ASUS UX31E-DH52 Review – Overview

I used Apple Macbook Air for the last 2,5 years (not the new one), and planning to get the new sandy bridge MBA 2011, but then I see this ASUS UX31E-DH52 zenbook.

This is a special product, I have been long waited for this machine.

In the last years if you want a powerful and ultra portable machine, you will have to go with an Apple MacBook Air, since there was no Windows machine that you can really compare with MBA.

But now, this ASUS UX31E is definitely the MacBook Air alternative. (see the comparison here)

ASUS UX31E-DH52 vs MacBook Air

Is the Apple’s Macbook Air better than this laptop? This will depend on you, if you are a mac user, MBA will still be better machine for you but if you are a windows machine user, then this zenbook is better.

For me personally, I decide on the ASUS UX31E-DH52, because it has a stronger point, which is the thermal and cooling features.

Better features on this Asus machine that beats MBA:

ASUS UX31E

1. Better cooling system
Without doubt, MBA is an absolute cool laptop, but I notice my Asus laptop is much better on the cooling system. I will still prefer to have a less powerful but cooler laptop than a powerful one but easy to get hot.

Asus has done a good job on this machine, a powerful little thing and runs very cool.

2. Better peripherals with the mini VGA and micro HDMI ports.

There ports are very important to me, as I often connect my laptop to my larger monitor with the mini VGA port, and the micro HDMI is very useful if you want to connect your laptop to any televisions.

MacBook Air does not include these two ports.

3. Better Audio system

To describe it, you will have to listen my ASUS UX31E-DH52 audio quality yourself. I have never heard any laptops which can produce this amazing sound. The sound of my old Macbook air was very good, but the sound of this ASUS UX31 is much better to me.

MacBook Air’s features that you will not find in this laptop;

1. MBA has a nice backlit keyboard.

I admit, Apple has unbeatable keyboard, backlit keyboard has very long been featured on MacBook Pros, and  Dell XPS series. Backlit keyboard comes in handy when you frequently use your laptops in your bedroom, living room, or any rooms with low light surroundings.

The UX31E’s keyboard isn’t backlit and it’s not as convenient on as MBA.

2. Unbeatable trackpad with multi-touch. Apple’s MBA trackpads are definitely responsive and undeniably nice to work with.

Experience with ASUS UX31E-DH52 13.3-Inch Thin and Light Ultrabook Laptop (Silver Aluminum)

Appearance wise, the zenbook has a very good looking design, and solid construction, it’s more business looking laptop from the compactness. It has brushed silver metal look which is definitely classy, however I personally wish it was in black.

Overall performance, this laptop comes with 1.7GHz i-5 2557M dual-core processor, 4 gigs of RAM, this machine’s speed is so fast.

It also comes with one USB 3.0 port which can transfer data real faster than the USB 2.0. It’s very helpful if you want to transer huge files frequently.

Zenbook includes 128GB SSD, which noticeably faster for daily computing tasks. I have tested games such as WoW, and SC2 work very well, but I honestly play games on my desktop. Why would I play a game in a small screen ultraportable laptop?

This laptop uses 6 cell battery and has amazing more than 5 hours of battery life. I have not tested strictly, but my laptop runs 5+ hours with 15% battery left and it was an active day with watching high definition movies and doing other computing stuff.

The most cool feature is the Asus instant on. This feature was MacBook Air’s popular feature, but now, this Windows machine can surpasses MBA on that point. It’s very crucial feature of the laptop’s brilliant power management.

At first, I didn’t know what I should do with this feature, so I uninstalled instant on feature, and suddenly, my screen went blue, so I strongly recommend, don’t uninstall it.

It’s really an awesome feature and very practical. You don’t have to wait for your laptop to turns on, you will be amazed and shocked by how this laptop will wake up instantly after the sleep mode, unless you have done full shut down.

Not only practical, but it gives a better impact on laptop user experience.

ASUS UX31E-DH52 Review Summary

If you are looking for a thin laptop, portable, powerful with long lasting battery, this machine is perfect.

With only 2.86 lbs, ASUS UX31E-DH52 was obviously designed for an ultraportable and powerful laptop, you can carry it anywhere.