WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:05.680 I had a recent work mishap where I put my laptop on top of my car and drove 00:00:03.760 --> 00:00:09.040 away. It's not fully broken, but there's some cosmetic damage I'm not super happy 00:00:07.440 --> 00:00:13.599 about, and it'll probably get worse over time. So, ASUS sponsored this video so I 00:00:11.759 --> 00:00:18.240 can take a look at not one, but two different Chromebooks and decide if I 00:00:15.679 --> 00:00:21.520 actually need like a full-fledged laptop or if I'm okay with just a Chromebook, 00:00:19.920 --> 00:00:26.000 considering all I'm doing most of the time anyway is just either pulling up a 00:00:23.760 --> 00:00:29.920 web page or writing some notes in a script. So, let's see what we got. We're 00:00:28.720 --> 00:00:37.520 going to look at the more premium version first. The CX 3402CV. 00:00:34.559 --> 00:00:42.800 This guy has got it all. And by all, I mean it's got everything you need. Like 00:00:39.040 --> 00:00:44.079 a 14-in screen, 1080p, 60 Hz. You know, 00:00:42.800 --> 00:00:49.440 it's actually not too heavy either. That's my other problem is the laptop they want to give me at work is like 00:00:46.960 --> 00:00:54.559 pretty heavy compared to my old one. Whereas like this is small and sleek. 00:00:51.680 --> 00:00:58.399 And actually, how heavy is it? 1.45 kilos. That's all that's about 3 lb. 00:00:56.719 --> 00:01:03.680 It's pretty close. What else is in the box, though? ASUS has given me a 00:01:01.840 --> 00:01:10.400 charging brick. This thing's got about a 50Wh hour battery, so plenty of juice. 00:01:07.600 --> 00:01:14.240 As long as you're not uh trying to make the screen super bright all the time and 00:01:12.640 --> 00:01:18.799 run it to its absolute limit, it should last you quite a while. ASUS is boasting 00:01:16.640 --> 00:01:23.040 up to 10 hours. I think we tested it at closer to 6 and 1/2. It's a pretty long 00:01:20.799 --> 00:01:27.040 cable. Probably about 6 ft cuz I'm not 6 feet and this thing goes a little 00:01:24.560 --> 00:01:31.680 further than me. I wish I was. >> Uh, one other main feature though, we've 00:01:29.119 --> 00:01:35.759 got one USBC for charging. And on our other side, got another USBC with uh, 00:01:34.000 --> 00:01:39.759 looks like DP alt mode. So, if you want to plug this thing into a bigger screen, 00:01:37.600 --> 00:01:45.439 that's totally valid. Uh, and then we've also got HDMI and then a couple of USBA 00:01:43.439 --> 00:01:50.320 ports and a headphone mic combo jack. Honestly, we'll talk about the price in 00:01:47.280 --> 00:01:53.280 a bit, but that's more IO than I get on 00:01:50.320 --> 00:01:56.799 like my own laptop actually. Otherwise, it seems pretty bog standard. You know, 00:01:55.040 --> 00:02:00.159 you can see the cooling system in here. Actually looks like pretty accessible, 00:01:58.240 --> 00:02:03.680 too. They don't have a ton of uh stickers and other stuff blocking all 00:02:02.240 --> 00:02:08.080 the screws. I don't even think you have to take these feet off. So, it actually seems pretty repairable. I don't know 00:02:06.560 --> 00:02:11.200 how much you want to repair a Chromebook, but it looks like you could. 