I’m pleased to announce that we have our first Ultrabook here for testing. Thanks to Asus for sending over the ASUS UX21E, the 11.6”, 1160gm (2lb 9oz) Ultrabook in Core i7, 128GB build. (Model details – ASUS Zenbook UX21E-KX008V)

It looks just a awesome as the first time I saw it at IFA in September, boots in an impressively quick time, turns in a 300ms Sunspider score, has good speakers, a very bright (but glossy) screen , is totally silent as I type this and it looks like it will allow you to web-work for about 4.5 hours.

Ive just read through 8 pages of Asus UX21 review and come away with a very positive feeling. You’ll probably experience the same too because the UX21 beats quite a few more expensive devices in a general performance test and even gets some positive comments about gaming on the platform but it is the SSD that’s really responsible here. The balance of great processing capability and an SSD that removes any significant traces of bottlekneck is proving itself.

“If ever there was a “Poster Child” for the benefits of SSDs, especially in notebook platforms, it would have to be the Zenbook UX21. “

As a result of the extremely fast SSD the UX21 beats more expensive laptops in the general computing benchmark, PC Mark 7.

Read the full story

Head on over to Anandtech and stay tuned because they’ve just got an Asus Zenbook UX21.

This $1199, 2.3lb, Core i7 1.8Ghz Windows laptop (try finding that combination in any other product. It’s truly groundbreaking) should get a thorough test and review by the well-respected team over there.

Without stealing their content I’ll just say that the UX21E-DH72 matches the MBA for battery life and turns in an excellent PCMark score in the first set of tests they Anandtech have done so far. Check out the details here.

ANANDTECH – First tests with UX21

Remember that you can get a Core i5, 1.6Ghz version of this for $999 which I personaly find a better value solution. European prices start at a (tax inclusive) €999 for the Core i5 version and €1099 for the Core i7 version – only a €100 premium.

Full specs and more links, images, information in the database. Asus UX21 Information Page.

While I continue to test the pre-Ultrabook Series 9 here (don’t forget the live session tonight) news is starting to come in about availability of what should be the first true Ultrabook, the ASUS UX21.

DigiTimes are reporting the news that’s come from an Asus product conference in China.

The UX21 is rumoured to use the Intel Core i5 2557M CPU at 1.5Ghz and at with the 11” screen should weigh in at a very portable 1.2KG. The price details are still unknown at this stage but we’re expecting between $800 and $900 for the 11.6” version.

So when will all this goodness land? September. That’s about right for an IFA or IDF event launch and we’re likely to be at both of those events so stay tuned.

Via Netbooknews, Source: Digitimes.