I'm french and I think there is an error when you convert the price from € to $. In france, the VAT is included in the 999 € and the equivalent MBA-128Go is selling at 1249 € (so more or less a 25% difference between Apple and Asus). I think you should expect the same kind of difference in the US.
Except, that a 1 on 1 conversion (dollar price is euro price) is more of a rule then using the exchange rate. It's almost always the case. So, representing that these notebooks will cost 1100 and 1350 dollars doesn't make any sense.
Either way, converting the prices of different regions is a murky task.
Mr. Cunningham included both his interpretation of potential NA USD prices and unedited French EUR prices. I don't think we can ask much more from him.
The 6Gb/s SATA SSDs are a nice feature. For what it's worth, OWC charges $150 extra for the 6Gb/s drives over 3Gb/s drives with comparable storage capacity.
For comparison, the base MacBook Air starts at EUR949, while the base 13" starts at EUR1249, so ASUS does appear to be undercutting Apple's prices. The SSDs are an upgrade to Apple, as is the resolution on the 13" model, so it will be interesting to see how the other specs compare (e.g. what processor do you get in the EUR799 and 999 models?).
If this is correct, the models line up almost exactly to the MacBook Air. The 11.6" version sports a 1.6GHz Core i5 and 64GB SSD at €799 vs €949 in France for the base MacBook Air. The base 13.3" versions has a 1.7GHz Core i5 and 128GB SSD for €999 vs €1149 for the base 13.3" MacBook Air. If it's true, the sweet spot would be the €1199 upgraded model which purportedly has a 256GB SSD and 1.8GHz Core i7 (compared to €1649 for the top of the line MacBook Air). I'm skeptical of the latter, since the SSD itself should account for more than €200, so maybe that's for a Core i7 and 128GB SSD.
Anyway, it appears that ASUS is attempting to undercut Apple by €150. I'd guess that the differential would be $150 in the US (meaning we'll see an $800 base model with 64GB SSD and the 1.6GHz Core i5). That would be pretty nice, and would indicate that other manufacturers ought to be able to come close when they release their Ultrabooks.
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plafay - Monday, September 26, 2011 - link
Hello,I'm french and I think there is an error when you convert the price from € to $.
In france, the VAT is included in the 999 € and the equivalent MBA-128Go is selling at 1249 € (so more or less a 25% difference between Apple and Asus).
I think you should expect the same kind of difference in the US.
Andrew.a.cunningham - Monday, September 26, 2011 - link
Right - all I can do is calculate the current exchange rate. We'll see what ASUS' US price strategy is after the reveal.AgeOfPanic - Monday, September 26, 2011 - link
Except, that a 1 on 1 conversion (dollar price is euro price) is more of a rule then using the exchange rate. It's almost always the case. So, representing that these notebooks will cost 1100 and 1350 dollars doesn't make any sense.ImSpartacus - Monday, September 26, 2011 - link
Either way, converting the prices of different regions is a murky task.Mr. Cunningham included both his interpretation of potential NA USD prices and unedited French EUR prices. I don't think we can ask much more from him.
OCedHrt - Monday, September 26, 2011 - link
I think the point is that if you were to buy this from EU and have it shipped to the US, it would cost less than a 1 to 1 conversion.It would probably be about 900€ for the cheaper one after shipping. Or as plafay provided, a comparison with Apple's price in EU makes more sense.
Sunburn74 - Monday, September 26, 2011 - link
Nice laptops but Asus customer support is atrocious. Stay away imo.JoeTF - Monday, September 26, 2011 - link
Wait - just one USB port?Are they insane?
Andrew.a.cunningham - Monday, September 26, 2011 - link
One USB 2.0 plus one USB 3.0, for two total.KPOM - Monday, September 26, 2011 - link
The 6Gb/s SATA SSDs are a nice feature. For what it's worth, OWC charges $150 extra for the 6Gb/s drives over 3Gb/s drives with comparable storage capacity.For comparison, the base MacBook Air starts at EUR949, while the base 13" starts at EUR1249, so ASUS does appear to be undercutting Apple's prices. The SSDs are an upgrade to Apple, as is the resolution on the 13" model, so it will be interesting to see how the other specs compare (e.g. what processor do you get in the EUR799 and 999 models?).
KPOM - Monday, September 26, 2011 - link
Here is the original source:http://www.laptopspirit.fr/98140/asus-ux21-et-ux31...
If this is correct, the models line up almost exactly to the MacBook Air. The 11.6" version sports a 1.6GHz Core i5 and 64GB SSD at €799 vs €949 in France for the base MacBook Air. The base 13.3" versions has a 1.7GHz Core i5 and 128GB SSD for €999 vs €1149 for the base 13.3" MacBook Air. If it's true, the sweet spot would be the €1199 upgraded model which purportedly has a 256GB SSD and 1.8GHz Core i7 (compared to €1649 for the top of the line MacBook Air). I'm skeptical of the latter, since the SSD itself should account for more than €200, so maybe that's for a Core i7 and 128GB SSD.
Anyway, it appears that ASUS is attempting to undercut Apple by €150. I'd guess that the differential would be $150 in the US (meaning we'll see an $800 base model with 64GB SSD and the 1.6GHz Core i5). That would be pretty nice, and would indicate that other manufacturers ought to be able to come close when they release their Ultrabooks.
jrocks84 - Monday, September 26, 2011 - link
The 13" certainly has a good resolution. Hopefully it's quality is good too.DanNeely - Monday, September 26, 2011 - link
Has anyone released a 1600x900 panel that didn't suck?OBLAMA2009 - Monday, September 26, 2011 - link
its priced too high. someone needs to tell them that windows machines arent worth that muchNatter - Tuesday, March 6, 2012 - link
Positive aspects of the ASUS UX31 ZenBook:• Very high quality of workmanship
• Stylish Casing
• Lightweight
• Good keyboard
• Very fast SSD
• Very bright display
and i find more info and Asus UX31 reviews at www.ultrabookprice.net
Natter - Tuesday, March 6, 2012 - link
i' forgot linkhttp://www.ultrabookprice.net