Zenbook U500 Announced: 15.6" HD IPS, GT650M, Quad-Core i7...

Looks like newegg has it up for preorder: Newegg.com - ASUS UX51Vz-XH71 Ultrabook Intel Core i7 3612QM(2.10GHz) 15.6" Full HD 8GB DDR3 Memory 512GB HDD NVIDIA GeForce GT 650M

$2500!

 

Ok, I must've mixed my sources. On the Komplett.dk site mentioned before it says this:

which translates to

 

In Germany there are two models listed for pre-order:

ASUS UX51VZ-CN036H ZENBOOK [15.6" FULL HD,i7-3612QM,8GB RAM,512GB SSD,GT650M]
1999,- Euro
ASUS UX51VZ-CN036H ZENBOOK [15.6" FULL HD,i7-3612QM,8GB RAM,512GB SSD,GT650M] bei notebooksbilliger.de

ASUS UX51VZ-CN035H ZENBOOK [15.6" FULL HD,i7-3612QM,8GB RAM,256GB SSD,GT650M]
1699,- Euro
ASUS UX51VZ-CN035H ZENBOOK [15.6" FULL HD,i7-3612QM,8GB RAM,256GB SSD,GT650M] bei notebooksbilliger.de

Both models with dual SSD in RAID configuration. Both prices including VAT.

Cheers

 

Ouch. But that has to be a 512GB SSD not HDD. TigerDirect has it for the same price and specifies 2x256GB SSD:

ASUS UX51Vz-XH71 Laptop Computer - 3rd generation Intel Core i7-3612QM 2.1GHz, 8GB DDR3, 512GB (2X 256GB) SSD, 15.6 Full HD, Windows 8 Professional 64-bit, 1-Yr Warranty, 1-Yr Accidental at TigerDirect.com

It would have been nice to see a bit more RAM at this price.

 

I sure hope amazon lists the 256gb model as the 512 is too rich for my blood.

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk 2

 

Interesting. Tiger direct quotes a 1 yr warranty while newegg states a 2 yr manufacturer warranty. That alone dictates to purchase at newegg over tiger

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk 2

 

If anyone spots this notebook showing up on a UK retailer, please post it here.

 

In this price territory, we're talking competition directly with the MBPr and the Razer blade, both of those offering something you cannot get in any other product. I am really hoping the 128 ssd/500 hdd is available, and priced to be accessible to most people.

Because otherwise, you really could buy a S15/Envy15/U2442 etc. AND a X51 alienware for less than $2500.

 

Will there be an HDD only verson? I feel like I'd be paying too high of a premium to get an SSD from Asus.

 

In a way the UX51 does promise something you can't currently get in another product: a highly portable Windows laptop with a FHD IPS screen and enough power to be used as your main computer, including gaming, in a form factor that is neither too big nor too small.

I have been looking around for alternatives to this, but I don't see any except the MacBook Pro (which runs the wrong OS for me) or the Sony Vaio Z (which is too small and too expensive). Ultrabooks with dual-core processors are underpowered for some of our demands. So Asus are counting on the uniqueness of their product and pricing it high but not as high as the Vaios.

Personally I would like to see a model with 12GB RAM and an SSD + HDD combo, or one drive plus a spare bay. I'd rather have more RAM and data storage than RAID 0 SSDs.

And running multiple machines means buying multiple software licences, so there's a hidden cost. I'd rather have everything on one machine that I can take with me.

 

This is the model I'm looking out for.

does anyone know which models these are:

[Asus UX51VZ-DH71] - Asus Ux51vz-dh71 Notebook - Intel Core I7 I7-3612qm 2.10 Ghz - 8 Gb Ram Ux51vzdh71 :

Newegg.com - Asus UX51VZ-DH71 Notebook - Intel Core i7 i7-3612QM 2.10 GHz

They seem to be priced the cheapest out of what has been said before. $1918 is about €1481, which isn't too bad.

 

I think the DH71 variant is the one with dual 128GB SSDs, probably in RAID 0.