00:02:09.599 --> 00:02:15.040 Otherwise, yeah, it's pretty light. I like the look of it. It's got a little 00:02:12.720 --> 00:02:19.360 Chromebook plus logo and the rock gray. I like the ASUS there. I just messed 00:02:17.599 --> 00:02:22.640 this up pretty bad. And the fingerprints aren't like hyper visible. You can get 00:02:20.959 --> 00:02:26.400 your grubby hands all You can let your kids get their grubby hands all over 00:02:24.160 --> 00:02:31.440 this thing and it's going to be fine. Um, let's open it up and take a look. 00:02:28.879 --> 00:02:34.560 I'll be honest, I'm not crazy about the keyboard, but this is not meant for 00:02:33.280 --> 00:02:38.560 that. There are a lot of things this device is meant for, and fancy keyboard 00:02:36.640 --> 00:02:42.239 is not one of them. Obviously, it's a Chromebook, so we're using Chrome OS, 00:02:39.920 --> 00:02:46.959 not Windows. Um, but I believe this is a touch screen. Is it? It is. Yo, I don't 00:02:45.200 --> 00:02:50.800 like the touchcreen very much. It does work. We're also missing my coveted 00:02:49.040 --> 00:02:56.000 Windows key. Um, as for the keyboard itself, it's got a okay texture to the 00:02:54.000 --> 00:03:00.640 key caps. And, you know, we're not getting a fancy um, lowprofile 00:02:59.120 --> 00:03:05.040 mechanical keyboard or anything in this, but honestly, I actually don't hate like 00:03:03.200 --> 00:03:11.720 chicklet style laptop keyboards. Um, I find I type on them really well. And 00:03:06.800 --> 00:03:11.720 away we go. 00:03:12.000 --> 00:03:17.120 No, I made a mistake. 00:03:15.680 --> 00:03:23.519 I was going to set a new record, I swear. But honestly, yeah, it's pretty good. I I it's responsive. It types 00:03:21.519 --> 00:03:27.760 things just fine. And one nice thing actually is the keys are nice and spaced 00:03:26.239 --> 00:03:31.280 apart. So you're not going to have that weird moment where you like jam two keys 00:03:29.760 --> 00:03:35.760 at the same time because you've got that hyper condensed keyboard layout. So 00:03:33.120 --> 00:03:39.120 overall it's fine. Sounds fine. Sounds like a laptop chicklet keyboard, which 00:03:37.599 --> 00:03:43.040 frankly they have their they have their place. They're totally okay. As for the 00:03:41.040 --> 00:03:46.560 trackpad, it doesn't like it when I've got two fingers there. How's the palm 00:03:44.799 --> 00:03:51.920 rejection? Palm rejection seems like pretty good actually. As for the clicks, 00:03:49.680 --> 00:03:57.519 click. Yeah, this seems totally okay, actually. Um, let's take a look at the 00:03:54.159 --> 00:04:01.120 specs. And they've got a 13th gen Intel 00:03:57.519 --> 00:04:03.040 Core i5 1334U, 12 threads. That should 00:04:01.120 --> 00:04:06.400 be a two pore chip. So, we've got two pores and then eight ecores, and then 00:04:04.799 --> 00:04:10.480 the two pores are hyperthreaded to get you 12 threads total. It says boost of 00:04:08.560 --> 00:04:14.159 4.6 GHz. This doesn't clarify that that's a boost, but that is a boost 00:04:11.760 --> 00:04:18.400 clock. There's no way this thing runs at 4.6 uh base. But then we've got 8 gigs 00:04:16.639 --> 00:04:21.759 of RAM and I'm only using two gigs of it right now. So, let's open some more 00:04:19.759 --> 00:04:27.520 Chrome tabs. So, we got a video playing. We've got a web page up. We got email 00:04:23.919 --> 00:04:29.680 open. Uh some other random tabs. WebGL 00:04:27.520 --> 00:04:35.199 aquariums running. How are we doing? I'm using less RAM now. I'm down to 1.5 gigs 00:04:32.880 --> 00:04:39.600 of memory. How did that happen? I don't know. But the fact is, you're not buying 00:04:38.000 --> 00:04:42.320 this to game. Like, let's try to play Batro. Okay, we've got Bolatro 00:04:41.040 --> 00:04:46.960 installed, but that's totally fine because we've got 128 gigs of uh UFS 00:04:45.440 --> 00:04:50.479 storage. I know this game can run on mobile, but like, hey, it's playing 00:04:48.639 --> 00:04:53.919 Batro. The display itself isn't terrible either. It does 250 nits, which is 00:04:52.639 --> 00:04:57.199 bright enough. You're not going to really be enjoying this outside too 00:04:55.759 --> 00:05:03.280 much, but you know, how's the