Asus UX302

I'm now having buyer's regret.....It's a fine laptop, but I'm seriously looking at the new MacBook Pro 13. Their new prices are really tempting, especially with my $100 student discount. I still have a week to return the UX302 to Best Buy. What to do....argggh...

 

i am also leaning towards the mbp now as well..

 

But playing music along side browsing, will hit the battery life..

 

Can you still return after you have opened the laptop and replaced parts ? Wouldn't they know the laptop was opened even if you replace it with original parts again?

In the new MBP Ram is soldered with no upgrade option, 256gb SSD is PCIe so upgrading that is also doubtful. this config is $1499.So thats what putting me off on selecting MBP or any other ultrabook.

For me self upgrade-ability is must for any laptop i select. But i just dont want to compromise on battery life as well, but i have to on this laptop.

BTW why do you have a buyers remorse for this one?

 

There's really nothing to indicate that the laptop was opened. The only "void if removed/opened" sticker I see is on the CPU heatsink. I doubt Best Buy would be that thorough in the return process anyway.

You're right though that being upgradable is a very compelling feature and the UX302 is one of the only Ultrabooks out there that makes it easy. That's why it's a tough decision. I've always been a PC user, but the MacBooks just look really good right now. You get a faster CPU and Iris graphics, a great higher resolution display, solid build quality, and better battery life. And, of course, you can dualboot Windows. I think these advantages are worth the price premium and the lack of upgradability.

 

Macbooks are always tempting, but non-upgradeable means either you need to keep buying apple care pack or after warranty repairs are expensive like hell, like if something goes wrong with RAM or SSD you need to replace whole motherboard and apple parts are always over priced.

Plus that better battery life is under MacOS the moment we boot to windows it will be the same as UX302.

So for me, i would still stay with UX302 compared to MBP, If something else with same upgrade-ability and better battery life comes in, i might switch to it from UX302. But not to MBP for sure until someone does a teardown and finds upgradeable slots.

 

Definitely not true. The UX302 has a 50Whr battery while the 13" rMBP has 72Whr. While yes, Mac OS does give better battery, you'd still get ~40% more battery life from a 13" rMBP in Windows than you would from a UX302. If they would just put a damn dGPU on the 13" rMBP it would be the most perfect portable gaming system, IMO. HD5100 is just too week for doing any kind of gaming above minimal settings.

 

I think it would also depend on the fact if you want a touch screen. If the MBP came with a touch screen I would definitely consider it more.

 

No buyer regrets here. Mac isn't an option for me both for work reasons and distaste for the apple controlled ecosystem. There's prob no perfect system but this one's working great for now esp compared to what it replaced, a U45JC that was great for a long time but way behind the times now.

one thing I've found re UX302 is that *practical* battery life is a lot longer. i'm up and down a lot and because the unit is so quick to wake up compared to last one, I drop the lid and sleep it when I go away. Working in the normal way it lasts me two days w/o charging. Hard to say what real battery life is though in continuous use.

Wish it had an "end" key. instead of function-> though. and some other small stuff.

 

2 days without charging is good with light use. I normally use 3-4hours at a stretch, so even if it lasts 8-9hours its good for me. Can you check how much does the battery lasts on continuous usage?

 

Are there any sources besides Best Buy yet?

They only seem to have the UX302LA without the Nvidia GPU at the moment.

Looking for the UX302LG...


As for Macbooks: they look nice, but are internally built in such an asinine way, I'd never buy something that was set up to have the cooling fan permanently running at max speed if you install another heard drive. I also intensely dislike having a glossy mirror for a display, especially if its not even justifiable as a sacrifice to get touch functionality.

 

Assuming you're in the US, don't hold your breath:

 

Thanks Aegrum for the summary!

That's poor news, even though I'm not limited to buying one in the U.S.
Canada wouldn't exactly be on my way, but I'd have to find out if ASUS gives international Warranty.
Australia seems to be largely out of Stock, after apparently being the first Country to get any.

And I'd hate to buy it in Europe, cause they're getting so-called "International English" keyboards, which are stuffed with extra keys for various other languages, reducing the size of shift keys and enter keys to the point where it impinges on my typing speeds. Nothing like trying to press the left shift key in its 'usual' position, only to find that you just put a vertical bar in your text and a small letter instead of a capitalized one... Worst thing on this "international English" keyboard Logitech sent me as a replacement for a broken U.S. English one is, that space is taken up by outright duplicate keys!

