ASUS Zenbook UX303 (Nvidia GT 840M)

Thank you, that's very handy! I have also read that review, which piqued my interest in doing some upgrades on my own, but it's nice to see real-world users who have also successfully done those upgrades. I assume you just used the cloning software that came with your 840 EVO drive to reinstall the OS? Any tips for that which may not be obvious to newb's like myself? This will be my first attempt to try an upgrade on my own, so just trying to educate myself as much as possible.

 

As a backup, find out how to create "recovery media" (usually to an optical disc or USB drive) for the laptop before you change the drive. That way, if something goes wrong with the drive image, you can still do a clean factory install from the recovery media, without having to put the old drive back in.

 

Would it possible for me to go in and tighten a screw or two on the touch-pad to fix the inconsistent click feels between the right and left click? Is there anything at all I can do to fix this? Obviously, its a minor annoyance, but considering I spent $1400 on this machine, I'd like it to work exactly as it should.

 

I preordered an UX303LN-R4142H ( i7-4510U, 12GB RAM, 256 GB SSD, 1080p, non-touch, 840M) from cyberport.de --> €1.129,00 (including -70 € IFA/Intel discount). Estimated shipping date: 09.10.14.. Lets hope the best It will replace my old Sony Vaio 13 Pro.. Owned it only one year and had only problems with that piece of ..
And cyberport seems to include the case, usb-lan and display adapter

 

I doubt it's something you can do. Those parts were meant to be replaced if not working properly. Taking them apart might do more harm than good.

 

This seems like a mechanical issue, you can contact ASUS to get them to fix it.
They will have to replace the touchpad to fix it because the touchpad is glued directly onto the C panel.

 

Cyberport's estimate is a complete guess, It's been pushed back at least four times already. Official word from Asus is November, so I wouldn't pay any attention to the 9/10th date.

 

Is any of you guys using this laptop with ubuntu? Can you guys tell about it? Show how it works? Any issues? Would the issues be related to 840m or the rest of the hardware? For games, do you think this laptop runs league of legends, cs:go , football manager.... without issues?

Thank you

 

How did you stand the Vaio Pro 13 for a whole year? I sent mine back before the 30 day limit. Really pure junk.

Jim

 

I would have done the same.. My big problems was, that I needed a notebook for study.. And so I was not able to send it back.. My touchscreen was exchanged two times and the mainboard one time till now. No fix for the wifi problem, only a wifi usb stick from sony! At the moment I have the problem, that the battery is completely rubbish. The notebook powers off when I am moving it. Sometimes I cant even power it on without plugging it in (batterie is @ 100%).. Or it tells me that there is no battery, but hell, at the same time its running and unplugged! And the sony repair center says, it's the akku and the notebook is older than 6 month, pay 144 €!

But back to topic.. I hope I will soon get the 303 and I hope its better quality..

 

I got my 303LN yesterday. One thing that immediately struck me was how loud the clicking noise is on the touchpad's right and left buttons are. It's much louder than my Lenovo T440 and girlfriend's old Macbook. Is this a defect with my machine?

 

My LA is perfect so far. Good luck with your LN.

Jim

 

Anyone knows who is the manufacturer of the touchpad (it seems it isn't Elantech anymore). I'm trying to replace Asus Smart Gesture which seems to make google chrome crash intermittently, and I want to keep gestures such as two finger scrolling. One way of doing this on the old versions of the zenbook ux30x was to install the Elantech drivers, but it seems they aren't compatible with the ux303...

 

No Elantech touchpad anymore!?

Did you try the Elantech driver from Asus? Please try this one: http://dlcdnet.asus.com/pub/ASUS/nb...hpad/Touchpad_Elantech_Win81_64_VER115145.zip

I just did a fresh install on a Asus PU301LA-RO064G which has Elantech Touchpad hardware but only the Asus Elantech driver worked for it... I really hope you are wrong and they still use Elantech or Synaptics touchpad-hardware.

 

I get the message "This driver version does not suit this touchpad [...]", so maybe after all it is an Elantech touchpad but I can't seem to find the right driver version

 

Yeah, my LA has louder than "normal" clicks. But, I have been using the tap function rather than using click. This is the first laptop I have had where tap works very well and doesn't select unwanted targets.

Jim

 

It's still Elantech.

 

Okay, I'm done with Asus for the time being.

I tried to get an UX32LN, but after only one month there were sold out in Germany and Asus told me they are "End of Life". I should wait for the UX303LN that would come out end of July/beginning of August.

Months and months go by and nothing was released so I contacted the Asus sales team again and just got a reply:

"The expected release date for the UX303LN in Germany/Austria will be some time in November".

