Review of iBall CompBook Exemplar Laptop priced at Rs 13,999
We recently reviewed the RDP ThinBook. It is available for around Rs 9,999. This was the lowest price ever for any laptop with a 14-inch screen. Now a renowned brand iBall has introduced two new products to challenge the RDP Thinbook – 11.6 inch CompBook Excellence priced at Rs 9,999 and 14 inch CompBook Exemplar priced at Rs 13,999. The only difference between the two models is the screen size. We got a chance to review the variant with a larger display.
Look and design of iBall CompBook Exemplar
Considering the price, we have no complaints. The iBall CompBook exemplar is extremely thin. So slim that many premium ultrabooks would be put to shame. It doesn’t look cheap at all and it doesn’t have any rough edges.
iBall has used deep brown color in the laptop. The stylish K logo is present in the center of the lid. And the eyeball logo in one corner. You’ll find a DC power inlet and LED, USB 2.0 port, and mini-HDMI video output. The second USB port, 3.5mm audio socket and microSD card slot are on the right side. The speakers are on the bottom panel. Because of this a muffled sound occurs. Due to being an Atom processor, there is no fan provided in this laptop.
The delete button is given at a slightly awkward place. You won’t find a Windows menu button. We also found that there is no shortcut button to control screen brightness.
Looking at the screen and keyboard, it seems that a lot of plastic has been used around them, but this is not a big problem. The screen is a bit dull and grainy. It has problem in saturated colors and black. The viewing angles are also not very good. But once again we have to remember the price of the CompBook Exemplar.
Total weight is 1.46 kg. It is convenient to travel with this laptop. However, it is not a very strong product. We found that its body can be folded easily. It is possible to rotate the entire laptop.
iBall CompBook Exemplar Specifications and Software
Intel Atom Z3735F processor has been used in iBall CompBook Exemplar. It is very old but completely capable of general use. This is the CPU you’ll find in more popular and cheaper laptops. The Z3735F quad-core CPU delivers clock speeds of 1.33 to 1.83 GHz. Basic Intel HD graphics are integrated with it.
The CompBook exemplar has 2 GB RAM. But you have only 32 GB in storage. Our review unit had only 21.5GB of storage available for use. If you want, you can use microSD card up to 64 GB. It’s possible to use an external storage device, but both ports will run at USB 2.0 speeds.
The screen resolution is 1366×768 pixels which is common in low-cost laptops. You will get the 32 bit edition of Windows 10 Home. Apart from the official apps of Windows 10, you will not find any other software pre-installed.
iBall CompBook Exemplar Performance
Keeping in mind the limited capabilities of the hardware, we have measured the performance of the iBall CompBook Exemplar. The good thing is that it started fast. The credit for this goes to flash storage. It is a bit slow in general use. Things like Windows Settings app and context menus also take time to open. It worked fine for web surfing and general document creation. There was no problem in HD video playback either. The speaker disappointed us. No sound is heard clearly.
The keyboard is good to use. But the keyboard is a little deep in the middle. The keyboard is excellent for typing. If you need a cheap laptop for typing then the iBall CompBook Exemplar is far superior to its competitors. The trackpad is also quite good, multitouch gestures were recognized well. However, this was not completely accurate.
Connectivity and storage are sorely missed. We had to install the benchmarks one by one. Talking about benchmark tests, this laptop did not run on many occasions. And the results of the tests we were able to do were average.
Battery life goes in this laptop’s favor. It lasted 5 hours 58 minutes in the Battery Eater Pro test. In normal use, the iBall CompBook exemplar’s battery lasted for a day. Let us tell you that during this period some web browsing and video streaming on YouTube was done. However, the battery took a long time to charge.
our decision
The two biggest shortcomings of ultra-cheap Windows devices have been weak components and a sub-par form factor.
iBall is one of the few companies that has tried to bring together some cheap parts and put them into a suitable body. Don’t get confused. This is a very cheap tablet in a laptop body. But it works. To be honest, this is the best laptop we have reviewed in this price range. It’s not diverse or very fast. But it will be useful for those students who need a laptop for home use. For many of us it can also be a secondary personal computer.
If you are using a budget smartphone or tablet just because they are accessible devices. So you now have a new option. Whether this is sustainable or not, only time will tell. But we hope that it will definitely last as long as a smartphone. Such devices contribute to the spread of personal computers in a country like India.
Price: Rs 13,999
features
low price
good keyboard and trackpad
thin and light
windows 10 license
shortcomings
Old and weak CPU
only 32 GB storage
No USB 3.0 port
Body turns easily
Ratings (maximum 5)
Design: 3
Display: 3
Performance: 2
Software: 4.5
Battery Life: 4
Value for money: 5
Total: 3.5