 

Good news:

i7-3612QM, 500GB HDD, 4GB RAM (CN021H)
i7-3632QM, 256GB SSD, 4GB RAM (CM054H)

 

Strange. Why would they bother offering both? Hoping people think the 3632 is a big upgrade and will spend the extra cash?

 

Maybe they built a bunch of them around the 3612QM before receiving supplies of the 3632QM? Or maybe they had stocks of both and wanted to use up the older one. From what I have read it seems there's very little real world difference between the two.

 

Seems unlikely that they would have massed stocks of only one configuration. It's probably just a clever marketing-driven way to:

1. Get rid of old 3612s
2. Give the upgraded model a more attractive spec sheet

And yes there's almost no difference between the two, hence my question of why they would have both.

 

way too expensive.

they won't sell very many of these.

 

I have just checked the price of 128GB SSD (Crucial V4) and the price of 500GB 7mm HDD (WD blue) and there isn't a big difference, 70€ (SSD) vs 60€ (HDD).
So if exist a version 128SSD + 500GB HDD there not will be a big price gap between (128GB SSD + 500GB HDD) and (2X128GB SSD), maybe this is the reason because Asus doesn't supply it.

Finally it's confirmed the 3632QM upgrade, it would be very stupid if a premium laptop was not out with the most recent processor available.

This notebook is very interesting, but in addiction to the price there are others things to consider like throttling, display quality or anything that we can discover only when this laptop is in the hands of owners.

Wow, only 4GB ram, if it's true we can upgrade by ourself with few money, but it seems a nonsense...

 

Where these news come from?

 

The Jako's source maybe is another time the Mister Asus's daughter

But there is even a chinese link:
ASUS UX51VZ-CM054H (Á¤Ç°) Á¾ÇÕÁ¤º¸ :: Çູ¼îÇÎÀÇ ½ÃÀÛ ! ´Ù³ª¿Í (°¡°Ýºñ±³) - Danawa.com

 

It's too little, but if you were planning to upgrade to 12GB anyway there'd be no point in spending money to start with 8GB, since you'd have to throw away 4 of those during the upgrade.

 

They list both USB 2.0 and USB 3.0
EDIT: nevermind, at the bottom of the page they clarify that there are 3x USB 3.0, just like we saw in the first videos from IFA.

 

Here's a question:

PassMark - Intel Core i7-3612QM @ 2.10GHz - Price performance comparison
vs
PassMark - Intel Core i7-3632QM @ 2.20GHz - Price performance comparison

6724 vs 8144

That is true it's only on one sample for the 32, but if there was such a big difference in the PassMark continues on release - I mean, there must be a noticeable difference in speed wouldn't there be? That's a score change of almost 20%.

I've been looking into the 3610 vs 3630 and that has a score difference of about 7% which I figured would be noticeable - this though - it seems like it would be more significant - potentially anyway. Or do people find those benches not applicable, even with those differentials, to real world performance?

Thanks,
Peter

 

passmark pisses me off. It's the worst benchmark you can look at because the composite score doesn't mean s***! Plus, there's only 1 sample, of course. you can't compare that.

you need to find the individual component scores of the cpu and compare those. But this kind of data is hard to find unless you do the test yourself. The stupid website doesn't publish component scores. Only the component scores have actual measurements without points assigned to them.



If a certain component is given a disproportionate weight, it will skew the composite score. For example, look at the Intel Core i7-3960X. It has a 3% clock advantage, but looking at composite score, you would think it's 6% faster than the next chip. Definitely not the case.

 

4 GB of RAM is fine. I would be fine with buying a barebone notebook as well (no hard drive included) as long as the price were to drop by a good number. Alas, this is out of my budget range. I'm going to have to wait until the prices on these types of laptops decreases to a point where I can buy them.

 

Maybe the laptop with 3612QM was an XPS15 L512X and we Know that it throttles too much

 

I am really disappointed with the prices.. was expecting it to be more reasonable.. I am out

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus

 

Yeah I think I'm going to forget about it too unless I run into some moneys out of nowhere.

