Ivy Bridge Zenbook with FHD IPS screen UX21A UX31A UX32A UX32VD

I wasn't exactly singling out a particular issue, but rather speaking in generalities.

I'm leaning towards it being a combination of IPS and possibly a manufacturing issue with the bleed. To be fair though, we'd have no way of knowing what Apple was discarding, maybe they do have a high discard rate.

Someone, maybe you even, in a post I read back a few was listing the sensor readings they were seeing and what it was doing. I haven't looked at a teardown or anything but are we absolutely certain there is only 1 temperature sensor and that the fan is on the CPU heatsync? Is the temp sensor the one from the CPU reading? What program is being used to record the temp as different programs report different things for "CPU Temp" based on several different factors. Admittedly, I haven't read up on how tcase and tjunction type temps are handled on Ivy Bridge yet.

I bring this up as it is very possible the fan is being controlled off of completely different sensor you aren't looking at.

 

I have been thinking about trying the S9 so I have been reading through some of their forum and come to realize they have their own problems..apparently the keyboard is terrible and everybody is upset about the Sandisk SSD they are using. It is the same as ASUS uses (U100) but for some reason runs much worse in their PC..go figure.

 

I disagree. The bleed is almost certainly related to the use of IPS technology insofar as the two factors tend to be coincident. IPS has substantially lower transmissivity than TN, and so a more powerful backlight is required in order to provide equivalent brightness. Secondly, in order to achieve thin dimensions (and possibly to save power), edge-lighting is used rather than direct backlighting. As a result, pressure on the edges of the display can lead to visible bleed.

Since you mention Apple not having this problem, I'm assuming you're unfamiliar with returns associated with both iPads 2 and 3 (see macrumors.com's forums for extended discussions on the matter). I'll also note that I found Lenovo's X220's IPS display to have terrible problems with edge bleed, as did many other people as near as I can tell.

The solution to the problem of edge bleed on IPS displays, for portable computing devices, very likely requires two things: (1) an extremely rigid frame and bezel, and (2) exceptionally tight tolerances in mounting these two pieces together.

 

There are four temp sensors returned by speed fan on the ux31a. They are... Core1, Core2, HD0 and Temp1.

When the machine gets under a load the first temp to register increases is Temp1, and its the one that seems to trigger then fan to operate most often when it gets under a load.

At idle right now at my desk... I have the following for temps:
HD0 34c
Temp1 38c
Core0 19c
Core1 19c

the cores jump up to 20 or 21 if you move the mouse.

On a clean boot... under a light load using a desktop publishing program editing text and moving picture frames around the temp gets around 46c and the fan never turns on.

After resume... with the fan whirling the Temp1 never gets above 35c. and the fan cycles every minute.

 

Ive personally had ipad 1,2,3 as have many people I know, many of which are gamers that play games with dark backgrounds and none of us have seen bleed. I have read that it exists but I don't think anything else out there has the consistent bleed issues that the ux31a does.

You do make good points about transmissivity and side lighting. I think the problem is compounded on the ux31 due to the lower bezel pinching the screen to some extent.

 

Ive been round and round on this machine, and been through three of them already. Ive been hesitant to return the last one even though its boxed up and ready because I have a fair deal. Its a best buy model and I got them to Price Match with microcenter that was selling the db51 for the same price so got a best buy accidental damage warranty. So I want to be 100% sure before I say goodbye to this unit.

Heres my take on the issues:

Screen Bleed
My gut feeling from reading the 300 pages here and my own experience that they ALL have at least a little bleed and the best you can hope for is that its only minimal and it doesn't get worse like my last one did. I don't think this is the IPS panels fault but rather that the IPS panel is a little thicker than the E series panel and they are putting it in the same space so it pinches on the bottom. I do have a little concern what the long term effects on the screens longevity this might cause as well.

SSD differences
There are two different SSDs in these, they sourced from two manufacturers and they don't have the exact same specs. The AData is a bit faster than the SanDisk but they are at least closer to each other than the last generation. There is a sticker on the outside of the black box that tells you which you are going to get. If a vendor won't let you open the brown box before buying one... just buy one, open it in the store and keep returning them til you get the one you want. After you do that once they will probably let you look.

