ASUS Zenbook UX303 (Nvidia GT 840M)

One more question for people from Germany on this forum: do you happen to know which (if any) Mediamarkt or Saturn stores close to the Dutch border (Düsseldorf area) sell the UX303LN? Any info on where I can find one is very much appreciated.

 

I just noticed that I have Fast Boot disabled/off in BIOS. Don't know if it makes a difference.

 

Oh that's really interesting. Do you mind telling me how you have each of these settings set?


*Advanced
Internal Pointing Device Disabled
Wake On Lid Open Disabled
Power Off Energy Saving Disabled

Intel Virtualization Technology Disabled
Intel AES-NI Disabled

Intel Anti-Theft Technology Disabled

Legacy USB Support Disabled
XHCI Pre-Boot Mode Disabled
Network stack Disabled

*Boot
Fast Boot Disabled/Enabled
Launch CSM Disabled/Enabled

*Security
I/O Interface Security Locked/Unlocked
-Wireless Network Interface
-HD AUDIO Interface
-USB Interface

Secure Boot Control Disabled

 

*Advanced
Internal Pointing Device Enabled
Wake On Lid Open Enabled
Power Off Energy Saving Enabled

Intel Virtualization Technology Enabled
Intel AES-NI Enabled

Intel Anti-Theft Technology Enabled

Legacy USB Support Enabled
XHCI Pre-Boot Mode Enabled
Network stack Disabled

*Boot
Fast Boot Disabled
Launch CSM Disabled

 

Well I'm at a complete loss of ideas now. Frustrating.

 

hi, can u take a photo of the 'yellow' color? thanks a lot

 

I ordered another UX303LA to see if it does the same thing.

 

Hey,
I have the us LN model so 12GB of RAM and an i7 with an FHD screen. Can you explain with which settings you can achieve 8-9 hours of battery life ? I can only manage around 6 for daily use...
Thanks !

 

seems no one care about the yellow issue anymore

 

There is really no point in discussing more about the QHD yellow issue because the truth is it is not possible to 100% fix it because the flaw is within the design of the panel. Lenovo and Samsung both tried to fix it and were unsuccessful and the same thing is likely to happen with Asus. The best solution is to simply avoid the QHD screen models if the yellows bother you a lot.

 

not sure if print screen would work but here you go. It is first two lines of the search result of "yellow" on google images.

Hey, I am only using balanced power plan, with the adaptive screen brightness on. But my RAM is 8GB and processor is i5 as I said, probably the power consumption is lower. I am using it for web browsing and music on iTunes nowadays.

I want to repeat my questions and add one more:

1) As far as I understand, I can increase the RAM to 12 GB when I need to. And for that, I need to replace the 4GB RAM that is not on board with a 8GB RAM, am I right? And what is the type of RAM I'm looking for, is there a type?

2) My laptop has 256 GB SSD, I would like to have something like 1 TB HDD too if possible. Even 500 GB would be OK. Is that possible? Reading all the pages and seeing discussions about the HDD upgrade, my brain just kinda refused to understand the thing. So can someone simply explain?

3) My old G74SX when on charge and it is 100% charged, it would stop charging until 95%, saying "on plug, not charging". And when it is below 95%, it would start charging again. This one is not doing it. When I use it plugged, the battery is 100% always once it is fully charged. Is this OK?

 

I have just ordered my new UX303LN with 256GB SSD from Amazon and am looking forward to receiving it next week.

The only upgrade I am looking to do is increase the storage as I need at least 1TB, if possible I would also like to protect the warranty of the notebook but this isn't the end of the world.

I have the following questions:
1) The free mSata slot in the UX303LN is the SATA protocol and NOT PCI x2 or PCI x4?
2) The mSata slot can accept drives up to 50mm in length (and will therefore fit a Samsung 840 EVO mSata SSD)?
3) The mSata slot is bootable?
4) Adding a drive to the mSata slot will not void my warranty?
5) The Samsung 840 EVO mSata ssd is the same speed as the full size 2.5" version so all the benchmarks i've seen for that are valid for this drive also?

I'm thinking that if the answers to the above questions are correct I could either install a 128gb Samsung 840 EVO into the mSata slot and a 1TB HDD into the existing slot OR install a 1TB 840 EVO into the mSata slot and leave the existing SSD in the original slot at least until my warranty expires. The latter would obviously be the more expensive option but it would protect my warranty?

Any advice would be appreciated as i'm finding a real lack of clear information on the strange drive configuration on the UX303LN and the M.2 standard especially.

Apologies if these question have been answered previously in this thread, I did search but it's gotten so long it's hard to find anything.

