ASUS VivoBook Flip 14" TM420IA-DB71T Black 2020

The ASUS VivoBook Flip TM420IA stuffs 20GB of RAM and a 1TB SSD into an aging 2-in-1 chassis. The storage is a standout, but the screen and battery life are disappointing. It's a decent multitasking deal around $800, but a tough sell at $1000.

The Ryzen 7 4700U is a solid 8-core chip from 2020, but it lands in the 38th percentile in our database. That's below average for modern laptops. It'll handle Office, Zoom, and a dozen Chrome tabs without breaking a sweat, but don't expect it to crush video exports. The integrated Radeon Graphics sit at the 42nd percentile, which means light photo editing is fine, but gaming is a slideshow unless you're streaming from the cloud. The real star is the 1TB NVMe SSD at the 81st percentile, it's quick and roomy. The 20GB of RAM is a weird flex that helps with multitasking, but the 14-inch screen is a weak spot at the 22nd percentile. It's a basic 1080p panel that won't win any brightness or color accuracy awards.

Stacked against something like the Microsoft Surface Laptop 7th Edition or an Apple MacBook Pro M5 Pro, this VivoBook looks like it's from a different decade. Those machines have best-in-class screens, battery life, and build quality. The VivoBook's only real flex is that 20GB of RAM, which you won't find in a base Surface. The Lenovo Legion 5i and HP OMEN Transcend 14 are in a different universe for gaming performance, but they're also heavier and pricier. The MSI Prestige is a closer competitor in the thin-and-light space, but it'll have a much better screen and port selection. This ASUS is for someone who values RAM and storage above all else and doesn't mind a mediocre display.

Pricing on this thing is all over the place, ranging from $800 to $1000 depending on the vendor. At the low end, you're getting a weirdly capable multitasking 2-in-1 with a ton of storage and RAM. At the high end, you're getting fleeced. For a grand, you can find a modern laptop with a better screen, faster Wi-Fi, and a CPU that doesn't feel like it's already halfway through its lifecycle. If you can snag it closer to $800 from a seller with a solid return policy, it's a decent deal for a specific kind of user. Just don't pay full freight.

The ASUS VivoBook Flip TM420IA is a weird little machine. It's a 2-in-1 with a Ryzen 7 4700U and a frankly overkill 20GB of RAM, sold by a third-party seller who clearly cracked it open and stuffed in extra memory. You get a 1TB SSD, a 14-inch touchscreen, and an active pen in the box. On paper, that's a lot of hardware for a convertible.

But the specs tell a messy story. The CPU is a few generations old now, the integrated Radeon Graphics are fine for spreadsheets but not much else, and that 42Wh battery is tiny. It's a budget-friendly flip laptop that's been hot-rodded with RAM, and you can feel the compromises in the screen and port selection.

Anyone who values a good screen or all-day battery life should skip this. The 14-inch panel is one of the weakest in our database, and the 42Wh battery paired with an older Ryzen chip won't get you through a full workday unplugged. If you need a vibrant display for creative work or long battery for campus, look at a Surface Laptop or a newer Zenbook instead.

This is a niche machine for a niche buyer. If you're a student or office worker who lives in browser tabs and needs a 2-in-1 for handwritten notes, the 20GB of RAM and included pen make a weirdly compelling case. But if you care about screen quality, battery life, or doing anything more demanding than spreadsheets, you should look elsewhere. It's a RAM-heavy throwback that's hard to recommend to most people.