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Best Macbook Air Copy I've seen yet

This zenbook has a multitouch trackpad incredibly similar to Apple's. Can they do that? Lawsuit coming?

If I worked at Apple, I would certainly like not to see such trackpad in competitors notebooks, as the trackpad has always been, in my opinion, one ot the game changers in Apples favor

So far the only diference between an Air and the zenbook is the lack of backlight keyboard. Having said that, a business man who may only need to turn up his notebook to show some openoffice numbers, may very well choose the zenbook over the Air. OS X is uselles in such scenario.
 
Re: resolutions, I'd much prefer 16:10 over 16:9. Much like the tv lcd mafia and their propagation of plasma myths (the latter being vastly better imo), it's a shame that you have to really seek out 16:10 screens for computing. I'm pleased Apple are sticking to it. 16:9 is only acceptable at really high res imo, like 2560x1440.
 
Where did they hide the SD card slot?
4:35 battery life yet somehow plays HD for 7?
Why keep an ancient analog VGA out, what is it and PC manufactures that just can't let go of outdated tech?
 
blueroom said:
Where did they hide the SD card slot?
4:35 battery life yet somehow plays HD for 7?
Why keep an ancient analog VGA out, what is it and PC manufactures that just can't let go of outdated tech?
Click to expand...
It's not analog vga out, it comes with the micro display to vga adapter which I think is a great idea for travelers who need to hookup their laptop to a projector.
 
What a complete joke

No imagination, no sense of direction, what a sad state of affairs for the pc / windows industry

These should be banned. A complete rip off.
 
They would have a much more competitive product if it was cheaper imo. I don't see why somebody would buy it, when its pretty much the same price as a MBA.
 
Xikum said:
They would have a much more competitive product if it was cheaper imo. I don't see why somebody would buy it, when its pretty much the same price as a MBA.
Click to expand...

It's $200 cheaper.. not exactly same price.

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yegon said:
Re: resolutions, I'd much prefer 16:10 over 16:9. Much like the tv lcd mafia and their propagation of plasma myths (the latter being vastly better imo), it's a shame that you have to really seek out 16:10 screens for computing. I'm pleased Apple are sticking to it. 16:9 is only acceptable at really high res imo, like 2560x1440.
Click to expand...

16x10 is nice yes, but 1600x900 will always be better than 1440x900.... Hopefully the next air will have something like 1680 x 1050
 
warfed said:
It's $200 cheaper.. not exactly same price.
Click to expand...


You can buy a MBA for 999, sure it's screen is smaller, but smaller isn't always worse. In fact I went for 11'' for the portability factor. Then when at home I use my desktop.

This is a good attempt on Asus's part, but for the price I'd rather buy a MacBook Air.

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Sequin said:
I'd definitely go for something other than a Mac if I wanted 13" then. 1440x900 is such an itty bitty screen resolution. I don't know how anyone can manage with that.
Click to expand...

It really isn't, I mean sure there are other higher resolutions, but 1440 by 900 is a step above most 13'' laptops(even Apple's own)
 
blueroom said:
Where did they hide the SD card slot?
4:35 battery life yet somehow plays HD for 7?
Why keep an ancient analog VGA out, what is it and PC manufactures that just can't let go of outdated tech?
Click to expand...

Great legacy support is a positive in the eyes of others, if a business/university has older hardware or lower end hardware, VGA is often the cheapest choice.

The fact that almost every monitor works with VGA make's it impressive, even if it's isn't as technology advanced as MiniDisplayport,DVI or HDMI. I do like MDP and HDMI because they also support audio as well as looking better then other connections.
 
I kinda like the fact that the keys are not black, but grey macthing the alluminium, and I also like the black around the screen, imitating the mbp

I think I would get this one over the Air, and then hackintosh it. But firstly I still have to see it in persson
 
zap2 said:
You can buy a MBA for 999, sure it's screen is smaller, but smaller isn't always worse. In fact I went for 11'' for the portability factor. Then when at home I use my desktop.
Click to expand...

The 11" Asus for $999 comes with 128GB SSD and 4GB of ram. Still $200 less than the equivalent MBA. Personally I'd still pick the MBA due to the Asus trackpad and keyboard issues... plus I kinda need OSX to develop iOS aps... but that Asus is a pretty good competitor and I'm looking forward to the next gen MBAs and Zenbooks.
 
I think people miss the point with these posts. I own a macbook air, because not surprisingly I want to use mac OS, along with windows occasionally. Some people like to run windows (again no comments needed about how it's worse etc etc, I already own a MBP and MBA, I'm just saying some). I gave my mom a loaded 11.6 inch MBA for her birthday and christmas, and she really uses windows only, because all her foriegn language stuff works with windows, not mac OS. She wanted a super light, tiny laptop, and the MBA was the only one that really fit (looks great too). But these ultrabooks are made for people like that. Who would want to run windows in a tiny package.

For the "Looks Awful" I would never buy it over a macbook air people, really? It looks pretty similar to me, probably because it's close to a copy, and some people might have different color scheme tastes to you, otherwise we'd still be with the old ford model T mantra, and you could buy your car in any color you like, as long as it was black.

As for "that's a copy", heck even steve jobs said that it's ok to copy/steal other good ideas. The whole keyboard we like with the chiclet keys was done by sony before apple.

I also must be the oddest macbook air/pro user... I have the 2011s for each... but I have never turned on my keyboard backlight. I usually use my computers in rooms with lighting, and I like to save battery life, as I do feel the run time is lacking on my air. Backlit keyboards are not a make it or break it for everyone.

