ASUS Zenbook Infinity UX301LA - just announced at Computex

I 2nd Meaker.

 

The little birdie said cheep............cheep...........cheep.............

 

I'm thinking of buying this and I have a few of questions for people who own this model

1. How good is the wifi? Did anyone test using an 802.11ac router/connection specifically? What kind of speeds do you get (when copying files across LAN for example)?

2. What is your overall impression of it and would you recommend it? Any things (including minor issues) that you don't like?

3. How do you find the keyboard in general? Do you have the squeaky spacebar issue and how annoying is it?

4. Do you have the flexing lid issue and how annoying is it?

5. Is it comfortable to use in the lap with the "lip" that sticks out where the monitor meets the keyboard?

The only other thing that bothers me a bit is the price. In the UK they seem to be charging £1400 (around $2300 USD) for the 8gb/256gb/1080p model. I think Asus have really got this wrong. It seems very expensive compared to say the Yoga Pro 2 for example - £1100 ($1800 USD) for similar spec but with much higher resolution screen and a more flexible form factor. But still I like the look of the UX301LA so am still considering it...

 

Remember that the Yoga 2 is having major display problems ( see here). There's a fix out but it isn't perfect. And the biggest difference is the CPU. Yoga 2 Pro doesn't offer the I7-4558U processor, which has 28W TDP versus the i7-4200 with 15W. This means the higher end CPU can draw more power. And of course, the Iris 5100 graphics on the UX301LA is up to 20% faster than the HD 4400 in the Yoga 2 Pro.

Not sure if the performance increase is worth the price difference to you... it is to me.

 

Unfortunately the model I am looking at (UX301LA-C4003H) does not have the same spec that you listed. It has i7-4200, 4400 GPU and 1080p display. The top end UX301LA is almost imposible to get in the UK at the moment. The exception is a few sites that have imported US models, but they seem to be selling it for around £1780 ($2900 USD) - which is out of my price range. Plus imported versions have a US keyboard layout which is not ideal for a UK user.

So unless the stock availability and pricing changes, I can only consider the UX301LA-C4003H and it's competitors.

 

Actually, the UX301LA-C4003H has the i5 CPU, not i7.

In that case you have more options. If you can settle for 1920x1080 resolution, I'd go with Sony Vaio Pro 13 (i7-4500/256/8gb, although no a/c wifi). Of maybe the new Dell XPS 13, which does have a/c wifi. Both can be had for £1179.

Have you shopped those?

 

I've owned this laptop for about 2 weeks now and I'm totally satisfied. I was on the fence between this and the ATB9+, but ultimately went with this because I didn't like the whole yellow display problem on the ATB9+ and Yoga even if it is fixable. To answer your questions though...

1. Don't have an AC router so can't comment on AC speeds, but I typically use it about 30 feet from my router with no issues.

2. Overall I love this laptop. I have it set at native resolution with 150% DPI scaling. Only issue I have is when it comes back from standby I lose DPI scaling. Nothing terrible but a little annoying. Minor issue for me is that the power key in the top right seems to be seated a little crooked. Nothing major at all.

3. I love the keyboard. One of my biggest problems with the ATB9+ was the keyboard. The ASUS is much better in this department. On my specific laptop no issues with the space bar... don't hear any squeaky sounds at all.

4. Not sure what the flexing lid problem is, but the screen can definitely be torqued a bit if you apply pressure.

5. Don't use it on my lap a lot but I don't have an issue with that lip at all. Doesn't feel like it's digging in or anything.

Hope this helps!

 

Sorry, I wrote the wrong model number. It's the UX301LA-C4006H that I am looking at. I have looked at the both of those models and am considering them.

The Vaio Pro 13 looks great overall, but ideally I would like AC wifi. I also heard that the built-in wifi is quite poor in terms of signal quality. I think if I bought this model, I would probably want to use it with a USB Wifi AC adapter. The weight is very light and impressive.

The Dell XPS13 looks ideal on paper, has AC wifi as you mentioned and the price is competitive. Main disadvantages are that it's not available for a few weeks and as a result I can't get any feedback from real users yet on what it's like

 

Yes, that does help. Many thanks for answering those

 

Hey guys
My ASUS installation wizard on UX301 does not work.
Do you guys have same problem ?

 

My XH72T just arrived today, updated to Windows 8.1 after applying a round of Windows Updates. I've only spent a few hours with it so far but overall I'm very happy with the machine.

