X205TA - Initial Impressions

I recently found the Asus X205TA which is strictly an 11.6" laptop with Atom Z3735F CPU, 2GB RAM, 32GB eMMC, 1366 x 768 TN LCD (no touch) and weighs 2lbs. It's obviously designed to run basic tasks like the Transformer, and store your stuff online, which they offer Microsoft storage, but I use my own home server.

I picked one up from Microsoft Store for $150. I've seen it on sale from $170-$180 frequently with regular pricing at $199. It does give a solid 10-12 hours battery life too. It manages Microsoft Office tasks, movies, and web browsing without issue. 32GB is quite constraining if you want to keep more stuff local, but it also has a microSD slot for additional storage up to 128GB, plus the free Microsoft online storage.

In my opinion, they're almost there, but they need to go one step up. It just needs a better LCD, 128GB storage, 4GB RAM, and the T100 Atom CPU Z3775 and there's no reason it should cost more than $300, and maintain the 2lbs 11.6" form factor. But I'm liking this over my T100 because of the size and weight and permanent keyboard.

This is one portable companion and I don't mind using it anywhere I go because it's cheap and it also comes standard with Bitlocker enabled.

 

Enjoy!

A question, is it able to run on Linux?

 

The X205TA fills a niche for a low cost laptop that has good battery life. I would like to see it remain in that niche. In my experience, the 2GB of RAM is adequate. More RAM would decrease battery life. The LCD screen is totally acceptable the way it is too.

I find the Bitlocker issue very curious. The intention of Bitlocker is to prevent someone from being able to read your storage drive if they remove it from your computer and plug it in to a different computer. The storage drive on the X205TA is not removable, so what is the point of Bitlocker? Also, Microsoft places Bitlocker as a premium service, and so was only made available on the Pro and Enterprise versions of Windows 8.1. But for some reason, they include it on 8.1 with Bing, the free version of Windows? What? My only possible reasoning for that is that for some reason, Microsoft wanted to encrypt the storage drive because they used WIMBoot on this computer. I disabled Bitlocker, though. You have to go through the charms bar to disable it.

I am also curious to see if Microsoft will update this computer to Windows 10 for free. The update process will be somewhat different because of WIMBoot, but my understanding is that it will be handled through the Windows Update system, so it should be fairly simple for the user. After the update is finished, will we have Windows 10 with Bing, or just Windows 10, since all other computers are getting it for free too.

 

I'm considering to buy this machine but I live in Sweden and Asus is not fast, so I'm thinking of buying it from German Amazon. I've heard rumors that you can't change language in Windows 8 with Bing. If anyone of you who own it can confirm/falsify this rumor I'll be very thankful.

 

The ability to add a language seems to be there in Control Panel. I found Swedish and clicked on it. That activated the "Add" button, but I canceled out at that point. I don't know if that is the same as selecting your language during initial startup, though. If you need to do that, I would think that if you do a complete re-installation of Windows 8.1 by hitting f9 during startup, you might be asked to select your language, but I can't confirm that. One other point that you may have already thought of is that even if you can change the language, the keyboard layout may not be ideal for your new language.

 

Thanks for the info! I've checked and the keyboard layout is the same although not the same symbols on all keys but I look at the screen while typing so I don't think it will be a problem. I think I'm giving it another week, they said a Swedish release is due mid to late February. But I really need a new laptop for school and the x205/f205 is a perfect fit.

 

More RAM, 4GB at that, would barely touch battery life. It'd be same number of modules just higher density. And I'm saying there isn't a machine that fills the void of $300-$350 netbooks with 4GB RAM, a little more storage, and a little faster CPU in an 11-12" form factor. The Transformer Book T100TA is a nice little tablet but it's heavy for its size, especially for those that use it 100% as a laptop like I do, but even it has 64GB eMMC and hard drive option, a faster CPU, better LCD, just lacking 4GB RAM. That's all I'm saying. A T100TA in this form factor with 4GB RAM and 64GB (even 128GB) eMMC would be ideal.

