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Model: ASUS E410MA 14" Laptop, Intel Celeron N4020, 4GB Memory, 64GB eMMC, Windows 11 Home S Mode (E410MA-TB.CL464BK)
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A reasonably reputable laptop manufacturer (ASUS) offering a Windows 11 laptop for sale through a traditional brick and mortar retail seller with a reasonable return policy (Best Buy) at a more than reasonable price (under $200). What could be wrong? Well plenty if you're hoping to make this low power Atom-based CPU (like the dual-core N4020 in this example) serve as your Windows PC daily driver...
Now simply because a CPU can run Windows doesn't mean that CPU should be used to run Windows. I don't mean to suggest this computer is broken, but I would suggest that anyone shopping for a general-purpose daily driver PC could be making better investments despite the tempting price points manufacturers have achieved with CPUs like the one in this device.
One telling comment about the performance of the N4020 that gives me a chuckle is from NotebookCheck in comparison to the beefier N4120 which is a 4-core Atom-based variant:
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It is worth noting that Intel Celeron N4120, a quad-core processor, has little trouble leaving the dual-core N4020 behind in most workloads - which is not to say it is a good processor.
Many of these ultra-low power CPUs were originally intended for embedded applications and not as general purpose computers. However, since these CPUs are also fully compatible x86 CPUs - and cheap ones at that! - manufacturers could pump out PCs at new amazing price points. Too bad that for the buyer the experience was never going to be particularly good when using a CPU better suited to digital signage than rendering video in Windows using Adobe Premiere (or Minecraft, or video conferencing with grandma, etc.).
Additionally, Windows doesn't really perform well anymore at 4GB. More than half of the RAM space can be consumed at idle after booting up(!) - and in a 4GB PC this loading is actually incomplete(!) as Windows is forced to limit how much of the operating system is loaded into RAM to conserve space. Paired with a weak CPU this just creates a negative feedback loop wherein your first application loaded after booting up starts demanding loads of page file/virtual memory/SSD-storage-as-RAM and the CPU to service those requests was already being overtasked with the basics of running Windows.
As a general rule I would consider Windows PCs limited to 4GB, especially those not equipped with 4-core i-series CPUs, better suited to power users who can make the appropriate optimizations (possibly including removing Windows for a Linux operating system). Though there are certainly some use cases where this laptop is sufficient, plenty of the most basic operations will prove challenging on a PC as minimal as this one.
This particular combination of CPU and RAM has seen some pretty rapid drops from their previous minimum price of around $200. However, these price drops haven't necessarily made these devices any better general purpose laptops for most buyers.
Good luck!
Jon
Last edited by The_Love_Spud October 23, 2022 at 10:01 PM.
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Now simply because a CPU can run Windows doesn't mean that CPU should be used to run Windows. I don't mean to suggest this computer is broken, but I would suggest that anyone shopping for a general-purpose daily driver PC could be making better investments despite the tempting price points manufacturers have achieved with CPUs like the one in this device.
One telling comment about the performance of the N4020 that gives me a chuckle is from NotebookCheck in comparison to the beefier N4120 which is a 4-core Atom-based variant:
Additionally, Windows doesn't really perform well anymore at 4GB. More than half of the RAM space can be consumed at idle after booting up(!) - and in a 4GB PC this loading is actually incomplete(!) as Windows is forced to limit how much of the operating system is loaded into RAM to conserve space. Paired with a weak CPU this just creates a negative feedback loop wherein your first application loaded after booting up starts demanding loads of page file/virtual memory/SSD-storage-as-RAM and the CPU to service those requests was already being overtasked with the basics of running Windows.
As a general rule I would consider Windows PCs limited to 4GB, especially those not equipped with 4-core i-series CPUs, better suited to power users who can make the appropriate optimizations (possibly including removing Windows for a Linux operating system). Though there are certainly some use cases where this laptop is sufficient, plenty of the most basic operations will prove challenging on a PC as minimal as this one.
This particular combination of CPU and RAM has seen some pretty rapid drops from their previous minimum price of around $200. However, these price drops haven't necessarily made these devices any better general purpose laptops for most buyers.
Good luck!
Jon
https://www.asus.com/Laptops/For-.../techspec/
Good luck!
Jon
Leave a Comment