ASUS Zenbook UX303 (Nvidia GT 840M)

The yellow in the photo isn't even close to what the yellow looks like on the 1800p screen. Yellow is definitely a greenish mustard yellow. There are long threads on the Lenovo site and on the Samsung site about the mustard yellow and the lack of an acceptable fix.

Jim

 

Do you modify Windows resolution before launching the games?

 

You would want dual cards for native but 1600x900 is a nice resolution for gaming on more value oriented chips.

 

870m plays skyrim pretty reasonably at 3200x1800 as long as you turn off AA and af. Also settings on high with shadows on medium. I was getting 40-50fps. The only sitting thing is there is some text "level up" floating on the screen.

60fps with 3k on the gs60. I think msi got it right limiting the display to 3k.

 

Personally I wouldn't use this notebook for AAA title games like Crysis or Watch_Dogs etc etc. It's definitely a good notebook to use for competitive titles that don't require much performance power like SC2, CSGO, LoL, Dota 2 etc. Of course it's good for casual games like random plaformers or MMOS.

 

Depends on the game, Skyrim is clever enough that you only have to set the resolution in the game settings. I think that the laptop could handle 1080p as well but 1600x900 is fine on a 13" screen.

Some poorly designed games like NFS require you to adjust the resolution in both windows and game settings.

 

I spoke with both of them and both out of stock.
Another alternative?

 

I'm looking at buying the UX303LN without the touchscreen if possible (I wouldn't really use the touchscreen I dont think) but I'm in France at the moment and they have a lot of 'back to school' sales on for laptops at the moment here, most of them with touchscreen. (Although I'd end up with a French keyboard which would be really annoying)
I went to an electronics shop here called FNAC just to check it out and see what it looks like. The guy in the shop said to me that this model (UX303LN) has stopped production temporarily due to a problem, and it should be available again in a few weeks...
I wonder why that would be??

I'm also looking at the german amazon site where it's also temporarily unavailable (for the same reason I'm guessing?)
Does anyone else know about this? I tried searching about it but couldn't find anything.

I'd much rather have the German keyboard than the French, German is at least close to English/US keyboard (I guess I'd look at swapping the Y and Z keys)

 

The "stopping production" comment sounds like the salesperson was making it up. Electronics manufacturers don't tell individual shops about temporary pauses in production. The shop is probably waiting for a new shipment.

If you want UX303LN without the touchscreen you should look for UX32LN. It's almost the same device but with FHD non-touch screen (and in some models a smaller 128 GB SSD).

 

Maybe I again dont get the Point - but(at least on the 302LG you can also directly Switch the Auto brightness off /on with FN+A - So just if you quickly want to use or not - Or does the complete Switch off in the Power plans bring "more addtl. brightness" ?

 

I don't think it will turn full brightness on auto even if you are in the sun. I prefer controlling it myself

 

Any ux303ln being sold in the UK? Does anyone know?

Thank you

 

Is this photo with the screen in its out-of-box configuration? Or is it in one of the other display modes you mentioned in your other post?

EDIT: And to be clear, you have the QHD+ 1800p screen?

 

It's the QHD+ screen yes. It's in the "normal" display mode (Fn+C to change modes).

The yellows do look a bit worse in those checkerboard charts with different shades but that's not a realistic usage scenario, I think a photo with lots of yellow better demonstrates real world use.

Here's with the checkerboard chart, but bear in mind that it's not really a realistic scenario as you don't look at such charts on a daily basis: https://www.dropbox.com/s/o5rfnoqc81y4a3q/2014-09-17 20.25.18.jpg?dl=0

 

I said (& you read) it before, but I have to tell you again: Cyberport has bo clue when it will come and they just make these release days up. Asus never gave them a specific date. That's exactly why they always have release dates for this laptop, while Amazon has zero information.

I got an email reply from the Asus sales team a few days ago and they said it won't be released in Germany/Austria before November.

 

I found the UX303LN to be almost unusable in the sun. The monitor is essentially a mirror. So it good for checking yourself out, but not much else.

