ASUS Zenbook vs. Toshiba Portege Z835: Ultrabook Showdown Discussion

[Charles P. Jefferies]

In this article we will take a look at two of the hottest Ultrabooks on the market. Both feature a 13.3-inch screen and fast flash storage, but do the extra features of the ASUS Zenbook make it worth a few hundred dollars more? Which is the best Ultrabook for your money?

Read the full content of this Article: ASUS Zenbook vs. Toshiba Portege Z835: Ultrabook Showdown

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[SemiExpert]

Considering that the Z835 premiered at a sub-$700 pricepoint, and that retail, consumer quality Windows notebooks always tend to be discounted later in the lifecycle, I think it's a clear winner, despite the short comings of the hinge design. Knock a couple of hundred off in price, and a sub $500 Z835 might make some sense for consumers.

As far as Asus, support is something of a question mark, judging by responses in the Asus forum on this site. It's a very attractive product, it comes closer to Apple packaging with the case design, but I'm not sure it's worth the price. I wouldn't want to have to wait for a motherboard from Taiwan for a depot repair on the Asus. No thanks.

Remember, we're still talking about Sandy Bridge/Windows 7 "ultrabooks" in a year when Ivy Bridge Windows 8, and even ULV AMD APUs are going to be the big news. Show me the discounts, because it will soon be time to clear out inventories, unless production volumes for first generation "ultrabooks" are insignificantly small to begin with.

With clearances and discounts, I think Toshiba's Z835 can reach a credible price point. I think the message is to wait until the prices drop, or if you like paying retail, and can afford to pay the premium for a real premium product, buy a Macbook Air.

[Mitlov]

I think the Toshiba's price point is perfectly "credible" at $800-$900. I don't think it needs to be $500 to be a good value.

[Ichinenjuu]

Not only are the clickpads for show, they are poor imitations of Apple's clickpad. Either get it right or don't even bother.

Still, better screens are really important. The screen vs. the bad clickpad makes this choice hard. If there was a way to fuse the two together, though... :P

[Pseudorandom]

I think $800 is a very nice price point for the Z835. I was seriously considering it to replace my old 2510p and T400 instead of the X220 I ended up going with.

I would take a Z830 over an MBA13 if given the choice. They both offer crap keyboards, no trackpoint, somewhat acceptable battery life, and decent performance, but the Z830 manages to be over half a pound lighter, have enough ports, and cost a few hundred bucks less. Its a no brainer imho.

Instead of wanting a sub $500 Z830, I want a slightly more premium Z830 with a decent keyboard+trackpoint (the ones in the Tecras seem okay enough), slice battery option, 1600x900 display, and maybe a few fractions of a pound lighter. I would take that over my X220.

[Charles P. Jefferies]

Considering that the Z835 premiered at a sub-$700 pricepoint, and that retail, consumer quality Windows notebooks always tend to be discounted later in the lifecycle, I think it's a clear winner, despite the short comings of the hinge design. Knock a couple of hundred off in price, and a sub $500 Z835 might make some sense for consumers.

$500? That's asking far too much. $700 - $800 is a very fair price for such a machine. For $500 you'll be limited to either netbooks or budget notebooks.

[Ryan]

Well, it's a close call.

Personally though, the Asus is priced way too high, going at that level you are into the 13" MBA range which offers OS X support, better design, and the full AA body.

The Z seems to be in its own price league, and I'd have to say they are priced just right - enough to make you wonder if you really need the Toshiba Z, but not to "price" itself into the same league as the Asus and the MBA, the battle which they will definitely lose.

[Mitlov]

I really like the <$900 ultrabook segment, with the Folio 13 and the Z835. It makes them easier to justify as second computers to a desktop, large laptop, etc. And given the small storage space and small screens of an ultrabook, I think for a lot of people they are second computers.

[SemiExpert]

$500? That's asking far too much. $700 - $800 is a very fair price for such a machine. For $500 you'll be limited to either netbooks or budget notebooks.

I'm not arguing about production costs but about consumer acceptance. The Z835 premiered at $699 with a Core i3-2367M. Last year, a Samsung Series 3 subnotebook premiered at Staples at $699 with a Core i3-2357M, and was eventually on clearance at $350 or $250 w/trade in.

The problem with 17-watt ultrabooks is that they command premium prices, but offer performance that is intermediate between Atom powered netbooks and full power 35-watt mainstream notebooks.

I don't doubt that a $500 "ultrabook" wouldn't be a profitable endeavor for the Windows PC OEMs, but that isn't a concern for the buyers. I'm sure that Samsung isn't very profitable to conduct clearances of the sort we saw with the Series 3, but that also isn't a matter for consumers.

I still maintain that the pricepoint for mass mainstream consumer adoption of a Windows "ultrabook" is more likely to be below $500 than below $1,000 - probably not all that much higher than current transaction prices for consumer Windows 7 notebooks.

[Mitlov]

I still maintain that the pricepoint for mass mainstream consumer adoption of a Windows "ultrabook" is more likely to be below $500 than below $1,000 - probably not all that much higher than current transaction prices for consumer Windows 7 notebooks.

Your previous harping on this point (that people buy primarily Apple above the $1000 price point) was based upon a survey solely of brick-and-mortar sales. Which makes the survey useless. Plenty of people buy $800, $1000, $1500, $2000 PCs. They just don't buy 'em at Best Buy or Costco. They buy them online, direct from the manufacturer or through Amazon or NewEgg.