IDK what's keeping ASUS! This crap was announced in June. Sony has been selling Haswell Notebooks like donuts right after their announcement; arguably with the more sensible engineering goals of light weight over extraneous glass panes, though they fumbled on a noisy cooling system and keyboard flex, not to mention a total lack of any dGPU. Samsung has been missing in action for ages too, now you can get a Haswell based Series 9, but still no Series 8, which would be Samsung's equivalent to Asus' UX302LG...

Lenovo is bringing a unit with a GT730m, but I looked up the weight on their site! Its not even close...

Leaves us with what, Acer's new S3?

I sometimes think its no wonder they're selling so few PCs, they're spending all their money on weird hinges and clunky, heavy hybrids nobody wants. But a very lightweight machine people can casually game on is being omitted. Even though gamers are the most likely to actually need an upgrade! An office user hasn't 'needed' an upgrade for 5 years, save for breaking their old unit or the battery dying etc.

 

Anyone used to a US-style English keyboard, be aware that Asus in Canada uses "bilingual" keyboards with French accents. This may not seem like a big deal, but it does have an adjusted key layout.

1) The left shift has a new key between it and "Z" (greatly reducing its size)
2) The enter key is the vertical inverse L-style with the "\" key normally above it moved to the right of the apostrophe key, while the normal "\" key is removed and the enter key stretches vertically into its former space.

As a Canadian who hates this layout, I'm often forced to order my notebooks from the US to get the layout I'm used to.

 

@ Sunfox

Thanks for the precise description of the offensive key layout! This pretty much matches the European keyboard atrocities.

I guess Canada is out as a potential UX302LG source for me. Curse the integration of keyboards into the chassis, preventing customers from swapping keyboards!

The Japanese have better English keyboards than this!!

 

Hmz, iris CPUs will also mean the new ones can't have dedicated graphics.

 

they're probably referring to the UX301LA i7

 

The UX301LA is only available with an Intel HD-4400 or IRIS.
The UX302LA is only available with an Intel HD-4400.
The UX302LG is available as follows:

Zenbook UX302LG-C4002H - 1200 euro - Intel Core i5-4200U, Nvidia 730M, 500 GB HDD + 16 GB SSD, 4 GB RAM;
Zenbook UX302LG-C4008H - 1250 euro – Intel Core i5-4200U, Nvidia 730M, 750 GB HDD + 16 GB SSD, 8 GB RAM;
Zenbook UX302LG-C4028H - 1400 euro - Intel Core i5-4200U, Nvidia 730M, 256 GB SSD, 8 GB RAM;
Zenbook UX302LG-C4007H - 1350 euro – Intel Core i7-4500U, Nvidia 730M, 750 GB HDD + 16 GB SSD, 8 GB RAM;
Zenbook UX302LG-C4014P - 1550 euro - Intel Core i7-4500U, Nvidia 730M, 256 GB SSD, 8 GB RAM, Windows 8 Pro;

 

so does anyone know the release date for Canada?

 

Hi. I found something here:
ASUS Zenbook Infinity | Skinflint Price Comparison EU

 

Does the laptop get hot enough to be uncomfortable on the lap under moderate to heavy usage?

 

got two of these (in series) from best buy and returned them both since the cut out plate that goes between the keys would pucker up and never stick down. Key board also felt pretty flexy even on the display that didn't have the pucker problem. Other than that, I liked the machine just fine - good looking, quiet, seemed to run pretty cool and battery was pretty good on the full cycle I got. Don't want to drop $1K for a machine with questionable build quality. YMMV.
Never did get to test linux to see how it would do .
Still on the hunt for a haswell ultrabook...

 

keyboard flexy on the display? waht do you mean by that?

 

sorry, the keyboard on the display model that was out in the store to test drive also felt flexy to me (when I typed, the whole keyboard flexed in and out) compared to other lenovo/sony ultrabook-ish computers. the display model did not have the issue with the filler-plate thingy being unglued/bowed up that the ones that I brought home had.

 

I wonder if some imaginative tape placement could help that. Do you remember what the keyboard on the display model felt like compared to the one you received?

 

I think you may have looked at a different model. There is no cut out plate that surrounds the keys on the UX302LA (I'm using mine to type this post). The whole top deck is a single piece of metal that has holes cut out for the keys. Keyboard is rock solid as I'm typing now.

Re battery life, I've been using mine for about 2 hours now for email, word docs, etc, on about 50% brightness and the battery clock says "6hr 52min 67% remaining." Someone better at "rithmuhtick" will have to calculate the full run time based on that.