speakers on this thing? I guarantee there's not going to be any bass, but like 00:05:01.759 --> 00:05:06.840 these are not the worst speakers I've ever heard in my life. 00:05:09.039 --> 00:05:13.680 That's with it cranked. Let me check out a more realistic thing. I want to hear 00:05:12.240 --> 00:05:16.880 dialogue cuz you're going to be using this as like a school aid or a work aid. 00:05:15.759 --> 00:05:20.560 So, you're going to be using it to watch lectures or attend a meeting or something. So, I want to see what it's 00:05:19.199 --> 00:05:25.199 like when someone's talking to you. >> Meta launched their Meta Rayban. 00:05:23.759 --> 00:05:29.039 >> That sounds pretty good. I could hear that. If someone's talking to me over a 00:05:26.800 --> 00:05:32.880 meeting, I could totally uh understand them. Let me check how the webcam is 00:05:30.800 --> 00:05:36.560 though. So, and the microphone as well because I can hear them, but can they 00:05:34.479 --> 00:05:40.320 hear me? This isn't half bad. It's a full HD webcam with AI enhanced audio 00:05:38.560 --> 00:05:44.800 and video. I think this is a very reasonable um meeting webcam. I don't 00:05:42.720 --> 00:05:48.320 know how good the audio is on my side because I can't hear the mic, but I hope 00:05:46.560 --> 00:05:51.440 that you're using this as a good way to determine if it's a good enough 00:05:49.600 --> 00:05:56.160 microphone for you if you're looking into buying a new Chromebook for whether 00:05:53.360 --> 00:06:00.000 that's work or school or just like uh walking around the house. That's what I 00:05:57.440 --> 00:06:03.680 want this one for is to like just walk around with a light laptop, super 00:06:01.759 --> 00:06:08.240 lightweight with a script on it and just like check stuff out and read things and 00:06:06.560 --> 00:06:11.680 um that's it. I want like a super tablet. I guess it's pretty durable. If 00:06:10.160 --> 00:06:17.199 I drop it, I'm not super worried about it. Andrew can attest to how uncareful I 00:06:14.240 --> 00:06:20.880 am with the company laptops. The uh hinge should 180. And look at this. Now 00:06:19.280 --> 00:06:25.039 you can use it as like a tablet. Maybe you want to use Photoshop and a stylus 00:06:23.280 --> 00:06:29.520 and use it kind of like a tablet. Um, it is optimized for creative apps, 00:06:27.039 --> 00:06:33.840 Photoshop, Express, Lumaf Fusion, and Google Workspace. And while there wasn't 00:06:31.600 --> 00:06:38.720 an Ethernet jack, uh, during the IO tour, it is Wi-Fi 6E, which is honestly 00:06:36.880 --> 00:06:42.080 pretty fast. We connected to our network here, no problem. We were streaming 00:06:40.479 --> 00:06:46.880 video without issues, so it should be totally fine for you as long as your network. Don't forget that you have to 00:06:44.319 --> 00:06:49.520 have a network that's also Wi-Fi 6E, otherwise it's just going to default to 00:06:48.080 --> 00:06:53.520 whatever your slowest speed is. And you can get all this for $5.99, which is 00:06:51.520 --> 00:06:59.199 their this is their most premium of Chromebooks. And that $599 does come 00:06:56.639 --> 00:07:02.720 with a year of Gemini. So that's like a pretty that's what over another $100 00:07:00.960 --> 00:07:07.840 worth of subscription savings that you'd get. So overall, the value is pretty 00:07:05.759 --> 00:07:11.360 solid. And I'm personally leaning towards this one just because like I 00:07:09.360 --> 00:07:15.360 want to play Bellatro with the slightly better mobile CPU that's in this guy. 00:07:13.680 --> 00:07:19.680 But if 600 bucks is outside of your price range, I've got kind of a treat 00:07:16.880 --> 00:07:23.360 for you because this guy, guess the price. Guess the price of what the 00:07:21.280 --> 00:07:28.160 slightly bigger one is, cuz this is a 15 or a 16in screen. Uh, like our other 00:07:26.080 --> 00:07:33.199 box, by the way, basically just Chromebook, charge cable, some other 00:07:30.880 --> 00:07:35.280 random ASUS stuff. Have you guessed it yet? 00:07:34.400 --> 00:07:40.880 >> $30. >> $30. This is the Asus CB CX15 15.6 in 00:07:40.400 --> 00:07:48.960 screen and >> fabric blue. And it's only 160 bucks. 