Performance is very good and boot/resume is as fast as advertised. The hardware has a nice feel and weight balance -- my only nitpick thus far is that you can't charge the laptop and use chunky thumb drives in the left USB port at the same time.

Re: concerns voiced in this forum:

I have Wireless-N 300mbit router (Linksys E3000 dual band DD-WRT), and am seeing initial bursts of 20MB/s and sustained local transfers of around 10MB/s over Wifi. (that's MegaBytes per second)

The space bar has not squeaked once. I was spoiled with nice Thinkpad keyboards, and this Zenbook's keyboard is fine but not great. I don't say this lightly -- I am a programmer by trade and I will be spending a lot of time typing and using nearly all the keys every day. Key travel isn't as deep as with thicker machines, and not quite as deep as my work 17" MacBook, but I am getting used to it already and it's not bad. I'd characterize it as feeling a slight "thud" in each key as it bottoms out when typing vigorously, and normal typing is completely fine.

The power key arrived on my machine slightly crooked as well, but after pressing it a few times, it has sorted itself and is now straight.

The "lip" on the bottom edge of the display doesn't bother my denim-covered lap at all -- the machine just isn't heavy enough to put that much weight on the edge to be uncomfortable.

The outer lid surface, as well as the LCD, has a very surprising amount of flex and torsion. Unlike others, I would characterize this as being a durable design as long as they don't shatter under pressure. I invite you to watch a few Gorilla Glass 3 videos on Youtube -- look for the official Corning demos, this stuff can take an amazing amount of pressure directly on a scratch.

The display's viewing angle is decent, but I wouldn't say you will get a great experience at greater angles. Color distortion remains stable in a reasonable viewing cone for the user, which is suitable enough for photo color corrections, but it's not as color-stable as IPS for all angles. I'm hoping the IGZO LCD power savings pay off.

After Win8.1, ASUS Live Update doesn't launch, and the ASUS Install Wizard also reports incompatibility and exits. This is my first WIn8 experience, and I'm sure I will mold the software into something familiar at some point.

Does anyone know the answer to these two questions:
1) Can a middle-click be enabled in any way for the trackpad?
2) In the ASUS Power4Gear application, the "System in Sleep" tab has two options for Instant On (days of time) vs Long Standby (around half a year). Is this just a fancy UI for setting sleep vs hibernate, or is there more to it?

 

Oh, I do have one gripe. I hate the power supply. It's very light and looks cool, but the power plug blades are very difficult to flip out and I could see my wife cracking a nail doing it. Also the size of it makes it hard to plug into slightly recessed all ports. Finally, I do miss the ability to swap the power blade type to a longer cord or to an international plug.

 

So I just got home from a mini euro trip and my Asus UX301LA-XH72T was waiting for me

Its a beautiful machine - there is no doubt about that. I haven't used it for too long yet but from about a days use, I am having some usability issues that I hope to get resolved....

1. Scaling: This is my biggest problem. After upgrading to Windows 8.1, I thought scaling was fixed. But it wasnt. Many programs like Adobe Photoshop, Cyberlink PowerStudio, VLC Media Player, filezilla, Etrade platform, MS Office programs and more do not scale with Windows. When I use my mouse and move it to the right size, the charms bar comes up small and only in the upper right side of the screen (as opposed to swiping from the right, which does come up normal). I dont know if anyone found a fix for this, but if so, please share. In addition, as mentioned, when the computer goes to sleep, scaling is reset. Anyone find a fix for this? I do hope Asus or Windows provides a patch for this issue because it makes so many programs un-usable. I am really hoping I dont just cave and lower the screen resolution on the entire machine permanently.

2. Screen Backlight: The backlight changes (dims/undims) way too often even when I am actively using the computer. I haven't yet delved into Power Settings to see if I can control this but if anyone wants to save me the time and trouble of fixing this issue, please tell me.

3. Spacebar: It is true that it is a little flimsy or "provides less push" when hitting it. Its annoying but I doubt there's a way to give it a little more "push resistance"

4. Two-Finger Scrolling: For some reason when I scroll with two fingers, it doesnt always react immediately. Not sure how to fix this but it can get annoying.

5. Partition: I am already running out of space on my C drive and have not added anything to my D (data) drive yet. I really don't know the reasoning for drive partitions since I backup to my network. I would really like to know if I could transfer disk space from the D drive to the C drive but Partition Manager does not allow this. Anyone know how this can be done?

