Finally, a budget Windows laptop actually worth buying
We rarely recommend very cheap Windows 8.1 laptops because they usually represent a false economy. Many previous bargain-basement models we’ve tested have been hamstrung by poor-quality construction, plodding performance, badly lit screens and unwieldy keyboards. Asus has bucked the trend with the X555LA - a no-frills laptop that costs just over £300 and puts other budget laptops from higher-profile rivals to shame.
The first thing you notice is how light the X555LA is for a 15.6in laptop with a built-in DVD writer (2.1kg, increasing to 2.3kg with charger). It’s still likely to spend more time at home than out and about, but its eight-hour battery life keeps open the option to use when you’re travelling. A circular pattern on the lid brings a touch of style to what is otherwise a plain design, and its plastic casing does tend to creak and flex too easily. On the plus side, though, it never became unbearably warm underneath during our tests.
Performance-wise, this laptop more than holds its own. The 1.9GHz Intel Core i3 4030U dual-core processor, combined with 4GB of memory, makes it fast enough for use as your main computer. You can easily upgrade the memory, but only up to 8GB. This will be sufficient for the next year or two. After that, you might start feeling its limitations as software will inevitably require more resources. On the whole, it’s pretty hard to get inside this laptop, making it next to impossible to replace the 1TB hard drive with a larger model or an SSD.
Unsurprisingly for this price, there’s no touchscreen, and to be honest little need for one because the touchpad is spacious, very responsive and accurate. We liked the keyboard too. The keys feel a touch wobbly and could benefit from a tad more resistance, but they don’t lack feedback and travel, which makes for fast and precise touch typing.
Being a budget laptop, the screen has a 1366x768-pixel resolution, and isn’t blessed with great colour accuracy and contrast. It is bright though and viewing angles are reasonably wide too. You can of course connect a second, higher-quality monitor via HDMI or VGA.
As with any budget laptop, Asus has made compromises with the X555LA, but for the most part it’s made the right ones. Any flaws are easy to forgive, given its comfortable keyboard, расу performance, respectable battery life and radiant screen. If you use XP or Vista currently, it’s the ideal laptop for those who wish to move to Windows 10 when it becomes available as a free upgrade to Windows 8/8.1 users later this year.
VERDICT: A cheap laptop that gets all the basics right, making it great value.
SPECIFICATIONS
1.9GHz Intel Core I3 4030U dual-core processor • 4GB memory • 1TB hard drive • DVD writer • Intel HD 4400 integrated graphics • 15.6in 1366x768-pixel screen • 802.11a/b/g/n • Windows 8.1 • 2.1kg (2.3kg with charger) • 26x382x256mm (HxWxD) • One-year warranty