ASUS Zenbook UX303 (Nvidia GT 840M)

Ah great - thanks a lot!

 

I have a UX303LN with a 1TB Samsung 850 Pro SSD and a 128GB Emperor half-height mSATA SSD, and I can confirm that you can make the half-height mSATA bootable. If you do a Windows clean install, you will be asked where to install the OS, and you can choose the mSATA SSD.

 

[Solved] @voinea > If you want to change it permanently like I did - rename vlc.exe,( I simply used 'vlc-optimus, as in - "C:\Program Files\VideoLAN\VLC\vlc-optimus.exe" ), then you can add the new name & profile thru nvidia-settings > Manage 3D Settings using nvidia all the time >
'run with graphics processor ....'
Note: This will require you to re-associate all the file types you want vlc to play. Also I installed the 64 bit version so no C:\Program Files (x86)\VideoLAN

Alternately, one can follow the steps in this forum post and install nvidia inspector - something that I'm yet to try. https://forums.geforce.com/default/...le-gpus/optimus-never-switches-to-nvidia-gpu/

 

@billyvegas, @The Pikachu Mafia and anyone else looking to see the effect of the patch + the color profile having been applied - Comparison after yellow patch vs a Dell S2440L monitor - both screens at 90% brightness.

 

Perfect - thanks a bunch

 

So i am thinking of buying the UX303LN-DQ282H Model, it does have the new broadwell chip, WQHD screen and i think it's the new patch so yellows are fixed.

Only thing that i'm considered with is that how well does 8.1 scale to 3200x1200 resolution? Also, does this model have Gorilla glass coating on the screen?

And what you guys think, is it worth the 1300-1400€ price?

 

So I got my UX303LN Broadwell version. I will post up some benchmark results later.

i7 5500U, 8GB RAM, 1080p touch, 256GB SSD, GT 840M.\

 

Another thing - I removed the sticker that it comes with on the top left hand side of the screen and it left all this sticky residue on there. Can anyone please tell me how they got it off?

Edit - got it off. For anyone else that has trouble removing it, I dipped a cotton bud in cooking oil. Spread oil over the residue area and leave for a minute. Wipe off with a micro-fiber cloth while applying some pressure and it should all come off.

 

Beautiful computer. Nice clean carpet too!

 

Thanks haha

 

There were no cover nor the different adapters with mine : (

 

It's unfortunate that they don't include the dongles and bag for all Zenbooks now.

 

Is it just me or does the left Ctrl key sound different from the rest of the keys? e.g. When you press and let go of your C key vs left Ctrl key do they sound any different or is there a strange plasticy sound from the Ctrl key? I think I would say it almost rattles when releasing the key.
I hope it's not me just going mad.

 

Hey guys, when I print screen (Fn+Prt Sc) I noticed that I used to get a graphical feedback, where the edges of my screen flashes black. But now I no longer get that feedback, although I can still print screen successfully. Has anyone faced the problem? What's causing the feedback to go missing?
I really loved the feedback, so I would like to have it back. Thank you!

 

I don't notice any difference between the left Ctrl and "C" keys, or any other keys. They all sound about the same to me. I have the LA model, but I think the keyboard is the same.

Regards, Jim

 

Try depressing the key and massaging it in, if you hear any kind of click it is not attached correctly.

 

No difference for me.

 

Thanks for all of your replies. I obviously have a noisy key. Meaker - I tried massaging the key in like you said but heard no click.

I took of a video of it - doesn't sound normal does it?

 

My left hinge has now started to creak momentarily every time I shut the lid. I am assuming this is hardly normal.

 

I would love to see a thorough review of the Broadwell version of the ux303ln. I hoping the notebookcheck get on it soon

 

You definitely have a noisy key !

 

Does it feel odd too? Could be an issue with the mechanism itself and may work ok but just generate the noise. It's not normal for the system though.

 

It really doesn't feel much different from the other keys. It's just noisy. I asked the store I bought it from if they can exchange the unit but they said for such a minor fault Asus will most likely change the keyboard. Do you think it's worth getting it done?

 

Yeah its pretty annoying. And does your hinge creak or make any noise when you move the lid?

 

You spent a pretty large sum of money on this laptop and expect to avoid these issues at least for the first 6-9 months. If it is not much of a hassle with both the keyboard and hinge will the place you purchased it from simple swap it for another and they can send it back and get it fixed.

 

Not at all. Did you remove the lid once ?
Perhaps it's not perfectly fixed again, that might have happened.

The only thing I noticed that is not expected is the keys around ERDF a little little bit higher than the other ones. Also, the right click on the touchpad is little bit lower than the left click (so I have less key travel if I may say).

 

Hi. I've noticed that the left hinge of my UX303LN seems to be misaligned after 5 months of use.. is this normal? whenever I close the lid, the screen does not perfectly fit the base and is a bit mis aligned. I have to push the hinge on the left a bit to have it aligned but it goes off again whenever i open my laptop. anyone knows how to address this? do i have to worry that the hinge is breaking off?

 

Unfortunately, in my country that is not on option. Once the unit is unpackaged the store finds it very difficult to sell and suppliers also do not take it back.