Fan Cycling
This seems not to occur on all units or even a majority of them. It may be software or hardware. In my case I see this as a major issue and won't stick with one past the return period in hopes that asus will issue a software fix. Having to reboot to get the fan to operate correctly leaves you with losing the instant on or living with a loud battery sucking fan every other minute.

Model Differences - Best Buy
Best buy has their own models, as always they tend to cut corners and tailor things for sale in their stores. This time around they don't include the Accidental Damage Warranty and they use 1.5v ddr3 ram while the non best buy units use 1.35v ddr3l memory which may effect battery life to some extent during sleep. It does seem that fewer best buy units have had bad bleed though just from reports on the forum here.

I've spent the past few days looking at options, especially with Win8 coming out in 3 months and all the new touch units that will likely be released around that time. I've thought about getting a lower end unit like an HP Folio, Lenovo 310u or Acer Timeline Ultra M5 14" since ill likely upgrade before the end of the year anyway. I've even thought about picking up a last gen Samsung series 9 11.6" on clearance but none of them have great screen resolution so I keep going back and forth between bailing on asus and trying one more time. lol. I even thought about picking up a 699 z830 toshiba but best buy cranked it back up to $750 today.

 

I don't have the fan issue whatsoever. I'm actually worried that the fan isn't working at all because I don't ever hear it...

 

I will for sure open the box right in the store after purchasing and keep exchanging til I get adata, if I buy from a store and not amazon. After all they must honor their return policy.

 

I believe you but I still don't know anybody else who doesn't have it after resuming. Do you suspend or hibernate it? Nobody has a problem after rebooting but I don't know about coming out out of hibernation..personally I never use hibernation and delete the file almost immediately.

 

I've tried it coming out of Sleep and Hibernation the fan cycles in both situations.

 

I stated before that I definitely do not have the fan issue. My UX31A is very quiet. No cycling after resume. The fastest I have seen the fans go is 3600RPM after playing HD video in MPC for a while. Highest temperature I have seen is 66 degrees Celsius. Highest processor temps were about 50 degrees.

 

I haven't heard a peep from my fan either.

 

ok then there is a bigger issue than anybody imagined. There is no other explanation.

 

Wow, id be happy with 3600rpm you can hardly hear that. When mine cycles it goes between 4600 and 5000 on the high end.

Glad yours doesn't cycle though, makes me think its only a percentage that do so exchanging it might help.

 

Just remember that it's not all roses. My UX31A had a random shut down last Friday, the day after I got it. No blue screen or anything. Just shut off while idling. Haven't had any issues since, but that still worries me. If it happens again during my return period it will be either returned or exchanged.

And I of course have some backlight bleed. Just the way it goes. Luckily, I don't really use my laptop for anything professional, and I do not normally watch videos on the built in screen either. I use my TV. Was just waiting for the micro HDMI to HDMI adapter. Only reason I have been using the laptop's screen.

EDIT: I had only checked temps while watching videos before. While web browsing here is what i get:

CPU Fan: 3200RPM

HD0: 40C
Temp1: 47C
Core 0: 26C
Core 1: 27C

This is a minute or two after resuming from sleep.

 

I have an iPad 2 and ran into several with terrible bleed problems, and people reported on the macrumors forums returning their units several times before they received one that was satisfactory (and often times they settled for some level of defect). The ones I saw were at least as bad (relative to the total size of the display and narrowing of contrast) as the pictures I have seen posted of UX31A displays. Even fairly marginal efforts at searching about edge bleed with IPS displays should turn up plenty of threads about it, not just for the iPad but other tablets as well. You can also take a look at complaints and discussion regarding problems with the X220 IPS display and edge bleed. The X220s I personally received had extensive edge bleed that rendered dark background a blotchy, grey/yellow (due to the other problem - yellowish whites) mess. I don't know what you require for something to be 'consistent', but edge bleed problems are relatively common (as compared to other display technologies) among mobile computing products that use edge-lit IPS displays. Heck, they're fairly common even among desktop IPS displays that use edge-lighting.

 

There must be, because I've specifically put the computer to sleep via the start menu as well as simply closed the lid which I imagine is what is considering suspending. And having done this regularly and repeatedly over the course of a week, there is no noticeable fan noise upon awaking or resuming.

