Asus UX31 Ultrabook

I'm pretty sure I saw physical buttons on the UX21. So unless Asus suddenly decided to switch to a buttonless clickpad, the production versions should still have touchpads.

 

I can't say that I didn't get spoiled by my Dell 2209WA (IPS) and Samsung 2333T (PVA), but I truly hope that the screen in these doesn't suck like it did in their previous generation of laptops.
I looked at the lenovo x220 and briefly considered it, but I just don't like their look.

Let's hope that buttons are still there. But this laptop resembles the MBA so much, that I wouldn't be surprised if they kept the clickpad for the elegant design.

 

After watching that video of the UX21 I browsed to the Apple site. There was a picture of the Air, it suddenly looked dated to me. Especially the thick looking silver bezel doesn't do it for me.
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Asus UX21 appearing on EU price comparison site with some listings.
http://geizhals.eu/685800
http://geizhals.eu/?in=&fs=asus+ux31

 

I'll just have to find an actual store which has these and go there to see how well or how bad the screen is.
That's basically the only thing that can deter me from buying one when it's out.

 

I'd like to see this notebook with the Ivy Bridge chipset...guess I have to wait till May or something.

 

Possibly even later as ULV CPUs often come later than their full powered counter parts.

 

Where are the Home/End/Page UP/Page Down buttons on this thing? I'm guessing the arrow keys like it was on the EEE series. Not very comfy after getting used to them just being on the right of the keyboard on my UL30A. There's plenty of room, why didn't they leave them there?

 

They're on the Toshiba.

 

its only a matter of time before this line will have their own dedicated GPU

 

Thanks. I'll have to take a look at the Toshiba as well then.

 

I watched all the movies, saw most of the pictures and... I am worried about nothing, not even about the sandforce disk. The screen should do. The shell looks well made, so does the keyboard. It will be a good line. As soon as they are available, I will go for UX 31, i7/256gb ssd version. I've been waiting for UX to shop up for good two months now.

 

Any idea if the user will be able to upgrade ram on his own? 4GB is good, but ram is so cheap now that I wouldn't mind going up to 8GB in this puppy.

 

Haven't seen anyone tear one apart yet, though it looks similar to the MBA construction, possibly just a few screws on the bottom to get in there:

 

I like the style of aluminium they used. It looks even better than what Apple is using.

 

This is what scares me, I hope we won't have to deconstruct the whole notebook to get access to the memory slots.
On the MBA the RAM is soldered to the motherboard and is not user upgradeable, not really upgradeable at all.

 

If only those are regular screws and not some bolts, we will be fine.

 

LOL yeah the MBA uses security torx, for no good reason.

It'll be interesting to see the guts when this machine finally comes out. If it's all soldered and integrated I won't be terribly surprised.

 

UX series also uses torx. Confirmed in person

 

Too bad.

 

Security torx or just torx? Even walmart carries torx screwdriver sets so it's not like they're some rare device made of ground up hen's teeth.

 

Re RAM, since there are versions with 2GBs, I bet mothersboards are the same in all versions to cut costs = RAM in not soldered.

What seems more likely, though, is the fact there could be only one slot available, so no more RAM until 8GB dies show up.

Is there anything special about security torx? Aren't keys/screwdrivers for that available as well? I think they are.

 

How do you think the UX31 will stack up against the MBA 13"?
To be honest I've been waiting for this thing to come out before I decide between them...
I'm not a mac person. I'm pretty close to anti-mac actually, but their hardware design is pretty slick. And now that windows apparently runs pretty well on macs, it seems like a decent option.

UX31 looks pretty slick too though.
As far as I can tell, specs are pretty similar, but MBA has thunderbolt and UX31 has USB3.0.
Also the UX31 is said to have a higher res screen.
Any other differences?

 

Asus has a faster SSD (SATA 6Gbps).

I think a fully loaded UX31 will be cheaper than a fully loaded MBA.

MBA has keyboard backlight, UX31 doesn't.

 

MBA has backlit keyboard. UX-31 should be about $200 cheaper than the 13" base model air. Apple service is decent, Asus service in the US is horrible. The UX-31 may come with a 1 year accidential damage warranty.

LOL Phil ... great minds think alike.

