17May ASUS Zenbook 13.3 Inch Ultrabook
I have a very nice editing laptop that I travel with, but sometimes you want something that you have absolutely no real need for and this is one of them. The Asus Zenbook 13.3 inch ultrabook has a beautiful screen, the keyboard responds smoothly and the track pad is nice and large. I’m sure the Best Buy works were tired of me hanging around the laptop section for over an hour this morning “just looking”.
Many of you probably know that I edit on a PC despite the fact that most people I work with use a Mac. A lot of them have been moving to the Macbook Air as their primary laptop, but as a life time PC user, I’ve never been able to get used to the way OSX is setup. I once spent half an hour trying to figure out how to save an image from the web, when someone finally showed me that I just needed to click on the image and drag it to the desktop. No right click, save image as, and picking a folder, my brain has gotten used to that and now it’s hard for me to do anything else.
Sure I could run boot camp and get my windows apps, but as with most Apple products you pay extra but never quit get top of the line PC specs. Of course the elegant design of Apple products usually makes up the difference. While the Asus Zenbook 13.3 inch ultrabook doesn’t have a back lit keyboard and some complain about the sharp corners, it does have a higher res 1600×900 display screen, Intel Core i7 processor (instead of the i5 in the Air) and it’s about $300 dollars less then the fully loaded Mackbook air at $1300. I’m sure the battery life is better on the Air then on the Zenbook, but I think the trade off is probably fine for the boost in performance.
The Asus Zenbook 13.3 inch ultrabook is definitely on my list of wants, but I doubt it will make it onto my list of needs anytime soon. Regardless, it certainly is a sweet looking machine.
May 17th, 2012 at 11:02 pm
“No right click, save image as, and picking a folder, my brain has gotten used to that and now it’s hard for me to do anything else.”
That’s exactly what you can do, here’s a screenshot:
http://desmond.imageshack.us/Himg31/scaled.php?server=31&filename=shotwh.jpg&res=landing
The dragging to the desktop part is just a bonus.
May 21st, 2012 at 7:15 am
Good to know. Thanks!
May 18th, 2012 at 1:17 am
ASUS has improved a product quality in thier top range laptops. Backlit keyboard is the less problem a user meets. Whats most important its the work process and your workflow. I7 is certainly faster than its predecessor, but do I need longer battery time to do the work or happy with the speed? More resolution means slowness and more battery.
The choice of mac is related to the persons character. Most of them like it for the system minimalism.
– an advice, next time you ask a person about mac commands, ask somebody who moved on, after the mellinium and didn’t stick to the old os9 😉
May 18th, 2012 at 4:59 am
300$ less? here in portugal the Asus costs like 20€\15$ less then the MBA…
I understand what you say about the MacOS and the old habits on windows, i changed to macos a few years ago and in the first week was a bit awkward, now its exactly the opposite, i still use windows in some machines but when i use them i get really annoyed, press control instead of command and things like that XD And the trackpad, i’m so used to the gestures, i find myself swiping two fingers on some windows laptops and wait for it to scroll (i know that some have that feature but its nothing like apple’s)
May 18th, 2012 at 12:38 pm
“I’ve never been able to get used to the way OSX is setup. I once spent half an hour trying to figure out how to save an image from the web, when someone finally showed me that I just needed to click on the image and drag it to the desktop. No right click, save image as, and picking a folder”, Reconsider: right click, “save image under” (or whatever in English), choose folder etc…. or drag to wherever you want (which if I’m not mistaken you can also do under Windows). Not that different.
May 18th, 2012 at 10:14 pm
There is absolutely a right click, a save as and anything else you could think of. I’m not sure if your friend was aware of this but it’s an extremely easy thing to do. You should head to your local apple store for a quick run through of the OS. It’s dumb how simple and straight forward it actually is. Not bashing anything you or your friend was saying but being a Mac user for over 4 years now and using it for all of my post production etc. and filmmaking needs it really shines once youre open to it. Well that’s my two cents. Love the website btw.
May 21st, 2012 at 7:29 am
Erik, I’m defiantly not a pro mac user. My few experience has been that it’s so straight forward that I over look the solution. Maybe if I took the time to learn all of the multi-touch gestures and other random things I might fall in love. If I ever have a full month free to dig in maybe I’ll setup a OSX “hackintosh” boot on my editing system and give it another try.
May 22nd, 2012 at 11:37 pm
My friend did this as he is an avid pc user and seems to like the setup.
May 19th, 2012 at 2:34 am
heya – just wanted to know you that I recommend you to wait a little longer. ASUS will release the new Zenbook with dedicated graphics at the end of the year.
http://bestlaptopnews.com/asus-zenbook-ux32vd-adds-dedicated-nvidia-geforce-gt620m/
greetings – benjamin
May 21st, 2012 at 7:30 am
Thanks for the tip, a dedicated graphics card would be great.
May 19th, 2012 at 1:54 pm
Would you recommend a 15 or 17 inch laptop (both HD screens) for editing and some traveling?
I’m leaning more towards the 15 inch but maybe the extra few inches will be benificial.
IDK just want your opinion
May 21st, 2012 at 7:34 am
My current laptop is a 15 inch with a 1920×1080 display. I used to work on a monster 17 inch laptop with a 1600×900 display about 5 years ago and the few extra inches of space savings is worth it for traveling. The less weight I have in my backpack the better is my opinion.
May 19th, 2012 at 4:46 pm
You just listed all the reasons why I am a PC user instead of a Mac user as well. Not to mention that paying a premium price for lesser specs goes against the entire theme of this website.
May 25th, 2012 at 8:21 am
Looks like ASUS is about to release their next generation laptops and really improved things – http://www.anandtech.com/show/5843/asus-zenbook-prime-ux21a-review
May 25th, 2012 at 10:45 am
Good call! 1080p screen for the same price is a big positive, plus the dedicated graphics card (NVIDIA 620M) would be very nice indeed. I might have to hold out tell the end of summer and see what’s next.