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ASUS UX21 Ultrabook- serious MBA competition?

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At the end of the day it still runs windows. No thanks.
 
soundguy15 said:
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At the end of the day it still runs windows. No thanks.
Click to expand...

That's what I thought, but it could be tempting for someone who likes windows and is dual-booting their MBA... :rolleyes:
 
Not if it's not any cheaper. ASUS makes a good computer, but you're still stuck with only Windows. Not that Win 7 is actually that bad, but still.
 
There will be a number of these coming out. Look up "ultrabook" and you'll see that Intel is backing these. I think it's a good thing. The ASUS will use the 1.7GHz i5 in the 11" model, and it will have USB 3.0, so it's a better choice for someone looking to run Windows 7. The more competition there is, the better the next MacBook Air will be.

That said, what I see happening is that the ultrabooks will mostly pick up share that would have gone to Windows PCs, anyway. If these become enterprise machines of choice, I'll be really happy, since I don't like using a 5lb clunker at the office, and my employer (along with most) are unlikely to switch to Macs, particularly since Apple has this habit of breaking compatibility every so often (such as with Lion and PowerPC applications).

At the consumer level, I think Apple will continue to do well. The MacBook Air is the original "ultrabook."
 
An ultrabook with Windows 8 might not be so bad, if priced under the Air. Unfortunately, other manufacturers often have mediocre implementations of the clickpad. But it's great to see this direction on the PC front.
 
Yeah, as of today I will happily take the Win7 running ASUS over Lion running Air. That way I can actually use my computer.

For Windows and Linux users it looks like the ultimate choice - if the price is right it will sell good.
 
They will fail

Why is it that other companies tend to try to play catchup and copy instead of innovate? Apple has a history of competing within their own product line. The Air was a exercise in portability to go beyond what the Windows XP 1GB/160GB netbooks. They produced the iPad and it took the air out at the knees. They updated the air then the iPad again while the rest of the market struggled, unsuccessfully, to create a tablet to be the "iPad killer". The latest air is a huge step forward that the PC Market will attempt to replicate and fall short. by the time they get the offerings to the market Apple will have the bar raised again. I think the PC Market is remarkably close to the Hollywood business model. When ever anyone creates a Hit, 10 copies are released that are never a step-up.

Here is how Mac got me. I resisted coming to a Mac for years and what drove me here is the fact that photoshop is so cumbersome and unintuitive. I was in Providence Place Mall with my GF while there I wandered in to the Apple store. On a MBP 17 I "Played" with Aperture and in 15 minutes using the RAW sample libraries I was able to do all of my normal workflow I use photoshop for and more. I bought the MBP17 from the refurb store and loved it. It just worked. I powered it on in my house and with a couple passwords was connected to my network printer, storage drives and it all just worked. The MBA was a logical progression for travel. I am keeping the MBP also.

These new MBA wannabes will fall short and do nothing to truly compete with the 2011 Macbook Air line. The bar has been set, not a bar they could not surpass, they just won't. Easier to chase than figure out what to do if they found themselves in front.

Thank you allowing my rant...

my nickel.
 
The problem with the MBA clones will be the price. The SSD based ultra portable Windows machines (thus far) have been are very close to the MBA in price and some are even more expensive. I think it will be like the tablet space, Apple's economy of scale will make it tough for competitors to undercut them to any significant extent.

I would consider Windows MBA clones if they were 25-30% cheaper than the Apple equivalent. As it is I'm having a hard time justifying the 13" MBA that I'm planning to buy over the holidays. $1300 is a lot of money for a machine that will be used to surf the net 98% of the time. But I love my ultraportable Thinkpad and cannot fathom going back to a boat anchor laptop for my next machine.
 
Very nice, if the wrong OS. The better the competitors get, the better the Air will become. Competition is good.
 
Will be a failure. Manufactures are having problems pricing these at less than the Macbook Air. People won't pay the the "Apple tax" on a non apple product.

Yes, its cool to have a thin notebook, is it really essential? Is there really that big of an advantage to portability when you consider "ultrabooks" have the same footprint as their fellow notebooks?