 

For interests sake here are the prices of my four options, based on Samsung 840 EVO SSD (either 2.5" or mSata) and Seagate 1TB HDD drives. All prices are from Amazon not including shipping

1TB mSata drive	463USD
1TB 2.5" SSD	434USD
1TB HDD + 120gb mSata SSD	169USD
1TB HDD + 250GB mSata SSD	225USD

I'm liking the last option if it could work, two drives for redundancy (if the SSD fails and i'm far from help I can re-install windows on the other and continue working), it's just the warranty issue...

 

1) I believe it's DDR3 ram, the UX303LN has 4gb soldered to the board and one other slot, correct, you should be able to use an 8gb stick in this slot to give you 12gb total.

2) Still trying to figure out the HDD issue myself as you can see!

3) All the laptops I've owned acted like your UX303 is acting now, haven't had a problem. I heard a theory that you shouldn't keep your laptop battery fully charged, never paid much heed to it myself, Google should give you some more info on it.

 

The bracket that holds battery in this laptop overlaps the SSD bracket so you'll need to loosen some more screws that hold battery and lift it up a bit to pull out the SSD.
Other than that, it's a "standard" thin (7.5 mm) 2.5" SSD. I have not tried fitting 9.5 mm thick version there so no comment on whether it'll fit. See below for how I modded my laptop.

It is SATA. The only devices on PCI-e are NVIDIA and Wi-Fi.

No, it only accepts half-length (25mm?) cards like "Emperor Disk", which I installed yesterday into my laptop in addition to having now 1TB Samsung 850 EVO in the main drive slot (I made a fresh OS install after putting it there). The funny thing is that after adding mSATA drive, it was not detected by OS on first cold boot. I had to reboot, go into BIOS and verify that it is present there. Then continued booting to Windows 8.1. Finally it detected the drive and all is well.

Installing anything longer into the mSATA slot is nigh impossible - there is a connector sticking out next to it that would get in a way and there are no fastener holes for longer cards.

Unlike replacing main drive, installing mSATA drive is easy. That should not void warranty. But do not take my word for it.

 

You are not going to get 8-9 hours of battery life except maybe just sitting there doing nothing at minimum screen brightness. My 303LA has averaged about 7 hrs 20 minutes on light duty over the last 6 weeks.

Good luck, Jim

 

@bbryndal and @fayth I have received the machine and am posting from it!

I got it within 4 days of shipping (Australia to Singapore).

I didn't go with the assisted shipping because I had to pay Paypal charges on the machine itself. Just opt to pay for the machine yourself and ship to them.

@fayth, IIRC, IPS is the type of display panel, LED is the technology for the backlight. So they ain't wrong.

No yellow issues.

Last bit, be sure to shop around, some of the machines (cost-cutting) only have 12 months of warranty not 24 months. Mine came with 12 months warranty only but heck, I am happy!

 

This is a glossy screen right? (I havent seen a matte touch screen)

 

Hey guys, I've the UX303LN almost one month to the day. I've enjoyed it very much, yellow issues notwithstanding. Unfortunately, my machine no longer turns on.

I was using the computer in class taking notes, and the battery was close to running out, at 7%. I fiddled with some of the power saving options, screen brightness, etc, to get a few more minutes of juice when it turned off. Thinking nothing of it, I went home, plugged it in, and no response. Power button lights up (and turns off if I hold it), the battery indicator on the side of the unit lights up when plugged in, but the computer fails to turn on. I disassembled it (huge pain!) and unplugged the battery to run it solely on the adapter, no dice. Same problems.

ASUS tech support is kind of hilarious. I must have held that power button for over 10 combined minutes as I went through their (admittedly required) troubleshooting. No fixes. They estimated repairs in 5-7 business days once they receive my unit. Too long. Amazon will send me a replacement, basically no questions asked, which will arrive on Monday. <3

Regardless, I want to warn others of this potential issue, and see if any others have experienced it or resolved it. Perhaps I just got a dud. Perhaps it's stuck in a weird sleep mode and can't wake up. Who knows!

 

I'm a happy owner of a new ux303la. There's one main issue I'm facing at the moment. When I'm downloading or streaming via wifi, my bluetooth mouse gets super jumpy, to the point it's unusable. Using the trackpad is smooth as butter.

I've spent the last hour googling and have seen this issue in other devices that also have bluetooth and wifi on the same adapter. I saw one fix commonly mentioned as enabling "bluetooth collaboration" under adapter settings in the device manager. I checked but no such setting shows up.

Any ideas?

 

Can somebody that owns the model with FHD matte display (303LN R4141/4142) please grab the icc profile from notebookcheck's review and test it? The colors seem waaaay off to me. I know that no 2 panels are identical, but this is the very first time that I use a notebookcheck icc profile for a specific panel that is completely off.

 

Great news! Thanks for the follow-up. I'm going for it...

