Asus launches A series budget range of laptops; starts Rs 23,990

I recently read the monthly newsletter sent by Asus, and I noticed that Asus has announced the ‘A’ series budget range of laptops. In addition to the launch of the new range of budget laptops, the company has also announced a 2-year warranty program for any laptop in the A series.

The A553 laptop is the first laptop to be launched in the A series. Priced at Rs 23,000, the A553 laptop is equipped with a 2.16 GHz Intel Quad-Core Pentium Processor, with 4GB RAM and 500GB storage. The product is available in 4 colour options: Purple, Pink, White and Black.

Asus A553

In addition, Asus also unveiled two performance notebooks in the budget category. These are the A555LF & A555LA, which the company hopes will appeal to Indian consumers due to ‘its sleek, stylish looks, design aesthetics, merging glitz with substance backed by performance.’

The A555LF and A555LA are available in six different trendy colours, with a starting price of Rs 34,190 for the A555LF and Rs 28,990 for the A555LA. The product is aimed at students, first-time users, offices and value-driven buyers.

Asus A555LA

The 15.6-inch HD laptops are powered by an Intel i5-5200U processor, and are pre-installed with Windows 10. The A555LF packs has an impressive 8GB DDR3 RAM along with Nvidia GeForce GT930 2GB DDR3 virtual memory card translates into a seamless gaming experience. On the other hand, the A555LA comes with 4GB RAM.

Asus A555LF

The display offers automatic colour adjustment with visually stunning experience according to Asus.

Asus claims its exclusive AudioWizard along with SonicMaster ensures optimised audio performance for music, movies, and games.

According to Peter Chang, Regional Head of South Asia and Managing Director for Asus India, “The Indian market is extremely price sensitive where the consumers look for a value-for-money purchase. The ‘A’ series is crafted for performance, style and mobility but at the same time is economically friendly which can be used for everyday use ranging for gaming, entertainment to educational purpose and office work. With our A555LF laptop, it will be a best buy for this festive season, delivering a seamless technological experience to our consumers.”

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Microsoft Missed Shift to Mobile Due to Focus on PC, Says Nadella

Microsoft's CEO Satya Nadella acknowledged that "one big mistake" the company made in the past was to think the personal computer will reign supreme forever and failing to anticipate the technological transformation of the mobile phone.


"If anything, one big mistake we made in our past was to think of the PC (personal computer) as the hub for everything for all time to come. And today, of course, the high volume device is the six-inch phone. I acknowledge that. But to think that that's what the future is for all time to come would be to make the same mistake we made in the past without even having the share position of the past. So that would be madness," Nadella said in an interview with technology news website ZDNet.

He added that the company has to be on the "hunt for what is the next bend in the curve".

"That's what, quite frankly, anyone has to do to be relevant in the future. In our case, we are doing that. We're doing that with our innovation in Windows. We're doing that with features like Continuum. Even the phone, I just don't want to build another phone, a copycat phone operating system, even," he said.

Nadella recalled that when he had joined the company in 1992, the focus and ambition was to take the personal computer in every home and on every desk.

"Guess what: We achieved that. And a company has to outlast any given technology paradigm and any ambitious goal. And so for me this going back to what is it that drove Bill (Gates) to build even the BASIC compiler or the interpreter to what we did in terms of inventing productivity or democratising client-server computing," he said.

The Microsoft chief had spelled out personal computing, reinvention of productivity, and business process and building an intelligent cloud platform as the company's three "bold ambitions" going forward at the Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference 2015 underway in Orlando.

Elaborating on his outlook for the Windows Phone, Nadella said he does not want the phones to be like any other phone operating system or device. He stressed Microsoft will also not launch a phone a day but focus on few phones that are unique. "And that's what I want our devices and device innovation to stand for."

The conference was the first major company event following the announcement on July 8 that Microsoft would be cutting 7,800 jobs and write off $7.6 billion, all related to its Nokia business.

Nadella said the announcement about the Nokia business was not about any change to the comany's vision and strategy, but for sure it was a "change to its operating approach".

"The way we're going to go about it. I'm not going to launch a phone a day. I'm going to focus on a few phones that actually grab share that, in fact, showcase our uniqueness," he said.

Press Trust of India

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