What we should know about Asus ZenBook ultra-portable laptop

Overview

Apple has been reigning over the Ultrabooks industry for a long period with its MacBook Air series. It is here the Taiwan technology maker ASUSTeK is trying to put a dent with its newly announced Asus ZenBook UX21 and UX31 laptops. Both computers are designed with Intel Core processors to take on Apple’s MacBook Air laptops and other Ultrabooks. The laptops are with an incredible 3mm density in the front part and 9mm density at the rear. Many other cutting edge features are to make Asus ZenBook a wonderful laptop and, certainly an alternative to Apple MacBook.

Asus ZENBOOK

Pricing and availability

Asus has not yet disclosed anything on the pricing and availability of its ZenBook laptops. It may soon be announced. Most probably, Asus ZenBook will come up a price lesser than Apple MacBook Airs.

What’s great

Intel Core processors: Some months back, Apple upgraded its flagship ultraportable MacBook Air laptops with Intel’s Core i5 and i7 processors. The news largely attracted media headlines then. Asus’ upcoming Ultrabooks will highlight the same high performing Core processor technology from Intel. On various versions, you will have Core i3, i5 and i7 processors on ZenBook laptops with Intel QS67 Express chipset.

Microsoft Windows 7 Home: On MacBook Airs, you have Mac OS X as operating system. Asus ZenBook is to become one of first Microsoft Windows PC with the advanced Intel Core processor support. There are lots of customers, who go for Windows over Mac or other operating systems. Asus ZenBook will certainly take advantage from this aspect.

Thin and light: Asus ZenBook has a density of 3 mm at the front and 9 mm at the rear part. The laptop will be up with a dimension of 29.9 x 19.6 x 0.3 ~1.7 cm and a weight of 1.1kg. In comparison, Apple MacBook Air 11 just weighs at 1.08kg.

Better storage: ZenBook offers better memory options. You have 64GB SSD, 128GB SSD and 256GB SSD to choose from.

Better network connectivity: The Asus Ultrabooks feature network connectivity options like Integrated 802.11 b/g/n and Built-in Bluetooth v4.0.

What’s not so great

Thanks to the drastic advancements in chip and other technologies, we are to get more ultraportable laptops and tablets. In most areas, ZenBook is able to beat MacBook Air. Despite many plus points in processing speed and others, Asus has failed to slot in a separate graphics card to its laptops. The company uses Intel processors with graphics chips incorporated. Of course, graphics chips integrated Intel processors provide incredible performance, but it is no fit for most of modern day games. You won’t be able enjoy all latest games on the device completely. It remains as a shortfall of Asus ZenBook.

Things to watch out for

Asus has to earn a reputation for its ZenBook series as an alternative to the much popular Apple MacBook Airs. The company, known for many of its superb technology innovations including cute tablet computers, has to advertize the product to bring it into the forefront for a better competition with MacBook Air and others. Hopefully, it will certainly happen; ZenBook has so far received such a large media attention as MacBook Air killer. Indeed, Asus will be bringing up some more advanced technologies on its Ultrabooks in future.

Verdict

The technology world is really foreseeing a possible Apple MacBook Air Vs Asus ZenBook clash. These two thin and high performing Ultrabooks will be in the center of focus for the next months. Asus has not yet revealed when the new laptop will land in stores. Maybe, we will witness its arrival this fall itself. And the devices will do rounds in computer markets early next year.

A tough competition between MacBook Air and Asus ZenBook will naturally bring down the prices of Ultrabooks. As Apple faces real challenge from Asus, we can definitely expect the price cut. This way, moderate costumers will be able to use high performing and ultraportable computers. Hopefully, Asus ZenBook will herald a new revolution in the ultraportable industry. More products will hit the stores in near future, indeed.