 

Hi,

I just returned my ZENBOOK UX303LN-R4141H and I am currious if I should buy a replacement when it is available
because I had two issues with it:

1. There was a dark area on the screen which was noticable in darker colors like dark blue, dark green. At first I thought it was a shadow but it did not disappear. I could not accept that on a 1100 EUR machine.



2. Keyboard flex was quite noticeable. I use the keyboard a lot so I don't now if I can live with that in the long run.

Do you think it was just a lemon or should I invest more money to get a Retina MacBook Pro because there is basically no alternative in this price range. I value a very good screen and keyboard as well as built quality. I don't know if I should buy a replacement or go straight for a Mac.

Thank you for your suggestions!

 

I really think it was just a lemon. The screen thing seems like a one time thing. My screen doesn't have it and this is the first time I see such thing on a UX303LN, so I dont think its a common problem.

Now that you mentioned the keyboard flex again, I did try to push harder the buttons on my keyboard, way harder than I push while I am normally typing. The right part of the keyboard flex a little bit. If you are a passionate typer , then I'd say this keyboard might not be for you. But for me it is not noticable at all as I had mentioned on my first post here.

I say go for a replacement. I dont think the screen will be issue again, and maybe the keyboard wont flex as much. Because my keyboard definitely doesn't flex as much as the one in the review video.

 

Thank you for your input. I really hope it was just a lemon because price and feature wise it's very attractive. I actually don't want to spend the extra 200 EUR for a MacBook Pro that has lower SSD storage, CPU and GPU specs than this ZENBOOK.

 

Because I read it here in the past I want to clarify that the MacBook Pro has a faster processor then the ZenBook. Don't let Intels i5/i7 labels mislead you here: Intel Core i7 4510U vs 4278U

The speed of the ssd in the MacBook Pro should be faster, except you get one from the cheaper memory manufacturer, then it's slower then the older MacBooks with sata drives. The SSD of the Zenbook is also slow, but luckily you can exchange it.

Btw, I'm still waiting for a release of the UX303LN here in germany. I mailed Asus Germany yesterday and got that typical and vague answer beginning/end month from them that shows me that they have no clue when they will get any devices from the factory. I gave up to trust any release dates and in case I have enough money saved I will get a Macbook 13 Pro Retina with 512GB SSD instead. I will sadly pay the mark up, knowing the Zenbook would be the much better device for me, but at least that journey to buy a new notebook will have an end.

 

ASUS support tweeted back to me last month. They are working on a driver update.

https://twitter.com/ASUSUSA/status/525438378259808256

 

Hi to all.
Well, I have reserved my UX303LH and I think it will be mine at the end of this week.
I have some questions.
Where can I download a good display profile.
I have a 128 ssd and I would upgrade it. What kind and more performant, ssd can I install?
Thx

 

Are there any better unofficial touchpad drivers available? The default drivers are sooo laggy and annoying especially when scrolling and righ click.

 

Quick question, does the screen hinge go all the way back (i.e. 180 degrees) on the UX303?

 

Unfortunately no

 

Hi does anyone know how to reverse the function keys on this laptop? So currently I have to hold fn key and press media controls e.g volume up and down. I want to be able to access media keys without holding fn key. My dell laptop allows me to do that via quickset app, there must be a way to this on Asus?

 

Hypothetical: you can create an additional keyboard layout (like what is used for international input). I believe there are tools to create/modify layout.

Also, there is utility that supports permanent remapping of keys: AsusNbKeys

Or SharpKeys It actually writes map into registry and hence works on non-ASUS laptops. I used it to map Fn+arrows to PgUp/PgDn/Home/End on Gigabyte laptop where Fn+arrows controlled media player by default.

 

Nobody can give me help?

 

Just curious can this Asus handle D3 and heavily modded Minecraft?

 

D3 is no problem

Gesendet von meinem HTC One mit Tapatalk

 

@ duevvu

Maybe you should say how much space you need. If you're looking for a affordable and good 512 GB SSD take a look on the Crucial MX 100. Price and transfer rates are very good and sizewise (7mm high) it should also fit. I'm not sure about power consumption, here you should maybecompare to other drives. I also see Samsung SSDs very often recommended, but again, better say how much space you need and I'm sure others can give you more detailed tips ;-)

Edit: I don't know the -LH series, but I frankly assume it uses the same chassis like the -LN or -LA series.

 

Thank you. I'm debating on a nice 970m laptop, but I think I'm looking for way more than I need. I simply want a compact modest gaming laptop that I can use when not gaming on my desktop. I do want D3 and Minecraft to run great though and surf the web without burning legs.

 

What is a "UX303LH"? I have heard of UX303LA and UX303LN, but never a UX303LH.

Jim

 

Hi y'all,

Where can we get a protective case for the Asus UX303??? I can't find it anywhere!