 

In regards to screen backlight, at least when using the power4gear settings for high performance or battery saver you can go into the settings for the power4gear application and turn off adaptive brightness. This alleviated the issue I was having with adaptive brightness and not being able to raise the brightness to a higher level while using the laptop on battery.

As to the partitioning, I'm not sure this is applicable given the raid setup (and I haven't tried to modify mine yet) but you might try and program like Partition Magic. In the past I have used it to make drive partition changes I could not do with the windows partition manager.

 

Thank you for this information. Rep added. I actually posted a question about this in the owner's lounge yesterday. I am really enjoying the laptop but did notice compared to my first gen retina MBP which uses an IPS display that the viewing angles on the Zenbook infinity aren't quite as good. Still fine for my purposes. I didn't realize the igzo displays were not quite as good in this respect, but I too hope the power savings add up to a decent tradeoff.

 

Thanks. I was able to figure out unchecking adaptive brightness.

I just noticed another issue. Ever since I updgraded to Windows 8.1, Intel Wireless Display now says it's not compatible with my operating system. Anyone run into this problem?

Anyone know if theres a Support # to ASUS that I can call? Im getting tired of all the issues with this computer and am very close to returning it.

 

Yes please return it so there will be more perfectly good units available at a refurbished price. ;-)

 

Does anyone know for definite what the screen resolution is on the UX301LA-C4006H? Some sites in the UK are listing WQHD, some are saying 1080 and some not specifying it at all.

 

Check with the specific shop you are looking to buy it from or email asus support.

 

I have the same scaling reset problem after sleeping. anyone find a fix?

 

I am facing the same problem on Windows 8.1, looks like the zoom for some parts of the UI will go back to 100%. Gotta sign-out / switch user / restart to fix it.

 

After switching from Instant On to Long Stand-by Time in the Power4Gear Hybrid settings the zoom doesn't change anymore. There should be a bug on the Asus's side though.

 

Bad news: The SSD in slot 0 on my XH72T failed. It intermittently shows up in the BIOS, and also intermittently there is a 3-second Intel Rapid Storage screen during POST that says the RAID-0 failed (because SSD-0 is missing). Interestingly, it asks me to hit Ctrl-I (that's a capital i) to enter the RAID settings, however when I hit that key combo, nothing happens and it continues to the regular BIOS screen. Another RMA there for ya, Mark_K...

 

Does anyone know when Zenbook infinity (UX301LA) will be release in Australia or has it already been release to only certain regions?

 

wow thats disappointing. I get my XH72T tomorrow and if I run into anything close the problems you are getting I'll be returning ASAP and switch to a mbp. Thanks for updating!

 

Well this one put me over and I will be returning my XH72T now.

I noticed since I first turned this machine on that my internet connection seemed slow. Today I did a Speed Test on my new Asus and a 3 yr old Samsung and the results were striking.

Samsung: 25 mbps
Asus XH72T: 2.5 mpbs

Yes, I did multiple tests and the results were the same. So now I spent hours on the phone with ASUS (who's Tech Support is atrocious) updating and changing drivers etc etc. Im still getting the same results unfortunately. This may also be why my Intel WiDi has been so pitiful and cant hold a connection.

Im not sure what happened here. I was under the impression that this Asus had the best Wifi card on the market today (correct me if I'm wrong). Maybe I have a faulty system but between scaling issues, widi, and now wifi issues - this thing has been a nightmare out of the box and its not worth keeping. Sadly, I waited months for this computer and now I have to figure out what to get to replace it.

Enjoy my refurbished unit

 

..........

 

One unit may be using 2.4 and one should be using 5 ghz.
You may need to look at how the Asus wifi card is provensioned for your router if the router cant handle 5 ghz.

Keep em coming....

 

Check out HP Spectre 13t-3000, which seems to be a sleeper. There is a thread on this forum, "HP Envy and Spectre".

Good luck, Jim

 

I know a few retailers have had it in stock (cplonline, centrecom) but I haven't seen it physically myself. Centrecom has since sold out

 

anyone with the UX301la or UX302la please do a speedtest at speedtest.net and do the same on another computer of yours and let me know if you see the drastic speed difference. My wireless connection with this computer is so iffy that Im wondering if its the computer's wireless card or my connection. Sometimes ill have 30 mbps and others (most of the time) ill get 2 mbps. My other wireless computers and tablets dont experience this type of fluctuation.

I have uninstalled and reinstalled the network drivers countless times, changed wireless channels and more but still get this annoying fluctuation that doesnt happen on my other computers.

