It has been ages since I have actually owned my own copy of Windows. Recently I decided to give Microsoft another go and purchased a modest Asus 2-in-1 laptop. I already own an Asus Chromebook Flip which I have really enjoyed using even though ChromeOS is a bit limited for offline use and some advanced functionality and I am not really a Linux guy on the desktop. The reason I went for the Asus was based on that experience.
So where are we now. Well I have had the laptop for the better part of a week and I definitely have some opinions about it and of course the installed OS, Windows which is a key component to the use of a device these days. For the record as most of you may know I am pretty committed to the Apple ecosystem. I own an iPad, iPhone, MacBook Pro and do almost everything on a day to day basis on these devices. I really love them all and they do make my life very productive so for me to head back to Windows after all of this time was tough.
What were my reasons for doing this, I would say curiosity, there has been so much hype about the “New” Microsoft and that Windows 10 was the best of all the prior OSs they have released and really works well. I wanted to find out for myself. Yes I use Fusion on my Mac so I am able to run Windows but really I believe the best way to experience anything is to use the product as your main source rather than on an as needed basis. The second reason is price. Yes! Macs are awesome but so are their prices. I am not going to discuss if they are worth it or not in this article, I will leave that for another day. Finally as much as I love Apple I wanted a bit more flexibility, with my main need to have a Tablet, Touch Screen and full laptop in a very small portable device that I can easy carry anywhere.
So I bought myself a relatively inexpensive laptop already knowing the limitations such as performance etc. but like I said this has a purpose so playing the latest games was not on my agenda.
The laptop itself I think is pretty handsome, it is a gun metal grey color and feels super solid. The tablet when detached is not heavy and is not thick although the edge is rather large but that does not make it bulky in any way. The screen resolution is pretty low by todays standards but again I was aware of that and the quality is really good with deep blacks and sharp colors and whites which makes up for it. In terms of speed well it has 4gb of memory, something I rarely think about anymore thanks to Apple and a 64mb eMMC. All of this combines to make a pretty good experience. On the battery side it lasts probably 6+ hours if you are using it on WiFI and with some anger, or maybe longer. It does not charge very fast but it is not terrible, I have seen worse.
I use mainly online resources, Office 2016 and a handful of other apps. None of these are very resource intensive and as long as you don’t want to open too many things at the same time it performs adequately. I am conscious of this so keep open apps to a minimum.
So up until now I would say that all has been pretty okay. I mean we are not talking amazing, it is a restricted experience but still not terrible and quite usable.
Let’s talk about what I don’t care for. Firstly Windows 10. While it is an improvement there are just so many basic functions missing. It feels like Windows is still trying to be a jack of all trades and ends up as a master of none. For example in docked mode it behaves just like normal windows. Frustrating at times, multiple clicks to get to many simple items, cluttered in most places. With a touch screen device it would be nice to have a better touch experience. When un-docked it converts to “Tablet” mode. This does not always work as advertised and sometimes apps just do not work well, are formatted incorrectly or you cannot exit them, get to the keyboard easily and so on. These are not major issues but once you have used an iPad or Mac you realize they are issues nonetheless. Then the OS itself is super buggy still. Sometimes a right click works, sometimes it doesn’t, sometimes performance is great and then it slows down terribly ad becomes all jerky and hard to do anything and it feels like a netbook all over again, windows move when they shouldn't, the login screen has a password then a passcode then reverts back to a password system for no reason at all. These again are things that Apple owners don’t care about anymore. They trust that Apple will provide them with a great experience no matter what device they choose, of course that comes at a price.
