ASUS – 2-in-1 14″ Touchscreen Chromebook – Intel Core M3-8100Y – 8GB Memory – 64GB eMMC – Silver

Amazing computer! Well worth the price. Havent had any problems. ASUS makes a quality product!

First the good news – at the currently listed sale price of $179, this is likely an outstanding value. The combination of a Core M3-8100Y processor and 8 GB RAM means that the laptop stands up well to even more advanced processing tasks – basic web browsing with multiple tasks (including streaming multiple videos simultaneously) is no issue, and while I haven’t loaded it yet, I would expect mainstream Linux apps like LibreOffice to run without any problems. The 360 hinge works very well to convert to a tablet, and while the device is certainly not military grade (and doesn’t pretend to be), it definitely appears to be robust enough for routine daily use. As a reminder, this device does not have an integrated HDMI port.
There are, however, some things you want to make sure you are aware of before purchasing. These don’t necessarily make it a bad purchase, but you don’t want to be caught off guard –
(1) Several reviews indicate that the laptop is difficult to open when closed – this is definitely true. This is typically attributed to a magnet that is “too strong” keeping the lid closed – in my opinion, this is a design issue where the the top and bottom of the laptop fit “too well” together when closed, such that it’s hard to get a good grip on the two pieces to separate them. My best success comes when trying to open from the middle (not one of the edges), where there is a slight recess in the bottom piece. See the first picture below.
(2) Several reviews also indicate that the keyboard is difficult to use in daylight, as the backlight makes it hard to identify different keys. This can also be true, depending on the backlight setting. The issue here is that the keys are silver, and the backlight is white – so it’s easy to get a configuration where key label blends in to the gray of the key. You can mitigate this by either raising or lowering the backlight intensity – but it means I often need to run with backlight on full when indoors just to see which key I am trying to press. See the pictures below for examples.
(3) The AUE date for the machine is June 2026, meaning that it is officially supported for only 3 1/2 more years. This is definitely the biggest of the issues here. What to do in July 2026? Maybe replace with ChromeOS Flex (and likely give up Android apps)? Maybe move to LaCrOs (so you have an updated browser, but an old kernel)? Maybe wipe and install Linux? Maybe get a new Chrombook (so you’re spending $179 for 3 1/2 years of use)? Given the hardware specs of this device, it should be a pretty capable machine even in 2026 – but you will need to figure out what to do about its software.
Given the balance between the specs of the device and the low price at which it is currently available, it’s very tempting to keep it, deal with the first two issues above, and then look for a solution to the AUE date a few years down the road (when the software situation may be different). The review form forces me to pick, so I said “yes” to “would you recommend” – but in the end, I likely won’t make a decision to keep until all of the final 2022 Black Friday sales become available. But I’m guessing it will be hard to find a device with this hardware at this price.