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Asus ZenBook UX305CA Shows What Skylake Core M Is Capable Of (hothardware.com)

Posted by timothy on from the up-with-which-I-will-not-put dept.

MojoKid writes: ASUS recently revamped their ZenBook UX305 family of ultralight notebooks with Intel's 6th generation Skylake Core m series, which brings with it not only improved graphics performance but also native support for PCI Express NVMe M.2 Solid State Drives. The platform is turning out to be fairly strong for this category of notebooks and the low cost ZenBook ($699 as tested) is a good example of what a Skylake Core M is capable of in a balanced configuration. Tested here, the machine is configured with a 256GB M.2 SSD, 8GB of RAM and a 2.2GHz Core m3-6Y30 dual-core CPU. Along with a 13.3-inch 1080p FHD display and 802.11ac wireless connectivity, the ZenBook UX305 is setup nicely and it puts up solid performance numbers in both standard compute tasks and graphics. It also offers some of the best battery life numbers in an ultralight yet, lasting over 10 hours on a charge in real world connected web testing.

81 of 160 comments (clear)

  1. Re:What is Trump-hating Lauren Weinstein Capable o by suprcvic · · Score: 1

    I think you're in the wrong story bud.

  2. Early adopters beware by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Puff piece aside, the freezing bug they found when a MAJOR benchmark (Prime95 benchmark) is executed, suggests this hasn't been QA'd very well.

    http://vrworld.com/2016/01/15/intel-got-lucky-with-the-skylake-freezing-bug/

    At the very least ensure you have the patched version. But there may be others in it, so perhaps leave it for the early adopters to debug.

    (What I find disconcerting is that the chips microcode was updated by the BIOS and BIOS updates have been found to be downloaded un-encrypted, meaning the level of hacking available to big players is so bad it can reach even into the processor itself. So, for example, even if Intel's chip based random number generator isn't backdoored officially, a simple microcode update can make it backdoored! And that update can be delivered by an unencrypted BIOS update disclosed to exist on various Dell and other servers).

    1. Re:Early adopters beware by CraigCruden · · Score: 1

      You can patch it yourself, most motherboards are/will release patches that can fairly easily after sale.

  3. Re:The last laptop I bought... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    I am thinking with mobile processors over the last few years, battery life should be advertised with a chart across different CPU scaling factors.

    It is definitely a disappointment how reviewers have roundly bought into the figures provided by manufacturers on battery life without any thought to whether the CPU was actually only being run at 5% power the whole time.

    To be fair, I know someone with a new skylake ultrabook and it definitely beats the crap out of my 5th gen on battery life. But it is very misleading if you are doing high-CPU work.

  4. Re:I prefer the real thing versus a 2nd rate wanna by sunderland56 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    The 13" 256GB macbook pro is $1499. This one is $699. So, you could literally buy two of these for the price of one macbook. If you know of a comparable macbook for less than $750, please post.

    I agree about Windows, but if I bought either this one or the macbook, as soon as I got home I'd format the disk and install Debian; so the stock OS doesn't matter.

  5. Re: The last laptop I bought... by ChunderDownunder · · Score: 1

    The IDE is doing what, exactly?

    It's been a while since I did Java work but Eclipse/NetBeans worked comfortably in 4GB.

  6. Did Soulskill and samzenpus get canned? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Did Soulskill and samzenpus get canned as part of the recent Slashdot ownership change? The last submission posted by samzenpus and the last submission posted by Soulskill that I can find both pre-date the ownership change announcement. Since then there have only been submissions posted by timothy and whipslash, as far as I can tell. The about page still lists Soulskill and samzenpus as editors, but it also still says it's owned by DHI, so maybe it has not been updated yet. If Soulskill and samzenpus were canned, will timothy be canned at some point in the near future, too?

    1. Re:Did Soulskill and samzenpus get canned? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      I've noticed a lot of odd things going on lately and I'm really curious to know what's taking place behind the scenes. Did anyone else notice that the night Slashdot was sold and the following night, no articles were posted for roughly 10 hours? I can't recall that kind of gap between articles at any point in Slashdot's history. Normally there are enough editors to take care of things.

      As I understand it, whipslash is Logan Abbott, whose parents actually own BizX according to Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MyRatePlan.com). He's not just some editor who's been added, but rather an executive in Slashdot's new ownership. I've seen him comment on stuff recently, and there was one really interesting comment I saw. Timothy posted an editorial submitted by Lauren Weinstein that argues Twitter ought to ban Donald Trump. I can only assume timothy posted this on his own, because the submission wasn't voted up much in Firehose. Where it gets interesting is that whipslash criticized the submission and called it "bizarre" in a comment on that story. I'm not sure if he's criticizing timothy for posting it, but that's one possible interpretation. I can't think of any time when one editor publicly criticized a story posted by another editor, so it's definitely unusual.

