Asus UX31 Ultrabook

I upgraded to the 209 bios last night, and can confirm that the AES instructions (hardware support for faster encryption) are now enabled. However, I also seemed to be having more problems than before with my touchpad. Anyone else notice this?

 

Finished setting up my new UX21E-DH71. After a fresh install and loading up drivers, I am more than pleased with the machine so far. The looks are just jaw-dropping at any angle. It really is a beautifully thin laptop. I received it with the ADATA SSD, and Elan touchpad. My first impressions in real-world usage are that it is blazing fast in day-to-day operations (opening apps, file transfers, etc.). Out-of-the-box, the touchpad was very erratic and registered errant clicks and inaccuracy. I had to disable the touch-click and pinch zoom, and update to the latest driver. I can now say that it is satisfactory. The jarring random movements are gone, accuracy is better, and I don't have to worry about unintentional mouse clicks. This isn't too much of a bother to me in the first place because I typically carry a USB mouse wherever I go. Also, no wifi drops after 12 hours of usage...and no missed keyboard presses.

In terms of performance, I do have an observed 18 second boot time (from power-on to connected to Wifi). To someone who has never owned a SSD computer before, this was exciting.

Here is my WEI score:

 

darthsat you got a really nice wei score there!

 

New wireless lan driver! Did they finally fix all this chaos about the instability and/or poor transfer rates of the wireless card?! Unfortunately, still at work, unable to install the update driver... Yes, I'm on my phone at work, CNC lathe + friday + great boss = win lol

 

Can anybody comment on the screen? Maybe post a couple of images?

I really, really would appreciate some references since I've received a replacement (new) UX31E today and the screen is very similar to the first one. Meaning, perhaps the worst angles I've seen on a notebook panel. To illustrate how it is, if I look at it from maybe 20cm distance straight on, there's negative colors on the top of the screen.

Since I bought it for working purposes, a subpar panel just won't cut it. Making things worse, since it took 2 weeks to replace the first one, it voided the return policy.

Oh well. Worst case I'll just auction it and get something else. For now, Macbook Air is looking a lot better. Can't believe I said that...

Thanks in advance!

 

Thanks. I'm lucky I scored a similar unit to M3Rocket's, as he described a few pages ago in this thread. ADATA + ELAN touchpad, with a disk WEI score of 7.9.

I've had very fast wifi transfer speeds, and still no dropoffs before or after upgrading to the latest driver.

 

UX21E Core i5 128GB ADATA Sentilec

I kind of regret not getting the i7, but 890 shipped new from amazon was a hard deal to beat.


oh didn't do a clean install just removed all the programs i didn't need from asus.

 

Yes, the screen has very poor viewing angles. Quite a few owners were complaining about this earlier in the thread. On top of that, the contrast is also pretty weak. I am happy with the resolution, and after calibrating the gamut the screen is good enough for my purposes. The only contender out there with a similar screen size and same (or even higher) resolution, incredibly good contrast and color accuracy is the Sony Z, but I can't afford it.

If you want better colors, contrast and viewing angles go with a MBA. Personally I couldn't justify spending a few hundred dollars more (I got a good deal on the UX31) and taking the small hit on resolution. Here's hoping we see some higher pixel densities on screens with better contrast within this price range next year. I would even happily pay a premium for an IPS panel if it were available.

 

I think that the limited viewing angle is blown out of proportion--especially if the laptop is mainly going to be used by one person. Just adjust the screen to the correct angle and that's it. I think resolution and maximum brightness (for outdoor use) is more important. But everybody has different priorities.

Having said that, there really isn't any screen to compete with a Z11 13.3" hi-def screen--that screen is 1920x1080! Everything about it is better than the Asus screen. But at it's price point, the additional resolution and brightness of the Asus screen is a good compromise IMO. I would not do any serious photo editing on this screen--the colors are just not all that accurate.

 

Has anyone had a problem with the ASUS Power Wiz widget reading the wrong amount of standby time? I'm on battery with low screen brightness etc. with full battery reading only 3 days. Any suggestions? Already reinstalled the widget.

