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

You can't get a 680M in any less than the 2" thick 8lb Clevo (it also has a numberpad), trust me. I considered it. It's just too big and heavy if you plan on bringing it with you anywhere and that's all I do with my notebook (I have a desktop).

 

Some information...
-Full power core i7 (not ULV)
-top-end price around 2000£

Asus ZenBook U500 review - Hands on | Expert Reviews

 

Sorry to burst some bubbles, but the cooling system is going to suck on this one. The Retina MacBook Pro gets quite hot whenever you do anything graphic intensive. That's just the price we pay when we pack powerful hardware into the smallest of spaces. Two fans aren't going to be enough. My other gripe would be the battery life... even with Optimus, I can't see this sexy beast sustaining more than three hours browsing the Internet.

Still, it is a sexy beast. Zenbook thinness and build quality + N56 GPU and CPU + Lower price than Apple = TAKE MY MONEY!!!!

 

With the price around 2000£ it surely wont be a best-seller notebook...

 

That price is for the top model with 512GB SSD storage (2 x 256GB in RAID 0)

 

I have the 9150 and it is less than two inches thick. Weighs 6.8 pounds or so and has the 680m and also the number pad. The 8lb laptop is the 917)

Sent from my HTC PH39100 using Tapatalk 2

 

CPU is a 3612QM and price for dual 128GB SSD is around 1600 € according to some online vendor

There is notebook with same thickness as the gigabyte U2442N that doesn't have any problems in heat dissipation, it uses a i5 not ULV with same TDP of 3612QM and gt640m ddr3 and it's 14".
I hope Asus do the same good job than gigabyte has done.
U500 GPU is better than n56vz because it's 2GB GDDR5 instead of 1GB DDR3.


Inviato dal mio GT-I9100 con Tapatalk 2

 

[QUOTE='[-Mac-]
U500 GPU is better than n56vz because it's 2GB GDDR5 instead of 1GB DDR3.
[/QUOTE]

N56VZ GPU is 2 GB DDR3.

 

Yeah, didn't catch that difference. I've heard the Gigabyte U2442N does get hot from NotebookCheck. They measured around 35.4 Celsius on the surfaces.

 

Well, 35°C during Prime95+Furmark is pretty cool...especially with such a thin chassis

 

Gigabyte U2442N is the only thin notebook without throttling, during stress test (Prime95 + Furmark) it keeps turbo activated on cpu and gpu.
rMBP with only prime95 hit 104° C and throttling to 1.2 GHz.

Inviato dal mio GT-I9100 con Tapatalk 2

 

It hits 104° C even with throttling? That is awful, it's barely under the Tjmax of Ivy Bridge CPUs.

 

You can read by yourself the notebookcheck review of rMBP:

http://www.notebookcheck.net/Review-Apple-MacBook-Pro-15-Retina-2-3-GHz-Mid-2012.78959.0.html

Inviato dal mio GT-I9100 con Tapatalk 2

 

A lot of people get picky about certain things without keeping them in perspective of a "highly rated" rMBP. Once you have a reference point it keeps things in perspective.

Also, keep in mind the rMBP uses a highly overclocked GT 650M at 900 MHz core.

 

When rMBP hits 104°C it runs only prime95, GT650 is off.
It's completely useless to put high components if the chassis can't handle heat generated.

 

how do they fit 650m in there? i bet it will be really hot on your lap

 

People need to be patient and stop assuming . You could be pleasantly surprised.

Sent from my amazing Galaxy Nexus 7.

 

Do you know something we don't?

 

Hmm this article says this is going to have a touchscreen. I think it's wrong.

IFA: Additional information on ASUS' Zenbook U500 | Hardware.Info United Kingdom

Looking at the slide shots they include, that slide that they seem to be referencing may has something other than U500 written in the corner. Plus the keyboard on the displayed model is not with a numpad.

Though the next slide has the U500 in the corner but it's obviously a different Zenbook model shown that doesn't have the numpad...

Otherwise it gives pricing details (lower than quoted by some other posts) and states a November release.

 

I dont know if i'm sold on touchscreen laptops yet... If you really feel the need to want to "touch things" you could just whip out your tablet, or if you need it for work like digital editing then you just get a touchslate :S... At first i was really hyped, but after awhile it seemed to loose its luster.

 

idk i think it would make some stuff easier. i see it as like touch screen phones with physical keyboards

 

Yeah, that was my main concern too. I bet Asus and Apple had some negotiating as to when they would release their ultra-powerful ultraportables, and Asus agreed to be second in line. You know, because Apple rules the world. Otherwise, this looks like the best laptop I have ever seen in my life. Of course, I think we will be seeing some very similar laptops from Samsung, HP, Dell, and maybe even Alienware in the near future. When someone manages to do something amazing, everyone is quick to follow. Props to the engineers at Asus to coming out early; the Zenbook is quite a sexy machine.

