Reported on ITC.ua and tipped to us by a reader today is information that ASUS maybe getting ready to update the UX21 and UX31 with some exciting new specs that include full HD displays; never before seen on an 11.6” laptop.
Many people watching the Ultrabook space have been disappointed at the lack of 1600×900 options on the 13.3 and larger models but with 1920×1080 there should be no complaints. The font size is going to need bumping up (not an issue) and the GPU will have to work a bit harder to fill those pixels but we’re looking at an exciting possibility.
Additional specs include a back-lit keyboard (we hope this means re-designed mechanics) new ‘hard drives’ [says the translation] and a lower price. The devices are ‘tentatively’ due in May.
There’s no information on whether the models will be based on Ivy Bridge and it would depend on how ASUS would want to position these updates. Given that they are ‘updates’ and that the price is said to be going down we would take a guess at these being Sandy-Bridge based Ultrabooks.
The report (available here) says the information comes from anonymous source close to the company.
1920×1080 is clearly too much for an 11.6″ or even for a 13.3″ screen. I have used full HD 15.6″ screen and it’s just unpractical for web browsing. You can scale up your browser preview, but it messes up half of the web pages. Plus all optimised web images will look nasty in upscale mode. If you can look past that and you love when button on the web page is under a text or just not visible at all then who am I to stop you for buying a full HD tiny laptop :)
Full HD is great for games and movies, but it’s just not good for web. At least not for couple of years. Maybe by then full HD will become an average display resolution and therefor all websites would be designed that in mind.
I don’t see any major issues. The default text size can be increased to 120ppi and upscaling of web images isn’t going to be a major problem. For me 1600×900 is optimal on 13.3, 1366×768 on an 11.6 but I wouldn’t have a problem with higher res. I used 1280×800 on a 5.6″ screen for a long time and after adjustments, it was fine.
After 4k resolution full hd will be standard i guess
So 2nd gen Ultrabooks will be Sandy bridge also… I read that Intel will delay the dual core chips due to many unsold sandy bridge CPUs and mobile ivy bridge (ultrabooks) will be avalible june – july…
I read that too but July is when, realistically, we were expecting new Ivy Bridge devices anyway so it wasn’t any real news.
Actually there will be at least 1 month after the official release to see the first preorders, so if Ivy is avalible in June we’ll see the 1st models at the end of the summer, so it’s real delay. The question is will the manufactures delay also the 2nd gen or it will be sandy based.
I think May launch being Ivy Bridge is pretty much a done deal. They can always trickle it out and increase shipments as time passes by. Also, they can just get the premium Core i7 parts out first.
If they don’t change the crappy display techonology that they used for the UX21/31, there is no need updating the resolution as the screen simply won’t be an argument.
It’s about time someone other than Sony puts a 1080p screen into a 13 inch machine.
1080p is really a bit high for an 11.6 inch display though. quite honestly, 11.6 inch is one of the few sizes of modern laptop screens small enough for 1366×768 to start making sense.
Seems possible, especially since 1080p Android tablets are on the way in a couple months.
Is it good or bad news? That will cause to end battery quicker.
it’s good news,very nice
I could always use more pixels on my UX31. Even with a 1080P screen the PPI will be lower than that of the retina display on iPhones, and you barely ever hear people complain about the high PPI on the iPhone.
Having more pixels is not bad. Not having software to take advantage of those pixels is bad.
Remember that the further away the device is from the eyes, the lower the ppi needed to reach retina density.
What’s the ratio between retinal PPI and distance to screen? Is it a linear or quadratic relation?
I calculated ~312PPI for iPhone, ~190PPI for 1080P 11.6″, and ~166PPI for 1080P 13.3″. If it’s a linear relation, 13.3″ 1080P is usable at nearly twice the distance as one would hold the iPhone.
All I know is that the angle is 57 seconds so I think I’m right in saying its linear.
Any idea when or if we will see Quad-Core Ultrabooks ?
Thinking to buy UX31 (really like it), knowing I only buy new computer every 3-4 years I want something up to speed with processing power.
So Should I wait or just buy one now?
Thanks
I doubt that there will be any quad-core ultrabooks for at least another year.
The main question is whether or not you want to wait for Ivy Bridge.
forgive me but isn’t the i7 CPU quad core?
Depends on the cpu sku
There is no ulv quad cores yet
confused…..the UX31 is available with an i7. Is the UX31 considered an Ultrabook?
Here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sandy_bridge#Mobile_platform
I don’t get why the Ultrabook seem to be pushing the “cheaper” bs….
I would be willing to PAY MORE for a decent laptop.
Look at the failures of the UX-31. Imagine if they just used QUALITY parts instead of CHEAPING out with crappy wireless cards, non-functional keyboards and a crappy touchpad..
Why the hell would anyone want to buy another Asus?
After buying a UX-31 several people converted to a Macbook air… Why? Is it because Macbooks are cheaper?
Idiots..
Andrew, I disagree. The UX-31 is a 1st generation product. It will improve, (hopefully), with the 2nd generation as most 2nd generation products do. I’m hearing a May time frame for new ASUS UltraBooks. I’m holding of on purchasing until then.
Andrew, I do agree with your statement about being willing to spend more on a better laptop however.
I’m glad I waited too. I was about to repurchase the ux-31 and hoped for a miracle. I was close to getting a MBA too.
But I hear that MBA is also releasing a new version. So I will be waiting it out and making my decision when all these next gen notebooks are out.
I was about to get the U300s from Lenovo but they decided not to include a SD card reader.
And their next release is a CHEAPER version of the U300s with a spinning HD and it’s actually THICKER than the U300s.. LOL, Another great move there Lenovo…
CHEAPER doesn’t always mean better. Is that the only thing PC got over mac? It’s cheaper?