      Also, what's with the AC posts I've seen talking about timothy and a supposed DOJ investigation? I've heard nothing about it outside of those AC posts and certainly can't vouch for it being true or not, but I'm really curious what's going on there.

    2. Re:Did Soulskill and samzenpus get canned? by Anne+Thwacks · · Score: 1
      samzenpus and Soulskill have disappeared

      Almost certainly kidnapped by aliens and carried off to the planet Zog.
      After all, it is only right and proper.

      --
      Sent from my ASR33 using ASCII
  7. Re:I prefer the real thing versus a 2nd rate wanna by ChunderDownunder · · Score: 1

    It's a Core M, so it's competing with $1299 Macbook (not the Pro)

    at least choose a comparable model.

  8. Re:Asus ZenBook by fbicknel · · Score: 1

    Not anonymous: just forgot to log in.

  9. Re: The last laptop I bought... by epyT-R · · Score: 1

    or intelliJ's devs should be fired and replaced with real programmers.

  10. Which is in turn... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    This site is full of right wingers

    And left... which brings me to...

    no surprise since white privilege is the de facto standard in the tech industry.

    Right wingers want true racial equality, they don't care about race.

    Now left wingers on the other hand, care ONLY about race to the exclusion of nearly everything else. To be more specific they care only about the black race, because they are fine with tramping down the hopes and dreams of other races like asians and so forth.

    The "tech industry" is in fact terribly racist, but that's only because so many of them are left wing through and through in some misguided thought that makes the compassionate instead of monsters.

    1. Re:Which is in turn... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      I think you are spot on, though come on a little harshly.

      Last time I said this, I got modded down for "trolling", but here it is again anyways.

      I want the best, most qualified people I can get for the job. Simple as that. Brown, white, black, yellow, blue(?), I don't care.

      Introducing diversity quotas and calling my hiring practices racist because of this is absurd, and I will not be shamed into hiring somebody of x race or y gender simply for the sake of their gender or race.

      It is at the point where it's considered racist to not give these people special privileges. It's absolutely nuts.

    2. Re:Which is in turn... by MobileTatsu-NJG · · Score: 1

      Right wingers want true racial equality, they don't care about race.

      Nah, just religion and sexual orientation.

      --

      "I like to lick butts!" by MobileTatsu-NJG (#32700246) (Score:5, Informative)

  11. Re: I prefer the real thing versus a 2nd rate wann by bill_mcgonigle · · Score: 1

    Who willingly wants to still use Windows anyways these days?

    People who write Windows apps? People who write Apple-platform apps run OSX, unsurprisingly (as do some jr. web developers). All the other top developers are on one of the linux distros.

    --
    My God, it's Full of Source!
    OUTSIDE_IP=$(dig +short my.ip @outsideip.net)
  12. Any VGA? by sk999 · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Just finished giving three talks in three days at three different locations / venues, where I needed to connect my laptop to the overhead projector. In every case the primary connector to the projector was VGA. Fortunately my clunky, old-fashioned, outdated laptop (actually, an old netbook) has a VGA port, so hooking up was always straightforward.

    What does Skylake have to offer?
    http://tech.slashdot.org/story...

    1. Re:Any VGA? by Frosty+Piss · · Score: 1

      Just finished giving three talks in three days at three different locations / venues, where I needed to connect my laptop to the overhead projector. In every case the primary connector to the projector was VGA.

      Don't you know VGA is dead? I read it here: http://tech.slashdot.org/story...

      --
      If you want news from today, you have to come back tomorrow.
    2. Re:Any VGA? by Mal-2 · · Score: 2

      An HDMI-to-VGA dongle that goes right on the end of the cable is something like $4 on fleaBay. I bought one so I could continue using an otherwise perfectly functional Dell E173FP monitor that takes only VGA with hardware that only spits out DVI or HDMI. It splits audio from the stream as well, but I can divert it easily enough to the normal headphone output and have never used that function.

      --
      How is the Riemann zeta function like Trump rallies? Both have an endless number of trivial zeros.
    3. Re:Any VGA? by fph+il+quozientatore · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Ah, modern laptops. They are thinner than ever, and they do all that the old ones could, provided you pack with them a HDMI-VGA dongle, a USB-Ethernet dongle, an external CD/DVD reader and an external hard disk for storage.

      --
      My first program:

      Hell Segmentation fault

    4. Re:Any VGA? by drinkypoo · · Score: 1

      The truth is that many of us don't need those things ever, and most of us don't need them most of the time. Also, you're way off your nut on the storage issue. Itsy bitsy SSDs have quite high capacities these days.

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
    5. Re:Any VGA? by rsmith-mac · · Score: 1

      Ah, modern laptops. They are thinner than ever, and they do all that the old ones could, provided you pack with them a HDMI-VGA dongle, a USB-Ethernet dongle, an external CD/DVD reader and an external hard disk for storage.

