Notebook Hunter

For $999 the 11.6in ASUS Zenbook UX21E-KX004V is one of the best Ultrabook specials we’ve seen this year at major retailers. It’s a tiny and frankly beautifully built product that has a solid set of mid-range specs including a 2nd Gen Intel Core i5, a 128GB solid state drive and 4GB of RAM. Normally for this price you’re fortunate if you find an entry-level Ultrabook, so this bargain is a pleasant surprise. As with most DSE specials there’s no clear expiry date, but as soon as one becomes apparent we’ll update the special accordingly.

It’s only available online though and home delivery isn’t an option. This means that if you want to take advantage of the special you’ll have to buy it via Dick Smith Electronics’ website and use “Click & Collect”. More info on this process is available here. Please contact Dick Smith for any queries about how to process the order.

It also comes with two years of Intel Anti-Theft, a service that allows you to remotely lock the UX21E if it gets stolen or lost. This service normally costs extra, so getting it together with what’s already a good-value Ultrabook is a bargain by any measure.

See the special online here.

See a summary of the specs below.

Processor
The UX21E features a 2nd Gen Intel Core i5-2467M (1.6GHz), a mid-range low-voltage processor that can run productivity applications and some intensive software. It can burst up to 2.3GHz using Turbo Boost 2.0 Technology if a particularly demanding program is running.

Graphics
It comes with an integrated graphics solution called Intel HD Graphics 3000. It’s on par with a low-end dedicated graphics card, and is sufficient for modern games at the lowest settings.

RAM
4GB of RAM is enough to run several programs at once smoothly. It’s more than enough to ensure fluid overall system performance with Windows 7 Home Premium.

Storage
A128GB solid state drive is very small, but it does have very rapid response though for both reading and writing data.

Screen
The UX21E sports an 11.6in (1,366 x 768 resolution) gloss screen. The resolution is quite high for the screen size.

Portability
The UX21E has exceptional portability, because it weighs 1.1kg and is 17mm thick.  It’s more than light enough to be taken anywhere without any problems whatsoever.