December 10, 2011 at 20:40Review ASUS ZENBOOK UX31E (Version 2.0)
Before we start talking about the ASUS UX31, known as the ASUS ZENBOOK, we will find out what the Ultrabook is and why it has become “Zen” at ASUS (ZENBOOK).
The concept of ultrabooks was proposed by Intel, which decided to change priorities in the development of new technologies and combine in a single device everything that users like in portable technology. So it was decided to combine the style and autonomy of fashionable tablets with the functionality and software capabilities (Windows) of typical laptops.
Until recently, the “ideal laptop” required sacrifice. Productive but noisy. Compact but weak. With a capacious battery, but heavy. Etc. We, as end users, wanted to have everything: a slim body, performance, and even sound so that quality was from the speakers.
Thus, an ultrabook should have the following features:
• Performance - second-generation Intel Core processor / SSDs
• Awakening time - less than 7 seconds
• Compactness - case thickness less than 18 mm
• Long battery life - at least 5 hours
• Low noise
• Minimum heat dissipation
• Low weight - less than 1.4 kg
ASUS decided to be the first to start mass production of ultrabooks, I personally added a few more points to this list of strict requirements - for example, to use only metal as the body material. This item was a continuation of the tacit installation - the ultrabook, in the end, should be beautiful and stylistically different from "ordinary" laptops.
Another feature of the new class of devices in ASUS was rightly considered to be design attractiveness ... and decided not to hang these awful stickers with advertisements for the processor and Windows. Finally, there are no stickers on the case! And the Windows serial gracefully put on the bottom metal of the laptop.
Zen is a way to understand the natural nature of things, to see their true essence, therefore, speaking about ASUS Zenbook, we will assume that the Taiwanese manufacturer is trying to reinvent the laptop. So it seems to us, who have studied the new generation for several weeks along and across. In "Zenbook" there are no radical differences from previous generations of laptop computers, but it has something that is originally a laptop in its true meaning; as if someone up there finally realized that increasing the power, dimensions and prices of devices, we will sooner or later come to a standstill, therefore, waving an imperious hand, instructed the engineers to reinvent everything. Whether time will be able to change the paradigm, establish a new trend and conquer all markets with the concept of ultrabooks, time will tell, but for now we will get acquainted with the device that caused genuine excitement among ordinary users.
It was no coincidence that ASUS UX31E models entrusted the storming of mass demand with a new class of devices. U models are thin and light laptops, with a priority in the direction of reliability and performance. X - from the word eXtraordinary, i.e. a device that is clearly different from others. "3" - respectively, the screen diagonal of 13.3 inches. 1 - means that the model is the first in a row.
All the pros and cons of the device are dictated by the entire concept of ultrabooks and are visible literally in just one image. The usual pros and cons will not be at the end of the review, but at the very beginning, a logical continuation of your emotions from the first glance.
Pluses
+ InstantOn - waking up from sleep mode in a couple of seconds and sleeping up to 2 weeks on one battery charge
+ USB Charger + - recharging portable equipment from USB even when the laptop is turned off
+ Rich equipment, adapters
+ Stylish, durable and beautiful case
+ Thickness from 3 mm (front) up to 9 mm (rear) and weight 1.3 kg.
+ High-resolution screen and brightness
+ Good acoustics
+ Overall system performance due to the use of the most powerful in the Core i7 line and ultra-fast SSD drive
Cons
- Heating of the bottom at high load
- Limited number of ports
- Glossy screen
- There is no discrete graphic adapter
Love at first sight? May be. Let us examine these points in more detail.
Acquaintance with the device begins with a box - which itself looks thin and monolithic.
Inside a pleasant-looking box, there is a plastic form in which the laptop is packed, with pockets for instructions, a charger, etc.
ASUS Zenbook is rich in equipment ...
... in addition to the expected case with leather trim ...
... the manufacturer was not too lazy to put adapters in the box ...
... and adapters for RJ-45 and VGA, further expanding the communication capabilities of the beech.
He looks flawless. Solid metal and no plastic.
There is no backlash, nothing creaks - the case is monolithic. The battery is non-removable, but with the same warranty period as the laptop itself. The screen frame is dark brown and provides a durable anti-dust effect.
The lid is dark in color.