      VGA ports are massive compared to the thickness of any modern laptop. Even before VGA was pulled, laptop manufacturers had already switched to proprietary "mini VGA" form factors, and this still was roughly as large as a full size HDMI port.

      There is no good solution to the VGA problem other than killing it. Sources and displays are all digital and have been for ages; projectors have supported DVI/HDMI for some period of time now and should be wired up that way.

    6. Re:Any VGA? by thegarbz · · Score: 1

      You jest but this is a good outcome. If you want bulk, carry the crap everywhere, you're almost no worse off then you were in the past. In the mean time I carry what I need. Work laptop comes with me absolutely everywhere. VGA adapter and USB Ethernet do not. The VGA adapter comes with me when I present something, but I haven't used Ethernet adapters in a long time as WiFi is basically everywhere where I work and when I'm out visiting a vendor a 4G dongle is far more useful.

      By the way what's a CD/DVD reader? I remember reading something about such things in an old manuscript but it was written in a long lost language so I don't know what the purpose of such a device was. Ok jokes aside, do you actually have an external CD / DVD reader? At home I have one, BluRay reader, out of 8 PCs (including laptops and servers in this list). At work none of our machines have them. Maybe the IT support team does, but no laptops are issued with them and haven't been for about 4 years now.

      Likewise with external harddisk. You can still buy laptops with lots of storage if that's a requirement, but if not I prefer cloud / network attached solutions anyday. But then I don't work at a multimedia company either. Still sounds like a specific requirement that was just as valid for past laptops as it is now.

    7. Re:Any VGA? by CastrTroy · · Score: 1

      I don't see why more people aren't just opting for mini desktop like the Intel NUC machines. You can tote that back and forth to work a lot easier than a laptop. Most people I know with work laptops only use them at work and at home. They already have a monitor keyboard and mouse in both places. There's no reason to carry those things back and forth between work. Even those that travel for work would probably be better off buying a separate portable screen and keyboard to set up in the hotel room. For those that really need a full portable computer, I'd rather have the screen and keyboard be separate from the computing unit so that they can be upgraded and fixed independantly.

      --

      Anthropic principle: We see the universe the way it is because if it were different we would not be here to see it.
    8. Re:Any VGA? by Anne+Thwacks · · Score: 1
      My laptop uses 8" floppies, you insensitive clod!

      (You might be familiar with the expression "In the lap of the gods").

      --
      Sent from my ASR33 using ASCII
    9. Re:Any VGA? by thegarbz · · Score: 1

      It sounds like you'd be better suited with a simple docking station rather than a NUC. Quite frankly if you're dragging a computer back and forward only to use a fixed screen, keyboard and mouse at either end you're doing it the hard way.

      Laptops have the benefit of being able to be powered up anywhere to access. Carry to meeting and hook to projectors if you need, then go back and dock in a docking station. If I needed a full desktop computer in multiple places it would make sense to have a full desktop and simply carry around a removable harddisk instead. The NUC comes with a lot more downsides than a laptop + docking station.

      That said they have a very good use. I have a NUC style device sitting headless on my telescope. Not actually the NUC but only because it needs a 19V powersupply and the entire telescope power train is 12V. I do know someone who is using a NUC on his telescope though and they are awesome in situations where you need a full powered but tiny device. Would probably make a good desktop system when you don't have space for a computer anywhere.

    10. Re:Any VGA? by fluffernutter · · Score: 2

      Because NUC machines are almost the same price as a cheap laptop and don't even come with a screen?

      --
      Laws are rules for the court, but merely a bottom bar to hit for life. Think beyond laws in your actions always.
    11. Re:Any VGA? by Solandri · · Score: 1

      There are a lot more HDMI laptops out there than VGA projectors. So it's really the venues which still have VGA projectors who should have HDMI to VGA adapters on hand, than to expect every laptop owner out there to buy one or buy a VGA laptop, just in case.

      The better venues use projectors configured to allow you to remote desktop/VNC into your laptop over the network (ethernet or wifi). So a lot of times you don't even need to be physically connected to the projector.

    12. Re:Any VGA? by TwentyCharsIsNotEnou · · Score: 1

      Even those that travel for work would probably be better off buying a separate portable screen and keyboard to set up in the hotel room.

      Probably better off in meetings too. Though imagine the embarrassment when you've spent 3 or 4 minutes hooking it all* together and you realise you've forgotten the mouse.

      * NUC machine, power brick, screen, hdmi cable, screen power brick, keyboard

    13. Re:Any VGA? by Mal-2 · · Score: 1

      I have an external optical drive, but I haven't used it in at least three years. It's so much easier to use SD cards and flash drives for the same functions. Faster, too. M.2 SSDs are more than adequate in storage capacity these days. If I'm going to use wired Ethernet with a machine that doesn't natively support it, then I'd most likely leave the interface at the site (work or home) where it is required, rather than hauling it around. The HDMI dongle thing is something the projector owners really should keep on hand, but I don't think it's unreasonable to take one along if giving a presentation using someone else's display hardware, any more than it would be unreasonable to take a DisplayPort adapter along if that's your output. If you don't know what they have, it is best to be prepared for anything -- but I'd still rather tote it separately as needed than have the machine enlarged to accommodate it the 98% of the time I don't need it.

