ASUS S200E 11.6-inch VivoBook Touchscreen Laptop (Intel Core i3 3217U 1.8GHz, 4GB RAM, 500GB HDD, LAN, WLAN, Webcam, BT, Integrated Graphics, Windows 8)

Until the Vivobook, I’ve been running Windows XP – primarily because I’ve enjoyed using my netbooks, but also because Vista and Windows 7’s bloat meant that I couldn’t upgrade any of my current laptops or desktops. With XP reaching the end of its life in early 2014, moving to Windows 8 has become a bit of a necessity. Recent experience on a friend’s new laptop (a 15.6″ non-touchscreen Toshiba) made it clear that Windows 8 is not particularly friendly on non-touchscreen devices. We had a very poor time getting it set-up for our hardware, and learning how to use it. The “tile” interface is a particular hindrence to non-touchscreen computers.

The Vivobook costs a little more than I wanted to spend, but I was sold on the touchscreen. I come from netbooks, so the 11.6″ size actually feels a bit large to me but it’s much more convenient, and lightweight, than my friend’s monster of a 15.6″ heavy laptop (which has the same resolution as the Vivobook).

The Core i3 & 4GB RAM is probably why it feels nippy in most circumstances and running several programs side-by-side does seem much smoother than on my previous machines, but typical use of opening programmes and apps doesn’t feel much different (although it is faster than my netbook!). For the same price, you could probably get an i5 processor, larger screen, and more RAM, but you wouldn’t get the touchscreen. Having used Windows 8 both with and without a touchscreen, I am more than pleased with my choice of sacrificing the faster processor, larger screen, and extra RAM in favour of the touchscreen. Without a touchscreen, Windows 8 feels like it’s getting in your way. With a touchscreen, it feels far more intuitive. That said, I’m not a gamer, nor do I run “heavy” software like Photoshop and video editing. If I was, this laptop would probably show its limitations. I’ll probably look at upgrading the hard drive at some point in time to something faster but it’s okay for now.

Build quality is particularly good, with the aluminium frame keeping it sturdy. If I hold the 15.6″ laptop by the edge while open with my finger and thumb, not only is it too heavy to carry but it also feels like it’s about to bend over on itself – neither is true of the Vivobook. It looks and feels like a quality laptop.

With the Vivobook, you get three years free of Asus Cloud Storage (32GB worth). While it’s nice to have extra cloud space, it seems to take forever to upload. It’s not going to replace Dropbox, or Box, or any of the more mainstream cloud services – but it is 32GB free for three years.

If there are any negatives, they have more to do with Windows 8’s incompatibilies with some software and hardware (given that I come from Windows XP, so that’s what all my stuff runs on) and the way Windows 8 works differently, but that’s all part and parcel of a new OS.

For battery life, I did a test with WiFi on, screen at lowest brightness, and the Vivobook compressing MPG2 files to DivX. It lasted 3h 10m before reaching 5% and shutting down. In normal use, it’s probably going to last longer.

I’ve not had any issue with fan “noise”. It comes on occasionally, but it’s not exactly noisy. When on battery power, the CPU will throttle back to half-speed (viewed through Task Manager) when necessary – which probably reduces the need for the fan while extending battery life.

I’ve had my Vivobook for less than a week, but I’m already loving it.

Beware that there are different configurations of the Vivobook. PC World are currently selling it at £399 – but that’s with a dual-core Pentium CPU, not the Core i3.