ASUS launches new Ultrabook, the ZENBOOK. We compare it to the Macbook Air and the Acer S3

ASUS unveiled their latest ultrabook just a few hours ago. Touted as the Zenbook. I can lust after it. For those unfamiliar, the ultrabook is defined as the market segment of Apple’s Macbook Air. These are usually classified having these three features: battery efficient, super light and thin, with solid state storage.

If you’re already a Macbook Air user, you’re probably going to shrug (I can see you) but as Intel has the habit of improving their tech every two years, a lot of the PC portable manufacturers have jumped into the bandwagon of coming up with powerful versions of their own ultrabooks.

Specs:

Instant on Feature – So as not to confuse, this is a standard feature for portables that make use of solid state drives or SSD’s. Thus, this is a regular feature of an ultrabook.

USB Charger+ – You can use the USB drives as a fast(er) charger for your devices.

Intel® 2nd generation Core™ processors (Core i5 and Core i7 models)

11 and 13 inch models with the smaller unit having a 128GB SSD and 4GB RAM

There will be two models the UX21 and UX31, the former which will be priced at USD $999.00, which in my opinion is too near the Macbook Air to actually consider a switch. But that’s just me, Mr. Apple fanboy. But really, how does it fare against the Macbook Air?

At the same price point for the 11 inch models, the Macbook Air comes with only 64GB of SSD storage compared to the Zenbook that comes with double the drive space. In terms of RAM, the Zenbook comes with 4GB as compared to the entry level air with 2GB of RAM. In this case, RAM may not be a big issue as we’re using a faster solid state drive to store files so accessing everything will be faster compared to a spinning disk. However, I can’t ignore the fact that the Zenbook trumps with more storage — twice the storage space for media.

However, if you’re really on a budget you may want to consider the new Acer S3 that was recently launched as well. Guess what? It’s cheaper than both the Air and Zenbook at USD $899.00. That’s because they got rid of the whopping SSD storage space which quite frankly is the reason why these ultrabooks are so goddam expensive. OK I lied. It does come with a 20GB SSD slot, but makes up for the lost space with a “normal” 320GB hard drive. Only one size — 13 inches.

Bottomline
If you’re a Mac fanboy there’s no convincing you otherwise. Go get your Air. If you’re up for something very similar to the Macbook Air but want to veer away from the OS and want more oopmh (!!!), the Zenbook offers twice the RAM and twice the drive space. If you’re on a budget and / or REALLY need the disk space, go for Acer. Plus, the screen will be 2 inches wider.