ASUS N550JV vs. ASUS UX51VZ

Ok, so I am stuck between choosing one out of these two:

ASUS N550 Core I7-4700HQ 8GB 750GB FHD GeForce GT 750M 15.6in BD BT Windows 8 Notebook
ASUS Zenbook UX51VZ-DH71 Intel i7 3612QM 15.6in 8GB 128GB SSD 1080p GT650M Windows 8 Ultrabook

The laptop will be used for the following:

• Minor AutoCAD (just some editing), school workstations will be used for majority of the work.
• Light Gaming (RuneScape, LoL, Skyrim, etc.)
• Don't mind running 3D intensive games on low (just want 30 fps at least).
• Used for school work.
• Movies, Social Networking, Facebook.
• Used in a college enviornment.
• Will get more storage space if I run out (external hard drives).

My longest lecture is 3 hours (2 lectures back to back). All input and advice is appreciated Also if anyone knows, how much bigger or difference is there between the size of the two.

 

The N550 has a slightly faster processor (3.4 Ghz turbo vs. 3.1 Ghz turbo) and graphics card (Nvidia 750M vs. 650M), an optical drive if you need one, and can be upgraded with more RAM (16GB vs. 12GB). Battery life should be similar, due to the Haswell processor in the N550 and the higher battery capacity in the UX51. Size and thickness are nearly identical between the two. The N550 is also considerably less expensive.

 

You wouldn't happen to know if theres a way to get a diff keyboard color, or laptop color? That silver on silver is really dull and boring

 

From what I've seen there isn't any way to do it, unfortunately.

At this point I'd go with the N550 though.

 

You can try to order N56 black backlit keyboard. It looks identical to N550 keyboard.

For instance, it's available here:

Aliexpress.com : Buy New Keyboard for Asus N56 N56DP N56DY N56VB N56VJ N56VM N56VZ N56X US Black With Backlit Keyboard from Reliable N56 N56DP N56DY N56VB N56VJ N56VM N56VZ N56X Keyboard suppliers on WishingDeals

 

Apart from looks, is it better to buy the N550 or the UX51? For University.

 

The CPU difference is huge. Your tradeoff is between power and portability. Since you have real workstations for the heavy duty work, the performance advantages of the N550 are more for commonplace tasks. If you are always on the go, the lighter ultrabook will feel more comfortable to carry. You can probably get a sleeve for it and still have something very portable. I personally swoon for small performance boosts but if I need to carry it around almost daily, I'd go for the ultrabook.

 

Yes, but no.

Asus UX51Vz-DH71 is about 2.2kg heavy and the battery will not last that long if the laptop is used. Real time should be around 5h.

N550 is about 2.7kg and at the same usage rate the battery should last around 4h.

N550 is a better laptop at half the price.

 

.5kg is a lot, especially in university. Also, I won't be using any laptop for more then 4h without an outlet.

 

0.5kg is like a little bottle of water. I don't even feel it. Anyway, you should use a backpack to carry stuff around, it's better for your health.

 

Spec-wise they're fairly similar, given that the UX51 hasn't been updated with Haswell yet.

The N550 is huge- it's a nearly 6 lb, full-thickness desktop-replacement-looking machine. At its thickest point, the UX51 is not a heck of a lot thinner, but it's designed like the UX21/31, in that it has a tapered bottom half and more upscale materials all around. As a result, it feels massively thinner, and far sleeker, than the N550, if that matters.

I was considering the N550 but was too turned off by the design, and even the big price difference couldn't save it. Unfortunately the UX51 currently lacks >1080p video output (no DisplayPort), so I didn't opt for that either, but otherwise I probably would've gone that route (maybe a used one off eBay or something).