The latest mid-range laptop from Asus is a thin and light model that weighs about 3.1 pounds, and which crams a 14 inch display into a laptop that measures just 12.7″ x 8.3″ x 0.7″.

That’s because the Asus VivoBook 14 (X420) has a “frameless” display with slim bezels on all sides, giving the laptop an 87 percent screen-to-body ratio.

We’ve come to expect that type of feature from high-end laptops, but the Asus VivoBook line of laptops tend to be mid-range computers that are a bit more affordable then premium notebooks like the Asus VivoBook line.

I guess slim bezels aren’t just a premium feature anymore.

The Asus VivoBook 14 (X420) supports up to a 1080p display, an Intel Core i7-8550U processor, 8GB of LPDR3-21333 onboard memory, and 512GB of solid state storage.

But Asus will also offer models with Core i3 and Core i5 processor options, as little as 4GB of RAM and 128GB of storage, and a 1366 x 768 pixel display.

Other semi-premium features such as a backlit keyboard and fingerprint reader are optional.

Each model comes standard with a 38 Wh battery, a USB 3.1 Type-C port, a USB 3.0 Type-A port, a USB 2.0 Type-A port, an HDMI port, a headset jack, and a microSD card reader. The laptop has 2W stereo speakers, a digital array microphone, 802.11ac WiFi, and Bluetooth 4.2, and there’s a webcam above the screen.

press release

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8 replies on “Asus launches VivoBook 14 X420 with “frameless” display”

  1. Just good enough in all departments to make an object of desire, I wonder whether the prices will be kept low enough to be a value-for-money purchase for everyday use?

  2. Interesting hinge design. The bottom of the lid becomes the rear feet and raises the back edge up. Perhaps this is for ergonomics, cooling, or just to make for an interesting design element.

  3. Or one could just spend the same amount on a “workstation” and get a better product. This model and for all the other flagship models and lines; so much is spent on marketing and making the exterior look pretty.

    Becoming a professional in a field that requires reliable and high quality equipment, it was crazy to learn that everything from desktops, graphic cards, processors, laptops have product lines known as “workstations” (or parts for them).

    Buying the “best” at Fry’s, Best Buy, or what’s pushed on e-commerce is a waste if money. I’m still selling off my first round of “upgrades.”

    I love the Asus brand but finding a laptop of there’s with a professional video card (Quadro, firepeo, radeon-pro) seems impossible at this time. The consumer graphics cards (the only ones they are using)”block” certain functionality of their cards so manufactures and consumers are required to change to a “professional” line. If you want 4k with 10 or more bits of color this is required. 8 bit, the outdated “standard” only allows for 256 colors per color (red green and blue).

    Also you’re going to want to choose more ram vs paying a lot more for processing speed. 8gb is going to lead to lag no matter what processor you’re running on.

    If you are only using a computer for basic tasks, spending $1k for something mediocre and pretty, might be worthwhile. Well doubt anyone will read this, but hay, if you made it this far, sorry for my rant.

    Best specs (no matter your budget):
    Always get a laptop with a solid state drive (SSD), dedicated graphics card (even if it’s only 2gb of vRam), 16gb of ram (never ever less than 8gb), i5 and up for Intel processors (a few generation’s old is fine you won’t notice a difference in performance), and make sure the monitor is at least 1920×1080 pixels(resolution) with at least 170 degree view angels (also 99%+ srgb colorspace is a good spec to look for, but rarely listed).

    1. Look, if you REALLY need a REAL professional-class mobile workstation, buy one… but you’re going to need to spend a LOT more than the price of this VivoBook for a Dell Precision, HP ZBook or similar (no, Asus doesn’t really compete in that space) – and quit posting rants complaining about sub-$1K consumer-oriented mid-range Asus VivoBooks (which is hardly their flagship product line)

      Having purchased a half-dozen new/used laptops over the last 20+ years, I know that not everybody needs/wants a dedicated graphics card, 16GB RAM, and i5/i7 processors (but i5 does seem to be the most common base model these days) Although I’ll agree an FHD display is certainly highly recommended. I couldn’t care less about the looks but otherwise this VivoBook (with a matte display) is what I’m looking for price/feature-wise.

      I say buy the right tool for the tasks at hand. Don’t spend $1500+ for a bunch of bells and whistles you don’t need just because some anonymous guy on the internet is running around ranting that everybody should buy a “workstation”…

    2. Haha, you will spend MUCH more than $999 on a true Workstation. You’re probably looking at over $2k for anything decent.

      Also, consumer grade Nvidia 10-series GPUs do support 10bit colour over Displayport, but only using DirectX. For software that exclusively uses OpenGL, you need a Quadro card.

      Workstation GPUs are an absolute waste of money unless you absolutely need them. Most of them cost $6000 to $10,000 for desktop PCs.

      Also Workstation laptops are probably not a wise purchase for most people that are reading an article about a pretty ultrabook. Most of them have 2-5 hour battery life, because their 90-100w CPUs are power hungry. As much as I could make use of the CPU power, I will never buy one.

    1. …..
      Look at all of Asus notebook pricing in the past. Even their premium with 8 gb/ 256 gb doesn’t start at 1k. Do some research bro.

      1. ASUS have slowing been upping their prices on their “low end” products. Definitely not what they used to be (price wise) which may be why they aren’t selling as many products these days.

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