Ivy Bridge Zenbook with FHD IPS screen UX21A UX31A UX32A UX32VD

A German guy on youtube had trouble driving that resolution through HDMI, currently it works, but only at 30fps, although im not sure if this is just a software problem at the moment.

Another point for those deciding between the UX31A and VD is the dual fan design of the VD (extra cooling for the graphics card). Tbreak's review of the UX31A cites loud fan noise as a down side, so even if you don't use the dedicated GPU, because both chips are connected to the same heat pipe, the CPU should benefit from the extra cooling when used alone, and so operate quieter.

 

My Zenbook Prime UX31A-R4003V (bought in the Netherlands) has a Adata 256GB drive aswell, just FYI.

 

ive got the m4 512 7mm, rock solid and reliable , what else could one ask for

 

For those who have the UX31A, could you comment on the fan noise? I am really interested in buying a laptop that stays quiet, even when under stress.

If somebody could record a video of the fan operation while running some sort of CPU/GPU benchmark software it would be very appreciated

Cheers,
Alessandro

 

Just got this from Amazon... makes me rather annoyed since I called them the other day and they assured me it was in stock, and would arrive by Wed the 20th...

------
We're writing about the order you placed on June 17, 2012 (Order# xxxxx). Unfortunately, we are unable to ship the item(s) as soon as we expected and need to provide you with a new estimate of when the item(s) may be delivered:

"ASUS Zenbook UX32VD-DB71 13.3-Inch Ultrabook"
New Delivery Estimate: June 28, 2012 - June 29, 2012

------

 

I e-mailed my pre-ordering place (this in Finland) and they said the delivery might actually be deleyd til end of next month - maybe Asus has had bad batch and are fixing problems mentioned here?

 

Have a bunch of tabs checking newegg, frys, mwave, excalibur, and amazon with check4change. hopefully one comes in stock, haha. I should probably just preorder but I hope that newegg or frys will post an item page soon and list it in stock.

 

already saw several complaints on their facebook page about the botched release and mis-leading pre-orders. Should start a campaign of complaints or something *grumble* *grumble*

 

Is it possible to upgrade the HD and RAM on the Zenbook UX32A> It says it comes with a 7200 RPM drive....so I'm wondering if that is replaceable.

 

Hoping someone that owns a UX32VD can answer this - with the brightness set to very low (~5%):

- Is there significant backlight bleed at the top and bottom of the display?
- Is the black much brighter than if the screen were turned off?
- Does the black have a blue tinge or otherwise look 'not black'?
- Does the screen still look 'good' at this kind of brightness level?


Could be a deal breaker for me here, wasn't too worried until I saw that backlight bleed video..

 

Does anyone plan to use a Full HD Zenbook with an external monitor (with lower pixel density)? I'm worried about scaling – is it possible to set it to 125% on the notebook display and 100% on the external screen?

 

UX32VD in my hands. i5, 4GB ram altogether, 1366*768 screen, owner preferred.
I took it apart, observations:
There is a 2GB module in the RAM slot, I have no way right now to test 4GB or 8GB modules.
You can replace the HDD, but you HAVE TO take out the battery first, as it covers 2 screws out of 4 that holds the HDD bay. 7mm ONLY!!! I wanted to test it with my 9.5mm SSD and had to strip the SSD's PCB from its case (normally voids warranty of the SSD, mine has expired already), and insert it "naked" into the Zenbook, covered with paper to avoid shorts.
The battery is held by a few screws (~10), but the speakers are attached to it, and those have wires going into the mobo's slots on both sides, WATCH OUT and disconnect these before removing the battery, otherwise you risk tearing them. Everything is tiny in this design.
This model has a 500GB 5400rpm drive, that is SLOW.
It uses a 32GB Sandisk i100 SSD through Diskeeper's ExpressCache software, trying to imitate a "hybrid" solution. This helps, but it is still far from a genuine SSD solution. Why?
Because i100 gave a ~120 "AS SSD" benchmark score!!! No wonder the system didn't feel fast enough. I have personally tested it, on purpose NOT after a secure erase.
BUT it starts up at 67% Ram full, because ExpressCache uses 1GB ram too (as far as I could determine). So Ram upgrade is a must, and SSD as main drive is preferred.
I could not determine the i100's location, I didn't want to disassemble the whole machine. My original idea was to move the whole Win7 installation onto the i100, and use the 500GB HDD for data, but the Windows install is 48GB right from the factory.... Would need reinstall, etc., I'm undecided on this. I'd rather put a Vertex 4 or an Intel SSD as main drive. I might make an experiment though, without all the ASUS bloatware.
Otherwise, the machine is beautiful, the touchpad is FANTASTIC, the whole machine is a GEM.
Put in some extra ram, an SSD and it's a keeper for a long time!
I hae made a ton of photos, but have no time right now to touch-up all the barcodes and stickers on them, to make sure the warranty is not taken away (maybe later i will post them). I don't know what you can do without loosing the warranty. Replacing the HDD is not trivial. The ram module has also an antistatic foil on it that is hard to remove if possible at all (to reapply it on a bigger module), not to get shorted by the bottom cover, etc. There is no SPACE inside, people.

