Ivy Bridge Zenbook with FHD IPS screen UX21A UX31A UX32A UX32VD

When I install a new SSD do I have to do something to disable the caching function of the 32GB drive? It would be pretty stupid to use a slower ssd drive to cache from the faster.

 

I have the track pad software installed. I read about 100 pages ago you could unlock more settings with a reg hack or something. Think I could use that.

 

Hey guys,

Referring to some sort of eventual UK release, i can only find the ux31a (i7, 256gb ssd version) from Comet. Ive been waiting for some sort of actual store to list it, but anyone seen the price? Its crazy. Comet are listing it for £1849.99

Buy ASUS UX31A-R4003V | 13.3" LAPTOP - Laptops | Comet

Im hoping more stores start stocking these here, and hopefully the VD as well, because i'd really like to see these two and compare them in person.

Been waiting for a good while, wonder when this situation is going to come to light...

 

Just don't install ExpressCache or if you clone the factory win7 install, then uninstall it.

Additional data: ExpressCache creates his cache partition upon installing. These are HSF partitions (apple-type), not NTFS. If you later delete this partition, ExpressCache simply stops working and stays that way.

 

Hi guys.. I have been reading this thread since day one. I am a newbie at screen resolution. In my country they are selling UX32VD-R3001V , 13.3" HD+ Color Shine(LED) (1600 x 900) may i know other than the processor, is there any other difference? Is the screen still IPS? ( To be honest i dun really know what is IPS but from the comments you guys made, i would think it's an awesome display ^^)

Any answers would be appreciated. Thanks!

 

Hey, welcome to the forum. The screen is regrettably not an IPS on the R3001V, and it will look much worse. While it's still an excellent machine, I definitely think the price difference is worth it. The 1920x1080 IPS screen will stay modern for a long time, so it's a safer bet if you want it to last.

The one with the IPS is called UX32VD-R4002V in Europe. Cheers

 

It looks like the new Zenbooks are beginning to show up in the retail supply chain here in the US.

Best Buy finally has the UX31A-R5102F on their site, but no stores near me have any in stock.

Microcenter has the UX31A-DB51 in stock at both their Atlanta locations.

I didn't see anything for Fry's, or any of the office supply stores.

 

Yep, noticed it last week.
Just suddenly appeared last week in Comet but previosuly UX31e was exclusive to PC world in UK so makes sense but stupid really from Asus.
Also £1849 is ridculous, good luck with that Asus since for that most would stick to the Apple mac pro Retina I think.

 

not cloning the install, i'm going to put just the OS on the 32GB SSD, nothing else. Then that frees an extra 20 gig or so on my main ssd.

 

Oh icic. thanks for the info! sigh my country only has the R3001V for now

 

Wow..that wasn't there earlier this morning even because I checked. Also, it's really cheap at $999..wonder what screen is in it as it doesn't mention that anywhere.

 

So, the Windows Experience Index results are a bit surprising to me. I have a Sony Vaio Z (VPCZ122GX) from almost 2 years ago, and the WEI is at 6.7 / 5.9 / 6.4 / 6.4 / 7.9.

Here are my comments / concerns:

• I understand the i7 in the UX32VD is better than the i5 in my Vaio.
• Will th 5.9 RAM score increase after upgrading with the 8BG Mushkin 1600 CL11?
• Most surprising, the Graphics and Gaming Graphics scores on my Vaio are 6.4, while the UX32VD are 6.3 and 6.3. How is this possible? One huge benefit of the UX32VD is the dedicated graphics card. My Vaio has a NVIDIA GeForce GT 330M. Is this score suggesting that my current graphics card is better than the new one coming in the UX32VD?
• Finally, I have a SSD in my Vaio, hence the 7.9 score. I understand the 5.9 score on the UX32VD is due to the regular drive that comes pre-installed. If I get this machine, I plan to upgrade to a Crucial M4 SSD. Would this cause the 5.9 score to change to 7.9?

Just want to make sure if I replace my Vaio with this, that it's actually better.

Thanks!

 

Yep needed the Elan driver and now the ATK package hooks up to it correctly.

 

Wow! The American equivalent on Amazon comes at £1,018.49 which is an unbelievable £831.50 difference. Do you think it's a typo? And here I was thinking that the UX32VD was the right laptop for me! Asus really needs to sort itself out since they're going to lose out on a lot of money if they just miss out the UK for the UX32VD and charge ridiculous prices for the UX31A.

