Asus X401A - Low Cost Thin & Light

Cheap 14-inch laptops are a dime a dozen these days, but the new Asus X401A is pretty much in a class by itself  because of its light 4.1 pound weight and thickness of over an inch at the thickest point. Achieving this does mean ditching the optical drive. I guess it depends on the user, but I have not used a optical drive in years. So, the Asus X401A is thin, light and as we said earlier cheap. It cost just Php22,990 with Windows Home Basic installed, and can be had for Php20,990 without an operating system for those of you looking for a low cost Linux box or own a retail copy of Windows 7.

It comes reasonably well equipped for the price. The processor is an Intel B970 backed up by 2GB of RAM, and 500 GB hard drive. It has a card reader and the other standard equipment you can expect to find in a laptop these days. The 6-cell battery is rated at 4400 mAh, again what you expect from a laptop in this price range. In addition, it has Altec Lansing speakers, HDMI out and a new fast USB 3.0. The USB 3.0 port is still a rarity in low cost laptops these days.  

This laptop is not targeted at the corporate user. This is clear from the color choice available, which are dark blue and green. Build quality is good, but premium materials are not used. Don't expect to see even faux aluminum. 

Would I recommend it? Yes. If you are looking for a full sized laptop which is easy to carry around, you really won't find anything like this. The typical low cost 14-inch laptop usually weighs in at 5-pounds of more.