Help me decide

[Chevalier]

Deciding between the two laptops

ASUS UX331UN - https://www.hachi.tech/product/0889...-EG008T-Intel-i716GB-RAM-512SSD-MX150-2G-Blue

HP Envy ad117tx - https://www.hachi.tech/product/0192...M00PA-Notebook-Intel-i7-16GB-RAM-512SSD-MX150

Both are very similarly specced.

It’s my first foray into the windows laptop world after spending years on MAC.

I’m concerned about
1. After sales support
2. I can’t find out if the ASUS is using an nvme drive or sata. The HP is using nvme


Can anyone chime in with their thoughts?

 

[Chevalier]

Originally posted in notebooks clinic but zero response.

Deciding between the two laptops

ASUS UX331UN - https://www.hachi.tech/product/0889...-EG008T-Intel-i716GB-RAM-512SSD-MX150-2G-Blue

HP Envy ad117tx - https://www.hachi.tech/product/0192...M00PA-Notebook-Intel-i7-16GB-RAM-512SSD-MX150

Both are very similarly specced.

It’s my first foray into the windows laptop world after spending years on MAC.

I’m concerned about
1. After sales support
2. I can’t find out if the ASUS is using an nvme drive or sata. The HP is using nvme


Can anyone chime in with their thoughts?

 

[rogue_strider]

Actually you should just go down to Challenger and try the laptop yourself. There are quite a few important information that isn't in the product spec sheet.

Both are quite similarly specced

Although the asus brochure was misleading customer in to thinking that they are getting a UHD screen but at the spec sheet it stated that the screen was only FHD. While HP mentioned either FHD or UHD but didn't put any information about which one was it in its information page.

Furthermore both didn't even state how long you can use the laptop when its full charged.

I'm leaning towards Asus for its 2 years warranty but thats the only advantage.

 

[Chevalier]

Actually you should just go down to Challenger and try the laptop yourself. There are quite a few important information that isn't in the product spec sheet.

Both are quite similarly specced

Although the asus brochure was misleading customer in to thinking that they are getting a UHD screen but at the spec sheet it stated that the screen was only FHD. While HP mentioned either FHD or UHD but didn't put any information about which one was it in its information page.

Furthermore both didn't even state how long you can use the laptop when its full charged.

I'm leaning towards Asus for its 2 years warranty but thats the only advantage.

thanks for replying man.

actually when I did the research, both of them have abs 12-14 hours of usage on a full batt, both are also full hd screen its (Asus being more matte) and both now offer a 2 year warranty.

hence the dilemma.

I believe the HP has the edge as its using a Toshiba NVME drive

 

[narkizy]

thanks for replying man.

actually when I did the research, both of them have abs 12-14 hours of usage on a full batt, both are also full hd screen its (Asus being more matte) and both now offer a 2 year warranty.

hence the dilemma.

I believe the HP has the edge as its using a Toshiba NVME drive

If you were mentioning 12-14 hrs usage advertised I'd take it with a pinch of salt. Companies always inflate their battery life beyond what normal use gets the device. You're looking at maybe 8-9hrs, 10 max if they advertised 12-14.

And NVME ssd is about 4-5 times faster read/write speed than sata 3 ssd so the edge there is pretty significant.

Not to mention 512 NVME ssd is alot more expensive than a sata 3 ssd so you get more bang for your buck

 

[Ark Law]

It’s my first foray into the windows laptop world after spending years on MAC.

I’m concerned about
1. After sales support
2. I can’t find out if the ASUS is using an nvme drive or sata. The HP is using nvme

Then your only options are HP Elitebooks and Dell Latitudes

 

[Intrinion]

Battery life is never that long.
Possibly close to max 6 or 7 hours. ( which is good since couple years back, it’s 3 - 4 hours for bigger 9 cell batteries).

12, 14 hours is dependent on spec, and certain test conditions and usage patterns. Replicable but for consumer usage.. not exactly

 

[Chevalier]

Battery life is never that long.
Possibly close to max 6 or 7 hours. ( which is good since couple years back, it’s 3 - 4 hours for bigger 9 cell batteries).

