Hands-on with the ASUS X205TA

If you have been keen, you will notice we have been reviewing Asus laptop devices, an influx of low-priced chrome books and budget windows laptops. First we did the Asus Asus200-LA which was quite a disappointment from the manufacturer, then Asus X200 a device that was worth and still is worth its tag.

After two months of interaction with the Asus X205TA, I am back with the hands-on review. Colours matter a lot especially if the device is your daily companion at your place of work or even everyday use. Not much to techies though because all they need is work-efficient devices. White is the colour I chose this time round very delicate colour but worth the change from the red AsusX200.

Design

The white hue on the laptop merged with its sleek design of rounded edges is the first thing you interact with, hard to ignore due to what comes across as a refined expensive look. The exterior of it has a shiny smooth finish a trend that Asus has with this kind of devices. The interior of it is a bit toned down giving it a dull plastic but refined look.

On physical interaction with the device, the lightness will strike you. The device weighs 980grams which is almost a kg with just 17.5mm thickness on the sides giving it easy portability. Asus X205TA has a decent flap stretch of beyond 120 degrees that also gives it a steady grip on the surface.

Screen and Keyboard

The 11.6 glossy screen compliments the matte interior design that extends to the scree frame about an inch on the side and 1.5-2 inches on the top and bottom. The 11.6-inch display comes with 1366 x 788 pixel resolution giving the device vivid appearance of colour and legible text. However, the device is not eligible to high bit rate full HD movies since it will not provide a satisfying display.

The keyboard has well-spaced Keys with full buttons that make it comfortable for typing especially if your work revolves around lots of typing. Although the key travel has been termed uncommon at just 1.34 mm, compared to 1.,5 to 1.6mm common travel, I found it efficient and workable with.

The touchpad which is spacious for use the pad also has two finger scrolling function that I did not really pay attention to having gotten used to the spec on every Asus device I have used.

Performance

The device runs on a quad core processor at 1.33GHz. Just like its fore ganger, the device runs on a low power intel Atom processor. However, the current generation Atom processors are much more efficient with a controlled cooling functionality that does not need a fan.

Paired with a 2GB of DDR3L memory, the gadget also houses the Intel HD graphics. Running on windows 8.1 out of the box. The device offers 32GB EMMC flash storage out of which only 21GB is available to the user. In case you are looking to store huge data, you will be required to have a portable hard drive connected using the 2.0 USB ports that are a bit small compared to a majority of eternal portable devices which come with 3.0 USB ports. For more storage, users can also use the Asus web storage which offers 500GB of free cloud storage for 2 years.

The processor allows multi-tab browsing without slowing down the system. Functionality of normal applications is efficient without video edits and photo edits included. The in- built speakers under the device are loud and clear efficient for music and watching movies.

Battery life and Price

In the price conscious market, price comes first then the battery life of the device. With documentation, email, all day typing and listening to Music, the battery life of the device is promising. The battery lasted up to 10 hours of use after fully charging it. Considering the netbook world, the device has a long-lasting battery considering the price that ranges $190-$200 depending on the economy market. The device is worth the battery life, portability and functionality of day to day work. However, the only miss that stood out in the X205 TA was the web cam at 420p it gives irregular shaped images with patches therefore loosing detail.