Lastly the whole VGA adapter included thing is very nice. I've had to buy VGA adapter for my iPad, and macbooks, because in a hospital/university setting, much of the hardware is built into the rooms that you need to run your presentations in. And that stuff is old sometimes, but the key is the minimum you can always count on is VGA, especially if there is a problem and ie the room changes and the equiptment changes there at the last minute. I actually applaud them for adding the adapter, along with being jealous that it has usb 3.0, as I still don't have a single thunderbolt device...

Anyways, there's probably no reason to rag on this laptop. If you think the MBA is better and looks nicer etc... you probably like me, already own one.
 
fibrizo said:
I think people miss the point with these posts. I own a macbook air, because not surprisingly I want to use mac OS, along with windows occasionally. Some people like to run windows (again no comments needed about how it's worse etc etc, I already own a MBP and MBA, I'm just saying some). I gave my mom a loaded 11.6 inch MBA for her birthday and christmas, and she really uses windows only, because all her foriegn language stuff works with windows, not mac OS. She wanted a super light, tiny laptop, and the MBA was the only one that really fit (looks great too). But these ultrabooks are made for people like that. Who would want to run windows in a tiny package.

For the "Looks Awful" I would never buy it over a macbook air people, really? It looks pretty similar to me, probably because it's close to a copy, and some people might have different color scheme tastes to you, otherwise we'd still be with the old ford model T mantra, and you could buy your car in any color you like, as long as it was black.

As for "that's a copy", heck even steve jobs said that it's ok to copy/steal other good ideas. The whole keyboard we like with the chiclet keys was done by sony before apple.

I also must be the oddest macbook air/pro user... I have the 2011s for each... but I have never turned on my keyboard backlight. I usually use my computers in rooms with lighting, and I like to save battery life, as I do feel the run time is lacking on my air. Backlit keyboards are not a make it or break it for everyone.

Lastly the whole VGA adapter included thing is very nice. I've had to buy VGA adapter for my iPad, and macbooks, because in a hospital/university setting, much of the hardware is built into the rooms that you need to run your presentations in. And that stuff is old sometimes, but the key is the minimum you can always count on is VGA, especially if there is a problem and ie the room changes and the equiptment changes there at the last minute. I actually applaud them for adding the adapter, along with being jealous that it has usb 3.0, as I still don't have a single thunderbolt device...

Anyways, there's probably no reason to rag on this laptop. If you think the MBA is better and looks nicer etc... you probably like me, already own one.
Click to expand...

You're right, I do already own one
 
Nice Hardware ...... But......

3bs said:
You're right, I do already own one
Click to expand...

OSX and the whole user experience of a Mac is far more than the hardware.... The hardware on a typical Mac (MacBook Air included) is great, but the software is what makes it so nice to use. Until somebody hacks Lion to work on one of these (with the potential inherent instability that ensues) then it is still a Nice looking Windows Laptop, running Windows !
 
I saw one locally here in Taipei today. Screen resolution is nice but screen quality is not so nice. Seems like a cheap screen was used.
 
altecXP said:
The more I read about these UltraBooks, the more I think the Air was a heavy collaboration between Apple and Intel, and Intel just let Apple be first to market with them. If you notice Intel was the first heavily promoting UltraBooks before Asus and Acer had even demo'd anything.

I wouldn't be surprised if the Air was an Intel idea, they pitched it to Apple and let them have the initial market for it. The timing just sounds weird that Apple releases the Air then Intel starts talking UltraBook, and then a few come out around the same time.
Click to expand...

I think Apple came up with the original Air, Intel saw something in it and proposed the ultrabook, for which the new Air was the first. I have no inside information, but it just seems right.
 
altecXP said:
The more I read about these UltraBooks, the more I think the Air was a heavy collaboration between Apple and Intel, and Intel just let Apple be first to market with them. If you notice Intel was the first heavily promoting UltraBooks before Asus and Acer had even demo'd anything.

I wouldn't be surprised if the Air was an Intel idea, they pitched it to Apple and let them have the initial market for it. The timing just sounds weird that Apple releases the Air then Intel starts talking UltraBook, and then a few come out around the same time.
Click to expand...

I think this has happened a few times in Apple's timeline since switching to Intel parts.

I've noticed a few times immediately upon product release or revision, Apple comes out of the gate with new parts that nobody else has yet.

Sandybridged based "ultra books" is just the recent example
The Mac Pro's when they started using C2D Xeon's

there were a few others that escape me. but it's noticably taken competitors a couple months at least to come out with a product with the same specs and latest parts, which means for the first 2 months of most Apple products, you're getting a pretty good deal
 
warfed said:
The 11" Asus for $999 comes with 128GB SSD and 4GB of ram. Still $200 less than the equivalent MBA. Personally I'd still pick the MBA due to the Asus trackpad and keyboard issues... plus I kinda need OSX to develop iOS aps... but that Asus is a pretty good competitor and I'm looking forward to the next gen MBAs and Zenbooks.
Click to expand...

But my point was I could get either computer for 999 dollars, I see your point about Asus's is better specs but if I just need a laptop for taking notes, the 64GB/2GB 11" MBA would likely be just fine, so some user might pick it for other Apple advantages.

Sure the better specs are nice, but the MBA brings other things to the table. And if you only have $999+tax you can get either one, saying the the MBA is 200 more implies to me, you need 200 more dollars to get a laptop.

I see how you're reading works, but I think ability to get a laptop for the same price means a user can pick either one based on their needs.
 
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