ASUS Zenbook UX303 (Nvidia GT 840M)

Less ram and costs more than the US version. Yikes

 

I canceled my US pre-order. Got an Acer laptop coming in tomorrow.

 

Bit if a shift in choice there.

 

Which one?

 

It's a Travelmate P645-MG-9419 business laptop: Review Acer TravelMate P645-MG-9419 Ultrabook - NotebookCheck.net Reviews

Somewhat weaker hardware specs for $1200 (especially the GPU, Geforce 840M vs Radeon 8750M), but it has a decent 14" 1080p matte display, weights about the same, has about 2 hours longer of WiFi battery life, and 3 hours longer of idle battery life.

I decided that it wasn't worth waiting for a 1800p glossy display that had some major flaws and couldn't be fully utilized due to software scaling issues.

Not an exact substitute, but I needed a laptop that could last 4-6 years with most of its time being used in college.

EDIT: After the two year warranty expires, I'm going to be expanding the intake vents on the bottom of the laptop since the review mentioned that it's starved of air under max load. I think the carbon fiber + magnesium-aluminum alloy case can handle the modification.

EDIT2: I am aware that the 1080p UX303LN would cost around $1100 and be a better purchase, but I'm not willing to wait until September-November for Asus to ramp up their production and start shipping to North America.

 

I'm a bit late to the party, but exactly how bad are the screen issues on the 303ln being released in the next week or so? My choice was actually down to the 645 and the ux303ln as well.

 

The 1800p display that the UX303LN uses is a RGBW PenTile display. There are some problems on the software and hardware side:

1. Resolution scaling issues. Not many people are going to use a 3200x1800 at 100% scaling setting on a 13" display, so they would need 125% to 200%.

The problem is that many applications written for Windows do not take in account of the scaling and thus causing either really tiny user interface (ex: Adobe photoshop), a badly mangled and out-of-proportion one (ex: Civ 5's intro game launch page), blurry text (ex: Starcraft 2 and Chrome), or a combo of those three problems.

The 1800p resolution is just too advanced for its time. If it was used in the future such as 2016, then the scaling issues wouldn't be as frequent.

2. Contrast and color accuracy issues, especially with yellow being rendered as mustard-green.

The RGBW PenTile technology was used because it is cheaper than other types of displays at high resolution, and it doesn't burn through the battery because the white pixels are used as "artificial lighting". The drawback is that the contrast and color accuracy takes a hit due to the white pixels. Blacks are often rendered as dark gray due to the white pixels.

There are BIOS/firmware/calibration settings that can partially resolve the yellow color accuracy, but it does not fix the hardware drawbacks. Lenovo Yoga 2 Pro used the same display last year and they still haven't fully resolved the problem. Samsung also ran into the same issue with their ATIV Book 9.

There has also been complaints about Lenovo's and Samsung's fixes only working on AC mode or burning through battery power, or not even fixing the mustard-green color.

I contacted Asus's pre-sales support asking if they are aware about the problems, and it appears they have not been informed about it at all, so I'm suspecting Asus is going to play the denial mode for a little while.

Scroll down to the 3rd page to see a comparison photo of actual yellow vs the Pentile's yellow: https://forums.lenovo.com/t5/Idea-W...ro-13-Yellow-Color-Issues/td-p/1270427/page/2


Now if you're buying the 1080p UX303LN, then it has none of the contrast/color problems and is much less affected by the resolution scaling issues.

In that case, I would suggest buying it over the Travelmate P645. If you could mail a 1080p UX303LN to me, I'll be willing to pay a total price of up to $1250.

 

Just watch warranty with acer directly, go through your retailer if you can as direct can be unpleasant.

 

Newegg only has a 30 day policy, while the Acer warranty runs for 2 years.

 

Hi There!

Just got my UX303LN (1800p version) yesterday and some first findings:

1. There really is a color problem with the screen. Yellow is just not right and more of a mustard color. Does not bother me much as I am color blind anyway and not doing any photo editing work with the laptop.
Otherwise the screen is quite stunning in my opinion.
2. The thing is really quiet even when gaming and so far I am pretty surprised with the performance of the 840m (coming from g750jz which was much louder but also had much more punch also)
3. There are scaling issues with windows but again does not bother me because it seems that Ubuntu works quite amazingly with UX303LN (more or less limited experience so far, but all basic functions work)
4. Some steam games have black borders around the screen (I can not understand how to get the display scaling to work). There is no such option in Nvidia Control Panel (Optimus?) and the Intel settings do nothing. Please help if someone has overcame such issues.