      --
      How is the Riemann zeta function like Trump rallies? Both have an endless number of trivial zeros.
    14. Re:Any VGA? by Mal-2 · · Score: 1

      I have four monitors in front of me currently, one of which would qualify as "thin and light" and thus be good for toting around. It has only a power cord, not a power brick. A laptop won't have its power supply integrated, but a monitor just might, and it doesn't necessarily cost extra to choose one that doesn't need a brick. On the keyboard side, go for something wireless that has a trackpad built in and you're good to go. Never take the receiver out of the USB port, and there's nothing to set up. NUC, power brick, monitor, HDMI cable, power cable, wireless keyboard. That said, something with an integrated display is still a better idea because all modern laptops will let you use an external monitor and the built-in display simultaneously, and you don't *have* to carry the wireless keyboard.

      --
      How is the Riemann zeta function like Trump rallies? Both have an endless number of trivial zeros.
    15. Re:Any VGA? by TwentyCharsIsNotEnou · · Score: 1

      Never take the receiver out of the USB port, and there's nothing to set up. NUC, power brick, monitor, HDMI cable, power cable, wireless keyboard.

      Ah, wireless keyboard! That's what I was missing, now it all makes sense.

  13. Re:I prefer the real thing versus a 2nd rate wanna by YahoKa · · Score: 1, Interesting

    From what I see, this Zenbook is missing USB-C, but the Macbooks are being built with this feature. This may or may not matter to most people. At least to me, a lack of USB-C makes a laptop un-buyable in 2016.

  14. Let's be fair by tyme · · Score: 4, Interesting

    First, it's not 2.2GHz (that's the maximum turbo frequency), it's rated speed is less than 1GHz (0.9GHz, according to TFA). The MacBooks use 1.1GHz and 1.2GHz Broadwell processors (turbo boost to 2.4GHz and 2.6GHz). The Skylake processors are probably both faster and lower power.

    Second, it's actually a pretty nice machine (assuming that you can stand Windows): anybody complaining about the new MacBook with only a single USB C port should be pretty happy with this machine, which comes with a full complement of ports. And the price is certainly pretty good (even the high resolution model is about half the price of the new MacBook).

    Third, the black finish looks really nice: I wish Apple would make nice black kit like that again.

    I wonder if you can get OS X running on this somehow.

    --
    just a ghost in the machine.
    1. Re:Let's be fair by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      (assuming that you can stand Windows)

      Oh, well I suppose OpenBSD doesn't have support for hardware acceleration on Skylake graphics yet but if you need that its not Windows it the first fall back option. DragonFlyBSD ought to have it soon (its a work in progress but close at the moment I believe) and I it already works with Linux (as of 4.3).

      Seriously, Windows, an insecure, expensive, illegal to reverse engineer pile of bloated spywhere with MS update root kit should not be in your top 3 choices of operating systems.

      While I wish Genode was ready for general users, we do have tons of options ready to go that are much better than Windows 10.

      Note: sadly I must confess I use Windows at work. Because of this, I happen to know Windows 10 intel graphics driver are rather sucky (They do not meet spec! They miscompile shaders and crash a lot), and this I advise against using the provided Windows based on that as well. While not quite as fast, their Linux drivers (and thus various ports of them) are more complaint and less crashy from my experience.

    2. Re: Let's be fair by Overzeetop · · Score: 1

      Who the fuck plugs in a laptop to an ethernet port that isn't using a docking station? That's the whole idea of a laptop that runs 10 hours on a charge - you don't have to plug it in!

      --
      Is it just my observation, or are there way too many stupid people in the world?
    3. Re: Let's be fair by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Anyone working in multi-site or datacentre IT support. Most people working in IT in general. Many people who actually move their laptop around, and don't just leave it in the docking station permanently.

    4. Re: Let's be fair by Anne+Thwacks · · Score: 1

      Without it, its kind of hard to configure your router to do the Wifi in the first place.

      --
      Sent from my ASR33 using ASCII
    5. Re: Let's be fair by Nemyst · · Score: 1

      There are still routers sold that don't have wifi turned on by default with a password provided in the manual?

    6. Re:Let's be fair by Solandri · · Score: 1

      I bought one of these for my dad for Christmas. It's not going to win any benchmarks, and you'll feel it lagging on any processor-intensive tasks. But for office tasks, email, and web browsing it's fine. The biggest annoyances are a mini-HDMI port instead of a regular HDMI port - not that bad in itself, except Asus does not include an adapter. And the beautiful 13.3" 1080p screen is made blurry by Windows 10's (still) inadequate scaling in most apps.