 

In case anyone is interested in getting the UX303LN-R4139H model (the German one with i5 processor and qwertz keyboard): I got mine today at Saturn Hilden (their last unit) and so far I'm loving it. The only things I was a bit worried about were the colour of the lid and the qwertz keyboard (being used to a qwerty keyboard). Turns out I l quite like the colour of the lid (I think the whole machine looks beautiful) and I hardly notice the qwertz layout at all.
In case anyone else wants to get this model: I wrote 60+ e-mails to all Mediamarkt and Saturn stores in the Düsseldorf/Köln/Dortmund area and today I got an e-mail from Saturn Dortmund (Westenhellweg) that last weekend they received at least one unit from their supplier. Furthermore I was told in Hilden that the i7 model probably won't be in stock before the second half of december.

 

Hey all,

Couple quick questions:

1) Why is there a lot more buzz (this forum, it seems and the web in general) over the LN and not the LA? That's my perception, at least, and acknowledge that in some cases the conversations are driven by issues (e.g. poor yellows) I understand that in some countries the 2 versions come in configurations that are similar, but in the US there is only the LA at 8GB/128 or the LN at 12GB/256. I'm seeing a price difference of 4-500 USD.

2) UX303LA is available on the MS store in the US for $799 - should I pounce on this? Seems like a great deal... but what am I missing? I want to be able to handle multi-tasking (Youtube video, heavy Excel use, etc.) and at some point will by a USB dock for dual monitor use.

Thanks

 

Ok so after starting loving this unit despite all my doubts, this happens and shatters everything: the wifi card disappears after a reboot. And when I say disappears, I really mean it: its not that it shows in device manager but cannot connect, it is gone from windows, gone from linux, even gone from the bios!
The problem seems to sporadically fix itself after numerous restarts, or if I shutdown the laptop and power it on again after 3-5 minutes (powering it on immediatly doesnt do anything). The only strange thing, other than the restart procedure now gives a kernel power error in event viewer (event id 41), when the latpop finally decides to see the existence of the wifi card after a successful reboot, the airplane led is on (however wifi works). Through all the above, the bluetooth module never stopped working.

Is it possible that it is a software and not a hardware issue? Can windows mess up and disable the wifi in such a low level that not even the bios can see it? If it is hardware, I am done for good, I cannot afford to lose my laptop this particular time period...
Has anyone had this problem with the ac 7260 module in general?
Thanks in advance.

 

Annoying rattling noise inside the hinge! I just opened the bottom cover to find out what it is..Carefully took off all Torx Screws and Rubber Feet with perfection.. Don't see anything obvious.. anyone notice? It happens if I tip the laptop over to it's side.. Something moving inside the metal hinge cover. Also my right side hinge is a little higher than the left side.. It's actually annoying me now and that could be the reason the parts are moving inside.. Maybe a screw holding the interior of the hinge is loose? I have the 1 year warranty and Squaretrade also for 3 years. I guess I'll send it out when I get a chance.

I hear a slight crackle everytime I open the lid also, possible relation to this loose moving part inside.

 

The power to the device in M.2 slot can be controlled by software. When it turns power off, it's like the card is not there at all. Typically done through SMBus/I2C pins on the connector. Wi-Fi is on PCI-e bus of the socket, Bluetooth is on USB bus. Guess the power is turned off on PCI-e bus only.

Don't know what could be doing it for you: Wi-Fi driver, power-saving software/driver, or something else.

However, it is possible that card is not seated properly. Turning laptop off for a few minutes lets it cool off, which may reestablish lose contact. Can't rule that out.

 

Any further help on this subject (even through Pm) would be vastly appreciated, as it would save me the needed time and frustation. Once again, thanks.

 

@ PortableSystem, @hawkeye62 thx for reply.

Sorry my mistake, the model that I talk about is the UX303LN r4140h,
i7, 128 ssd, gt840m fhd no glare display.
What I want is more space (256 will be good) and more performance.
I have read something about low performance of the standard ssd inside the laptop.
Is true?

 

Thank you for this instructions, worked

But I now have the problem, that I can't go back to the stock one.
1. WinFlash tells me, that the stock rom I want to flash is older than the current one. Same for the integrated flash thing in the bios itself.
2. AFUWINGUI tells me, that the rom file size does not match the existing bios.

What to do now?

 

My UX303LA had a 128 GB SanDisk X110, 6.0 Gbps ssd. I didn't notice that it was slow. I replaced it with a 250 GB Samsung 840 EVO 6.0 Gbps ssd. It works great.

Good luck, Jim

 

Hi Jim, thx so much for the reply.
Do you think that there aren't difference between original ssd and the Samsung Evo??
The size is the same?? Are difficult change it?
And... you o some other user, can be share for me, a good display profile??
Thx again, Walter