Asus Zenbook NX500

Try using Internet Explorer for the 4k youtube video's that solves the laggy feel.

FN+ A is the auto brightness key.

The only problem i have is that on batterypower the CPU is stuck at 800mhz. Even if I stress the CPU with a program like OCCT. Powersetting is on high performance.

 

Try disabling adaptive brightness:
Disable Windows' Annoying Adaptive Brightness Feature on Your Laptop

 

Thank you both - i hope this will work - it would be shame not to enjoy the full brightness
have to say again - the colors on this one are mental

 

Hi london2tim,

I have been waiting for the NX500 for a while now. But I still haven't decided if I want to go with the cheaper Dell XPS 15 (2015) or with the NX500. Anyway. I live in the UK and you are right, the only place you can purchase it is John Lewis. I asked them if they have it on display in one of their branches but unfortunately they don't.
So I sent them an email asking them about a couple of queries I have but I didn't get the answers I expected, because apparently they are not 100% sure. Maybe you can help. One of my questions is related to your comment: "Very big/heavy comparing to what i was expecting". Anyway here is my email and their reply:

Hello,

I am interested in ASUS Zenbook NX500 and I would like to ask a couple of questions before I purchase it.

On your website the NX500 comes with a 12GB RAM, while on the official ASUS Zenbook NX500 website it comes with a 16GB RAM. Will this laptop be available with a 16GB RAM in the near future? If yes, when?
Also, in your website you say that the NX500 weights 2.4kg while on the official website ASUS claims that this same laptop weights 2.27 kg. All the other sources on the web mention that the laptop weights 2.2kg. Which one of these is correct? Is it a spelling error from your part?

I am looking forward to your early response.

Their reply:
I understand that your original query was regarding whether or not we would be stocking this laptop with a 16GB RAM, as our website shows as having a 12GB RAM. I can advise that this laptop does come with varying sizes of RAM available. However, at the moment we are only stocking the 12GB version and I am unable to confirm whether or not this will change.

Regarding the weight of the laptop, I believe that the reason for the difference in weight of this product is that it comes with a polymer battery rather than the standard 6-cell battery which I believe has a longer lasting battery between charges.

Do you know if he is right about the last sentence regarding the weight? Do you know if and when this laptop will be available with a 16GB RAM?

 

Hey
its only available in 12GB RAM i dont think they will sell the 16GB - in fact they only have 15 units in stock - as its soooo expensive is not selling like hot bread but i understand they will not order more as this model has been discontinued by the manufacturer - so its basically very difficult to get a new stock
it will also never be on display - and will only sell online
i believe this is a issue on global scale - this model is not being produced (dont know why - i think they realized its too expensive and not a lot will appeal for it)
and the stock will be limited - so those who REALLY wants to get on should do it while its still available

RE weight - i did not weighted to see if its 2.4 or 2.2 but its really big and heavier than the MBPro
when i got the box i was expecting something light and small but it was almost as big as a tvbox - inside that there was another black box with the actual laptop
the laptop is built from one piece of aluminium so there is no way to see what battery it has as its not detachable
it feels heavy but solid heavy - im coming from an Ultraslim Acer S7 Aspire 191 which was 11.4'' and 1kg so of course this looks like a beast

let me know if other questions

 

I'm in the same boat as you, although not too concerned about the weight I did ask the tech guys at Asus if this can be upgraded to 16gb, and apparently it can be done quite simply (they say).

I also wanted windows 8.1 pro, and again it seems that this can be upgraded, all for a cost of course.

The processor listed in the specs on JL's site says it the 4702, when in fact it is the 4712 (I got them to check this).

It seems that this model is listed on a few sites but only as a pre-order at the moment.

 

Hi,

Did you manage to sort out the brightness issue?

If you've discovered any other negatives about this model I would be interested to know, as I'm about to get one (if there's any left).

Thanks

 

More or less
i tried updating the drive but that only worked tempo - once you restart the PC it just goes back
i also tried to download the drive from intel but apparently the laptop has one of those bespoke drivers so that didnt work
eventually there was a drive available on the asus website which i managed to install
brightness now better but still not at the 100% capacity that the machine can deliver - i believe its set up in the drive so that brightness doesnt go over 75% - due to screen being used at max resolution
i mean you get used to it after a while but is a shame as its got such an amazing screen
negatives? i really dont think is worth the £££ unless you have money to spare
and i believe the screen is and will be the best ever on a laptop - so for that only - watching videos on you tube etc is worth it but remember - is just a laptop at the end of the day
in some countries you could buy a house with that money or a car etc

 

Hi, I'm looking around to replace my 15" MacBook Pro and I find this notebook very interesting.
I have only one doubt, looking over the web I found a complete review with a lot of picture. In one of this it looks like that there are two channel for the hard drive. Circled in red should be the stick ssd and circled in blue the empty socket. Is it correct?

 

Depends on the version: the ones with 512GB SSD are equiped with a Samsung XP941 512GB PCIe SSD in the M.2 2280 slot, leaving the M.2 2260 slot free.
The ones with a 256GB SSD are equiped with 2 x SanDisk SD6SP1M128G1102 SATA SSDs in RAID 0, occupying both slots.

 

Perfect, I'm looking for the 512gb version. Are there any limit on the second slot?

