Be very interested to see how this compares in performance to the dm1z, which I saw at Best Buy and thought it was quite an attractive package, and must cost about half of the Asus model.
The dm1z is about half the cost of the Zenbook, and also 1/5 the laptop that the Zenbook is. The dm1z is a step above a netbook, where the Zenbook is a full-fledged true laptop with a core i5 processor, way better build quality with better materials, etc. etc.
"The fact that there aren't any surprises is a very good thing as it means ASUS' default configuration doesn't include a bunch of battery-taxing bloatware."
Uhh, so what is Flash :-) And you are aware that Flash is not included by default on MBA?
It's been proven time and time again that Flash uses less resources than HTML5video. Especially under Windows where they have full access to HWA instead of being restricted to the APIs they can use like in OS X.
"'It's been proven time and time again that Flash uses less resources than HTML5video." What (may) have been proved is that Flash VIDEO uses less resources than HTML5 video. That is not what the issue here is.
I can't comment about Windows. But on Mac the problem with Flash is NOT (or at least not only) the video playback, it is the idlers, the code that constantly runs on the CPU and never allows the CPU to fully enter low power modes.
Note that it is precisely THIS that the test was measuring. Obviously "Flash ads" is a vague category, and, sure, maybe what Anand meant by the term was Flash ads playing back h264 video. But what most people mean by Flash ads is NOT h264 video --- it is some vector animation, some code to capture events --- and the dreaded idle handlers that I have discussed.
Given that HTML5 video does not come with a scripting language, it doesn't have these problems. Of course one could write JS that is extremely crappy in terms of how it handles idles, but as a practical matter it appears that the combination of real-world JS plus how Safari handles JS idling is substantially less power intensive than real-world Flash and the way Flash handles idling.
Flash also uses far less CPU usage for animations as well, not just video playback. It's far more efficient than HTML5. Not to mention more advanced and capable.
Apples own HTML5 demos run like total **** on the iPad, max out the CPU and get single digit frames per-second. Meanwhile Flash on a less powerful single core Android phone can do the same things at a perfect frame rate. Theres many videos out there proving all this.
"ASUS Zenbook UX21 First Results: Asus Eee pc-like Battery Life Under Windows 7 "ASUS Zenbook UX21 First Results: MBA-Like Battery Life Under Windows 7"
Considering the market share of Apple laptops and that battery life has fallen on the MBA...
It's all Apple, Apple, Apple with all the tech sites these days. Fair enough.
Or because Apple has industry leading battery life? My work provided me with a 15" MBP and that thing got 8 hours of battery life under the scenarios described above. 8 freaking hours. My previous laptop, a fujitsu convertible, managed about 7 hours with an extended battery and a modular battery in the optical tray.
Zenbook is too ugly thanks to its plastic looking and its washbasin likesd A side.
MBA11 also can upgrading to i7-2677M MBA11 with an awesome Thunderbolt Port but was there anything port of Zenbook can provide for such hyper data rate? MBA11 equiped a KeyBoard with backlight but zenbook only say sorry when in darkness MBA11 featuring 802.11n Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 4.0 but zenbook no
Wanna against MBA11 in battery life, please offset the backlit keyboard
Zenbook is too ugly thanks to its plastic looking and its washbasin likesd A side.
MBA11 also can upgrading to i7-2677M MBA11 with an awesome Thunderbolt Port but was there anything port of Zenbook can provide for such hyper data rate? MBA11 equiped a KeyBoard with backlight but zenbook only say sorry when in darkness MBA11 featuring 802.11n Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 4.0 but zenbook no
Wanna against MBA11 in battery life, please offset the backlit keyboard
I love the way it looks and so do many others, including Anand (who is a Mac fan) It has USB3, which already has thousands of devices you can use with it. It's not as fast as thunderbolt but it is more useful. It's easily fast enough for external storage. Not sure about the backlit keyboard but it does have way better speakers then the MBA. It has 802.11n and Bluetooth 4 A backlit keyboard only uses a few mW, it's just a few tiny LEDs.
Was the MBA running Windows 7 or OS X? Apple is notorious for shoddy drivers that result in abysmal battery life under Windows 7. The article says "under Windows 7" but it's a bit ambiguous.
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MrCromulent - Tuesday, October 18, 2011 - link
I've got 1200 bucks to spend. As soon as anyone of you builds an Ultrabook with a matte high-res screen, I'll happily give you my money.DanNeely - Tuesday, October 18, 2011 - link
Does 1600x900 count? Someone, IIRC ASUS is selling 13" models with that resolution.I wouldn't hold my breath for 1080p; OS DPI scaling just has too many problems for it to be viable beyond a very small niche of users.
amdwilliam1985 - Tuesday, October 18, 2011 - link
Is the screen with a black bezel?Why would they make a silver laptop with black bezel?
tipoo - Tuesday, October 18, 2011 - link
Less distracting while watching fullscreen video IMO. I like it.michael2k - Wednesday, October 19, 2011 - link
Because that's what Apple did?frozentundra123456 - Tuesday, October 18, 2011 - link
Be very interested to see how this compares in performance to the dm1z, which I saw at Best Buy and thought it was quite an attractive package, and must cost about half of the Asus model.welshy992 - Tuesday, October 18, 2011 - link
you can see the difference above, the e-350 in the MSI x370 is the same as the e-350 in the hp dm1zFlyBri - Wednesday, October 19, 2011 - link
The dm1z is about half the cost of the Zenbook, and also 1/5 the laptop that the Zenbook is. The dm1z is a step above a netbook, where the Zenbook is a full-fledged true laptop with a core i5 processor, way better build quality with better materials, etc. etc.name99 - Tuesday, October 18, 2011 - link
"The fact that there aren't any surprises is a very good thing as it means ASUS' default configuration doesn't include a bunch of battery-taxing bloatware."Uhh, so what is Flash :-) And you are aware that Flash is not included by default on MBA?
