Recommendations for notebook for poly.

[Chee Kiat]

Hi, i will be starting poly very soon in april, and I'm now looking to find a light, thin laptop (preferably a ultrabook or a laptop below 1.7kg) to use in poly. I will also be using the laptop for occasional light gaming like league of legends. My preffered specs are: -i5 processor or higher
-256 SSD / 1 TB HDD
- Laptop weighing below 1.7 kg
- 8 GB RAM
- 13.3 inch or 14 inch
- price preferably below $1500 SGD
Currently looking at the ASUS UX305UA, ASUS UX303UB and Lenovo ideapad500s. Any recommendations and advice is greatly appreciated, thanks!

 

[youhsueh]

Hi Chee Kiat,

The Asus UX303UB is a Ultrabook packed with a NVIDIA 940M. This would be my preferred choice if you are a gamer.

Though, Intel Integrated Graphic would be sufficient for very light gaming.

Consider purchasing from your School's Roadshow as it is cheaper with extended warranty and additional freebies. It should also come pre-installed with software required for your course.

 

[Chee Kiat]

Hi Chee Kiat,

The Asus UX303UB is a Ultrabook packed with a NVIDIA 940M. This would be my preferred choice if you are a gamer.

Though, Intel Integrated Graphic would be sufficient for very light gaming.

Consider purchasing from your School's Roadshow as it is cheaper with extended warranty and additional freebies. It should also come pre-installed with software required for your course.

Thanks for the quick reply, youhsueh, I'm looking at the UX303 and UX305 for the most part and I like the 303 because of its gpu, but heavier weight . But I know the games I play are also sufficient for the Intel graphics in the 305 and the 305 is lighter. This is where I have a dilemma. I'm looking to also purchase my notebook from the IT show next week although I know the sch's roadshows will come with extra warranty and freebies

 

[youhsueh]

Thanks for the quick reply, youhsueh, I'm looking at the UX303 and UX305 for the most part and I like the 303 because of its gpu, but heavier weight . But I know the games I play are also sufficient for the Intel graphics in the 305 and the 305 is lighter. This is where I have a dilemma. I'm looking to also purchase my notebook from the IT show next week although I know the sch's roadshows will come with extra warranty and freebies

Just to add-on to your considerations:

UX303UB over UX305CA because:

1. Touchscreen
2. Back-lit Keyboard
3. 2.5" HDD/SSD (as compared to mSATA on the UX305CA)
4. Expandable RAM (Do note: 4GB is Soldered on while the other 4GB is occupying a RAM slot; You may swop the 4GB to a 8GB one, making it a total of 12GB)
5. Dedicated Graphics

While, UX305CA over UX303UB because:

1. Portability, Lightweight
2. Battery Efficient (due to non-touchscreen and lack of a Dedicated Graphics Card)

If you are IT savvy and may consider upgrading your laptop or a gamer, you may choose UX303UB. Else, UX305CA would fit a regular student needs.

I highly encourage you to purchase from your School's Roadshow due to the extended warranty because the Zenbook series is known for its easy-to-break hinges. Do take note that Asus will only repair broken hinges during warranty period.

 

[Chee Kiat]

Just to add-on to your considerations:

UX303UB over UX305CA because:

1. Touchscreen
2. Back-lit Keyboard
3. 2.5" HDD/SSD (as compared to mSATA on the UX305CA)
4. Expandable RAM (Do note: 4GB is Soldered on while the other 4GB is occupying a RAM slot; You may swop the 4GB to a 8GB one, making it a total of 12GB)
5. Dedicated Graphics

While, UX305CA over UX303UB because:

1. Portability, Lightweight
2. Battery Efficient (due to non-touchscreen and lack of a Dedicated Graphics Card)

If you are IT savvy and may consider upgrading your laptop or a gamer, you may choose UX303UB. Else, UX305CA would fit a regular student needs.

I highly encourage you to purchase from your School's Roadshow due to the extended warranty because the Zenbook series is known for its easy-to-break hinges. Do take note that Asus will only repair broken hinges during warranty period.

So it seems like the UX303UB is more worth it for the price, thanks for listing out the pros and cons for both the notebooks, makes it clearer to see . I have also seen many comments complaining about the hinges on the zenbook breaking as what you have said and will look into the school's road show event. Thanks for your input!