- Conclusion Get the lowdown
- Features How they compare
- Performance Real world benchmarks
- Differences Technical showdown
- Reviews Word on the street
- Competition Others to consider
- Discussion Answers and opinions
Compare with...
- Lenovo IdeaPad Yoga
- Sony VAIO S Series
- SAMSUNG Series 9 900X3A
- Acer Aspire S S3-951
- HP Pavilion g6
- 11.6"
- Core i5 1.67 GHz Dual core
- 4 GB
- 128 GB SSD
Released July, 2011
Rated 100% by by Monchichi (Dec, 2011)It is very very thin, light and easy to carry in my backpack so that I can take it to school everyday without any burden on my shoulders.
Conclusion Which is better for you?
Features Key features of the Apple MacBook Air 4th Gen compared to the ASUS U31 Series U31SD
GHz1.67
Intel Core i5 2467M
Rated 80% by by Nancy-J.-Bookfan (Jan, 2012)It fits conveniently in a large purse, is wonderfully lightweight, and is "grab'n'go" in a way that even the 13" is not.
2.1 GHz
Intel Core i3 2310M
Rated 80% by by MrMattCh3w (Sep, 2011)The Acer offered better features than the U31 but because I believe in the rock solid build quality of ASUS I ended up going with the U31.
screen size
11.6"
13.3"
MacBook Air 4th Gen by K.-D.-Hess (Sep, 2011)Although small, the screen is clear and bright, and the full-size keyboard is as good as one from a bigger computer.
U31 Series U31SD by CEO59 (Sep, 2011)Younger people would like it more than older folks, because of the smaller screen size.
screen resolution
MacBook Air 4th Gen by R.-V.-Laxmikanth--L.V.-Raghavendra** Screen/Resolution:. >> Higher resolution on the 13" Macbook Air which i believe was greater than the 15" regular MBP definitely looked good.
U31 Series U31SD by 1st-Time-ASUS-Laptop-Buyer (Sep, 2011)But,I have played a few 1080p videos and they were fine.
cpu speed
| 0 GHz | 2.1 GHz | 3 GHz |
MacBook Air 4th Gen by E.-Kim (Jul, 2011)I purchased the MBA 11" with standard 1.6 gHz Core i5 and am happy with this.
U31 Series U31SD by rjw5500 (Jan, 2012)Cost was also a factor so I settled for the i3 chip rather than paying $150 more for the i5.
processor
MacBook Air 4th Gen by J.-McWhirter (Apr, 2012)I know it sounds nuts, but the new i7 Dual Core MBA with 4 GB of RAM seems to be as fast as my 27" i7 Quad Core iMac with 16 GB of RAM, when it comes to managing RAW photos in Lightroom, and editing RAW photos in Photoshop...I kid you not!
U31 Series U31SD by qualianimusWireless was equivalent.-faster CPU (but wear earplugs and get ready to cook whatever is near the left-side fan exhaust).
memory
| 0 GB | 4 GB | 4 GB |
MacBook Air 4th Gen by Nancy-J.-Bookfan (Jan, 2012)When it comes down to a choice between quicker processor or more RAM, I've been advised to always go with more RAM, and I find this to be good advice.
Performance Real world tests of Apple MacBook Air 4th Gen vs ASUS U31 Series U31SD
3DMark06 CPU
MacBook Air 4th Gen by GatorowlI don't run benchmarks, and the benchmarks I've seen so far show that this computer is much, much faster than my nearly 4-year-old MBP, which is my most important performance requirement.
U31 Series U31SD by G.-Aumaugher (Aug, 2011)On speed test it scored nearly twice as fast (1005 versus 550 benchmark) against my old trusty Dell.
cinebench r10 32Bit
MacBook Air 4th Gen by R.-Chapman (Aug, 2011)I haven't read any benchmarks on the performance over time with the new MBA.
Differences What are the advantages of each
Advantages compared to the ASUS U31 Series U31SD
| Has a light sensor | Yes | vs | No |
|---|---|---|---|
| Somewhat common; Automatically adjust screen brightness for environmental factors | |||
| Much faster turbo speed | 2.3 GHz (Intel Core i5 2467M) | vs | None |
| Compared to all laptops, 2.3 GHz turbo speed (Intel Core i5 2467M) is just OK | |||
| Much faster internal storage | 0.1 ms (SSD) | vs | 10 ms (HDD) |
| 100x faster random access time; faster boot times and shorter application load times | |||
| Much faster Bluetooth | 24 Mbit/s (Bluetooth v4.0) | vs | 1 Mbit/s (Bluetooth v2.0) |
| 24x faster Bluetooth | |||
| Sharper screen | 135 ppi | vs | 117 ppi |
| Around 20% sharper PPI; enjoy photo-realistic, crisp images | |||
| Lighter | 1,080 g | vs | 1,814 g |
| More than 40% lighter | |||
| Thinner | 17 mm | vs | 36 mm |
| 2.1x thinner | |||
Advantages compared to the Apple MacBook Air 4th Gen
| Much more storage capacity | 640 GB | vs | 128 GB |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5x more storage capacity | |||
| Has a memory card reader | MMC, SD | vs | None |
| Read and write data from a camera or phone memory card | |||
| Faster processor | 2.1 GHz | vs | 1.67 GHz |
| Around 30% faster processor; run computation-intensive applications, such as photo editing, faster | |||
| Bigger screen | 13.3" | vs | 11.6" |
| More than 10% bigger screen | |||
| Marginally newer | Oct, 2011 | vs | Jul, 2011 |
| Release date 2 months later | |||
Reviews Word on the street
Apple MacBook Air 4th Gen | ASUS U31 Series U31SD | ||
 |   Rated by 388 users at amazon.com Rated 100% by by volsfan--volsfan Rated 100% by by Marcelo (May, 2012) Rated 80% by by Joon--The-RubyHead (Jan, 2012) |  Rated by 24 users at amazon.com Rated 80% by by carveweb Rated 80% by by K.-Andreasen (Oct, 2011) | |
|---|---|---|---|
Competition What else you should consider
 | 1 | Lenovo IdeaPad Yoga OK CPU benchmark score |
 | 4 | Acer Aspire S S3-951 3-way tie: OK l3 cache |
 | 8 | Samsung Series 9 NP900X3A-B01UB 5-way tie: Really fast internal storage |
