I received the Zenbook a week ago and have the following to report, addressing most buyers concerns (including myself) when wanting to purchase the Zenbook:I do hope you find it useful please vote this up if you did, to inform prospective buyers. Thanks!
Physical outlook:
The Zenbook largely resembles the MacBook Air in terms of svelteness. Even the tapering of the chasis 17mm-3mm is the same as the MacBook. This is a good thing because the Zenbook looks better than the MacBook air. The edges look more clean cut, more industrial looking. Definitely something for the corporate board.
Keyboard:
This is a hit and miss issue with many users. You either love it or hate it. I found the keyboard better than the MacBook because I could actually type faster on this laptop.
1. The keys have much lesser travel than the MacBook Air.
2. They are well spaced.
Some people were complaining about how unresponsive the keys would be. I had found that to be true when I first used the laptop, but adapted to the typing style, applying a little more pressure with each keystroke. Now I can type faster than I can with my iMac wireless keyboard!
It's just a matter of getting used to.
Poor Trackpad:
This is perhaps one of my most pertinent gripes about the Zenbook. The trackpad, like the keyboard is a matter of getting used to. Asus did a poor job in this aspect because they did not standardize the parts used in their Zenbook series. Some Zenbooks came with the Elan touchpad. Others came with the more inferior Sentallics branded touchpad. Both touchpads had different drivers and performance. The sentallics version performed poorly even with updated drivers and felt like using a year 20000-esque trackpad. There was very poor control over the trackpad, it seemed to have a mind of it's own especially when using multitouch gestures.
I managed to get the Elan trackpad, and my experience was not better off. When using two fingers on the trackpad in Opera (one finger on left click, the other to move the cursor around) the Zenbook did not recognize this even though my other finger was on the left click BUTTON. It kept recognizing this as a pinch and zoom, resizing the page I was browsing. This is irritating as I have to adapt to using the laptop with one finger. MacBook Airs don't even have a specific left click button and they don't accidentally recgnize my gestures as pinch to zoom. In this aspect, Asus has tragically failed in one of the key aspects of interaction with a laptop the touchpad.
Slow SSD:
As with the trackpad, the Zenbook shipped with two 128GB SSD variants, the slower Sandisk u100 and the faster, more superior ADATA SANDFORCE. I received the Sandisk variant and I'm seriously having buyers remorse on the purchase. Major reviewers (engadget, anandtech, pocketlint, ars technica) somehow received the superior ADATA variants as their test units, and based their judgement on the drive they received. Most buyers purchase because of the positive reviews made by them. Their reviews would have been much different with the SANDISK SSD.
What Asus did was misleading, and very inappropriate. Advertising the faster ADATA SSD's then shipping other units with the lousier Sandisk units.
The benchmarks I done using Crystal Disk Mark showed the vast difference in speeds. Below:
SANDISK
Size Read Write
4K 16.92 12.49
512K 253.2 21.81******
1GB 460.2 247.1
ADATA (Data from notebookcheck.net)
SIZE Read Write
4K 26.38 51.15
512K 374.7 131.7*****
1GB 429.6 132.8
As you can see, the speeds on the ADATA is easily 6 times faster on write speeds. The 1GB is similar but for day to day usage like surfing and microsoft office, the most commonly used size is below 512K. Thus, the ADATA offers a tremendous speed increase compared to the Sandisk.
As a consumer paying the same amount for a laptop, it is only fair that we receive what we expect. There should be no deviation from what Asus advertises and what we receive.
In this instance, getting a perfect Zenbook combination was like striking the lottery given the amount of permutations given. We only have a 1 in 4 chance of getting both the Elan touchpad and ADATA SSD.
Wireless Problem:
Many users were facing problems with their Wireless card receiving slow speeds. An updated driver would solve the problem. I did not experience the Wifi problem and the Zenbook worked fine out of the box.
I found that the weak wireless problem may be attributed to the Power Options settings. Goto power options -> change plan settings -> changed advanced power settings -> Wireless Adapter settings -> Power saving mode -> MAXIMUM PERFORMANCE.
