Review: Asus VivoPC

By Gadjo Cardenas Sevilla

Asus is taking the style and design of its tablets and notebooks and making a micro-PC that’s ideal for general computing and is a practical solution to many user’s desktop needs.

The ASUS VivoPC costs around $340.00, measures about 7.5″ x 7.5″ x 2.2 and weighs less than 2.7 pounds. It is tiny, easy to deploy on any desk or even your living room.

Specs are reasonable with 4GB of RAM, a 500GB, 7200RPM hard drive, 802.11ac WiFi, Bluetooth 4.0, and a 1.5 GHz Intel Celeron 1007U dual-core processor with Intel HD graphics.

It also has Gigabit Ethernet, an SD card slot, optical S/PDIF output, VGA and HDMI ports, and 2 USB 3.0 ports and 4 USB 2.0 ports which is generous for something so small and light. 

The mini-PC segment is by no means a new one, they have bee around for at least a decade and models like Apple’s Mac Mini have really defined the genre of tiny desktops with just enough power and connectivity to get things done at a lower price point. 

With the PC market under siege and notebooks as well as tablet-hybrids approaching the processing power and functions without the bulk, small PCs with simple plug-and-play functionality might make sense to some users if the price is right. 

Encased partly in brushed aluminum with a plastic frame, the VivoPC feels substantially well made but nowhere as premium or solid as any recent Mac mini but the VivoPC is cheaper than Apple’s tiny desktop and really caters to a specific market.

The ASUS VivoPC is ideal as a PC for a family room, for schools or for young children. It is designed to be set up, set aside and hidden. There’s no input for DVDs, CDs which means less moving parts and less things to break.

This is the PC becoming more of an appliance, something that won’t be really upgraded but which will also not be expected to run very powerful applications. 

I liked that the ASUS VivoPC is small, Compact and offers modern specs in a micro-PC for budget users. It also has great range of I/O ports and is super lightweight. The Celeron processor might be just ok for Windows 7, web surfing, office applications and a few web-based games but it might not have enought for more upscale games (plus without a DVD-ROM, it will be a workaround to install any games from discs).

Like most PCs of this size, it is hard to upgrade and is better suited as a terminal or appliance type device. Also remember that it needs a monitor, keyboard and mouse. If you're replacing an old PC and are happy with your current devices, that's fine but if you want to upgrade, it'll cost you. At what point is an all-in-one a better deal.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5