Asus ZenBook 13.3" Laptop Haswell IPS FHD touch i5 8GB DDR3 128GB SSD $749

not feeling the i5-4200U though. Decent price for an Ultrabook nevertheless. I like the 5th gen battery life :P

This or the tp300 at ms store? 150 difference but you get an ultrabook, ssd, and backlit keyboard.

TheRed wrote: ↑This or the tp300 at ms store? 150 difference but you get an ultrabook, ssd, and backlit keyboard.

the Zenbook is an ultrabook with ssd and backlit keyyboard tho LOL

This or the dell? I was surprised that it's not cheaper.

Meh, the Dell with edu discount (810$) has a better build quality, design and has newer parts. (although this one is pretty good too)

Also returns are free for 30 days at the MS store.

spinningpiledriver wrote: ↑This or the dell? I was surprised that it's not cheaper.

dell has the newer cpu but less ram, the battery life on dell is like 16 hours, this one prob like 9 hours

Kyaku wrote: ↑dell has the newer cpu but less ram, the battery life on dell is like 16 hours, this one prob like 9 hours

Reviewer from verge with dell 13 xps touch model was getting just 6 hours.

beirutas wrote: ↑Reviewer from verge with dell 13 xps touch model was getting just 6 hours.

Thought you meant the non touch sorry

kenze wrote: ↑Meh, the Dell with edu discount (810$) has a better build quality, design and has newer parts. (although this one is pretty good too)

Also returns are free for 30 days at the MS store.

So Dell has better build quality than ASUS? I have not bought a Dell in the last years after having a lot of problems with their low end models.


I am assuming it is impossible to find a ThinkPad X1 Carbon Ultrabook (3rd Gen) with similar specifications at this price point?

This is better than dell, near mba quality, just with more bezels

I have the older UX31A non-touch and the IPS 1080P display is probably the best display I've seen, heard about on a Windows Laptop (can't comment on Macs). The Touch version of the UX31A did lose some of the display strengths such as viewing angle and contrast ratio. This deal is for the UX31LA which looks like an iterative update. Just for comparison the older UX31A non-touch still goes for around $500 used.

Also of note is that the new zenbook, Lenovo and many other laptops are coming with 2K screens but I actually think its not worthy paying the extra for that extra resolution. The text and content is way too small and most people have to use a lower resolution or the windows built in magnifying/scaling feature. When I went from a 720P laptop to a 1080P it was a worth it resolution upgrade because you can actually fit a lot more on the screen. I recently went and tried the 2k displays and wasn't sold. I have pretty strong eyes and I still had to lower the resolution to somewhere between 1080p and 2k to be comfortable with it.

The other things to note about this laptop is that the speakers are quite good. The trackpad with the driver updates are very good, i have all but one of the gestures ON and i don't get many false positives. The intel quick start (or whatever its called) works really well. 12 seconds from cold start, 2.5 seconds from sleep. Most people have a problem with the auto brightness sensor (controls screen and keyboard lighting) but I actually leave it on Auto and it doesn't keep jumping around.

Does the UX31LA suffer from the horrible fan issue? I used to have an Asus UX31A and it was an excellent laptop, but I sold it because of the terrible, annoying fan issue. The fan would literally turn on by just simply scrolling on your browser. The only time it wasn't on was when you weren't doing anything.

I think of it this way. If you really want touchscreen, this laptop is better value than the XPS13. Otherwise, I'd still take the XPS13 due to its significantly smaller footprint.

WH0WHAT wrote: ↑Does the UX31LA suffer from the horrible fan issue? I used to have an Asus UX31A and it was an excellent laptop, but I sold it because of the terrible, annoying fan issue. The fan would literally turn on by just simply scrolling on your browser. The only time it wasn't on was when you weren't doing anything.

My UX31A doesn't do that. My understanding is that issue happens if you do a clean windows install and don't install the proper intel power and heat management drivers. I recently did a completely clean windows 8.1 install and right after install the fan was on but once i installed the correct driver, I haven't heard the fan once. I only browse and do document work so its not under heavy load.

IntrepidRT wrote: ↑I think of it this way. If you really want touchscreen, this laptop is better value than the XPS13. Otherwise, I'd still take the XPS13 due to its significantly smaller footprint.

This is a solid point, the XPS13 has a seriously small footprint. Although the asus gets points for styling and metal body.

fatestkid wrote: ↑This is a solid point, the XPS13 has a seriously small footprint. Although the asus gets points for styling and metal body.

The XPS should get points for the soft touch carbon fibre interior and metal body as well. I always wanted a Zenbook but the XPS is even better.

IntrepidRT wrote: ↑The XPS should get points for the soft touch carbon fibre interior and metal body as well. I always wanted a Zenbook but the XPS is even better.

Oh damn, I thought it was plastic. Definitely gets points for it. Tbh I drooled a little when the xps13 was announced and I've been debating buying it but the ux31a is still going strong.

I was going to buy the xps 13 today but this is making me rethink it. 8gb is a nice feature over the 4gb at Dell.

I own a ux31la, some of the great points is the memory and cpu are good, storage is a bit bad though (slow and small... For ssd). I bought this in June through the ms store and student discount... Was 810+tx. The laptop is amazing for the price. It's really sleek and powerful (minus gaming). I'm an it professional, haven't had problems compiling code or driver issues. It's very flexible and even has an extra 2260 m2 slot for an extra hard drive (check amazon). Great deal... I would buy again.