Full resolution photo link: https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/6ZizAyD5hgnGemdLWJh5fpvgPIvNQRAlBa_34EVijOI?feat=directlink

 

well hopefully he's telling the truth

 

Does the UX32A even exist?

 

appearently the SSD is soldered on to the board. See http://www.ssdfreaks.com/content/869/sandisk-launches-u100-i100-sata3-ssds

 

Is there only one RAM Slot?

 

I think that is what jedighost has.

@jedighost

When time permits can you comment on keyboard, use and flex?

Also I plan to get a couple of this model as the ips is too much for the people I am buying for.

Your impressions of the screen?

 

@AlwaysSearching:

I think jedighost has a UX32 VD, not a UX32 A.

 

Yes your right, I was confused as I thought you could only get ips with the VD.

 

Hi guys!

First time posting!

I hope you can help me. I just ordered a UX32VD, with an additional 8gb of RAM (Corsair Vengeance). But i'm getting abit doubtful now. Can the slot (or the computer) handle that much RAM in the free slot? ASUS website states that it can only hold 2gb or 4 gb, for a total of 4gb/6gb. But when i see images here on the forum, it clearly showes that it's possible to install 8gb, but can the computer handle it? Can it crash due to overheating etc or other problems?
Can someone, preferrably with 8gb installed and tested it, help me straighten this out for me?

Thanks in advance!

 

If you look through the previous posts, 2 confirmed owners have already installed 8gb modules in their UX32vd's and provided bios screenshots showing them at 10GB.

 

Here's the handy little chart again:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/asu...-ux21a-ux31a-ux32a-ux32vd-56.html#post8622617

 

I've read and seen the posts about that, but i was wondering if anybody noticed any longterm effect of having 10gb ram installed. Sure, the computer recognizes the 8gb stick on a short term, but how does it work when they have had the computer a couple of days/week now?

 

Ordered my UX31A-DB71 from Amazon on Sunday while there were about 4 units left in stock.

I'm pretty darn excited. I can't wait to dump my Macbook Air for a Windows native ultrabook with the right features. Constantly running Fusion for work was getting tiresome - not to mention a battery killer.

 

Did they actually ship yours?

I thought a fair number (all???) of the people who ordered got emails saying "too bad so sad... no laptops until end of July"?

Maybe that was only people who ordered the VD?

 

Just received my UX31A-DB51 from Amazon. I do not have time for full write up at the moment but here are a few things:

The SSD is an ADATA XM11, WEI scores it at 7.9
The Screen is the nicest I have seen on a laptop in recent memory.
The keyboard is solid, like the look and feel better than the original Zenbook.

My only initial complaint is there is a large backlight bleed in the upper right corner. It was very obvious on boot up against the black background, even in my well lit room. Switching the background in windows to something brighter makes it no so noticeable, but I will have to check it in the dark later.

I will try and post further observations later, if I get the time (busy work day today).

 

Oh my god.....Just put it in and be happy (that's what she said).

You can't kill a computer by adding extra RAM

 

It's probably the folks who ordered the VD. After placing my order on Sunday I checked the product website again and the inventory had indeed gone down to three left. The ultrabook was shipped and the expected delivery date is the 20th - tomorrow.

 

I'm excited toooooo. Not that I ordered one, but that they're finally rolling out. I'm still flip flopping between the SS9 and the UX31A-DB71, and likely won't buy for at least a month. I'm hoping in that time one of the models will have a catastrophic flaw and it will no longer be a tough decision. Or even that SS9 comes out with a 256GB (maybe i7) and it won't be form vs function...

 

I've met a few E-Commerce professionals during my tenure as sys admin and they all had one thing in common - Samsung Series 9 Ultrabook. I don't know if it's a "thing" but they all had one. Weird.

 

yes there is only 1 ram slot.

