Asus BU400

I grow tired of waiting for the U38N. Looking for alternatives, I found the 14" Asus N series... which isn't available in the US. Then I stumbled across the BU400

Asus intros the AsusPro Series BU400 business Ultrabook - Notebookcheck.net News





14" multitouch, Nvs 5200m (read: Nvidia 620m) and seemingly impeccable build quality with gorgeous a carbon fiber body, spill resistant keyboard, and an 899 euro starting price tag. But, yet again, ITS ANOTHER PERFECT ASUS THAT ISN'T RELEASED ANYWHERE YET, despite a "release" in October. Why must you troll me like this, Asus? (rage over) Seriously, who do I get in touch with to complain about US availability?



Anyway, anyone ever heard of/seen/used one of these?

 

Asus.

All roads point to January (possibly later) of this year. TechPowerUp - The latest in hardware and gaming noted "(BU400A SKU, available January 2013)". And then there is this: Asus BU400A Ultrabook Will be Available in 2013 | 2013 Laptop - New Laptop - Ultrabook - Notebook - Best Laptop

 

This looks so solid... I was about to give up my search and wait till haswell. I hope the model with 1600*900 resolution will be released here in the states.

 

ASUS

In Taiwan, the term for "showing you pictures of a laptop you want and maniacally laughing as you hopelessly search the web trying to find a translatable site that sells it until it's obsolete" roughly translate to the word "available"


The Asus link to US phone support is designed to direct you away from US phone support...But I found a notebook sales hotline here in the forums! I will annoy Asus support if it's the last thing I do.

 

I saw their page as well (first place I referenced). Ironic that third parties have conflicting release dates.

Let us know what you find out!

 

i want this.. any news from asus support?

 

I am also quite eagerly awaiting this laptop. In fact German stores already list it as for sale (in 2-4 days at least), but what worries me is that they only seem to offer the normal HD version:
Asus Pro BU400 / B400VC-W3020X Business Ultrabook

I called Asus support and they are useless, they don't even know of this laptop's existence even though another trained monkey at their company did translate a press release as mentioned in the OP. Trust me, they make nice stuff but oh dear they can be a bunch of amateurs in the marketing department.

I am also really looking at the recently leaked Lenovo T431s, its specs are astonishingly similar (also 1600x900 as option, NVS 5200M likely). The only thing is that I am not sure if it will have a touch screen.
If I might make a suggestion: I would wait a few weeks until the German BU400 edition is tested (most likely on Notebook Test, Laptop Test und News - Notebookcheck.com (German) or Notebook / Laptop Reviews and News - NotebookCheck.net with translation delay (English)) and then try again. That's what I am planning to do.

 

it really looks like it is intended to be a x1 carbon toch "killer".. altough, at the same price and avaiability i would go for the X1CT..

 

Well whattaya know!
Asus made a slip-up and now this machine is named Asus B400 (instead of BU400), hence Google doesn't find anything.
It IS for sale in the US under this name:
Asus B400A-XH51 14.1" LED Notebook - Intel Core i5 i5-3317U 1.70 GHz - Black - B400AXH51 - Laptops & Notebooks - ASUS Laptops & Notebooks - TheNerds.net

And at ExcaliburPC for pre-order:
ASUS B400A-XH52 14.1" Laptop. ASUS B400A-XH52

But... I still only see 1366x768 options. Blegh!
Rbuljo, I am not sure which one I would get. Asus has a very good reputation for reliable machines, plus if they keep their promises a 1600x900 touchscreen edition would come out with dedicated graphics (a big plus for me), which the X1C does not have. I really think they can have their own niche of the market, and my money (if a 1600x900 version hits the market).

 

And believe it or not, this product code even yields them for sale at Best Buy (in the US at least)
Asus Ultrabook 14" Laptop 4GB Memory 256GB Solid State Drive B400A-XH52 - Best Buy

However, for me it is an absolute no-go with a 1366x768 screen. So the waiting continues...
I found a catalog of where to get a "B400" by searching the following:
Icecat.biz | 10 product(s) found for "asus b400"

Strange thing is that both the A and VC series seem to come with this low-res screen. Also, no mention of any touchscreen tech. That worries me a bit to be honest.

 

I too have been waiting for this laptop to come out (for two months now). A very nice Asus desktop that I bought last year had incorrect product specs listed on Amazon. I found that to be true for that whole line of Asus desktops. My impression is that Asus builds nice computers, markets them well but then, somehow, forgets to sell them. So, I would not be surprised by mismatches between name and specs on sellers' websites.

In any case, what do people think about the Carbon X1 versus the B(U)400 --if it ever comes out with 1600*900 resolution? I personally have been waiting for the B(U)400 for the extra ports. Not even a VGA port on the Carbon X1.

(Also, based on my one experience with my current Lenovo Thinkpad, I cannot get myself to trust Lenovo. They refused to honor the 3-year warranty I bought. Blamed the discolored screen on my "overuse". Unbelievable since "overuse" is no exclusion criterion and I rarely use it in the first place.)

 

I think this laptop has features the X1 (Carbon) doesn't have, most notably the dedicated graphics. Then again, none of the currently available Asus B(U)400 notebooks have 1600x900 resolution or touch, so let's not cheer yet.

 

Just thought I'd give this thread a bump. My Zenbook was damaged by BestBuy while in for warranty repair (due to poor packing). They ordered an HP Elitebook Folio as a replacement but after two weeks of waiting, they told me it was unavailable.

Now, they're getting me an AsusPro B400A-XH52. I guess the screen isn't as nice as my previous Zenbook but I like that it's expandable to 8BG of RAM and has a 256GB SSD vs. the 128GB drive in my previous Zenbook.

It seems like it's built really well, which is nice because the Zenbook had warranty issues after only six months of use.

If there's one big drawback (from my perspective) it's the lack of a backlit keyboard. I know many others will say the 1366x768 screen is a big deal, but I'd really come to love the backlit keyboard of the Zenbook.

Looking forward to the new AsusPro.

Tipsy

 

There's a review in German posted at notebookcheck.com :
Test AsusPro BU400VC-W3040X Ultrabook - Notebookcheck.com Tests

I love the angled design and the fact that it comes with a dedicated graphics card (compared to e.g.Lenovo X1 Carbon). Non-touch screen is a plus for me as it means it's matte. The problem is that the screen is low-res and the brightness is too low. Perhaps it could be replaced, but it's an unnecessary hassle. Too bad.

 

Bumping this thread again. I've had the B400A for a while now. I'd like to upgrade the screen to the 1600x900. The screen reseller said that a dual channel video cable will be required. I called Asus and asked for a part number for this cable. I also asked if my motherboard is compatible. The woman I spoke with said the machine cannot be upgraded, but I have very little confidence that she actually knew anything about what I was asking.

Does anyone know whether a B400A-XH52 is actually compatible with a 1600x900 screen, with a dual channel cable?

Thanks.

Tipsy

PS - I'm really missing the backlit keyboard from my previous Asus machine.

 

Hi,

I just bought the BU400A and loving the light and sleek design. Now am waiting for m.2 SSD for upgrade as it's still not available in my country.

 

anyone bought B400? Any issues with it? how's built quality, overall performance, battery life, noise/overheating etc? Ive heard touchpad and screen are poor. Is that true?