ASUS Zenbook (UX21) Review
by Anand Lal Shimpi on October 22, 2011 8:00 PM ESTPerformance
Raw CPU performance of the Zenbook's UX21 is obviously within the realm of the 11-inch MacBook Air, however its SSD really pushes it ahead of the MacBook Air in a lot of the PCMark 7 tests. PCMark tends to emphasize the benefits of an SSD but it really does illustrate just how much of a difference an SSD can make. A lot of the faster systems we've reviewed with mechanical drives simply feel slower than the Zenbook as a result of the latter having an extremely capable SSD. If there's any impact that Ultrabooks have on the market I hope it's the more widespread use of SSDs by OEMs.
Gaming performance is not a strong suit of the Zenbook UX21. Pretty much anything with a half-way decent discrete GPU is going to put this thing to shame. While you can play some games on the Zenbook, if you're planning on doing any real gaming with your notebook you probably don't want an Ultrabook.
Boot and Resume Time
ASUS did a lot of BIOS optimization work to make the UX21 boot as quickly as possible. In its default configuration you don't see a POST screen; instead you get a quick flash of the ASUS logo before immediately being dumped into the Windows 7 startup sequence. The whole process from power off to desktop takes 16.7 seconds, which is actually marginally little quicker than a MacBook Air from off to OS X (17.2 seconds).
Resume time is even more impressive. By default the UX21 goes into a suspend-to-RAM state when you shut the lid. Resuming from this state takes just a hair over 2 seconds (I measured anywhere from 2.04—2.22 seconds)—it's quick. The WiFi usually takes a couple more seconds to become active beyond that, and Windows doesn't remember your previous brightness setting just whatever setting the active power plan was set to upon resume. Other than those two hiccups, the experience is just awesome.
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Panlion - Sunday, October 23, 2011 - link
Good call. I could not install windows using the USB 3 drive so having an USB 2 port saved me.I also think by having the power, USB3, and the 2 mini VGA and HDMI port on the same side, you have a real possibility of having a docking station like block for this notebook.
ggathagan - Monday, October 24, 2011 - link
Given that Asus does not sell this computer without an installed OS, I doubt that concern is even on their radar.DanNeely - Monday, October 24, 2011 - link
Unless you think that they've never considered how to do a restore after an SSD failure your assumption can't be true.komoornik - Sunday, October 23, 2011 - link
What about the heat and noise? No detailed tests?tipoo - Sunday, October 23, 2011 - link
Yeah, I recall Asus making some claims about this cooling system vs the "Fruit Brand" (yes they really said that) cooling system.lukarak - Sunday, October 23, 2011 - link
Then again, the first MBA was also not impressive, but that was some years ago. This is too little, too late imo.The price is competitive, but the thing is, the smaller you go with laptops, the price and what you get for it becomes less important, and the general feeling of usage starts to play a bigger role.
I know it's not easy to make a trackpad that will be as integrated into the OS like the MBxs. It's good that some gestures are making its way to other systems.
But for me, the biggest one, especially on such small screens, is the ability to swipe between multiple desktops available in OS X. That makes me work so much faster. I sometimes have 10 desktops open, and getting to them without having to use key combinations is just something i couldn't live without anymore. Even if it means paying 100 or 200 more for the same performance.
popej - Sunday, October 23, 2011 - link
I haven't noticed any info about screen type, but looking at the pictures it works like a mirror. IMHO you can't call notebook truly portable if it has glare screen. Reflections severely limit range of places, where it can be used comfortably.yzkbug - Sunday, October 23, 2011 - link
Ditto!JohnMD1022 - Sunday, October 23, 2011 - link
"ASUS elected to use torx bits instead of standard phillips heads to better match the industrial design of the system. While I appreciate the attention to detail I think I'd be happier if ASUS had stuck to standard screws."Most people, including computer geeks, don't have torx drivers around the house, as they do regular and Phillips screwdrivers.
However, a quick trip to Sears and about $5 will fix you up with the needed size.
lukarak - Sunday, October 23, 2011 - link
To be honest, that could be true 10 years ago, but now, torx (and torx security) is pretty much a standard.Now the new 'players' are tri-wing (although they started to appear in some boxed sets) and apple's pentalobe.