Asus Ultrabook

[samran]

Just typing for the first time on my Asus i5 ultrabook.

Noice, Very Noice, as they'd say in Fountain Lakes....

[submaniac]

Those are nice. Really nice. I was just looking at it today actually when I was picking up some other supplies. My sony vaio laptop has gotten temperamental after 4 years so I was looking at new laptops. I ended up getting the acer aspire netbook just because it is cheap, and I am very rough on my laptops. The asus is a really light laptop (was a bit concerned that it was so dainty it could not take a beating)

Edited May 3, 2012 by submaniac

[samran]

Those are nice. Really nice. I was just looking at it today actually when I was picking up some other supplies. My sony vaio laptop has gotten temperamental after 4 years so I was looking at new laptops. I ended up getting the acer aspire netbook just because it is cheap, and I am very rough on my laptops. The asus is a really light laptop (was a bit concerned that it was so dainty it could not take a beating)

Yeah, my 4 year old laptop packed it in.

The reason I got it was no moving parts. Perfect (hopefully) for travel and so very, very light.

Edited May 3, 2012 by samran

[submaniac]

Ah I didn't realize no moving parts and ssd. that should be (in theory at least) pretty tough. (My vaio went through two hard drives in the last 6 months.)

[samran]

Ah I didn't realize no moving parts and ssd. that should be (in theory at least) pretty tough. (My vaio went through two hard drives in the last 6 months.)

that is the theory at least.

It was either that, or travel with the Ipad for work and have a cheap clunker on my desk.

[Dork]

I got an equivalent Samsung about a month ago and was/am very happy with it. The SSD makes it incredibly fast to boot or especially wakeup.

Just a word of warning that though they feel fairly robust due to the alloy case, the LED screens are fragile - as I found out the hard way. I was using it on my lap then moved a bit and felt it starting to slide so quickly grabbed it before it fell using my hand to catch the open screen. It made a horrible crunching sound as my thumb destroyed the LED panel. It was perhaps a silly way to catch it but a pretty natural reaction and I wasn't rough at all. There was no external damage or marks but the screen was clearly knackered.

Samsung informed me that a new screen would cost THB7000 since it wasn't covered under warranty as I had obviously dropped it. Fortunately I could honestly deny that it had been dropped and pointed out that there wasn't so much as scratch anywhere. Eventually they conceded that it would be covered but I still don't have the machine back.

When I do get it back I plan to upgrade it to 8MB Ram. Not that 4MB is too bad but for THB500, why not?

Cheers

PS. Great for watching HD movies on a flight. Makes the fold out screen the bloke next to you is watching look a bit pathetic.

[dddave]

I got an equivalent Samsung about a month ago and was/am very happy with it. The SSD makes it incredibly fast to boot or especially wakeup.

Just a word of warning that though they feel fairly robust due to the alloy case, the LED screens are fragile - as I found out the hard way. I was using it on my lap then moved a bit and felt it starting to slide so quickly grabbed it before it fell using my hand to catch the open screen. It made a horrible crunching sound as my thumb destroyed the LED panel. It was perhaps a silly way to catch it but a pretty natural reaction and I wasn't rough at all. There was no external damage or marks but the screen was clearly knackered.

Samsung informed me that a new screen would cost THB7000 since it wasn't covered under warranty as I had obviously dropped it. Fortunately I could honestly deny that it had been dropped and pointed out that there wasn't so much as scratch anywhere. Eventually they conceded that it would be covered but I still don't have the machine back.

When I do get it back I plan to upgrade it to 8MB Ram. Not that 4MB is too bad but for THB500, why not?

Cheers

PS. Great for watching HD movies on a flight. Makes the fold out screen the bloke next to you is watching look a bit pathetic.

I was reading elsewhere that this has quickly become a major problem with the latest generation of Ultrabooks introduced at this years CES. The covers have been made so thin and flimsy to save weight and bulk that they are really not much stiffer than cardboard.

Shipping damage claims are so over the roof that major shipping companies are close to refusing to cover them for damage. Packing one in a suitcase destined for checked baggage is asking for a broken screen. Manufacturers are coming under a lot of heat from some state government consumer agencies for refusing to cover what many are considering to be a major design flaw. The B7-8000 cost of a new display often nearly matches the cost of replacing the whole machine.

I was considering one because I travel a lot but after finding all this out, I wouldn't touch one.

[WhizBang]

Yikes... pricey. I see the 11.6 inch UX21 listed at 33000 baht. And no HD. No thanks, I want my HD.

The HP DM1 11.6 inch netbook is way better value. I have seen it in the shops listed under 15000 baht. At least it has a standard notebook HD.

[Dork]

Yikes... pricey. I see the 11.6 inch UX21 listed at 33000 baht. And no HD. No thanks, I want my HD.

The HP DM1 11.6 inch netbook is way better value. I have seen it in the shops listed under 15000 baht. At least it has a standard notebook HD.

Why would you want an HD over an SSD on a notebook?

[samran]

I got an equivalent Samsung about a month ago and was/am very happy with it. The SSD makes it incredibly fast to boot or especially wakeup.

Just a word of warning that though they feel fairly robust due to the alloy case, the LED screens are fragile - as I found out the hard way. I was using it on my lap then moved a bit and felt it starting to slide so quickly grabbed it before it fell using my hand to catch the open screen. It made a horrible crunching sound as my thumb destroyed the LED panel. It was perhaps a silly way to catch it but a pretty natural reaction and I wasn't rough at all. There was no external damage or marks but the screen was clearly knackered.

