Asus UX31 Ultrabook

Hi everyone I signed up just to post this comment, as I was kind of surprised to see all the bad experiences with this product people have had. I bought my zenbook out of impulse about a week ago in Canada while doing early xmas shopping with my GF, she bought the mac book air and I went for the zenbook. I am happy to report that out of the box wifi, keyboard, touchpad, screen, battery, fan, soundport, all have been working fine all week long of extensive use. Wifi connected at home, at work, at unvieristy, at public free wifi from starbucks/mcdonalds, not a single time has it disconnected on me. Owning a mac myself, I had no problems typing on the zenbook keyboard, in fact it felt almost identical to the apple products i've used. Touchpad was fine, no jumpiness or inaccuacy observed. Fan is practically silent in everything I do, including running intensive programs and multitasking.

So here's my take on the situation where many of you seem to be having problems. I suggest buying from a store where their suppy chain comes directly from Asus and not through a distributor, as I suspect the first initial batch from Asus had all these issues and the big box retailers/distributors had a huge stock of them. The one I have is probably the latest batch off production and it had no problems whatsoever on it out of the box, I did not have to upate anyting to make anything better. I've owned Asus laptops in the past and this product was definitely on par in terms of quality with my previous purchases. So I hope those of you who unforunately bought the initial production batch would not be deterred. As with most manufacturers, first batches are usually rushed to market even with companies like Apple, such as their HUGE iPhone 4 antenna reception problem when they first shipped, I think given the timeliness Asus had with fixing all these problems within a month's time from initial release, I'd say they did pretty well for a new product launch that had never been done before.

Also for those who may think, no i do not work for Asus or any of their affiliates.
The unit i have is i7 256GB Sandisk Elantech touchpad

 

Where did you buy your unit in Canada ?

 

It was a place called Canada Computers

 

Nice, did you got yours in Amazon.de?

Is there anybody else that bought in Germany and could check if the HDD is Adata?

 

Unfortunately, not only in winamp. Also, when playing a movie from youtube or avi file. I sent the configuration Winamp + The XX - "Intro" as the best way to hear the issue with left speaker.

Can anyone confirm that other UX31 laptops play this track perfectly from left and right speaker ?

 

For those interested in improving the longevity and performance of the Adata SSD, I found a great step-by-step guide on Tom's Hardware that helped me to improve the 4K Read performance a little in Crystalmark (as if the SSD needed to be faster!). The sequential read took a 16MB/s hit but I think that the 6MB/s boost in 4K read speed is probably worth it.

I did these test in safe mode after installing the latest Intel SATA driver. Since the computer only has 4GB RAM I may re-enable the pagefile to maintain stability. If anyone has further ideas/feedback I'm all ears!

The image on the left shows my results before the tweaks, the one on the right after the tweaks.

 

I didn't specifically check mine when I got it, but the SSD got 7.something in WEI, so I guess it was one. UX31/128GB/i5 from cyberport.de.

 

...As a side note, I have to say that I'm loving this machine and so far have had no issues with it, other than that the pinch-zooming with the Sentelic touchpad is finicky. With the latest driver it works great, otherwise. I bought it at an IT show in Singapore this weekend.

 

I bought two units from amazon.de.
First unit was a very early release of the i5 256GB model (with sandisk ssd).
This unit i returned because of wifi problems. (The adapter / antenna was definitely broken)...
The second unit i ordered some days ago : i5 and 128GB adata ssd
I think amazon.de now got a newer batch of zenbooks (i5 128GB) because about one week they were not selling it. The new unit got a working wifi (no rate drops and even faster (but not as fast as a usual wifi adapter)). The keyboard of the second unit even feels more solid : The keys are not wiggling as before. Im a fast typist and i realy like the keyboard now.
To shortly compare the two touchpads (I got one of both) :
Elantech : Working good out of the box but with updated driver its working almost perfekt (gestures and scrolling)
Sentelic : This i got now and out of the box it was okay ... but with updated drivers its still not that good but usable. By usable i mean you can work with it if you dont use 3 finger gestures that much. It got some flaws in driver implementation for gesture recognition. But for scrolling and pointing its definitely fully okay.

And for the rumors on revision 2 of the zenbook:

I asked amazon and another german retailer (notebooksbilliger.de) if they heard anything... After a short while amazon answered with a stupid automated email (...not heard of anything of a second revision...) and the retailer said their purchasing department didnt heard anything about it too.
I still will keep an eye on it.

If some questions remain. Please ask!

 

For all those people who have trouble with their wifi:

Deinstall the Athernos driver .459 and install the .432 Athernos Driver. This significantly improved my wifi-connection and made it quite stable. :O

I got this tip from another post in this thread:

 

Is there anyone out there that has calibrated their display using Spyder or a similar professional calibration suite that would not mind sharing an ICC profile?

Pretty please?

For some reason PMs are not yet working on my account here but I can provide my email address if necessary. Thank you in advance..

 

Have .432 also.

No. alternate.de

 

My local Microcenter has 3 AX21's in stock.. But they have that crappy 15% restocking fee thing, and I just can't risk losing that money if mine has issues.

