As you saw, we have a bit of backlight bleed along the bottom edge, but it's not terrible and actually improved after the first few days (weird!). My UX31A actually lasts just as long as my UX31E even though it's pushing more pixels.
I'm curious too and have been checking forums to see if UX31A owners have gotten Sandisk drives. But there aren't a lot of owners out there yet. Asus and Sandisk said they changed to higher performance Sandisk models, but I can't verify since with got the ADATA with SandForce controller. This was a retail unit, BTW and not a Asus review unit.
Asus doesn't offer build to order. Instead the make several versions of a model with different CPU and SSD capacities. Core i7, Core i7, 128 or 256 gig SSDs are the only variations here.
Same notebook with same rubber feet all the way through. The rubber feet are rectangular where they attach to the notebook and the part that meets the desk is rounded (the feet taper).
The RAM is soldered on the motherboard and is not upgradable. You can open the bottom with a small head torx screwdriver, but only the SSD module is removable.
There are lots of laptops that are great for Photoshop, After Effects and gaming. Ultrabooks really aren't serious 3D gaming machines. It's hard to recommend one without knowing your size/weight pref and budget.
Asus already announced several touch screen machines for Windows 8. But they, like other manufacturers, still need to sell something until then, and they're assuming everyone won't jump on Win 8 right away.
Personally, I've had great luck with Asus notebooks, but not such great luck with the Transformer Prime tablet, which wasn't exactly a high point for Asus.
You can get the Sony with a 256 gig SSD, but that does make an expensive laptop even more expensive. I'm really torn between the Vaio Z and the Zenbook Prime. The Asus' price means a lot of computer for the money, but the Z is so darned powerful!
Depends on how much processing power you need. The X230 has mobile Core i5/i7 CPUs vs. ULVs on the Zenbook Prime. But the Lenovo is heavier and much thicker and it has a lower resolution display. For everyday web, email, Office and watching videos I'd take the Zenbook. For things that are more CPU intensive I'd go with the Lenovo.
I love you Lisa. You're probably the best tech reviewer out there. Just consistently great videos every freaking time. Why you don't have more views/subscribers I'll never know.
Where are those Envy Spectre XT's? Seem impossible to get. I prefer the display on the Zenbook Prime and the thin design personally. But the XT looks pretty nice.
yes , it gets a little warm but not hot on the palm rest , it gets really hot on the top of the keyboard if you turn the screen to max brightness and running heavy programs, but if you avoid doing that your notebook just stays warm
UX31A is better than the UX32A. The UX32A doesn't have an SSD drive and is most commonly available with a Core i3. The UX32VD is interesting since it has dedicated graphics and upgradable RAM and HDD.
Note that the one Best Buy is selling is the one with the 1600x900 display, NOT the 1920x1080 display. Best Buy often does this kind of stuff with Asus laptops, selling slightly lower spec models.
Another excellent review by Lisa. However, there are some issues with this ultrabook. Some people have reported that the keyboard suddenly stops working (Asus responded that a recovery to factory default resolves this). Also, it's hit or miss with the SSD: either you get the really slow Sandisk or the somewhat unreliable ADATA. I'd take the latter one, given the choice.Also, 1080p can result in dpi scaling issues in Windows. Otherwise, this ultrabook is excellent.
Lisa is definitely the best tech reviewer. By miles. Jon4Lakers, PhoneDog, SoldierKnowsBest, iCU and whoever else is out there are totally sh*t compared to Lisa. Such a thorough review, yet to be disappointed by this channel.
no problem, yet in my opinion, UX31A is one of the best ultrabooks available on the global market, not the cheapest one, but trust me U won't regret such purchase :)
that is due to the shutter effect. the blink rate of the screen synchronizes with the camera frame rate and thus it seems to blink. read more on wikipedia, i'm too lazy to explain
Only problem with WiFi is that Asus' Power4Gear setting for battery use sets the wireless radio power to minimum and that tanks throughput (what were they thinking?). I changed wireless to max performance it and rocks on WiFi with our 802.11n networks.
The screen on the UX31A is gorgeous. It is not as high resolution but it is extemely high, especially for a 13.3 inch screen. In other words, it would be hard to tell a difference.
The Sony Vaio Z and this one is on my wishlist. I wouldn't hesitate to choose the Vaio Z, but it only has 128GB. Even with a few standard programs installed, I fear there is a bit too little storage left in that case. So I was thinking going the UX31A route, but then there's the lesser processing power. Oh well, I still think it will do, I'm not a gamer anyway. And I saw the display in a store: it definitely stood out from the rest, although I haven't seen a Vaio Z live. Thx for the review(s)!
really? I got mine back within the week i mailed it to them and it works fine now. like all manufacturers (cars computers etc.) they will produce a lemon unit every once in awhile. on the whole, i have been pleased with mine.
@MobileTechReview Hey Lisa, did you run into any issues with wifi? I've been hearing a lot of wifi connection issues with this ultrabook...great video btw!
Lisa, can you comment on the difference in screen quality between the new Vaio Z and UX31A? I'm so tempted by the Sony (mainly because of the speed), but the thing that holds me back is the 128GB storage. Which laptop would you be most happy with for everyday use?
the black keyboard (better typing performance than the silver) comes with ivy bridge and backlight kyeboard and 1080p display(UX31A) the silver on comes with sandy bridge with no backlight keyboard and 720p display (UX31E) yep , both have i7 versions
thank you for reviewing this product i was dead set on getting the Hp Envy Spectre XT, but this very attractive alternative has me going back to the drawing board.
im purchasing an ultrabook within the next two days and the ux31a is my #1 so far. Since i need it for law school do you think this laptop is the best ultrabook on the market for this price range? If not which one would you recommend
Hi Lisa, I read a lot of bad reviews about the make of the SSD (the sluggish SanDisk vs. the faster ADATA) and the fragile ports. Asus uses the SSDs interchangeably without any change to know which one you get. And customers on amazon report that the ports usually broke after a month or something for being so fragile. What do you think about this?