Yeah I thought it odd too and thought it only came with Pro versions. I disabled it too because I was fussing with settings and registry and had a crash and had to enter the key to even use system restore options, and glad I backed it up before it happened. But just a pain and no real reason for it except for what you stated, about WIMBoot. But Bitlocker also locks out your files if someone were to image your drive and try to steal data from it somewhere else. I see it as a deterrent if someone stole it too, because even if they went to wipe it clean they couldn't, and the eMMC is soldered so it'd be worthless for them to do so. But it's a cheap netbook with little storage. I'd think anything of value you'd store on a secure site somewhere anyhow. I store all my stuff on my home network through a VPN.

I don't see why this wouldn't update to Windows 10 for free. My understanding is Win 8 with Bing just restricts the OEM's to setting the search engine only to Bing in Internet Explorer, and Internet Explorer as the default (maybe only) web browser. But users can change it to whatever they want and use any browser they want.



On another note, I'd like to get rid of the recovery partition to free up 8GB of space on the tiny drive, but doing so makes it so the laptop won't boot. I'm thinking of doing a clean install though and see how that goes, because I've already done a system image and restored it just fine, so I know I can get back to normal if need be. But it would just be easier and quicker to just delete the partition. I'm just to lazy and time constrained these days though to go through such lengths.

 

If anyone is interested in a clean install visit this thread, primarily the first post: http://forums.mydigitallife.info/th...ected-CCSL-and-ProfessionalStudent-OEM-images

I first used Reflect Free to make an image of the existing drive so I can restore and set back to factory fresh if I have to for any reason. And downloaded all the 32-bit Windows 8.1 drivers from Asus website.

I then downloaded that "32-bit Windows 8.1 with Bing" ISO from the link above and copied the files to a USB drive, went into X205TA BIOS and set the USB drive to boot first, and it installed and activated without an issue. I deleted all existing partitions during the Windows install and now I've freed up the 8GB recovery partition and have a clean install with lots of free space.

 

My brief review:

The Asus EeeBook X205TA is a great disposable laptop. It manages basic tasks just fine, and everything is "just good enough", but I guess what do you expect for this cheap of a laptop. Overall it is a very well balanced laptop.

The laptop is a great size and weight to make it easily handled with a single hand, and small enough fit in a small handbag or briefcase without knowing it's there. There are limited external connection options, but the two USB 2.0, headphone/mic 1/8" (3.5mm) jack, mini HDMI, and microSD slot are sufficient.

It comes with "Windows 8.1 with Bing" (32-bit) which is really just your normal Windows 8.1, but it comes with Internet Explorer as the default browser and Bing set as the default search engine. You can easily install any browser or use any search engine of your choice. Some people indicated their X205TA came with a year of Office 2013, but mine did not. And overall, there is little to no bloatware or adware.

One strange thing I found is that Bitlocker is enabled. This consumes CPU cycles and I would recommend disabling it. Just search Windows for bitlocker and choose "change device encryption settings". Or go to your charms bar, click settings, click "change PC settings" at lower right, click "PC and Devices" at top left, then click "PC Info" at bottom left. You will see "Device Encryption" at the bottom. You can turn this off. It will take 10-15 minutes or more maybe. Bitdefender is basically encryption, but for a laptop like this, that's CPU limited and cloud storage is encouraged, I'd personally rather get my CPU and SSD performance improved.

Battery life is great. It got well over 8 hours looping a 1080p video (even though it only has a 1366x768 LCD) with VLC media player at 50% brightness, and basic web browsing was nearly 10 hours (using Chrome). If I turned off wi-fi for basic local tasks at low brightness, it might reach 11 or 12 hours.

Wi-fi connection with the Broadcom adapter is decent. I can pick up my home router around my house fine, although speeds are a bit to be desired, but in any case, the SSD is likely a bottleneck there. But for browsing and 720p streaming videos it's just fine.