  15. Re: The last laptop I bought... by epyT-R · · Score: 1

    and increase blood pressure.

  16. Win 10 locked performance enhances. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    I think the discussion here should be about how MS plans to try and lock any performance increase that we'll see in these upcoming skylake chip benchmarks to win 10.
    http://betanews.com/2016/01/16...

  17. Re:I prefer the real thing versus a 2nd rate wanna by Stormwatch · · Score: 1

    Why? I'd rather get something compatible with a world of accessories already out there, instead of a still terribly limited range of new stuff.

    --
    Circumcision is child abuse.
  18. Re:The last laptop I bought... by chipschap · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I have this unit, and I get (Linux Mint 17.2) typically 5-6 hours with mixed workload. Interestingly, if I bring up full-screen Emacs and use only that (no Chrome in the background etc.) --- I get 10 hours, using the wifi for w3m and gnus, etc.

  19. Re: The last laptop I bought... by arth1 · · Score: 1

    But I don't understand why it uses ten times the amount of RAM as compared to NetBeans.

    With Java, it is generally safe to assume that requirements increase at a rate that's the square of the rate of increase in complexity.

  20. bezel by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    dat bezel doe

    captcha: widest

  21. Re: The last laptop I bought... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    This. I'm always amazed at the companies that will waste a lot of money on software, but refuse to buy developers decent computers.

  22. Re:The last laptop I bought... by drinkypoo · · Score: 1

    Interestingly, if I bring up full-screen Emacs and use only that (no Chrome in the background etc.) --- I get 10 hours, using the wifi for w3m and gnus, etc.

    Tried disabling graphics acceleration in chrome, and running that alongside emacs?

    --
    "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
  23. Re:I prefer the real thing versus a 2nd rate wanna by MobileTatsu-NJG · · Score: 1

    What accessories are you talking about? The only proprietary port on the Macbooks is the power adapter.

    --

    "I like to lick butts!" by MobileTatsu-NJG (#32700246) (Score:5, Informative)

  24. Very expensive in UK and hard to find with Pro by rklrkl · · Score: 3, Informative

    The UK price of the $699 tested 256GB SSD model is unbelievably expensive in comparson - it's over 800 pounds ($1200) which is sheer madness and will kill its UK sales. Add the fact that it's very hard to find it with Windows 10 Pro pre-installed (there's another 100 pounds - $150) and this will see near-zero UK business sales.

    1. Re:Very expensive in UK and hard to find with Pro by serviscope_minor · · Score: 1

      I don't care about Windows, or about the extra cost. As a laptop used day in, day out for a few years, it amounts to pennies per day. I'm still sore that Asus cancelled their 11 inch UX laptops. I guess that means it's time to get the UX21 a new battery rather than get a new machine. 50% heavier? No thanks!

      --
      SJW n. One who posts facts.
    2. Re:Very expensive in UK and hard to find with Pro by mjwx · · Score: 1

      The UK price of the $699 tested 256GB SSD model is unbelievably expensive in comparson - it's over 800 pounds ($1200) which is sheer madness and will kill its UK sales. Add the fact that it's very hard to find it with Windows 10 Pro pre-installed (there's another 100 pounds - $150) and this will see near-zero UK business sales.

      Asus has never been a big business seller. They sell to people like me who are mobile gamers or professionals who want a lightweight and powerful laptop that is extremely reliable and dont mind shelling out a few extra coins for it. Asus is pretty much the king here, especially if we consider the price point. I've been waiting for Asus to update their Zenbook range with Intel's latest CPU because my old Asus U46SV is getting a bit long in the tooth. It's a 4 year old laptop (2011 model) that has seen 4 continents and the biggest problem I have with it is that it wont run new games and the case has become unglued around the hinge (I could fix it with some model cement, I just cant be arsed as it's just cosmetic). I just need a Zenbook with a Nvidia graphics chip and I'm set. I dont mind about the price being more than a Dell or HP because I know Asus will go the distance and forget about Mac's, I've seen them struggle in the tropical heat when my Asus had no issues.

      --
      Calling someone a "hater" only means you can not rationally rebut their argument.
    3. Re:Very expensive in UK and hard to find with Pro by erapert · · Score: 1

      Why is it so much more expensive in the UK? Are there crazy high taxes over there? Weird regulations? Some lawsuit thing? Why?

  25. Re: The last laptop I bought... by Zontar+The+Mindless · · Score: 1

    It's not with the CEO, either.

    OTOH, if we were to speak of people willing to continue working for that CEO...?

    --
    Il n'y a pas de Planet B.
  26. Anything but Windows... by r_naked · · Score: 1

    Can I get it with an operating system that isn't Windows? No? Nevermind then.