Audio Hissing Sound:
Some users complained (in the UX21 reviews) that they heard very loud hissing sounds coming out of their earphone port with earphones. I did not hear it on my unit. Perhaps he received a lemon?
In conculsion:
Truth be said, I am not an Apple fan and was very happy to see such a good looking ultraportable that trumps the MacBook Air's air of sexiness. The zenbook is downright awesome to look at. The full aluminium chasis offers the kind of durability no other laptop can offer in it's class.
But with further comparison, the Apple ships with same compenents across the board. We appreciate this reliablility because we KNOW what components we are getting.
We aren't playing the lottery Asus, and this Zenbook certainly isn't my idea of a $1000 lottery ticket.
Warning: DO NOT UNINSTALL Instant on, PowerWiz and Power4Gear. When I did so, my computer begin to blue screen. I believe it has to do with how the hardware operates in sleep mode and how Windows expect it to behave in sleep mode. Those 3 software bridge the gap between what Windows expect and how the hardware behaves. Without it, don't expect a stable notebook.
HINT: I've had some wireless stability problem earlier, but that was solved by disabling MIMO power save in the advance setting of the wireless adaptor by going to Network and Sharing Center, Change Adaptor setting, right click the adaptor, properties, configure, Advanced, and set Dynamic MIMO power save to disabled.
Buy ASUS Zenbook UX31E-DH52 13.3-Inch Thin and Light Ultrabook (Silver Aluminum) Now
This is a brief video review of the Asus Zenbook UX31. I recommend this notebook for anyone looking for an ultra-portable and fast laptop that has a great design.I've been using the Asus UX31 for almost 2 weeks now and I have to say that I love it.
My reasons for purchasing this specific model were for 2 reasons.
First, screen resolution. I have perfect eyesight and for me "screen real estate" is based on how many pixels there are, not how big the screen is physically. 1600x900 at 13" is the best you can do unless you want to shell out $3000 for a top of the line Sony VIAO.
My second reason for purchasing this laptop was build quality. I am preparing for a 2 year service in the Peace Corps. I wanted something small, powerful, and most importantly, physically strong. This baby has a solid aluminum frame with no "give". And with no moving parts (thanks to the SSD) I won't mind if it takes a few knocks whether it's powered on or off.
Keyboard: It's fine for work on the go, but this external: () fits nicely into my bag for setting up a mobile workspace.
Trackpad: Pain in the ass with settings as shipped. If you've read many other reviews you'll understand. I found that the best solution is to disable the ASUS SmartSense settings entirely and use this program instead: TouchFreeze Using TouchFreeze has been a wonderful solution for me but I'd still like to see ASUS fix the issue with a driver update so that I don't have to use a separate application.
Storage: If you think that 128GB is not enough, than you need to learn to use an external hard drive effectively. Your media (music, videos, full res photos) don't need to be stored locally. Even large programs and games can be installed to an external drive. A small portable USB powered 1TB external does the trick for me.
Graphics: The other day I plugged my UX31 up to a giant 1920x1080 display and ran an extended desktop with no problems. I don't play very many modern games, but I have been able to run Civilization IV with full specs even using the battery saver power configuration.
All the other reviews should cover everything else you need to know, so read them! I'm a software developer and a hardware snob as well. This machine is meeting all my current demands except one: the 4GB RAM cannot be upgraded. To be in the ultrabook category, you must compromise there.
One last thing you should know: I was initially overly zealous about uninstalling the bloatware that ASUS included. There are a few programs that need to be kept running to keep things stable. Those are Power4Gear Hybrid, PowerWiz, InstantOn, PWR Option, ATK Package, WinFlash, Wireless Console 3, and ASUS Splendid Vid ET. Those are the ones I decided to keep, uninstall them at your own risk.
Want ASUS Zenbook UX31E-DH52 13.3-Inch Thin and Light Ultrabook (Silver Aluminum) Discount?