The edges of the case in the photos look stylish, like a razor. In reality, they are not so sharp that the laptop in the hands would be inconvenient.
The beveled corners make the ultrabook even thinner than it is. If you make it even thinner and leave the case material unchanged, then the laptop can turn into a formidable throwing weapon.
An interesting feature is the texture in the form of concentric circles refracting light on the aluminum surface of the lid. The case is very different from glossy plastic for the better, unless, of course, you are a fan of the glamorous and sleek “laptops for girls”.
Gaps are formed on the bottom panel in a single piece of aluminum - this is a blowing grate.
When closed, the edges of the laptop are snug against each other. Open the laptop will help a small ledge on the top cover.
We did not drop zenbook on the floor, but the case looks so reliable that falling from a table to the floor (a common accident among laptops) will not cause him significant harm.
Compared to the matte ASUS P52.
In terms of brightness, the screen is one of the best on the market. In the evening at maximum brightness, we recommend using the screen only as a flashlight, otherwise your eyes will begin to get tired very quickly.
The UX31E has a TN matrix with a resolution of 1600x900, with an aspect ratio of 16: 9. The choice of such a matrix imposes certain restrictions on the viewing angles, which is not so critical in everyday use.
High brightness allows you to use the laptop even on a clear sunny day, but if the light source is behind you, be prepared to face all the shortcomings of the glossy screen. A high level of brightness allows better display of media content (photo, video).
ASUS UX31E is a very powerful device thanks to the Intel Core i7-2677M processor (base frequency: 1.8 GHz, in Turbo Boost mode: up to 2.9 GHz).
Integrated video core Intel HD 3000. In the 3Dmark test 06, the model scored 3755 points.
Storage in a laptop is a 256 GB SSD.
The amount of non-expandable RAM is 4 GB DDR3.
To evaluate the overall performance is possible only in the aggregate of all technical characteristics. ZENBOOK is a productive and fast device that shows results previously available only to desktop computers. The laptop boots in 16 seconds and wakes up from sleep in just 2 seconds thanks to InstantOn technology. All programs are installed in a few seconds, the simultaneous launch of many applications does not kill the system, does not force Windows to "think".
InstantOn technology provides the ability to stay in sleep mode for up to 14 days on a single charge. In addition, in sleep mode when the charge level drops to 5%, the laptop automatically saves the contents of RAM to disk, preventing data loss during a complete shutdown. InstantOn is the next generation of standby mode, combining the advantages of existing modes, and devoid of their shortcomings.
The system simply launches the program and works as if nothing had happened. However, this is primarily a merit of the ADATA SSD drive, God bless him for many years. The drive is one of the fastest today (read speed over 300 Mb / s), so the user can not worry about system performance in the next few years.
In our engineering sample, there were no Russian letters on the keyboard.
In various reviews, the opinion about the keyboard has been controversial, but we certainly liked it. In the minuses we write only the non-standard location of the power key, so unsuccessfully located next to delete. And this is due to the fact that, according to ASUS, the procedure for turning on / off the computer is a thing of the past. It should completely replace the sleep phase.
Therefore, it is recommended not to turn off the computer, but to immerse it in a "dream". It is not for nothing that the manufacturer attributes the speed of awakening from "sleep" to one of the main advantages of the device. Accordingly, when you press this key, the laptop will not be chopped off instantly, but will display a menu in which you should choose one of the proposed options:
• put the laptop to sleep (InstantOn)
• send it to hibernation
• turn off the laptop
• do nothing
But back to the keyboard. The keys are made in a general style, made of aluminum, and have a non-slip coating. The location of the "island" and 13 "model is actually ideal.
Perhaps you will miss the usual plastic, tactile sensations are extremely important for working with the keyboard, but using the keys here is no less convenient, and in some ways even more pleasant. Metal keys are pressed distinctly, with a pleasant sound. If you often write, you understand what is at stake.
The cursor buttons are reduced, but separated from other buttons, and it’s convenient to use them even with blind typing.
The large Elan SmartPad touchpad with multitouch support allows you not to take the extra load in the form of a mouse, it is designed for most everyday tasks (and we additionally believe that you can do everything on it, because you can’t run a productive shooter anyway).
