I’m far more of a software techie than a hardware techie. I pick computers for practical reasons rather than specs and to me, a lot of the specs look like mumbo-jumbo.
With this purchase, I finally understand the hype of solid state drives. They are simply fast. My example is that if I close Google Chrome with several tabs open, including Pandora, I will hear music playing out of the speakers within immeasurable seconds.
If it helps you, here are the specs on my unit:
- Intel Core i7 2677M Processor (Turbo Boost up to 2.9 GHz)
- 4 GB DDR3 RAM
- 256 GB SATAIII SSD (this is the hard drive space for the non-techies)
- 13.3″ screen (1600 x 900)
- Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit
- 12.9″ x 8.9″ x 0.8″
- 2.87 lbs
- 6-cell battery
- Model number: UX31E-DH72
The product description on Amazon.com suggests that it will be “love at first sight”. That’s about what I’m feeling right now.
There were three choices for this model on Amazon.com:
- Intel Core i5 2557M (Turbo Boost up to 2.3 GHz) with a 128 GB SSD
- Intel Core i5 2557M (Turbo Boost up to 2.3 GHz) with a 256 GB SSD
- Intel Core i7 2677M (Turbo Boost up to 2.9 GHz) with a 256 GB SSD
I opted for the 256 GB SSD so that I can dual boot Ubuntu and Windows while still maintaining sufficient hard drive space and the higher speed processor because with my last laptop (a Fujitsu S7110 purchased in August of 2007), I opted for the lowest processor possible and then I kept it around in active use for over four years, which ended up being quite painful.
Cool little features:
- This touchpad will scroll horizontally, if you’re using both fingers! (This is really easy to do accidentally though.)
- The speakers seem pretty good for a laptop.
- It came with a cute carrying pouch for the ethernet and VGA connector cables.
- It definitely looks a lot like a MacBook Air. So if, like me, you like the looks of the MacBook Air, but want a Windows machine, this could be the machine for you.
- It has a SD card slot, which is really awesome for taking photos off of my camera. I honestly don’t know where the USB cable is anymore.
The main complaints that I’ve seen on Amazon circle around wireless, trackpad, and keyboard size. I have had zero wireless problems in my apartment or at my parents’ house.
The trackpad definitely took some getting used to. I am primarily a trackpad fan, but I can be converted to the ThinkPad “stupid red thing” as I like to say in technical terms if necessary like I was with my Lenovo ThinkPad X200 at work. The Zenbook’s trackpad is a pretty good size and I find that right-clicking takes some effort since it’s so far off the home row, but just tapping for single-clicks is fine. It’s also weird to right-click because there isn’t really much of a button outline at the bottom of the trackpad.
The keyboard is different than a normal one, but I’m pretty used to mobile laptop keyboards at this point between my old Fujitsu and my X series ThinkPad from work. I am a touch typer and I have minimal problems with the keyboard. Sometimes I don’t hit the ‘o’ key very effectively and have to hit it more forcefully, but my fingers can generally sense when I made a mistake, just like I can on any other keyboard. The home/end and page down/up buttons are a little annoying, but I had a similar problem with my old Fujitsu and I’ve definitely got my keyboard shortcuts with them down pat now.
I had a chance to test out the battery life this past weekend. I think I had it running on battery for over 4-5 hours without worrying about the state of the battery with a reasonable level of brightness and two browsers and Microsoft Excel running. That seems more than sufficient to me.
I haven’t had any problems so far with the laptop getting warm – it’s fine without a lapdesk. It also hasn’t been particularly noisy yet.
I have now had this machine for about a month. It is a great machine for what I wanted and I am keeping it. It was most definitely love at first sight.
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ASUS Zenbook UX31
I’m far more of a software techie than a hardware techie. I pick computers for practical reasons rather than specs and to me, a lot of the specs look like mumbo-jumbo.
With this purchase, I finally understand the hype of solid state drives. They are simply fast. My example is that if I close Google Chrome with several tabs open, including Pandora, I will hear music playing out of the speakers within immeasurable seconds.
If it helps you, here are the specs on my unit:
The product description on Amazon.com suggests that it will be “love at first sight”. That’s about what I’m feeling right now.
There were three choices for this model on Amazon.com:
I opted for the 256 GB SSD so that I can dual boot Ubuntu and Windows while still maintaining sufficient hard drive space and the higher speed processor because with my last laptop (a Fujitsu S7110 purchased in August of 2007), I opted for the lowest processor possible and then I kept it around in active use for over four years, which ended up being quite painful.
Cool little features:
The main complaints that I’ve seen on Amazon circle around wireless, trackpad, and keyboard size. I have had zero wireless problems in my apartment or at my parents’ house.
The trackpad definitely took some getting used to. I am primarily a trackpad fan, but I can be converted to the ThinkPad “stupid red thing” as I like to say in technical terms if necessary like I was with my Lenovo ThinkPad X200 at work. The Zenbook’s trackpad is a pretty good size and I find that right-clicking takes some effort since it’s so far off the home row, but just tapping for single-clicks is fine. It’s also weird to right-click because there isn’t really much of a button outline at the bottom of the trackpad.
The keyboard is different than a normal one, but I’m pretty used to mobile laptop keyboards at this point between my old Fujitsu and my X series ThinkPad from work. I am a touch typer and I have minimal problems with the keyboard. Sometimes I don’t hit the ‘o’ key very effectively and have to hit it more forcefully, but my fingers can generally sense when I made a mistake, just like I can on any other keyboard. The home/end and page down/up buttons are a little annoying, but I had a similar problem with my old Fujitsu and I’ve definitely got my keyboard shortcuts with them down pat now.
I had a chance to test out the battery life this past weekend. I think I had it running on battery for over 4-5 hours without worrying about the state of the battery with a reasonable level of brightness and two browsers and Microsoft Excel running. That seems more than sufficient to me.
I haven’t had any problems so far with the laptop getting warm – it’s fine without a lapdesk. It also hasn’t been particularly noisy yet.
I have now had this machine for about a month. It is a great machine for what I wanted and I am keeping it. It was most definitely love at first sight.