This really sucks! It's horrible that they they still say "expected". Makes me expect another bump to December.

Well, good luck! I give up. No UX303LN for us. NEVER trust cyberport.de. There's a reason that Amazon.de never has release-dates for Asus Laptops, but Cyberport does: They just make them up so people buy them.

 

Thanks a lot Kevin ! I'll try to find suitable drivers then, if anybody has anything please let me know !

 

Did you find a good alternative notebook for the ux32/ux303ln? I was also looking to get a ux32ln in germany but don't intend to wait till november or even longer.

 

303LA are sold out everywhere (altho I managed to grab one for myself)

are they so popular?

 

Can you please post the Device-ID of your touchpad? (Windows Device Manager -> Properties of the Touchpad -> "Details"-Tab -> DropDown "Device Id's")

 

Hi, I just bought the Asus ux303ln.

I've been using it for about a week and is very satisfied with my purchase, until I plugged in my headphones.
No matter what I do, I only get sound in my left earphone. I've tested different plugs, same result. The Conexant SmartAudio HD driver is updated. Asus support tells me to restore windows! And I know Windows 8.1 have had sound issues on some laptops.

Is there anyone here who have experienced the same problem?
And know if restoring windows will actually help?

B.K.

 

I returned mine because after a few days the audio jack stopped working. I don't know if it was a hardware or a software problem - my retailer accepts returns for faulty units within 7 days so I thought it's better to just ask for a new unit. Does your microphone work well? My faulty one had a horrible microphone sound on Skype, so I presume that the problem had something to do with the sound card or its drivers.

The new unit I got after a week's wait has been working perfectly with no issues. The new unit's microphone quality is also very clear compared to the previous one.

 

Thanks for the reply=)

I have a 45 day return possibility, and is seriously considering it since I dont know how to fix it. And I have not found anyone else with this model that have an easy fix to the problem.
I will keep searching the web this weekend and return on monday it if I don't find a solution by then.

 

I can't seem to find a Detail Tab exactly called device Id's, here are the tabs that have similar names;

Device Description:
ASUS Touchpad

Hardware Ids:
ACPI\VEN_FLT&DEV_0101
ACPI\FLT0101
*FLT0101

Compatible Ids:
*SYN0A00
*SYN0002
*PNP0F03
*PNP0F13
*PNP0F12

Matching Device Id:
ACPI\FLT0101


Configuration Id:
oem14.inf:ACPI\FLT0101,ATP0105_Inst

Reported device Ids hash:
A7C400A9

Let me know if you need more information

 

Thanks, thats all I need!

That identifies the touchpad

Searching the web for that Hardware Id doesn't bring up much information - seems to be a new part/device. Looking at the Asus SmartGesture Package I and found a driver for that touchpad in a folder called "Focaltech"; the other folders (which are not used for your touchpad) are "Elan" (Elantech) and "Syna_SMB" (Synaptics). I gues you don't have a Elantech / Synaptics Touchpad...whoever Focaltech is...

 

I've had the UX303LN for less than a week and so far very disappointed. The major issue is Wifi. At first, the connection was significantly slower than other laptops in the house. Range was the issue - I had to be very close to the router or it wouldn't work. Streaming video was hit or miss. Then, It got worse - it would not connect to my router, or would connect and then after a few seconds or minutes would disconnect, rendering it essentially unusable.

Turns out, lots of other people are having issues with the wifi adapter - http://forum.notebookreview.com/networking-wireless/716325-intel-7260-a-63.html

I brought it to my office and it seems to be staying connected, so it's apparently not playing well with my home routers (I tried two different models).

Anyone else having wifi issues?

 

My LA has an Intel dual channel, AC 7260. It works perfectly in my house. I have two APs and it connects to either one and gets the same Internet down/up as my wired desktop. And I get the same throughput fifteen from either AP or forty feet away through four walls.

Good luck, Jim

 

I had trouble with mine too. Very poor reception at normal ranges. No drops, just unusually slow for only being a room away. I have an RT AC68U.

 

at my office, disabling U-APSD significantly improved the speed. hopefully this has an effect at home too.

 

I'm thinking of buying the ux303la and I was wondering if in the future it may be possible to insert a graphics card. The graphics chip is soldered on the model LN or is inserted into a slot and thus can be removed? Someone who has opened his LA noticed if there is a free slot? Does anyone have any photos to check this thing?

 

It is soldered on.

 

I at least can state with the UX302LG and the AC7260 and the Asus RT68U I have a good Wifi Connection.
Distance to Router is about 6-8 Meters around two Corners and I get
usually 650 Mbits and about 30-35 MB/Sec copy Speed in Homenetwork
No experience with AC to compare but with this I am fine.