 

I understand it is expensive. What I don't seem to understand is that, at least people around me seem to think that the Macbooks are not expensive. Sure, you can get the older version of Macbook Pro for 1199 now in the Apple store, but the retina macbook pro ranges from 1800-2700 USD. I don't think it is going to cost 2500$ but if it does I agree, in the US market it is expensive.

What were people expecting this to cost ? I heard 1600$ to 1800 and some said 2000. What are realistic expectations ? 1080p IPS screen, 2gb graphics card, 3rd gen i7, 2x 128gb SSD in a rather pretty body. What are people expecting to pay for this kind of machine? I understand that not everyone has the money to buy the most expensive computers - but you can't expect to get the best hardware in a thin body for the same price as some less powerful machines.

That being said, I recently configured a pretty powerful Malibal / Lotus / Xotic / Sager notebook. i7 3630 QM, 8GB Ram 1x256 SSD, GTX 675 m 2GB, 15.6" 1080p screen. For 1450-1550 USD, cant remember exactly. The point is that I've never heard of them before, don't trust the brand, no idea how they perform, feel or even look in real life. They are bigger and heavier and very dull looking. Is that something that people would rather have over the Zenbook u500 ?

 

Apple sets the bar on price. And while they are expensive and not perfect products either, there are plentiful Apple stores locally that will go the extra mile on customer service. Yes, the 256 ssd and 512 ssd configurations are slightly cheaper than the Macbook Retina. Personally I feel at least SOME of the premium goes into that screen. The UX51 has a nice overall package, but a 1080p screen is not unheard of in a 15.6" body. As a matter of fact, anything less and it would not be premium at all.

Personally, I expected to see $1600-1800 for the 128 ssd/500gb hdd and the $2100-2300 for the 512 ssd version.

That computer you mentioned is the same computer based off the Clevo platform. It is a gaming specific laptop that is an apples to oranges comparison. Many of those types of chassis can handle very powerful parts and cool them adequately, but they're thick and heavy.

That being said, yes we're all fans of the UX51 but the price does make a difference. Still hoping to see that cheaper configuration.

 

for this price, i'd expect a touchscreen too.

windows 8, no touch screen.

I just started playing with win8, and that thing is so clunky with a mouse

 

is it so terrible?

 

1080p IPS touch screen ? Ok. I wouldn't expect that but I have no idea in the price differences in touch vs no touch.

Like alfling said, is it so terrible ? Isn't it possible to switch from Metro to "classic" (win 7) desktop?

 

Touch screen in a laptop for me is totally useless, and if you want a touch surface there are mouses with touch surface like those made by Logitech.
I don't see nothing of comfortable about keeping the arm raised for a long time in front of the screen.

Asus UX51VZ has much in common with Sony Vaio S15:

Same IPS display panel produced by LG (the same of orangegate)

Same proc i7 3612QM/3632QM like Sony S15

It's a little heavier than S15 (Asus 2.16KG vs Sony 2KG)

Practically same GPU, but different clock (GT640m LE is the same chip of GT650m), In the S15 seems possible high overclock until GT650m level.
According to Notebookcheck review, S15 hasn't throttling problems.

Even the motherboard have the same limitation with 4GB ram soldered for both.

The big difference is the storage section, Sony has standard option HDD+ODD even if you can request (not for every market) a proprietary solution with RAID0 in a single 2.5" bay, but it's very pricey.
Another way is to buy a standard S15 and upgrade it by your self, swapping the HDD with a 512GB SSD, the market price for this solution is around 360€, total price will be in every case much lower than UX51.

If Asus UX51 will have a throttling issue, I don't see a good reason to prefer it compared to S15.

 

:thumbsup: I have a principle - no laps over 1000€/USD. So wait about half a year, after that "betatests" are over, rev.2 out and prices dropped. Why hurry...?

 

The only advantage is about 30 wh battery over the s15 In a thinner package.

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk 2

 

This is true, but S15 has some accessory like flat battery to increase autonomy, so if battery life it's a very important factor S15 has this plus.

We also must consider that in the prototype review battery life was not exciting, so we must wait the final unit to say a final word in this field.