12, 14 hours is dependent on spec, and certain test conditions and usage patterns. Replicable but for consumer usage.. not exactly

Totally understood. I had hands on with both

1. Overall the HP is a better laptop thanks to the nvme drive and purported good cooking.

2. Not much info can be found for the UX331UN but I do prefer the Asus design. And the weight... omg it’s damn light

 

[Intrinion]

Hp now operates via their online tech support who will diagnose and issue a ticket for collection and return. There isn’t a physical service centre at Alexander any more.

For Asus, they operate a service centre in the east side. Past experiences from forum users weren’t too good. Maybe current Asus users can chime in.

 

[narkizy]

Totally understood. I had hands on with both

1. Overall the HP is a better laptop thanks to the nvme drive and purported good cooking.

2. Not much info can be found for the UX331UN but I do prefer the Asus design. And the weight... omg it’s damn light

Both laptops weigh the same at roughly 1.1+kg

If what's been advertised was right(the link you attached advertised the Asus one as only having a SATA 3 SSD) then the HP laptop seems to be the better buy simply because you're getting a much more expensive NVMe SSD for the same price.

 

[Chevalier]

Thanks everyone for your thoughts

In the end I went with the Asus as I felt the matte screen was better for my design work. Also a little more colour accurate compared to the HP.

The nvme drive I discovered can be bought from eBay for 149usd should I choose to. It’s a Toshiba nvme with 1500read and 500 write, hence not so impressive there.

Overall the asus is lighter at 1.12 kg vs 1.39.

I’ll use it over the next few days and share my thoughts.

 

[Hailgod]

if u really want a nvme drive, dont get toshiba.
go for wd blue / samsung 960 evo for value nvme drive or wd black / samsung 960 pro for high end versions.

 

[Chevalier]

if u really want a nvme drive, dont get toshiba.
go for wd blue / samsung 960 evo for value nvme drive or wd black / samsung 960 pro for high end versions.

Exactly what I what I thought.

When I checked out the drive the HP used and saw the spec of the driver, it made the decision a whole lot easier

 

[sneezybum]

Thanks everyone for your thoughts

In the end I went with the Asus as I felt the matte screen was better for my design work. Also a little more colour accurate compared to the HP.

The nvme drive I discovered can be bought from eBay for 149usd should I choose to. It’s a Toshiba nvme with 1500read and 500 write, hence not so impressive there.

Overall the asus is lighter at 1.12 kg vs 1.39.

I’ll use it over the next few days and share my thoughts.

I had earlier ordered the HP 117TX 2 weeks ago with HN. When I went to Jurong Point for collection, I saw the Asus ux331un and was blown away by the weight. The lighter weight (270gm difference), matte screen, better typing ergonomics (Bigger palm resting area compared to envy) swayed me to top up for the Asus. Loving it since then.

At times, I still cannot believe that it’s so light. No regrets so far.

 

[sneezybum]

Not to forget, the fingerprint scanner makes log in effortless too.

 

[watzup_ken]

I am never a fan of HP products after a few very poor experience with their laptops. Having said that, things may have changed over the years, so I hope it is the case.

Anyway, regardless if a computer is using NVME SSD or not, it does not make much difference. I can be sure you won't feel any difference between one that runs on SATA3 and one on NVME. The difference is in the sequential speed which only shines when you constantly transfer huge files, which most people don't do that in their day to day usage. Also, most of these NVME SSDs are anyway TLC NAND type, and the way they achieve the high transfer rate is by means of an SLC cache. Once a huge file exceeds the cache size, the transfer rate will decline to just slightly better than SATA3 speed.

 

[Chevalier]

Not to forget, the fingerprint scanner makes log in effortless too.

Absolutely agree with u man

 

[Chevalier]

I had earlier ordered the HP 117TX 2 weeks ago with HN. When I went to Jurong Point for collection, I saw the Asus ux331un and was blown away by the weight. The lighter weight (270gm difference), matte screen, better typing ergonomics (Bigger palm resting area compared to envy) swayed me to top up for the Asus. Loving it since then.

At times, I still cannot believe that it’s so light. No regrets so far.

Everything u just mentioned is exactly why I got it