Samsung informed me that a new screen would cost THB7000 since it wasn't covered under warranty as I had obviously dropped it. Fortunately I could honestly deny that it had been dropped and pointed out that there wasn't so much as scratch anywhere. Eventually they conceded that it would be covered but I still don't have the machine back.

When I do get it back I plan to upgrade it to 8MB Ram. Not that 4MB is too bad but for THB500, why not?

Cheers

PS. Great for watching HD movies on a flight. Makes the fold out screen the bloke next to you is watching look a bit pathetic.

Thanks for the heads up on the screen. Will be extra careful.

And yes, after my old clunker which had 20 mins battery life, the SSD and the 7 hour battery life is a revelation. Lets hope they both live up to the expectation.

And yeah, the 13.3 inch just makes it that much more usesable in business than they 11 inchers.

It was a toss up with the Samsung, but to my eye, the Asus just looked wonderful, and there wasn't much to sway me after that.

And yes, am looking forward to the long flights with this as a companion. Got a RTW trip over two weeks coming up in June/July.

Edited May 3, 2012 by samran

[xen]

Yikes... pricey. I see the 11.6 inch UX21 listed at 33000 baht. And no HD. No thanks, I want my HD.

The HP DM1 11.6 inch netbook is way better value. I have seen it in the shops listed under 15000 baht. At least it has a standard notebook HD.

If these Ultra books have a USB port then plug in a portable HD and you have the best of both - and HD for storage and a SSD for speed and weight. I persume they have an USB port unlike the ipads .

[NanLaew]

Good call on ASUS. I have been using their laptops, mobo's for years and now running both the T101 and T201 Transformer tablets. Great product with really great customer service and warranty repairs if you unfortunately need that.

May I ask how much the OP's i5 ultrabook cost? The oldest stepdaughter has reminded me of her overdue 'reward' for top grades at school last year!

[samran]

Good call on ASUS. I have been using their laptops, mobo's for years and now running both the T101 and T201 Transformer tablets. Great product with really great customer service and warranty repairs if you unfortunately need that.

May I ask how much the OP's i5 ultrabook cost? The oldest stepdaughter has reminded me of her overdue 'reward' for top grades at school last year!

Good call on ASUS. I have been using their laptops, mobo's for years and now running both the T101 and T201 Transformer tablets. Great product with really great customer service and warranty repairs if you unfortunately need that.

May I ask how much the OP's i5 ultrabook cost? The oldest stepdaughter has reminded me of her overdue 'reward' for top grades at school last year!

You may ask!

I'm down in OZ at the moment (the perfect moment for my laptop to die - not), and managed to get it for AUD$1100, but down from a marked price of $1500 at Harvey Norman.

Online, they seemed to retail for about US $1000 in the states, but after shipping costs etc, I came out about even, so just got it from the shop.

I'm suspecting the Thai prices would more reflective of the US prices. Australia always gets dudded when it comes to imported items. They charge what they want.

[JSixpack]

So just buy a cheap netbook, take out the hard drive if you don't want any moving parts (put it in an external USB enclosure), run Puppy Linux (fast booting and running) from a flashdrive.

Sorted--for 32,000 baht less.

[Heimdallr]

So just buy a cheap netbook, take out the hard drive if you don't want any moving parts (put it in an external USB enclosure), run Puppy Linux (fast booting and running) from a flashdrive.

Sorted--for 32,000 baht less.

Yes, if all you're going to do is read Thaivisa and write a novel

How's the build quality with the Asus? i5 combined with a small size can be quite noisy, there's no way around that. On the plus side you're enjoying decent processing power and fast response times.

[h90]

Yikes... pricey. I see the 11.6 inch UX21 listed at 33000 baht. And no HD. No thanks, I want my HD.

The HP DM1 11.6 inch netbook is way better value. I have seen it in the shops listed under 15000 baht. At least it has a standard notebook HD.

If these Ultra books have a USB port then plug in a portable HD and you have the best of both - and HD for storage and a SSD for speed and weight. I persume they have an USB port unlike the ipads .

Specially with USB3

[Jumbo chilli]

May I ask how much the OP's i5 ultrabook cost?

I paid 36,900baht for a UX31E which is 14" i5 model.(Chiangmai 3 weeks ago)

The build quality is really fantastic!(aluminum)

J.C

[JSixpack]

So just buy a cheap netbook, take out the hard drive if you don't want any moving parts (put it in an external USB enclosure), run Puppy Linux (fast booting and running) from a flashdrive.

Sorted--for 32,000 baht less.

Yes, if all you're going to do is read Thaivisa and write a novel

Duh. I love this forum!

[Dork]

Most of the i5 ultrabooks have a list price of THB45k and up. But on offer they are about 33k. Surprisingly at the time I bought my Samsung the price I paid was slightly lower than the best online US price I could find. It's not often like that.

Everyone has a different idea about what a laptop should be. For me, it's a tradeoff between portability and performance and at about USD1000 these new ultrabooks are good value. I don't worry too much about the brand. Acer/Asus/Samsung/Lenovo are all about the same.

[samran]

So just buy a cheap netbook, take out the hard drive if you don't want any moving parts (put it in an external USB enclosure), run Puppy Linux (fast booting and running) from a flashdrive.

Sorted--for 32,000 baht less.

Yes, if all you're going to do is read Thaivisa and write a novel

How's the build quality with the Asus? i5 combined with a small size can be quite noisy, there's no way around that. On the plus side you're enjoying decent processing power and fast response times.

Build quality seems reasonable. Alot like a Macbook I guess.

As for noise? No noise. At. All.