00:07:44.960 --> 00:07:51.120 Like, I honestly can't believe the day 00:07:48.960 --> 00:07:55.680 and age we live in where I'm getting a laptop that's like this big, has an okay 00:07:53.919 --> 00:08:00.479 screen. Like, that's crazy. Now, that price is a little bit too good to be 00:07:57.520 --> 00:08:04.800 true. It's technically 220 at MSRP. However, ever since this thing launched 00:08:02.319 --> 00:08:10.160 at Walmart, you can get it for 160 and we do expect that sale to last for quite 00:08:08.080 --> 00:08:13.680 a long time. What do you get for 160 bucks? Well, we get a little less than 00:08:11.759 --> 00:08:18.879 on our more premium guy, but we've got one USBC, HDMI. Always really nice to 00:08:16.960 --> 00:08:24.080 see when you're trying to hook up uh to a monitor. And then uh USBA. And we've 00:08:21.520 --> 00:08:27.599 also got uh mic and headphone jack. Let's smudge this guy up. Barely any 00:08:26.160 --> 00:08:31.759 smudges. And I actually really like the aqua blue. Like that's one thing is uh I 00:08:30.240 --> 00:08:35.360 sticker bomb all my stuff cuz I like color. And this is way more up my alley 00:08:33.760 --> 00:08:39.839 in the sense that like it's a nice shiny pretty blue. Now it is bigger. We've got 00:08:38.000 --> 00:08:43.200 a whole extra like inch and a half of screen space here. So, it is going to be 00:08:41.680 --> 00:08:48.160 heavier, but it's really, you know, I can still one-hand it. 00:08:46.080 --> 00:08:54.240 I get to the pizza here. I'm going to guess 1,600 g. The other one was 1450. 00:08:51.120 --> 00:08:55.519 I'm so close, you guys. 1586. So, it's 00:08:54.240 --> 00:08:59.440 actually pretty light even though the screen is bigger. But, this does have a 00:08:57.279 --> 00:09:03.200 significantly weaker mobile processor in it. But, hey, the value is there cuz 00:09:01.200 --> 00:09:06.480 this thing is still going to do most of what that could do. And I will say I 00:09:05.200 --> 00:09:09.920 actually kind of like this keyboard a bit more just because it's more in line 00:09:08.320 --> 00:09:12.880 with what I'm used to because I tend to use Windows laptops. But we've got this 00:09:11.519 --> 00:09:18.720 little Google button here, which is basically the Windows button. We've also got a nice function and and alt layout 00:09:16.560 --> 00:09:22.000 here. Tell you right now, at least just based on the keyboards, I strongly 00:09:20.320 --> 00:09:25.680 prefer this one just cuz it's got like a numpad and we've got that Google button. 00:09:24.160 --> 00:09:31.120 Unlike the other one, like I said, you're getting a little less because you're paying for a lot less, but you're 00:09:28.480 --> 00:09:33.839 still getting Wi-Fi 6, 128 gigs of storage, I want to say. In this one, 00:09:32.720 --> 00:09:38.000 we're getting a slightly smaller battery. It's advertised as 3550 00:09:36.240 --> 00:09:43.440 milliamp hours, but we are getting a much more entry- level CPU with a 00:09:39.760 --> 00:09:45.839 Celeron N4500. This is a twothread chip 00:09:43.440 --> 00:09:49.600 running at like 2.8 GHz. Um, and we're only getting 4 gigs of memory, so 00:09:48.080 --> 00:09:53.040 significantly less memory as well. However, if you're doing a lot less, you 00:09:51.519 --> 00:09:56.240 