More observations later.

 

A question for those that bought their UX303LN in the US... did the box include the USB 3.0 to Gigabit Ethernet adapter, the Mini Display to VGA adapter, AC adapter with a LED ring in the connector, a leatherette sleeve and a printed manual? The UX303LA that I bought from B&H Photo came with none of those. If the USB adapters were bundled with it could you post the part numbers. Thanks

EDIT:
I found this Slim USB 2.0 External DVD Writer... I could not find a similar one with a USB 3.0 interface. Does one exist?

 

Dx 11 games will run in the box for some reason. You have to change the native desktop res to your desired res for now. No fix yet.

 

I don't think the ln has made it to the US yet. You can get the part numbers of that asus parts website someone listed a couple pages back. I believe I saw the dongles on the list.

As for the DVD player, I don't think usb 3 would help much. 24x DVD is about 32 MB/s, which isn't bottlenecked by usb 2

 

So, I tried to read as many comments as possible to get an overview of whether it is beneficial to wait for the UX303LN 1080p matt display (preferably with an i5 cpu to get the pricetag below 1k EUR), or simply go for an "old" UX32LN. Last option is getting really troublesome, at least here in Norway, since the production seems to have stopped and retailers don't sell it anymore...

This is the thing I don't understand, as UX303LN don't really seem to offer any overall better experience than its predecessor UX32LN considered the price, on the contrary the QHD+ is a real deal breaker.

The UX32LN i5/128ssd/6gb was a perfect setup, and it does not look like Asus intend to aim at this price/performance ratio with this new series, sadly...

The best quote I could find in this thread, and which sums up the whole problem in the laptop market atm;

Also thanks to dreamande for a, hopefully, complete list of UX303 models. This seems to be a little bit too hard for the Asus marketing team to compose, or any other manufacturer for that matter....

I guess I just have to wait and hope for the UX303LN-R4139H, 1920x1080, 8Gb, i5-4210U, 256Gb to show up in Scandinavian stores for a reasonable price this autumn.

 

Asus has us buy the balls, and they know it.

 

Read through the comments on this thread and also the UX32LN thread. Lots of information regarding the Scandinavian market.

To sum it up:

UX303LN seems to only be available with the QHD+ configuration atleast in Norway. Big retailers have confirmed that upon request.

The UX32LN has become available in updated configurations with specs identical to 303LN/LA but with 1080P matte IPS panel. Its also lighter.

Check it out for yourself.

ux32ln

Also, Asus has confirmed that production of the UX32LN-series have not stopped although in limited quantities.

 

So, some bad news for people hoping Asus will fix the 303 QHD color issue. They are flat out refusing to admit it is even a problem. When I linked them to several reviews (ultrabookreview) and examples, they said these reviews and members of forums are not credible. Sadly, they don't care.

 

Huh. Last week they said they had no information about such color problem.

That makes the UX303LN QHD even a worse buy if Asus won't even admit that they have a problem with their displays.

 

Thanks for the information. Reading 53 pages++ of content takes a while, so I was hoping for a comment like yours :thumbsup:

So, now we have UX32LN updated series, which are identical to the UX303LN 1080p matte IPS panels? Or are they dropping those models in the UX303LN series?

I actually stumbled upon the (old?) UX32LN over at a Norwegian store Dustinhome with the i5 and even 500hdd, which seems to be the lowest price in Norway atm. I take it the i5 is 4200U and not the updated 4210U on this one? It's not specified in their spec. list. Anyway, the difference between the two shouldn't be more than a few %.

My main goal is to find the combination of "zenbook", "840M" and "FHD IPS" to the lowest price possible. i5 vs i7 has a minimal real life performance difference and the rest is upgradable.

EDIT: Another very good reason to grab the UX32LN is the Win7 official driver support.

