Asus VivoBook S500CA review: The big, budget touch-screen Windows 8 laptop

The world of 15-inch ultrabooks has always felt odd to me: Intel’s dream of superthin Windows laptops carried over to a big, wide chassis never seemed right, whether it was the 15-inch Samsung Series 9 back in 2012 or this year's Asus VivoBook S500CA, a budget-range touch-screen Windows 8 laptop in 2013.

7.8

Asus VivoBook S500CA

The Good

An attractive design, solid specs, and a responsive touch screen in a sub-$700 price.

The Bad

Bigger and heavier than most ultrabooks; no extra added graphics or DVD drive; screen isn’t full-HD.

The Bottom Line

The VivoBook S500CA offers a big-screened touch-screen Windows 8 laptop for a bargain price -- and without many extras.

On the other hand, the $699 S500CA (even less, at some retailers) has an attractive price, a clean, good-looking design, booming speakers, and a touch display that’s responsive and bright, albeit only 1,366x768.

The larger footprint, and its middle-of-the-road battery life, ensure it isn’t a killer laptop. But if you’re into big screens and don’t want to spend a lot, this isn’t a bad bet -- and its processor and performance add up to a better overall value than the similarly large HP Pavilion TouchSmart 15z, but slightly more expensive laptops like the Acer Aspire M5 still represent a better bet.