
First ASUS ultrabook to market: meet the Zenbook - evo_9
http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/news/2011/10/first-ultrabook-to-market-meet-the-asus-zenbook.ars
======
nebaneba
Performance feature page is amusing with all the "Fruit Brand" and "A Brand"
comparisons: <http://zenbook.asus.com/product/?c=4>

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angusgr
Is there any way in which this is not effectively a "MacBook Air with Windows
preinstalled"? Any realistic difference from Air+BootCamp?

Features seem the same, style seems nearly identical just Asus branded...

I'm honestly not trolling, believe me I'm far from an Apple fanboi. I just
don't see where the innovation is here, apart from an "us too" from Intel &
ASUS.

~~~
wtallis
The term "ultrabook" was invented by Intel as a label for the MacBook Air
knockoffs they wanted to entice other companies to make, so obviously the
first generation will be pretty similar to the MBA.

All the differences so far seem to be minor:

\- The 13" Asus has a wider screen than the 13" MBA

\- The MBA supports 802.11a and 5Ghz for 802.11n

\- The Asus has USB3.0, the MBA has Thunderbolt

\- at 13", the Asus is a bit lighter, but at 11" the MBA is a bit lighter

\- The MBA claims much higher standby times (30 vs 10 days)

\- At certain price points, the Asus offers more RAM or SSD space, and the
option of a slightly faster processor.

\- The trackpads might have significant differences

\- The Asus screens are specced to be brighter (450 nits) than the MBA screens
have been measured at (350-380 nits), but specified brightness can't be
directly compared against real-world measurements, and viewing angles are more
important for small portable devices.

~~~
angusgr
_label for the MacBook Air knockoffs they wanted to entice other companies to
make_

I guess that's why I'm wondering why this laptop is HN front page news. Which
is not to say that I think it _shouldn't be_ , it's just that I'm not sure why
its generating upvotey excitement.

~~~
wtallis
Regardless of _why_ Asus released this laptop, it's still pretty much the
first direct competition for the MacBook Air, which is significant. It means
that other companies are starting to agree with Apple that mobility is
important, but that netbooks suck.

------
there
i wish these were actually available to buy today like asus said they would
be. i've been awaiting the release of the ux21 to see if it would be more
compatible with other free operating systems since my 2011 macbook air is not
(yes, it boots and runs, but not well).

<http://zenbook.asus.com/where_to_buy/?cd=n-am> lists a bunch of retailers but
all of them except adorama's site come up with 404s or errors saying there are
no products found. i called adorama to see if the stock listed was actually
ready to ship and they're closed for the jewish holiday until the 24th.

~~~
nwilkens
[http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE...](http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&DEPA=0&Order=BESTMATCH&Description=AsusUX)

<http://amzn.to/qO0Inx>

~~~
there
newegg only has 2 of the 5 models available (neither being the one i'm looking
for) and amazon is just listing adorama's stock, which is not really
available.

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joejohnson
How much would it cost without Windows preinstalled? Will they even sell it
without and OS?

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sudonim
My dad lives in singapore and sent me a list of laptops his computer guy sent
him. They all had Core i7s and platter hard drives and weighed a ton with
mediocre battery life.

All my dad wants is a light laptop with good battery life to email people and
surf the web on. He doesn't care about hard drive space or the graphics card.
The spec lists were long and confusing.

I compared it to the Macbook Air I just bought. It was cheaper than the
options he sent, lighter than the options he sent and had an SSD. It will do
everything he needs and wants from his laptop better than the other options.

Then I saw this zenbook. It seems to be pretty similarly specced and is
targeted at the windows market. Hopefully he can hold out until they have it
there, or pick one up in the US. Kudos to the rest of the manufacturers for
competing with the Macbook Air.

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ch0wn
Too bad the display is glossy. I tried it for over a year, but I can work much
better on a matte screen.

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freedrull
Oh great another ultra thin laptop with a glossy screen that will probably
last 1-2 years until you buy another one that is even thinner and the screen
so shiny you can use it as a shaving mirror. Give me a laptop that will last
me more than 2 years and then I will give a damn.

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vegai
Looks great! Is it still a hostage to Microsoft?

~~~
alperakgun
Why are ultrabooks more expensive rather than cheap, are SSDs too costly?

~~~
pyre
Because they're not being sold by weight or by volume.

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rorrr
Power button above the backspace button? WTF?

~~~
jsz0
That's how it is on the MacBook Air so Asus had to copy it. On OSX there is
accentual key press detection so hitting it by mistake is no big deal. Nothing
happens.

