Asus VivoBook S400CA user reviews

Pros Look Below to see pros

Cons Look below to see Cons

Summary Let me state this clearly, no ultrabook seems to have it all, at least not right for everyone. Some have touchscreens, some backlit keyboards, some optical drives or SSD drives. Keeping that in mind, some features are worth more than others for people depending on their needs or desires. However the Asus vivo book excels in many of its features. At the end i will cover how to install windows 7 on this ultrabook.

Pros:
- Chiclet Keyboard, very nice response
-I5-3317U Processor 1.7ghz
-4gb DDR3 1600mhz/ Free Memory slot
-14.1" LCD Touchscreen
-24gb SSD Cache, Fast
-3 Usb Ports (2x 2.0 usb and 1x 3.0 usb)
-HDMI Port
-Battery life approx. 4-5 hrs
-Sonic Master speakers ( Incredible sound, really good and loud)
-Touch pad is very good, detect 4 finger features.

Cons: Like i said, not all laptops can have it all, and especially not cheap in price. These aren't necessary all Cons but what some might consider it or what I at least desire to have. I didn't go for sony because they are expensive and feel cheap, sad. Lenovo yoga very nice but read review were lcd break easily. Acer M5, almost went for it, but the vivobook finish is much better, almost like a macbook air. Toshiba, well i am a Toshiba tech and i got tire of them but if it wasn't vivobook it was Toshiba ultrabook u945 series. The only thing I really, really wish it had, is backlit keyboard. I don't understand why they are able to do this on a zenbook and not on a Vivo, kind of actually makes me mad every time I see a dell XPS or HP Envy/ Spectre with Backlit keyboard.

-No optical drive (i dont care, some will)
-No backlit Keyboard (why i don't know, sigh it's all it needed IMO)
-No Bluetooth
-LCD is a little faint in color (You can fix this with Saturation or color Enhancement)
-4.4 pounds, not the lightest still really good ( pro or con, depends on person)
-Headphone Jack and Mic in the same port (Hmmmm)

Other Thoughts: Now this laptop has been as low as 578.99-640.00 in some webpages or stores. I got mine for 400 practically new. This notebooks is worth getting if all your looking for is for a laptop with Touchscreen, Good keyboard, Fairly light and thin, really fast ( specially with their 2 sec boot program) and very good Sound. Built quality is superb and feels like a high quality product. However, I suggest something's be upgraded.

1. SSD Drive, you will bring even more life and full potential to your laptop in speed, reliability and better battery life
2.Memory, at least another 8gb Ram 1600mhz ( recommend Vengeance Corsair Memory)
3. Wifi Card to Intel 6235 Dual Band with Bluetooth
I performed these upgrades as suggested by another reviewer. It's worth every penny. I already loved my laptop and now i love it even more. Yes i recommend this laptop and these upgrades on any ultrabook but best on Asus Vivo Ultrabook S400CA-DH51T.

*******How to Install Windows 7********

Now for those who would like to Downgrade/Install Windows 7 here is a how to and some things to keep in mind.
First your going to want to back up your drivers and software if you want to make it easier, or you can get
them directly from Asus webpage. Got to you C drive, and you will find a folder called "Esupport". Back up that whole
folder as it contains your Manual for your laptop and Your software and drivers which are compatible with windows 7.
Now that you have that back up, keep in mind that everything else will be just like any other windows 7 laptop, except you
wont have special features or guessture that wear meant for windows 8 (EX, Guesstures on your Touchpad for windows 8)Everything else that your laptop came with will work, touchscreen function perfectly at initial load up and so does usb 3.0. Also, you might want to use a different Drive and preferably a SSD while your at it. If you do use your Factory HDD, DON'T DELETE YOUR
FACTORY RECOVERY PARTITION (What if you fail or messed up or you want to go back to windows 8?) You can also try to make a recovery of your image within windows 8, just go to control panel, select the recovery option and build your factory partition to a usb or dvd's.

Now you will need a usb image with windows 7 or a usb dvd drive with a windows 7 OS Disc and Genuine key.

1. Enter Bios settings by holding down the F2 key at startup (when you see the asus logo)
2. Now in the bios switch to the Security Tab/Menu
3. At the very bottom you will see an option called "Secure Boot Control". Disable that.
4. Now, switch to the "Boot" menu
5. Under boot configuration you will see an option called "Launch CSM". IF you don't enable this you won't be able to see you Hard Drive.
6. Now save setting and exit by pressing F10
7. Insert your bootable usb copy of Windows 7 or use an USB External DVD drive (I used this)
8. At startup press the ESC key this will bring the Boot up Menu.
9. Select the boot device that contains windows 7 and let it load completely.
10. From here on it's the basics. Once windows installs, start updating or installing the drivers and activate your copy of windows 7. (If you decided to use the factory drive, do not delete the recovery partition as there is no way to recover this)
11.You can get the drivers from:
asus main webpage, just click on services and then support. Click on "Download Now" and Type your model "S400CA"
12. Once you're done installing all the drivers restart the laptop and enter the bios menu again.
13. In the Bios, select the "Advanced" Menu. Then select the "USB Configuration"
14. You will see an option called "XHCI Pre-Boot Mode", disable it, you don't need it for windows 7 and it will just keep show up in device manager as "Universal Serial Bus (USB) Controller"
15. Now you can go back and if you back up the asus software folder installed any other software from Asus that you might like, except the Power gear one (it will slow things down and conflict with windows power options)
16. You're done and enjoy windows 7 on your new Asus Laptop.

Well if you have any question or comments leave below or email me: johnnykillertech@gmail.com