Asus UX31 Ultrabook

European specs and prices appear:
Prezzo e carattestiche di Asus UX21 e UX31 in Francia - Notebook Italia

 

i7-2677M and 256GB for 1200 EUR? Not bad, not bad at all.

 

French prices in English

 

I don't understand, maybe my english comprehension:

had launched mean that it is now available to purshase?

 

@prepseb

That is what it is saying... That it's available for purchase but maybe it was written by a non-native English speaker.

 

We're still waiting for both the UX21 and UX31 here in Australia. Word is they'll be out sometime November. Has anyone actually seen these in the wild yet?
I'm been lucky enough to have a play with one for a day this week. I have written up a fairly detailed review on my website but if you've got any questions for someone that has luckily seen it in the flesh, let me know.

 

@Ritchiesroom,

That was me that asked you all those questions

 

@kalahari, great stuff!

I registered here particularly because my article was getting so much traffic, there seems to be so much interest in this model and I'm happy to share what I know.
Hope my responses helped you!

 

Good news? Asus UX21 et UX31 : specs et prix français des Ultrabooks (SSD, Sandy Bridge, USB 3.0) LaptopSpirit.fr - Ordinateur Portable, PC Portable, Ultra-portable, Tablette, Netbook, UMPC et mobilité

Is there anyone from France that can check out if the ux31 is really in the "wild".

 

Considering French VAT, the UX31, I5, 128GB SSD, 1600 x 900 should sell for $999 or less, undercutting the Air 13" by a couple of hundred dollars. If that is true, and the display is not too bad, this will be my wife's next laptop. It is really a shame that Asus service sucks so badly in the US. Does XOTICPC.COM or other retailers take care of service on the units it sells?

 

Just converting the Euro price gives you about 1600 dollars. Not bad for an i7 with a 256gb SSD I don't think. I might pull the trigger, I don't know, I'd rather a matte screen that the Toshiba has going for it. I think I'll have to check them out in person, still not sure about the Asus trackpad, I like buttons, another thing the Toshiba has.

I'm not sure how important storage is for me, all my media will be on an external.

 

I've just spent an entire day next to a UX21. Unfortunately, it was encased in plexiglass, but I have two more days to try and convince the Asus rep to power it up and let me take a look.

All the signs point to an October release in New York and the unit on show has an i7 and a sandforce powered SSD.

Asus is also providing a leather envelop as the carrier (at least one is on display), basically mocking/copying? the original Macbook Air commercial.

 

And what are you sources to say that?

 

Usually a laptop that costs ± 1000 euros in Europe costs ± 1000 dollars in US.

 

There is a NYC launch event scheduled for October.

Asus Reportedly Launching 5 to 6 Ultrabooks in October

Whether they actually *ship* then is another matter...

 

Asus sign that says "Coming to New York in October" and communications from the rep saying US will be the first market with availablity.

Will the UX series actually be available in October? Who knows.

 

Hi guys,

this is the lineup for Hungary:

11.6" LED, 1366x768, typical 400-nit, 16 ms response time, NTSC: 45% | Bluetooth 4.0 | Wi-Fi: b/g/n | 6 cell, 4800 mAh | USB 2.0, USB 3.0, micro HDMI, mini VGA, Windows 7 Home Premium | bag

i3-2367M | 2 GB | 128 GB SSD | 719 EUR
i5-2467M | 4 GB | 128 GB SSD | 809 EUR
i7-2677M | 4 GB | 128 GB SSD | 959 EUR

13.3" LED, 1600x900, typical 400-nit, 16 ms response time, NTSC: 45% | Bluetooth 4.0 | Wi-Fi: b/g/n | 4 cell, 6840 mAh | USB 2.0, USB 3.0, micro HDMI, mini VGA, Windows 7 Home Premium | bag

i5-2467M | 2 GB | 64 GB SSD | 749 EUR
i5-2467M | 4 GB | 128 GB SSD | 839 EUR
i5-2467M | 4 GB | 256 GB SSD | 959 EUR
i7-2677M | 4 GB | 128 GB SSD | 959 EUR
i7-2677M | 4 GB | 256 GB SSD | 1089 EUR

These are approximate enduser prices without VAT. First shipment will be in November.

