Ivy Bridge Zenbook with FHD IPS screen UX21A UX31A UX32A UX32VD

It's very easy to sell on Amazon actually, I've sold a ton of stuff there.

 

Ok, it asks for the social security number, a bit off topic, but if I start selling stuff online won't I receive a lessened amount of financial aid? (I am college student). Because I heard from some people if you had a car payment or credit card you receive less. So isn't it the same thing?

 

Is the instant on partition needed for when the computer is on sleep mode or just hibernation?

 

Well guys, i have several questions for those who own ux32vd.......

1.How good is the build quality and the trackpad?

2.clock frequency(base) of i7-3517?(1.7GHz or 1.9 GHz? Intel says there are two versions)

3.BF3 performance?(no filter, at 720p,900p with high and med settings)

4.Heat?(Say after 2/3hr of continuous playing of BF3/Skyrim/Crysis2?)

5.Throttling(if any)?(in the prev case)

 

Is it only one year warranty for the UX32vd? I was considering buying it but 1 year is not a lot.. It's 2 years for the UX31a with i5 & 128go SSD.

 

Where is that? It's only 1 year in the US.

 

Belgium, Germany, France & more i think..
I'm talking about the low-end model here, not true for the others.

 

They are all the same here, 1 year. Two years would tempt me to try it again. As it is I am not sure it will last two years.

 

I don't think anyone is privy to know or share how financial aid decisions are made.

However, selling on Amazon == income, and income definitely has an impact.

I'd sell it on craigslist or at school when you're on campus.

 

well when i checked amazon the lowest price for a new one was 168.99 + shipping so i set mine at 167 + shipping, i also included in the description that i would include tracking (people love tracking). So after fees and what not, my profit is about 154..which isnt bad, yes i could have done the craigslist route but i didnt want to have to worry about my safety..lol.i normally sell textbooks on amazon so this was my first electronic device but my previous sells boosted my rating so much that i had no doubt someone would be trusting to buy from me, which is why i believe it sold within an hour of me posting it on the site.

But i am def pleased with going with the option of looking inside the box at the store instead of doing a ship to store option..i havent installed any additional drivers that everyone else has been discussing, im guessing once something starts annoying me i'll then look for a solution.

 

in germany the ux32vd got also 2y warranty

 

i really don't understand what you are asking, i was on financial aid all 4 years of undergrad and my purchases had nothing to do with my aid, it was mainly my mother's w-2s and my own. I think mainly the only way your financial aid can decrease is if your household income increases, selling a xbox on amazon will not increase your household income..lol

 

I think this is probably pretty accurate. I wouldn't worry about financial aid and selling something on Amazon. I've sold textbooks and smaller electronic things on Amazon, but never an Xbox or anything weighing as much as one (shipping costs).

 

So is the general consensus that this thing is a piece of ? I feel like this thread is 300 pages of problems. Fans, displays, wireless, keyboards, everything.

I'm pretty disappointed. I waited forever for this thing and have needed a new laptop for a while now, and this looked like it might just have been too good to be true. Sounds like it was.

Not sure how prevalent the Nexus 7 problems are but it's beginning to sound like Asus has a QC issue and/or doesn't care. Hard to imagine they didn't see all these problems in testing. I can't even think of the last time I saw backlight bleed on anything. Guess Apple is the only one capable of designing a decent thing notebook still. Ridiculous...

 

I have been researching the backlight bleed issue for a while now and I have come to the conclusion that it is just a part of owning a IPS display. It has been shown to effect not only Asus products, but every company's IPS displays that I have read on forums. Backlight bleed seems to be common at small levels, unfortunately. You just have to make sure you don't have a unusual amount of bleed and buy an extended warranty, but with a unit of this cost a warranty should be an investment that people make anyway.

 

1. Build quality on my UX32VD is fantastic. Everything is precise, strong. Doesn't feel cheap in any way.

2. 1.9Ghz base. Idles at 800mhz, turbo to 3.0ghz.

3. Sorry, can't help you here. I use my desktop for intensive video games.

4. Played League of legends on all max settings with shadows slightly lower at 60FPS for 1 hour. Laptop on lap and on a desk. Processor @ roughly 56-59C Max. GPU slightly hotter 5-6 degrees.

5. No throttling that I was aware of. BF3 may prove otherwise? YMMV.

Same here. In Canada the UX32VD-DB71 comes with a 2 year warranty UNLESS you buy it at bestbuy or futureshop. They have an agreement with Asus to shorten the warranty to one year so that they can upsell you their warranty. Buy from ANY OTHER RETAILER in Canada and get 2 year warranty with 1 year accidental for free.

The box on the outside and serial will say 12m (1yr) however, when you register the unit it is extended to two years. I've called Asus on this and they have confirmed.

