The Asus Zenbook UX303LN doesn’t know what it wants to be.
The Ultrabook comes with a 13.3-inch touchscreen display, which makes it a little too small to be a laptop. But it’s a tad too large to pick it up and use that touchscreen like it was a tablet.
Asus Zenbook UX303LN. (Supplied)
Kind of like the boy at an amusement park who’s too big for the kiddie rides but still isn’t tall enough for the roller coaster.
His parents just don’t know what to do with him, so they just pump him with candy and take him to the water park.
And much like the tweeners parents, Asus didn’t know what the Zenbook really was.
So instead, they gave it a sleek, slim design to draw in those not willing to drop the major coin on a Macintosh.
It’s a prototypical modern laptop in every sense of the phrase, which may concern those that want their laptops to stay laptops and save its touchscreen displays for mobile devices.
There are two problems with Asus’ approach:
1. Navigation
The first time you open this puppy up, turn it on and start exploring, it truly is a joy.
The interface is terrific and Windows 8.1 visually looks great on the laptop’s QHD+ wide-view anti-glare panel screen. But the problem is Windows 8.1 is so user-friendly and inviting that you want to use your fingers to tap the screen all the time.
Unfortunately, Asus laptops aren’t really set up for that too well. And it can get quite awkward switching back and forth between the touchscreen and the laptop’s keyboard to surf the web.
The Zenbook really isn’t meant for navigating with the trackpad and really expects you to mainly use your hands on the screen when operating it.
I still believe Windows 8 is at its best on a Windows tablet, while Windows 7 is still a lot more familiar and comfortable on a laptop. Maybe it’s because almost every laptop I’ve ever tried out has been a fairly hefty size, but I found the Zenbook a little too small.
2. Size
It was difficult to pump out the same amount of words I’m used to typing on the smaller keyboard and I found my fingers getting mixed up and lost.
Generally, most are okay with the concept that as newer versions of devices come out, they will continually get smaller. But that isn’t necessarily a positive.
There has to be a cutoff point which companies agree is a reasonable size to operate the device effectively.
The Zenbook’s size is incredibly ideal for transporting and fitting into even the smallest of spaces in your backpack, but that still doesn’t make up for the difficulty I had while operating the keyboard.
I would be okay with a few inches added on, to make the typing a much easier endeavour.
THE GOOD:
My old laptop doesn’t have a backlit keyboard, so when I used the Zenbook at night while watching TV in my living for the first time, I was pleasantly surprised. It’s not an overbearing amount of light but illuminates the pad perfectly.
The noise or lack thereof was one of the big selling points for me. This little guy barely makes a peep when you’re restarting, turning it off/on, or just playing around.
Another perk is the hyper-fast startup speed after the laptop wakes up. It’s ready to go and has next to zero lag time after opening it up and using right away.
WOULD I RECOMMEND?
Ultimately, yes I would recommend the Zenbook to a friend. But only if they were extremely familiar with Windows 8 tablets. Going from a tradition laptop to one with a touchscreen doesn’t seem like a major transition but it takes some time to get used to.
And that very well could be the problem. We’ve become used to operating touchscreen tablets, and laptops that navigate with the trackpad. So it takes some time to adjust. But over time, just like adapting to any new software, we’ll get use to it and won’t think twice about switching back and forth from keyboard to touch-based technology.
FINAL THOUGHTS?
The Asus Zenbook UX303LN is a great laptop for those under the age of 40, who have been using computers (and are familiar with Windows 8 tablets) for most of their lives. Bad laptop for your grandparents who want to get a laptop after getting rid of their clunky old desktop.
THE SPECIFICS:
PRICE
- Up to 1 TB hard drive or 128 GB SSD to accelerate performance
- 13.3-inch Ultrabook powered with Intel 4th generation Core processors and NVIDIA GeForce graphics
- SonicMaster technology
