Microsoft has some considerable company in the computing game. The emergence of Chrome OS is forcing Redmond and PC OEMs to make Windows-based machines that are more affordable than ever before. The Chromebook threat to Microsoft’s dominance grows by the day.
Of course, that’s a win for consumers. The latest victory comes in the form of the Asus EeeBook X205, which first saw daylight at IFA in September.
The $200 X205 offers plenty of bang for the buck. The EeeBook X205 packs a quad-core Intel Atom Bay Trail-T Z3735 CPU, and, in its low-end configuration, includes 32GB of storage.
A model with a more spacious 64GB SSD is also on the way. The X205 also ships with 115GB of Microsoft OneDrive storage, and 500GB Asus WebStorage space, each for two years. This system aims to impress with stellar battery life too, which is rated at 12 hours of continuous Web browsing use.
So, skimpy internal storage shouldn’t be a problem, which is not what we can say about the memory, and screen resolution departments.
Those are clearly the 11.6-incher’s biggest flaws, as 2GB of RAM hardly ensures smooth multitasking, and a 1,366 x 768 screen is lackluster. Then again, compromises are expected, considering the X205’s low price.
The port selection will consist of a pair of USB 2.0 connections, a Micro-HDMI out, a headphone/mic combo jack, and a MicroSD card slot with support for cards up to 64GB in size. USB 3.0 is not present here. 802.11n Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth 4.0 are, however.
If you’re willing to ignore the downsides knowing full well that there’s no such thing as perfection at $200, then head over to Amazon and, well, you know the drill.
The Asus EeeBook X205 will launch on November 3.
Available at Amazon
