This is only just acceptable, but the lack of additional USB ports is mitigated by built-in Bluetooth and an integrated SD card reader that supports the latest SDXC high-capacity cards. The Zenbook ships with two USB 3.0 ports, one on each side.
The 1080p display includes an antiglare filter, a welcome standout in a sea of glossy, too-reflective panels. The one downside: all those pixels crammed into a 13.3-inch display may make you want to adjust the display’s scaling for fonts to improve readability. You can still get the Zenbook with a 1600 by 900 pixel display, but it’s worth spending a few dollars more for the 1920 by 1080 pixel display, based on IPS technology. Multitouch gestures and tap-to-click no longer have excessive lag, either. Palm detection has improved, though the cursor still has a slight tendency to overshoot when you use your finger to move it. Drivers have been tuned a bit as well, and the overall touchpad experience is better. The UX31A rectifies that, using the same brand and model of touchpad in all systems. One issue that the company itself noted was that it sourced touchpads from two different vendors, and it was a crapshoot as to which one you’d get when you bought a Zenbook. PCWorld’s review of the earlier Zenbook UX31E was mostly favorable, but the review said that the touchpad wasn’t optimal. In addition to updating its UX31 Zenbook line with Ivy Bridge CPUs, Asus is trying to bring consistency to its touchpad pointing experience. But our test model arrived with a gorgeous, 1080p IPS (in-plane switching) display and an Ivy Bridge processor, boosting both performance and display quality. The weight remains the same, at 3 pounds and an ounce. The new Asus Zenbook UX31A looks like the old UX31E, with a brushed, bronze-tinted, solid aluminum shell that looks slightly dangerous and angular.