 

I'd be very grateful if someone with the UX303LN could run 3D Mark and post their scores. This would really help put me at ease that the problems I've been having are not related to the GPU. I ran the Cloud Gate test twice and scored 5534 (8261 graphics 2568 physics) and 5606 (7862 graphics; 2797 physics).

Also, the test indicated that the "graphics driver is not approved." I'm pretty sure I downloaded the driver from Asus. Would be interested to know if others are getting the same message.

Thanks.

 

The not approved Driver may result from the fact that you downloaded a Beta Driver Version from Nvidia ? Thats normally the case that 3D Mark only accepts the WHQL certified ones...

I just ran the Cloud Gate with my 302LG
Graphic 6989 Physix 2828 Overall 5276 So your result sounds reasonable to me taking into account GT840 vs 730 ....

 

I got 5772 overall with 8384 graphics and 2762 physics so your results seem to be normal.

 

Thank you! Glad to see that's not a problem. I'm still disappointed with streaming video performance. Turning off hardware acceleration in browsers and Flash has helped a bit but it still seems subpar. Counterintuitive to me that disabling my brand new hardware would improve performance.

 

What's the driver that has keyboard backlight? I uninstalled a lot of Asus programs and might have accidentally uninstalled that one.

 

Hi! I've been reading this thread for a while now. I "bought" the ux303la (500 GB) on Amazon Germany - well, preordered it. From the Asus Sales team I also got the response that the ux303la should be available in November. I feel like I can't wait longer than November, because I need it for school. Unfortunately I can't really find anything reliable on the internet about why they are having these delays.

 

ATK driver I think

 

It is the ATK driver.
Once installed, then it will reactivate the backlight.

 

Yeah I think stopping production just meant he couldn't get anymore for the moment, lying salesman...

I decided to go with the UX303LA, it comes with FHD screen (no touch) It also comes with a 1tb HDD which I'll take out because I've already got a 500gb SDD in my existing laptop that I'll swap out and put into this new one ...which kind of means I'll get a ext 1tb hard drive for free - winning
Also I got an extra 8gb Ram comming (12gb RAM total) and I ordered a US keyboard on the side from www.asusparts.eu/en which cost a bit more than I would have liked, but at least I'll have a keyboard I can use.
So it should be a pretty decent little ultrabook in the end (and weigh half of what my existing laptop does!)

Thanks for your help

 

Hey, dumb question. I managed to pop open my ux303ln and install a 128GB half-size mSATA in the open slot, but for the life of me I can't figure out how to move Windows 8.1 onto it (my eventual plan is to dual-boot with Windows on the 128GB drive and Linux on the 256GB stock one).

I created a recovery USB stack and booted from it, but the recovery seems to detect Windows on the 256GB and it only gives me the option to "refresh or reinstall" there, not to install it on the new drive I just put in. Is there some kind of secret incantation I need to do to install Windows on the new SSD? I'm slightly afraid I'll have to open up the case again and disconnect the original SSD before booting from the recovery USB stick, which I'd really like to avoid if I can.

 

Oh, on a related note, has anybody tried to obtain Windows 8 install media from Asus?

 

Just a guess, but check around in the BIOS for an option to use the mSATA slot as a drive. It's probably defaulting as a cache.

 

Is "normal" the display mode that is selected out-of-box by ASUS?

 

You need to either do a fresh install or shrink the partition and clone it to the new drive. The bios will only select the uefi partition of the 256 because it's the only one that exists.

Curious why you would install your os on an inferior drive. I've tested those msata minis and they are about as fast as solid state drives of two years ago.

 

Well, I can see it show up as a drive in Windows, so it seems in theory like I should be able to install the OS on it (I just don't have the media).

 

I was afraid of that. I can't figure out how to do a fresh install, since I don't have any media. Is there some way to copy the recovery partition onto a USB stick or something and make it bootable?

