How could I resist that title? A bit of laughter is in the air as I hear the official news that the ASUS UX32VD is not coming to the UK. Is it a model naming issue or perhaps just a big mistake?
The ASUS UX32VD is #2 device on the site here, a device that is getting a huge amount of coverage and already building a big community, often a huge advantage for a buyer. The UX32VD combines a lower-cost Ultrabook chassis and hard drive with a full HD screen and a discreet graphics card for an interesting price. It’s a relatively unique device amongst Ultrabooks and yet ASUS UK tell us they have decided to put it on the back burner for this quarter. Feel free to drop your UK thoughts below – we’ll highlight it to ASUS as a quasi-petition.
The much anticipated UX31A and UX32VD Ultrabooks from Asus are finally available from Amazon US and . The UX31A, which starts at a very reasonable price, is being marketed by Asus as the ‘Zenbook Prime’ which we’ve been hearing about over the last few months. According to Asus, a Zenbook achieves the ‘Prime’ denotation as long as it has the 1080p IPS display, SSD, and a backlit keyboard. The UX32VD is thus being marketed simply as a Zenbook because it lacks the SSD.
A user in the Notebookreview forums has posted a method to split the SSD from the HDD in the ASUS UX32VD – making it an even more interesting purchase!
ASUS have used a standalone Sandisk i100 SSD soldered on the mainboard as the cache in the ASUS UX32VD rather than an integrated SSD/hard drive and as it appears as a separate disk it’s possible to install Windows onto it.
I don’t believe any of the Gen-1 Ultrabooks should be taken off the market to be replaced with Ivy Bridge models but there’s a risk that they will be if manufacturers adopt a two-prong approach with low and high-end Ivy Bridge devices. News just in via The Verge says that new Ivy Bridge Ultrabooks, the UX32A and UX32Vd, will start at $800. Does that leave any space for price drops on the UX21 and UX31?
While old stock may go for cheaper prices in Q3 we think it’s unlikely that the UX21 and UX31 will continue on the production line.