 

On the Asus website, it now lists the NX500 specification with having a full HD screen (1920 x 1080) screenshot.
Is anyone aware of a change in production specifications?

Also there have been some reports about the laptop always running at 800MHz when on battery power.
Can anyone shed a light on that?

Please do share all your experiences for they are scarce

 

Dont know where you are looking but on the UK website is still featured as UHD

Screenshot-www.asus.com 2015-02-09 12-56-10 by london2tim posted Feb 9, 2015 at 12:58 PM

 

Hi there,
just in case anyone is interested in the same question I had before jumping the cold water and buying a NX500:

It is possible to install a clean Win 8.1 with TrueCrypt encrypting the whole drive (i.e. the XP941).

I wasn't really sure about that because the XP941 is a M.2 PCIe drive and TryCrypt needs a Bios (not UEFI) boot of an MBR drive. This gap must be closed by the (UEFI)-Bios and it does so brilliantly. If you switch off secure boot and enable CSM, the NX500 is perfectly able to load the TrueCrypt bootloader from the XP941 and then run from the wholly encrypted SSD.

I have the 16GB Ram / 512GB SSD version from Germany.
Cheers!

 

Hi There,

I bought Asus NX500 a month ago from johnlewis. Currently i am having display issue. My screen is getting flickering or grey color strips randomly. Sometime i use it many hours without this display issue and sometime many times in a day.

If anybody having this kind of issue please share.

Thanks.

 

Looks like a driver issue - have you changed the driver settings - or put a new one? If not look to see if there are any updates - i had 2 so far

 

I had installed new intel driver from ASUS website. But still same behavior. Please keep update if you find any solution..Thanks.

 

I didn't change the driver settings..what is settings??

do you have this issue?

is it manufacturing issue?

what updates?

Thanks for your reply..

 

then it sounds like a defect with the laptop - for the 2000GBP you should have it replaced

 

Does anybody know what the deal is w/ their site showing a 1920x1080 IPS screen? Yet I can't seem to find it for sale anywhere...

 

How are the keyboards on this laptop? I'm thinking of selling my rMBP and buying one of these instead. Most reviews seem to find the keyboard less than satisfactory.

 

depends on what country site you are looking
i think the 4k screen was only released in couple of markets

 

not that great...

 

Could someone please run OCCT http://www.ocbase.com/index.php/download and run the cpu test with and without the charger.

On batterypower only I still get 799 mhz only, energy setting is on high performance.

Now im only using it with the charger otherwise its wayyyyy to slow.

Thanks in advance.

 

I ran the OCCT and while idle it read 799 for a moment. Once I started using the computer it jumped to 2300. I am on battery power, not on high performance but balanced.

my issue is that windows 8.1 has been freezing up on me at times. for a new unit this is frustrating.

otherwise I love it, yes a bit heavier than I thought it would be but the screen and overall performance (besides the occasional freezing/hiccups) is fantastic.

My other problem, which is not windows or this computer based, is that I use Photoshop/Bridge etc from adobe and the icons when at the 4K resolution are so small that you cannot see them. After a few years of these hi-res laptop screens and lots and lots of complaints, adobe has yet to address this issue correctly.

 

Thanks for testing, idle 799 is fine but my nx500 stays at 799 all the time. Im gonna try an fresh windows 8.1 install i hope that helps. Sometimes my unit is freezing too.
Its a beautiful laptop but for 2000€ this is unacceptable.

 

no problem. i wanted to check to see if I had the same problem which I guess I do not. maybe try contacting asus' customer support and discuss it with them. maybe they have a few other ideas that may assist you prior to doing a fresh install. good luck with it.

 

I'd get it looked at as freezing is not normal.

 

Hey
anyone with this specific model - that have noticed any dead pixels?
i noticed about 5 dead pixels (very small indeed) but only noticed them recently - dont really know yet if its dead pixels or something to do with the protective glass - because when i move the white cursor on the black dots - they seem to be at a upper level than the actual lcd pixels - almost as if they are on the glass protecting the lcd panel
i dont know if this is dead pixels or something else - i have been using the laptop more lately - 8-9h a day at full brightness

as i said i have only noticed them today as i was working on a image editing with lots of white in - and was very close to screen - hence why those black dots stood out - and as i said earlier - they are like 4-5 of them each in different areas
initially i thought it was dirty screen but then i noticed they wont come off and - they seem to be on the screen glass - not on the actual lcd pixels - but maybe that's how it looks ---

paid a fortune of this laptop and i would hate to start having dead pixels already -------

 

tried to take a pic - very hard with such a high DPI - but please notice the dark colouration - in the red circle area - which looks like a tiny blue/black pixel(s) but looks more as i said on the glass panel than the lcd behind it

 

Whatever it is, if you're within 30 days of purchase, have your screen replaced at an Asus service center. Take advantage of the 30 day zero bright dot guarantee.

 

unfortunately i am passed the 30 days....still in the 1 year warranty
they want me to send over the laptop into service by courier - takes 2-3 weeks etc
i will probably wait couple more months - so that when i send it over they can fix the other dead pixels that will appear - there seems to be a a new one every day ...
for such an expensive laptop...im really disappointed on how terrible this issue can be - have they not tested the panels before releasing them to public??