Solidstate89 - Tuesday, October 18, 2011 - link
It's been proven time and time again that Flash uses less resources than HTML5video. Especially under Windows where they have full access to HWA instead of being restricted to the APIs they can use like in OS X.name99 - Tuesday, October 18, 2011 - link
"'It's been proven time and time again that Flash uses less resources than HTML5video."What (may) have been proved is that Flash VIDEO uses less resources than HTML5 video. That is not what the issue here is.
I can't comment about Windows. But on Mac the problem with Flash is NOT (or at least not only) the video playback, it is the idlers, the code that constantly runs on the CPU and never allows the CPU to fully enter low power modes.
Note that it is precisely THIS that the test was measuring.
Obviously "Flash ads" is a vague category, and, sure, maybe what Anand meant by the term was Flash ads playing back h264 video. But what most people mean by Flash ads is NOT h264 video --- it is some vector animation, some code to capture events --- and the dreaded idle handlers that I have discussed.
Given that HTML5 video does not come with a scripting language, it doesn't have these problems. Of course one could write JS that is extremely crappy in terms of how it handles idles, but as a practical matter it appears that the combination of real-world JS plus how Safari handles JS idling is substantially less power intensive than real-world Flash and the way Flash handles idling.
B3an - Wednesday, October 19, 2011 - link
Flash also uses far less CPU usage for animations as well, not just video playback. It's far more efficient than HTML5. Not to mention more advanced and capable.Apples own HTML5 demos run like total **** on the iPad, max out the CPU and get single digit frames per-second. Meanwhile Flash on a less powerful single core Android phone can do the same things at a perfect frame rate. Theres many videos out there proving all this.
damianrobertjones - Wednesday, October 19, 2011 - link
Couldn't the title have been"ASUS Zenbook UX21 First Results: Asus Eee pc-like Battery Life Under Windows 7
"ASUS Zenbook UX21 First Results: MBA-Like Battery Life Under Windows 7"
Considering the market share of Apple laptops and that battery life has fallen on the MBA...
It's all Apple, Apple, Apple with all the tech sites these days. Fair enough.
kmmatney - Wednesday, October 19, 2011 - link
between the chiclet keyboard and huge trackpad, it does seem to be copying the Mac laptops somewhat.tayb - Thursday, October 20, 2011 - link
Or because Apple has industry leading battery life? My work provided me with a 15" MBP and that thing got 8 hours of battery life under the scenarios described above. 8 freaking hours. My previous laptop, a fujitsu convertible, managed about 7 hours with an extended battery and a modular battery in the optical tray.komoornik - Wednesday, October 19, 2011 - link
Please make sure to update the BIOS ( or EFI ) and drivers to the newest versions available :)billy_kane - Thursday, October 20, 2011 - link
Zenbook is too ugly thanks to its plastic looking and its washbasin likesd A side.MBA11 also can upgrading to i7-2677M
MBA11 with an awesome Thunderbolt Port but was there anything port of Zenbook can provide for such hyper data rate?
MBA11 equiped a KeyBoard with backlight but zenbook only say sorry when in darkness
MBA11 featuring 802.11n Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 4.0 but zenbook no
Wanna against MBA11 in battery life, please offset the backlit keyboard
billy_kane - Thursday, October 20, 2011 - link
Zenbook is too ugly thanks to its plastic looking and its washbasin likesd A side.MBA11 also can upgrading to i7-2677M
MBA11 with an awesome Thunderbolt Port but was there anything port of Zenbook can provide for such hyper data rate?
MBA11 equiped a KeyBoard with backlight but zenbook only say sorry when in darkness
MBA11 featuring 802.11n Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 4.0 but zenbook no
Wanna against MBA11 in battery life, please offset the backlit keyboard
iamezza - Friday, October 21, 2011 - link
He already had a more detailed comparison article (which was linked in the article)http://www.anandtech.com/show/4957/asus-zenbook-li...
I love the way it looks and so do many others, including Anand (who is a Mac fan)
It has USB3, which already has thousands of devices you can use with it. It's not as fast as thunderbolt but it is more useful. It's easily fast enough for external storage.
Not sure about the backlit keyboard but it does have way better speakers then the MBA.
It has 802.11n and Bluetooth 4
A backlit keyboard only uses a few mW, it's just a few tiny LEDs.
ebatts - Thursday, October 20, 2011 - link
Does anyone know the model number of the Zenbook's battery yet?tayb - Thursday, October 20, 2011 - link
Was the MBA running Windows 7 or OS X? Apple is notorious for shoddy drivers that result in abysmal battery life under Windows 7. The article says "under Windows 7" but it's a bit ambiguous.Thanks
komoornik - Friday, October 21, 2011 - link
what's the eta for the review? :)