 

Do the terms of that restocking fee allow an exclusion if the product is defective?

They can't "restock" the item if it's not working properly and has to be sent back to the manufacturer.

I would ask them about that.

 

good call. maybe i remember something about a 7 day return only for defective product. but they would only offer another one, and i might be in the same position. i'll check into it. cuz my SA25 might sell today locally, and hate to buy a 3rd Toshiba NB505-500BL netbook if this UX21 might have no issues..

Notebook/laptop/netbooks computers, digital cameras/camcorders, projectors, DVD/CD/VCR players, game consoles and commercial products may be returned or exchanged within 7 days of purchase, provided the merchandise is in "like-new" condition - the complete product in the original carton with all equipment, packaging, warranties, manuals and accessories. A 15% Open Box Fee will be charged on all returns and exchanges unless the product is defective and is exchanged for the identical product.

So I mean.. what if you get 2 or 3 bad UX21 in a row... they won't give you your money back.

 

Just got my UX31 on friday.

A question - how's your screen?

I so want to love this machine, but the panel is just downright horrible. On par with a year-old cheap Acer I had the privilege of comparing this with, and overall just seems like a very bad-quality panel.

How so? Well, the colors are all over the place depending on the viewing angle. From no angle do you get consistency, because there is a vertical gradient effect on solid colours from every angle, be it on the top or bottom part of the screen.

Seems like there's massive backlight leakage but the awfulness is suprisingly similar to the Acer screen. Don't know what to think of this.

I'm so disappointed that it's going in for service, we'll see what they have to say. Hopefully somebody there agrees that it's defective.

 

yeah the viewing angle is not that great, but on my ux31 I have zero backlight bleeding and zero dead pixels. looks like you need to do an exchange

 

I've got a "Problem" with my USB 3.0 Port, if i plug in my external USB 3.0 storage in my left USB 3.0 Port an info dialog appears and tells me that this device can perform faster if i plug it into an USB 3.0 Super Speed Port!

I reinstalled the driver, and just the same popup. Can i check somewhere whether the device is working at USB 3.0 speed or still working on the USB 2.0 standart?

Got anybody else this info dialog?

 

The USB3.0 port is blue inside. I don't know if you own the 21 or 31, but on the UX31, the USB3.0 port is on the right side.

 

uh lol...me fail

 

If you're talking about a Best Buy... I've been told on the Samsung Series 7 thread that they are not charging the 15%, but you should ask.

I would think that if it's defective and you tell them that you've read it's an issue for that model, you would rather have your money back then exchange for the same one... or you'll end up taking that one back too.

Plus during the holidays, I think return policies are a bit more liberal.

 

Good for you! That's probably the norm since I can't find people talking about it - it's not like I demand premium standard, but this is just bad on any scale.

I think mine is obviously a different panel than, for instance, in this (random) video:
ASUS Zenbook UX31 Hands On at IDF 2011 - YouTube

The behaviour is totally different. Tilting the screen upwards, the dark colours turn to 'negative' and light colours darken heavily. Tilting it downwards, the colors 'wash out' to gray from the backlight. And I'm talking very few degrees.

If there's something I hate in any laptop, it's a panel where black isn't black and colors that aren't the same from any two angles...

 

im talking about micro center. i wish best buy had it in stock local. as i silver member or whatever, i can return a laptop weeks later with no restocking fees..

 

I'm 99% sure this random video doesn't have to show final, retail version of the product

 

It's alright

 

I bought the UX31 today ..spent the day loading it with the my apps all day ... getting ready to take it to my client site (replacing my old laptop) ...just to find out that there is no way you can physically lock (secure) this laptop. It looks like Asus has forgot to add the physical little hole on the laptop to connect it via a secure cable.

Maybe I am missing something ...I am going to spend almost $1800C for this device and not be able to secure it to desk ?!@#! ....was Asus sleeping...



Doing some more research ..MAC Book air and Acer does not have it also, only Toshiba z835/z830 models have it ...

Can anybody tell me if there are other ways to physicall seucre these pupies?

Thanks

 

Just placed the order with BB for UX31, 256GB drive. The item is on backorder but the prices is great, $1050 + CA tax, and with 18 months no interest financing, I could not see myself passing it by.
Will keep everyone updated with the order fulfillment and how the machine is performing.

 

^Thats a freaking awesome deal. I might as well return my 120gb version and get this one for cheaper....

 

Yep. Hope they deliver and that I get lucky and receive problem free one.

 

Where did you order this?

 

Best Buy - Computers, Video Games, TVs, Cameras, Appliances, Phones

 

I just uninstalled office starter and it freed up 6GB of space. No kidding. Went from 50GB to 56GB.

Also, anyone else get a
"File 'C:\Program Files (x86)\Asus\AsusVibe\unins000.dat' does not exist. Cannot uninstall."
error when you try to uninstall asus vibe? It seems like I am missing the unins000.dat file.

