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.
Facebook
Twitter
RSS
109 Comments
View All Comments
rs2 - Monday, October 24, 2011 - link
That's some quality anti-logic. The problem isn't that PC's are somehow unable to run OSX, it's that OSX has been deliberately crippled to prevent (or at least, attempt to prevent) it from running on any PC's that haven't been assembled by Apple. It is not the PC (or the Mac...after all a Mac is just a PC that's being marketed as something that's not a PC) that is limited, only OS X is limited.And if you don't care that this limitation was *intentionally* built into OS X for the sole purpose of *forcing* OS X users to buy their hardware from Apple, then you are a fool.
Remember all the trouble MS got in for attempting to force people to use Internet Explorer? The thing to note there is that whatever your opinion of IE, it has always been a free product. In that light, Apple's shady business tactics are significantly worse than Microsoft's ever were.
pdjblum - Sunday, October 23, 2011 - link
The point is that with windows you don't have any reason to run a osx. For some reason, people using macs still find it necessary to run windows in some fashion. OS X must be limiting in some way, it seems.lukarak - Sunday, October 23, 2011 - link
Sure you do. The fact you don't know what they are, however, an indicator of how deep your computers usage goes.Fradelius - Sunday, October 23, 2011 - link
i can tell ya this,apple = mostly a not hi techy user who likes to use his system out of the box
windows = Working, gaming, hi tech users
Linux = apple + windows if you have the requiered knowledge.(wich 99% of the users dont have)
if im wrong then why 89% of the world uses Windows on enterprise level?
im not a mac hater, i just dont like it.. its like cars, or ice cream
you do.. or you dont.. but still even i fi like it..
Active directory = Win
LDAP = Linux
Mac haves something like active directoy, but like all mac stuff its under the control of apple, in active directoy im on top.
pdjblum - Sunday, October 23, 2011 - link
Brilliant. Unfortunately, this is a hard pill for the vast majority of apple users to swallow, especially when they depend on anand for acceptance and approval, as they did jobs.lukarak - Monday, October 24, 2011 - link
Why does it have to be separated? Are the just three types of users or are the borders a little more fuzzy? Why couldn't you belong in two of the groups. Or three?I'm not saying that everybody has to like it. I just don't understand the aggressiveness towards Apple.
pdjblum - Sunday, October 23, 2011 - link
Guess you finally got to a bad reaction. I guess I must of struck a nerve. Sorry the truth is so troublesome to you. Sorry you are so insecure. Your defensiveness is quite apparent in the not so kind things you have said. Enjoy your mac and your pathetic existence you sad coward.lukarak - Monday, October 24, 2011 - link
You didn't strike a nerve, you just revealed your level of knowledge. The rest of the post is really not worthy of a comment, but while it doesn't say anything about me, it say everything about you.Sunburn74 - Sunday, October 23, 2011 - link
If I'm on an apple pc and want to play most games, I need to install windows. That is an obvious limitation that causes people to install windows.Its not PCs fault they can't run OSX out of the box. Its an arbitrary limitation Mac chooses to enforce.
morousg - Monday, October 24, 2011 - link
I don't think it is a question of comparing apples to oranges. I think this is a question of understanding R+D or not understanding it.I love Apple for many reasons, but I hate it to for many others.
I love Windows because I can play all the games and run all the Office suite, and is the best OS for easily managing business infrastructures, but I hate it for all the rest.
I love linux because it's free, OpenSource and internet is full of documentation about it's code and design so I can learn OS design, but I hate not having Microsoft Office software for it and driver troubles and having difficulties to use it on a Mac hardware.
So, my concerns about this Asus laptop is not a question of comparing or defending Apples against oranges. It is a question of defending R+D, that is my job in the university and business.