expiredDr.W posted May 27, 2025 02:41 PM
Item 1 of 3
Item 1 of 3
expiredDr.W posted May 27, 2025 02:41 PM
ASUS VivoBook S 14 (Cert. Refurb): 14" 2.8K 120Hz OLED, Ryzen AI 9 365, 32GB LPDDR5X, 1TB SSD $840.99
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https://www.ebay.com/itm/16751838...SwEF
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- The wifi card leaves much to be desired- it is only 6E, finicky with certain AP configurations and is soldered in.
- The screen is quite good, great panel with a solid refresh though doesn't get as bright as I'd prefer. iGPU is decent, nothing mind blowing, though.
- Battery life is ok for what it is, not MBP / Apple M-series caliber but good for X86. I've been getting 8-12 hours depending on what I'm doing. I usually keep battery saver (max charge 80%), balanced performance, brightness wherever is comfortable for the environment, and otherwise don't have to think about it.
- I replaced the SSD with a Samsung 990 Pro; it nearly doubled the performance. That's not to say the OG SSD is bad, it just isn't great.
- Heat and fan noise are a litlte much for my preference but it's leagues ahead of the Intel i7-1165 laptop I'm coming from. The hotspot are also well isolated to top and center of the chasis so I have yet for it to feel uncomfortable on the lap or otherwise. In my somewhat limited experience with newer x86 laptops, this one seems average or perhaps slightly above.
- Have run AMD's GAIA on it and it was pretty impressive, will be fun to play with. Also played Clair Obscura Expedition 33 and BG3 on it reasonably well while traveling. (I was surprised and a little sad how much better it is than the Steamdeck ^_^
- W11 is really quite shitty (W10 has been my daily on my other machines...) and it reminds me of Windows Vista way too much.
- Keyboard is pretty okay, not my favorite but not bad either. The LEDs under the caps bleeds out the front which is a little annoying, so unless you sit with it pretty close you, you you're going to see the lights.
Happy to help others with questions if useful.- The wifi card leaves much to be desired- it is only 6E, finicky with certain AP configurations and is soldered in.
- The screen is quite good, great panel with a solid refresh though doesn't get as bright as I'd prefer. iGPU is decent, nothing mind blowing, though.
- Battery life is ok for what it is, not MBP / Apple M-series caliber but good for X86. I've been getting 8-12 hours depending on what I'm doing. I usually keep battery saver (max charge 80%), balanced performance, brightness wherever is comfortable for the environment, and otherwise don't have to think about it.
- I replaced the SSD with a Samsung 990 Pro; it nearly doubled the performance. That's not to say the OG SSD is bad, it just isn't great.
- Heat and fan noise are a litlte much for my preference but it's leagues ahead of the Intel i7-1165 laptop I'm coming from. The hotspot are also well isolated to top and center of the chasis so I have yet for it to feel uncomfortable on the lap or otherwise. In my somewhat limited experience with newer x86 laptops, this one seems average or perhaps slightly above.
- Have run AMD's GAIA on it and it was pretty impressive, will be fun to play with. Also played Clair Obscura Expedition 33 and BG3 on it reasonably well while traveling. (I was surprised and a little sad how much better it is than the Steamdeck ^_^
- W11 is really quite shitty (W10 has been my daily on my other machines...) and it reminds me of Windows Vista way too much.
- Keyboard is pretty okay, not my favorite but not bad either. The LEDs under the caps bleeds out the front which is a little annoying, so unless you sit with it pretty close you, you you're going to see the lights.
Happy to help others with questions if useful.1) how is the build quality? flimsy feel or solid like a macbook?
2) does it feel refurbished? how long do you think it'll last?
3) I'm deciding with this versus a Mac Air (16gb ram), mostly for productivity work. I can get a separate windows laptop just for gaming but that would be extra $ and annoyance of having two machines. not sure if you have experience but what would you suggest?
- Build quality is pretty good. Firm keyboard, no flex, and decent trackpad. Lower part of the chasis is all metal, I think but the lid / screen housing are a very thin kind of plastic; it doesn't seem fragile but it is very thin and no where near the rigidity of a macbook, but close enough for me.
- Many reviewers report how much it shows fingerprints and yes, that was a problem but that kind of gone away (or I'm just good at ignoring it now that the newness has worn off). Can't really explain it but it seems like the new material gets acclimated or something, and now it's fine.
- Did not notice any refurbished at all, I think someone opened it, maybe turned it on and sent it right back. It looks and feels brand new, only thing that wasn't included AFAIK was the OG box. I plan to use this for at least a couple years and I think it'll last.
- Macbook Air is likely going to be a bit better build quality wise, but overall I think this is a better buy. I can't really comment on that vs this for usability I have a bunch of laptops including a "work" one that is an old M1 MBP that I kinda hate.
Lastly I'd suggest the 30 day return window is plenty of time to decide if it is for you or not, too, and in my brief interactions with the seller, returning did not seem like it would have been an issue had I gone down that path.Sign up for a Slickdeals account to remove this ad.
- The wifi card leaves much to be desired- it is only 6E, finicky with certain AP configurations and is soldered in.
- The screen is quite good, great panel with a solid refresh though doesn't get as bright as I'd prefer. iGPU is decent, nothing mind blowing, though.
- Battery life is ok for what it is, not MBP / Apple M-series caliber but good for X86. I've been getting 8-12 hours depending on what I'm doing. I usually keep battery saver (max charge 80%), balanced performance, brightness wherever is comfortable for the environment, and otherwise don't have to think about it.
- I replaced the SSD with a Samsung 990 Pro; it nearly doubled the performance. That's not to say the OG SSD is bad, it just isn't great.
- Heat and fan noise are a litlte much for my preference but it's leagues ahead of the Intel i7-1165 laptop I'm coming from. The hotspot are also well isolated to top and center of the chasis so I have yet for it to feel uncomfortable on the lap or otherwise. In my somewhat limited experience with newer x86 laptops, this one seems average or perhaps slightly above.
- Have run AMD's GAIA on it and it was pretty impressive, will be fun to play with. Also played Clair Obscura Expedition 33 and BG3 on it reasonably well while traveling. (I was surprised and a little sad how much better it is than the Steamdeck ^_^
- W11 is really quite shitty (W10 has been my daily on my other machines...) and it reminds me of Windows Vista way too much.
- Keyboard is pretty okay, not my favorite but not bad either. The LEDs under the caps bleeds out the front which is a little annoying, so unless you sit with it pretty close you, you you're going to see the lights.
Happy to help others with questions if useful.Leave a Comment