I'm having this dilemma. I have just played with one in the store, but it was not powered on. It's apparently an "anti-glare" screen (IPS, full HD), but in the sunlight, at least when it's not powered on, you can see your reflection in the screen. The matte screen on the Samsung seemed less shiny, but I'm not absolutely sure, since it was on. I work a lot outside and this is really important for me, I'm looking forward for an answer!
Hey Lisa, can you try doing a direct comparison between the UX31A and the UX32VD-DB71? I'm not sure if you can get your hands on both at the same time, but I really want to know how different the build quality is between the two. Another thing, do you know if the 256GB version of the UX31A is also Sandforce driven?
Hey Lisa, great review! I'm looking to buy a new laptop, price isn't necessarily an issue and I'm mainly looking for a great display, good battery life and good build quality/reliability. I'm leaning towards this ASUS but would you recommend it over say a Samsung Series 9 or Macbook Air with these priorities in mind?
I really like this ultrabook - I've got it budgeted for next month but I've got a question that I'd really appreciate you answering. Unlike apple or HP or, to some degree, Dell, I don't see the functionality to "build your own" on the ASUS website. Where do I go about opting for the extra features and whatnot?
I just got mine, It came with the shitty sandisk SSD, but hey, I got it for $700! This ultrabook is one of the best ultrabooks ever made, such a fine piece of engineering, every part every detail has been thought out to be in harmony with the rest. Clearly Asus and Samsung are battling for the thrown here (watch the review on the zenbook touch vs samsung series 9), but asus takes it away. This device is just simply gorgeous. BTW: get the one with 1600x900 if you have vision problems).
Quick question, in your review you stated that the Sandisk SSD isn't as big a drop as the old sandisk models were vs ADATA, do you have any data to support that? I recently bought one and it has the sandisk SSD and was wondering if the performance differences would be as big as the older versions.
quick question, is this sufficient to run AutoCAD? looking for a lightweight ultraportable laptop (ultrabook/laptop) that's capable to run heavy things up to AutoCAD with the decent amount of CAD well under 2,000$USD
Hey do you know what is better? The iPhone 4S or the Samsung Galaxy SIII. I know it's off topic but I wanted to watch this so I didn't want to switch to the iPhone or the Galaxy SIII review. Thanks. I am a big fan of you!
UX31A =exactly how she said it. UX31VD= is an older zen, has a 500gb HDD, Windows 7 ( means no touch if you switch to Win8), 4gb ram and Nvidia GT 620M Graphics ( so win some loose some with that). Good luck finding one too.Zen Prime has SO many models its ridiculous. I suggest going to amazon and checking them out. Asus had a problem (be it a good one) coming out with A LOT of variations for every model. I have seen these go for a lower price than a Surface Pro ( if you can live without a tab).
Hope u're kiddin. matte sreen is really great in this ultrabook. ips screen have wide range of brightness, and believe me, working outside is not a problem on this laptop. on the contrary as u probably know, lcd's did have such problem. but fortunately, technology moved on :)
The preloaded software on this ultrabook . For example, "InstantOn" . I tried to run the program, but it said that "this can only be run on an ASUS laptop!" which doesn't make sense since I am, indeed, using an asus laptop .
I would agree with Lisa, however I just got a UX31A, and I would have to say that the build quality is a bit suspect. While some backlight bleed is acceptable, some units have it very badly (including mine). Also, there are some units where the fan never goes off and ramps up every couple of minutes after you wake the computer from sleep. I have experienced that as well. While the screen resolution is awesome, and it's super bright, I may go with the Samsung Series 9 instead.
Yeah i would say so, just depends what ecosystem you wanna be a part of, be it Microsoft or Apple. The only thing I see as a plus of the asus over the macbook air is the higher resolution screen. Hope this helps.
I wonder if any of the keyboard issues are on the touchscreen version of thise ultrabook. The amazon reviews of the non touch version worries me a bit.
Lisa, How about backlight bleed issues that have been reported a lot on this model? I have minor backlight bleeding myself on my UX31A-R150 from Best Buy. In addition, the battery life seems worse then the UX31E that I owned....?
Hi Lisa, I've been looking for an answer to this on tomshardware and notebook review but no one seems to know the answer. Will I be able to edit a video (exactly like your current review) on the UX31a itself using imported 1080p video? I own a youtube channel and I'm thinking of upgrading my machine but I need it to be portable. Hopefully it doesn't lag.
just got the ultrabook, and I have to say, the one thing that annoys me is how the lid is not held closed magnetically or at least held closed extremely tightly. it does flap just a bit, which is an irritation.
Lisa, is there anyway to reverse the FN key? As in, instead of using FN key+f key to turn up the volume, can you only use the f key with out using FN and f key combination?
wait wait wait wait, i love your reviews but at 4:25 the screen has a silver edge and a few secs later its like brown greyish(?) is that just another colorway or is it a other device?
@Liron Kanety Definitely this one. The dell doesn't have the same build quality as the zenbook. The screen is also better. Trust me, buy this one instead of dell.