    --
    -- http://anonet.org -- The internet the way it was meant to be. Check it out, you may be surprised.
    1. Re:Anything but Windows... by ctid · · Score: 1

      I got last year's model, which was sold with Windows-something. I didn't even bother to boot it - I just installed Mint 17.3. Everything except the brightness buttons works fine. I can still adjust the brightness, just not with the function keys.

      --
      Reality is defined by the maddest person in the room
    2. Re: Anything but Windows... by r_naked · · Score: 1, Informative

      My issue isn't getting Mint or FreeBSD to run on it, it is the fact that I will NOT give MS another dime. Supposedly I can get a refund ... blah blah blah. That has never worked out for me. The only hardware I buy now is MS free from the start.

      --
      -- http://anonet.org -- The internet the way it was meant to be. Check it out, you may be surprised.
    3. Re:Anything but Windows... by fluffernutter · · Score: 1

      Mint is so awesome

      --
      Laws are rules for the court, but merely a bottom bar to hit for life. Think beyond laws in your actions always.
    4. Re: Anything but Windows... by r_naked · · Score: 1

      I don't really consider myself an ideologist (evangelist?) when it comes to operating systems -- or at least I didn't. I had used an MS OS on my PCs since DOS 2.11 up to and including Windows 7. At first I used MS because there was no reasonable alternative -- there was so much that you HAD to have Windows for. When XP came out, I used it because I liked it. Same for Vista, and then Win 7. When 8 came out, I decided it was time to get my mouth of the MS teat. What I found was that I could accomplish my normal "consumer" tasks with ANY OS. GNU/Linux, *BSD, OS X, Android, iOS, etc...etc... The world had become OS agnostic *finally*. It is a real shame that most people still think they NEED an MS OS. Errrr -- nope. For the average consumer you can use any OS you want. Hell, for most people they will find that Android or iOS will serve them better. I have a wireless charger, wireless display, BT keyboard/mouse. I plop my phone on the charger and it pairs up with everything, and that is what I use for 95% of my computing needs. When I need to do development work, I have a workstation (running Mint) that I use VNC to connect to.

      TL;DR: Except for a few enterprise applications, you NO LONGER need Windows -- PERIOD! I wish more companies would offer their products without an OS.

      --
      -- http://anonet.org -- The internet the way it was meant to be. Check it out, you may be surprised.
    5. Re: Anything but Windows... by fitriulina1 · · Score: 1

      I have four monitors in front of me currently, one of which would qualify as "thin and light" and thus be good for toting around. It has only a power cord, not a power brick. A laptop won't have its power supply integrated, but a monitor just might, and it doesn't necessarily cost extra to choose one that doesn't need a brick. On the keyboard side, go for something wireless that has a trackpad built in and you're good to go. Never take the receiver out of the USB port, and there's nothing to set up. NUC, power brick, monitor, HDMI cable, power cable, wireless keyboard. That said, something with an integrated display is still a better idea because all modern laptops will let you use an external monitor and the built-in display simultaneously, and you don't *have* to carry the wireless keyboard. http://cocfreegemgenerator.com

  27. Re:I prefer the real thing versus a 2nd rate wanna by Curunir_wolf · · Score: 1

    What accessories are you talking about? The only proprietary port on the Macbooks is the power adapter.

    The "Thunderbolt" port is also propriety, and it is fast becoming the ONLY port on Macbooks. My Macbook pro only has 1 USB port, and the latest Macbook has none (unless you count USB-C, which I don't because I don't have any USB-C devices). So buy a Macbook, your choices are to buy proprietary Thunderbolt devices, or adapters for your USB stuff.

    --
    "Somebody has to do something. It's just incredibly pathetic it has to be us."
    --- Jerry Garcia
  28. Re:I prefer the real thing versus a 2nd rate wanna by MobileTatsu-NJG · · Score: 1

    Thunderbolt is not proprietary. USB-C just means your laptop can dock way more easily. Bitching over nothing.

    --

    "I like to lick butts!" by MobileTatsu-NJG (#32700246) (Score:5, Informative)

  29. Re:I prefer the real thing versus a 2nd rate wanna by fluffernutter · · Score: 1

    USB-C? Heck I don't even shop for USB3 compatibility.. I think I have USB2 on my laptop and so far it's been working just fine for me.

    --
    Laws are rules for the court, but merely a bottom bar to hit for life. Think beyond laws in your actions always.
  30. Re:Sage by Anne+Thwacks · · Score: 1

    Core moderators are generally made from dense materials, like lead, so his claim is quite believable.

    --
    Sent from my ASR33 using ASCII
  31. Re:I prefer the real thing versus a 2nd rate wanna by Curunir_wolf · · Score: 1

    Thunderbolt is not proprietary.

    It's trademarked and patented. If that's not proprietary, you must have a definition different than anything I've ever seen.

    USB-C just means your laptop can dock way more easily.