Ruoste, the viewing angle is in fact very poor (don't have any pictures for proof), however, as M3Rocket said, the UX31E isn't really meant to be surrounded by people watching you work. If you just adjust the screen, the screen is good. It could be a LITTLE better on the top/bottom edges of the screen with a slight negative (white/washed out) look even at the optimum view angle.

 

Speaking of screens. I purchased a UX31E DH72 on 12/07, received it on 12/14 and shipped it back on 12/15 due to a screen that was DOA. I used an external monitor to verify and confirm that the computer was working fine. The store I purchased it from offered to replace it with a new one but of course they no longer have them in stock. I'm wondering if there will be any improvements with the current models as ASUS continues pumping them out to help with this QA problem?

 

Just got my UX31 back from an ASUS RMA due to bios update bricking.
Aside from the fact that the unit smells like hand-lotion, (i guess the tech found my ,) the display has motion artifacts when things are moving.
It doesnt happen using an external display.
It easily visible around the edges and color-boundries of windows when u drag them around.
I think they either gave me a bad board or screwed up the display or display connection.
Anyone else have this issue. Looks like aliasing/jaggedness on straight lines when they move?
I tried booting linux, and it had the same problem, so its definately a hardware or bios issue.
I am currently on Bios207 (the one missing AES acceleration [why did they do that?]).
I do have to say, that bios207 fixed the issue i had with the cpu fan always working, now it only starts when it gets hot.
Also have to mention that after i got my unit back from RMA, i noticed that the hinge is looser that it was before, and the usb ports and charging ports also seem looser.
They might have just given me a horrible refurbished board, which is wat is causing the display problems as well, but i think they just messed up the reconnecting of the display and possible damaged the cable or moved something that is now causing electro-magnetic interference with the cable.
Wat yall think?

 

Can you share which procedure you used for the flash? ours is still 2.06.

which touchpad do you have?

thanks

 

I fonally opened my UX31E-D53 that I purchased from Bestbuy. My ssd is 256 gb and it is Sandisk and the touchpad is Sentelic, which is very horrible. The screen is bad, the sweet spot is very very tight. The wireless is working very well though. My WEI for the drive is 5.9.
I am returning the laptop only because of the touchpad problem as it is unbearable, it jumps here and there at least 2-3- times every minute.

I do upgraded the bios and drivers including the touchpad. Is there a way to fix the touchpad?

 

I have an elantec touchpad. To upgrade your bios is quite easy: Download Windows flash utility and the latest bios file (209) from the Asus support site. Install the Flash Utility , and extract the bios file e.g. on your desktop. Launch the Flash utility once installed, and open the extracted bios file. Click on the Flash button. Done.

 

I have a lot of resonance in the keyboard when playing sounds on my UX31.
Especially the "Enter" and "Caps Lock" keys are making the sound like distorted. When I hold on the keys, the distortion/resonance sound disappears.
What to do???

 

Hey, is this the Bestbuy from Canada? or the States?

 

I wonder why people are bricking the machine? will give it a try this week. thx

 

After reading this thread I'm actually put off from buying the UX31. It seems that everyone has problems whether it's the touchpad/keyboard/wifi, electricity sparks, the display going bad or the screws going loose, fans not working properly and the laptop bricking.

A shame really, I was really looking forward to buying it tomorrow and I have no idea for an appropriate alternative.

 

I don't have any problems with mine. Sandisk with Sentellic. Again it's your choice. But for your future, you must know that complainers are really much louder than happy customers.

 

I confirm: this notebook is really a fabulous machine. I use it since four days now, some tweaking here and there, but it rocks ! Superb screen, touchpad and keyboard ok, wifi fast and accurate, and above all, a featherweight notebook.

 

From the US

True but the rate of failure is very high, which means chances of getting a bad one is very likely. Also, a lot of people have bad ones they are either not complaining for whatever reason or do not post it.

 

How can you say this if you do not have the stats? This is just your opinion base on what you see here on this forum where happy customers do not post.

 

It is widely spread, search google

 

Site your sources buddy... Also It is my opinion that it is usually the case that if people have an issue, they are more likely to complain/post/create a thread where as the people who are happy are less likely to praise/post/create a thread. I will keep this opinion until I see proof otherwise. Thank you.

