The relatively new class of laptops called the ultrabooks isn't as crowded as the laptop or tablet markets but it's still another field that Apple has taken the lead in. Apple's MacBook Air is considered as the leading lightweight, ultraportable laptop but that doesn't mean that it's going to stay that way forever. New competitors from Toshiba, Lenovo and now Asus are taking a crack at the title for best ultraportable laptop.

Judging by its looks alone the Asus Zenbook is going to give Apple's MacBook Air a run for its money. Yes, it does look like Apple's MacBook with its aluminum silver finish and it even copied Apple's "unibody" construction with an all-metal chassis. But Asus has sandwiched the palm rest and the underside of the chassis together to make it sturdier. The Zenbook has taken the ultraportable designation to heart, at its thinnest point it only measures 0.11 inch thick and 0.66 inches at its thickest point. It only weighs 2.86 pounds, lighter than the MacBook Air at 2.9 pounds. The Zenbook also adds a more luxurious element to the keyboard by making the keys metal and having a chiclet-style keyboard reminiscent of the layout of the MacBook Air.The overall design is a sleek and utterly gorgeous finish that is simple and just delightful to look at.

It's not just in looks that the Zenbook excels but also in the hardware underneath that elegant design. Asus equipped the Zenbook with a powerful Core i7 2677M processor for the 13 inch Zenbook and an 11.6 inch model that comes with Core i5 2557M processor. The 13-inch version will have 4Gb RAM and a choice between 128 or 256 Gb of solid state drive space. Both processors in each version are fast enough to handle multi-tasking functions and various apps and multiple displays. However the Zenbook doesn't have a dedicated graphics card from AMD or Nvidia so gamers may have to look elsewhere to satisfy their 3D gaming needs.

ASUS claims that battery life in the Zenbook lasts for eight hours for continuous use. Real time tests will probably just make it hover over the six hour mark but with power-saving measures, users may stretch the battery life to more than the six hours estimate. Zenbook also has an instant-on feature that can turn the ultrabook from sleep mode to operational in just two seconds.

The Zenbook also boasts an external feature that runs across the base and promises to give users a superior audio experience. Developed by Bang and Olufsen, the ICEpower gives a loud and crisp sound without the fuzzy bass. Other features include a USB 2.0 port, the standard microphone and headphone jack and a built in card reader. There are also video ports like a mini VGA connection and a microHDMI port. Asus also included two additional adapters with the Zenbook-a mini VGA-to-VGA adapter and a USB-to-Ethernet adapter.

Both versions of the Zenbook come installed with Windows 7 operating system. The price of the Zenbooks range from $1,399 to $1,999.