ASUS U500vz/UX51vz Owners' Lounge!

Hi,

I see that we have no owners lounge for the new zenbook u500 yet, so I thought I would make one.

I am a happy owner of the laptop myself since yesterday and am very happy so far. If anybody have a question regarding the laptop, search through the other thread http://forum.notebookreview.com/asu...nnounced-15-6-hd-ips-gt650m-quad-core-i7.html or ask in here.

 

I've been looking everywhere for this laptop for about a month now. Where have you been able to obtain one?

 

I got it from the store Datorer, Programvara, TV, Kameror, Smartphones, Kontorsmaterial mm | Dustin.se here in Sweden. There are at least two stores in Sweden that have it in stock at the moment, and alot more that are waiting for delivery this or next week.

The model is U500VZ-CN046H.

 

Here's the status list I have right now for U.S. online retailers:

Adorama
Return Policy: 30 days unopened. Cannot be returned once opened.

ASUS UX51VZ-DH71 $1,799 - pre-order
ASUS UX51VZ-XH71 $2,199 - pre-order
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Newegg
Return Policy: 30 days unopened. If opened, restocking fee of 25%+shipping.

ASUS UX51VZ-XH71$2,499 - out of stock - ETA: 11/10/2012
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XoticPC
Return Policy: ?

ASUS UX51VZ-DH71 $1,939 - website allows ordering, chat on 11/6/12 said coming in later this week
ASUS UX51VZ-XH71 $2,419 - website allows ordering, chat on 11/6/12 said coming in later this week
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GenTech PC
Return Policy: 15 days no questions asked; must pay return shipping

ASUS UX51VZ-DH71 $1,936 - In Stock
ASUS UX51VZ-XH71 $2,419 - In Stock
--------------------------------------------------

TigerDirect
Return Policy: 25% restocking fee.

ASUS UX51VZ-XH71 $2,499 - pre-order
--------------------------------------------------

Best Buy
Return Policy: 30 days with no restocking fee.

ASYS UX51-VZ not yet listed (but included in this list because it will be, and they have a great return poicy).
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J&R
Return Policy: Appears to have no restocking fee? 30 day return if not satisfied.

ASUS UX51VZ-DH71 $1,999 - pre-order
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SuperBiiz
Return Policy: 15% restocking fee + shipping costs

UX51VZ-DH71 Asus Zenbook UX51VZ-DH71 15.6 inch Intel Core i7-3612QM 2.1GHz/ 8GB DDR3/ 128GB SSD + 128GB SSD/ Windows 8 Ultrabook Computer (Silver Aluminum) - Ultrabooks - SuperBiiz.com $1,999 - In Stock (unconfirmed)
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Would love it if anybody wants to contribute to this list of reputable vendors selling the laptop. Most interested in comparing return policies. Basically no way I'm buying this laptop from a place like Newegg unless I'm 100% sure I am going to keep it. Best Buy seems to have the best return policy. Would love first-hand experience from anybody who has returned open laptops to any of these vendors.

 

Hi, im interested in this laptop too, looks great and has IPS, which I hear is the way to go. The specs look good, I will be looking to use it for some photo editing and HD video editing - not pro level just home stuff.
Can you share the windows experience index - not sure how much value folks place on those figures but am interested in any case.
Plus - any idea if the SSD's are user upgradeable?
Thanks!

 

Hi

Same goes for me.
I'm also interested in buying this laptop for home and school purposes.
Altough I didn't know that this laptop was already released and for sale.

I live in Belgium, and here in some shops it can be pre-ordered.

In some reviews after the Berlin show they said that this laptop would be available in 2x256GB SSD version and a 128GB SSD + 500GB HDD version.
I haven't seen any shop offering the latter that one is what I'm looking for.

Do you guys know anything about this version?

Also, it seems this laptop has a touchscreen or is this wrong?

Kind regards

NGDM

 

There's been a lengthy discussion about the UX51VZ. You can find a lot of answers there.

 

Hi

I'm very interested by this laptop, too.

Here are some questions:

1) Which system is installed in your PC? win 8 pro for the version 256G+256G and win 8 for the version 128G+128G?
2) Have you tried some heavy 3d games? Is it noise and exclusively heated in these cases?
3) Was your touch pad jumpy sometimes?

