ASUS ZenBook UX305 vs Lenovo Flex 3?

[lol1419]

Hello guys,

 

   I need a laptop for school and narrowed down my options between these two laptops that just fit shy of my $700 budget. The question is I don't know which one I should go for. I know they are both similarly spec-ed, with the Lenovo having a more desirable touchscreen display. (glossy tho.  ). On the flip side I rather have a 256GB SSD in the Asus then the 500GB/8GB SSD Cache in the Lenovo. I'm a strong Asus advocate but the the Lenovo and some nice features. Although I'm not a big fan of its "Yoga" style folding capabilities. (Not a bad thing, just not a huge selling point for me).

 

   I plan just to use the laptop for everyday tasks, but will need to do some coding on the machine.

 

     Asus ZenBook UX305:

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1131836-REG/asus_ux305fa_rbm1_gd_core_m_8gb_256ssd_windows_8_1_13_3_titanium_gold.html

 

     Lenovo Flex 3:

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1151213-REG/lenovo_80jk0020us_i5_5200u_8gb_500gb_8gb_windows_8_1_14.html

[burnttoastnice]

** In regards to the coding

I personally like the feel of the keyboard on ASUS laptops. The keys are well spaced and feel quite solid, unlike other mushy keyboards. The only thing I don't like is that if you press down into the center of any ASUS laptop, it will dip. I don't see that as a dealbreaker though.

 

As for Lenovo laptops, I haven't really used them much, so I can't speak for them.

[Fred Castellum]

I bought the zenbook just the other day. 

 

http://linustechtips.com/main/topic/401915-ultrabook-hunting-assistance-required/#entry5418877

 

Waiting on it to arrive to test it out.

[2FA]

The Lenovo has a more powerful CPU but that hybrid drive is disappointing.

[SleathX1]

UX305. Although the Lenovo has better specs - an i5 and larger storage, the Asus has much better build quality (although I can't speak for the Lenovo) and is extremely light. Plus, for schoolwork, you probably will not notice the difference in horsepower anyway, since they both have 8GB of RAM, which is most important for schoolwork.

[burnttoastnice]

UX305. Although the Lenovo has better specs - an i5 and larger storage, the Asus has much better build quality (although I can't speak for the Lenovo) and is extremely light. Plus, for schoolwork, you probably will not notice the difference in horsepower anyway, since they both have 8GB of RAM, which is most important for schoolwork.

 

My ASUS survived a drop onto concrete (dented a part of the laptop case open near the HDD, surprised the screen or hinges didn't break <_< ) but it's still working great. The laptop was obviously switched off when it dropped, else it would have been R.I.P. hard drive...

Seagate's software utility can't make its mind up about whether my hard drive is operating properly or not though :lol:

[lol1419]

Thanks for the help guys. I think ASUS still holds its own, but I gotta admit a touch screen + Win. 8 seems pretty appealing...

[mos]

Thanks for the help guys. I think ASUS still holds its own, but I gotta admit a touch screen + Win. 8 seems pretty appealing...

 

I have the UX305 and it's okay if you ONLY use it for school work. It's processor is so weak that it's basically limited at using gmail + steaming 2 1080p twitch streams. The build is great (one of the best I've seen) but I personally prefer a more powerful laptop.

 

FYI, I would recommend the Y40-80 80FA001CUS / 80FA0017US ( http://shop.lenovo.com/us/en/laptops/lenovo/y-series/y40-80/ ) which is pretty good if you don't mind the keyboard flex and mediocre screen quality. 

[techguru]

Thanks for the help guys. I think ASUS still holds its own, but I gotta admit a touch screen + Win. 8 seems pretty appealing...

you aren't gonna use touchscreen anyway

you mess the screen up touching it

people use a touch screen for 5 mins..and then go back to mouse and keyboard

touchscreen only belongs on tablets...not pcs

[lol1419]

I have the UX305 and it's okay if you ONLY use it for school work. It's processor is so weak that it's basically limited at using gmail + steaming 2 1080p twitch streams. The build is great (one of the best I've seen) but I personally prefer a more powerful laptop.

 

That's what I was thinking......The i5-5200U in the Lenovo is much more beefy than the Core M-5Y10...I guess that's what scares me the most. I can suck up to hybrid ssd but the cpu seems too under-powered...

 

you aren't gonna use touchscreen anyway

you mess the screen up touching it

people use a touch screen for 5 mins..and then go back to mouse and keyboard

touchscreen only belongs on tablets...not pcs

Well that might be true in some aspects....

[burnttoastnice]

you aren't gonna use touchscreen anyway

you mess the screen up touching it

people use a touch screen for 5 mins..and then go back to mouse and keyboard

touchscreen only belongs on tablets...not pcs

 

This is me personally but I wished I had picked the version of my laptop with the touchscreen. I have used another Asus laptop with a touchscreen and it comes in very handy, especially for things like 3D design, showing presentations, and media control. I also like the ability to disable them through device manager B) so you can chill in the rain with your laptop without your screen clicking everything.