Ivy Bridge Zenbook with FHD IPS screen UX21A UX31A UX32A UX32VD

seaDonkee: Disabling touchpad can be done by using FN + F9, granted you have the ATK-drivers.

FN + F9 is more work than if the computer had autodisabled while typing and back on again when not typing, but it's livable imo.

 

Seems UX32VD is hard to come by, you think they are fixing some of the problems with it before shipping more or do they just have a hard time making enough. i ask this beacuse here in Finland they have pushed the release date back several times. First it was supposed to come out week 28 then they changed it to week 29 and then they changed it to week 30 and now yesterday they said sorry that it will come in week 32.

UX31A is in stock tought since this week. The pricing policy is a bit weird here tought. First i tought id get the UX31A, but they offer only the i7 128ssd version here for 1299 euro. UX32VD is in 3 versions tought i3 version for 799 euro, i5 for 999 euro and i7 for 1099. So i decided to order the UX32VD i7 version beacuse the other 2 dont come with full hd screen. But seems to me that the UX32VD is priced about the same or higher in USA than the UX31A.

 

can someone tell me how to spot the adata on the brown box, i know the black box is likely to have the "sandforce" sticker on it, but im worried that bb reps won't let me open the brown box to see what sticker is inside, so what should i be looking for on the outside? Thanks

 

Just explain to them what you are trying to do. Reps at two different BB allowed me to check inside for the black box (4 of which were sandisk ). AFAIK it's not possible to tell from the brown box.

 

thanks..im in dc right now and there are two bb near me, one in va that has them in stock now, and one in md that i will have to ship to the store, hopefully the va one has it, im also going to va cuz they have a lower tax rate..lol

 

My UX31A just randomly shut down. Lovely.

 

have u had any other problems with it? and where did u get it from

 

Got it from MicroCenter last night. If it happens again it is going back. :/ No other issues. There's a little backlight bleed but not enough to annoy me. SSD is SandForce ADATA

 

Welcome to the club

I was not even touching mine when it just died. If it's a hardware issue, that confuses me because there are zero moving parts anywhere on this thing. If I was klacking away on the keyboard when it shut down I could understand (loose internal wire or something). I'm thinking it's poor software somewhere along the way.

Whatever the case, this is very concerning. I cannot risk just losing what I'm working on because the machine decides to die with zero warning.

I'd bet this is going to be more widespread as more people get their UX31As...

 

If this is a persistent problem may just have to get a MacBook Air. As much as it pains me. I know I can count on Apple for support. After my 15 or 30 days are up with MicroCenter, where do I stand? Shipping it off to Asus to receive it back weeks later and potentially unfixed?

The problem with the MBA is that I NEED Windows for some things I do. Dual booting is something I would rather NOT do, but MBA battery life is terrible in Windows. There is just no perfect solution.

At least my Asus Transformer Pad is nice. Probably going to upgrade to the Transformer Infinity. They make nice tablets. Nexus 7 looks great too.

 

So, has anyone gotten a UX31A without bleed issues? I have been in contact with an Asus rep who has told me it is just a part of having an IPS display.

 

To me it seems like it's mostly because the display is getting pinched because of a poor design in the lid.

 

is there any way that the ssd (maybe adata) could be a cause for the shut down?, so far those who have had that issue have adata, or does the ssd not matter at all with this?

 

I have been reading a lot of forums lately and I have seen bleed complaints on many IPS displays: Dell, IPAD2, Transformer Prime Tablet, etc..., so I am not sure.

 

It could be sensor related too, or in the software that reads the sensors. So it thinks its hot enough to shutdown when its not. This could be related to the fan cycling issue where the fan just keeps spinning up over and over without regard to actual temp.

 

I haven't noticed the fan cycling issue. What should I notice from that? I only use sleep. Hibernation file is deleted. Instant on partition is deleted too.

 

I doubt it's related but FWIW I have the ADATA drive as well.

This is a major showstopper. I cannot risk this thing just up and dying in the middle of important documents.

 

I had an asus rep tell me that as well early on, then told me to exchange it as its likely an isolated issue.

Heres the thing, IPS displays are known for their wide viewing angles and accurate color reproduction. Backlight bleed creates light and shadow areas on the display which would result in inaccurate color reproduction due to light levels.

Apple is known for using IPS displays (probably why asus went that direction since they are competing with the air) and they are beautiful. Never seen any bleed on any of them. Ive had iPad, iPad2, and the new one as have friends and never seen a bad screen on them.

I'm sure there are bad screens out there, nothing is perfect but with the asus I think its on every unit. I got one (my 3rd) that I thought was fine but it got bleed in first few days of use.

Heres what I think is causing it...

Asus designed the zenbook series with the 1600x900 displays they used in the previous generation in mind. I doubt they created new machining for the new A series so they are using the same case parts... the IPS display is likely a thicker part, not a huge difference but enough that the bezel pushes against the screen much in the same way as if you pressed your finger against the bezel edge of most notebooks.

The result is the bleed we are seeing.