 

I think I will still try and push for a replacement due to these two problems. Like Ishman said, I want to avoid these problems for at least 6-9 months.

 

I did it for a year or so on a full size keyboard, and it wasn't that bad. i don't look at the keyboard while typing, so it's less of an issue. i had a boss that would always type over my shoulder. the german keyboard threw him for a loop and he stopped. side benefit.

i just can't understand how many versions of this machine they make...and WHY they release the versions they do where they do. Would Americans not want a great gaming ultrabook w/ a nice 1080 screen?

 

the screen shows the yellow much better, do you mind share what have you done? sent to the asus repair center?

 

I ran into a problem with my UX303LN now. It ran out of battery, and everything went black. It didn't do a proper shutdown.

Nothing I do can make it boot again:

* plugging it in
* charging the battery
* unplugging the battery, trying on A/C only
* replugging the battery, trying on battery only
* charging the battery some more, trying on A/C and battery

The light on the power-button comes on, and the charging light when it's on A/C.
But nothing else.

Anyone have any idea what else I can do to make it start?

 

Have you tried holding the power button down for 30 seconds or a minute.

 

Yep, for most or all of those tries. Is there something that should happen after 30 seconds/1 minute?

 

Clears the CMOS.

Does it look like the machine is booting up but just has a black screen?

 

No, no fans come on and no screen light comes on. The only thing that happens is the power key LED on button push (so there's power somewhere) and the A/C charging light when charging. I've tried removing the memory and the disk to see if it makes any difference (and to backup the disk). Some memory is soldered on though.

 

read this post it might help

http://forum.notebookreview.com/thr...03-nvidia-gt-840m.746873/page-99#post-9924555

 

That did it! Thank you very much. I had done everything but unplugging the BIOS battery.
So: removing both batteries and A/C power, power button for a minute (to be sure), and then plugging everything back in...

 

Yes that should cause the cmos to reset.

 

So I'm not the only one to have encountered this problem : )

 

Nope. A vague guess is that it has something to do with FastBoot gone wrong, windows writes something in the CMOS that turns out to be wrong and then it can't boot with those parameter?

The tricky bits was to find the right screwdriver and to figure out how to pull out the battery connector without destroying it (push up carefully on the end of the cables). And obviously, thinking of and finding the CMOS battery.

 

Hi! I've been following this thread for a while, since I'm thinking about purchasing one Asus UX303LN (the QHD "yellow problem" problems, the only available here). I only have two questions:

- have anyone connected this laptop to an external 4K monitor and worked a bit in dual monitor (just general browsing/office work). Is this UX303 up to the task? I'm asking this because a monitor will come along with the laptop, and I wanted to know if 4K or QHD is worth it.

- my unit will be mainly used for programming (so I'll use software like Eclipse, Visual Studion, Netbeans, MySQl workbench, so on). I heard there are issues with some of them handling high resolutions. Did anyone notice problems? If yes, how did you solve it?

 

I wouldn't recommend the 4k for programming. :/ And the yellow is really irritating. I had one for about three days before giving it back for a FHD.

Problem is Windows versus applications. Windows will do a soft scale up or pixels, which means instead of a nice sharp QHD display a lot of programs (like emacs) will look like blurry crap. I haven't tried with eclipse or IAR Workbench, so I don't know how those are. You might have to ask someone that tried to run them on a scaled Windows. The problem gets less if you scale exactly 200%, but it will still be blurry in a lot of software.

It seems the problem is greatest in programs that use old windows libraries, but a lot of developer tools do just that...

 

But if the screen is large enough I don't need to scale it, right? In the laptop screen I can always reduce the resolution if there are major issues, so that doesn't worry me (and yes, I would prefer the FHD version, but it's not available here). That's why I wanted to know if this laptop can handle an external 4k/QHD monitor fine.

About the yellows, did you apply the patch?

 

Back to the yellow issue.
i have found this Singaporean forum, where some reseller claims that the panel yellow issue can be fixed completely and that not all ASUS UX303lns have the problem
http://forums.hardwarezone.com.sg/g...enbook-ux303ln-discussion-thread-4833422.html

Does anyone have 303ln with a perfect QHD panel?
Also, guys i insist on bombarding ASUS with angry complaints, it has been almost a year since the announce of the laptop, however the problem has not been solved.

 

Sorry, but IMO that particular Singaporean reseller doesn't know what he's talking about.

 

my QHD screen has been replaced twice once for warranty issues, and once due to my toddler cracking the screen, (including my original panel that makes 3) most recently a few weeks ago. IMO there is no way the yellows can be fixed completely and the SG dealer has no idea what he's talking about

 

IMHO, it's just someone that wants to sell laptops. That's just it.

@Mayank22, what did you do to get this results? Did you apply tomdot/xawen's color profiles? Seems pretty good!!

 

there have been many reports from about a hinge issue for this model on amazon.
has anyone had similar issues?
http://www.amazon.com/Zenbook-UX303...iewpoints=0&sortBy=bySubmissionDateDescending

 

Hey guys,

I use this notebook for school and personal.

I use it every day few hours on school, and then go back to my room and do homework on it.

My question: when I use it at my room, is it better to plug it in on the AC or use on battery?

If I use it on battery I should not charge it above 80%, and not below 10% right?