At just 1.64kg and a 20mm profile, the ASUS BU401LG is slim and light enough to be carried around anywhere and under any condition. It is encased in a carbon fiber structure that gives the chassis extra strength making it more durable for business use. It is also MIL-STD 810G (military standard) certified, which offers additional tolerance to extreme conditions over regular notebooks. These include tolerance to double the drop height of standard laptops, twice as strong hinges, 20% higher endurance to pressure, and spill resistant keyboard.
The ultrabook comes pre-loaded with Intel’s SBA security solutions and utilities to make your PC more manageable and secure. This includes six applications to help organize security and productivity: Software Monitor, Data Backup and Restore, USB Blocker, PC Health Center, Energy Saver, and Wireless Display. The Anti-Theft technology helps disable access to the operating system in the event that your notebook is ever lost or stolen. It also has a fingerprint scanner on board offering better control over the device and takes data access authorizationand protection to a higher level with a personal touch.
In terms of connectivity, the ASUS BU401LG features three USB 3.0, VGA, HDMI, audio port, 2-in-1 card reader, and Kingston lock.
Performance
The ASUS BU401LG we reviewed came with an Intel Core i5-4210U processor, 4GB of memory, Intel HD Graphics 4400, and a 500GB SATA HDD. These components combined to give the ultrabook very good and power packed performance on most performance benchmarks, including PCMark7 (day-to-day operations), 3DMark11 (3D rendering performance). The 14” screen has a larger than usual 1600x900 resolution, while most ultrabooks pack a 1366x768 resolution screen. This means that more columns and rows will show up on the spreadsheets you view.
The anti-glare screen has a matte finish, which prevents reflections when viewed under direct sunlight. Videos and graphics look fine on the system. The finger print scanner worked fine and was less affected by skin surface conditions, including dirty or oily skin and easily recognizes the finger print. The spill resistant chiclet keyboard with backlit keys provides better click ratios and maintains high precision while offering a bigger touch surface.
The ultrabook also impressed us with its battery life. It delivered 9 hours 40 minutes on our battery drain test. This means that you should be able to get most of a business day’s work out of the system before you have to recharge again.