 

Thanks! Screens look good, except for the low gamut. Quality will be very similar to MBA.

Can you mention or link to your source?

_______________________________

Edit: Asus Ux21 appearing in UK webshop: http://uk.insight.com/apps/productp...10&cm_mmc=Feed-_-Affiliate-_-Webgains-_-60210

 

Looks like October US release and $999 base price for the UX-31. Acer, Asustek to ship 200,000 ultrabooks each month in 4Q11 This release says October 11, 2011. http://liliputing.com/2011/09/asus-to-launch-ux-series-ultrabooks-october-11th.html Looks like the anouncement is a couple of weeks away. Since Asus said it will ship 200,000 units per month, I hope that the UX-31 will be available by late October.

400 nits display should be quite bright. I agree Phil, the color gamut is not great but should suffice for a portable notebook. The only thing I would like that is omitted is a backlit KB. The HD+ display is really the deciding factor between this unit and the other ultrabooks which are all 720p resolution. If the Toshiba had an HD+ display, it would be a much tougher choice.

This looks like my wife's next notebook.

 

AnandTech - ASUS to Launch UX21, UX31 Ultrabooks on October 11

Official website: http://ux.asus.com/

 

LOL a count-down clock. Leave it to Asus to over-hype this thing.

 

Exactly. With a backlit KB UX series would be perfect.

 

Does anyone know if these come with a TN or IPS panel?

 

Sadly, its probably TN, its really rare to have ips panels in laptops. The only laptops that have ips screens that I can think of is the x220 and the rumored/never appearing lg p330..

 

Does anyone know when will this beast release in Australia?

 

Thanks.
I'm really liking the UX31, my only fear is the display quality.
I have a UL30 A2 and the LCD's vertical viewing angles are simply terrible.

 

Vertical viewing angle is likely to be a little bit better, like Macbook Air 13" quality.

It will be no where near IPS quality though.

 

Yeah, basically tn LCD quality for verticle angles can be really bad, or just kind of bad. But they're never really good. What they lack in vertical viewing angle they make up for in lower power usage and lower cost. I'd much rather have a high quality 900p tn screen than an IPS 768p screen myself.

 

Played with the UX21 for a while today, but was not allowed to turn it on.

Here are some observations.

There are air intakes on the bottom left and right of the notebook with the vent sitting right under the LCD, so there will be no warm air hitting your hand, regardless of if you're right or left handed.

The speakers are sitting between the keyboard and bottom of the LCD.

Opening the notebook is relatively easy, as long as you remember to use the small tab located on the middle section of the top of the LCD. Trying to open the notebook any other way will not work well.

At 1.1kg, it's light, but "feels" heavy, solid, and well constructed.

Demo units are equiped with sandforce ssd (sticker on palmrest and also bag), not sure if production units will have sandforce or sandisk.

Comments from someone who have tested a UX31 (take with a grain of salt):

The sound is fantastic.
Installed Photoshop CS5 and photo processing is speedy.
Palmrest stays very cool.
Touchpad is large but you may accidentally touch it with your right thumb while typing.

 

Touchpad locker is great for that situation. Glad to hear your impressions. I am probably getting a UX-31 as soon as I can preorder it for my wife. She is tired of her Ideapad S12 Atom/Ion netbook. This should be quite a step up for her. Would prefer to buy from a dealer so I can get help dealing with Asus crappy warranty service. XoticPC has not confirmed that they are getting them. Anybody else know of a retailer who will have them? On line is fine.

BTW, this makes it sound like they should be available soon after the release on the 11th. http://www.fudzilla.com/notebooks/item/24233-ultrabooks-coming-in-two-weeks

 

Pretty quiet here since we are all impatiently looking at the countdown.

