Narrowing down choices for laptops!

[Keviin]

What is your budget?
~1500

What country will you be buying this in?
Canada

What size notebook do you prefer?
Thin and Light (13 - 14-inch screen)
Mainstream (15 - 16-inch screen)

What brands do you like or dislike?
Like: Asus, Sony, Samsung, etc
Dislike: N/A

Would you consider a refurbished laptop?
No

What are the primary tasks you need this notebook for?
Web Surfing, Listening to Music, Photo Editing, Video Editing, Computer Programming, Casual Gaming

Not completely Casual, but not Heavy 3D gaming as well.

Where will you be using this laptop?
Will be used different places

How many hours of battery life do you need?
5

Will you be buying online or in store?
in store

Which OS do you prefer?
Windows 7

List the screen resolutions that interest you:
High Resolution (1600 x 900)
Max Resolution (1920 x 1080)

Do you prefer a glossy or matte screen?
Glossy or Matte is fine

Is the laptops design important to you?
Yes

Approximately what date will you be buying this laptop?
Around 09/08/2012

How long do you want this laptop to last?
4 years

How much storage capacity do you need?
250 GB

Are you interested in SSD for storage?
Yes

Do you want a built-in optical drive, what type?
No

So I'm looking for an ultrabook/light laptop. I "think" I've narrowed it down to about 3-4 choices.. I'd like some feedback on my choices, and/or suggestions on other laptops, or to help me choose out of this list please!

Asus Zenbook Prime UX31A or
Asus Zenbook UX32VD
---------------------
13.3" 1080p, 3.2lbs, 0.55"
i7-3517U, 4gb-1600, 500gb HDD
(Thinking of replacing a stick of ram to total 6gb, and changing ssd for Samsung 830 256gb ssd)
TOTAL w/o self upgrades= 1299

Sony S Series 13.3" Premium
---------------------
13.3" 900p, 3.69lbs, about 1"
i5-3210M 2.5GHz, 4gb-1333, 500gb, GT640M 2gb
(Thinking to add ssd myself, instead of paying 500 for a 256 ssd pre-confirgured)
TOTAL w/o self upgrades = 1169.99

Sony S Series 15.5"
---------------------
15.5" 1080p, 4.42lbs, about 1"
Everything else same as 13.3"
TOTAL w/o self upgrades = 879.99

For both Sony S Series, I could upgrade the Processor to:

3rd gen Intel® Core™ i5-3210M processor (2.50GHz / 3.10GHz with Turbo Boost)
3rd gen Intel® Core™ i5-3320M processor (2.60GHz / 3.30GHz with Turbo Boost) [ $50.00 ]
3rd gen Intel® Core™ i7-3612QM quad-core processor (2.10GHz / 3.10GHz with Turbo Boost) [ $150.00 Not available for 13" ]
3rd gen Intel® Core™ i7-3520M processor (2.90GHz / 3.60GHz with Turbo Boost) [ $250.00 ]

[wariskazi]

i've been looking at these laptops too, do you know about the orange/red issue on the Sony S 15, if not then theres a whole orangegate thread in the Sony section that has a lot of pictures and stuff. Also, I've heard that the S13 TN panel isn't that great for a $1200. But I also really like the Asus UX32VD, if you don;t mind waiting the asus u500 seems like the perfect machine.

[Keviin]

Oh dam, I haven't seen the release of u500.. That laptop looks perfect, though late October.. I don't think a laptop is needed in early months of University right? Ah, I didn't look into the orange/red issue, and didn't notice the S13 had a TN panel vs. the zenbook's IPS..

[iViNtaGe]

Yeah, only the S15 has and IPS panel in Sony's lineup. To be fair though, OrangeGate is fairly common on notebooks with IPS and should not be an issue for those who don't use their lappy for professional photo editing.

I returned my Standard S13 for last year's Zenbook UX31E. Very happy with my choice.

I would go for the UX31A because it is the lightest and the most slim but still offers that 180p IPS panel <3. The VD is a cool idea but a bit of a waste in my opinion. The Gt 620m is barley better than the HD 4000 and probably eats more battery.

If you need gaming performance wait for the u500.

[Keviin]

I see.. though i've heard rumours that the u500 will be 2000.. euros.. I'm leaning towards UX32VD with upgrades, UX31A, or S15 with quad i7, 2gb 620M LE (i believe it's the Kepler version) and I'll just throw in an ssd myself (500 for a 256 ssd? no way).. Then there's Samsung.. compared to Asus, it's a lot more expensive..

Though if I go with Sony, I'll be missing out on a matte screen..

[RefinedPower]

the S15 has a glossy screen but with a matte covering... its not very reflective if thats what your concerned about.

have you looked at the HP dv6t? it has a really high quality 1080p matte display, can be configured with a 650m GDDR5, and up to I7 quad cores. Might be worth a look.

[Keviin]

Glossy screen with a matte covering, is that the same with, lets say, the screen of the Samsung 9 Series, or the Zenbooks?

Also, I'd like to point out that the laptop you have on your signature, was the exact configuration I was going to do (incl the ssd replacement, with the same model), self upgrade the memory from the default 4, and an i7 quad instead of the i5. How is it doing you?

[RefinedPower]

the S15 performance is fairly amazing, especially since this is the first laptop I owned that had an SSD. probably the hardest i pushed it was playing gw2 and mass effect 3 for a few hours. Was able to get 30-40 fps at medium settings and 1080p. The S15 stayed surprisingly cool, only getting slightly warm near vent in the back. this is on standard clocks, I know you can OC the 640 LE a lot but I have yet to do that.

not sure about the samsung 9 or zenbook screen since I have not seen any in person. I hate glossy screens though and the S15 does not bother me at all.