I expect the price to be somewhere around $1800 for a normal configuration (128 GB SSD, GT 650M, i7-3612QM, 1920x1080 IPS). Asus is a bit fairer with their pricing than Apple, but they still want to make money. If the display is the same as the one in the ZenBook Prime, I think I'll have to dethrone the Retina MacBook Pro as the best laptop out there.

 

Correct me if I'm misunderstanding, but these shots lead me to believe that orange/red issues won't be present:



As you can see, the reds and oranges seem correct vs what should be seen (actual accuracy being another story):



I have a UX32VD on order, but this is making me seriously reconsider.

 

any word on the battery life of this thing? any chance of getting about 5 hours with moderate use?

thanks

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus

 

Asus says it will have good battery life. That could mean anything though.

 

Dear all,

I am looking for a replacement for my current laptop:

HP Envy 14, quad core, 8 GB RAM and ridiculously overheating due to the GPU. ( can not disable it as it is the only GPU in the thing)

I was first considering the Lenovo W530, very versatile laptop; can pop in a maximum of 32 GB of RAM and 2 HDDS/SSDs.

Negative side: compared to the U500VZ it has no IPS screen and to be honest it is just plain ugly. Oh, and there is no CAPS lock indicator. ( in your Windows OS yes but I run Linux.).

I need at least a 4-core cpu and 16 GB of RAM for my work; I am an engineer and need to test / simulate / document ESX VMs / Liniux VMs / Windows VMs.

Have looked on the interwebs everywhere but could not find any RAM specs for the U500VZ.

Btw, the ability to disable the Nvidia GPU (just as in the Lenovo) would be ideal: only enable when gaming in a Windows 7 OS ( dual boot).

Cheerio,

E.

 

Did you look at Dell Precision or at Clevo's laptops? If you need tons of ram they are mobile beasts. This zenbook has been presented with 8GB, even though the i7-3612QM can manage up to 16GB. However, we don't know yet if there will be two ram slots and if they will be accessible or soldered, given the slim form factor.

Sent from HTC HD2 with Tapatalk

 

The U500 is NOT a touchscreen, at least not the demo model that was at IFA. This review confirms it - they poked the screen to make sure.

 

That screenshot (not the first one, the one with the touch screen text) looks a lot like a UX32VD. Imagine a 13" touch screen panel with IPS display, 650M and quad core CPU.. me thinks they used the wrong screenshot!

 

Would be awesome if they made a 17 inch one with GTX 660m =D.

 

Maybe you could buy a Razor Blade R2, it's 17" with GTX660m in aluminium chassis :

http://www.razerzone.com/gaming-systems/razer-blade
http://www.gadgetreview.com/2012/09...ade-r2-gaming-laptop-with-touchscreen-ui.html

Inviato dal mio GT-I9100 con Tapatalk 2

 

@ [-Mac-]
Interresting to meet the guys from the XPS 15 thread now in the U500 or Razor Blade thread....but we already massivly discussed the value of a XPS 15 and now we are talking already about the Razer which is 2500$....sad but true story. The lack of interresting notebooks in this category and the effect on price is hard to take :-/

 

I'm not considering Razor as a possible alternative for me, its price is totally out of my budget, but I have suggested an alternative to people that want a 17" with GTX660m in ultrathin chassis.
Instead U500VZ could be a right alternative for me, specially if price doesn't go over 1600 euro.

One online reseller has published a price of 1600 € for version with double 128GB ssd and considering the others specs (3612QM, IPS display, gt650m with 2 gddr5) seems a good price.

The Jury is still out and waiting test for throttling, and display quality, if all is good I'm sold.


Inviato dal mio GT-I9100 con Tapatalk 2

 

I really want to know the price pretty badly. I need more information!

 

+ low idle noise (or even passive with no load) and for me goes the same

 

There are several things that I hope for this one:
1) trackpad doesnt suck
2) keyboard doesnt suck
3) cooling system that can handle the load
4) Priced reasonably i.e. 1500-1700 range
5) doesnt have wi fi issues
6) screen is actually great
7) build quality is superb
8) they make a variant without the numpad, that thing makes my shoulders ache like no tomorrow, since its so off centered.
9) battery life of real usage of more than 6h, I actually prefer the 8-10h battery life that I have right now

hopeful things

1) controllable keyboard brightness
2) asus customer service has improved greatly
4) Configurable nbd warranty with ACD

If all that comes, even if the price is above the specified range, I will buy this thing, instantly

If they made the UX32vd more interesting I would buy it, i.e. put thunderbolt in there and a more interesting gpu.

 

That's a mighty big wish list! If all this comes true, there would be no need for any other laptop on the market

 

thats the thing, I do get those things from the RMBP, except the warranty upgrade. Which I sincerely not hoping from asus (and yes I know of their 1 year, only one occasion ACD protection)

Aside that, its a simple thing of doing things right, interaction must be good to exceptional, and that includes keyboard, touchpad, screen and ergonomics (hint at the off centered keyboard with numpad).