The wear of opening and closing the lid over time may increase or decrease the bleed as it works its way into normal use.

 

Are you still using windows?

Essentially, the fan operates normally after a fresh boot.... but once you close the lid and let it sleep then open it again the issue starts.

The fan will start to cycle... first hitting its max RPMs then slowly slowing down for about a minute then speed back up to max RPMs. over and over again. I've monitored temperatures and its not heat related.

The end result is that your wasting power on the fan and its noisy making it less appropriate to use in certain situations. The solution is to reboot, but that kinda defeats the purpose of instant on.

Can anyone test their unit to see if it does this... i'm really curious if its all of them or just a select few. Trying to decide if i should return or do a 4th exchange.

 

My fan goes nuts too. Even when it's sitting there, idling doing nothing.

This display is beautiful, but it just feels like a beta product.

There goes my fan again. 100% blast for no reason. Very nice.

 

i should stop reading this forum, its syking me out of purchasing the ux31a..lol, i feel like the bad comments greatly outweigh the good..hopefully the bb i go to has one on display and i can play with it to see if that batch is a batch of ux31a's i want to go with

 

Well at least you know what yo are getting into. Everything posted here is very common. Just hope you don't get the random immediate shutdown issue. It's nasty and will probably cause me to go back to Lenovo.

 

Yes. I am using Win 7 HP x64.

No fan cycling issues that I can hear. Is it always waking up the laptop from anything or from something particular? I only use sleep. Just wondering if perhaps it only happens when waking up from hibernation or something like that.

 

Light bleed links that I have been researching.

Light Bleed

http://forum.notebookreview.com/lenovo-ibm/579154-x220-ips-backlight-bleed-3.html

IPS Panasonic HDTV: Is this backlight bleeding acceptable? - [H]ard|Forum

What is acceptable backlight bleeding on an IPS monitor? - [H]ard|Forum

Is your iPad 2 backlight bleeding? (video) -- Engadget

https://discussions.apple.com/message/13203882#13203882

Hope this helps. I hope I can find people without backlight bleed issues on the UX31A, but I am not very hopefully right now. The problem is most of time on forums you only see the negatives.

 

I'm thinking you might have done a clean install since your other partitions have been deleted, true?

The fan cycling works like this... It doesn't do it after a fresh boot so rebooting fixed it temporarily as well.

Any time you resume from sleep OR hibernate the fan will never really idle. It will spin up to max RPMs (4500+) then slowly wind down to around 1500rpms which takes about a minute then it spins up to max again and repeats.

I've monitored it with speedfan and the machine temps never get high at all... it just gets into that pattern and repeats. It does this if Im doing work or if I just leave it sitting there after boot.

After a fresh boot I can work for hours with the fan maybe coming on once or twice.

 

Quick question that might help identify the root cause. Was your machine on the ac adapter or batteries when it shut down?

I saw something similar to this with some think pads a few years ago. Turned out to be voltage regulation issues (due to heat build up) that would then trigger the laptop to shutoff to protect the battery.

Getting a new adapter solved the issue.

 

My UX31A is perfect. Sandforce ssd, zero back light bleeding, no shut off issues, low voltage ram, and no apparent cycling issues. Perfect ones do exist

 

Where did you purchase it? What is the full model number?

 

I felt the same way about my "perfect" machine until it decided to shutdown in the middle of a document. Time will tell but I think there is an issue with these randomly shutting down...

Bone stock by the way.

 

Unicorns really do exist!

Glad to hear there is at least one ux31a in the world that actually lives up to its specs.

Is yours still running the OS it came with or have you done a wipe and reinstalled? Curious if it came from the factory that way. If it did ship correct then every issue out there is QC related which i find likely.

 

I did not do a clean install. I wiped out some bloat, wiped out the 4GB instant on partition, and wiped out the recovery partition after making recovery DVDs. I have not had the fan issue. My UX31A has been very quiet. But I think a random shut off is just as bad.

It shut off about 5 minutes after I resumed it from sleep while at work. Not on a charger.

 

IMO Random shutoff is far worse. The fan makes it inconvenient, random offs make it unusable for real work. If it did a spontaneous reboot more than once in your return period id be taking it back.

 

Definitely. I will exchange it for another UX31A if it happens again. If I have issues with the 2nd laptop I go MacBook Air or go back to a Sony T13.

The UX31A is theoretically nicer than both, but I had zero issues in my month with the T13.

 

Here is the event log from my immediate shutdown last night. Kernel event. This is software not hardware.





And of course Microsoft is no help. Awesome.

Kernel Power Event 41

 

So how do we narrow it down? My computer was idling with only Chrome open.

 

No clue. I was only using Chrome as well. Chrome? What say you? Could this be the issue? (doubtful, but it's a start)

 

I thought I heard about Chrome causing kernel panics with some of the new Macs and causing a shut down.

Completely different OS but could be a similar issue? Perhaps I'll switch to Chrome Canary or Firefox and see how that goes.

 

The Reason Behind The Recent MacBook Crashes | The Droid Guy

Link about the Ivy Bridge MacBook + Chrome issues.

