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Kingston Digital, Inc, the flash memory affiliate of Kingston Technology Company, Inc., is announcing that its M.2 2260 SATA solid-state drive (SSD) will be featured in the ASUS Zenbook UX301LA and UX301LAA. The ASUS Zenbook UX301LA will include a single 128GB Kingston M.2 2260 SATA SSD, while the UX301LAA will feature a pair of the M.2 2260’s configured in RAID0, giving users up to 256GB of flash storage.
According to Ariel Perez, business manager for SSDs at Kingston, “The Asus Zenbook combines a stylish and elegant design with power-packed computing performance, a superb display and rich sound. We are proud to have ASUS as a partner utilizing our latest OEM solid-state drives, just as many of the world’s leading companies have standardized on Kingston client and server SSDs.”
The M.2 2260, a SATA 6 GB/s SSD, offers unrivaled performance for Ultrabook-style PCs. The next-generation M.2 slim form factor is ideal for Ultrabooks, tablets and all-in-one PCs. Kingston’s M.2 2260 will give the Zenbook faster startups and shutdowns, quicker opening and closing of programs and applications, rapid transition in and out of hibernation, and longer battery life.
Y.C. Chen, NB Senior Director at ASUS, states that “Our award-winning Zenbook merges form and function with beauty and precision. The stunning resolution of the touch-screen display is matched by the artistry of the design. This Zenbook is one of the lightest and smallest Ultrabooks we’ve ever made and with Kingston’s M.2 2260 SSD inside, it is a fast and powerful machine that gives the user an unmatched computing experience.”
The Kingston press release can be viewed in its entirety here.
Scot, I’m about to order the Zenbook UX301LA, but I am not sure as to what online stores carry them with Kingston’s M.2 2260 SSD. Is there anyway to find that out?
Thanks in advance!
I have a UX301LA (2x 128GB Raid0 = 256GB)
There are 2x 128GB Sandisk X110 M.2 Sata SSD’s.
This messages everywhere with Kingston SSD’s is just Marketing.
There are no UX301LA with Kingston SSD’s avaible!
Cheers 🙂
Are you certain of that for all countries? Typically, we will see different components, including SSDs, in systems for different parts of the world (NA, EU, Asia).
Les, Do you think it’s worth waiting for the Kingston’s M.2 2260 SSD? How does it compare to Sandisk?
We haven’t had the opportunity to get our hands on either so any suggestion would be a bit premature.
Hi Les, thanks for your prompt reply! I am a kind of confused as to why they decided to replace the manufacturer. The thing is Kingston only offers them in 128GB, whereas Sandisk offers in 256GB. I’d rather get the one with the bigger capacity, but I am starting to have weird thoughts like there’s something wrong with the previous models and that’s they changed the supplier. Do you think I am being paranoid? 🙁
Camile, I have had my 301la FAIL! I have the Sandisk X110 version in 2×128 raid 0 configuration. One of my drives has failed and is not even seen in the BIOS. It seems like perhaps installing Intel RST on the computer caused the failure because that was the last thing I did to it before it quit working.
James, do you think it’s because of RAID 0? I really want to buy this laptop, but I’ve heard so many same bad stories that their hard drives died on them that I am not sure now. Do you suppose if I disable raid it’d help avoiding the demise.
I have two UX301la computers, each with 512 gb raid 0 configurations, and I can state that the sandisk drives are a problem. Two have failed and a 3rd is giving error messages. Furthermore, Asus was unable to provide replacements when I sent one machine in for (out of warranty) repairs last August.
I have the UX301LA with 512gb in RAID (probably Sandisk). I would like to increase to 1tb. Notebook check says that it uses PCIe while your site says it is Sata 3. I really would like to go with the Samsung XP941 512 x 2, but not sure if it will work. Or Plextor is suppose to have a 512gb version. How can I get up to 1tb? Thanks.
can I upgrade my hard drive capacity to 1 tb i had newly purchased Zenbook UX301LA
Not at this point…..