The cooling needs to handle the hardware or we are going to deal with the xps 15, or the acer timeline series and the list is quite great on how to not make a cooling system.

The wifi issues are usually in those thin and light, like the asus zenbook first gen had and the sammy s9 had, or like the dell xps 15 currently has.

I achieve 8-10h of battery life with my mbp, why I need to go for the asus u36 or variants of that line or enterprise class to get that battery life? My usage on battery is hardly heavy, just reading, coding and surfing the web (without flash or video)

Those things that I asked for are reasonable, and should be aimed at

Oh I forgot the weight must be equal or less than 2kg.

 

I completely agree with you MM, just purchased the MBPR for 1899(1999+free 100 dollar giftcard) and it has all those things you mentioned. I am thinking really hard right now about returning it and wait for the asus. Only have 5 more days left before my return date is up!

I rather have 6 hours of batt life in windows 7/8 than mac os, since I have always been a windows guy....though I am getting used to macOS

 

thing is, for me there are 2 things that I need windows for, coding and gaming. Coding because I love visual studio, and gaming because its better to do it on windows. all the other stuff I do it on OSX or linux, Im pretty agnostic when it comes to OS.

What do you do that you need windows?

 

You can always put windows on your mbpr though.

Sent from my SGH-T989 using Tapatalk 2

 

Yes I need Windows for those two things as well. So for me OSX offers absolutely nothing for the few other things I do, so why bother with it at all? I work with someone who juggles both OS's and it looks like a massive pain, really don't see the point unless there's an OSX app you absolutely need.

The MBPR is lovely hardware for running OSX, but for running Windows on all the time, it's not particularly great. Game support is patchy, and it certainly does not tick these boxes:

- it does if you're looking for commonly used Windows keys like HOME, END, PGUP, PGDN, DELETE and of course in Windows 8 the Windows key is finally pretty essential.

- it runs very hot under gaming load. The cooling is impressive for it's size, but not as impressive as many larger laptops.

- although it has a high resolution, many windows apps look terrible on it as they don't font scale properly.


Anyway we are way off topic. My point is that all laptops have trade-offs and compromises. I think it's fairly likely that the U500 will not cool as well as the N56VZ, so purely from a performance perspective the N56VZ will probably be better with the same graphics card. The U500 clearly wins from a portability perspective. There is no perfect laptop.

 

haha im still hoping asus brings out some new tech/config that runs cool or atleast not "scorching" with the fans going at jet speeds

 

That may well be the case ... but then there will then be laptops a bit thicker that employ the same technology to run even faster than the really thin ones.

There will always be some kind of trade-off.

 

thats fine by me as long as it has better cooling than the other laptops in its class (xps 15 and rmbp)

 

It's easy to beat the xps 15 as it has only one fan and a quite stupid heatpipe design which was obvious after seeing it without needing any tests. rmbp has a quite nice cooling design but the fans are rather small and the heat vents also. the vents are much bigger on the U500 but only on the bottom of the body as it looks. eventually also behind the display open/close mechanism but i am not so sure about that. personally i am a little bit worried....cooling design on the razer blade looks the best for me but the price is just ridiculous.

 

Speaking about cooling, why nobody havent used bigger fans at all? Reasons? What is the max diameter of laps fans, maybe 70mm? Instead of that 100/140mm fans? Better cooling capability and also bigger fans have mostly more pleasant sound. Laps dont have space? They have! If speaking about 15" XPS-s for example, throw away ODD and you have now space for thinner (than in desktops used) but 140mm fan...

 

rMBP can't handle heat generated by itself.
If you read notebookcheck review, rMBP hits 104°C throttling at 1.2GHz with only Prime95 (without Furmark):
Review Apple MacBook Pro 15 Retina 2.3 GHz Mid 2012 - Notebookcheck.net Reviews

XPS15 is a faulty system, I cannot believe that they keep on selling without any modification.
Cooling system of rMBP is not good, the only ultrathin notebook with good cooling system is Gigabyte U2442N, it perform stress test (prime95+Furmark) keeping Turbo active on CPU and GPU:
Review Gigabyte U2442N Notebook - Notebookcheck.net Reviews

You can see cooling grid (I guess for exhaust air) near the low part of display (minute 1:38):


I'm a little worried too, for cooling system, in the N56VZ Asus has not made a good work in this field.
The only ultrathin notebook with a good cooling system seems to be the Gigabyte U2442N...

 

The game has changed for me. Just read some interesting things on parallels desktop 8 for the MBPR. It now has integrated application switching and retina support for windows 7/8. Also there's a massive performace boost as well so gaming shouldn't be a problem. Now I can have 6-7 hour of battery life with windows support all under macOS! May keep the mac afterall....

 

They just should use liquid cooling for laptops. More and more powerful, more and more thin. If this is the trend, liquid cooling is the only solution

Sent from HTC HD2 with Tapatalk