Thanks

 

hey man, just tested mine twice. I'm getting the same upload/download speeds with two different computers. I'll try again tomorrow.

 

I have same wifi problem with UX301la. Sometimes it works fine. But most of time the speed is just terribly slow. And the current driver is the latest.
Do anyone have similar issue and give some advises.

Thank you in advance

 

Can you play like nba2k14 or WoW in this laptop?

 

Another update: ASUS recommended that I return the XH72T with the failing RAID and/or SATA controller. I did so, and B&H Photo took it back easily once they knew that ASUS had a defect ticket for it. I decided to risk buying a replacement XH72T unit from Newegg since B&H didn't have it in stock, and had no issues with it so far. One thing I noticed immediately is that Newegg shipped it nested inside an outer ASUS branded box with foam cushions, while B&H seemed to have unboxed the outer ASUS carton to make their shipment smaller. Bad form, B&H!

No issues with the replacement unit so far after four days. The power button is straight, however the space bar is a bit smooshy as commented by others (but no squeaky sounds from it).

 

Probably not, since there may be lack of performance to drive these games.

 

I had to return my DH71T to Amazon due to a warped hinge that made the laptop wobble with the lid open on any surface. Received a XH72T unit as a replacement and I think I made the right choice. $137 to get 512GB SSD and a better screen (the DH71T was slightly warmer temperature and worse contrast) is a pretty good value.

 

Didn't think there was a screen difference DH71T and XH72T

 

My girlfriend's ASUS laptop was having a similar problem, it turned out that if it was sitting closed hooked up to an external monitor the network speed would drop to about 2 Mbps. Sitting in exactly the same place open it would get 25 Mbps. Are you running it closed?

 

After about 3 weeks of use, I suddenly got a registry error with the blue screen of death. It keeps happening every 8 minutes and restarts. Does anyone know how to fix this problem? Is there something wrong with the hard drive? Please help. Thanks.

 

Both games would be easy for this laptop's graphic card; especially WoW.

WoW would probably get bottlenecked by your processor before the graphics card on this laptop; since WoW is badly coded and depends alot on a powerful single-core processor than the graphics card. If you bought the highest tier Zenbook Infinity with the 2.8 i7, then it would handle WoW easily. The SSD on the Zenbook would give fast loading times for instances too.

 

Monitors are known for their interference if not designed properly. It is probably the cheap monitor's noise causing it.
You would literally have to house the monitor in some kind of shield yourself to prevent it. xD

Source: http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1365

 

So, this happened to my screen this afternoon:

ASUS UX301 screen problem - YouTube

Any idea what could be wrong?
I have contacted my retailer for warranty in the mean time...

 

Can you give us a little background?

Did you do any updates to any software?

 

I woke it up from sleep and it was like that. It looks like either the panel or the back-light is malfunctioning. I didn't change any software or installed any updates.

 

I am simply curious and don't intend to criticize the product. What does this laptop have that justifies its price tag?

It is way more expensive than its competition. For example, let us compare the UX301 i5 model to the 13 inch rMBP i5 model and the Samsung ATIV Book i5 model. The ASUS is significantly more expensive (difference of $400+).

Is it because of the gorilla glass cover? From what I hear, it's a fingerprint magnet and somewhat of a downgrade from the aluminum cover. That alone shouldn't justify the item costing $400+ more than its competitors. Am I missing something?

 

Try to think about it production-wise. Apple is utilizing the same method of production for rMBP with the new chip. Asus had to design a whole new assembly process to produce their new line of products. Transitioning from aluminum to gorilla glass was probably expensive. Don't forget you have to pay engineers, etc. to design the new product, also.

 

The form factor looks remarkably similar to that of last generation's. It's just the material and colors that have been revamped. Regardless, a customer is interested in value v. price - not paying for R&D costs.

If there is nothing else to justify the price disparity, I'm surprised at the popularity of this laptop.

 

Where are you getting the $400 price difference?
I see the Macbook is $1500. Add $60 for the VGA and Ethernet adapters which are included with the ASUS and you're at $1560.
I don't even see a comparable Samsung. The K01US model is $1400 but that has 4GB RAM and 128 GB SSD. If you want 8/256 you have to jump to an i7.
Although the MSRP for the DH51T is $1800, I see it selling for $1700 on Amazon and B&H Photo. And remember that ASUS includes a one-year accidental damage warranty.

And yes, you always pay for R&D costs (translation: innovation). It isn't the price of components

 

Apple's design has its own problems with its design if you try and pack too much power into it.