While I feel incredibly lucky, the fact that this seems to be such a rarity doesn't sit well with me. Should this laptop go in for repair or have to be replaced via my accidental-coverage, I don't want to end up with an issue.

As far as backlight bleed, I see only a tiny bit across the bottom of the screen and really only during boot-up (i.e the Windows boot-up screen). It appears across the bottom at regular width so I suspect that it has to do with the way the panel is held in the bezel of the unit. Regardless, it doesn't bother me at all and I wonder how many folks here are truly suffering from unacceptable levels of light leakage and how many are getting a bit OCD about it!

 

any online retailer in stock?

 

I experienced a random shutdown with my UX31A today while streaming some video content (the daily show). Worried me quite a lot, so I got in contact with Asus support. They directed me to download the newest Realtek driver from Realtek themselves, as apparently some crashes have been caused by this. I am somewhat skeptical of this fix, but I am giving it a try.

I hope I don't have any more problems, but if I do, this one is going back, because at this point I have a sandisk SSD, screen bleed, pre-update I had the fan isue, and now potentially the random shutdown issue.

My preference would be exchanging it for one without the above problems, but if I can't resolve it, I will have to go for something else, because while I can deal with a bit of screen bleed and a weaker SSD, I can't deal with random shutdowns on a brand new $1k laptop.

 

Keyboard backlight driver?

Got this last week and did fresh Windows 7 install. Everything seems to be working great except keyboard backlight doesn't work, both via sensor or trying to use the fn+f3/f4 keys. I reinstalled the ATK drivers once and no difference. Any tips? Which drivers are needed?

 

Well, I pulled my ux31a back out of the box and applied the latest updates to see if they would address the fan problem. I thought it did something for a bit because it didn't cycle the fan after all the reboots and such but I let it sleep then resumed and its back to cycling. Definitely going back, haven't decided on an exchange or just return yet. Its such a shame as this machine is slow close to being a winner except for a few widespread problems.

Anybody have experience with the i3 11.6" version of the samsung series 9 ultrabook. Thinking about it since most of the ultrabooks dont have full hd screens I may just go with a smaller unit.

 

Well, I'm a little worried. Could use some help. I just got my RAM and SSD in the mail. It's the Mushkin 8GB CS11 everybody reccomends for this and a Corsair 240GB SSD. I grounded myself, unplugged the battery, swapped the HHD for SSD, swapped RAM, slapped everything back together and now it won't power back on. The battery was about 50% charged when I swapped everything, and the chord has the orange light like it's charging. When I plug my external CD burner in it gets power for a second, flashes the read light, then goes back to sleep (like it always did).

I remember somebody on here or somewhere saying there was some kind of breaker or something that trips when you pull the battery? Does that sound familiar? I'm freaking out a little bit now

 

Oh yeah, forgot to mention. I swapped back the old RAM and still no boot. SSD should have nothing to do with it even powering up and the BIOS posting I assume.

 

Did you plug all 3 connections to the battery back in?

 

2 speaker connectors and the main one near the center of the battery, yup. I found the post I was thinking about now that the search function is working again. I don't think that idea has anything to do with the laptop. I've got my fingers crossed something is going to magically change when it gets to full charge. I have no idea what's going on. I didn't touch anything I shouldn't, no smoke, noises, nothing. I've been messing around inside computers for a long time. I wasn't just poking at things with a metal screw driver or anything. ?

 

Well, it finally charged all the way (green on the chord) and still nothing. I swapped back in the stock RAM and the stock HDD, still nothing. I guess I'm going to find out for sure whether or not they will honor their warranty if you swap out the RAM/HHD or not. Even if not under the normal warranty, maybe under the accidental?

What really sucks is I am in Japan and I had to "sneak" this thing through the USPS since they banned air shipments of Lithium Ion Batteries. Now I got to try it two more times

 

I just called the Asus Warranty line. I of course didn't give them any personal info, but they basically said if it got broke in the process of an upgrade, it's not covered under any part of the warranty.

 

I'm thinking of trying the last gen S9 which still has the IPS(PLS) display but also has the samsung SSD. Most people selling thru Amazon have it for $1000 and it is probably better than the new one. Not decided for sure yet.

