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Got myself a new toy... :) Needed something a bit more portable than the M15x.

So far I really like it, the screen is simply amazing (11.3 inch 1080p IPS panel...) Simply fantastic, super clear picture, sharp text, vibrant colors.

Here some first impressions:

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I'm actually not a big fan of Asus notebooks, but this is by far the best Ultrabook I've ever seen... I really like the design, build quality is very good as far as I can tell after this short while. Did I already mention the screen?

It's super thin, weighs about 1.1kg, 2x USB 3.0, 1x micro HDMI, USB to miniVGA adapter is included, as well as USB to ethernet.

Ah, and it comes with a lot of unnecessary software... take a look at the used space of the stock installation and the first desktop you see:

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Some quick benchmarks on complete stock installation, no tweaks, also WEI:

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Don't have much time at the moment, will try to make a clean install of Win7 when I figure out how to... Solved that - just put the USB 3.0 driver on the USB stick -.-

I'll see that I can do a repaste when I get around to do so, want to see the this system disassembled.

If you want to know something specific, let me know.

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Wow thats some amount of crapware. But thats a nice IPS there. Why you need do you need to reoaste that cpu leave it to Asus. Glad to see tear down pics. It must be much easier to haul than that m15x.

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Check out the WEI screenshot in the first post :)

It's pretty much all in there, 4GB 1333MHz RAM (on board), 256GB SSD (Adata XM11, proprietary thing), Intel Core i7 3517U, Intel Centrino Advanced-N 6235 Wlan card, awesome 1080p 11.3 inch IPS screen, keyboard, unibody... what did I forgot? Ah, I think it has wireless HD technology, but need to re-check this, not sure. No need for it anyway, at least not at the moment.

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Oh right. :D

I don't think it's a unibody like Macbooks, however. The specs look pretty sweet. Whenever you'll have more time, can you comment on temperatures of the CPU and chasis? It's really interesting they went with i7 CPU in that thin chasis. With USB 3.0 dock station you'd be able to hook up a lot of things and I am guessing get great speeds.

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I've been wanting an ultrabook for using while in bed or on trips since the M18x is a beast. What do you think after owning it for a few days? And how does it handle games?

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I don't think it's a unibody like Macbooks, however. The specs look pretty sweet. Whenever you'll have more time, can you comment on temperatures of the CPU and chasis? It's really interesting they went with i7 CPU in that thin chasis. With USB 3.0 dock station you'd be able to hook up a lot of things and I am guessing get great speeds.

I think it is, at least all I can see is the backplate and the rest, two pieces. Take a look at the pics. Though I might be wrong, and it has been a while since I've seen a Mc book air.

It's also available with the i5 as far as I know. USB 3.0 dock station could be a good idea, though I will mainly use it as portable system, not stationary.

To be honest, I didn't spend a lot of time with it so far. I reinstalled Win7 (took me a while to figure out how... lol) and did some quick tests with Throttlestop, that's it. It got up to 85°C if I remember correctly, but I haven't seen throttling and it boosted up to 28x. I will post more details when I spent more time with it.

I've been wanting an ultrabook for using while in bed or on trips since the M18x is a beast. What do you think after owning it for a few days? And how does it handle games?

Really can't tell much, as I said, didn't do a lot with it so far, but the screen is reason enough to get an ultrabook of this series, really. I also like the design, in real life it looks much better than on the pics. There's also the UX32VD version, with a Nvidia GPU, but I heard that the build quality is lower and no unibody... So I'd recommend taking a look at the UX31A or UX21A.

Keyboard... it's okay, but I really need to get used to it.

Edit: By the way, after deleting the recovery partition and reinstalling Win7, drivers and only the Asus software I need, I got 219GB free space on the SSD (out of a total of 238GB). Stock was only 182.5GB free space...

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Lol i didnt mean more popped out of nowhwere. Yeah i hate recovery partitio s they just get to me too. You can save from 10-20gb just on a recovery partition then between deleting a bunch of included crap and perhaps diaabling and deleting hybernation file that usually save a lot of space. Keeping virtual memory limited a bit lower on these ssds also helps. But as you have it now you got rid of all the Asus bull. What your at now ids average for most Wjndows installs anyway. Lol just was surprised at the amount you saved lol

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Really can't tell much, as I said, didn't do a lot with it so far, but the screen is reason enough to get an ultrabook of this series, really. I also like the design, in real life it looks much better than on the pics. There's also the UX32VD version, with a Nvidia GPU, but I heard that the build quality is lower and no unibody... So I'd recommend taking a look at the UX31A or UX21A.

Keyboard... it's okay, but I really need to get used to it.

