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The ASUS Chromebook C301SA is a shining example of getting all the pieces right and somehow missing the whole.
That's not to say it's a bad device. That also doesn't mean I didn't enjoy using it. But when the pieces that make up the whole don't coalesce the way you expect, the result is a bit frustrating.
As I remember that this Chromebook can be had for $270 - $300, my frustrations are quelled quite a bit. For under $300, this makes for a compelling laptop regardless of where the pieces fall.
For more, check out https://chromeunboxed.com
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[Music]
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hey folks Robbie pay with chrome unbox
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coming at you today with a full review
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of the Asus c301 sa now you've
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undoubtedly heard the phrase greater
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than the sum of its parts it just so
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happens that people places and things
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are somehow greater together even if the
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individual pieces aren't the best with
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the Asus this seems to actually be the
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opposite less Les than the sum of its
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parts lesser because what we have is a
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collection of great pieces and somehow
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they don't come together to make a
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satisfactory overall experience as soon
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as I opened the box this device screamed
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Asus from the brushed aluminum look
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plastic to the subtle curves that Asus
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has employed in its laptops for years
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this thing is not a departure from
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asus's usual design aesthetic like the
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C300 before it this device is made of
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all plastic and sports most of the
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design choices Asus has used in many
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many laptops before for it it's not ugly
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or unattractive it's just pretty
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standard if you noticed I did say all
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plastic there was a certain Buzz around
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this device namely for its inclusion of
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64 gigs of internal storage at its base
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price and we'll talk about that in a
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second coincidentally the announcement
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came around the same time the Acer
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Chromebook 14 was just showing up on
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store shelves at the same $299 price
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Acer was tting an all aluminum build and
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1080p wide angle display and all day
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battery just like Asus and with all
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those similarities we just all kind of
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assume that Asus is going to show up
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clad in aluminum it is not granted I
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made that assumption on my own but I
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felt pretty let down and most of the
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reaction came from the fact that not
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only is Asus not aluminum it's pretty
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flimsy plastic and I'm not really
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against plastic even on higher end
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devices the plastic bottom of the hp13
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never really gave me any feeling of
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cheapness or poor quality but the
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plastic on the Asus does and I hate that
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for this device you'll see in other
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parts of this review there are tons of
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great things on offer here but they're
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all housed in in this flimsy cheap
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feeling shell I remember netbooks
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feeling this way and the keyboard deck
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having lots of give and all of it just
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feels budget underneath your palms and
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the most concerning thing is the creek
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and bend the laptop under goes when you
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just pick it up and hand it off to
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someone the bottom is a separate color
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and texture feeling rough and grippy but
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no less cheap it gives the device a
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fourth color making the entire thing
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feel just a little piece together if
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you're keeping tabs we have a color for
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the lid one for the screen surround one
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for the keyboard surround and one for
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the bottom and it just doesn't feel
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cohesive oddly enough the screen portion
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of the Chromebook is decently firm and
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that's a spot where flimsiness actually
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shows up normally the hinge and Screen
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actually feel pretty decent here even
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without any metal in its shell another
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thing to consider here is when on a desk
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or table or firm surface that lowquality
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body is way less apparent in your lap
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though you feel the movement of the
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device constantly under your hands and
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on your thighs it all gets better from
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here I promise around the sides we see a
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common and effective grouping of ports
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on the left we have the power jack fulls
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sizee HDMI and USB 3 full sizee SD card
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slot and headphone microphone Jack the
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right side is equipped with a single USB
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3.0 and a Kensington lock Port along the
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bottom are simply screws feet and
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downward firing speakers and those
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speakers as advertised are actually
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pretty good they're not the loudest
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things in the world but the audio is
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crisp and Sounds full for laptop
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speakers another very bright spot for
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the Asus is the screen I'm testing the
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model with a 1080p IPS antic clear
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display and I'm very very pleased with
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it
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Asus touts a 178 degre viewing angle
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100% srgb 72% ntsc And 75% Adobe RGB
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gamut coverage with its matte finish and
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solid brightness I really can't ask for
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much more working anywhere including
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Outdoors viewing angles are solid and
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colors look great another thing I have
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to give Asus some props on is sticking
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with the laptop only format in a sea of
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coming convertibles at this price range
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and screen size I'm all for this I like
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convertibles just fine but if we're
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working with a 13.3in screen the
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usefulness of a folding hinge becomes
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pretty Limited in my opinion again
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another win for this device is the
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keyboard trackpad combo Asus has opted
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for the butterfly hinge design and it
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results in 1.5 mm of key travel and very
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firm solid keystrokes it's simply one of
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the best keyboards on a Chromebook I've
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used I love typing on this thing and
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some of you reading this know there
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aren't keyboards that I get excited
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about but this is one the trackpad is
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fine spacious enough to do all the
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swiping and clicking and gestures that
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Chromebooks have become so great at the
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click mechanism feels great too no weird
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bouncing or rattling just a solid click
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each and every time surface is all
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plastic which is not really a surprise
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but it does a decent job at rejecting
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oils and manages to stay nice and smooth
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for long periods of time internally this
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guy is rocking the Braswell n3160
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processor and can be had with the 3060
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and or a pennium version that Asus shows
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on their website and it got along just
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fine the device uh gets through daily
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Tas with no issues and as you would
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expect from Braswell if you load it down
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with lots of stuff you do run into a
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little bit of slowdown but overall I was
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satisfied with the performance four gigs
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of RAM takes care of everything you need
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and internally it had 32 gigs of storage
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and that's a contention point because
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the main selling feature of this device
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when it debuted was 64 gigs of internal
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storage at
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$299 I paid $299 for mine and it only
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had 32 gigs and that doesn't sit really
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well with me but at least they've
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dropped the price to$ 269 I Additionally
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the battery in this device performs
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quite well getting about 8 hours of
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usage at 75% screen brightness and with
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that screen it's a really really good
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experience as a late addition to this
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review a few days before putting this
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review together the Asus received
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Android apps in the developer Channel as
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with other Chromebooks the experience
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has been really great the Asus Braswell
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processor takes any app or game to task
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and has been a pleasure to use it's the
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first device I've used with Android apps
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that doesn't have a touchcreen and I've
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had no problem
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whatsoever so after all that should you
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buy this device and the answer to that's
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going to be different for different
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people if you prize good build quality
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no you shouldn't buy this device you
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should probably go with something like
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the acce or Chromebook
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14 but if a great keyboard and a great
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screen are enough to say yeah this is a
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good device for me I like Asus things
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then perhaps this is a good Chromebook
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choice for you just keep in mind the
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construction of it's a little bit wobbly
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and even though it's got great pieces
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for me that affected the overall
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experience
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guys if you like this video please hit
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subscribe below give it a thumbs up and
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until next time we'll see
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[Music]
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you
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