 

Hi

Got the UX31 128GB A-Data with sentellic touchpad.
All is good except for the speakers distorting especially at specific tones ex. the windows 7 simple test for left-right (find it under the configure button under playback device).
I've read in here that I am not the only one experiencing this.

So I replaced the first unit to one just like it and now it's not my right speaker having this issue, but the left one.
Decided to dig deeper and after a day of travel with it the sound improved... from bouncing around in my backpack.

So out came a torx and I dismantled as much as I could but to no avail. Seems pretty random which speaker is distorting.

Now after dismantling it I learned that the speakers point straight up into the keyboard which means the keys vibrate to certain tones...
So pushing lightly at the return and backspace key completely removed the distortion from the right speaker and similarly pushing lightly at the tab and ½ button removed the distortion from the left side.

Now to my question, is it possible to remove/replace individual keys - I would like to check myself but am afraid to break the keys. What I wanted to know is if you could maybe glue or add some paper to the locking mechanism to keep those specific keys in a more firm position.

Please test it yourself (not the removal of keys) and let us know if you also have this issue.

 

Be as it may, this panel is bad, and I really mean Acer-bad, which is not what I am reading from reviews.

I'm seriously not looking for perfection, but a screen that has something of a sweet spot for the viewer.

Check these images out, they're not exactly HD but demonstrate my point. Could you check if the same thing happens on yours? Thanks!

The normal viewing angle (notice the backlight leaks)


Same thing from a slightly tilted angle

 

That really looks bad. I'll try to upload pictures tonight from different angles. I don't think mine is that bad.
What brightness is set up when you took your pictures?

 

Around 50% brightness.

You know, it's probably not even a 'faulty product' as such (the Acer is just too similar), just a bad quality panel. Unacceptable anyhow, so it's going in. Wish me luck!

 

Hi guys,

Can anyone tell something more about how the Sentelic trackpad behaving after the driver updates? (as of today)
And what about the 256GB SSD experience? The controller is clearly slower, but is it really noticeable?

Thanks!

 

i give up on these, i cant wait for the next generation.

im gonna finally give in and get the 11" macbook air with 128gb.. i been scared of macs for years, and its time i just try one. mostly because every review on all these ultrabooks say its good, but its no macbook air... with the airs on slight sale right now, 1199 down to 1139 or something... might as well jump. i'll do a bootcamp with windows 7 later if i have any weird needs.

 

For those who, like myself, want a spare power supply for their machine, Asus now have the PSU for sale on their web site

45 Watt AC Adapter

 

Hey guys,

I have a problem. How do I restore my Windows 7 configuration from a backup. I have created several backups, but can not seem to find a way to be able to restore it.

I already tried doing this via pressing F8 when rebooting, but unfortunately I don't get a "Repair Computer" option. I also mounted the Windows 7 64-bit version with Daemon Tools and even bought an external DVD-reader to be able to use a Windows 7 recovery/installation DVD to be able to restore a backup. But even then I don't geht this option.

So: How can I restore my Asus Zenbook with a W7 backup?

Right now I don't have any problems, but I think it is crucial to plan sth. like that in advance.

 

Hello, Can I swap out the 256GB SSD with another 128GB SSG from another Zenbook?

This question was asked once a few hundred pages ago, but the only answer given was a youtube link which didn't answer :|

Does anyone know whether this would work? Assuming I do a clean install after receiving the swapped drive - due to different drivers and such.

Thanks in advance!

 

Why wouldn't it work?

 

I think i remember Arstechnica or Anandtech saying it could be done, i'd check at those two sites.

 

I did check on both sites, Anandtech mentioned that they wanted to test the 256GB on the Zenbook for benchmarks but nothing on swapping of the SSD

 

Oh wow, Anand replied my email within minutes. Impressive!

Still no conclusive reply yet.

Asus would probably say that swapping would void all warranty because internal parts are not user-serviceable blah blah blah...

 

You might be able to get an Asus service provider to do it for you though. If it is the drive that Asus supplies in the 256GB version, i don't see why they wouldn't. I have absolutely no idea how much it would cost on the other hand.

 

Luck of the draw I suppose?

Good question. I haven't really played with the sound since I can only work on the laptop when my wife is away from home or is asleep. It's a Christmas present.

Having said that, I'll try it when I get a chance this week and I'll post my impressions.

 

Has someone finally found a way to avoid the usb 3 hdd from unounting when connected to the usb 3 port ?

 

Got one (i7, 256GB UX31) but have some questions:
- How can I configure the behaviour of the notebook when the power switch is pressed or the dispay closed? Power4Gear --> Extended Settings (Translation from german Erweiterte Einstellungen) --> Power Switch/Closing --> Do nothing won't work. It always goes straight to standby.
- I've seen a on screen popup when pressing the power button, that won't show up on my device. Did I uninstall to much?
- The wireless fn key isn't working right now, too. It definetly worked the other day, I didn't uninstall anything since. What program do I have to reinstall to get it back working? All other fn keys are working fine, wireless console 3 does, too.

Thank in advance!

 

Are you sure it's not working or it's just the LED?