 

Today I gave up on UX303LN and went for the updated UX32LN with i7-4510U. It's cheaper, and has a better screen (by my preferences). Too bad I ordered it ~30 minutes too late for it to be shipped today...Now I have to wait until monday >.<

 

Hey, at least you get the option of pre-ordering a 1080p model.

 

There's no known issue because it's barely been out a month. The only way they can legitimately record an issue is if an actual user calls in and complains. CSRs know nothing about the machines, especially chat room CSRs.

 

There has been reviews of the 1800p models that mentioned the yellow color issue. The display technology that Asus used is the same one that Lenovo and Samsung ran into problems with.

 

Right but those aren't customer complaints. Lenovo and Samsung didn't act until people started complaining and placing returns because of it. Reviewers noticed it before they launched too. In a couple months, if enough people complain, asus will probably then act on it.

 

By that time they would've collected our money and hope we buy new laptops in the future.

Do you really think they neglect to do an occasional QA testing on the shipments of displays they receive? And if they aren't testing, then that's just plain incompetence.

Asus knows that lots of people are going to buy the laptop because it's cheap and has an "awesome" 1800p display, and that most of them aren't aware of the PenTile RBGW's color accuracy problems.

 

I have this preordered at B&H but am ready to cancel as the 1800p sounds like an unviable panel.

If I want a game-capable GPU (preferably Nvidia) in a 13" footprint with a 1080p or slightly lower res screen - don't care if its actually marketed as an ultrabook - what are good alternatives in the US right now? Thanks.

 

The only other laptop i've found that comes close is the Gigabyte P34G V2. Spec wise, it smokes the Asus, but it is a 14 inch screen, 300g heavier and it looks pretty basic. Like an old Dell if you ask me. Size wise, it comes very close to the Zenbook, only mm's difference

So if you are concerned on looks, might be one to avoid. "Footprint" wise, unless you go looking for an older Asus which are hard to find, this seems an option.

 

The P34G V2 cost $1500 and has worse idle/Wi-Fi battery life by 2-3 hours according to Notebookcheck.

The Sager NP7338 (aka Clevo W230SS) cost about $1000 and has the same hardware specs and better cooling (aka less throttling), but the idle battery life takes another 2 hour hit. Its WiFi battery life is similar to the P34G V2's WiFi battery life.

The Acer 14" Travelmate P645-MG has longer battery life and its dimensions almost makes it a 13.3" laptop due to its very narrow display bezel, but it obviously has a worse GPU.

The 1080p Asus UX303LN sits between the Travelmate and the P34G/W230SS in terms of gaming and battery life performance.

 

Don't forget the P34GV2 has been refreshed with the CF4-6 range since the notebookcheck review (1-3). It now comes with a higher capacity battery among other things. But regardless, battery wise, you'd should expect it to be worse than the UX303LN as it is double, nearly three times as powerful.

The sager is a good option, but I didn't include it as it is hideous

 

Anyone in the usa ordering the ux32ln from a Scandinavian store? Even with the VAT its pretty comprable price. Damn google translate sucks for these languages though. Can't tell what'd I'd be ordering or what the rules are. And yes I know the keyboard is different.

 

Maybe shoot them an email. There is a good chance they will know English.

 

So I've been looking at the ux303ln for months now and the release date keeps getting pushed back. I have to have a laptop by at least September since I start college September 1st. Do yall think I should just wait and risk now having it or bail and go for the ux32vd and just upgrade it? I could probably live without a laptop at school for maybe a week if I have to.

 

You mean that such an obvious flaw hasn't been noticed during the development of the UX303LN? If they don't even have test cases etc to verify colors on the screen, they have some serious issues.

My guess is that they know of this issue, but didn't manage to fix it before release and thought "Meh, most customers won't notice".

Something in particular you need help with? I could try to help as I'm from Sweden

 

Sure they might have noticed, but that doesn't mean the engineers are going to tell customer service that it's a flaw. And yes, if that's the case, they probably figured most customers wouldn't notice. So if they leave customer service in the dark, the only way they are going to change it is if people complain. Since there are only a handful of people who own one and close to none have officially complained, I'd say odds are they aren't working on it.

