Asus UX50V
Specifications
Pricecompare
Average of 9 scores (from 11 reviews)
Reviews for the Asus UX50V
Judge a book by its cover? Asus wants to poach in the starter sector of multimedia notebooks with glossy piano lacquer, a snazzy design and a switchable graphic solution. Or don't they? Is the 15.6 inch notebook UX50V more an office device that looks good but is barely suitable for multimedia due to the weak hardware? We released the designer laptop on our test course and made our verdict without being blinded by its looks.
Source: Reg Hardware Archive.org version
Although attractive, we weren’t hugely impressed with the keyboard, while the design of the trackpad buttons is woeful. And despite its ability to switch to a discrete graphics chip, the Nvidia Geforce G105M isn’t up to much in terms of gaming. If you’re happy sacrificing power and a fair wedge of cash for style, the UX50V will probably appeal. But we think Asus has its work cut out in persuading customers to shell out £999 for its latest catwalk queen.
Single Review, online available, Long, Date: 08/25/2009
Rating: Total score: 60%
Source: CNet Archive.org version
The Asus UX50V-RX05 is closer to an oversized Netbook than a mainstream laptop. If you took the Asus Eee PC 1005HA and doubled its weight and price, you'd basically end up with the UX50V. This 15.6-inch laptop shares many design cues with the Eee PC 1005HA, with its sleek profile, tapered edges, and glossy chassis. Unfortunately, it also shares roughly the same performance profile as a Netbook, thanks to its underpowered, single-core CPU. With its low-end single-core processor, dedicated GeForce graphics, and 16:9 display, the unquestionably sleek, entertainment-minded Asus UX50V-RX05 is a good fit for a specific user profile: the movie lover/sometime gamer.
Single Review, online available, Long, Date: 08/06/2009
Rating: Total score: 53% performance: 30% features: 50% mobility: 50%
Source: CNet Archive.org version
According to Asus, the UX series is 'an intricately crafted series of notebooks that provide both contemporary style and effortless computing on the go'. In human speak, that means they're thin and light, look awesome and have funky new components. The UX50V, reviewed here, is being sold by online retailers for around £910. The Asus UX50V is great to look at, but it's let down by relatively average performance and design features that detract from the overall user experience. Its shiny finish will appeal to magpies and those with design degrees, but the cheaper, slightly less attractive MSI X340 -- or indeed an Apple MacBook -- might be better options.
75
Single Review, online available, Medium, Date: 07/03/2009
Rating: Total score: 75%
Source: Techradar Archive.org version
A stylish and high-quality offering from Asus, but not the fastest machine. Asus' UX range is aimed at the high end of the laptop market, and targets rivals such as Sony's VAIO range. The UX50V is a compact and stylish 15.6-inch machine, offering impressive quality and a distinctive design. The Asus UX50V offers a lot of style and quality for the money. It's also a comfortable choice with decent 3D power on offer. Whether it's stunted by the single-core processor remains to be seen, but it's still an impressive start.
80
Single Review, online available, Short, Date: 07/01/2009
Rating: Total score: 80%
Foreign Reviews
Source: Notebookcheck DE→EN Archive.org version
Single Review, online available, Long, Date: 10/08/2009
Rating: Total score: 76% performance: 67% display: 60% mobility: 78% workmanship: 80% ergonomy: 75% emissions: 85%
Source: c't - 19/09
Comparison, online available, Very Long, Date: 09/01/2009
Rating: performance: 35% display: 70% mobility: 80% ergonomy: 40% emissions: 90%
Source: Notebookjournal DE→EN Archive.org version
Single Review, online available, Long, Date: 07/02/2009
Rating: Total score: 80% price: 70% performance: 50% features: 50% display: 30% mobility: 60% workmanship: 90% ergonomy: 70%
Source: MuyComputer ES→EN Archive.org version
Single Review, online available, Medium, Date: 05/25/2009
Rating: Total score: 88%
Source: Les Numeriques FR→EN Archive.org version
Single Review, online available, Medium, Date: 08/14/2009
Rating: Total score: 60% performance: 60% mobility: 40% ergonomy: 60%
Source: NotebookTV.hu HU→EN Archive.org version
Single Review, online available, Long, Date: 09/14/2009
Rating: price: 70% emissions: 60%
Source: Kiến Thức Laptop VN→EN Archive.org version
Single Review, online available, Long, Date: 07/10/2009
Rating: performance: 70% mobility: 60%
Comment
Series:
With the recent announced UX21 and UX31 Ultrabooks, provided by the Taiwanese manufacturer Asus and marketed under the self-created term Zenbook, the already existing UX series moves back to the foreground. In 2009 Asus showed the slim notebook UX50V with energy efficient hardware and a 15-inch display. Today, three years after the first device of this series Asus presents two devices in the Ultrabook-class with 11.6 - and 13.3-inch display. The category Ultrabook itself was launched by Intel to the fire up the market of the top dog Apple with its MacBook Air 11 and MacBook Air 13.