Hmm, that's a good point, I should probably run some speed tests. My idea was that I'd probably spend more time in Linux than Windows (except when I was running games), but I haven't really seen how usable Linux is right now either, so maybe I'm better off putting Linux on the mini-msata for now anyways.

 

The speed of mSATA is dependent on the drive you get, the fastest are the same speed as their bigger brothers.

 

I just checked, and mine was set to "vivid" out of the box.

 

For what it's worth, I'm using this MyDigitalSSD one. I'll try running some benchmarks when I have a bit more time and post the results here.

 

I think mine might have been "vivid" out of the box too. With the vivid mode yellows are noticeably greener and everything is too saturated.

 

Any source? The fastest msata mini I've seen is the 128gb mydigitalssd and it's not all that great. My crucial m500 was better.

 

To expand on Xentar712's suggestion. You need an app like Paragon HD Suite 12 to reduce the size of the 256 GB ssd to 128 GB or slightly less. You would need to reduce the size of the OS (C partition to what ever size you need to make the total size to 128GB. then move the recovery partition to immediately follow the OS (C partition. Then make sure that the space at the end is unallocated (not a partition.) Then use a program like Macrium Reflect to clone the partitions on the old 256 GB drive to the new 128 GB drive. Be sure to use sector, by sector clone option. When you are finished, go into the bios and put the 128 GB clone ssd as first in boot order. Your PC should now boot to Windows from the 128 GB half length mSATA ssd.

Good luck, Jim

 

Well I think you can download a Windows 8 Image legally and create your fresh Installation USB Stick. Also there is a General Installation Key as far as I know and for activation you can use the key of the Win8 which was/is on your Asus machine.


Sent from my UX302LG using Tapatalk

 

If you use the core image, you won't need the key. Any other version you will need to type 'any' valid key for that version and then activate with the key embedded on your machine. Wpkey can tell you what you're embedded key is.

 

Hi everyone, this's my first post : )
I ordered a UX303LN from amazon yesterday for $1350 (including tax). It's shipped today
It seems that Amazon still has some in stock for anyone interested: http://www.amazon.com/Zenbook-UX303LN-DB71T-Quad-HD-Display-Touchscreen/dp/B00KTL21RA/

 

I tried using Microsoft's free iso downloader utility, but when I entered in the product key (which I got from using Belarc Advisor, there's no sticker on the laptop or in the package, as far as I can tell) it told me I wasn't eligible to download it (presumably because it's an OEM key). I know there are, ah, other ways to get a Windows ISO, but I'd just as soon do everything legally. I just can't figure out how.

 

Thanks for the detailed instructions, you have confirmed my worst fears about what a pain in the this is going to be. I'd really rather just install Windows from scratch on the new drive, though it seems to be about the same level of frustration just figuring out how to get installation media for a license I legitimately hold.

 

You're not going to find a way to download Windows legally with an oem key. Microsoft removed that capability over a year ago.

 

ouch I was Not aware hat They removed that option

 

Does the UX303 not come with a utility in Windows, or on the recovery partition, to create recovery media? I just did this with a family member's Dell laptop, and a USB stick, when I installed an SSD.

 

You can use the recovery partition but it will only install to the original drive. You could also try creating a recovery usb and restoring to the new drive but you might have to format or unplug the original drive first

 

Yeah, I did try using a recovery USB stick, but it would only let me recover/reinstall to the original drive, and I'm a bit nervous about nuking the original drive in hopes that it will let me restore to the other one.

At this point I figure I'll just give up and install Linux on the mini-sata drive for the moment, instead of moving Windows to it. Thanks for the help, everyone.

 

Guys , question - If i Have an Original full Windows 8.1 Installation DVD with its own key ( I bought an Win 8 PRO some time ago) can I then install this Windows on the Zenbook or is the Original OEM key somehow in the BIOS which then stops me ?


Sent from my UX302LG using Tapatalk

 

Take a look at this thread.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/asu...ard-oem-your-new-win8-certified-notebook.html

Good luck, Jim