Then there are the apps themselves. Firstly I want to talk about Office 2016. I have a subscription to Office 365. The laptop came pre-installed with Office Mobile as well. So I downloaded and logged into my Office 365 on Word but that did not translate to any other apps, just Word I had to do it for each and every office app. Yes I know I could use my Windows Login to my Live account but that takes away my flexibility to just use this as a laptop and not feel tied to a service. I use multiple services already and do not like the integrated Live login feature. The laptop of course also comes pre-installed with other “stuff” like candy Crush. Really Asus or Microsoft or whomever thought it was a good idea on a severely constrained device to include rubbish like this. So of course I did not leave these but went about cleaning up, but really should that be something I should be doing. It feels like buying a new car and then when you get it they have loaded it up with free trials from stores all of the place all in paper bags on the seats for me.
There are some also pretty poor inclusions such as the front and rear cameras which I think are from a 1990s era phone. They really should just not bother at all I mean it’s a tablet and laptop it doesn’t need to take pictures as well. I suppose the front camera might be useful for Skype but it is very poor quality so you are better off using just voice. The keyboard is also very light and of course the tablet is much heavier so when docked and maybe on your lap it has the tendency to fall over backwards. This is easily rectified by putting it on a hard surface and in some ways understandable from a weight perspective but they could have been smarter and included a pop out stand on the back of the tablet to stop that happening very easily.
Next up we have the issue of Windows and the hardware not always in sync. An example is when I closed the laptop prior to my flight expecting it to sleep and conserve power only to find when I opened it 8 hours later that it was almost dead because it hadn’t gone to sleep at all. I am not certain who to blame here but this really is something that they need to get right 100% of the time or my confidence in the laptop is severely reduced. The SDHC card slot as well lets the card stick out just slightly and I have already lost (and then found again) 1 card. I compared this to my Asus Chromebook and the same issue does not exist on that tablet so this is an Asus design issue!
Windows is also still very buggy and the apps for Windows just do not have the polish of Mac or iPad apps that are similar. Take for example Zinio a magazine reader I use on all my devices. On my Mac and iPad the experience is similar and works flawlessly but on the Windows device it is hit and miss. Windows also stops loading apps and you need to re-install them. This has plagued Windows for so long now I thought it would be solved. I haven’t re-installed an app on my Mac in years and in fact I rarely even restart my Mac or iPad but I have already restarted my new Windows device multiple times. It is also laggy, not this would be fine if it was all the time I suppose but it isn’t, you can be working away and then things just slow down and then speed up again. This must be a Windows issue and usually happens in Word or similar.
So what do I really like about this laptop. Firstly the size and for the price build quality feels very good in most respects. The Tablet when undocked is also pretty good and definitely a good replacement for an older iPad or Android tablet. Being able to dock and use an almost proper keyboard, it’s not 100% but again the limitation is the size which I can live with. It still feels pretty good to type on. The expandable memory options via either USB on the keyboard (although it is 2.0) and the SDHC on the tablet itself is also welcome with the limited internal storage. I have however already lost a SDHC card which popped out which is a bit of a worry about that part of the device so I am contemplating not expanding the storage as I explained above already.
I also really liked the price, it was $299 and I feel as if that is an excellent price point for the features on offer. The main issue is my confidence in them working all of the time and that is why this could never be my primary laptop. It’s fine on a short use basis but as a permanent replacement for a Mac or even an iPad it will be hard until they get the basics right. But I do like the concept a lot and if these things improve I see a good future for these devices and I certainly appreciate the price point very much.
In summary these are my feelings. The device is a reasonable blend of hardware but with a few minor issues that are not insurmountable. The OS is what it is, you just have to realize that Windows is still buggy and not focused on any platform but rather all platforms. The hardware is good, not great but it passes especially when you consider this price point. If you can get behind these issues then this is a pretty cool laptop that I am not as unhappy with as I expected I might be and in some ways I am really surprised and actually quite like many aspects of this device when it gets it right.
I bought mine at the Microsoft Store in San Francisco, I wanted to check it out first and compare it to the other more expensive laptops and 2-in-1s including the Microsoft Surface Book and Microsoft Surface both of which are probably more comparable in price at least the latest Mac’s.
Head over here if you want to check it out: bit.ly/asus2in1
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