Interest in ultraportables has grown recently, with both budget contenders and more expensive rivals generating headlines. No doubt encouraged by the incredible success of its Eee PC range, Asus is now targeting the high end.

The U2E looks more like an attaché case than an ultraportable with its leather-clad lid and wristrest. The design marks it out from competition like the MacBook Air and Sony VAIO TZ36, which are a bit more extroverted; the U2E presents a more respectable boardroom image.

Lavish touches extend beyond the lid: the hinge between screen and base is classy silver, while the trackpad and ridge along the edge of the base are finished in brushed metal.

The keys even have a hint of glitter about them – the only concession to the more gregarious styling of other ultraportables.

The build quality is a bit more variable. The base is rigid and sturdy, but the screen is considerably less so, with a significant amount of flex, and applying just a slight pressure on the back of the panel caused image distortion. Still, it wasn’t as bad as the wobbly lid of the Sony TZ36.

Conversely, while the Asus may trump the VAIO’s screen for sturdy construction, the image quality is where Sony’s ultraportable impresses. Both screens have a native resolution of 1366 x 768, but the Asus loses out with a dimmer and less detailed image, despite LED backlighting.

The Sony screen is sharper and reproduces colours with more clarity and depth. That isn’t to say the U2E has a bad screen – it’s perfectly adequate for work and surfing the internet.

Asus has chosen a traditional keyboard layout as opposed to the Scrabble-tile design of the VAIO. The benefits are immediately obvious: the keyboard is sturdier than the slightly bouncy-feeling Sony, and it’s somewhat more comfortable for extended typing sessions thanks to the respectable travel of each key.

The trackpad exudes a similar quality. A brushed metal surface, while an unconventional choice, works superbly, letting fingers effortlessly guide the cursor around the screen. The only problems here are minor – the buttons don’t depress enough to be wholly satisfying and the trackpad has no scroll zone. Asus has also included a small travel mouse that connects via the built-in Bluetooth.

The U2E offers wider connectivity options than its rivals. The requisite VGA output is complemented by a micro-DVI socket, and Asus has included a DVI adapter in the box. There are also a few features that improve security: a fingerprint reader is standard on all Asus notebooks, and a TPM chip adds further protection.

Performance is an area where the Asus loses ground to Sony’s VAIO and the MacBook Air. The Intel Core 2 Duo Mobile U7500 processor runs at 1.06GHz and, while it’s power-efficient, it can’t offer blistering speeds. But while it might look significantly worse on paper, its 2D benchmark score of 0.59 isn’t far behind the 0.62 of the Sony.

The U2E does provide more storage than Sony’s ultraportable, however – 120GB compared to the 100GB drive found in the VAIO. And there’s also a DVD writer capable of writing to every type of DVD media, including DVD-RAM.

Battery life is crucial for an ultraportable, but the Asus proved mediocre. Two batteries are included – a standard unit and a longer-life version that protrudes about a centimetre from the rear of the machine – but both returned results that pale in comparison to the VAIO.

The standard battery petered out after 1hr 21mins of heavy usage – two hours short of the Sony – and the light-use test yielded 2hrs 33mins. The extended battery fared better, but was still slightly disappointing in context with the competition. Under light use it lasted for 5hrs 25mins, which is a good result, but again short of the VAIO’s eight hours.

The U2E is well built, but it lacks the wow factor of Sony’s ultraportable. That said, it has two key factors in its favour. First, the U2E weighs less: 1.3kg with the standard battery in place, and 1.4kg with the extended battery, compared to 1.48kg for the VAIO.

Second, at $2295, it’s $700 cheaper. If these two factors are your biggest concerns, and five hours of battery life sounds like more than enough, it won’t disappoint. But if you can afford it, we’d recommend the VAIO.