 

Apparently true as I just stumbled upon this:

"There are however some issues with IPS screens: light bleeding around the edges and bright spots, and they are present on the UX31A as well. They are only visible on dark static images, so you’ll hardly notice them otherwise, that’s why I for one don’t find this particular aspect that much of a problem. In fact, I had similar faults on all the devices with IPS panels I encountered, from tablets, to laptops and monitors, and I managed to cope well with them in the end. So don’t worry, you’ll be fine with the light-bleeding on the Asus UX31A as well."

in this:

Asus Zenbook Prime UX31A review - the best ultrabook out there right now

Wish I had earlier.

 

His experience certainly isn't universal. I own 4 IPS monitors (3x 24" and 1x 27") and neither have light bleeding issues. The 24"s are LCD, and the 27" is LCD-LED.

For the two weeks that I owned the Retina MacBook Pro, it did not have light bleeding issues - nor did any develop.

 

Thinking about trying the Samsung but the first customer review about that sounds just like the UX31A.

Amazon.com: Customer Reviews: Samsung Series 9 NP900X3C-A01US Ultrabook 13.3-Inch Laptop (Mineral Ash Black)

 

Anyone know heard about this yet/ know if it's true? Guy talks about MS store just getting them in, think they just got the VD in too? I'll drive to Atlanta for that

Asus Zenbook Prime 20% off at Microsoft Store(B&M Only) - Slickdeals.net

 

I will be in a MS store within 2 hours of now. I will let you know if its true or not..I do know that you can bargain with them on any item they sell..they even invite it. And they always have deals so its quite possibly true.

 

Damn. The Boston Microsoft store can not open soon enough! I feel like I'm going to trying out a lot of laptops very soon.

 

I think they have restocking fees but I'm not positive.

 

best buy has an I7 256GB ssd version (UX31A-R7202F) for $1299, and an I5 256GB ssd version (UX31A-R5202H) for...$1299. am i missing something here?

 

They absolutely DO have that sale going on..it started Sunday..they absolutely DO NOT have the new ASUS line either in the store or online but they DO have the new Samsung Series 9 in both places.

Now can somebody tell me for sure if the Samsung has an IPS display?

 

The Samsung doesn't have an IPS display.

 

Ugh..I was afraid of that and online I find places that say it does and others that say it doesn't. I know you can read the screen at almost a full 90 degree angle but I guess that isn't enough. They couldn't even tell me in the store..the clerks were also divided. They were selling the 2nd gen series 9 for 799 until about three days ago too.

Wow..I take it back..they just added the new ASUS to the online site in the last hour but only the 1499 version of the UX31A..maybe the rest will be added later.

 

I have the UX32VD from Newegg bought it when it was released. The only problem I have is the backlight bleeding but it isn't do or die. No keyboard flex, only if I press it very hard where I might break it. Solid build quality. I had the ENVY 15 SB but returned do to the orange screen issue, and that had amazing sound quality, UX32VD better than my Gateway from 08, but not as nice as the ENVY when it comes to sound.

 

The confusion comes from the fact that the S9 series use different panels. The 13" uses PLS, Samsung's own screen design that has viewing angles matching IPS. The 15" uses a standard TFT panel I believe.

 

I attempted to call the Microsoft store in Atlanta, but their phone system is completely screwed up and not allowing me to speak with anyone there. I even tried contacting them via e-mail or going through the mall's office, but no dice.

I did call the Houston store, and they did NOT have the UX32VD. If you look online at their options, they are all the older UX31Es rather than the new model, so don't get your hopes up everyone. It would be a fantastic deal if you could get the new one, but it doesn't sound like that works.

 

Sounds like what I originally heard which was that the 13 uses IPS and the 15 doesnt. Is the color quality as good in PLS as IPS? I couldnt really tell anything in the store...other than 400 nits is a lot of light...


Samsung claims (from wiki):

Super PLS

A new technology named Super PLS (Plane to Line Switching) has been developed by Samsung with the intent of superseding conventional IPS. Samsung claims the following benefits of Super PLS (commonly referred to as just "PLS") over IPS:
100 percent improvement in viewing angle[dubious – discuss]
10 percent increase in brightness
Up to 15 percent decrease in production costs
Increased image quality

 

After the huge deal that's been made about the backlight bleed, what little I had is now gone.

I checked mine right after I bought my UX31A-DB51 and there was a small amount of bleed on the bottom left of my screen. For me this is a non-issue. It doesn't impact the quality of my experience at all. Yesterday I decided to check again and there was no bleed at all. None. Clearly this is something that can change with time since some have reported theirs has gotten worse while others report it has gotten better.

I just don't get why this is such a big issue for people but clearly it doesn't matter to me.

The trackpad however is a big deal to me. I use it all the time and can't tolerate the amount of error it introduced into my work. I installed the TouchFreeze app and that did seem to help but it was a complete cure. I was thrilled when my machine installed the updates this past weekend. Thrilled until I noticed that the scrolling was horrible.

I use Chrome browser so I installed the Chromium Wheel Smooth Scroller and that has helped quite a bit. Still the scrolling performance is subpar without that extension. At least I'm not getting any errant palm checks that really mess with my typing.

