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Asus' Slim UX21 is an Air-thin Intel Ultrabook

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Sliver-slim and silver.

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Intel made the bold claim that by the end of 2012, 40 percent of the laptop segment will be made up of super-thin and light notebooks called Ultrabooks.

One of the first to market with such an offering will be Asus with the UX21 Ultrabook, which it is showing off at Computex. The slim and sleek form factor houses up at a full 2nd Generation Core i7 CPU that's packed with a SATA 6Gb/s SSD.

The real standout feature, however is its measurements, which is 17mm at its thickest point – the same as the current MacBook Air. Apple's offering today packs a Core 2 Duo, though it's expected that Apple will move to Sandy Bridge sometime this year.

Asus says that the UX21 will have an "up to 7-hour battery" and an Instant On feature for resuming work in seconds.

Engadget has a hands-on video with comparison against an 11-inch MacBook Air. Check it out below:

18 Comments Comment from the forums
  • burnley14 01 June 2011 20:42
    Very sexy. Looks like it was taken straight from the MacBook Air design, but I'd take Asus over Apple any day.

    They need to lose the glossy screen though, only downside from what I saw.
    Reply
  • irtehyar 01 June 2011 20:53
    Can't be thinner than the Dell. Inconceivable.
    Reply
  • WR2 01 June 2011 21:01
    From another source:
    price staring under $1000
    and "should be available for the 2011 holiday shopping season"
    Reply
  • Arbie 01 June 2011 21:02
    Just watching the video (no sound)...

    #) A lot of space that looks like it could be used for bigger keys is empty.

    #) It's about 1" deeper than the Apple, for no evident reason, which means it may not fit the tote bags etc designed for the Apple unit.

    #) It's hard to open, even with two hands.

    Those are just easy negatives, and none are major. I think it's great that Asus is producing this and have had very good luck with their products (a motherboard and a netbook).
    Reply
  • WR2 01 June 2011 21:06
    I'm thinking that would probably be a Macbook Air 13" model in the video?
    Reply
  • 01 June 2011 21:35
    Definitely looked like a 13" to me, but I guess the camera adds 2 inches. Anyway I'm glad to see the mobile pc market starting to recognize the importance of ultralight's, or ultrabook's as we'll now call them. I hope the industry isnt just doing this because the hardware is available, but because they understand people really want this.
    Reply
  • milktea 01 June 2011 21:58
    The guy had trouble opening the Ultrabook towards the end of the video segment. I think I should patent a mechanism which helps these ultra-thin notebooks to pop open... :D
    Reply
  • skaz 01 June 2011 22:21
    "up to 7 hours battery life"?...Ah I was hoping for something better then that. My portege is rated for that. My next Laptop will have to be able to do at least 10 hours.
    Reply
  • dark_knight33 02 June 2011 01:33
    WR2I'm thinking that would probably be a Macbook Air 13" model in the video?
    1:27 - "I have a macbook air **eleven** here".

    Dead Sexy. On my X-mass list now. ;) If anything I suspect that the Asus will likely fit any macbook 13" bag fine.
    Reply
  • dread_cthulhu 02 June 2011 05:18
    I honestly don't want something this thin... a little too thin for comfort in my opinion. One wrong move and SNAP!
    Reply