UX31A doesn’t have DisplayPort i.e. the capability to drive your fresh new Korean IPS 27-inchers. So this is def. not going to be The One for me. Having owned the first-generation Samsung S9 for a year now, I’m skipping the NP900X4C and probably going to go with the next gen’s 2560 built-in panel + DisplayPort model.
http://www.engadget.com/2012/08/31/samsung-Series%209-WQHD-Ultrabook-matte-display/
Great post, some remarks:
It hurts battery life by at least an hour, too.
What hurts this much? Does the SSD consume that much more power? Or is it the memory?
Want to start doing stuff immediately? Even Windows 8, which has radically improved wake times, is laughably slow to start up compared to tablets and phones which are practically instant-on by design.
I recently bought a similar device - a Sony Vaio S 15" - and replaced the disk with a Samsung 830. Sure, not exactly ultraportable, but at <2kg it’s still very managable. It boots in 10s (not estimated, but measured power-button-to-responsive-desktop time). I assume the Asus’ devices are in the same ballpark.
Want the smallest most portable device you can get away with? … Have you seen the iPhone 5 benchmarks?
It’s not about the performance though most of the time, but what tasks will you be doing and what software will you be needing. Typing a document or code on a touchscreen is harrowing, even at the size of a tablet. I prefer my laptop in most cases, I only grab my phone if nothing else is withing reach (this happens often, of course), and take my tablet with me only if I know I wouldn’t be doing anything serious - ie, playing games on the train, watching youtube, reading an ebook. Tablets are really neat and useful in certain scenarios, but are absolute rubbish in others, no matter how fast they get.
Want to be always connected to the Internet?
As you stated in an earlier point, you always have your phone with you. And in most cases, that phone can serve as a tethering hotspot. So what ever device you pick, it can piggyback onto the internet with a few clicks.
I just ran across this counterpoint this morning. As much as you adore your new ultrabook, it seems your opinion is not universally shared.
http://semiaccurate.com/2012/10/02/a-year-on-ultrabooks-are-a-worse-disaster-than-most-expected/
I owned both the UX31E and the new UX31A. The E version was a good first generation product, however its keyboard annoyed me, the screen was not matte and the charging plug that went into the notebook was fragile.
All this, and more, got fixed for the A version. I sold the old one to a friend at a significant discount.
Most of my life, I have worked as an IT professional in system administration. For a laptop, I want something reliable, portable but also capable for personal use (e.g. Photoshop).
This machine has a dazzling IPS display which outshines everything else on the market in the sub 15,4" class. Viewing angles, color reproduction and resolution is in a class of its own.
The production quality is also top of its class.
I considered waiting for Microsofts Surface, but I have been waiting often for products, that simply do not measure up. Basically, I have been following the mobile PC/MAC computing industry 3-4 times a week for 1 year before I decided - I keep my notebooks 5-6 years or until they break.
In regards to touch, I do not feel, that for the workload I will be using a PC for, that touch is beneficial compared to a touchpad or mouse. I need high precision, lots of data on the screen and when working privately with photos the last thing I want is a dirty screen that I need to wipe all the time - especially if they are horrible glossy screens as we see on most mobile devices.
Maybe I am all wrong, but not even Apple has, as far as I know, any plans of putting touch capability in their laptops - and they pioneered the successful sale of this most notably with the Ipad.
I do not wish to offend anyone, but honestly, we professionals need a lot of detailed information on screen and cannot be handicapped by touch friendly kindergarten application designs. Stuff just keeps getting more and more features along with the complexity that goes along with it. I will be messing with moving virtual machines around in Vsphere, writing scripts, googling and keeping 20 webpages open, 12 remote desktops and lots more. While doing this, I like to lean back, relax and just control everything by moving my fingers 5 cm, or by using keyboard shortcuts.
And, this is a fact. People have to work, and for those people who need their computers the most, they have to be able to do this kind of stuff. Touch is great for angrybirds or children, but for doing real work they are simply nothing more than a stretch. As I see it, it is a great feature and a must for phones and tablets, but touch is no more a must for a notebook than a keyboard is for a phone or tablet.
In regards to portability the Zenbook is awesome. Just like the Macbook Air, it is easy to carry with you on air planes. Brought mine to China a few months back, I felt sorry for the guys lugging around old style Macbook Pros and PC Notebooks. Looks like they came straight out of the 90ies 
Most sorry I felt for the PC guys, but in regards to ultra portable, this design surpasses Apples Macbook Air on screen resolution, screen type (IPS and Matte), OS (if you prefer Windows) while its design and build quality match it. The touch pad is not as good as Apples, but its close - at least, thats my conclusion after comparing it directly to my friends Macbook Pro. Keyboard is about the same as well, battery life depends on what you do, but I think the Air is a bit ahead there due to OSX (this might change with Windows 8).
Apple, Lenovo, Samsung and Asus - all putting out great models these days. Will this be the last PC I will ever own? No. I will always need a keyboard, good ergonomics, screen, touchpad etc. Maybe I will be running Windows RT in the future, Mac OS or some other fun Unix - but if I do, it will be an improvement over what I have today, and that does not make me sad - instead, it makes me happy and optimistic about the future
Anyone had a good (or bad) experience with Linux, Ubuntu or Fedora? It seems like a good laptop but it is not cheap if something doesn’t work well in Linux.
To those who are asking for experiences running Ubuntu on this laptop, I can say that the default kernel will probably freeze once a day/week.
Using the latest mainline kernel (3.6.7) completely remedies this.
Ubuntu 12.10 + linux 3.6.7-rc makes this laptop runs for weeks without so much as a snag.