 

The WEI score only uses the Intel Graphics to calculate. I personally never take too much stock in those scores. IT does give a relative reference point to compare modifications.

 

Uninstalled the ExpressCache. Gonna reboot in a sec and that will be done.

Meanwhile, I bought Battlefield 2 Bad Company on Amazon for $5. Seemed like a great way to test the gaming on the UX32VD, and was SUPER cheap. Installed, updated, and really runs good. Seemed a little choppy at 1920x1080, so I set the gaming resolution to 1440x900. The game then looked a 16:9 image on a 4:3 screen. There were black bars around the video of the game.

Okay, so I set my video res to 1400x900 and went into the game. But when I went to play... the bars were still there. WORSE, when I came OUT of the game... there was a LINE running down the left side of the screen. And changing resolutions can fix it, but now every time I run at 1920x1090 it's back. And it's not a refresh issue. I'm already set to 60Hz.

So the questions are:

1) Anyone else get a single pixel line down the left edge of your screen after changing resolutions and if so, were you able to fix it?

2) Any way to get games to play full screen in a lower resolution?

Figure it's got something to do with the Nvidia vs Discreet graphics, but don't know how to "flip" between them to see.

The "line" down the left side of the screen seems to have gone away as I worked in a couple apps, etc. WAS there on reboot, but fixed now. Wierd.

A little more info.

So Bad Company 2 seems to be the problem with the line on the left side. It came back after playing it again.

I also figured out how to get rid of playing the game with black bars around it in a lower res. There is a config file under your documents directory, and if you chance the DX version from "auto" to 9, it seems to do the trick. The game was WRITTEN for 9, so even though using the newer versions SHOULD be fine... seems to be some sort of known issue. And it's great in 9, so wth right?

 

^^^merk which model ssd did you buy? Did you have to take the cover off to make it fit?

thank you.

 

Just double checking, this is the RAM upgrade is the best and that this SSD upgrade is the best. ( I do not need massive amounts of storage, I will be using an external drive as well)

I'm getting ready to purchase and am double checking everything! Thanks!

 

The Windows score is a moving target, if you ran it 2 years ago update Windows and run again, same hardware will in theory score lower today than two years ago (supposedly)

 

how does newegg handle returns? I am not "settling" for a broken computer and plan on returning them until i get one that works.

 

They call it "HD+", which seems to be marketing speak for anything more than 720p and less than 1080p.

Sent from my AT270 using Tapatalk 2

 

Just double checking, this is the RAM upgrade is the best and that this SSD upgrade is the best. ( I do not need massive amounts of storage, I will be using an external drive as well)

I'm getting ready to purchase and am double checking everything! Thanks!

also, how does newegg handle returns? I plan on taking breakdown's route and returning until I get a functioning machine. I'm not "settling" for a broken notebook.

 

Hey guys, I plan to upgrade the RAM in my 32VD. Unfortunately there's only this available with CL11: Kingston ValueRAM 8GB SO-DIMM, DDR3-1600

Has anybody else upgraded his Ultrabook with exactly this stick ?

 

I did this and mine scored the same as it did two years I ago I believe, not sure I pay too much attention to this score.

 

Does anybody have experience with Microcenter's return policy if you buy online? Any restocking fees? I'm on my 2nd db51 with stuck pixels and I'm not sure if Amazon is willing to give me another exchange at this point, although they did extend the offer to let me return it. I love the machine but I am not going to accept less than perfection on the display, especially given ASUS' zero bright dot guarantee.

 

I am beginning to wonder in this screen bleed is a fatal flaw with this machine. Just too many have it to chalk it up to happenstance.

 

the correct SSD I apologize the other one was the set up kit.

 

The light bleed is not a big deal to me, especially since it is only noticeable to me during the Windows boot up screen. I don't see it at any other time. I do, however, take issue with stuck/bright pixels when they tout the display and put the 'zero bright dot' guarantee on the box.

 

I would and have taken issue with anything that isn't right in a machine costing this much. If it has these problems out of the box what might happen a few months down the road? That's my issue with settling for something that isn't right. My second and last of these will arrive tomorrow. It will either be correct or this time it goes back for a refund.

