Asus’ Steven Harrington Vivobook is a cool-looking laptop computer with uncool battery life

This has gone on lengthy sufficient, and I will probably be silent not. I’m hereby requesting that firms stop placing Pentium processors in midrange computer systems instantly.

Look, I get the argument. Not everybody wants a Threadripper. Not everybody wants a Core i7. Some folks solely desire a gadget for his or her nightly YouTube watching. Some folks simply desire a Twitter machine. They can save some huge cash — and probably afford a nicer construct, a nicer display screen, and fancier options — in the event that they go for a less expensive chip.

That’s all properly and good in case you’re in that group. But nobody — and I actually do imply nobody — ought to be spending greater than a pair hundred {dollars} on a one factor at a time gadget. Because a $360 Chromebook Duet can browse the net simply positive. The profit a Windows laptop computer has over these gadgets, along with the bigger display screen, is that the Windows working system can higher accommodate multitasking and work. It helps extra highly effective applications, it will probably higher handle app home windows and information, and it has extra computing energy to run a bunch of duties without delay. So in case you’re paying over, say, $800 for a tool that can solely ever have one window open at a time, you might be doing one thing incorrect.

For this very cause, Asus’ $899 Vivobook 13 Slate OLED Steven Harrington Edition (sure, that’s the full title) is among the coolest but in addition most complicated computer systems I’ve reviewed this yr. Asus made it in collaboration with LA-based artist Steven Harrington (to not be confused with the Steve Harrington character on Stranger Things), and it’s extremely cool-looking with an excellent OLED display screen.

It additionally features a Pentium processor. That Pentium processor works. But it principally works you probably have one factor open at a time.

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The Vivobook 13 Slate Steven Harrington Edition is a 13.3-inch OLED pill (already an atypical mixture). It’s certainly one of two limited-edition Slate OLED fashions launched in collaboration with in style artists this yr. (London’s Philip Colbert has one, too.) The fashions are purported to “represent the unique world-view of the artist,” in accordance with Asus’ promotional materials. 

I’d say the Steven Harrington Edition succeeded. It seems, in a phrase, superior. The cowl stand (magnetic, removable, and might assist the gadget in each portrait and panorama modes, although you might even see display screen wobble in case you use the stylus at sure angles) is roofed in cartoon canine, timber, planets, and such, together with some recurring characters of Harrington’s. The backside of the keyboard (additionally removable, Surface Pro-style, and surprisingly snug) has an extra smattering of cute graphics.

This laptop computer has a character. I want extra devices did. I’d like to pop this open at a espresso store and look only a bit cooler than all the opposite espresso store denizens round me. In a tech market stuffed with boring grays and blacks, a splash of distinctive taste to assist of us incorporate their pill into their fashion is all the time welcome.

This Vivobook 13 Slate mannequin is $899 on Asus’ web site (for the Pentium Silver N6000, 8GB of RAM, and 256GB of storage). That makes it less expensive than the likes of the 12.9-inch iPad Pro and the Surface Pro 9 (particularly for the reason that keyboard and stylus are included with the Vivobook’s value). Neither of these premium gadgets has such a cool design or a kickstand that works in a number of orientations. And few 13-inch laptops on the market, not to mention gadgets below $1,000, have an OLED display screen.

How did Asus get the value this low-cost? I can solely assume {that a} large a part of the fee financial savings is discovered within the chip. The Intel Pentium Silver N6000 is just not, by any definition, an excellent processor. It doesn’t present good battery life — I averaged simply over 5 hours of steady use with round a dozen Chrome tabs, Slack, and Spotify operating sometimes at medium brightness — and it doesn’t present nice efficiency, both.

If I had been solely doing one factor without delay, the Vivobook ran okay. Hopping between my dozen or so Chrome tabs was doable. I noticed some typing lag, particularly once I was actually going at it with the backspace key, and there have been some web sites the place I might really feel the Pentium chugging. (Likes on Twitter, for instance, took a little bit of time to indicate up after I’d clicked the button.) But with these caveats, shopping in Chrome was doable.

But when you attempt to get the Pentium operating different issues, there be dragons. I obtained impatient whereas clicking across the Settings app. Drawing in Paint was positive, however Whiteboard was frustratingly sluggish. Slack, over prime of the Chrome tabs, obtained sluggish. It was sluggish to replace and sluggish to deal with my clicks, with swaps between channels typically taking a number of seconds. When I obtained the Vivobook began downloading some Windows and Microsoft Store updates, all the pieces else I used to be doing floor to a halt, and the gadget grew to become virtually unusable, with applications freezing left and proper. Boot time, normally, was sluggish, and I discovered myself staring on the Steven Harrington brand for some time each time the factor turned on.

In abstract, this could be a miniature TV for YouTube and Netflix. This could be a Twitter machine. But you gained’t have a good time if you wish to use it for something greater than that — and in case you don’t, I simply actually don’t suppose you ought to be spending $900, even for all of the cool cartoons.

The non-Harrington Vivobook Slate is accessible for just a few hundred {dollars} cheaper (and I’ve seen it on sale for as little as $300 earlier than). Reviews point to that one being a significantly better deal. At that time, you’re taking a look at one of many least expensive methods available on the market to get an OLED display screen. Those for whom inexpensive OLED is a significant draw ought to think about that mannequin.

There’s lots I like about this product. An OLED laptop computer with an artist-designed chassis, an included stylus, and a two-way kickstand is one thing you would possibly assume would value over $1,000. I’m glad to see this kind of gadget in a extra inexpensive vary.

I wished very badly to love this Vivobook as a result of virtually all the pieces in regards to the exterior is nice — and I all the time respect that Asus is keen to launch such daring and enjoyable designs in a manner few different firms do.

But the insides are essential, too. And I feel a Pentium, in 2022, is simply too excessive of a value to pay. Companies shouldn’t be promoting gadgets which can be this sluggish for something near this value. If you desire a convertible gadget that’s good for one factor at a time, you might have many cheaper choices. If you need an actual Windows laptop computer, one you would reliably use for multitasking and work, these cartoons shouldn’t idiot you. The Pentium is simply too sluggish for at present’s requirements.