Ivy Bridge Zenbook with FHD IPS screen UX21A UX31A UX32A UX32VD

Intel sinks all that R&D money into lower power consumption and Asus turns around and puts a 35wH battery in it. Where is my All Day Computing?

Was hoping to replace my HP DM1, but it looks like the search goes on. All I want is decent battery life, a screen that is viewable outside in the sun, and SSD. In 11.5". Anyone have any suggestions?

 

Are there any 13 inch (or smaller) laptops with IB CPU and a 640M or 650M, apart from the Sager/Clevo 11.6'?

Petrov.

 

No, go with the Sager/Clevo I doubt anyone is releasing an IB with a 640 beside Sager/Clevo since they specialize in gaming laptops. I think this Asus is the closet you're going get with IB, 13inch and GPU.

Any idea how long the battery life will be?

 

Just because something has a discrete card doesn't automatically mean it can run any of the modern games in high detail at 1920x1080 resolution. The 620M is definitely not going to run Far Cry 3 and other high system requirement games at 1080p smoothly.

Full HD and the 620M have nothing to do with each other. Full HD refers to the resolution of the screen. It doesn't mean that the video card will be more powerful and it definitely doesn't mean the 620M will be more powerful than the 640M just because the screen supports a higher resolution. If anything, while playing at the native 1080p resolution, it will be much worse because the larger the resolution, the more powerful a card has to be to push the graphics at that resolution.

If the SD card slot is a dealbreaker for you, you should consider getting a SD to USB adapter and just plug it in when you need to read SD cards.

As for me, I wanted the 11" as well but trying to read the small text from 1080p on that screen would kill me, plus the 11" will have worse battery life than the 13". If 1600x900 was an option on the 11" I'd probably get it.

 

Sorry if this is a stupid question, but where have you guys read that the UX32VD has a removable hard drive?

 

Does anyone know if you fit an mSATA SSD into a UX32VD? I really want one. Especially since it has discrete graphics!

 

This is going to be my laptop for University.

I really hope Asus fixed the problem with the Zenbook not being able to wake up after sleep (after an extended period of time).

This is what I wanted in the original Zenbook, and now it's here. I really hope they offer an i5 + 256gb SSD 13.3". Don't need an i7 for my purposes and don't need discrete graphics either cuz I don't game.

Wonder what they'll add for the 3rd gen ...

 

Now that I think about it... the battery life is probably more important than the SD card.

I don't mind the 11" 1080p res... I prefer high-res small screens... so I guess we'll see what the price difference is (discounted, not MSRP) between the 11" and the 13" is as I've only read about pricing on the 13" models.

 

Where do you go to find (decent) discounts on the Zenbook?

 

I don't game and if I do I would play D3. I mainly browse, use MS Suite, stream movies and listen to music as well as use Fruity Loops. Do you think 6GB of RAM is sufficient for multitasking? and 620M for D3, or do we have to wait until its actually released.

 

We are assuming its removable since its a regular 500GB 7mm HDD (which should be able to be replaced with a 7mm SSD, like the Samsung 830).

 

May want to read this, as the SSD in the regular UX32 is not mSATA:

AnandTech - ASUS' Zenbook SSD and Apple's MacBook Air SSD Are Not Compatible

 

Sony Vaio SA.

13 inch
640m LE (20% less than regular 640m according to notebookcheck)
i7 dual core or quad-core


but will it overheat? vents look small on that machine.

 

It's funny how many other people here had the same idea as me. I was totally going to get the new Series 7 with the 640m and i7 IB, but then I saw the new Asus ultrabook with the 620m and IPS screen and immediately my mouth watered. So now it's a toss up, go with the bigger, beefier quad-core machine with a thin bezel but lower screen and overall build quality, or go with the nice, sleek, solid design from asus with an incredible screen, discrete graphics, all in an ultrabook form.

They're essentially the same price, and I'm only leaning towards the asus cautiously until I see the final specs and reviews. If the new zenbook can handle video editing and some gaming (D3 and similar) and if the trackpad is as improved as they say it is, then it will be a buy for me. I'm interested in seeing the benchmarks (especially on the 620m after the street fighter test) and I may have to play with it in person. But from playing with my dad's first gen series 7 (which I actually like a lot, even the screen after you calibrate it with spyder, but it's no IPS) I would like a thinner, lighter, unibody design rather than half plastic with seams. Also, not crazy about how samsung positioned the function keys (and that stupid fn-lock screwing up the num pad), but I do like the huge battery power.

Good to know you can upgrade the asus to 6gb (maybe 8 if we're lucky) and it'd be really great if you could put a full SSD in there easily. Whelp, I guess we'll have to wait and see!! I'll keep it here for updates and opinions!

 

I am in the same boat as you. I am leaning towards Asus right now, Anandtech review showed he was able to play D3 decently without a Discrete graphic card I hoping the 620 offers a nice boost.