 

In Germany there is no i7-3632QM and no HDD Version.

Booth confirmed konfigurations are with 8GB, i7-3612QM
2x128 SSD: UX51VZ-CN03 5H - 2000€
2x256 SSD: UX51VZ-CN03 6H - 1700€

 

Do you know if Asus in Germany usually uses QWERTY or QWERTZ keyboard?

I don't believe that there will be more than 2 versions of UX51 so no HDD version in almost all country market, maybe the HDD version it's only for some particular market like the Chinese market.

 

I hope Mike gets his review unit soon and posts stuff


Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk 2

 

you must not be aware that Windows 8 has more keyboard shortcuts than Windows 7? Not to mention that you don't even need to use Metro as the desktop is vastly improved over Windows 7.

Mouse and keyboard work perfect for me. Right clicking brings up the alternate menu, moving mouse to each hot corner also simplifies multitasking and there is more there to play with. Been using the RTM since its release and I can't ever go back to Win7

 

Exactly this is the reason why I think it's too expensive. If Sony can make almost the same laptop, and get it a little lighter too, for $600 less, I don't see why I should buy this over the Vaio. But personally I'm probably not going to get either because neither has DisplayPort.

 

That is a good point about the S15, but interestingly enough, if you add the same hard drive configurations it becomes very close to the same price. 2x256 SSD adds over a thousand dollars to the price! Incredible..

 

Well the Vaio doesn't have two hard drive bays so that makes a little sense, I think it's a custom assembly. But personally I don't see the point in 2*256 SSDs, you're not going to fit all your media on that anyway so why bother trying? I would just get a 1TB in the second bay and wait for SSD prices to fall like they've been doing recently. Ultimately I guess you're paying for that second bay and the better construction with the Asus over the Vaio.

 

With SSD prices dropping big time lately, companies are having less and less of a legit reason to charge a huge premium for them. There is a $600 difference from the 2x128 ssd to the 2x256 ssd on Sony's site. Apple partly tries to justify the huge cost of the 512 ssd on the MBPr with adding the better processor as part of a package, but I'm sure it many would prefer to see a 512 ssd option for much cheaper.

I wonder if Asus will decide to offer the newer i7 as part of the 2x256 ssd when release day comes.

 

I have never seen a normal german notebook without a QWERTZ keyboard.
Asus Zenbook UX31A -> klick
Asus Zenbook UX32A -> klick

 

MacMall | ASUS UX51VZ DH71 - 15.6" - Core i7 3612QM - Windows 8 64-bit - 8 GB RAM - 128 GB SSD + 128 GB SSD UX51VZ-DH71
Newegg.com - Asus UX51VZ-DH71 Notebook - Intel Core i7 i7-3612QM 2.10 GHz
ASUS UX51Vz-XH71 Laptop Computer - 3rd generation Intel Core i7-3612QM 2.1GHz, 8GB DDR3, 512GB (2X 256GB) SSD, 15.6 Full HD, Windows 8 Professional 64-bit, 1-Yr Warranty, 1-Yr Accidental at TigerDirect.com

 

That's looks like the Value winner- Easily.
Though no Backlit keyboard.

Here is the Sony entry on pre-sale.
2x128gb SSDs - $1899.
Sony VAIO 15.5" Blu-ray Laptop | VAIO S Series 15 Laptop | SVS1512GPXB | Sony USA

Question also is will Samsung have a better display (ala PLS) with this or later model.
I always try and buy the best brightness/contrast screen.
Have previously found VAIO to be bright but not contrasty or rich enough; Kinda milky.

 

I'm having such a hard time deciding between this and the retina MacBook. The price difference is pretty huge here I Norway though, but that doesn't really bother me to much. I'm usually not an apple guy, but after testing the retina I fell in love with it. And OS X is a lot better than Windows 8. Though I haven't tried windows 8 to much. Argh! Decisions!

Sent from my blazing fast Galaxy S3!

 

I would have gone for the retina MBP in a heart beat but I've been put off by the lag, the bad build construction and the inability to upgrade hdd/ram in the future.