Asus Vivobook 17X Laptop: 17.3" 1080p, i5-12500H, 8GB DDR4, 512GB SSD Expired

I have bought two of these and can confirm that you can add 32gb for a total of 40gb of RAM. Moreover, you must add RAM if you want to use/activate Intel Iris xe graphics adapter. Otherwise, you are stuck using the MS UHD graphics adapter.

For anyone that bought this laptop, be aware that you are not getting the best performance!!! Why? Because the power plans that are installed by default are geared towards battery life not performance. So if you are like me and have a need for speed....

https://www.asus.com/support/FAQ/1045044

This FAQ walks you through it all...enjoy and Happy Holidays!

Picked one up as a gift for a non technical family member. Took it apart this morning to add RAM and then booted to update BIOS. As mentioned earlier, back is plastic and the top is metal. Build quality appears to be decent for the price point (this is normally a $600-$700 laptop). All connectors/harnesses appear to be of good quality. The screen hinge does not wobble (at least yet) and is a continuous rod from left to right (vs being discreet tabs for each side). However, for a 17" screen I expect it may still be an issue down the road depending on how careful a user is when opening/closing the screen. MB looks good, clean solders and tidy layout - plenty of room to allow for air circulation. Temperature management for the case and processor is also well organized and appears equal to several Dell XPS platforms I've owned and also work on. There are 2 wifi antenna integrated in a single assembly - one labeled main and the other aux. SSD location is sort of strange - it's cocked off at an angle to the MB about 10 degrees. Works fine in practice, just looks off axis when first opening the case. The single empty RAM socket is very easy to access - I had an older 4GB stick laying around so put that in to enable dual channel functionality and it was recognized in the BIOS w/o issue. Will see how the box performs @12GB - easy to swap it out for a larger stick later if needed. Fans are not as quiet as higher end laptops, but not obnoxious either.

Initial boot time was relatively slow but I assume that's because it's still in a configuration mode. The BIOS UEFI is decent but appears a bit limited in options relative to what I've seen on other ASUS MB's in the past. I may wipe the SSD and downgrade the box to Win10 after the initial config process - I want to see how much bloatware is installed. If it isn't bad I'll leave it on Win11.

Keyboard is really very good. It resides in a slight 'dish' molded into the case. I thought this was odd at first but it works well and is comfortable to type on. I've also seen reviewers comment on the off center track pad as a negative - after seeing/using it I no longer view it that way - the layout works well. The pad is well sized and centered on the keyboard with the num key offset to the right (giving the appearance that the pad is not centered on the case). Pad clicks are tactile - not as good as a Macbook - but fine. There is a strange graphic embossed on the enter key which is intentional, but aesthetically misplaced.

From the limited use I had with it this morning, the screen is fine (again, for the price point). Viewing angles are good and it's plenty bright. I'm not a gamer, nor will the end user be, so I can't comment on those dynamics. First ASUS laptop for me, but I've had good luck using ASUS MB's on PC builds previously so I'm hopeful this box will be trouble free from a HW perspective.

Time will tell, but keeping in mind the abbreviated interaction I've had with it to date, I think this will be a good value at $430 depending on one's use case. For regular web browsing, viewing of movies/videos and light office work this should be a solid platform. I don't think the build quality is there to make this a good field laptop, it just doesn't feel robust and ruggedly built and the battery capacity won't support extended use away from power. As a family/house laptop it should be just fine. Out of the box it has a good processor, decent SSD, comfortable keyboard and large screen. While it ships with only 8GB of RAM, that's so easily addressed that it's inconsequential to long term ownership (unless the soldered RAM fails of course).