The buttons on the touch panel are almost indistinguishable, but it’s convenient to use them. The surface is matte, fingers slide well on it, it is resistant to fingerprints.
The wrist rest is large, you can position your hands as conveniently as on laptops with a 15-inch display.
A small caveat - the keyboard backlight is not here. Whether it is needed is a moot point, but raising the price with additional functionality is endless. Anyway, you will have to sacrifice something, otherwise only 1% of the country's population will be able to use the new class of devices.
The refusal of external light indicators cannot be explained by anything other than following the design. But now they are built right into the keyboard: for the power button, Caps Lock, F2. However, one familiar indicator was left outside the keyboard, on the right side.
The high brightness of the screen and the efficient processor did not allow the zenbook to achieve a “tablet” level of autonomy: it is worth counting on 4-5 hours of active operation from the battery, with a capacity of 50 Wh (which is due to the strict requirements for dimensions and weight).
On the other hand, as we already mentioned, ASUS struggles with turning off devices in all possible ways. In deep sleep mode, the Zenbook discharges slowly.
Acoustics (as many as two speakers) is located at the bottom of the laptop. We doubted whether the 13 ”model would be able to integrate sound similar to successful solutions for the“ adult ”N series. We managed to cope with the task, although not without drawbacks. Unfortunately, it was physically impossible to pull the low frequencies to the 15 ”and 17” levels of the new N-series laptops (and in the series itself, for example, the N55 decided to supply an external subwoofer as the most adequate solution to the low-frequency problem).
Otherwise, the sound is beyond praise, it is loud, but not rattling, preserving purity at the limit of sound. Great for watching movies. Bang & Olufsen, familiar to you from the reviews, once again showed a real audiophile workshop.
All connectors are located on the side faces of the housing.
17 mm of thickness is chic from the point of view of design, but it imposes certain limitations - there is simply nowhere to build additional connectors in the beech. There is one USB 3.0 port, a regular USB with the USB Charger + function, which provides USB charging of portable electronics in the deep sleep mode of the laptop, there is a headphone jack that allows you to connect a headset or microphone, microHDMI, miniVGA, SD-MMC and, in fact, everything.
By the way, regarding charging from USB. This technology works even when the laptop is not plugged in; and to protect the battery from intense discharge, it is possible to disable the charging function after reaching a user-configurable laptop battery level.
But in the kit, in a cute little case, there are adapters for LAN and VGA.
Left side: USB, universal headphone / microphone port, SD-MMC.
Right side: miniHDMI 1.4, miniVGA, USB 3.0, power port.
The power plug has an additional plus - an orange-green diode (orange lights up when charging up to 100%), by which it is easy to find the plug in the dark.
During normal operation, ZenBook shows the noise level of a cat sleeping without hind legs, while its fan may not rotate at all - the case itself provides excellent cooling.
At high load, the system begins to make a little noise.
The case, as already mentioned, provides cooling of the system, while avoiding critical, discomfort, heating. With one exception. On the back cover, where the blowing grate is located, the heating is noticeable. Let's just say this can cause some inconvenience if, for example, the system has a high load on the video core, and the laptop is located on your lap.
The palm rests will always remain cold - with such a thickness of the case.
High performance, an unusual and eye-catching design, compact size - all these are just external manifestations of the new Zen practice, showing how primordially, with the exception of the graphic part, a laptop should be.
There is practically no difference in performance between the ultrabook ASUS UX31E and some desktop computers, not to mention the “simple” powerful laptops. Performance begins to run up not "hard", but in the capabilities of the operating system and the optimization of installed applications.
The disadvantages of the ASUS UX31E are the result of a general approach to the concept: a small, very thin body, affordable prices, the desire for an exclusive design.
ASUS traditionally launches several models on the market at once. If for the older configuration the UX31E will have to pay, according to Yandex.Market, over 52,000 rubles. (at the time of publication), the youngest, differing in processor, SSD-drive volume and pre-installed OS, will cost less. Let's not forget about the 11.6 "model UX21E. In general, the language cannot be called Zenbook expensive fashion model with a narrow market niche. Each person will be able to choose a configuration for a price that suits him, because the differences will only be inside - outwardly, all zenbooks remain invariably beautiful and attractive.
Fans of the cold style of silver and sharp edges (sword and magic, yeah) will be satisfied. If you look like this laptop, you simply won’t notice the flaws.
