The ASUS Zenbook takes the concept of the Ultrabook to a new level with a heavy focus on exterior design and components that provide just enough power for the frequent user. What this means is that you will not only get a number crunching behemoth, but a computer you can be proud to pull out in board meetings or on an airplane.
The Asus Zenbook at a Glance
Taking a cue from the design-work of Apple, Asus aims for as sleek and utilitarian of a form factor as they can manage. This creates an aluminum framed machine that is less than 1.3kg and is only 9mm in the back.
Like other Ultrabooks, the ability to turn the Zenbook on nearly instantly is a major feature. The Asus Super Hybrid Engine II is designed so that you can resume your laptop from a standby state in about 2 seconds. More importantly, standby mode can be maintained for two weeks. Effectively, if you plug your laptop in as needed, you will never again need to turn your machine off – making it easier and faster than ever to access your files.
Battery life is standard for a PC of this size – offering a promised 7 hours of battery life under light use, though most users report numbers closer to 4 hours (remember that “light use” is very light).
Drawbacks of the Asus Zenbook
For everything the Zenbook offers in performance and startup speed, there are quite a few drawbacks related to the smaller size. First, there is no disc drive, a common issue for all sleek laptops. If this is a deal breaker, you should consider looking into a full sized laptop instead.
While the SSD hard drive is incredibly fast and provides instant backup of your current state if your battery gets low (allowing you to run to absolute zero on a charge), it is only 128 GB, providing a limited amount of storage, especially on a Windows 7 machine that uses so much of that space just for system files..
Under the hood, the Zenbook offers a powerful Intel Core i5 processor with 1.7GHz and 3BMB L3 Cache. The pricier Zenbook UX31E-DH72 comes with an even more powerful Core i7 processor if you need a bit more out of your machine. Combined with 4GB of DDR3 memory, you have plenty of power to get the majority of tasks done, just don’t expect your machine to run the newest computer games at high resolution as the Zenbook sports an Intel HD graphics chip with shared system memory.
Who the Asus Zenbook Is Best For
One of the things that makes the Zenbook so spectacular, as with most Ultrabooks, is its convenience. Taking a cue from the current generation of tablets and smart phones that fit in almost any pocket and turn on instantly, the Zenbook is all about accessibility and performance.
If you are on the go often, need access to your files instantly and are tired of waiting 5-10 minutes for Windows to boot up, this is the computer for you. Faster, sleek, designed to last for days and not too shabby to look at, the Zenbook is one of the best Ultrabooks currently on the market and a fantastic investment for anyone in need of a new PC.
