Asus’ Zenbook ultrabook has made a reappearance now in
the form of the Zenbook Prime Touch. This time lathered with Windows 8 and a
touchscreen. Can it still win our hearts?
On the design front, the ultrabook looks and feels just as
fantastic as we remembered it from the end of 2011, with an all metal, chrome
and black color scheme that looks modern and attractive. More importantly, its
thin profile (18 mm) and light weight (1.3 kg) is complemented by an exceptionally
solid build, which means the ultrabook oozes quality. The Chiclet keyboard and
generously sized trackpad fare no worse; the brightly backlit keys exhibit just
the right amount of depth and springiness to impress. As this is a Windows 8
device, the notable difference between last year’s Zenbook and the Zenbook
Prime Touch is the screen and the operating system.
Asus’ Zenbook
ultrabook has made a reappearance now in the form of the Zenbook Prime Touch.
This time lathered with Windows 8 and a touchscreen.
Eye of the beholder
This time round, its full HD IPS display is glossier, and
thus more reflective, than what we remember from the Zenbook. That being said,
the display’s 1920 x 1080 resolution (165 ppi) looks sublime, colors are
exceptionally vivid and saturated (photographers, take note), with the added
benefit of it being touch-enabled. It goes without saying that watching videos
on the device is a treat, and the audio is well served by the Bang &
Olufsen speakers, offering up loud, clear and crisp sound. Two USB 3.0 ports,
and SD card slot and micro HDMI are all onboard.
Specs wise, it is high-end, third-generation Intel Sandy
Bridge Core i7 processor (i7-3517U) doing performance duty here, aided by 4 GB
of DDR 3 memory, and a 256 GB Solid state drive, which accounts for both the
storage and fast boot up times (a mere eight seconds from powered of). Along
with a slender brown sleeve in the box, there also adapters that caters to VGA
and Ethernet ports, and an appreciably small and light power adapter.
To the point
Admittedly, we have not given Windows 8 the warmest
reception around our office (for several good reasons), however, if there is an
ultrabook that may just thaw our hearts to the new OS, the Zenbook Prime Touch
could very well be it. It is that good, and it once again, has won us over,
except for its pricey RRP of R20 000.
The display’s 1920
x 1080 resolution (165 ppi) looks sublime, colors are exceptionally vivid and
saturated
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Specifications
§
Price: $2,250
§
Model name: Zenbook Prime Touch
§
CPU speed: 1900 MHz
§
OS: Windows 8
§
Display size: 13.3” 1920 x 1080
§
RAM: 4096 MB
§ Weight: 1400gm
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