 

I'm in Japan, so I might have to wait quite a while for the Asus (stuff comes out late here)

 

Yeah there is no shortage of drivers. It's just a bump in the center of normal a torx:

Spoiler

Maybe ASUS will go one step further and use tri-wing for another no-good reason.

I can't find any hi-res images of the bottom to make out the screw type for sure, but it looks like normal philips. Here are some I found:

Spoiler

 

Ohmmmmmm ... Will Asus rebrand its ultrabooks as “Zenbooks?” - Liliputing

 

Regular torx on the demo units, highly doubt production versions will change to security torx.

 

Good. Whoever gets the thing first, open it up and take a pic what's inside. I will do that as soon as I get my UX 31. Too bad there's no pre-order available in the EU. This is what always sucks about Asus - decentralized, annoying sells by some silly retailers. I wish Asus worked in a centralized fashion Dell does.

 

No, ASUS UX

 

Something we already knew, but reiterated:

Asus: Ultrabooks Won't Threaten Tablet Market

http://www.digitimes.com/news/a20111005PD211.html

From the looks of it that UX series ivy bridge refresh won't be until around this time next year...

 

Read more: Asus, Acer on deck, but Ultrabook outlook cut | Nanotech - The Circuits Blog - CNET News

 

4 days people.. 4 whole days ><

 

A good reason not to wait? Acer plans 15-inch ultrabooks using fiber glass cases

 

Did you mean "A good reason to wait?"?
15" is nice and all, but the computer's footprint will also be bigger and it will be heavier.
I doubt screen real-estate (as in resolution) will differ, though.

 

OH! I will wait then!

See here: ASUS Ultrabooks are actually Zenbooks? -- Engadget

 

How much practicality is in anything beyond a 1080x1920 resolution for a 13.3"? I can't see that being very usable at that screen size. The 13" Vaio with full 1080p I've seen and I personally think its too small. Will these new ultra high res screens still have an ideal native resolution that will look better than all the lower settings?

And why is anything past 1080p limited to Ivy Bridge and beyond?

 

You simply have to adjust the DPI in Windows.
Retina displays will produce a very sharp and crisp image, look at how awesome the iPhone/iPod touch screens look.

 

More pixels = more workspace.

 

Not necessarily. The crazy PPI these screens will bring will make it impossible to work at the standard 100% DPI.

 

Still no real reviews out for this thing huh? I guess no one gets an early one..

 

My interest in this unit is for my wife and I could not agree with you more. She wants a highly portable notebook that will WOW the crowd when she takes it out. So far, there is only the MBA. The UX-31 looks promissing.

Asus is making a big deal about launching this model in the US. I'll bet that reviews are already written but waiting the nonedisclosure agreement to lapse. There will probably be a few reviews published on release day. We'll know soon.

No, I meant to get this generation UX-31. To reduce cost, it looks like ultrabooks will go plastic. I like the unibody.

 

is there something like ux31 but has 14inch display? and more powerfull?

is it a problem for glossy screen if I will work in the park under the sun?

 

Going by European prices I'm expecting these prices in US:

Asus UX21 Core i5, 4GB, 128GB $999,- (999,- euros in europe)
Asus UX31 Core i5, 4GB, 128GB $1299,- (1299,- euros in europe)

Samsung series 7 14" screen in 13" laptop might be interesting. A bit heavier but more powerful and matte screen.

 

Oh I get what you meant now, but judging by what the article said, they may go for Carbon Fiber cases.

A glossy screen would make it much more difficult to see what's going on on the screen, the reflection won't help things either.

That's a bit more pricey than I expected, but from what I know, very often USD prices in the USA are almost 1:1 with Euro prices in Europe.
So I remain hopeful that these won't be this expensive.

 

waaa thanks so much i didnt know it. samsung series 7 will have quad core!

Is this the only quad core laptop? when are they going to release?

 

For information about Samsung 7 series please look for the appropriate threads:
Samsung Laptop Forums - Samsung Notebook Computer Discussions

 

AFAIR European price for the best ux31 will be around 1200 EUR. That's the i7 & 256 SSD version. BTW, 1 day left \o/ Ready your credit cards!

 

I wonder how long before these are actually shipping. If the display is decent and the base model UX-31 is priced at ~ $1K, my wife will be ordering one.

 

Before the reveal! It may not mean that it will be in store ready to be bought.