The Asus Zenbook UX31E was the first laptop to nearly nail the Ultrabook formula. It buzzed with potential: it had the looks, the power, the stamina and, crucially, the price. Now, Asus has answered the criticisms levelled at its original Zenbook and rung the changes for its new model, the Zenbook Prime UX31A. With the addition of a gorgeous 13.3in Full HD screen, Intel’s latest Ivy Bridge technology and a backlit keyboard, it's gunning for the money-no-object Ultrabook crown.
From the outside, the Zenbook is just as pretty as it ever was. A dark swirl of metal spins across the lid, softening into a lighter brushed metal across the base, and the sharp, crisp lines of the Zenbook’s body are undeniably attractive. Weight-wise, the UX31A remains firmly in the featherweight camp, with its 1.4kg body light enough so you'll forget it’s in your bag. We’re fans of the compact wall-wart power supply, too – it adds a mere 200g to the overall weight.
Thanks to the presence of an Intel Ivy Bridge CPU, however, the UX31A’s stamina is unlikely to leave you rushing to a mains socket on a particularly frequent basis. Dim the screen and turn off the wireless radio, and the UX31A will keep on going for 9hrs 5mins. Pile on the pressure, and the Core i7-3517U processor, 4GB of RAM and 256GB SSD relish the challenge. A result of 0.68 in our Real World Benchmarks puts the Asus just ahead of the Sandy Bridge Core i7 in the previous model, which scored 0.62.
Gaming performance still isn’t going to set the world on fire, but the Prime's Intel HD Graphics 4000 GPU is far more capable than the previous generation. The 37fps average in our low detail Crysis test drops to 19fps at 1,600 x 900 and Medium detail settings, but this remains an impressive level of performance for such a dainty machine. Keep the resolution and detail settings to more modest levels, and this pint-sized portable will gladly deliver a basic level of gaming performance.
Source: Asus Zenbook Prime UX31A review | Laptops | Reviews | PC Pro http://www.pcpro.co.uk/reviews/laptops/375829/asus-zenbook-prime-ux31a#ixzz20VxWiQrx
