Back in early 2015 Dell launched the XPS 13 version that stunned many, including myself ( I bought one and still use it today ), with its compact footprint and minuscule bezel around the screen.

My second laptop was a Toshiba satellite - a grotesque-looking, non-biodegradable plastic piece of machinery which weighed over 2 kilos. When I invested close to Rs 20,000 in buying it, my concern wasn't for the environment.

While John is putting the extremely powerful (and expensive) ASUS ROG GX800 for a go, we also received another notebook from the Taiwanese company before the start of the Holy Week break and it's a welcome change from the last laptop I personally reviewed - the ASUS ROG Strix VL753VE .

This laptop is splendid. Lightweight, fast, nice screen. I would've liked more ports but I just bought a USB C hub with 4 USB A 3.0 ports. It does has a little coil whine (I believe it's the SSD) but it happens only on full stress and it is not that often, I can hardly ever notice it if it's still...

The ZenBook UX430UA is one of many thin and light ultraportable Asus laptops. It follows in the footsteps of previous greats, including the UX310UA and UX303UA that delivered a similar combination of performance and portability.

Supremely portable; Great keyboard and trackpad; Anti-glare screen is great for productivity; Decent performance

Not the best value; Lid picks up fingerprints and smudges; Disappointing battery life

Of late, I found an increasing interest towards sleek and portable laptops which is the reason why I called dibs on the newly launched Asus ZenBook UX430 as soon as it arrived in India. There was a time when all I wanted was a powerful laptop that could satiate the hunger for games in me.

Great display; Slim and lightweight; Premium design

Heats up while gaming; Underpowered GPU

For some years, PC manufacturers have been competing to make a Windows notebook that is better-looking and more useful than a MacBook Air. One of the clear contenders has been ASUS with its ZenBooks.

Attractive styling; Keen price for an ultraportable; Full complement of ports via bundled adapters; 14in screen in a 13in notebook; Crisp IPS display; Competitive battery life; Harman Kardon speakers a cut above the average for thin and light format

USB 3.1 Type-C only Gen 1 (5Gbits/sec); SATA 3 SSD; not NVMe; Trackpad prone to accidental cursor movement when touch typing; Chassis finish attracts fingerprints

This is an attractive laptop, although the shiny blue lid shows fingerprints. Excellent screen for pics and movies and fast processor for working, and lots of memory to handle many windows open at once.

Despite some thermal issues on the underneath this laptop is a premium product in both materials and components very fast and and an excellent laptop for anyone looking for beautiful looking laptop with computational power enough to perform everyday task at absolute ease.

I picked up the Zenbook Pro a weekend before this came out. I returned that due to a loud coil whine and this new Zenbook just came in that morning. It pretty much had what I was looking for, new gen i7, smaller screen, lighter/thinner, 16gb ram. And to top it off, it was $900 cheaper than the Pro.

Very good for multi tasking - Battery life is as advertised - Quite light - Stays pretty cool even under some load

- Small coil whine; but not too noticeable - No thunderbolt port - Mediocre webcam - No numeric pad through fn key - No dedicated GPU