The concept of ultrabooks was proposed by Intel, which decided to change priorities in the development of new technologies and combine in a single device everything that users like in portable technology. So it was decided to combine the style and autonomy of fashionable tablets with the functionality and software capabilities (Windows) of typical laptops.
Until recently, the “ideal laptop” required sacrifice. Productive but noisy. Compact but weak. With a capacious battery, but heavy. Etc. We, as end users, wanted to have everything: a slim body, performance, and even sound so that quality was from the speakers.
Thus, an ultrabook should have the following features:
• Performance - second-generation Intel Core processor / SSDs
• Awakening time - less than 7 seconds
• Compactness - case thickness less than 18 mm
• Long battery life - at least 5 hours
• Low noise
• Minimum heat dissipation
• Low weight - less than 1.4 kg
ASUS decided to be the first to start mass production of ultrabooks, I personally added a few more points to this list of strict requirements - for example, to use only metal as the body material. This item was a continuation of the tacit installation - the ultrabook, in the end, should be beautiful and stylistically different from "ordinary" laptops.
Another feature of the new class of devices in ASUS was rightly considered to be design attractiveness ... and decided not to hang these awful stickers with advertisements for the processor and Windows. Finally, there are no stickers on the case! And the Windows serial gracefully put on the bottom metal of the laptop.
Zen is a way to understand the natural nature of things, to see their true essence, therefore, speaking about ASUS Zenbook, we will assume that the Taiwanese manufacturer is trying to reinvent the laptop. So it seems to us, who have studied the new generation for several weeks along and across. In "Zenbook" there are no radical differences from previous generations of laptop computers, but it has something that is originally a laptop in its true meaning; as if someone up there finally realized that increasing the power, dimensions and prices of devices, we will sooner or later come to a standstill, therefore, waving an imperious hand, instructed the engineers to reinvent everything. Whether time will be able to change the paradigm, establish a new trend and conquer all markets with the concept of ultrabooks, time will tell, but for now we will get acquainted with the device that caused genuine excitement among ordinary users.
It was no coincidence that ASUS UX31E models entrusted the storming of mass demand with a new class of devices. U models are thin and light laptops, with a priority in the direction of reliability and performance. X - from the word eXtraordinary, i.e. a device that is clearly different from others. "3" - respectively, the screen diagonal of 13.3 inches. 1 - means that the model is the first in a row.
All the pros and cons of the device are dictated by the entire concept of ultrabooks and are visible literally in just one image. The usual pros and cons will not be at the end of the review, but at the very beginning, a logical continuation of your emotions from the first glance.
Pros and cons
Pluses
+ InstantOn - waking up from sleep mode in a couple of seconds and sleeping up to 2 weeks on one battery charge
+ USB Charger + - recharging portable equipment from USB even when the laptop is turned off
+ Rich equipment, adapters
+ Stylish, durable and beautiful case
+ Thickness from 3 mm (front) up to 9 mm (rear) and weight 1.3 kg.
+ High-resolution screen and brightness
+ Good acoustics
+ Overall system performance due to the use of the most powerful in the Core i7 line and ultra-fast SSD drive
Cons
- Heating of the bottom at high load
- Limited number of ports
- Glossy screen
- There is no discrete graphic adapter
Love at first sight? May be. Let us examine these points in more detail.
Equipment
Acquaintance with the device begins with a box - which itself looks thin and monolithic.
Inside a pleasant-looking box, there is a plastic form in which the laptop is packed, with pockets for instructions, a charger, etc.
ASUS Zenbook is rich in equipment ...
... in addition to the expected case with leather trim ...
... the manufacturer was not too lazy to put adapters in the box ...
... and adapters for RJ-45 and VGA, further expanding the communication capabilities of the beech.
Housing
He looks flawless. Solid metal and no plastic.
There is no backlash, nothing creaks - the case is monolithic. The battery is non-removable, but with the same warranty period as the laptop itself. The screen frame is dark brown and provides a durable anti-dust effect.
The lid is dark in color.
The edges of the case in the photos look stylish, like a razor. In reality, they are not so sharp that the laptop in the hands would be inconvenient.
