14 DAY TRIAL // ASUS is a device manufacturer focusing on tablets and laptops of all varieties and the company has recently taken the opportunity to extend its enterprise-bound portfolio. Which is a good thing since ASUS’ professional lineup is not that numerous.
The ASUSPRO Essential PU401LA notebook just went official a few days ago and will soon be available for purchase on the US market. ASUS touts it as an ultraportable and budget friendly machine, so let’s see what it has to offer.
ASUSPRO Essential PU401LA goes budget
The Ultrabook is a 14-inch thin and light device (weighs 1.77 kg / 3.9 lbs, which has been made sturdier for protection reasons). ASUS has outfitted the hard disk with a protective housing which will prevent the notebook getting damaged from knocks and falls.
Its keyboard is also impermeable to liquids. Puzzlingly the 14-inch display delivers an average 1366 x 768 pixels resolution, but given the fact this is a business notebook we were expecting more.
As for computing power, users have a choice between an Intel Core i3-4010U, i5-4200U and i7-4500U processors to go under the hood, which can be paired with up to 8GB of RAM.
Storage wise, you can have your pick at traditional hard drives of 5400 or 7200 RM, available in 320, 500, 750GB or 1TB in the first case and 500GB in the second, or a hybrid model with 500GB 5400PRM 16GB of NAND cache.
The PU401LA also houses two USB 2.0 ports, USB 3.0 port, HDMI and VGA video outputs, combo audio jack for Line In and Out, RJ-45 plug for connection to the LAN and biometric sensor to read of fingerprints.
Other specifications include an SD card reader 4-in-1, an HD webcam, Wi-Fi modules and Bluetooth 4.0 with support for SonicMaster audio system and MaxxAudio 3-cell battery 4000 mAh, 44Wh.
For the time being, the ASUS official page doesn’t disclose pricing information of availability dates, but given that the machine is touted as a budget friendly Ultrabook, we expect it to be quite affordable.
ASUSPRO BU201 is also a business-friendly notebook but coming with a 12.5-inch display
Not so long ago ASUS pushed out the ASUSPRO BU201 which comes with a smaller 12.5-inch display, but offers a little bit more in terms of resolution and RAM.
The laptop boasts 1920 x 1200 pixel resolution and packs either Core i5 or Core i7 processor plus up to 12GB of RAM.
The battery inside this laptop is a little bit larger, boasting a 4200 mAh capacity, so you can expect the BU201 to last you a little bit longer.