 

Nice theory but that article said an update went out June 28. It's July 21 and I'm using the latest version (beta, actually) so this should have been fixed already.

 

Yea. I also used the Ivy Bridge Sony T13 for a month with Chrome and without single a random shut off or blue screen.

 

I bought it from ncix canada. AS UX31A-1AR4/USB3.0-1

I reformatted.

 

Hey,

How are the temperatures on the UX32VD while gaming on maximum and low settings? While casually browsing what are the temperatures in key spots such as the bottom (if placed on the lap), the keyboard, the touchpad, palm rests. And how is the fan noise during casual use, gaming, etc.?

I'm concerned because the UX32VD uses rebranded Fermi chips with a TDP of 35 watts versus newer chips such as the GT 640M-LE, which uses Kepler architecture and has a TDP of only 17 watts.

Thanks!

 

Hey,

How are the temperatures on the UX32VD while gaming on maximum and low settings? While casually browsing what are the temperatures in key spots such as the bottom (if placed on the lap), the keyboard, the touchpad, palm rests. And how is the fan noise during casual use, gaming, etc.?

I'm concerned because the UX32VD uses rebranded Fermi chips with a TDP of 35 watts versus newer chips such as the GT 640M-LE, which uses Kepler architecture and has a TDP of only 17 watts.

And when just playing movies off and on charging how are the temperatures? And what cooling compound did you use if at all?

Thanks!

 

Does anyone make a skin for the UX31A ?

I was able to buy a skin for my G51JX from Zagg back when I bought that laptop, but I haven't been able to find something similar for the UX31A.

 

For sleepsilver:
I got my UX32VD yesterday from Microcenter. I replaced the mechanical hard drive with a 256GB Crucial M4 and installed Windows and all of the drivers from the ASUS site. All temperatures are measured with a non-contact IR thermometer in degrees F.

Casual browsing temperatures while Windows downloads and installs 100 updates seem to peak at about 101 deg. in the center of the keyboard, with the keyboard backlight on for a few hours. The outside of the keyboard is about 93. The touchpad temperature is 87. The maximum temperature of the laptop after being used and on a wooden table for a few hours is 101. It's warm to the touch but not bad.

Regarding fan noise, I have ceiling fans on and no other real in the room. Speedfan says the fans have been running at a minimum of 3100 rpm for the last half an hour, with a few times of 3400 rpm and I can't hear the fan at all. It is quiet enough I can hear a clock tick on the wall and I cannot hear the fan. I did just hold the back of the system to my ear and I could hear the fan spinning up, then spinning down in intervals of a second or two. But I do not hear the fan otherwise.

If I do some gaming later on I will let you know how that goes if no one else says anything by then.

Hope this helps,
Liberty

 

Cool thanks a lot! Could you also record the temperatures on the bottom while watching a FHD (1080p) movie? I like to take my laptop to the couch and watch but if its get uncomfortable hot that would indeed be a problem. Thank you very much and even if you can't cheers!

 

Ok I’ve been reading this thread since day one. I first wanted a Mac Book Air (even though I’m not familiar with Macs) since 2010, but they took away the backlit keyboard so I waited for it to return. When backlit returned, Ivy Bridge was announced so I waited; now Retina display is next so it’s a no go.

I was looking for a Windows Ultra Book last year and I really wanted a Samsung Series 9 but it was plagued with Wi-Fi and build quality issues plus the new one seems outdated from the start, with the slow ssd and just not as nice as the first one minus the problems.

I also was looking at the original UX31, but it was missing a lot of the features I wanted including the backlit keyboard. This now brings me to the UX31A, this seemed to be the Ultrabook to buy but with fan, heat, backlight bleed, and a chance of getting a slow ssd with bad build quality in general for the money, it’s out.

I know there will always be something new a few months down the line and I probably should have pulled the trigger already but for people not needing a laptop right away how come no one is waiting on the UX31A with the touch screen and windows 8 being released in Oct or the Acer S7? I would think this current model is being sold as a beta version and with all the posts about the problems; the consumer is just the guinea pig for this model. With the addition of touch screen on IPS, I would think if they built it well it would be the ultimate Ultra Book.

 

I am unsure if this has been answered or not, but why is everybody so anal about the sandisk ssd!? As in if I have had a 5400 rpm hdd for 2 years and buy this machine would I notice anything bad or would it still be the "omg ssd uber fast yay me" experience?

 

Actually that could be hardware (maybe RAM or processor, but that's guessing on my part). Reason I say that is that the error indicates there was no other preceding failure (like an app crash). You can replicate the error by holding down the power key until the machine shuts off

edit: it could be something as simple (and not the best QC if true) as a cold solder joint on the battery connection. That might also explain the somewhat random nature of it. I have seen that as well though it was with a macbook that was being used in boot camp

 

Argh, I finally bit on the UX31A from Best Buy. The light bleeding is definitely there on the lower edge. There are also a few physical imperfections (scratches on the keyboard area and the laptop was not sit flat on a flat surface). Also, it was a SanDisk SSD.