The beveled corners make the ultrabook even thinner than it is. If you make it even thinner and leave the case material unchanged, then the laptop can turn into a formidable throwing weapon.
An interesting feature is the texture in the form of concentric circles refracting light on the aluminum surface of the lid. The case is very different from glossy plastic for the better, unless, of course, you are a fan of the glamorous and sleek “laptops for girls”.
Gaps are formed on the bottom panel in a single piece of aluminum - this is a blowing grate.
When closed, the edges of the laptop are snug against each other. Open the laptop will help a small ledge on the top cover.
We did not drop zenbook on the floor, but the case looks so reliable that falling from a table to the floor (a common accident among laptops) will not cause him significant harm.
Screen
Compared to the matte ASUS P52.
In terms of brightness, the screen is one of the best on the market. In the evening at maximum brightness, we recommend using the screen only as a flashlight, otherwise your eyes will begin to get tired very quickly.
The UX31E has a TN matrix with a resolution of 1600x900, with an aspect ratio of 16: 9. The choice of such a matrix imposes certain restrictions on the viewing angles, which is not so critical in everyday use.
High brightness allows you to use the laptop even on a clear sunny day, but if the light source is behind you, be prepared to face all the shortcomings of the glossy screen. A high level of brightness allows better display of media content (photo, video).
Performance
ASUS UX31E is a very powerful device thanks to the Intel Core i7-2677M processor (base frequency: 1.8 GHz, in Turbo Boost mode: up to 2.9 GHz).
Integrated video core Intel HD 3000. In the 3Dmark test 06, the model scored 3755 points.
Storage in a laptop is a 256 GB SSD.
The amount of non-expandable RAM is 4 GB DDR3.
To evaluate the overall performance is possible only in the aggregate of all technical characteristics. ZENBOOK is a productive and fast device that shows results previously available only to desktop computers. The laptop boots in 16 seconds and wakes up from sleep in just 2 seconds thanks to InstantOn technology. All programs are installed in a few seconds, the simultaneous launch of many applications does not kill the system, does not force Windows to "think".
InstantOn technology provides the ability to stay in sleep mode for up to 14 days on a single charge. In addition, in sleep mode when the charge level drops to 5%, the laptop automatically saves the contents of RAM to disk, preventing data loss during a complete shutdown. InstantOn is the next generation of standby mode, combining the advantages of existing modes, and devoid of their shortcomings.
The system simply launches the program and works as if nothing had happened. However, this is primarily a merit of the ADATA SSD drive, God bless him for many years. The drive is one of the fastest today (read speed over 300 Mb / s), so the user can not worry about system performance in the next few years.
Keyboard and touchpad
In our engineering sample, there were no Russian letters on the keyboard.
In various reviews, the opinion about the keyboard has been controversial, but we certainly liked it. In the minuses we write only the non-standard location of the power key, so unsuccessfully located next to delete. And this is due to the fact that, according to ASUS, the procedure for turning on / off the computer is a thing of the past. It should completely replace the sleep phase.
Therefore, it is recommended not to turn off the computer, but to immerse it in a "dream". It is not for nothing that the manufacturer attributes the speed of awakening from "sleep" to one of the main advantages of the device. Accordingly, when you press this key, the laptop will not be chopped off instantly, but will display a menu in which you should choose one of the proposed options:
• put the laptop to sleep (InstantOn)
• send it to hibernation
• turn off the laptop
• do nothing
But back to the keyboard. The keys are made in a general style, made of aluminum, and have a non-slip coating. The location of the "island" and 13 "model is actually ideal.
Perhaps you will miss the usual plastic, tactile sensations are extremely important for working with the keyboard, but using the keys here is no less convenient, and in some ways even more pleasant. Metal keys are pressed distinctly, with a pleasant sound. If you often write, you understand what is at stake.
The cursor buttons are reduced, but separated from other buttons, and it’s convenient to use them even with blind typing.
The large Elan SmartPad touchpad with multitouch support allows you not to take the extra load in the form of a mouse, it is designed for most everyday tasks (and we additionally believe that you can do everything on it, because you can’t run a productive shooter anyway).
The buttons on the touch panel are almost indistinguishable, but it’s convenient to use them. The surface is matte, fingers slide well on it, it is resistant to fingerprints.
The wrist rest is large, you can position your hands as conveniently as on laptops with a 15-inch display.