To start with, I consider myself to be very tech-saavy and tech-educated. I don't discriminate on brand but rather on form and function. I've owned iPhones and Androids...I've used macbooks, laptops, and desktops and have built them (desktops) from scratch, etc. etc. When it comes to a machine like this, it is a whole different ballpark. At first, I was hesitant at purchasing the Zenbook. I wasn't sure if I wanted to purchase this or the Lenovo U300s or the Macbook Air (13 inch). I read reviews about how people hated the keyboard and the touchpad, how there were issues with the touchpad along with the wireless card and this scared me. Of course, the saying goes, an unhappy customer is louder than a happy one. Besides these issues, which I will address later, the specs on paper looked extremely good. The Zenbook is significantly faster than the Lenovo U300s and is neck in neck with the Macbook Air with a smaller price tag. The Macbook Air has better battery life but I think in this case, it is an operating system thing because if you bootcamp Windows 7 on a 13 inch Macbook Air, the battery life goes down to 4-5 hours compared to the Zenbook's 6-7 hr battery life (I haven't reversed it and installed Mac OS on the Zenbook so I can't give you details on that). So on paper, the Zenbook seemed to be the winner. As for looks, I personally prefer the Zenbook. I think it is one of the most beautiful laptop computers ever made. The Macbook Air looks bland next to the Zenbook and several of my coworkers fell in love with the design when they saw it and not knowing that it was mine, started talking about it behind my back. Looks and specs aside, user interactions are one of the most critical aspects of a good computer. I am currently typing this review on my Zenbook. Coming from Lenovo keyboards, my personal favorite the Logitech DiNovo Edge, and MacBook keyboards, there is a bit of stretch (maybe a couple days max) of getting comfortable with the keyboard but I wouldn't say it was a bad experience, it was a nice change and typing on the keyboard feels nice now. The trackpad, I have had no issues with. After reading the reviews stating that the trackpad was horrible and that it was okay after driver updates, I immediately updated drivers and the bios when I got the Zenbook and have no problems whatsoever.Right now, if this were to be my review, this product would have 5 out of 5 stars however...this is actually my 2nd Zenbook. The first one I returned after noticing wifi problems. I uninstalled and updated drivers, I checked forums, I did tweaks but the wifi thing was killer for me. It would go from one bar to five even though I hadn't moved. Speed fluctuations all the time, I just couldn't take it and so I returned it and gave the Zenbook another chance. The one I have now has been smooth since day 1. No issues at all but because of inconsistency in production because I believe the wifi issue is a hardware issue and not a software issue that's a full star down.
Now for the more definite pros and cons list + comparisons.
PROS
---------------------
1. Number 1 on the list has got the be the screen and the screen resolution. Macbook Air has a screen resolution of 1440 x 900. Lenovo U300s, 1366 x 768. The Zenbook trumps them all with a screen resolution of 1600 x 900. In my opinion, 1366 x 768 does not look good. Everything is huge and it's difficult to do work in. The Macbook Air has a slightly better resolution but the Zenbook really hits the spot. I can have two documents side by side or a browser on one side and my thesis work on the other...having a larger screen resolution, without breaking the bank, is crucial. Zenbook has got that hands down. As for the quality, it is a glossy screen and doesn't have as much pop in colors as the Macbook Air but it is still beautiful.
2. Speed. The solid state drive makes life so much faster! I've used solid state drives for years now and they make bootups and regular activity faster and snappier. The Zenbook boots up in about 25 seconds (that's loading up Windows and every random program that is in startup like the iTunes stuff, antivirus, etc.) It also wakes up from sleep in about 2 seconds, which makes resuming activity smooth and seamless. Also, gotta give credit to the Intel 2nd gen Sandy Bridge processor powering this thing. Works like a charm.
On a more technical note, the Zenbook comes equipped with a 128 GB ADATA Sandforce solid state drive. Read/write speeds are 550/500 MB/s. This is way faster than the solid state drive in the Macbook Air, which is a Toshiba SSD with read/write speeds of 200/190 MB/s (Mid 2011 Macbook Air).
3. Quiet
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