 

Don't tell them that. Simply mention that it stopped working. Put everything back the way it was, tighten the screws and it will look like new. Just request an RMA and mention that it simply won't boot. You can throw in a lie that it had a few random shut downs before stopped booting permanently, be smart bro.

 

Then you didn't break it upgrading. You simply were using it one day and it stopped working. Since there are no stickers which show anything being pulled apart they can't really prove anything.

That's what I'd do. You just bought the thing.

 

I hate to feel like I'm doing something shady, but I really didn't do anything anybody else isn't doing upgrading their computer and I took all necessary precautions. I know from their perspective it's impossible to ensure I didn't do anything wrong though. I'm going to give jr.com a call and see what they will do here shortly then go back to Asus. One thing I worry about is I took the metallic sticker off the memory and switched it to the new RAM. I need to ensure it gets put back the same way. Anybody have a close up of the RAM so I can tell which way the heatsink sticker goes?

 

jr is good..just tell them it died and you want to exchange it..I have never had any problems with them at all.

 

Are you sure you were grounded properly?

 

Have you tried unplugging the battery attempting to power it up to dry up the power completely?

It seems like the circuitry works (since your USB gets power), and something is preventing your mobo from POSTing. Normally, I'd say reset the CMOS, but...

 

Don1--that's good to know, thanks.

normz.muufin--yes, I touched a metal table just before I started, but also considering the 90% humidity here in Okinawa, I don't think there is much static electricity floating around. I was careful none the less. I just put the SSD in my netbook and my RAM in a different laptop and both run like a champ. Obviously something happened in the swap but I don't think it's anything that wouldn't have happened to an Asus tech doing the work. Just one of those things I guess. I'll see what JR has to say in the morning. It's 9:40pm here and I have to wake up at 4am, so I'll call them when I get to work.

Thanks for the input guys.

 

Okinawa huh? Military?^^

 

Could you send me a link?
I'm considering buying this one instead of the UX31A.
Thanks!

Edit: OK I found it on amazon.de!

 

Just being curious......

1. Does ux32vd has fan problem?

2. What is the memory bus width of GT620m?(Nvidia clearly says 128bit DDR3, but some sites are saying 64bit ddr3)

 

Wanted to annoyingly repeat this- hopefully there's a quick answer!

 

I don't think there is any driver for that, you either turn it on or off and I assume you turned it on. If turning it on doesn't make it come on then it is defective.

 

Anybody get a DB51 from Amazon direct in the past couple of days? Did it have Adata or Sandisk?

 

I think there's only the 13" and 15", no 11".

 

They had this in the last gen but may have dropped it this time around.

Samsung Series 9 NP900X1B-A01 - Microsoft Store Online

(BTW, a good deal on this from the MSS..they had the NP900X3B-A01US for $799 on the 19th and I missed it..sold out that same day.)

 

1. I don't a cycling fan issue on mine. I didnt have one pre-clean W7 install and don't have one post-install.

2. I opened GPU-Z 0.6.3 on my machine. Bus Width is 64 bit.

 

Try pressing and holding the power button for 10 seconds to reset the power manager (with battery installed).

 

Given that price for 2nd generation S9, Do you think that S9 is it a better than UX31A for just slightly lesser price (799+TAX from MS store)?
I bought S9 on that day but still thinking whether to return that and get UX31A or UX32VD!

 

There are 3 battery plugs, maybe you forget the one in the middle?

 

That's a tough question. I had problems with three UX31As and returned them but have never tried the S9..you have the S9 and haven't tried the UX31As. If you are happy with the S9 I would keep it...by the way, what SSD is in your S9?

 

Ah, gotcha! Glad I said "I think" - thanks for the info.

I think the Sandy Bridge SS9 is an awesome deal - I would have gotten it if it was available to Canadian billing addresses. The difference between the second and third gen is relatively minimal, and at that price it's a no-brainer. The build quality of the SS9 is nicer, and from the sounds of this thread, less problematic than the AZPs.

Another "I think"... I think the model he bought only had Samsung SSDs. I think, I think...

 

I thought that too until today. I started going through the thread on the 2nd gen S9 13.3 today and in the last few pages I saw two people who just got them and they had sandisk SSDs..I was sure only the Samsung came in those. There are 38 stores selling them on Amazon right now and I would hope that most have the samsung ssd version..especially those selling them fairly cheaply.