A small caveat - the keyboard backlight is not here. Whether it is needed is a moot point, but raising the price with additional functionality is endless. Anyway, you will have to sacrifice something, otherwise only 1% of the country's population will be able to use the new class of devices.
The refusal of external light indicators cannot be explained by anything other than following the design. But now they are built right into the keyboard: for the power button, Caps Lock, F2. However, one familiar indicator was left outside the keyboard, on the right side.
Battery
The high brightness of the screen and the efficient processor did not allow the zenbook to achieve a “tablet” level of autonomy: it is worth counting on 4-5 hours of active operation from the battery, with a capacity of 50 Wh (which is due to the strict requirements for dimensions and weight).
On the other hand, as we already mentioned, ASUS struggles with turning off devices in all possible ways. In deep sleep mode, the Zenbook discharges slowly.
Sound
Acoustics (as many as two speakers) is located at the bottom of the laptop. We doubted whether the 13 ”model would be able to integrate sound similar to successful solutions for the“ adult ”N series. We managed to cope with the task, although not without drawbacks. Unfortunately, it was physically impossible to pull the low frequencies to the 15 ”and 17” levels of the new N-series laptops (and in the series itself, for example, the N55 decided to supply an external subwoofer as the most adequate solution to the low-frequency problem).
Otherwise, the sound is beyond praise, it is loud, but not rattling, preserving purity at the limit of sound. Great for watching movies. Bang & Olufsen, familiar to you from the reviews, once again showed a real audiophile workshop.
Connectors
All connectors are located on the side faces of the housing.
17 mm of thickness is chic from the point of view of design, but it imposes certain limitations - there is simply nowhere to build additional connectors in the beech. There is one USB 3.0 port, a regular USB with the USB Charger + function, which provides USB charging of portable electronics in the deep sleep mode of the laptop, there is a headphone jack that allows you to connect a headset or microphone, microHDMI, miniVGA, SD-MMC and, in fact, everything.
By the way, regarding charging from USB. This technology works even when the laptop is not plugged in; and to protect the battery from intense discharge, it is possible to disable the charging function after reaching a user-configurable laptop battery level.
But in the kit, in a cute little case, there are adapters for LAN and VGA.
Left side: USB, universal headphone / microphone port, SD-MMC.
Right side: miniHDMI 1.4, miniVGA, USB 3.0, power port.
The power plug has an additional plus - an orange-green diode (orange lights up when charging up to 100%), by which it is easy to find the plug in the dark.
System noise level
During normal operation, ZenBook shows the noise level of a cat sleeping without hind legs, while its fan may not rotate at all - the case itself provides excellent cooling.
At high load, the system begins to make a little noise.
Temperature
The case, as already mentioned, provides cooling of the system, while avoiding critical, discomfort, heating. With one exception. On the back cover, where the blowing grate is located, the heating is noticeable. Let's just say this can cause some inconvenience if, for example, the system has a high load on the video core, and the laptop is located on your lap.
The palm rests will always remain cold - with such a thickness of the case.
Conclusion
High performance, an unusual and eye-catching design, compact size - all these are just external manifestations of the new Zen practice, showing how primordially, with the exception of the graphic part, a laptop should be.
There is practically no difference in performance between the ultrabook ASUS UX31E and some desktop computers, not to mention the “simple” powerful laptops. Performance begins to run up not "hard", but in the capabilities of the operating system and the optimization of installed applications.
The disadvantages of the ASUS UX31E are the result of a general approach to the concept: a small, very thin body, affordable prices, the desire for an exclusive design.
ASUS traditionally launches several models on the market at once. If for the older configuration the UX31E will have to pay, according to Yandex.Market, over 52,000 rubles. (at the time of publication), the youngest, differing in processor, SSD-drive volume and pre-installed OS, will cost less. Let's not forget about the 11.6 "model UX21E. In general, the language cannot be called Zenbook expensive fashion model with a narrow market niche. Each person will be able to choose a configuration for a price that suits him, because the differences will only be inside - outwardly, all zenbooks remain invariably beautiful and attractive.
Fans of the cold style of silver and sharp edges (sword and magic, yeah) will be satisfied. If you look like this laptop, you simply won’t notice the flaws.