 

im about to buy the current Asus Zenbook, but now i read that there's a new one coming out!!

do you guys have any idea when it will be available in the US? I will be in the US until June 18th. I hope I can get it by then.

 

I think it was quoted around the first week of June or so. I think we should have an official release date by Computex.

 

Really hope they at least consider a Trinity model as well, should be slightly cheaper and slightly better at gaming (I would like to play SC2 and D3 when I am not at home with my desktop )

 

the gt 620m is a 520m, check benchies for that card.

that is not a gpu that can play newest games on higher settings than the HD 4000.

the kepler line starts at the 640m that comes with kepler, meaning that there is a 640m LE version that uses fermi cores, and those fermi cores are the ones used in the gt 425m, just to get an idea on how old that gpu is.

Ultrabook whole idea is to get thin and light notebooks out there. There is a spec sheet that it must use to be considered ultrabook, and yes its based the MBA.

The power of the ultrabook comes in the sense of variable TDP cpus + thunderbolt, giving you acceptable performance on the go, and almost desktop performance when docked. That was the one the ideas behind thunderbolt.

I would prefer that instead of the gt 620m that it came with thunderbolt, so that I can plug a desktop gpu in there and game when I want.

 

Yeah. I don't know why they included a discrete gpu that's around the same performance level as the integrated graphics.

I'm disappointed it didn't come with thunderbolt as well. I'm not waiting around for the next generation, though. Buying one as soon as they become available in australia.

 

Wrong. The 620m is a re-build of the 540m, not the 520, and it uses less power than the 540. There may be other changes we do not know about, like a higher clock speed or more ram. I will wait until the benchmarks come out for the 620m before I make a judgement, because there's a lot of information on the asus being able to put out high fps on recent games.

*Also, I wouldn't even care about the thunderbolt addition, considering there's next to nothing out there that has thunerbolt compatibility, and the things that are out there are mad expensive. By the time a decent thunderbolt graphics card comes out at a decent price I'd imagine it'd be time to upgrade your laptop anyway.

 

I thought this was discussed before, that it the GT 620 isn't the same as 520M and actually performs better than the integrated graphic. I guess were going to have to wait until its released and benchmark it.

 

a little link summary for these beasts:

Asus Zenbook Prime UX31A First Look: A Good IPS Screen?


Hands-on: Asus Zenbook Prime UX31A | PCWorld

First Look: Asus Zenbook Prime Ultrabook | News & Opinion | PCMag.com

First Look: Asus Zenbook Prime Is a Top Ultrabook Contender | Gadget Lab | Wired.com

Asus Ivy Bridge Ultrabook Zenbook Prime vs. 2012 Macbook Air

forgot the latest review:

ASUS Zenbook Prime UX31A Review | Ultrabook Reviews

 

If what the PC World link says is true about it costing 1099 for the 13 inch model with 128GB HD and IPS display, this might be a day 1 purchase for me.

 

Would like to know if this is better outdoors than my W520, should be with matte screen and 350nits vs 270nits

 

These have a matte screen? Very curious myself, I NEED something I can use outdoors.

EDIT: appears it is matte!. Small form factor: check. SSD: check. Matte display: check. Long life battery: Asus!!!

 

The engadget review said that it's semi-glossy. They could be wrong, though.

ASUS Zenbook Prime UX21A preview -- Engadget

 

AnandTech - ASUS Zenbook Prime (UX21A) Review: The First of the 2nd Gen Ultrabooks

do you guys have any idea how the hybrid ssd hd boots? will it be the same with pure ssds?

need the 500gb hard drive space. thinking of getting the ux32vd

 

For the owners of UX31E, to sell their notebook and purchase the new one is not a good decision. I believe that UX31A not much better than UX31E other than Full-HD new display. If this is not a must for you you can go on with UX31E.

UX31E and UX31A are physically same. And Asus told that UX31A has the same SSD with UX31E, this is SanDisk. So I believe that I can replace my UX31E keyboard with the new one (on UX31A) so I do not have to replace the notebook completely. SSD performance is not better so not need to replace the notebook at all.

But a Full-HD new display is much better than the current one. If you plan to purchase an Ultrabook UX31A must be the only option.

 

Doesn't the new one have a better trackpad and keyboard.

 

Based on early reviews all major complaints have been addressed. Seems
to be a much better choice now.

 

Indeed, very excited, glad someone finally payed attention to the trackpad.

 

I disagree.

If I was an owner of the UX31E, I would sell it now before the new ones come out.

The UX31A addresses all the shortfalls of the previous version, adds a lighted keyboard, Ivy Bridge AND a FHD screen.

I currently have a Toshiba z830... and I plan on getting the UX31A despite not having some of the features I like in the Tosh (better keyboard layout, full size VGA and HDMI, 3 USB ports etc). Not sure if I will sell the Tosh... but will for sure sell my MBA 13".

