Asus UX31 Ultrabook

Thanks. Would you be willing to make a youtube video of this?

Btw, by "shake" I meant holding on to the corners of the palm rest and rocking the device back and forth. The degree of the lid/screen on my UX21 gradually increases with slight rocking. I can rock my x220 with much more force and the lid/screen doesn't budge at all.

 

On your lap you'll be at the maximum opening anyway in most cases (it's not a 180° ThinkPad like opening).
But if you mean crashed on a couch-bed, it all depends to how much you shake I guess!

 

OK, for all of you that have been requesting this and sending me PM's about it, here (finally) is my video review / impressions of Win7 on my new 2011 Macbook Air i7.
First know that the video got cut off abruptly for some reason about 2 minutes from the end. However, all that is missing is showing me connecting my Dell external monitor (U2711) to the Thunderbolt (DisplayPort) jack, and running the monitor at the gorgeous native resolution of 2560x1440.
The screen looks a little grainy in the video for some reason, so I went ahead and took a till shot of it for you to review, to get a more accurate view of what it looks like. It is crisp, sharp, and bright:
http://www.creativedatatech.com/downloads/ScreenShot.jpg

When you pull up the video link below, be sure to select the HD version of the video, and view it in full screen mode. After all, it did take me FOREVER to upload it (6+ hours!).
Macbook Air 13 (2011) running Windows 7 64-bit - YouTube

What I was also about to say in the video before it was cut off is that the sound is pretty good at low and medium volumes, but when you try to turn it up more it just sounds tinny and shallow (not a lot of bass there), as to be expected with a laptop of this size, I guess.
If you have any specific tests you want me to run, I'm open to doing that.

 

Can someone who already has the UX31 post the Windows 7 WEI (Windows Experience Index) for each category? (Preferably for the core i5 one)

 

Processor: 6.8
Memory 5.9
Graphics 5.7
Gaming graphics 6.2
Primary hard disk 7.9

 

Wow that was surprisingly higher than I thought (especially for the primary hard disk)! Your WEI is for the "ASUS UX31E-DH52," right?

 

Thanks for doing this. That was a really good video review.
You seem pretty happy with the machine. Have you found any negatives yet?

 

Bestbuy "UX31-RSL8" = UX31E-DH52.

 

Thank you. I'm sold.

Now gotta wait til Amazon/Newegg get more of these in stock.

 

I shouldve purchased it from Amazon. When I placed the order from Best Buy I thought the 1 yr accidental warranty was honor from Best Buy but the day my UX31 came I found out it wasnt......

 

To note it depends on what version you get, the 256gb uses a sandisk hard drive, the 120gb uses an ADATA/sandforce. I have not benched it but if I were to guess the 256gb version is worse :/

 

I believe the Sandisk performs slightly better in this test for the same size ssd:

AnandTech - ASUS Zenbook (UX21) Review

 

Just confirming that ASUS Live Update utility is not to be trusted and is complete garbage that you can uninstall.

Here's the download link on their website: ASUSTeK Computer Inc. -Support- Drivers and Download

Also good stuff to read for new ASUS machines:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/asus/380681-asus-utility-bloatware-guide.html

http://forum.notebookreview.com/asus/174395-bios-update-guide-asus-notebooks.html

 

Nope, so far so good. However, it is early on yet, as I've only had it working for 2 days now. I'm going to keep a close eye on the battery life.
I'm actually surprised more than anything. The way some others were talking here on this forum about how horrible the Bootcamp drivers were, and possibly needing to look for 3rd party or open source drivers. I haven't found a single problem with any of the drivers yet that I can complain about. Maybe Apple finally got around to fixing the Win7 driver bugs.

 

Here are my scores for the i7 1.8GHz version of the MacBook Air.
Just a tad better across the board, as expected, but my SSD seems to be slower than yours...

 

For comparison, here are WEI numbers from my i7 model UX31E-DH72:
Proc: 6.9
Mem (RAM): 5.9
Graphics: 5.6
Gaming Graphics: 6.1
HDD X-fer rate: 5.9

This goes one step toward confirming (at least to me) some of the speculation of the larger drive actually being inferior. Obviously there is a lot more "field testing" to be done for me to really assess this. I suppose the comparison isn't as important as the satisfaction level you have with the model you've purchased.

UX31 - Extremely stable hinge so far. Zero play in the hinge itself, and a good amount of force is required to move it at all.