 

I just found a dead pixel on mine. NewEgg wont refund it for me, they are doing an exchange. I had them upgrade return shipping to 2 day. I hope there isn't anything wrong with the new one coming in or else -- I will have to do a charge back on my CC.

 

My mistake on the Windows score, the score never changes but the highest you can score will increase over time as new tech comes out I guess.

What is the Windows Experience Index?

 

I think the guarantee means that if there IS a stuck pixel, they'll replace it. Not that they're literally guaranteeing that there won't be any stuck pixels, which is virtually impossible for them to do.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

 

Obviously, I realize that. My point is that if they set such expectations, they better deliver and customers should hold them to it. Although it seems they could at least do a better quality check before they ship these things because it appears many people are having pixel issues with the display, and it takes all of 15 seconds to check for them.

 

what happens to the warranty on the ux32vd if I upgrade it?

 

Every screen will show "bleed" when the background is not populated with color as in the Windows boot screen. If instead you use something like MS Paint and color the background black you will see no "bleed." In fact the brighter the LED backlight the more the apparent bleed when an un-pigmented splashscreen is all that stands in front of the backlight. Thus appertaining bright screens like the Asus UX and Sony Z will show the brightest "bleed" while Windows is booting up.

 

Here is a comparison of my windows index before and after a ram and SSD upgrade

Before


After
http://webpages.charter.net/ibagci/windows upgrade.JPG

 

Hmmm...I was getting 6.3 for my graphics performance and 6.3 for my gaming graphics before my ram upgrade. Afterwards my graphics performance went to 5.9 and the gaming graphics stayed at 6.3. Not sure why.

 

mine dropped too, not sure why

Sent from my SPH-D710 using Tapatalk 2

 

Maybe that had effected ram speed?

 

Do the dead pixel test with a black screen you should be able to see black light bleeding if anything. I was like you and thought I could live with it but after watching a movie that had black on the top and bottom I couldn't live with it and returned it.

 

Not to beat a dead horse here

But who here has received a ux23vd without any screen bleed or noticeable levels.
I am curious mostly whether to purchase one and get over any concerns before hand,
As to avoid a big exchange process to get a good unit if it is in fact
Most units which are in this condition

 

I haven't heard of any without some sort of backlight bleed at least during boot, either 32vd or 31a, they all have it. Some also have fan issues and some have adapter issues. I had the latter where bluetooth would disconnect for no apparent reason as would WIDI and the wireless N would fluctuate in speed all the time. I think it is probably a driver issue but I figured I would try one more anyway which arrives today.

 

Ordered the UX32VD via Amazon. Also purchased 8GB DDR3 1600 MHz Corsair Vengeance RAM to replace 2GB of the RAM and OCZ Vertex 3 LP 60GB SSD to replace the hybrid hd. I've heard that the OEM Windows 7 is packed with junk. If I upgrade to Win7 Pro - will it do a clean install without the OEM add-ons? Any other suggestions for fixing any known issues/improving performance?

 

Of course it will be clean if you do a clean install but you are wrong in thinking the pc is full of junk when it arrives. It hardly has any that doesn't serve a useful purpose. Most things are related to hardware and drivers and you will find out that you will have to reinstall most of them again anyway. There is a Office 2010 starter that can be removed but it isn't very big..off hand I can't think of much else.

 

Yes, I have done that. It's black. There is no issue unless I'm looking down on the screen from above at an extreme angle. The only time I notice any bleed is during the Windows boot up screen. I agree with lovelaptop's comment.

 

The Samsung has a brighter screen than this, 400 nits vs. 350. Does it also bleed at windows boot? I have never heard anybody say it does.

 

On a black screen pixel test, I do not have any blacklight bleed. Like others have said, I only see it on the Windows Boot Screen and it isn't that noticeable.

IIRC - Another member here did receive (after 4 exchanges) a 'perfect' unit though.

 

Is the graphics performance test using the Intel graphics and the gaming performance using the Nvidia graphics? If so, the difference might be explained by the decrease in memory performance (loss of dual channel) since the Intel uses the main memory.

 

Huh? How is that possible? The black Windows book up screen is no different than any black image. If you see it during boot up, you'll see it on anything that has black in that region -- black bars from a 2.35:1 movie, very dark scenes in movies, etc.

 

Staples also has the UX31A-R5102H in stock now but $50 more than BestBuy.

That's not true..once in windows you can set your theme to something all black like high contrast and you won't see anything.