ASUS Zenbook UX303LA-US51T Laptop via Amazon
ASUS Zenbook UX303LA-US51T is the latest 2015 model Signature Edition laptop with an ultra low voltage Broadwell Intel i5 processor, 13.3 inch QHD+ 10 finger multi-touch display with 3200×1800 pixel resolution, fast 802.11ac wireless, large 256GB SSD with much more speed and awesome battery life at up to 8 hours. Signature Edition simply means it is free of any third party junkware you will find on other machines so it works faster from the start and it comes with great built-in world-class protection software. This version of ASUS Zenbook UX303LA comes with the Intel i5-5200U processor at 2.2GHz speed up to 2.7GHz with turbo boost technology, 8GB DDR3L SDRAM at 1600MHz for superior multitasking, 256GB Solid State Drive for both snappy hard drive performance and large enough space to save a lot of your files (with the cost of SSD’s coming down- they used to be very expensive) and 64-bit Windows 8.1 operating system with Windows 10 upgrade included when it is out very soon.
Bright 13.3 inch QHD+ touchscreen with 3200 x 1800 pixel resolution supports 10 finger multiple gestures and has the IPS panel but it doesn’t rotate 360 degrees. Integrated Intel HD Graphics 5500 with shared graphics memory will be fine with many modern games but not so much at the highest native resolution, settings or frame rates but with games like World of Warcraft or easy browser games you will have no problems with settings or frame rates. ICEpower with Bang and Olufsen Technology offers acceptable sound- not amazing but fine and it also has a 1MP webcam with built-in microphone to chat comfortably on Skype. Smoky brown ASUS Zenbook UX303LA-US51T weighs only 3.23 pounds despite having a multitouch display and measures 12.70 x 8.80 x 0.70 inches so it is rather slim and compact too, has a backlit keyboard with a 1.4mm keyboard travel, without the numeric pad on the side but a good size 105 x 73 mm touchpad that is also optimised for Windows 8 functions. You’ll get solid 8 hours on average use from its 3-cell 50 WHr lithium ion battery partly helped by the modern ultra low voltage fifth generation processor. There is no optical drive and no Ethernet with RJ-45 by default but a low cost USB adapter will do the job, and it includes a fast with large coverage 802.11ac wireless, Bluetooth 4.0 to hook up to other Bluetooth enabled devices wirelessly, Intel WiDi- Wireless Display, 3 x USB 3.0 ports for quicker transfer of data than the USB 2.0, a microHDMI output, a miniDisplayPort, 3-in-1 Media Card Reader (SD/SDHC/MMC) and a Headphone output/Microphone input combo.
Conclusion: ASUS Zenbook UX303LA is fast and powerful with the dual core Broadwell i5 processor with roughly a Passmark benchmark score of 3500 at the time of this review indicating high end power and performance to handle demanding tasks despite being a very low voltage one, 8GB memory (can be expanded up to 12GB with 4GB built into the unit and the second 4GB is on a replaceable stick and you can change it with an 8GB to make it a total of 12GB) and 256GB SSD is plenty as it is but can also be upgraded so it is ideal if you need a computer to perform heavy tasks but at the same time want it to be lightweight and portable. The image quality is really good (screen is actually the best feature of this machine), sound by IcePower / Bang & Olufsen is good enough, gaming performance is acceptable with the Intel HD 5500 but it is just OK as this is not a gaming machine with a dedicated graphics card and we’re assuming you’re not really buying it for that purpose but you can easily run Photoshop or similar programs, keyboard lighting is nice (one of the customers had a small problem and they updated the NIC driver to fix it). It really is smoky brown in colour as it says on Amazon page although it looks like silver brushed aluminium in photos and looks and feels premium. It is a great computer that would well exceed the needs of a daily computer user but is still suitable for both entry level or advanced users as this offers more power, speed and durability than say very cheap models. It works quietly and stays quite cool even after several hours of running and screen can be opened with one hand. Great portable and powerful computer at a great price.
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