Hey nox... I only saw specific touchpad updates for the two different touchpad models. Not knowing off hand which I have on the UX31, I've tried both with no success (mouse settings don't have the advanced touch settings). So for me, still disappointing until I fix it. No scrolling, and none of the multitouch functions... I suppose the jumping cursor without even contacting the pad is something that the update or tweaking sensitivity will help with. -Glad yours is working nicely, gives me hope.

 

Well, folks, I've unfortunately decided to return the laptop. The touchpad I was willing to wait for, but the keyboard is just too difficult to type with for me. All those little things just added up to one big thing, and not something I wanted to have to "live with" for however many years I keep this.

Too bad, too, as I got the $1099 model for $80 off through an amazon preorder. Almost would have sold it to one of you fine people, and made a bit of a profit as well as given you a discount. But amazon said they would take it back for a full refund. That's nice of them.

 

What will you get instead? Toshiba?

 

I need to report that after flashing the BIOS to version 206, the ASUS update utility finally pulled down the touchpoint update, allowing the installation of the Sentila drivers available from the MFRs website. Between the BIOS update and installing the touchpad's software, all keyboard issues seem to be corrected. No more cursor jumping to another area while typing, and surprisingly, the reduced travel of the chicklet keys is no longer an issue. As a touch typist with a habit of resting the heels of my hand on the device, I thought one of these 3 issues would be.. well... an issue. Alas, none of them are. I'm really pleased with this machine's layout, feel, ability to type quickly (prior to this update, I wouldn't even have wanted to type this reply on the keyboard), and (now) touchpad functionality and additional features. Finally, I now know I'm in love with this machine. --Mak... sorry to hear you've returned it. I too am curious what your replacement will be.

 

Thanks for sharing this review. I wonder if they will do the 13" model review. Curious to see how the display plays out on the larger screen. I've never been spoiled with crazy high quality screen before, nor have I ever been spoiled with a lighted keyboard.

 

Any of you experience an issues similar to this?: MBA 11" Floppy Hinge - YouTube

 

I would just like to know how well the ux31 performs for 3D drawing softwares and also autocad? Really interested in getting the ux31 if it can handle moderate use of those softwares with the i5 setup

 

It should perform as well as any other laptop with the Intel HD 3000. When gaming, my UX21 gets similar frame rates to my x220 (same graphics card).

 

I'm sad about it too... I really really wanted to like the Asus. I've been watching news about it for months now.

The Toshiba is the next logical candidate. I'm looking at some reviews of the predecessor to the Toshiba, the R830, and it looks like in general, people are happy with build quality. Looks like the keyboard and touchpads are a bit more mature, although the screen is apparently not particularly bright (although it can be matte). I like the fact it has all the ports build in, (no dongles needed), and it'll be a bit lighter and longer battery life. It has a backlit keyboard, too, although I didn't care about that much. And possibly 3 yr warranty. But this time, I'll probably try before I buy.

 

There's a champagne version of this laptop?
Notebooks

 

Odd, this was the first thing I did and experienced no improvement at all in the keyboard, and only marginal in the touchpad.
I can't live with the keyboard either, it's awful. I'd also be surprised if a software update could change the keyboard pressure required?

 

Yeah, I'm thinking that no update would be able to fix that. I only found the usability to skyrocket once the touchpad issues I experienced were taken care of. That allowed me to no longer have to hover my hands awkwardly above the kb. Now, without the false touches on the pad, the typing seems quite normal, except for the occasional non-registered key hits, which I'm going to chalk up to a learning curve for typing with a little more authority. I have to admit, all the touch screens in my life have spoiled me by registering a keystroke with just a glancing blow.

 

Is b&H a reliable place to order and ship to canada? It seem to be the only place that has the ux31 in stock and that can ship to canada.

 

Actually, there is one stinging regret that I have going with the MacBook Air. I regret not having the 1600x900 screen real-estate (the MBA only has 1400x900). However, I would not want to jump to the higher resolution if it comes at the cost of the display not having great contrast, or having very narrow viewing angles as some have reported with the UX31.

 

I have to agree. When I started looking at laptops about a year ago, the many reliability reports pointed to ASUS, Lenovo and Toshiba as being the winners (And that still is the case). Apple has high customer satisfaction, but unfortunately has high failure rates (Shows how much perception and advertising counts more than reality). I originally was really excited about the Lenovo X220 because of the high end processors, small size, matte screen, easily upgradeable components, fantastic keyboard, and Linux compatibility. But you have to understand that I grew up with "IBM" thinkpads in the corporate world as super reliable laptops, not Lenovo's current crummy "Chinese Home Depot" versions these laptops. The forums massive complaints of this laptop are nothing short of disturbing. So I got excited about the Toshiba R830, then saw many complaints about heat problems with that laptop. So, I got really excited again about the ASUS UX31. But the problems are starting to show up again. So now I am looking at the Toshiba Z830. Honestly, as much as a light/portable/ultraportable/supermegapoopaportable laptop with a powerful processor would be ideal to me, I am starting to give up hope.

 

Awesome!! What adapter are you using for this?

 

is this in stock anywhere?

 

So your keyboard is actually working well now after the Bios update?

I expected it to be a mechanical issue, so very surprised to hear that a Bios upgrade made it better...

Perhaps there is still hope for this machine!

 

What to do, what to do? Buy this one? Or wait for the Lenovo U300s? The ASUS has a great screen resolution and a fairly good price 8500 DDK ($1.575 – not too bad in Denmark). The U300s looks great (even better than the UX31 – I think), it has a "crappy" screen resolution and the price is still unknown (but if I know Lenovo right it will be more than the UX31). I really like Lenovo computers and especially their keyboards, but can I live with the 1366x768 resolution. What to do, oh what to do.

 

No adapter required. Just a plain old DisplayPort cable (mini-DisplayPort male to DisplayPort male connectors).

 

Does audio pass through that port also?

 

Interesting question. I just use the dedicated audio jack for the audio. I suspect that the port does include the audio signal, but you would probably need a true "Thunderbolt" device and cable to get the audio to work.

 

The DisplayPort spec does provision for audio pass through but there are 2 questions - 1, does the Mini DP/Thunderbolt port pass audio via DP or does it go over a PCI-E channel? and 2, do the Dell Monitors (U2711 and U3011 specifically) pass the audio from DP to the trio of 3.5mm audio out jacks?

If you get a chance could you test it out?

 

Wow, I had no idea that my U2711 monitor even had speakers, much less audio out jacks. I'll go home and disconnect my external speakers from the audio out jack on my MBA and see if it will play sound through the U2711 monitor and get back with you.

 

Can we get Apple product discussion in the correct sub-forum, and/or subsequent questions taken to PM's please? Comparing two competing products is one thing, but having subscribed to this thread and getting notifications for wildly off-topic discussion is becoming rather unfortunate.

Thanks.

 

You're right. Point taken.
Here is the new thread that I've just started up for anyone wanting to discuss the Pros & Cons of running Windows 7 on a MBA....
http://forum.notebookreview.com/apple-mac-os-x/619858-pros-cons-running-windows-7-macbook-air-2011-a.html#post8016710

 

if you are referring to the MBA - surely this is the most relevant comparison? as this is without doubt the market leader. how else to determine the pros and cons of the asus ux series? correct me if i am wrong.

also thunderbolt connectivity to peripherals is also relevant imho


edit = of course if you refer to the win7 thread, apologies.

 

I'm pretty sure he was talking about Win7 on MBA. A couple of post tlaks only about windows 7 on MBA on this thread. Which is off topic.

 

No worries, people do get excited about these things.



I have a test system (middle signature trim) arriving mid-week for a business evaluation. Any reasonable request for info? I know I'll be running a few latency tests as I'll be working with audio if it passes.

 

Seems like availability on the UX31 is really limited right now. Amazon went fairly quickly from 1-2 weeks estimated shipping to 2-4 weeks to "out of stock", and all the other vendors seem about the same. I placed an order with Amazon at the 2-4 week point, and they show estimated delivery as November 9th-16th.

 

Does somebody could point the maximum resolution supported by the video board? Manly for bigger screens and projectors.
Sorry if it was previously answered but this is going way too big to search back and dunno why the search tool doesnt work at all.

 

When I get home I could try hooking this up to my "60 plasma which is native 1080P.

 

what complaints are there on the X220?

 

Some of the new units shipped with bad fans, since they were produced in a factory in Japan that flooded and the new supplier is having a higher defect rate.

The same new units are also coming with new revision screens which have apparently fixed some ghosting and backlight bleed problems.

There were complaints on the i7 machines of throttling, which was addressed two BIOS revisions ago.

The fan thresholds causing frequent whining has been a complaint, but those were also addressed in a recent BIOS revision. These are manually controllable anyway.

Also, there are some complaints about the screen bezel being bulged in the center on some brand new units.

I have a spanking new X220 and it has no problems whatsoever. It's the nicest laptop I've ever owned (you can see my profile for my list of previous machines).

 

Quick question re: UX31 laptops, given their size-

do they have 1 or 2 SO-DIMM sockets onboard? I see the standard models come with 4Gb RAM, I would like to know if this would be upgradeable to 8Gb without scrapping the existing memory..