re comparing a $1400 with a $500 laptop. Is that fair?

  11. Markus

    August 31, 2013 at 12:31 am

    Hello, Can this computer run Minecraft at a decent framerate? (Single-player and online servers) I’m looking for laptops under 600 dollars that can run Minecraft well.

    Thank you!

    • Andrei Girbea

      August 31, 2013 at 9:50 am

      haven’t tried it myself, but i think it should…

  12. candy

    September 16, 2013 at 7:17 pm

    is the asus s200e any good for using ms ord, excel and powerpoint? I really need something good, affordable and portable for university. thanks for your revie.

  13. Alec

    September 25, 2013 at 3:54 am

    I love your reviews, keep it up!
    I want to know whether it would be worth waiting for a haswell 11.6 touchscreen laptop. I can get the x202 here in Hong Kong with an i5 3317u, which I think is quite a substantial CPU increase from the i3.
    Are the benefits mostly battery or CPU/GPU performances?
    Also, I read there are some throttling issues with the x202? Have you encountered any?
    Many thanks.

    • Andrei Girbea

      October 1, 2013 at 3:02 pm

      don’t know anything about a Haswell version of this laptop right now. The best part about Haswell is the increased battery life, the performances boosts are marginal

  14. Ian

    October 1, 2013 at 4:24 pm

    Asus S400CA VivoBook 14 inch Touchscreen Laptop Core i3

    had it now couple of months – it will do everything you need for a good price university PC – no need for i5 – and I am a website designer!

  15. chongtm

    December 2, 2013 at 2:55 pm

    Thanks for the great review. I have actually asked my computer vendor to order one for me but he told to wait a while longer for a newer model. Is it true? If so, do you have the specs and the price ?

    Thanks again.

  16. Melody

    December 28, 2013 at 6:30 am

    Great review!
    Do you think this laptop is suitable for students? Im starting year 11 next year.
    And if possible, do you know any other laptops similar to the vivobook s200e?

  17. Ruth

    January 22, 2014 at 6:36 am

    1.Can a replacement battery be put in the
    Asus X202E 11.6″(by an experienced tech)so
    it will run longer without charging? I’m
    not always near an electrical source.
    2.Can memory be upgraded?
    I have this Asus,and like it very much
    except for these 2 flaws. Thnx so much
    for the review. Very good.

  18. Joel

    February 4, 2014 at 4:16 am

    I’m having trouble following all the different model numbers and I can’t seem to find much information on them.

    Can you please explain the difference between DH/CT? Also the X200/Q200/S200? What is the newest model?

    Basically what I’m looking for is the best hardware configuration of the 11.6 inch VivoBook series.

    • Andrei Girbea

      February 4, 2014 at 4:03 pm

      The fastest 11 inch Vivobook available right now comes with the Intel Core i5-3317U processor and up to 8 GB of RAM. You’ll most likely buy it with a HDD, but can replace it with an SSD if you really want to boost the performances. Can’t get specific on models, as they differ from country to country.

  19. Elizabeth Blakely

    March 24, 2014 at 1:45 am

    I know you have answered part of my question, but you think this computer is capable of running without getting any slow or giving any resolution problem if i instal Visual Studio 2010? Also, can I run the firestorm viewer for Second Life environment?! Thank you, your review is very helpfull! :D

    • Andrei Girbea

      March 24, 2014 at 6:46 pm

      If you get the I5 version, it should run VS decently. Not sure about the i3 version though, VS is quite demanding. I can’t comment on SL, I’m not familiar with it and never tried it so I don’t know its requirements

  20. Arijit

    May 10, 2014 at 2:04 pm

    What about the performance asus S200E CT331H (PDC/ 4GB/ 500GB/ Win8).. It is bit cheaper but elegant look.. Can it perform well with win 8 wit bit of xcel, ppt, net surfing and video watching??

    • Andrei Girbea

      May 10, 2014 at 9:55 pm

      It’s a decent laptop, if your expectations are fairly low. You could also consider upgrading the HDD to an SSD, this will make it much snappier

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