 

I have UX31E and from the early reviews it looks like all the issues I am having has been resolve with this 2nd Gen. Better keyboard, better mouse pad, better wifi card (intel) that now connect to a 5GHz at 300MB/s and much better screen. The viewing angel on the UX31E SUCKS!!!!!!!! I really dont know how much money I could get back on my UX31E (ebay or Craigslist)

 

what's up with the wide bezel?

 

That's how the original looked too, it's probably the one thing I dislike about it, however, it's easy to overlook considering the quality of the screen and all the other great features.

 

Well, yes HD4000 has surprisingly good performance. Here are game performance contests between 525M( 620M) and HD4000 graphics:

 

620m is rebranded 530 according to Engadget(if i could find the article I will post it),not the 525.

 

For the record, the MBA also has a rather large bezel, just saying. I'd also like to see a smaller bezel, but it was probably necessary to cram all the components in a chassis so thin.

 

I have merged the two IVB Zenbook threads together and changed the title. Let's keep discussion here in one place. Thanks.

 

Intel Core i7 3517U
NVIDIA GeForce GT 620M - 1 GB DDR3 SDRAM
i think this has soldered 2gb + 1 memoryslot
Oh and 500gb hdd might have some msata smartcache

Komplett.no - ASUS ZENBOOK UX32VD 13,3" FHD IPS

Due for release 13.6 - i just ordered seens like a ok price for 13.3 1920 ips

 

620M looks identical with 525M according to notebookcheck. Same architecture, pipelines, technology, memory bus and type, GPU and memory speed. Can you link information about 530M?

 

According to Engadget,

NVIDIA outs budget GeForce GT 610, GT 620 and GT 630, no Kepler in any of 'em -- Engadget

Any idea when this will come out in the U.S first week of June is rumored right?

 

Yes but here we are talking about Mobile solutions ( M) and that is makes big difference . 49W TDP would fire up that little thin laptop. Geforce 530M not even exist, only the desktop 530.
So my question is still the same; what benefits makes 620M over HD4000?

 

Those benchmarks comparing the hd4000 to the 525m have to be complete bull, we've already heard that the ux32vd can play street fighter 40fps higher using the 620m than the hd4000, and I've never seen or heard of the hd4000 being that powerful for games. Why don't we wait till there's real benchmarks from reputable sources before we start making wild assumptions, obviously there is some major improvement in using the 620m rather than the hd4000, or they wouldn't have bothered putting it in there.

 

Im finding hard to believe that the 620m is based on the 425m/430m/525m/540m/550m, because that was a card that had a tdp too high for more portable machines like the 13'' that we have here.

granted that the 520m and 520mx are not that good, and never were supposed to be.

And sincerely the hd 4000 is quite enough, however if the 620m packs the 96 core I would be more than happy with it.

 

According to Anandtech, the 620m does feature 96 CUDA cores, much like the 525m, 540m, etc. The clock speed listed, 625MHz/1250MHz, puts it between the 525m (600/1200) and 540m (672/1344). According to Wikipedia, all three have the same memory clock speed (1800MHz) and bus width (128-bit).

Anand does suggest that the new 28nm GF117 core powering the 620m (and some variants of the 630m) might differ somewhat from the previous 40nm GF108 core powering the 525m, 540m, etc: "architecturally it's not simply a die shrink of GF108 and should include some additional enhancements that take advantage of the move to 28nm." But, presumably, none of these potential enhancements would reduce performance. Due to the shrink to 28nm, the GF117, and thus the 620m, should use less power/put out less heat, and thereby is more suitable to something like the UX32VD than the old 525m or 540m.

As such, from everything I've seen thus far, the 620m should fall somewhere between the 525m and the 540m (being closer to the 525m's clock speed, I suppose you could consider it a "530m").

Edit: Also, as far as the HD4000, at least according to this earlier article on Anandtech, the 17W TDP Ivy Bridge i5/i7s have lower-clocked GPUs than the 'full-power' i5/i7s. Granted, I don't think we know yet exactly what CPU is powering the UX32VD, but assuming this difference remains the case, the UX32VD will have a slower HD4000 than non-ULV laptops, and thus the 620m will provide a greater boost in performance for it than might be the case for non-ULV Ivy Bridge systems.

 

Anandtech also has some Diablo3 laptop benchmarks that pit the HD4000 against the Nvidia 630m. AnandTech - Laptop Graphics Face Off: Diablo III Performance

 

Hi Zeb, If I buy the VD, do you think i5 will be enough? or should I go with an i7 Processor? I'm assuming the ULV processors will be weaker than normal right? That's why I'm debating if I need the i7. I plan on using it for word, excel, watching youtube videos, and playing Guild wars 2 on medium, Heroes of Newerth on Medium

 

Notebookcheck did a review of the UX32VD (in german). The CPU is still under wraps, but they couldn't praise the display more!