Asus Zenbook

After listening to my mum's criteria for work the other day in wanting to switch from her current laptop to an iPad, things got a little clearer and as much as I'd recommend my folks an iPad for a replacement, I think her impression of the iPad has been largely misled.

Getting an iPad is great but if she wants it to perform the tasks she's informed me about, she might end up finding it more frustrating to use than actually productive.

Instead of going tablet, I recommended her to get a thinner laptop instead if one of her biggest gripes with the current one she has was bulk.

I'm not one to research so much into laptops mainly cause I use a Mac and there's only that many computers out there that run the OS. Windows, with its hundreds of selections available, can be a bit more overwhelming.

Thankfully with the internet providing you with so much information these days, it's easier to just look up the best of the best and pick from that lot.

My initial reaction was to get a Macbook Air for my mum, seeing that it would most likely fit her better than she would with an iPad. But knowing mum, she's still struggling with programs like excel and word, programs she's been using for years...to have her learn to switch to OSX might just add another layer of headache on top of her problem...sure OSX is easy to learn, but I have to be frank that even with Windows, my mum's still having difficulties telling the different between copy and paste, and cut and paste...then there's the other set of peripherals she'll have to deal with such as proprietary insurance softwares which seem to be swarmed with just the windows based versions out there.

Enter the 11 inch Asus Zenbook...I won't even deny it, it really is a copy of the highly successful MBA...goes to show how much Apple has influenced the commercial market these days.

It's thin like the MBA, runs on SSD like the MBS, light like the MBA, and runs Windows. =) Sure I could have just got my mum to get a MBA and default boot into windows every time she uses it...but that's kinda defeating the purpose don't you think? Plus in the MBA, right clicking while in windows is another set of headache which I don't think she wants to think about.

I got to check out the Zenbook earlier at Harvey Norman, and hardware wise it's pretty slick...it's aluminum unibody which mimics that of the MBA is tough, solid, sturdy, expensive-feeling. Not like the Acer S3 Ultrabook which was made out of plastic, and so is the Samsung, which although looks like brushed aluminum...isn't.

I chuckled at this...above is an image I emailed myself from the Zenbook at Harvey Norman.

At $10 more than the highest spec 11in MBA, the Zenbook has a faster processor which can be found in the MBA if you added another $199...granted these are all goodies, but since mum will most likely be dealing with word and excel, both specs don't really matter...but with the additional Lan Cable and VGA out port that comes together with the laptop, she may actually need those items which don't come free with the MBA. With little bloatware that comes pre-installed, that's definitely a good thing.

Check out the video above to get a better idea of the Zenbook.

Will do a bit more hunting around but so far this seems like the better choice if mum's looking for a portable work horse.

Dad might be interested in the iPad since he's looking for something to replace his books...will look into it if he's really interested.