I tried to download the Beta driver but that link wasn't active anymore. Does anybody else have an active link? - Nevermind, I found it and I'm giving it a try right now.

Seems better but still not good much less great.

 

I suggest trying the ELANTECH driver. The scrolling was horrible on the asus one but as soon as I switched over I was pleasantly surprised.

 

The ELAN driver is certainly better unless you value the smart detection while typing above all else. Personally, I have easily adjusted to just not touching the trackpad while typing. Not difficult for my typing style.

 

hey how come I can't install windows 7 home premium on the C drive? it's giving me an error on how i can't install it because it's a GPT partition. I know you can convert to MBR, but i want to have GPT (more current)

 

If you use chrome you should really try SRWare Iron..chrome without all the google spyware watching your every move.

 

I for one really really like my ux32vd(with ram and ssd upgrade ofc), save for the fan issue which hopefully will be resolved with a driver update. To me the backlight bleed is definitely something I can live with, especially considering the monitor is amazing in all other respects.

You have to remember that the people that are happy and content with the product will generally make a lot less noise than the ones with complaints. In my opinion some of the people on here are a bit too picky, but maybe you are too? I wouldnt know. All I can say is that I would definitely recommend it.

 

With touchfreeze installed, I personally noticed no difference between the ASUS and ELAN driver other then the superior scrolling and imo tracking on the ELAN driver. Smart detection feels the same to me but that could be partly due to my typing style.

 

Let's not forget about a rehash of this post every 50 pages or so...

 

I've been through 3 ux31a units so far and trying to decide if I should go for a fourth or just return it. So I'm looking for a bit of info.

1. Does anyone have a ux31a that DOESN'T have the repeating fan cycling high/low problem after a resume from sleep /hibernate?

2. Does anyone have a screen without bleed that didn't develop bleed a few days later.

I know one poster had the fan issue happen once at each resume but didn't repeat..l and that that issue was fixed sometimes by the latest driver updates from Asus. Has anyone with the repeating fan issue had it fixed by the updates?

Thanks

 

Btw... A little info on the fan issue and temps... On a clean boot the temp gets to 40-45c in normal use and the fan never comes on. After a resume the fan cycles high every minute and the temp never gets above 35c just sitting there. Also doing anything like popping up a notepad window is enough to make the fan cycle to Max Rpms and again the heat never gets to levels that don't result in the fan kicking on after a boot,

 

Mine does NOT have any fan cycling issues. Guaranteed. I've put my computer to sleep and resumed dozens of times by now

Mine DOES have some bleed, but I do feel that it has SLIGHTLY improved sine getting the laptop 5 days ago.

 

And you have a UX31A? That would mean its not software but a hardware issue..or maybe the mobo itself..things go from bad to worse in a second with this.

 

Yes. I do have a UX31A. It could still be a software issue that only affects a certain batch, right? Hard to say. But yea, the quality control on these machines can be a bit troubling.

However, I should also note that for all the complaints from some members on this forum, there are likely plenty of satisfied customers that either don't have issues or don't know they are having issues.

 

I haven't noticed any sort of fan issue on my UX31A and the minimal bleed that it did have when I got it has not gotten worse.

It isn't my daily computer though so it might be harder for me to notice things then someone that uses it constantly or you could even say easier if you want to say I wouldn't have gotten used to it by now?

I definitely think some (not all) here are convincing themselves they have issues because of what they are reading and otherwise wouldn't have noticed a thing, heh.

 

Mine does NOT have fan cycling problems (UX31A-DB51) after wake/resume and I've had it for two weeks and often put it to sleep rather than shutdown.

 

I might be wrong but it seems almost everybody here but you has that issue and I am sure they have come from all batches and all locales around the world.

 

I installed the Elantech driver right after I got the laptop. I cannot function with the touchpad activating every time I go anywhere near it with my hands. I will stick with the ASUS Smart Gesture. At least I can type more than a few letters without the cursor jumping all over the place.

I already use two different tracking blockers. No need for a different browser.

 

Hard to imagine a mack truck starting up in your living room..it's either there or it's not and if you have the fan issue you know it.

 

Great info on the Fan issue folks. Has anyone had the repeating fan cycling issue and had it resolved by asus updates?

And, is there anyone out there that never had any bleed. I know a few folks (im one of them) thought they didnt have bleed then it came later, but is there anyone that never had bleed?

I'm trying to get an idea of the nature of the problems. Design flaws are usually on all units and its just the way it is, software flaws should be on all units but can be corrected by software so if they fixed it mid stream some could have it and others could not but updating to the latest drivers would fix it. Etc.

From what ive gathered so far... not much on these things is consistent although my gut feeling is that all of them have bleed to one extent or another. I don't believe thats related to IPS or apple would be seeing returns like crazy or have a very high discard rate on the assembly line. Its doubtful as someone mentioned that asus is buying the discards from apple since the resolutions vary.

Since the fan issue is inconsistent but reproducible it feels more like software than software but could also be a sensor issue of some kind.