 

1. I got the 128+128GB SSD model with Windows 8 (non-pro).
2. I did try Arma 2 and Diablo 3, and they both worked good enough. The noise isnt very bad, if you dont consider that the fan is always on even in idle state (might change in future BIOS updates). The laptop is not very hot either, but there seems to be some CPU throttling issues when CPU and GPU is ran together, more info in the other thread.
3. Well, no, apart from the fact that i sometimes hit it accidentially when i type.

 

If it is not too much of a hassle, perhaps you could take a picture of the keyboard layout sometime?

I must say I am a bit nervous about the idle fan noise. I measured the noise on an older HP laptop with the "smart tools" android app yesterday, and got 39-41 dB max at 1-2 cm distance from the keyboard. And I think that laptop is noisy

 

Sadly, fan control is lacking at this time, and thus we are not able to turn them down at idle. I do hope Asus will enable this functionality shortly. From a cooling perspective, the noise does not seem to be a necessary evil (not at idle, anyway).

 

If there's something keeping you from buying this laptop, submit via Asus Feedback. They're historically been pretty responsive listening to customers so it's another avenue to make sure they address the issue. I've submitted mine.

 

OK, Thank you so much for your answer.
For these games above, which resolution and effect you have used? Did you try some more games like crysis 2, Battlefield 3 or Need for Speed: The Run?
It seems attractive except for the fact that the fan is always on. I'm fed up with the noise of my current HP notebook.

 

Here is a picture I took at the laptop when I first unboxed it, should show the keyboard layout enough

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/4480781/2012-11-07 17.49.51.jpg

 

I used 1600x900 in both games as this was the resolution which made the fps good enough so that it is comfortable playing. 1080p worked in both but there was too much fps drops and input lag to be enjoyable.

I will do a BF3 test tomorrow, play it for 1 hour at whatever settings fit and have hwinfo64 running in the meantime. I will post results here or in the other thread.

 

Are you in the US? You show a different keyboard than on the incredibletogether.asus.com website and as shown in online reviews, like Asus Zenbook U500 review / Asus UX51VZ - top notch 15 inch ultraportable

 

No I am in Sweden. We have bigger enter key and some other small differences compared to US layout.

 

Is there a key to turn off the display? I like doing it when I'm just listening to music or downloading

 

Yes, there is a FN+F7 combination for this.

 

I would like to reclaim the recovery partitions on this laptop and free up some space. There are currently two; one of 600MB size, and one of 20GB. At the same time, I would like to retain the factory-state recovery option because of the pre-installed Win 8 license (without product key...), so that I might revert to this OS if I run into problems installing Win 7.

Unfortunately I have not been able to create a backup (e.g., on a DVD) of these recovery partitions using AI Recovery Burner (which I downloaded from Asus); the utility says it cannot find the recovery partition, despite the fact that two such partitions do exist and are untouched/unspoiled. Can anyone advise me on how I might be able to make such a backup?

 

Thank you very much! Very happy of reading it!

Sent from HTC HD2 with Tapatalk

 

How's the battery life just browsing?

 

is it a touchscreen like their website says or is that version not out yet?

 

I havent tested battery life enough yet, but it looks like around 4-5 hours.

No touch..

 

May someone do that famous battery test playing FullHD movie with 50% brightness and subwoofer connected please? I'd appreciate it very much

 

Can anyone please do a test and confirm whether there is a clicking or buzzing sound when scrolling webpages or like actions while having the subwoofer plugged in?

Thanks very much,
Peter

 

I am unable to do that FullHD movie test-- I don't have such media on the laptop, unfortunately.

As to possible clicking/distortion while scrolling with the subwoofer plugged in: Not observed. I just scrolled around while simultaneously playing music, and without music, and in neither case did I hear anything even with my ears next to the subwoofer.

 

Thank you for doing that test - it's pretty obvious if it is happening, even with the volume muted unless the fan or something else is causing a lot of noise it would be audible. Thank you.

Peter

 

I have been meaning to do this today. Im going away for a couple of hours later and I thought I could just put on a 1080p mkv in loop mode and let it be until it dies. Is there any battery log program that can remember for how long the system was on before shutdown?

 

Thank you! You might try checking Windows Event Viewer

 

Like the simple solution. I'll come back with results later tonight or tomorrow at latest.

