Amazon.com: ASUS VivoBook 14 Slim Laptop Computer, 14″ IPS FHD Display, Intel Core i3-1115G4 Processor, 4GB DDR4, 128GB PCIe SSD, Fingerprint Reader, Windows 11 Home in S Mode, Slate Grey, F415EA-AS31

I bought this ASUS PC from Amazon for $199.99 via a Lightning Deal. I’ve only had it for two days but I’ve been amazed by all the features for so little money. I removed S Mode so I could install Brave browser and a couple other things. For privacy, I uninstalled OneDrive, turned the microphone and camera off plus I put a sliding cover over the camera lens. I uninstalled McAfee and a few apps I would never use. This PC has an SSD, an FHD non-glare screen (great picture!), good speakers with sufficient volume, plenty of ports, a fingerprint reader and a backlit keyboard!!! For $200!!!

12-6-22 UPDATE: After having the PC for nearly a week, I’ve discovered some weaknesses. I’ll start with the 4GB RAM (3.7GB useable), it isn’t enough. I had the PC freeze up when I had 9 browser tabs open, it took a while to get the browser to close. I did some testing, monitoring RAM usage via Task Manager and found RAM usage to reach up to the 3.7GB max with only 2 browser tabs open. This is a problem. I’ve had up to 6 tabs open without the PC freezing up since then but don’t want to push my luck. I ordered an 8GB DDR4 3200MHz memory stick from Amazon for less than $30 which I intend to install myself. I’ve never even opened the case of a PC but I watched some YouTube videos of the upgrade procedure and it appears to be quite simple on this PC.

The second weakness I’ve discovered is the Wi-Fi speed, it’s slow. I used Ookla Speedtest to compare the speed to an inexpensive Lenovo 11.6″ Chromebook I’ve had for a year. In the same location, testing one immediately after the other, the Chromebook got more than twice the speed of this PC. I repeated the tests several times, this PC was getting around 200Mbps while the Chromebook was getting around 440Mbps. This was on my home internet with no one else using it. Both were connected via Wi-Fi 5. I can make do with 200Mbps but I would think the Wi-Fi should be as fast as that of a Chromebook that I paid even less for.

The third weakness is the battery. The PC will run for a few hours on a charge, which will probably be fine for some people. If you’re on the PC most of the day, or night, you will probably need to charge it a few times per day.

All things considered, I’m sticking with the 5-star rating because this PC has a lot of great features, I only paid $200 for it, and after the RAM is upgraded to 12GB (4+8) it should be a great PC.

UPDATE 12-7-22: Amazon delivered the memory stick today. I had never opened the case of a PC before and it took me less than half an hour to complete the upgrade! I don’t think links are allowed in reviews so I’ll just say a YouTube video by Cadillac Computer Center showed me everything I needed to know. I’m no techie and this upgrade was easy, nearly anyone could do it. The added memory made the PC function much better, faster, smoother. Great upgrade!

UPDATE 12-12-22: I just replaced the Wi-Fi card/adapter with a Wi-Fi 6E card ($20) and download speed doubled! Testing on my home internet with no one else using it, in the exact same location, download was 200+ Mbps just before the upgrade and 400+ Mbps just after. Upload remained about the same, 115-120 Mbps. This upgrade is only slightly more challenging than the memory upgrade because it involves replacing something rather than simply adding something but it’s still very easy, just be careful with the tiny wire connector.

UPDATE 12-20-22: After the two easy upgrades, this PC has been great. After updating Windows 11 to the newest version, uninstalling some things, installing others and running cleanup, there’s 34.2 GB of 117 GB usable storage in use, 83.6 GB free. I’m sure that’s plenty for my use but I’m going to add a 512 GB 2.5″ SSD anyway, there’s an empty bay for it to go into. It will be in addition to the 128 GB SSD, not replacing it. This will be my final upgrade, hopefully it will go as well as the two previous ones. The SSD and adapter/connector I’ve just ordered only costs $40 so I’ll have $287 + tax in this PC, a fantastic bargain! I just realized I never mentioned the touchpad, I don’t use them. I turned it off and use a wireless mouse so I can’t comment on the touchpad. The fingerprint reader works great. I’ve tweaked settings, personalizing the PC (gotta have my lime green cursor, so much easier to keep track of, among other things). This will not be my primary PC once the new toy thing wears off but I’ve been on it several hours every day since I got it and I really like it. I’m retired, spend most of my time at home and have a desktop PC with a large monitor, 640 watt speaker system, backlit keyboard and wireless mouse that is my primary PC. This will be a great laptop to have on hand as a backup and for occasional use. Unlike the Chromebook (hate it) I bought a year ago for such purposes, I like this PC so much that I’ll kinda hate relegating it to stand-by status… but my desktop PC rocks!

UPDATE 12-23-22: I performed my third and final upgrade by installing a 512GB 2.5″ SATA III SSD that is in addition to the original 128GB SSD. Installation was a little difficult simply because the installation kit, which was supposed to work on this PC, presented a problem. A soft plastic piece that is supposed to wrap around the SSD and fit into the PC’s bay would not do both, no matter how many times I tried. Eventually, I did some trimming of the plastic piece and made it work. The SSD is isolated in that it doesn’t contact anything other than the soft plastic and it fits in the bay quite snugly so it should be fine. After installing the SSD, I needed to make it do more than occupy space and a great YouTube video by Northern Viking Everyday walked me through it. In ‘Settings’ -> ‘System’ -> ‘Storage’ -> ‘Advanced storage settings’ -> ‘Where new content is saved’, I set new apps to be saved to the original SSD and basically everything else, documents, photos, video, music, to be saved to the larger added SSD. The original SSD will be the operating system and the added SSD will be data storage, as this old dog trying to learn new tricks understands it… Still 5 stars for this bargain PC!

UPDATE 1-8-23: One final(?) note: I read some negative reviews that were based on this PC being in S Mode. It says it’s in S Mode in the product title, how do you miss that? I was unfamiliar with S Mode so, before purchasing, I did a quick web search for ‘Windows S Mode’ and one of the first links to come up took me to a Microsoft site page with simple instructions for removing S Mode (it limits you to Microsoft software). I bought the PC (obviously) and one of the first things I did was to remove S Mode so that I could install Brave browser, Ookla Speedtest and anything else non-Microsoft that I wanted. The people who returned the PC because it’s in S Mode could have removed S Mode within about a minute’s time and had a very nice PC at a bargain price. It does need the previously mentioned inexpensive memory upgrade but that is extremely easy to do. The Wi-Fi upgrade probably isn’t necessary, I did it to take advantage of my home internet’s Wi-Fi 6. The storage upgrade probably isn’t necessary if you don’t intend to store many large files on the PC. I didn’t need it but did it anyway, I think I was just on an upgrade kick and wanted to get ‘just one more’ in. As always, I recommend buying from Amazon and not a third party seller. If it doesn’t say ‘Sold by Amazon’ (defaults to seller with the lowest price), scroll down to ‘Other sellers on Amazon’ and look for Amazon there. I prefer to buy from Amazon just in case there are any problems, even if it means paying a few dollars more. Due to its many features and bargain price, I really like this PC, still 5 stars!

UPDATE 2-8-23: I decided to add one more update, that’s because I’m still using this PC for several hours every day. I thought I would have gone back to my desktop PC before now but I haven’t yet. The room that my desktop is in has been on the chilly side and I got used to using this laptop in a warmer room. My opinion hasn’t changed, everything I’ve said previously still applies. If I were to look for a nit to pick, I would say that the speakers, while decent, lack bass, but I could say the same about the other laptops I’ve owned. The speakers are fine for most things but I’ve been using extra bass headphones for listening to music and watching movies. With all the features this PC has, it seems like a much more expensive one. A good friend just ordered this PC, I hope he’s as happy with his as I’ve been with mine. Still pleased, still 5 stars!

UPDATE 4-10-23: Still going strong, still five stars!