trying to figure out which ultrabook to get and after reading a number of reviews online i've narrowed it down to these three (technically two brands since the two ideapads seem very similar).

can someone please recommend which one they'd rather buy and why?

IdeaPad U300s
http://www.lenovo.com/products/us/la...00s-ultrabook/

IdeaPad U310
http://www.lenovo.com/products/us/la...u-series/u310/

ZENBOOK™ UX32
http://zenbook.asus.com/zenbook/?c=prime_ux32

my wife just got the ux31a w i5 processor and 128gb. i'm assuming that linked one is the ux32vd-db71? just got confused because it says it has a 128/256ssd, when i thought that one had a small sdd+500gb hd.

imo the thing is great. touchpad, keyboard, etc all work great. touchpad is probably a b+ i guess. sturdy, looks beautiful. screen is beautiful - stuff can be small but just zoom in on your browser and everything is fine.

can't really compare speed exactly as this has an ssd. i've heard the hd in the ux32 can be replaced with a standard sized ssd though. imo the zenbook is probably a little nicer but you're gonna pay a couple hundred more for it. difference between the two is mostly budget related.

zenbook does look good and the screen res dwarfs lenovo. it actually costs less then lenovo models as well. my main concer regarding the zenbook are the keyboard/trackpad issues. virtually every review is saying that its not responsive/bugg etc....which is a problem imo. if that wasn't the case, wouldn't have posted the thread, but as it is, still can't decide

I am using my MacBook Air... it's great.

It's quite a bit more expensive but the construction is better than anything I got my hands on at BestBuy.

would snap buy macbook air except excel/office offers somewhat limited functionality on the macs and i am really used to excel shortcuts on the pc keyboard...

agree completely that macbook air > all ultrabooks on the market right now. they are just playing catch up with air

Not sure what is missing in Office 2011 on the Mac and what's on the PC? They put back VBA but I don't use it so I don't know if it's not compatible with the PC.

disagree. the zenbook prime and samsung series 9 are comparable.

as far as the zenbook's touchpad - i have no issue with it. the biggest complaint i've seen is that it doesn't reject your palm if you bump it while typing - i haven't had that happen at all. first, i can't really get my palm to touch the pad while i'm typing even if i try. I just now typed so i purposefully was bumping it with my palm and thumb while typing and i couldn't get it to register anything. given i don't type long papers or anything, i can't speak to long term palm-rejection success.

Are the HP envy and the toshiba portege competitors?

I was looking a bit for myself recently and those two seemed to pop up - although my gut feeling says don't get toshiba.

I am running Windows on the air.

The Office for Mac is functional for the most part but it's missing some really annoying stuff.

It doesn't handle math notations as well. It does retarded stuff with Japanese. And for lord knows why it has really weird behavior with outline bullets. All in all, it's just not as polished as its Windows version cousin.

Well, at least not for Japanese Math Geeks with a little OCD...

yes, those two are somewhat lower end competitors. they're still probably really nice though - i'd go for the hp between them as well.

I agree with wahoo3, Zenbook can definetly compete and I've also heard reviewers say that the trackpad is not the best, but definetly useable. I guess yes the trackpad on the MBA will be better, but the specs on the Asus are way better. I like MobileTech reviews on Youtube, this one is of the UX31A: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bVK-9cPRTLw