 

that means on full charge according to that usage you will have ~11 hours on a full charge

 

Shows how unreliable the remaining time estimate is. The percentage is pretty accurate though. 67% after 2 hours would mean a 6 hour battery life on that workload, which is around what I was getting.

Not at all.

 

The estimate takes a snapshot of current usage so yeah it will vary a lot, if you have the screen off for a period of time and turn it on you can get some silly estimates.

 

somebody more adventurous than i am might be able to fix/mod it. the bowed piece (which is part of the entire top deck as the next poster acurately points out) would stick down temporarily if i pushed it hard (there was tape/adhesive there) but then pop back up after a few minutes.
the keyboard was ok - i thought the key placement and travel was good for such a small/light computer, but as I typed, the key board would flex down and up (as i pressed and released keys) - especially in the center.
YMMV and maybe i'm a hard typer, i currently use a lenovo t420s (real keys) and have an old macbook pro (chicklets) that i'm ok using and they don't seem to flex as much. also, when i wandered around the store typing on other ultrabook keyboards, they didn't flex like the the asus.
i tried to like this thing, i just couldn't get around my keyboard issue/perception...

 

it was the same model, you are accurately describing the top deck as all one piece. it was the part of the top deck that goes between the chicklet keys that was bowed. should have taken pictures but didn't.

 

so this is a better deal than the new macbookpro retina 13inch with 2.4ghz, 16gb ram, 256 ssd?

I just bought a rMBP on Friday with 8GB ram (mid-model @ 1399) and I'm going to return it because there wasn't enough ram. I stumbled upon this Asus laptop and it seems like a sweet deal. Is this a better return for a laptop I plan to have for about 4-5 years?


is the highest end the UX301LA? I saw it on B&H, and I'm thinking about buying it. I don't know whether to buy the cheapest version and upgrade from there or just buy the model that's already outfitted with the best specs.

 

8GB not enough? The UX301 has 8GB max and is not upgradable.

 

Are u sure u tested the UX302 and not the UX32 maybe? Cause all reviews are saying that it has very little flex compared to other ultrabooks and zenbooks... and it's weird that since it's a whole aluminium sheet only one part is bowed....

I think that maybe the UX302LA is an option for you, it has a very similar design but you can upgrade the RAM and the SSD, take a look at the review ppl posted on the first page and the pictures that GTRagnarok a few pages back. And that's exactly my doubt... I'm still unsure if i get the UX302LA or the rMBP 13....

Until now i'm waiting for the UX302LG (comes with a GT 730M) that will arrive in Canada.

 

I had the UX302, and the aluminum bowed around the D and F keys, so much so that I returned the first one. The second one had only slight bowing around the backspace key. I eventually returned it as well. I'm trying to decide of I should try a 3rd time or go for something different.

 

this is a tough toss up between the UX302LG and the MacBook pro 13 inch. with tax the macbook model i plan to get is $1705 with 256 SSD, 16GB Ram, and 2.4 gHz.

but I feel like the graphics capabilities of the UX302LA and strength of all the applications on Windows makes it a sweeter deal, and that you can upgrade the RAM and the SSD...but I'm not really sure of any indication of what the price would be. $2000 and up is out of my range

 

Hello! First post here.

For New Zealand there's only the UX302LG with a 750GB HDD + 16GB mSATA SSD which comes with Windows 8 Pro (64 Bit) at the link here:
13.3" Asus Zenbook Infinity UX302LG i7 Laptop | at Mighty Ape NZ

I'm new to this, so can someone tell me how the 16GB mSATA SSD holds the OS? Because on the Microsoft website says you need 20GB of space on your hard drive here: System requirements - Microsoft Windows

I've been told using the HDD rather than a SSD gives lower battery life. Is this true?

 

^^I didn't start the two hours with a full charge. I wonder if the difference in battery life in our units is down to the 10GB RAM in yours? Mine's the stock 4GB.

After two hours of steady use, I figured the battery estimation would be pretty accurate as to time remaining because it does jump around a lot based on varied use. That said, I doubt that the unit is getting 11 hours of constant use even on a full charge. But it seems to be getting a good 7 or 8 or maybe a bit more. It's good enough improvement over gen 3 processors that the long wait feels worth it.

