I decided it is time to write a piece on FreeBSD, since I now officially use it as my main operating system both at home (alongside OpenBSD) and at work. My mobile battle gear of choice is the ASUS VivoBook S301LA. It’s a 4th generation Intel-based ultrabook-class laptop, one of the many released by ASUS every year. It has strong points, though also quite some disadvantages. I would like to discuss it from the perspective of a FreeBSD enthusiast.

Photo courtesy of notebookcheck.com and the Interwebs
Hardware specifications:
- Processor: Intel Haswell core i3-4010U @ 1.70 GHz
- Graphics: Intel HD 4400 integrated GPU with up to 768 MB shared RAM
- Memory: 4 GB DDRL 1600 MHz (soldered) + empty slot for another 4 GB
- Hard drive: Western Digital Blue 500 GB 5400 rpm (replaceable)
- Ethernet: Realtek 8169 Express Gigabit
- Wireless: Mediatek MT7630e with Bluetooth built in (half-sized, replaceable)
- Sound: Intel HD Audio (SonicMaster)
- Webcam: Azurewave USB 2.0 UVC HD Webcam
- Touchscreen: USB SiS Touch Controller
- Battery: 4 hours
- Microphone: yes, next to the Webcam
- Keyboard: Generic AT keyboard
- Touchpad: Generic touchpad with integrated click-fields
- Additional ports:
– left side: Ethernet, HDMI, USB 3.0, microphone/headphone jack
– right side: Kensington lock, 2x USB 2.0, SD card slot
The good:
- Extremely lightweight
- Never overheats
- Moderately fast after upgrades
The bad:
- Paper-thin keyboard
- Slippery touchpad
- Highly reflective, mirror-like screen
- Cheap, lower-end wireless card
Overall, this device is a fairly standard consumer-grade ultrabook. The crappy keyboard is something one can get used to rather quickly. I’m not a fan of touchpads, therefore I rely on PC mice for clicking and scrolling unless I’m on a plane or train. Nowadays, reflective screens are no longer an issue thanks to anti-glare screen protection sleeves. The obvious downside is that anti-glare screens lack sharpness typical of reflective screens. In general, the drawbacks can be easily mitigated with upgrades, which however turn the laptop into a moderate investment. The choice is down to the prospective user. Furthermore, the manufacturer (ASUS) made some choices, which I am not entirely convinced by. Firstly, touchscreens are more useful on hybrid flip-laptops like the Lenovo Yoga. In this model the touchscreen is more of a nuisance when cleaning the plastic cover on the display and draws power needed elsewhere. Secondly, the wireless adapter is perhaps the worst of its generation with a nominal bandwidth of 150 bpms. Still, it’s more of a travesty to see it in high-end ROG gaming models (yes, it’s true…).
The FreeBSD perspective:
This might be somewhat disappointing. Depending on what one expects from a mobile device, the S301LA is either average or just plain broken. Not to sound rude, but I’m sure a Thinkpad or an Ideapad would be a far superior choice. Haswell HD 4400 graphics chips have proper (aka working) FreeBSD support since just release 11 and most other components are barely supported. The Azurewave USB webcam actually works (webcamd needs to be attached to USB device ugen0.2 by root, a superuser or a member of the webcamd group), but no VoIP software is available on FreeBSD out-of-the-box. I guess one could get Windows Skype to run via WINE or force the alpha-quality Linux client into submission, but that’s a lesson in futility, I think. Personally, I wouldn’t be using this ultrabook at all if not for the fact I finally managed to replace the trash wireless adapter with something half-decent (albeit from 10 years back) from Intel, namely the WiFi Link 5100. After adding another 4 GB RAM and a Western Digital SSD, I would consider this ultrabook worth the money and time. However, as I mentioned earlier, there are far better choices on the market.