    And being the ONLY (only) USB port on the box means plugging in any of my many USB accessories impossible without an additional adapter. Worse if I don't want to use an expensive bluetooth mouse (forget about using Apple's way overpriced one - they break too frequently). I guess I could look for a mouse with a USB-C receiver. Oh, wait, there are none.

    Bitching over nothing.

    Fanboi is irrational apologist fanboi.

    --
    "Somebody has to do something. It's just incredibly pathetic it has to be us."
    --- Jerry Garcia
  32. Yeah, but who wants to run Windows? by Theovon · · Score: 1

    I wouldn’t want to run Windows on it, though, and good luck getting Linux to work well on it. Oh, sure, Ubuntu will install and “just work” (PROBABLY), but Windows graphics drivers kick the crap out of Linux graphics drivers, and Windows handles a wider range of I/O devices better, along with wireless networking, external monitors, etc. So I guess you’re better off sticking with Windows and running Cygwin if you want a proper UNIX environment. I don’t know. I’M SO CONFUSED!

    1. Re:Yeah, but who wants to run Windows? by serviscope_minor · · Score: 1

      Windows graphics drivers kick the crap out of Linux graphics drivers, and Windows handles a wider range of I/O devices better, along with wireless networking, external monitors, etc.

      None of the laptops I have/manage have problems with WiFi or external monitors[*] under Linux. Please take your FUD elsewhere.

      [*]Not strictly true, but in one case the monitor has a bug (bad checksum---all zeros) in it's DCC, but one can hardly blame Linux for that. Workarounds work fine.

      --
      SJW n. One who posts facts.
    2. Re:Yeah, but who wants to run Windows? by sunderland56 · · Score: 1

      Cygwin is possibly the worst piece of crap ever written. If you want Unix-like tools on Windows, try MKS Toolkit.

    3. Re:Yeah, but who wants to run Windows? by DNAgent · · Score: 1

      Have you actually run Linux on one of these machines or are you just talking out of your ass?

      I have a UX305, installed Debian on it the moment I unboxed it and aside from the widely noted problem with the screen brightness keys, for which there are a number of workarounds, everything worked perfectly without any more configuration than you'd need to do in Windows.

    4. Re:Yeah, but who wants to run Windows? by sconeu · · Score: 1

      Owned by MS. It's actually now Microsoft Services for Unix.

      --
      General Relativity: Space-time tells matter where to go; Matter tells space-time what shape to be.
  33. linux and windows performance and battery life by cesc · · Score: 2

    question chipschap: did the touchpad and the screen brightness keys work out of the box on Linux Mint? or you had to fix it?

    I quickly tested asus UX305CA on GNU/Linux, with Mint, Ubuntu and Kubuntu and had issues with this two components. None of them worked on Ubuntu, the brightness keys did work on one of them, Mint if I recall properly, and the trackpad didn't work in any of them. Otherwise it felt quite fast, and google thinks there are drivers available for the trackpad, so I just bought one for myself and I'm waiting for it to arrive.

    The main reasons why I choose this laptop are: 1) fanless (I hate the noise and they are always the first thing to break, unless the mechanical HD breaks first, but this is not an issue anymore with SSDd), 2) long battery life 3) serviceable battery (not as good as replaceable, but at least is supposed to be easy to disassemble, unlike the mac books, where everything is glued and unreachable) 4) light

    My SO has been using one on windows for more than two months and she consistently gets +10h battery life on windows with the "battery savings mode" enabled (otherwise, with the default settings, she was getting less than half of that). She uses it mostly for taking courses on gaming (unity, blender...) and is very happy with it. Yes, some programs take a bit more time to load than on a more capable desktop, but once loaded they perform fine. At least for doing simple things, she expects to have to switch to a desktop computer when in the future she wants to work on more complex projects, but the laptop is ideal for taking it to classes and meeting with friends to discuss projects.

    Windows has stability issues with the intel graphics drivers, but don't bother enough to spend time looking for solutions (yet). Other than that it doesn't have other issues, besides all the issues that windows always have :)

    1. Re:linux and windows performance and battery life by chipschap · · Score: 1

      question chipschap: did the touchpad and the screen brightness keys work out of the box on Linux Mint?

      Touchpad worked out of the box, although I did some fiddling with sensitivity, etc. (and I disable it when in full-screen Emacs). Screen brightness key did not work, still does not work, but I have a little tray applet that serves the purpose. In any case I keep the brightness at 20% which is more than good enough for indoor environments.

      I also did an amount of power optimization.

      Yes, Linux requires some fiddling, I don't deny it, but the results are worth it for me.

  34. Re:I prefer the real thing versus a 2nd rate wanna by Curunir_wolf · · Score: 1

    > It's trademarked and patented. If that's not proprietary, you must have a definition different than anything I've ever seen.