 

I am puzzled by reports of poor wifi performance with LN units. My LA gives excellent wifi performance. I thought LA and LN would have the same wifi hardware and software. In fact, I would think the LA and LN are identical except for the graphics card in the LN.

Jim

 

Different screens, so the antenna placement might make a difference. There's so many things that contribute so some might fare better than others.

 

I haven't had any problems with the WiFi in my 303LN, although I do have the router in the same room as the laptop. I get about 16 ms ping with 45 Mbit download and 7 Mbit upload, which are typical figures I got with my previous laptop and my smartphone as well, or perhaps a little better than the previous laptop actually.

Have the people experiencing problems ensured that their adapter is set to maximum performance in Windows' advanced power settings?

 

Yes, I did adjust the power settings. It now works fine when I'm near the router, but the range is somewhat worse than other laptops. Other odd issues I'm having:
1 - Downloading for more than a couple of minutes has the effect of essentially disabling the router (both the ux303ln and other laptops connected to the router lose connection). So far this has only happened in Steam.
2 - I don't play a lot of games, but I figured I'd test one out, so I downloaded Quake Live. I launched it with the GPU, and the entire game is shifted to the right by half a screen. In other words, the left side of the screen appears on the right, and the right side is missing. I tried different resolutions and scaling options. The only "improvement" was that it would launch but the entire game is condensed so it fits in a small part of the screen. This got me as far as the menus but the game itself never launched.

 

Hey guys, just some quick questions about this notebook:

1. How do I turn off the brightness adapter? The notebook keeps automatically adjusting brightness even though I've set it on maximum.

2. Does anyone remember the page that someone figured out how to calibrate the screens so the yellows look better? I remember seeing it a while back but I can't find it right now.

Thanks!

 

1. Follow this to get to advanced power settings. http://www.eightforums.com/tutorials/5464-power-plan-settings-change-windows-8-a.html
Then go to your plan and switch adaptive brightness to off. Might as well dob it for all plans if you find the feature as worthless as I do.

2. If you have the LA, search for Hawkeye's post 20 or so pages back. Or search Hawkeye yellow in the search tool. I'm on my phone or I'd link it. If you have the LN, there is no fix.

Edit: see post 355

 

Thanks so much! I literally blinded myself after turning adaptive brightness off LOL. Had been starring hard at the screen for 30 minutes.

And yes I have the UX303LN

 

Do every single one of these laptops have the color problem?

Right now these laptops are sold out in the US. Wonder if the next batch will be OK?

I really want to get one of these, but the display problems I see reported are a bit of deal breaker for me.

 

Just got an email from cyberport for my UX303LN: expected to be available:10.10.2014 (previously 09.10.2014)

Gesendet von meinem HTC One mit Tapatalk

 

Does anyone know where can I get the LA version in the United States?

 

To be honest it's not that bad especially if you mainly browse the internet, watch movies and play games. You can adjust each colour's saturation in the settings and the display has many modes (in the "vivid" mode the yellow is more greenish than in the standard mode). Yellow in the standard mode is mainly just a bit darker and not really that greenish. I can try to take a photo when I get home.

Of course if you do design work and need accurate colours then you will need to look elsewhere.

Performance wise this is the best laptop for playing games available at the moment in the 13.3" form factor. Hopefully a BIOS update will fix the yellow issue in the future.

 

Newegg and amazon

 

I wish I had your faith in the performance of this laptop for games. Did you download the most recent drivers from NVidia? Just wondering if there are any tweaks I should be making to get the most out of this machine. So far, I'm seeing mixed results all around. Thanks.

 

Yeah that threw me off as well. In movies, a blonde person on my UX303LN is just as blonde as it is on my MSi. The mustard yellow effect only seems to be on Windows and web browsing.

 

Here's the yellow compared to a phone screen. If you look for it you can see a slight green hue but for me it's not a deal breaker. Unfortunately the comparison isn't very good because the phone that it's being compared to isn't perfect either. The phone has a slight reddish tint and the gravel on the laptop screen is how it's meant to look.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/fusz8s84137sah9/2014-09-16 23.24.54.jpg?dl=0

EDIT: It seems that the yellow issue is exaggerated in photos. When view my photo on the laptop, it's more green than the original that I took the photo of.

The yellow issue is there, but it's not as pronounced as it seems on photos. Especially the greenish tint is not that bad on real life - yellow is just a bit darker than average.

 

I haven't touched the drivers. I've tried Skyrim and NFS Rivals on their highest settings at 1600x900 resolution and both played very fluidly for me.

Of course no modern game will run smoothly at 3200x1800 resolution, not even thick fat 17" gaming laptops would fare well at that resolution.