Significant milestones for this project are a sleek design, fast and energy-saving hardware as well as a decent battery lifetime. Asus uses a alloy-chassis, a solid state drive and a lithium-polymer battery, which is integrated. In the first reviews for the two new devices the available ports, the bright screen and the minimalistic background noises in idle-usage models are highlighted. Disadvantages are the reflective surface of the display and the missing option to expand the integrated hardware.
Asus offers the Zenbook UX21 (11.6 inches) and the UX31 with the larger 13.3-inch screen from 999 € (MSRP) upwards. In regard to other devices you’ll see that Asus only sell premium devices at the moment. Acer offers the Aspire S3 Ultrabook already from 799 € (MSRP) upwards. But in comparison the devices from Asus get a better result in the most reviews out there.
NVIDIA GeForce G 105M: Higher clocked 9300M GS and therefore a bit faster. Still manufactured in 65nm. Supports Hybrid-SLI with HybridPower and GeForceBoost (in conjunction with the right Nvidia chipset).
Only some 3D games with very low demands are playable with these cards.
» Further information can be found in our Comparison of Mobile Graphics Cards and the corresponding Benchmark List.
SU3500: Power efficient single core processor for small subnotebooks that is based on the Penryn core and includes all features (like Virtualization, C6 state, ...). The performance should be comparable with a 1.7 GHz Athlon II Neo K125.» Further information can be found in our Comparison of Mobile Processsors.
15.60":
15-inch display variants are the standard and are used for more than half of all laptops.
The reason for the popularity of mid-sized displays is that this size is reasonably easy on the eyes, often allows high resolutions and thus offers rich details on the screen, yet does not consume too much power and the devices can still be reasonably compact - simply the standard compromise.
» To find out how fine a display is, see our DPI List.2.6 kg:
With this weight, a laptop is rather heavier than average. Devices in this range shine more with screen size and performance than with mobility.
Asus: ASUSTeK Computer Inc. is a major Taiwanese computer hardware manufacturer based in Taipei, founded in 1989. Under the Asus brand name, the company manufactures a wide range of products, including laptops, desktops, motherboards, graphics cards, monitors, smartphones and networking equipment, complete systems and PC components for end users.
Under the ROG (Republic of Gamers) brand name, ASUS manufactures gaming laptops known by gamers for their powerful specifications, dedicated graphics cards, high refresh rate displays and advanced cooling systems.
Beyond gaming, a wide range of notebooks are offered for different needs and budgets, from ultra-slim and lightweight ultrabooks to versatile 2-in-1 convertibles and budget-friendly options. In 2023, Asus had a 7% global market share of the PC market.
Customer satisfaction with ASUS notebooks concerns performance, the features, and the good price-performance ratio of ASUS notebooks. However, as with any brand, there are occasional reports of problems such as overheating, driver compatibility, or build quality issues.
72%: This rating is poor. More than three quarters of the models are rated better. That is rather not a purchase recommendation. Even if verbal ratings in this area do not sound that bad ("sufficient" or "satisfactory"), they are usually euphemisms that disguise a classification as a below-average laptop.
» Further information can be found in our Notebook Purchase Guide.