    Name one common standard port more recent than DB9 RS-232 that is not trademarked and patented. Oh, that's right, you can't. Guess you've been wearing a blindfold for the last 20 years.

    USB logo is trademarked. USB is not trademarked, and there are no patents in force for creating most basic USB devices. There is also no trademark for VGA whatsoever, and there are no patents currently in force for implementing VGA devices.

    --
    "Somebody has to do something. It's just incredibly pathetic it has to be us."
    --- Jerry Garcia
  35. Re:I prefer the real thing versus a 2nd rate wanna by MobileTatsu-NJG · · Score: 1

    I'm not a fanboi, I'm a pedant. It's not proprietary. It's just not a laptop configuration you want. Haterade Addict can't keep his terms straight.

    --

    "I like to lick butts!" by MobileTatsu-NJG (#32700246) (Score:5, Informative)

  36. Re:I prefer the real thing versus a 2nd rate wanna by MobileTatsu-NJG · · Score: 1

    Oh, and it's trademarked and patented by Intel, not Apple. It isn't exclusive to Mac. In fact it works in Linux and Windows as well. Firewire, USB, DVD, Blu-Ray, etc, are trademark and patented as well. The reason you're confused about my definiton of proprietary is because this is the first time you've been called out for not knowing what you're talking about.

    --

    "I like to lick butts!" by MobileTatsu-NJG (#32700246) (Score:5, Informative)

  37. Re:I prefer the real thing versus a 2nd rate wanna by Curunir_wolf · · Score: 1

    Oh, and it's trademarked and patented by Intel, not Apple. It isn't exclusive to Mac. In fact it works in Linux and Windows as well. Firewire, USB, DVD, Blu-Ray, etc, are trademark and patented as well. The reason you're confused about my definiton of proprietary is because this is the first time you've been called out for not knowing what you're talking about.

    Actually, it's trademarked by Intel. Apple has patents on it (3 just for iOS). USB has no existing patents that prevent you from creating devices, there are some specific uses of USB that are patented. Trademarks are only for the logo, not the device itself or the use of "USB". DVD and Blu-Ray are surrounded by RIAA and MPAA licensing, trademarks, patents, and mandatory DRM (duh), but that's not really relevant to the discussion.

    I'm called out all the time for not knowing what I'm talking about - by ignorant people like you that just don't know.

    --
    "Somebody has to do something. It's just incredibly pathetic it has to be us."
    --- Jerry Garcia
  38. Re:I prefer the real thing versus a 2nd rate wanna by MobileTatsu-NJG · · Score: 1

    Yeah, you just went and looked that up to defend against a really old Mac rant. Thunderbolt is available outside of Apple, but not widely adopted. That was the definition of 'proprietary' you had in mind, but you tripped over your own terminology. Next time you might use the phrase: 'Practically proprietary', or something like that. Or avoid it altogether by saying what you really mean: 'There isn't a Mac configuration that suits me.'

    --

    "I like to lick butts!" by MobileTatsu-NJG (#32700246) (Score:5, Informative)

  39. Re: The last laptop I bought... by HiThere · · Score: 1

    That may be so, but if you push the cycles, don't expect the battery to last.

    --

    I think we've pushed this "anyone can grow up to be president" thing too far.
  40. Re: SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS by HiThere · · Score: 1

    He clearly stated those were minimum requirements.

    What nobody has said is what the requirements are for decent performance. Somebody said that he had 64GB and was still plagued with swapping.

    --

    I think we've pushed this "anyone can grow up to be president" thing too far.
  41. Re: The last laptop I bought... by HiThere · · Score: 1

    OTOH, if you aren't using Java and are reasonably familiar with the language, then a text editor should be sufficient. I presume that if you use an IDE then you're expecting some benefit over a text editor, and I admit that when I use Java I find that NetBeans gives me substantial benefit. But for something that takes 64GB of RAM I'd expect it to write the code itself from a vague description.

    FWIW, there *ARE* (well, were) good IDEs. FoxPro had a good IDE back before they were bought by MS. And in the same period MS Access had a decent IDE. Most, however, aren't generally worth the bother even when free. There are special circumstances where some of them can be helpful, but generally a text editor is easier and faster.

    --

    I think we've pushed this "anyone can grow up to be president" thing too far.
  42. Re:I prefer the real thing versus a 2nd rate wanna by mjwx · · Score: 1

    From what I see, this Zenbook is missing USB-C, but the Macbooks are being built with this feature. This may or may not matter to most people. At least to me, a lack of USB-C makes a laptop un-buyable in 2016.

    Considering that almost all of my USB devices are still USB 2 or 3, not having to buy all my peripherals again is considered a feature, not a drawback.

    In fact the USB-C port is the only thing I dont like about my new Nexus 5x. It doesn't offer anything new and is incompatible with my old cables.

    --
    Calling someone a "hater" only means you can not rationally rebut their argument.