ASUS P-Series P2540UA-AB51 is advertised as a business laptop. What would you expect from such a notebook meant for businesses? At least extra reliability and long battery life. Surely, ASUS laptops are known to be of high quality, and this particular model seems to sport a durable battery. But without further examination we can’t be sure whether it’s worth your money or not…
Performance
The performance of ASUS P-Series P2540UA-AB51 doesn’t match the powerful laptops like ZenBook, but the price is also much more tolerable on this one. The processor is Intel Core i5-7200U, a low voltage model from the end of 2016. To conserve energy, the i5-7200U runs on two cores (as opposed to a quad-core setup), however clock speed is decent 2.5GHz and brought even higher – 3.1GHz – with turbo. With ~4700 CPU Mark points it’s almost a guaranteed power user processor; surely you can use it for occasional heavy activities without issues!
The storage drive is not too inspiring. I would call a one terabyte 5400RPM hard drive even a blast from the past. Of course, such a drive has a bright side: it can store much more data than a solid-state drive. In fact, the 1000 gigabytes equals to some two hundred thousand MP3 or JPEG image files. But yes, the transfer rates don’t match those of solid-state drives. If you want to upgrade, I guess you can remove the laptop bottom and work your way there.
I have no complaints about the RAM section, there is 8GB DDR4 RAM installed on this ASUS. I’m pretty sure it’s all in one stick, which leaves the other memory slot open on the motherboard. The manufacturer says 16GB is the most RAM you can go on this notebook. Upgrading might make sense if you’re a heavy multitasker or so. There’s a special door for adding more memory so it will be easy, at least.
Ports & interfaces
ASUS P-Series P2540UA-AB51 contains four USB ports which is plenty for this price. One is USB 2.0, but three are faster USB 3.0 and you should prefer those. Unfortunately, the newer USB Type-C port is not found on this laptop – for that you would have to pay more I’m afraid.
In addition to the USB connectors, also HDMI and VGA outputs are present. Dual monitors are supported; in another words, you can hook up two external displays to this computer at the same time.
It can be seen as perk or hindrance, but the laptop does have a DVD burner. Some people find use for it, some find optical drive just a nuisance in 2017 – everything is downloaded from Internet!
The notebook has 802.11ac WiFi standard so wireless will be long range and high speed. I’m sure Bluetooth works too. The photos reveal there is also Ethernet RJ-45 port for cable.
Screen and graphics
ASUS P-Series P2540UA-AB51 equips a decent 15.6″ display. That is actually the most common size between a bulky 17 incher and compact 13 (or less) incher. The screen supports Full HD (1920×1080) resolution which is good news for those who require a lot of screen estate – like people working with graphics. It has a matte panel which is excellent for indoor use. Touch is not supported.
The graphics performance is not the best, not at all. This notebook is not for gamers, so the graphics engine is a slowish integrated Intel HD 620. You can play a few games but not really use high settings on most of them. In addition, some titles would be close to unplayable such as The Witcher 3. You could get away with low resolution and settings on GTA 5 (~30FPS). Counter-Strike: Go is a good example of game that would be rather smooth even when most settings were at maximum and resolution 1080p!
Miscellaneous
It is so that the manufacturer talks about 9 hour battery life. This sounds wonderful, but in my experience the “ad copy” can not always be trusted. You are probably looking at more or less 8 hours for web browsing use. The battery is replaceable so you can put in another one if you’d like.
The keyboard does not seem to feature backlight.
Who is it good for?
For everything non-gaming related, ASUS P-Series P2540UA-AB51 is a pretty good choice. It’s sort of a jack of all trades: can work as a home laptop, not bad for university students, very decent for businesses. The tolerable price makes it desirable choice for most user demographics I’d say.
Do not forget the battery life is great so traveling with this laptop won’t be an issue. Weight is around 5 pounds, the norm for these 15 inch laptops.
Who is it bad for?
I wouldn’t recommend this notebook for gamers at all. It has integrated graphics which is almost a curse word for the players. You can throw few titles in at times, but for a full-blown gaming laptop definitely look for something else!
Verdict
ASUS P-Series P2540UA-AB51 is a new release without many user reports backing it up, but don’t let that put you down. It’s a low-cost yet solid business laptop, with a battery life that will last a full day in many cases. The display sports a crisp Full HD resolution and performance is more than enough for day-to-day business tasks and applications. On top of that, the notebook looks professional even though its price suggests otherwise. I’d say the Asus is a good choice if you want a reliable and long-lasting notebook!