In the PC world you can get a slightly thicker PC with the same specs as an "ultrabook" for half the price. Is that thinness work an extra $500?

In the Mac world, the Macbook Air is priced very close to its counterpart (13 inch macbook pro) and is easy to justify paying an extra $100 for, especially if you prefer an SSD and the higher resolution, opposed to faster cpu/more expandability.

For "ultrabooks" to be successfully, they need to be priced around the same as current PC notebooks, otherwise they'll just go the way of the Dell Adamo.
 
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UCF Sam said:
Will be a failure. Manufactures are having problems pricing these at less than the Macbook Air. People won't pay the the "Apple tax" on a non apple product.

Yes, its cool to have a thin notebook, is it really essential? Is there really that big of and advantage to portability when you consider "ultrabooks" have the same footprint as their fellow notebooks?

In the PC world you can get a slightly thicker PC with the same specs as an "ultrabook" for half the price. Is that thinness work an extra $500?

In the Mac world, the Macbook Air is priced very close to its counterpart (13 inch macbook pro) and is easy to justify paying an extra $100 for, especially if you prefer an SSD and the higher resolution, opposed to faster cpu/more expandability.

For "ultrabooks" to be successfully, they need to be priced around the same as current PC notebooks, otherwise they'll just go the way of the Dell Adamo.
Click to expand...

I have to travel with 2 computers and POS Dell from work that is so locked dow all it does is Office.poorly I might add. But it is the only way to get work email.

I travel frequently by air and train in the Northeast. Carrying 2 laptops was ripping the straps off of my back back. I have the MBA13 2011 now and it is perfect for what I need. Minimal space, light and powerful and my backpack and my back are extremely happy with it!. The thickness really does mater to me. It is what drove me to the MBP13 over the MBP 13.

my nickel
 
I hope this along with HP dropping out of the pc biz is a sign of things to come where pc makers are once again trying to make quality products instead of playing hp's game "race to the bottom". That race to the bottom is why I have my first mac, and I love this thing. They will really have to step up if they want me to switch back.
 
Please don't misuse this Forum with such nonsense...

soundguy15 said:
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At the end of the day it still runs windows. No thanks.
Click to expand...

What a lame remark. Please not burden this Rumor Forum with such nonsense. (If you have such a great need for making confessions, satisfy it elsewhere.) Some people in fact prefer Windows, and they may have their good reasons for doing so.
 
soundguy15 said:
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_2_6 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.2 Mobile/8E200 Safari/6533.18.5)

At the end of the day it still runs windows. No thanks.
Click to expand...

I'm a card-carrying microsoft hater, and I have conceded that Windows 7 is pretty nice.

Well, I still hate .NET.

----------
UCF Sam said:
Will be a failure. Manufactures are having problems pricing these at less than the Macbook Air. People won't pay the the "Apple tax" on a non apple product.
Click to expand...

Yup. I read an article somewhere that other makers just can't beat apple in price in the MBA-class space.

Few are going to buy something that is maybe 90% as nice as a MBA for more money.

Apple has really hit its stride with manufacturing efficiency. :)
 
Is there no originality anymore? It's wedge shaped, 11" inches, glass trackpad, full sized chicklet keyboard.
Competition is healthy, but this is no competition.
If given a choice between the two I would pick the MBA every time.

And... it runs windows.

Can a company really be proud of creating a wannabe?
 
iExpensive said:
Is there no originality anymore? It's wedge shaped, 11" inches, glass trackpad, full sized chicklet keyboard.
Competition is healthy, but this is no competition.
If given a choice between the two I would pick the MBA every time.

And... it runs windows.

Can a company really be proud of creating a wannabe?
Click to expand...

I prefer they copy apple instead of trying to hp like they have been, at least this way we'll get higher quality laptops.
 
mortenandersen said:
What a lame remark. Please not burden this Rumor Forum with such nonsense. (If you have such a great need for making confessions, satisfy it elsewhere.) Some people in fact prefer Windows, and they may have their good reasons for doing so.
Click to expand...

The user expressed his opinion about not wanting to use windows. Why should he or she not be allowed to say so, especially on a forum dedicated to Apple? I don't post on the asusrumors.com website and sing the virtues of osx.
 
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