32GB storage is limiting, but it manages an install of Windows 8.1 with Office and leaves less than 8GB of free space. The point of it I guess is to use cloud storage, but it still would be nice to have 64GB eMMC SSD storage instead of the meager 32GB. There is a microSD slot though, so more storage can be added as desired. The included 32GB is eMMC storage, so it's essentially similar tech to SD cards, so performance won't be near that of any SATA SSD. But again, it's sufficient. I did do a clean installation of Windows, which took some Google searching to find a "Windows 8.1 with Bing" ISO so I could do a clean install. Doing the clean install allowed me to delete the 8GB restore partition and free up that space for use with the system.

The included 2GB of RAM is adequate for the performance of the machine. You won't be opening dozens of browser tabs with this machine sucking up all your RAM, because the CPU just won't handle it well even if it did have more RAM. Just note that neither the SSD or RAM is upgradeable. Everything is soldered on the mainboard, including the CPU even.

The LCD is glossy, which I don't understand why since it's not touchscreen, personally prefer matte, but that's personal preference. Otherwise it is fine for the cost of the laptop. It's a TN panel at 1366x768 so outside of straight on viewing angles the colors shift a lot. It is plenty bright and colors aren't horrible. However it will be difficult to see outdoors on a sunny day.

The touchpad is reasonable, and gets you around with basic input. It does have two and three finger gestures though, and is configurable with Asus Smart Gesture utility. It's sufficient, but I use a small Logitech mouse.

Audio is actually decent. There are two speakers at the front edge of the laptop underneath. Volume is high enough to counter a noisy room, and doesn't distort or sound tinny. More the sufficient for quick video bites or basic gaming blurps. But you won't be doing much gaming on this except for web browser games and maybe some oldies. Freelancer runs great on this, as does Peggle.

Now down the CPU. The CPU is a very lightweight performer with the 2.2W TDP of the Atom Z3735F quad core. It's basically a tablet CPU. Personally I wish they included the Z3775 CPU of the Asus Transformer T100TA, since it is a little better performer, but it is what it is. It does allow it to be fanless, so it's quiet as heck.

The one glaring issue is the AC adapter. For one, it's a wall wart. But more importantly, the power connector is proprietary, and a replacement AC adapter is hard to find and expensive to replace. As of this writing $75 from Asus. The power adapter is 19V - 1.75A which equates to a 33W adapter. The adapter connector to the laptop does not use your typical round barrel connector or your micro B USB connector either. The connector is rectangular. So keep this in mind when buying. Hopefully some third party adapters will be released soon for a fraction of the Asus asking price, or Asus will stop gouging customers and offer theirs at a reasonable cost.

edit: it seems these can be found at Asus store now for about $45 shipped. Still expensive, and still a wall wart.

TL;DR:

Pros:
- Well balanced, everything is just "good enough" to satisfy any other component from the Intel Atom CPU, 2GB RAM, to 32GB eMMC storage
- Long battery life, 8-10 hours of actual video or medium browsing use
- consistent and strong wi-fi connection

Neutral:
- Two USB ports, microSD storage, Mini HDMI, 1/8" / 3.5mm audio jack
- Decent LCD, although matte would be better

Cons:
- proprietary power adapter and connector

 

perform a disk cleanup of c: after running windows update and you'll get 13 gb free without any re-installation or other hassles. You could disable the page file too freeing up another gb but that might result in running out of memory faster. Also avoid chrome like the plague and you'll get better performance and great battery life.

 

Chrome isn't so bad. Latest build is quite slim power conscious. IE is a piece of crap. No native support for add-ons, at least ones that matter. I did do a disk cleanup and ccleaner and glary utilities and still only had less than 10GB free. I will not disable page file with 2GB RAM. That's just asking for issues. I did a clean install and deleted restore partition and had over 15GB free with Office installed.