Also FYI: I bought my zenbook from Amazon.com, and if you want to take a look at the reviews there you will see that the lowest AVERAGE review on any of the zenbook models is 3.5/5.0 stars and the highest is 4.5/5.0 stars. Granted I know that other sites have varying reviews, looking at newegg I saw one that one of the models has an AVERAGE of 2.0/5.0, however it doesn't have very many reviews (only 5).

I am not saying that some people aren't having issues, however I would very much dispute the claim that the failure rate is "very high". "Google it and you will see" is not sufficient for me to believe your claim.

I am very satisfied with my zenbook. My WEI score for my SDD isn't the best out there, but my real world experience of the performance meets all my expectations.

 

lets put the citing aside and not play show me numbers. It is obvious the rate of issues are high otherwise how you explain the low rating specially for a machine that looks amazing? You have a working unit and that is good for you. I love the laptop and my wifi has no issue so far, the keyboard is a practicing thing, the screen still not an issue for me, my ssd is a Sandisk still not a biggie but the touchpad jumping is something I can not live with and there are many people having this one or multiple issues in one machine.
Whether you agree or not that there is a trend of certain issues, does not change the fact that I and many others can't use the laptop properly and so far, there is no solution.

 

I've been silent and have been lurking this forum for the past month since the UX31 was purchased for my wife, in hopes of finding a workable solution that will permanently erradicate the random disconnect issue.

Per my comment in detail in the 'UX31 Wireless Issue' thread, the gist of it is that I feel the wireless connectivity issue is a fundamental hardware design problem that requires a proper hardware refresh.

We plan on returning and exchanging the UX31 for something else.

 

Then, it's your opinion.

What low rating?

Even with a Ferrari, people will complain...

 

prepseb,

Do you have a solution for my jumpy touchpad?
Keep in mind that I did install the 209 bios and 9177 Sentelic drivers and updated every other driver that Asus suggested.

 

No. 10char

 

Ok, I have a question about the Sandisk SSD. What is the difference in performance (read/write) compared to a SATA hard drive?
I know the laptop is going to be different and going to take some time tweaking and getting use to so I am not really worried about that. I think most of the people who experience these issues are people who already know what to expect when getting the laptop and maybe don't have the time or knowledge to mess around with their new toy.
I am waiting on my zenbook from BB which is on pre-order so I already know what to expect with the 256GB SSD , sreen power settings and the jumpy touchpad. I also know once I flash my bios and adjust the power settings as well adjust the touchpad settings I should be good.
If all fails then I return this zenbook and buy an Fruit brand as the Zenbook site calls it and since everyone is comparing this to an MBA.
I am not saying the complaints here are not legit but it seems most people are really wanting that MBA feel with WINDOWS.

 

After flashing to 209, my wireless connection works flawless, even at greater distance.

 

Really Gaute? Did you do the wireless driver update too? Before or after updating to 209? Fresh windows install or ASUS windows install w/ bloatware etc?

Reason I ask is because after updating to either 209 or the new wireless driver, my connection seems to have gotten a lot more unstable. I'm not sure if it was the driver or bios update that caused it because I did both within the same timeframe of being able to be done.

 

i got my zenbook today, ordered from amazon.de and i think i'm a really unlucky guy ;-)

i always wanted the 128gb version and so i thought, i would not have any troubles receiving a slow sandisk ssd ----> but i was wrong, i got one...
on the other side, the zenbook came with the elantec touchpad and i think, that this works really great. the zenbook-wlan is a bit slower than the wlan on my iphone (8Mbit vs. 7 Mbit), but that's no problem for me.

on thing that really annoys me: my keyboard frame has two visible scratches and there is another one just below the touchpad.
the keyboard and the speekers are working really fine.

hopefully, the next one fits

 

Hey, how can I check which touchpad I have? I know I have the sandisk ssd, because my WEI score was a 5.9 for the hd. And which touchpad was the crappier one? my stock touchpad is very inaccurate... Would I find all the new updates from the ASUS website? and is it recommended to do a fresh install?