I also have the intention to play BF3 for 1hr with hwinfo64log on.. let's see if I get a chance to do that

 

I love you man! :thumbsup:

 

Great to hear positive reviews about the u500
on this review: Asus Zenbook U500 review / Asus UX51VZ - top notch 15 inch ultraportable
they've got an external DVD-player in the box. Have you guys also got one?

is the noise really an issue? coming from a dell xps l502x thats been pretty terrible on this account i'm a bit worried
also, is there a way to disable the Nvidia completely? I'm not gonna play any games on this, but could not find a better alternative for 15.6 IPS + 8GB RAM

 

Go to Windows' Device Manager, right click on the nvidia gt650 and then "Disable"

 

Yea... it was a stupid question >.<

 

I'm in a similar position Jorram. I really don't need the discrete video card. I would think that disabling it would further reduce the need for the fans to be on all the time, just need a thermal policy that recognizes this.

 

It would be so nice if they offered a HD4000 only solution for like 300$ less or something! Wonder why they skipped over this option.... It would certainly sell better.

 

May some of the owners try a wifi test? Just in order to be sure it has not the same problem of Dell XPS 15. Would you try to walk away from your router and launch a few speedtests to see if there are any significant drops in download speed? I mean, evident and weird drops, not a problem if it goes 2-3 Mbps down....

 

Can you tell me how the keyboard flex is? I'm looking for something with little or zero flex. Thanks!

 

What is kb flex?

 

Why you are not considering a simple ultrabook without GPU, there are many offers of new notebooks with what you are asking and they are even lighter than Asus.

 

Samsung does it in Series 9, does it sell better?

 

Wasted a lot of time today trying to get a Windows 7 installer running, to no avail.

I booted the BIOS boot from UEFI on a Windows 7 installation DVD, but after that the installation hung at "Starting Windows". I thought it might be a driver issue since I am (forced to) use a DVD drive over USB 3. However, after modifying the Windows 7 installation files (slipstreaming Intel HM77 USB 3 drivers), the DVDs that I made from that image are not recognized as UEFI-bootable by the BIOS; i.e., they don't show up at all. Needless to say, they have in fact been made as Bootable DVDs, using boot images from the original installation DVD as well as ones taken from the files inside the images. But they don't work...

Is there something special needed to get this BIOS to recognize a home-made UEFI-capable DVD?

 

What about the color issue problem (see other tread). With a yellow tint. And bad black/grey? Is it in just some of the displays?

 

I'd definitely buy any other 15" 1080p IPS laptop that has a backlit keyboard, numberpad, SSD (or replaceable HD). Just not much out there that fit my requirements. If you have any suggestions besides the S15, let me know.

 

Same here. I considered the Series 9 and it's a very good alternative but it carries nearly the same price tag with no IPS screen and purported wifi problems. And for the record, I think it sells better than tha u500 will.

15" IPS, SSD only drive and at least 8GB ram is what I need. U500 seems to be the only thing that fits (cant find much info about the s15 sony)

 

IPS display used on U500, it's not a premium display, there are TN panel with better specs.
But if you want a display only because it's IPS then you haven't another choice.
Because it's the only 15.6" IPS FHD display, in fact this panel is on every consumer laptop with IPS screen spec.
There are others 15.6" IPS FHD display they are very pricey but with better specs (100% gamut), they are used on DELL Precision, and HP Elitebook (not consumer laptop).

 

I havent noticed anything weird with yellow colors.

 

I did the battery test earlier today.

At 21:12, I unplugged the fully charged laptop and turned on a 1080p mkv of Ice age on repeat. The subwoofer was plugged in and brightness was approx 50%. The volume was loud enough to watch in a quiet room. Wifi was on.

In the event log it reported at 01:11 that the laptop went into sleep mode with reason: battery.

So, at 50% brightness and subwoofer plugged in you'd be able to watch 1080p movies for 4 hours. Thats good enough for me!

Edit: I had BatteryInfoView running and apparently it logged everything. At 5% the laptop automatically went to sleep, and it looks like the battery drain during the video playback was between 16 000-19 000 mW.

Link to log: https://dl.dropbox.com/u/4480781/batterytest_1080p_4hrs.txt

Hopefully I get the time to play BF3 tomorrow

 

Very nice battery life. :thumbsup: