Asus UX31 Ultrabook

Does someone else have problem with the WIFI led?

I have the driver version 9.2.1.459, WIFI is on and working but the F2 led is not on.

 

Looking at the passmark charts the 2557M has a sample size of 11 and the 2677M has a sample size of 12...in comparison other cpus on passmark have more then 10x more sample size.

Personally I ended up listening to notebook check benchmarks. Why? een though there its based on their internal testing with no sample size, notebookcheck's benchmark if you look carefully is based on the zenbook.

I mean the i7 gives you 1mb extra L3 cache and 100mhz - 200mhz over the i5 so 10% difference seems about right.

 

I just checked and the led does not light up when the wifi is on. I then went ahead and turn it off and then back on (using F2 button) and now it light up.

 

Yes it's working when I do this also but somehow it will eventually go off even if the WIFI is still on. Maybe after a sleep (with Instant On).

 

For any guys out in the Far East (Hong Kong?) :
Does anyone happen to know what the keyboard layout is for the Far East version os the UX-31?
Does is have Chinese characters as well as UK letters on the keyboard or can you specifiy out there just a UK layout?


Cheers!

 

I just returned my ux31 256GB i5 because of the wifi problems ... I will give it another try, but im not sure wich version i should pick. I dont want the sentelic touchpad (just tested it in a local store). My version had a elantech touchpad wich was actually quite good. 2 Models (i5 + 128GB) in this store had the sentelic touchpad.

Is it random which touchpad is build in?


Would be nice if some people could name:
-region ("europe" or "america")
-model (i5/i7 | 128GB/256GB)
-touchpad (Elantech / Sentelic)

You will find it in control panel under "mouse"
I think we will all profit and get clearness out of this...

To begin:

-Europe
-i5 256GB
-Elantech

 

i cant bring myself to buy the UX21 at my local store either. Does it have all the same points as the UX31? poor touchpad and wifi?

 

America, UX31 i5 128GB, Sentelic

 

Is anyone else still completely unsatisfied with the TRACKPAD even after updating the driver and BIOS?

I love everything about the laptop but as mentioned in my previous posting, the trackpad is still inconsistent/jumpy to the point of me not wanting to use the laptop at all.

This is very frustrating and I'm wondering what (if anything) Asus is doing to further address this. Trackpads were perfected about 8-10 years ago so its astounds me that they can't get the basics right.

 

I have the Sentellic and everything is working absolutely fine.

 

I have the SENTELIC/MEPGRUDTE989M0 model, with the upgraded driver (Version V9.1.7.7) and the performance is still really bad.

 

Just bought a UX31 wit the Sentelic trackpad - Updated BIOS to 207 and Touchpad Sentelic driver and everything is working fine -

 

Hey there!

I was wondering if anyone else is having the same strange behaviour regarding the fan unit.

If you leave the zenbook in idle mode without doing anything the fan stays completely silent. But almost every time I open up a program (e.g. word / photoshop) the fan spins up for a few seconds and immediately spins down to silence after the program is fully loaded. Sometimes the fan lasts for just about 2-3 seconds. Even in idle mode I'm able to reproduce this behaviour by running for example microsoft security essentials in the background (which constantly checks some files).

I tried to investigate the problem using windows built-in resource monitor (dunno if this is the correct name in english versions of windows as well). Every time the cpu utilization goes beyond a specific point, the fan spins up and immediately stops when the work is done.
This starts getting really, really annoying in an almost silent environment. The cpu temperature doesn't seem to be much of a problem here. I wasn't able to notice any significant changes in temperature. I would be fine with a constantly blazing fan but this ups and downs are getting so annoying. Especially because the fan is louder during start-up compared to when it's constantly running.

There is definitely something wrong with the fan / temperature management. In most reviews it says the zenbook stays almost silent but I can definately not agree with that. I just want to make sure whether I am the only one experience this kind of problem before returning my laptop and blame asus.

My configuration is: UX31 / i5 / 265 GB / Bios 207

Thanks for your help!

 

Looking for some final peace of mind before I buy a zenbook. Is the headphone jack issue really just a one time thing for one person? The bestb*y reviews are bs, one guy talks about this issue, and then another obviously FAKE setup review gives 5 stars saying its a non-issue. If almost no one has had this issue with a static-y headphone jack output i'll probably just jump in.

 

I've got no issue with the headphone jack, tried with several different headphones. But maybe it's a function of how good your hearing is.

The keyboard takes a little getting used to, but I'm doing ok. (I would not recommend this laptop if you have to type professionally on it, like an author or programmer, but it's good for general usage.) WiFi speed seems fine for me, and the led in the f2 key is working correctly. Touchpad isn't bad, but could be better, but I use a mouse for much of my browsing (and all of my gaming).

As a side note, the i7 processor can manage to run Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. My framerate is around 15 on medium detail, which is fast enough and good enough to advance the plot. The visuals are much better on a desktop with a dedicated graphics card, but this is going to be playable when I'm away from the house over the holidays.

 

Did somebody in Germany see UX31 in exposition in some store? I would like to test it before I buy it. It would be nice if Saturn have some, but I was there last week and they only had Acer S2 in the showroom. Thanx

 

excellent news, maybe ill just chance it. the problem is my local microcenter that has it will charge me a 15% restock if i end up returning it. bestbuy has no fees, except they don't stock it yet.

im getting the 11" version, want something smaller and lighter than my 13.3" SA.

good news tho, looks like my local Frys now has the 11" model in stock. better return policy than Microcenter.

 

The Media Markt in Karlsruhe has a UX31 on display, at least as of last Saturday.

 

Mediamarkt should have it on display all over, they are actually advertising it in their current flyer. I've seen the UX31E-RY008V (i5, 128GB SSD) and was able to try it out a little... decided that it was an as good option as a MacBook Air running Win7.


Waking up this morning, I found a nice voucher from Amazon in my inbox, telling me that I'd get a rebate due to a faulty order cancellation some weeks ago which I could use for the UX31E-RY010V (which is the best model: i7, 256GB SSD).
I ordered and it got shipped this afternoon already... I really hope it is issue-free and look forward to having it in my hands by Thursday the latest! I already know what I'll be doing the next weekend

PS: I guess I have a Dell XPS m1330 for sale now...

 

I have exactly the same issue since updating to bios 207. Considering downgrading...

 

so I ordered my UX31 from Microsoft store. they claim that Microsoft Signature (R) will guarantee that everything is working smoothly out of the box and that all the bloatware is removed prior to shipping. This should mean that the bios, touchpad and wireless should all be fixed. will wait and see, and i'll let everyone know how it things are once i get it!
stay tuned!

 

I am surprised how much I like the keyboard layout on the UX31. It is not cramped like on some other models.

If only the keys consistently registered when I pressed them. It seemed a bit better when I typed harder, but I'm not sure I want to do that.

I'm guessing generation 2 will be fantastic.

 

Yea, I went from a huge 15.6" to the UX31 with 0 learning curve for the keyboard.

 

Does anybody knows why I can't get new BIOS installed? I renamed the file to .rom extension but when I insert the BIOS file in WinFlash, it does nothing.

 

have you read the link what others have posted in this thread? i read it through (i dont even own) and it seems pretty straight forward.

forget WinFlash and go with other 2 methods that are "recommended"

 

my guess is that if they did q/c, typing harder won't be an issue imo.

 

Thanks I forgot about the alternatives lol

 

Re-bought it again... This time the UX31-DH72 from Amazon. It's in stock right now. I was able to get them to get it down to $1400 and free shipping. Let's hope this one doesn't have that bad of a keyboard problem and no dead pixels!

 

Why do you rename it?

My file is "UX31EAS.207" and I just open it in WinFlash and everything is working fine.

 

yeah have no idea why he would rename the file....and on top of that try to flash his bios with a different extension.......

 

I mean I tried with different extension but it still did not work

 

Hi all,

if someone has a 256 GB SSD Sandisk U100 on its UX31 laptop, could you run a AS SSD benchmark. My score is extremly bad (read 78, write 33, overall 144) and I'm really disapointed by this laptop.

Also, I have the UX31-i7 version and the PCMark7 benchmark gives me 3100 points, quite less than the lower versions or UX21 :-/

Thanks !

 

Seems a bit slower

 

Seems like Chippy from ultrabooknews.com ( umpcportal.com ) made UX21 reboot twice on the live session just by putting in the power tip.

Anybody experienced anything like it ?


You can also check this amazon review - he wasn't the only one:
Amazon.com: chris' review of ASUS Zenbook UX21E-DH71 11.6-Inch Thin and...

 

Hello!

Can anyone post the FCC ID of the UX31?

I'd like to check its wireless performance.

 

Wow mine has MUCH worse results, especially for 4K. Anyway, thanks Xe0n !

 

I bought the UX31 one week ago and I like it very much. It has I7 with 256 GB and elantech touchpad. It came with bios 206 and I had no troubles with the touchpad out of the box. The Notebook has a lot of Pros which had been mentioned many times in reviews and this tread. (Like: super fast, good sound, 1600 x 900 screen,...)

Sure, the keyboard is not the best that I have used but I think I can manage it.