 

BTW, did anyone get the ADATA SSD from Toronto pc stores? btw, this is the 13.3inch 128gb model.

 

Upgraded to the new BIOS and wireless, and definitely the wireless is more unstable than ever. Simply attempting to copy a file from my UX31 to my NAS over wireless causes the connection to drop even before any bytes are transferred. Installed the older .432 wireless driver and I can now copy files without dropping the connection, however it's slower than it should be.

 

I got my 13" 128gb model at canadacomputers in the GTA. No issues with the trackpad and the Sandisk u100 gets 6.4 on the windows Performance index. Considering the performance of a sata2 ssd in my desktop scoring higher I expected better but it's not noticable and the laptop responds extremely quick.

Also no issues with wifi whatsoever with no drops. media streaming / file transfer to other PC's and a QNAP nas. Using a linksys e4200 router on latest firmware.

 

Can someone tell me whether the UX31 has BIOS or UEFI?

And also, has anyone tried installing Windows 8 on it? What are the experiences?

 

Asus windows install with bloatware. I flashed first, then updatet wireless drivers.

 

Does anybody know if UX31 supports intel wireless display (WIDI) ? Thank you.

 

I5 128gb sandisk, with elan touch pad from Bestbuy. No wifi issues, no touch pad or kb issues. 5.9 WEI score on HD and crappy 4k scores on CrystalDisk. Sigh...

 

It does not support widi.

I think bios is efi, 80% sure !

 

Start
Rigth-click on My computer
Manage
Device manager (left pane)
Expand mouse with the + (rigth pane)
Right-click on Finger sensing pad
Proprieties
Driver tab

voila.



BTW: It's always better to do a fresh install

 

The Zenbook does not have WiDi capabilities. It uses a Qualcomm Atheros WLAN adapter, therefore is not able to support WiDi because that is a trademarked feature of Intel WLAN adapters.

However, I happen to believe that the Zenbook's WLAN adapter could be replaced with a Intel Centrino Advanced-N 6230, which uses the half mini pci express form factor, just as the Atheros in the zenbook uses (unless the adapter is VERY specially designed, which I highly doubt... there'd be limited amount of money to be made by the company producing the cards). So... if anyone cares to try? Lol.

Also, Route, I am going to check into this and test to see if my wireless is anymore stable if 1) clean install vs asus bloatware install, 2) downloaded the new bios before/after the new wireless driver, and 3) older wireless driver vs newest wireless driver.

But just for more info pool, I updated my wireless driver and then bios 209, and have seen worse results than with old driver/bios 207 combo. Worse results being almost a 75% increase in disconnects.

 

HDMI not recognizing external display

UX31E-DH52 Win7 64

Hi everyone,

Hope this is the right place for this..

I'm having some problems lately with connecting an external display. I'm using a "mini-HDMI to standard-HDMI" cord, and that was working great for the first couple months.

Then it started not recognizing the external display until I unplugged it and plugged it back in. Then I had to unplug it multiple times before it would recognize.

Yesterday I did that process like 10 times (more then ever before) and finally unplugged the actual monitor and plugged it back in, and then it was finally recognized. Today I can't get it to work at all.

I've tried uninstalling/re-installing the vga drivers (from asus website). I've tried different monitors, and tried the VGA adapter. Nothing works.

Even though it seems like something hardware related wearing out, my instinct says it's not, since yesterday it was fixed by re-plugging the monitor, and once it's recognized, it's a solid connection (doesn't ever flicker or anything if I move the laptop). Also the VGA adapter isn't working either (which uses a different port)

Any suggestions?

 

Yes, ensure the hdmi cables is spec 1.3 and then a second monitor.

 

1.4 is not OK? I'm having trouble finding 1.3 on Amazon, is this a known issue?

I've tried a 2nd monitor.

 

1.4 is backwards compatible, most devices require 1.3 or higher.

the issued was if you were using a very early version and that it is a compatibility issue between intel hd3000 and our tv over the older spec cable.

 

I had the same problem with my UX31. Went to Asus. Was told that the micro HDMI port could be faulty. Now I'm waiting for the replcement part to replace the faulty HDMI port. Suggest you send your unit in for a check up.