Asus has moved to take on the likes of Apple with a $2,699 slim notebook that has gold trim and is wafer thin and is remarkably like the Apple MacBook.
One of the big differences is that the new ASUS Zenbook 3 offering runs Windows 10 and not MacOS.
The aluminium ZenBook weighs in at under a kilo the same as the MacBook and has the same two-port combination of a single USB-C port and 3.5mm headphone jack.
While the Taiwanese PC maker does not have the brand clout of Apple or even Lenovo, who are carving up the top end of the PC market with their Yoga line of thin notebooks Asus is confident that their new offering will prove popular even though it is only going to be sold via Harvey Norman and a bunch of smaller PC dealers.asus_zenbook_3_2
Currently Harvey Norman are running a $50M PC product sale in an effort to clear PC inventory. The Company has also moved to offering 5 years’ interest free in an effort to clear excess PC stock.
Launched at a gala event in Sydney last night the new Zenbook 3 is a little wider that the Apple product, with its slightly larger 12.5-inch full HD display (16:9 aspect ratio). In Steel blue the device looks stunning even with the gold trim.
Display
The MacBook sports a 12-inch Retina display with a resolution of 2,304 x 1,440 pixels and 226 ppi. The Asus ZenBook 3 comes with a slightly bigger 12.5-inch Full HD screen but it packs only 1,920 x 1,080 pixels and 176 ppi.
Design
The Apple laptop weighs 920 grams, and it is 13.1 millimetres at its thickest point. Asus has managed to make the ZenBook 3 thinner as well as lighter than its Apple rival. The ZenBook 3 weighs 910 grams, and it measures 11.9 millimetres thin.
The metal lid has a different finish on the ZenBook 3. But even the bevelled metal hinge and the four little stoppers on the bottom of the laptop look identical to the MacBook’s.
One of the big differences that I noticed before we were stopped examining the device more thoroughly was that there’s great deal of travel in the keys for a good typing experience which is essential in a device that is the same price as a top end 4K Ultra High Definition TV.