BUT .... there is one big BUT for me with this notebook. It's the temperature of the palm rest. The aluminum is very cold and when i am using the notebook for some time my hands feel icy which is painful. Even when I try to not rest my ball of thumb on the palm rest my hands get cold. (I'm indoor and the temperature in the room is between 23 und 25 degrees Celsius). Also when surfing on the couch it feels too cold for me. I have absolutely no issues with the sharp edges only with the cold aluminum.

I always was looking for a notebook that does not get too hot. Now I found the one which is the opposite. It says not only cool but cold and I’m considering now to return it next week. I guess in summertime it would be perfect but now in the cold season.

Does anybody else have similar experience? Is there a palm rest cover that could help. I already tried to use touch screen film, but I feel not much difference.

 

wow, indeed this is the first time that we've heard about this.
someone complaining about a PC being cold rather than hot.
for how long have you used it?
maybe it just takes some getting used to...


anyway, could you please share the FCC ID?
it's probably located at the back with its label.
I want to compare its wireless performance with other ultrabooks which I'll include as basis in my future purchase.

 

I just received my UX31, and very happy so far (only 1 day). Touchpad behaves quite nice.
Specs:
-Europe
-i7 / 128GB
-Elantech

It came with Bios 206, I see someone mentioning that the fan runs much more with Bios 207. Is this correct? Then I'll hold on the bios upgrade a bit.

 

hi!
congrats on the purchase.
I envy you...

anyway, could you please share its FCC ID?
its the same ID for every UX31.

 

Hi! I will post the FCC ID when I get home from work.

 

thanks!
that will be a lot of help.

 

Can anyone tell a bit about noise level?
How often does the fan kicks in? On idle mode - is the laptop dead silent? of u can hear some background noises?

The NotebookCheck's review says
"Fan noise is practically nonexistent when the notebook is under word processing, light web browsing or otherwise idle states. A slightly more audible whirring can be heard during high definition playback, but nothing is distracting."

ture / false?


and noise comming from the keyboard while typing

thanks.

 

That's definitely the opposite from what I have experienced.

The fan kicks in in almost every situation I open up another program and spins down immediately after the work is done. To be fair, I am talking about rather non-lightweight programs like Word, Photoshop. But even Firefox triggers the fan from time to time during startup. Even though it's still on its lowest level of rotation this get's really, really annoying over time especially because of these up an downs. Sometimes the fan lasts for just about a few seconds until it fades away.

 

Hi, my UX31 arrived today and I found a weird problem: Whenever I plug the power supply in, the base of the notebook starts to feel vibrating/causing little electric shocks. Can anyone confirm this?

 

i have read about that issue in more than 1 review. you got a bad one..

 

Great. After an Apple Macbook Air (too loud and hot in windows) and a Lenovo x220 (crappy display) now the third Notebook I have to return. At least the other two didn't try to electrocute me.

 

An interesting snippet from an Amazon reviewer regarding the wireless speed problems, he is probably on these forums anyway:

"
I returned the first ASUS UX31E and ACER Ultrabooks this morning. They had one UX31E left in stock so I decided to give it another shot and exchange the one I got yesterday for another brand new ASUS UX31E. Perhaps I just had a defective one (just got my money back on the Acer Inspire; didn't even want to try another one from them). So I get home and unpack another UX31E and guess what?

SAME PROBLEM. This time I got smart and bought a wireless D-Link USB WiFi adapter (DWA-131) and told myself I would only use this if I could not get the internal wireless to work. Folks, I tried and tired, and it was actually worse than the first UX31E I had gotten yesterday.

I installed the drivers for the external USB WiFi adapter, plugged it into the USB port, disabled the internal WiFi adapter, and now.....I have great Wifi.

So, in order to use the UX31E, there is a strong chance that there is a fundamental hardware problem with the internal wifi adapter (software updates do NOT resolve this and if they do, it is a temporizing effect that does not withstand prolonged wifi use) and you will have to get a USB WiFi adapter in order to use this ultrabook."

 

all these reviews really bum me out.. i am dying to buy a UX21 soon... but with the wireless issues, headphone combo jack issues, electrical issues, weak touchpad... i mean how can you buy something like this??

all the 1rst genners will be pissed once a 2nd gen comes out with all of this improved. how long do i have to wait for a gen 2?

This then turns me to the Toshiba Z835 which is usually reviewed as 2nd best next to the Asus. not as fast, but very good value for the $799 price, plus lighted keyboard.

 

Remember that complainers are louder than happy customer.

I have the UX31 256GB Sandisk.
Bios 207
Sentellic 9.1.7.7
Atheros 9.2.1.459

and I have none of these issues. Wifi is fine, touchpad is great and the fan is almost all the time off.