Edit: By the way, after deleting the recovery partition and reinstalling Win7, drivers and only the Asus software I need, I got 219GB free space on the SSD (out of a total of 238GB). Stock was only 182.5GB free space...

OK uh my mistake, I got confused. I thought it was the same laptop as 13" version (which isn't unibody)! The thing with ASUS in the US, they don't have a central website for shopping, but you have to go through resellers which may or may not have the exact models that one wants. For this laptop, I don't even know where would I go about if I wanted to buy it.

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Same here, you only can get it from resellers. As far as I know there's also a 12 inch unibody model, the UX31A, but there's also the UX32VD, and that one isn't unibody, at least that's what I've read a while ago, I might be mistaken. The UX32VD is available with a dedicated Nvidia GPU and a regular 2.5 inch drive (replaceable). It also has one SODIMM slot which allows to extend the amount or RAM. However it seems it's not as nicely built as the UX21A/31A... but I haven't seen one in real life so far.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Hey, I've been looking everywhere for the ux21a. Where did you buy yours? Also, does the ux21a allow you to run the i7 at 16W? You can check under your power/battery settings. Click "Change advanced power settings, and scroll down to "Intel Dynamic Platform and Thermal Framework Settings." My ux31a (core i5) can only run at 13W 1.0GHz or 1.7GHz, which is rather irritating since it's supposed to be a 17W chip.

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Hey, welcome to T|I! I got it from a local online retailer in Switzerland (digitec).

It's 16W, check the Throttlestop screenshot I posted here. The TDP is actually configurable, haven't played a lot with it so far, but the CPU performance is really incredible for such a small factor machine.

Check out the latest Throttlestop beta, you might be able to push your CPU a bit more.

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Thanks for the info. I'm just surprised I can't choose 16W in my power settings (Anandtech reviewed the ux21a and they have a pic of four different power options in the basic Windows settings, two of which are at 16W). I'll try TS though. I really wish they would release the ux21a over here in the US, I'd really prefer the smaller form factor.

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It's not available in the states? Didn't know this.

Yes, try TS, it's an amazing tool when it comes to CPU monitoring and tuning. Would be interesting to hear how it works on the i5.

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Yeah, sadly it isn't available anywhere over here. The ux31a and 32vd are both available from amazon, but not the 21a. Could I void my warranty by using TS? I'd like to try it out, but I may exchange this laptop for the 21a if it becomes available in the next week, and I wouldn't want to do anything that would keep me from returning my 31a.

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Hey, I've been looking everywhere for the ux21a. Where did you buy yours? Also, does the ux21a allow you to run the i7 at 16W? You can check under your power/battery settings. Click "Change advanced power settings, and scroll down to "Intel Dynamic Platform and Thermal Framework Settings." My ux31a (core i5) can only run at 13W 1.0GHz or 1.7GHz, which is rather irritating since it's supposed to be a 17W chip.

I just bought a UX21A here in Hong Kong. They have had them for a few weeks now here.

Spec is:

UX21A-1AK1

11.6 FHD IPS Matte LED 1920 × 1080 (AMAZING!)

6 Cell 4800

I7 Ivy Bridge CPU

256GB SSD

4GB DDR3 RAM

Win 7 ($15 upgrade to Windows 8 when it’s released)

2 year worldwide warranty.

Backlit Keyboard

I’ve had it a few days now and so far I have no issues with WIFI. The keyboard is nice to type on. The trackpad takes a little tweaking but is no way as bad as people say. The screen is sooooo good with the matte finish and IPS...a little bleeding on the screen but nothing to worry about. Again the sizing DPI needs some tweaking but it’s worth it…I’ve never seen colours look so rich and I’m looking at the web world in a whole new light.

It boots in around 5 seconds. Battery life at the moment is around 5h 58mins. The screen does have a tendency to drop back a little when fully maxed out but it’s not an annoyance.

Cost me 11750 HK$ which translates to GBP £968 or US $1514

Again..that screen is awesome…sorry Mac Air but what I look at when I’m doing my stuff is important to me more than anything so have to see..sorry airs but you don’t compete with this one.

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Here are some pics of the configurable tdp section in my ux31a, and the ux21a Anand received for review. As you can see, mine only has 13W options, while Anand's has two 13W options, and a 16W option. Might this be due to the fact that mine has an i5 while the ux21a he tested had an i7?

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Max TDP of the i5 3317U is 17W, but it's possible that they configured it lower... download TS 5.0 beta to see whether you can adjust the level. It's possible on my UX21A.

Also I think Anand had the i7 version, yes.

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  • 2 weeks later...

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