I work in product development and I can tell you that we make things with known flaws from time to time. Usually it's stuff we think the customer won't care about or won't ever get noticed. We don't go out of our way to let customer service know the list of flaws. They have thousands of products to cover, so there's no way for them to be tech support for every issue. The most important thing they do is log complaints. If there are enough complaints on a serious enough issue, it gets elevated to a point where the engineers become aware and take action to resolve it. Otherwise the engineers don't think it's an issue and nothing gets done. Not the greatest system, I agree, but it's efficient and is probably what most companies practice. Delegating resources to fix problems that aren't important enough, cost a lot of money.

All that said, the engineers might know about the issue and could be working to resolve it behind the scenes. They still aren't going to give customer service a list of flaws, so there's no way the CSRs will know anything. They also probably aren't working too hard on it until it becomes a major complaint.

All this is speculating, I'm merely just throwing stuff out there about how companies generally work. So many people assume that customer service and level 1 tech support actually know everything about the products. There are rare exceptions, but those exceptions usually get promoted. Also, many assume that all issues are already known, are being worked and will be fixed soon, so they just wait and don't complain. If the screen is an issue, the best thing to do is file a complaint by phone and e-mail. The more complaints, the more likely abs nite quickly it will get addressed.

 

You're absolutely right. I work as a level 3 support engineer, so I'm pretty close to development, and thus I often know of known bugs that we release anyway. I agree that this is something that level 1 wouldn't know of if isn't a really serious issue that was found in house after release, but that's not the case here All I tried to point out was that ASUS most likely know of this issue (but level 1 probably don't, as you said).

Sorry for being off topic.

 

Depending on your budget ofcourse, I would go for the UX32LN-R4100H with the updated I5 4210, 6gb RAM, 840M 2gb, 128gb ssd. It sells for 7690,- NOK. Mind you, I dont think you will be getting the adapters and the sleeve on this one. Also no AC-Wifi, but that is upgradable for about 200NOK at ebay.

 

Sadly non Scandinavian people cannot order from their stores.

Speaking of the P34GV2 again. Avoid it like the plague. I got a CF6 model in today and it's horrible. It feels cheap, the fans constantly spin even when idling so it's very noisy, the matte screen isn't very good quality, it looks grainy like it's got years of built up dust. I'll be sending it back on Monday.

 

Let me guess.... the screen is from AUO? All matte AUO screens has that grainy appearance. You usually get used to it after a while, AUO make som good A-HVA/IPS screens, and A LOT OF REALLY CRAPPY TN SCREENS. I have NEVER seen an good TN screen from AUO.

 

Amazon has put their listing back up on the US site. Ships in 3 to 4 weeks...

 

This availability thing is getting a bit silly now.

 

Welcome to Asus

 

I just picked mine up from NCIX in Canada. Mine's not smokey brown, it's silver.

 

How do you like it? Are the yellows still mustard-y on the screen?

 

They're definitely still mustard-y . The resolution is definitely a little annoying so far too.

 

Also no 802.11ac on the Acer

 

It seems like this Australia versions has both a 1080p screen and a US compatible QWERTY keyboard. Would it be realistic to buy this model and have it shipped to the US?

Thanks everyone for the great thread BTW.

 

I sent them an email earlier in the day, but have yet to hear back from them. I also wanted clarity on the processor as it lists a 4500 instead of the 4510.

Will update.

 

Just bought the UX32LN-R4100H on proshop.no, thanks for the help. The other model with hdd had the old i5-3317U so that was completely out of the question.

With a severe lack of reviews up on youtube of the UX32LN, I'm going to make one myself. I'll link it in this topic for those interested in a week or two. If anyone have any requests for what I should test don't hesitate to ask.

 

http://www.techbuy.com.au/p/365958/NOTEBOOKS_13.3/ASUS/UX303LN-C4147H-CH.asp

 

Thanks to everyone helping out in here, some really useful info.

Picked up a 303LA (DB51-T) a couple of days back, dedicated graphics were a low priority for me so spent the difference upgrading the ram to 12GB and storage to a 500gb 840 evo + half sata ssd. Hard drive caddy needed a bit of finesse to remove, requires removing a couple of extra screws around the battery to get the corner fully out from underneath the plastic. Rest was pretty straightforward.

Think someone mentioned wanting a picture of the display connector, not sure I grabbed the right bit but https://www.dropbox.com/s/qvlrdpovf9tky1a/IMAG1086.jpg?dl=0