Overall I continue to be very happy (and much happier than with the UX31LA that I bought and returned). But just so it doesn't sound like a reflexive defense of the one I spent money on, here are some gripes:

--Skydrive won't stop syncing certain files.
--Would like something that indicates at a glance if I'm on auto screen brightness or not, and brightness doesn't seem totally consistent
--Annoying not to have dedicated keys for end, page up, home, etc. Although I did just discover that the Windows key not only takes you to the Metro screen but also takes you back to desktop from Metro.
--Delete button next to sleep/on switch is annoying.
--Pressure required to click mouse pad is higher at the top than bottom and it can't be clicked at all at the very top (it's obviously hinged somehow at the top).
--Don't like seeing the keyboard lights shine from under the keys when using in dim light.
--Plugging in headphones while in the Metro home screen will result in them not working until you realize that there is a pop-up audio menu that only comes up in the Desktop view and disable it.

A number of these are software issues, of course.

 

And here's one more...

While ugrading from HDD to SSD had the desired effect of speed and no moving parts, it wasn't seamless when imaging the HDD onto the SSD using the Samsung migration software (which in my experience was the easiest / only way). You lose the recovery partition and any ability to use the W8 restore functions as far as I can tell. I'm curious about a report of W8.1 recovery disks being sold for 15 bucks at New Egg starting on the 15th. Will def buy one of those.

Finally, a recommendation: http://amzn.com/B004PHVQN4 for cleaning your screen and fancy glass lid.

 

any indication of prices for UX302LG? or where/when it'll be released (sorry if repeat question). ive looked everywhere online and it seems to be out in europe and australia.

 

Read above. No US release this quarter, b/c Asus are terrorists and hate freedom. Only NA release is Canada, but no indication on timing. Pricing likely to be $1200-$1600USD.

 

I believe I've already posted about this couple of pages back..

 

I'm about to pull the trigger on the UX302LA.

Few questions,
Is the RAM upgradeable?
Does it have a smart cache alongside the slow HDD?
How is real battery life? How about just typing on Word with WiFi on?
How durable is it?
Does it have flex?
Is the bottom aluminum cover and top glass lid too flexbile/bendy? Do they feel like they're going to break>
Does it overheat?

Thanks!

 

I've seen this computer twice on display at bestbuy. It's got upgradeable ram, to 8gb I believe. I have no idea on performance itself as I've never tested it. I can comment on build quality though. The chassis itself is pretty good. Not like, unibody level but close. There isn't any real flex I could discern, but there is some flex associated with the keyboard. It's not nearly as bad as the last generation of course, the ux32vd, that was pretty bad. The keyboard itself and the surrounding metal around the keys does depress somewhat none the less. The weight is good, and so is thickness. The screen is a bit flexy however, compared to the ux31 and macbooks. The glass probably helps a bit but doesn't solve the issue. Overall I would put this as a good build, with great being the macbooks and ux31 style devices. I've never seen a perfect build, the closest I've seen is the macbooks but I don't like their keyboards as much as lenovo's. For 999, it's not a bad deal. If you can get education pricing, I would consider the asus ux31la from the microsoft store for $1080. It's everything the ux302la is, but with vastly better build quality. Keep in mind I've had some issues with the computers sleep cycle, which I've avoided by sending it to hibernation mode on lid close. Otherwise it's pretty good in all senses.

 

1. RAM is upgradeable to 8GB total, there is 1 slot available.
Memory required: DDR3L-1333/1600; LPDDR3-1333/1600
2. Only 1x 2.5" SATA bay, can be upgraded to a SSD instead, plus an additional mSATA half size slot.
3. Battery life averages to about 4 to 5 hours, depends on system settings and environmental settings.
4. It feels pretty solid, and sturdy.
5. Not much flex.
6. Aluminum body and bottom are solid, and not flexible/bendy. Feels thick enough, however it can have dent if impacted with an object or dropped to the ground.
7. It's low voltage, so the temperature feels slightly warm.

 

Hey guys,

I just talked to Asus, they said the ux302LG would be launching December 9, 2013 in Canada, no news about USA though. Here's to hoping they actually release it on time!

https://twitter.com/ASUSUSA/status/401408298861490177

 

Also launched on December 9, in France

 

Anyone else have backlight bleed in the bottom and the screen that won't close properly? Purchased from Best Buy today, but not happy with the backlight bleed and the screen not closing right.

 

I had similar backlight bleeding, but that lid is definitely not normal. You should return it.

 

Can you guys suggest any website to buy and ship the UX302LG from Canada? The only canandian online store that i know is NCIX.ca