 

If the UX31 didn't have a freaking clickpad it would be my next notebook. I hate clickpads so much. If they'd put in three real buttons instead I'd be standing in line waiting for one.

 

I hope I am not sounding naive, but what is the difference between a clickpad and a touchpad? The only touchpad that I have experience with is from my old asus v2s which recently passed away.... It had a great touchpad in my opinion I recently started to search for a new laptop again, so a few terms are pretty new to me.

I understand that ultrabooks are not gaming machines. However, I still want to know if the hd3000 in the ux31 would be able to handle scII or any other recent games on low settings? I checked the chip rating on notebookcheck and it claims that it can handle scII on low settings. I use to be a gamer so it'll be nice to have some sort of option for games.

 

How about tap to click? that way you don't have to use the clickpad. That's what I do.

 

Yet another reason why I'm likin' the Toshiba Ultrabook. It's got physical buttons for left and right click (which I too prefer).

 

It seems like yes:

Starcraft 2 auf dem Apple MacBook Air 2011 13 Zoll Test - deutsch - YouTube

According to this guy, he's playing on his MB Air 13 with these specs:
1,7Ghz i5
4Gb Ram
Intel HD 3000
1440x900

 

I personally use one/two/three finger tap instead of clicking the actual buttons on my current laptop, so I don't feel like the fact it comes with a clickpad is a big downside for me.

 

It's impossible to do any kind of precision work like that. Index finger from left hand on button, index finger from right hand doing positioning, I can do some very precise and quick work. Tap clicking is very inaccurate and you wind up clicking on the wrong things. I've tried using clickpads once for a few days and it was a miserable failure.

 

My experience is the opposite. I work much quicker and more accurate with tap to click (not using the click pad functionality).

I do hope Asus incorporates a secondary tap to click, which I've only used on Mac before.

 

But I'm talking about using a regular trackpad and using the separate buttons versus a clickpad and tap to click. A regular trackpad is quite accurate with one finger on the button and one on the trackpad. Trying to use one finger on the button and one on the clickpad results in random zooming, which isn't what I really want. To each his own. Thing is, a regular trackpad would work just about as well for you, since all you lose out on is a tiny bit of surface area, while the clickpad just doesn't work for folks who prefer to use one hand on the button and one on the clickpad.

 

I totally agree with all of the above.

 

I know what you're talking about. It works perfect on my MBP for me.

The only pro of not having buttons is design wise. If I didn't need the cool design of the UX31 I would favor the Toshiba.

 

Phil, Phil, Phil...

 

Heck if I didn't care for design I would be walking around with a Lenovo X220 with IPS screen.

Unfortunately I do care for design, so far only Apple and Asus UX31 qualify.
http://forum.notebookreview.com/wha...stylish-light-11-6-13-notebook-ultrabook.html

 

I can't deny it, the MBA is an amazing looking machine. Looks-wise, I love it. But compared to the big, bulky, heavy laptops of yesterday, all of the Ultrabooks look good enough for me.

 

Soundsgood, why not Lenovo X220? IPS screen, touchpad buttons, full power CPUs, mSATA etc.

 

I've never been a big fan of Lenovo, but I've heard a lot about this X220... so maybe it's time to look into it.

And speaking of taking a look... take a look at the Toshiba. You can't tell me that this is an ugly machine:

 

Agreed on those manufacturer supplied product shots it looks fine.

I think in reality it will look like another black plastic laptop with big letters "TOSHIBA" printed on it. Not my cup of tea.



vs. Asus

 

I think that ASUS should've gone with an IPS display.
Even if it was optional. TN panels suck.
Watch this vid:
ASUS UX21 11.6" Ultrabook Hands On and Preview - YouTube

 

As far as I know IPS display can not be produced thin enough to fit in ultrabooks.

Edit: just watched the video, the display actually looks good to me. Of course no IPS but certainly above TN standards.