don't need as much. So, like, let's bring up Okay, we've got a YouTube web 00:09:54.640 --> 00:10:00.560 page up. We're going to have the same like docs thing where I have a document 00:09:58.320 --> 00:10:04.959 up. And like don't get me wrong, there's definitely a bit more of a delay as I'm 00:10:02.959 --> 00:10:09.279 navigating just like Chrome tabs and whatnot and opening Google Docs, but the 00:10:07.279 --> 00:10:13.839 reality is this is like it's still totally usable. None of these are delays 00:10:11.040 --> 00:10:17.760 that upset me or anything like that. And as for the display, perfectly 00:10:15.920 --> 00:10:22.480 serviceable. Again, I mean, don't get me wrong, I'm just watching some 1080p 00:10:19.279 --> 00:10:23.600 video on a 15 16in screen, but it looks 00:10:22.480 --> 00:10:29.920 pretty good and it's getting bright enough. Like, we're talking about a workhorse here. And when you've got like 00:10:27.120 --> 00:10:33.120 a workhorse that needs to plow a field, you just wanted to do that thing and do 00:10:31.680 --> 00:10:38.800 it well. Let's check out the speakers really quick. 00:10:38.800 --> 00:10:43.519 That's enough crab rave, but that's about what I'd expect. Honestly, I'm 00:10:42.240 --> 00:10:49.040 pretty impressed. And so, you're going to be probably watching a lot of YouTube on this thing and just using like AI to 00:10:47.200 --> 00:10:53.279 summarize stuff for you. And that's great because it comes with 3 months of 00:10:51.279 --> 00:10:57.839 Google 1 AI Premium as well as YouTube Premium. Even at the 220 price, I think 00:10:55.519 --> 00:11:01.440 that's still a decent price, but man, if you can get this thing for 160, I think 00:10:59.600 --> 00:11:04.800 that's a steal. And I mean, it's honestly still pretty solid. We didn't 00:11:03.279 --> 00:11:10.560 even check out the webcam yet. Let's take a look and see how good the webcam is. Uh, one nice thing that I love uh to 00:11:08.720 --> 00:11:14.880 see on laptops because even at home, I keep like a sticky note over my webcam. 00:11:12.320 --> 00:11:18.399 It's got a physical privacy shutter. Boom. There it goes. Pretty decent 00:11:16.480 --> 00:11:21.760 quality overall. I think it's totally usable. I don't know how the microphone 00:11:19.920 --> 00:11:26.000 is because again I'm recording this into the laptop. So I'm going to have to play 00:11:23.519 --> 00:11:28.959 it back to actually know um how good the quality is, but I'm sure it's fine. And 00:11:27.519 --> 00:11:33.360 on top of the physical shutter for the webcam, it's got a Titan C security chip 00:11:31.440 --> 00:11:36.160 from Google just for that little bit of added peace of mind. And you know what 00:11:34.800 --> 00:11:42.800 else gives you some added peace of mind? Just how durable this thing is. They're saying it's military grade and that you 00:11:39.519 --> 00:11:45.200 know it can withstand tumbles and 00:11:42.800 --> 00:11:50.800 fumbles and drops. I bet you it's fine. Look at this. Boom. 00:11:47.920 --> 00:11:55.279 is great. As much as I love the value town that you're reaching with this guy, 00:11:52.399 --> 00:11:59.200 I probably lean towards the CX34, I mean, 600 bucks is definitely a higher 00:11:57.680 --> 00:12:02.880 price to pay, but, you know, it's a little bit more premium, too. So, pick 00:12:01.200 --> 00:12:06.320 whatever you like the most. Feel free to check out either of those or a few of 00:12:04.640 --> 00:12:10.320 Asus's other Chromebook models, which we'll have linked in the description below. Thanks again, ASUS, for 00:12:08.800 --> 00:12:15.720 sponsoring this video, and thanks for watching ShortCircuit. I'm Floof. These 00:12:12.560 --> 00:12:15.720 are Chromebooks.