New! Powerful Gaming Ultrabook!

[Uncle Julian]

Anyone else pumped about this up-coming Zenbook by ASUS in the next coming weeks? Can't wait to part with my money >.<

http://www.ultrabookreview.com/1948-...k-u500-review/

Make: ASUS
Model: Zenbook U500
Thickest point: 19mm
GPU: GT650m
CPU: i7-3612QM 2.1 GHz (turbo to 3.1 GHz)
RAM: 8GB 1600 MHz
Storage: 512 GB SSD (2 x 256 in RAID 0)
Resolution: Full HD 1080p
Price: Unknown, speculation +/- $2,000 USD.

[protput]

Pretty damn overpriced if you ask me...

[Deleted]

It looks nice and all, but $2000 it's just not worth it. If i had that kind of money to blow on a laptop, I would rather spent $300-400 more and get the top line Razer Blade notebook, which IMO looks much much better.

[Uncle Julian]

When you can't compromise power with size, prices get jumpy indeed

[Deleted]

not really however expect the price to be more around 1600 usd (depends if they cheap out on ssd or not)
for a gaming laptop however it brings serious mobility advantages , for being truly mobile for school meh imo 15" is too big for normal bags most of the time.
there will likely be some kind of option with a HDD/SSD caching version and just manually swap for 1 SSD to get massive performance and likely save money. (or atleast that worked for ux31 and ux32 series)

[Deleted]

not really however expect the price to be more around 1600 usd (depends if they cheap out on ssd or not)
for a gaming laptop however it brings serious mobility advantages , for being truly mobile for school meh imo 15" is too big for normal bags most of the time.
there will likely be some kind of option with a HDD/SSD caching version and just manually swap for 1 SSD to get massive performance and likely save money. (or atleast that worked for ux31 and ux32 series)

The prices are in the review, just saying.

ASUS UX51Vz-XH71 – the top version, with a similar config to the laptop tested here, but a 512 GB Raid 0 SSD, going for around $2499 in the US and around 2000 euros in Europe;

ASUS UX51Vz-DH71 – a cheaper version, going for $1900 in the US and around 1700 euro in Europe, and sporting only a 128 GB SSD, from what we know right now.

[Uncle Julian]

It looks nice and all, but $2000 it's just not worth it. If i had that kind of money to blow on a laptop, I would rather spent $300-400 more and get the top line Razer Blade notebook, which IMO looks much much better.

I see where you're coming from. As a student, I prioritize size and portability above all else though. It wouldn't do too well to whip out one of those in each of my classes, but the ASUS is quite small and sleek and would not be obtrusive at all. Just a matter of different needs I suppose

[Deleted]

The prices are in the review, just saying.

no sources hence i question them and kinda lean more towards my own guesstimate (don't forget some regions get a pretty big price slash with tax cuts)

---------- Post added 2012-10-23 at 05:19 PM ----------

no sources hence i question them and kinda lean more towards my own guesstimate (don't forget some regions get a pretty big price slash with tax cuts)

nvm actually just found some on newegg

[Gringgotts]

I'm currently a student and I wouldn't trade my desktop for anything. I get by just fine in class the old fashioned way (pen and paper).

[Deleted]

I see where you're coming from. As a student, I prioritize size and portability above all else though. It wouldn't do too well to whip out one of those in each of my classes, but the ASUS is quite small and sleek and would not be obtrusive at all. Just a matter of different needs I suppose

The Razer blade is only 22.4mm thick, makes it about 3mm thicker then the ASUS one. I guess i'm yet to catch up with the "slimness" race but I actually still prefer thick, solid laptops, even as a student, I would like to know my laptop could take a little beating before breaking.

[Lycanerd]

The prices are in the review, just saying.

Those may be the MSRP but almost 0 retail stores sell at that price. Most places will sell at their cost to supply it, banking on their ability to sell accessories/protection plans etc along with it. Believe it or not, most consumers have never payed MSRP for a computer; that price is too high to be attractive, and it's easier to get people to buy accessories that actually make you about a 50-90% profit margin. Meaning if all you need is the laptop you will be able to get it much cheaper than the original price of two grand.

[chazus]

Dell has an Inspiron 17R for about $900 with pretty much the same specs (650m, 8gb ram, i5 instead of i7, since thats a waste)

So yeah, nice laptop but a waste of a thousand bucks. Designed for people who like to buy alienware, and don't care about money.

[Deleted]

Bah, you can buy Lenovo Y580 with i7 3160, 8GB ram, and GTX660 2GB for around 1,100$. And the power is way better, for way lower price.

[Uncle Julian]

The Razer blade is only 22.4mm thick, makes it about 3mm thicker then the ASUS one. I guess i'm yet to catch up with the "slimness" race but I actually still prefer thick, solid laptops, even as a student, I would like to know my laptop could take a little beating before breaking.

I was speaking mainly about the 17" form factor

---------- Post added 2012-10-23 at 11:45 AM ----------

Dell has an Inspiron 17R for about $900 with pretty much the same specs (650m, 8gb ram, i5 instead of i7, since thats a waste)

So yeah, nice laptop but a waste of a thousand bucks. Designed for people who like to buy alienware, and don't care about money.

I wouldn't touch Dell with a 10-foot pole. Worst products ever. Also, yes you can get these specs on many laptops, but their quite a bit thicker and heavier. This is for people who don't want to or can't compromise power with portability (Like I said above already :P). Also, Dell owns Alienware just fyi

[Deleted]

Dell has an Inspiron 17R for about $900 with pretty much the same specs (650m, 8gb ram, i5 instead of i7, since thats a waste)

So yeah, nice laptop but a waste of a thousand bucks. Designed for people who like to buy alienware, and don't care about money.

and lets not forget the resolution hmm k? (1600x900 dell stuff vs 1920x1080) also WD led vs IPS are worlds apart........

[inux94]

Pretty damn overpriced if you ask me...

For the amount of hardware crammed into that weight & dimension, not really.

Also the display is IPS.

[Deleted]

and lets not forget the resolution hmm k? (1600x900 dell stuff vs 1920x1080) also WD led vs IPS are worlds apart........

Might be in quality but are they $1,500 apart? Not really no.

[jmacphee9]

For the amount of hardware crammed into that weight & dimension, not really.

Also the display is IPS.

i have to agree with inux, that thing is almost damn impressive if you ask me... it would be really nice if you could drop it down to an i5 to save some dough though.
the display is one of the best out there for a laptop, and probably the best sub-2000$ display.. 650m will be fine for mobile gaming.

also the bang&olfusen speakers with an external mini-sub, how effing cool?

[jmacphee9]

Might be in quality but are they $1,500 apart? Not really no.

where is this 500$ dell with a 1600x900 res screen, i7 cpu, 650m gpu, and in a slim package?

$2K?.......you can get a gaming desktop for that price.

well of course you can? desktops are way cheaper then laptops, especially gaming level ones.

[George]

I can't play games comfortably on a laptop, so I find find it useless. Pass.

So thin, so powerful, get ready to get burned - literally.