 

I was really hoping that Asus would get this launch right. Sadly it's looking like they're doing the same thing they did with the transformer prime. I broke down and bought a 13" Macbook air today. If availability opens up by the end of the month then I'll return the Macbook but the transformer prime took about 4 months before they were readily available.

 

I'm not the best lab rat, as I don't use a laptop daily and I'm not too sensitive on these things. So far the keyboard is excellent, great feedback , can get used to it really fast. Flex is minimal. By normal typing you hardly notice any flex. You'd have to push hard to get flex, and the button long before noticed your intent, so there is no need for strong push at all.

My client did not want huge ppi, as his eyes would be strained with a FullHD 13" screen. He can have a 24" FullHD monitor connected to the UX32VD at home, would he need the "real estate".

The screen is just fine for me. I didn't expect much, knowing it is not an IPS. But I don't even know what to look for, and I don't have a TV or an IPS here to compare it to. The max brightness should do in sunlight.

 

@chicgeek:

Thanks... I must have missed your chart the first time you posted it.

So the UX32A does not have an FHD option so that takes it off my list.

That leaves the UX32VD or the UX31A which everyone else is struggling with.

I'm leaning towards the UX31A since it's less expensive and I imagine the battery time is longer with the bigger battery, SSD only and integrated GPU.

 

No problem! It's hard to keep track of. Also, the UX31 is only cheaper if you're considering the lower spec models. The UX31-DB71 is actually likely to be a bit more expensive at $1500.

 

You won't be able to upgrade RAM or HD if you get the UX31A...

 

I think you're the first one to receive the UX31A. How did you manage to get it already? Is it specifically this same one from amazon? If that's the case, it says it won't be available for another 8-9 days.

Anyways, since you got it so soon, would you mind popping off the bottom and verify that the SSD uses a custom form factor and not upgradable? I posted pics from an early model HERE that the SSD is not upgradable because of the shape of it.

 

Info: To "Secure Erase" your Sandisk i100 SSD in UX32-VD, you need the latest beta Parted Magic version, namely: pmagic_2012_06_19.iso . Previous versions don't wake up properly from sleep, to unfreeze the SSD inside.
Enhanced Secure Erase took 15 seconds.
Warning: don't Secure Erase you main HDD by mistake!

 

Hello, purchased the ux32vd from amazon, awaiting delivery. Noticed a few posts about upgrade of RAM to 10gb. Please post howto instructions on how to do this.

-recommended memory module vendor, corsair?
-how to open the case, special tools needed?
-is it a simple removal of existing and replace with new dimm?
-does this invalidate the warranty?
-if so, are there approved vendors who can do this operation and warranty not invalidated?

Any info, howto on swapping out the ux32vd disk with an ssd?

-recommended part ssd vendor?
-instructions on swap?
-warrant void?

 

Hey guys, I'm in the market for the asus ux31a-51, or the 71. Not sure if I want to pay the extra 400 for 256 gb ssd. I've been following this thread and does anybody know which retailers are participating in the Microsoft free xbox 360 console with the purchase of the zenbook prime? Is it only the Microsoft store? It seems that the laptop isn't even available there, anybody know when the Microsoft store may have it in stock/or at least for backorder. I want that console!

 

Db51 Back In Stock At Amazon

 

Yeah and also 50 bucks overpriced.. Sure someone will overpay tho

 

Yeah, it's over retail. Gotta get it by next week though and from chatting with other sites they don't expect stock until next week. Best case scenario is the launch goes well, amazon lowers by 50 bucks, and I get the price difference back by calling them.

 

Best case scenerio -- Microsoft store gets UX31-51s in stock and I get a free xbox 360 console

 

MS Store taxes in my state, damn. Though you can probably sell one of those slims for $150 ish. Not too bad of a deal. They added a new zenbook to their store but it's just the old zenbook in pink

 

Is Amazon not any good for the Xbox?

 

No one can seem to confirm this.

 

Highly unlikely. Microsoft had a press release and didn't name Amazon. Amazon did have that 100 dollar gift card with ultrabook offer going on, but once ivy bridge laptops starting coming out they dropped that very quickly

 

It was a probably a promotion to get rid of old Sandy Bridge stock.

 

According to Slickdeals. Frys should have the deal

Students - Buy a PC, get a free Xbox 360 starting 5/20 - Slickdeals.net

according to M.S facebook page, only Dell, HP Newegg and BB are doing it

https://www.facebook.com/windows?sk=app_221398727900777&app_data=dp=1670&dv=2082

and Newegg only has a limited number of laptops, maybe once they have it in stock I will try to talk to CS and get it done..

Also according to ASUS