Choosing laptop: Asus Zenbook UX31A or HP Envy Spectre

**MartinMorrison** · June 25th, 2012

Hi,

I am lucky enough to have someone buying me a laptop as a present from a specific online store that stocks specific laptops. So the choice is only between the two laptops:

Asus Zenbook Prime UX31A i7, 4gig RAM, 128SSHD - weight 1.3kg
HP Envy Spectre i5, 4gig RAM, 128SSHD - weight 1.8kg

They are both exactly the same price. I am a first time Ubuntu user and the first time I install and use Ubuntu will be on this laptop. I will not use windows or dual boot on these laptops, and intend to only have Ubuntu on the laptop. It is really important that Ubuntu works on each laptop, that it is highly portable, light and can last ~5 hours without charging.

I was about to order the HP Envy, but I checked around these boards and can't find any information about the compatibility of Ubuntu with the HP envy *Spectre* model specifically. A search does not even find it named on these boards. The Zenbook however has it's own Ubuntu community page and threads (ie http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.p...ok+Prime+UX31A) that confirms certain things as working.

I want to get the Spectre, but I have serious concerns because of the lack of testing on Ubuntu. Should I play safe and get the Zenbook? I prefer the Spectre as a laptop but it seems to be new and not a kind of laptop most people install Ubuntu on. Please help!

**Thirion** · June 25th, 2012

Hi,

why do you prefer the HP Spectre?

In my opinion the Zenbook is the perfect Ultrabook/Laptop. Its very thin and light - but the case makes it very robust (i had a Toshiba Sattelite for some days and i always feared it would break ...). The non-glare (i will never buy a glossy dislay again) full-HD display is amazing (according to tests the best display out there - and in my opinion one of the most important things on a laptop). Also the Zenbook hardware is (because of the newer Intel generation) better than the HP hardware.

Currently Ubuntu on the Zenbook works ok, there are some annoying things you have to fix and some things (for me quite unimportant - like FN-keys ...) don't work yet - but im sure they will work soon. I'm also quite sure Ubuntu on the HP works quite well, because the hardware on Ultrabooks is similar and it works on most other Ultrabooks.

Michael

**MartinMorrison** · June 25th, 2012

Hi thanks for the response. I prefer the HP because I can get it quicker than the Asus (before I begin new work), it is better looking (in my opinion), it has a bigger screen (14 inch in a 13inch body) and higher resolution because of it.

**rockprincess** · June 26th, 2012

Originally Posted by MartinMorrison

Hi thanks for the response. I prefer the HP because I can get it quicker than the Asus (before I begin new work), it is better looking (in my opinion), it has a bigger screen (14 inch in a 13inch body) and higher resolution because of it.

sorry, how can you say it has a higher resolution because of the bigger chasis?!

the Zenbook has a resolution of 1920x1080
and the HP Envy Spectre has only 1600x900

Plus the HP has only a i5 CPU, while the Zenbook has a i7
the Zenbook has a 256GB SSD while the HP has a 128GB SSD for approximately the same price.
The Zenbook has 2x USB3.0 ports, while the HP has 1x USB2.0 and 1x USB3.0

I think this speaks for itself, the Zenbook is at the moment state-of-the-art.

**MartinMorrison** · June 26th, 2012

Hi, my bad - you are right about the resolution. I missread that on the site. The Zenbook I am able to order is 128 SSD at exactly the same price as the HP. It is an i7 though. Thanks for the input.