Ivy Bridge Zenbook with FHD IPS screen UX21A UX31A UX32A UX32VD

Hi everyone,

I've just joined these forums. I just bought a Asus UX32A-DB32. I absolutely love it: how thin it is, how light it is, how it boots quickly. There's a little problem that makes me quiver though... I don't know why, but it seems like the windows can't seem to handle the ATK package correctly. All of my control hotkeys (CTRL-A, CTRL-C, CTRL-V) don't work at all. When I uninstall the ATK package, everything works normally... but all the hotkeys from asus are gone. Reinstalling the package doesn't change anything. I've googled the problem and the CTRL+FN+ALT option doesn't work... Can anyone help me? Or would the best decision be to return the laptop?

Thank you for all your help!

 

Close the cover, let it sleep, open the cover and listen for the fan to cycle..that is abnormal.

 

It's not. If you suspend it and wake it you will know if you have the problem or not.

 

You don't need some app to tell you the fan is annoying. If you don't notice anything out of the sort, congratulations, the fan isn't an issue for you. No app will blink red lights and sound alarms that your fan makes noise. Its just an annoying sound that bothers some. If you aren't annoyed when using your computer as you would, you are good to go.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 2

 

So if I close the lid or hit FN+F1 (Zz) and turn it back on if it doesn't ramp up I'm okay?

 

Hi all,

I'm an owner of an Asus UL30vt, which has served me pretty well, but I'm looking to upgrade. The new Zenbooks look great to me, with one exception (common to other ultrabooks): I need 512 GB of storage, I want it to be solid state, and I don't want to pay $400 just to replace the drive (particularly because my employer will pay part of the cost of a laptop, but not of the upgrade). A few questions, then:

1) Is the SSD in the UX31a replaceable, and if so, can we be reasonably confident that a compatible 512 GB mSATA SSD will be available for it at some point? (I know the SSD in the UX32vd is replaceable.)

2) Any thoughts on when Asus or another manufacturer might release an ultrabook with a stock 512 GB SSD?

3) Any thoughts on how long it will take for prices on 512 GB SSDs to come down to, say, $250 or $200?

Sorry if any of these have come up before, I wasn't able to find any discussion of them.

Thanks!

 

Well it varies a bit. If you have the fan issue, it will start spinning at full speed within 0 up to 5-10 minutes after waking it, and that without doing anything (or maybe just browsing the web, ...).

Of course it can be that after some minutes the fan will spin at normal speed, which is normal if you work on it. You barely hear the fan if it works normal. When you wake your notebook and it suddenly starts to sound like a vacuum cleaner, you'll know it

And in my case when the fan was at full speed, it started to slow down very gradually, to suddenly be back at full speed, and repeat and repeat.

Well not true, my UX31A-4003V had a 256GB Adata drive. And as I read many people in Belgium/Netherlands also have Adata drives. I don't know about the US tho.

My ux31a is still in repair at ASUS for the fan issue, it says "Wait for Material/Spare Parts ". I hope they're not just waiting for a new batch laptops, to send me back a new one with high probability of having a Sandisk drive...

 

I used the recovery function on my UX31A tonight to attempt to fix a problem that I was having. After the recovery was done it did not match what I received out of the box. I have never seen anything like this before in all the computers I have owned. It did not include Adobe Reader or Asus Vibe. In addition, some things on the operating system is not working the way that it did prior to the recovery. Very weird...

 

Hey Canarka, try to listen to the fans while browsing the internet and listen to if they even then does not turn on at all.

The strange behavior consists of the fans turning on and off in short bursts, mostly for a couple seconds or less. It's still pretty silent, but what annoys many is that it does abrubt on-off bursts.

While I had a UX32VD I found out that the CPU had a kind of temperature barrier of about 50c. As soon as it got over 50c the fans turned on, even if it only spiked for less then a second while loading a web page. What Asus should've done is make it wait until the temperature is over 50c for a longer period of time before turning on the fans.

If anyone can confirm that their fans do not turn on and off in short bursts while browsing it would be really interesting to know. Also please state your BIOS version.

 

My experience regarding the fan issue with a UX32VD:

Got it about a week ago. Initially I was getting the fans whiring on and off frequently so started monitoring with battery meter. Initially I was getting about 3.5-4 hours battery life per charge with just light internet browsing and getting a discharge rate of 17wh + while browsing, 14wh while doing absolutely nothing. Over the next few days it seemed to settle down a bit and I was averaging about 8-15wh browsing. A couple of times over the next few days I noticed the fans would start whiring up and down all the time causing higher power loss but a quick reset seemed to fix it so I figured it would be worth keeping it for a bit longer to see how it goes.

On Sunday I did a clean windows install on the 32gb ssd. I havn't had a much of a chance to play with it since but tonight started to test it out a bit more. I was seeing about a 12-17wh discharge rate again just doing a bit of light browsing and the fans were spinning on and off quite a bit on the Asus power for gear battery saving mode. I just changed it to the windows power saving mode tonight and things have improved.

In my current situation with power saving mode I'm seeing 6-15wh while browsing. The fans still come on and off for a moment or two here and there but not as bad as it was originally and only seeing it in the higher range while it's loading webpages or when the fan feels like going for a spin for no apparent reason.

I think this notebook has an issue with the fans though. I can feel the fans whiring on and off for a few seconds at a time approximately every 5-15 seconds without doing anything but typing this reply and when they start spinning the battery discharge goes from a rate of about 6 to 9wh. If the fans would just take a chill pill and relax for a while I'm sure I'd be seeing better battery life!

Other than that I have a little bit of keyboard flex and a bit of light bleed but nothing I'm concerned about.

 

What's the BIOS brand in the Zenbook Primes? I have a modified/hacked Insyde bios in my Vaio Z2 that unhides an advanced menu that lets you set the temperatures when the fan should kick in at certain RPMs.

Sent from my Galaxy Note

 

My initial thought was to modify the temps in the bios, but from reading this forum realised the fan was only going crazy after the notebook has woken up from sleep mode. I know this is the case now - if it doesn't go to sleep, the fan behaves as you would expect it to.

 

I just ordered a UX32VD for 1229.99 from Jittles.com, wish me luck >_>

 

Correct....

 

I wish you luck because everyday the delivery date gets extended. A few days ago, it said August 17 for delivery date and now it says August 20. I'd recommend calling jittles.com and asking them what the real delivery date is if you haven't already?

 

Can someone tell me if their fans kick on if the cpu usage is anything over 00%? On the UX31A. I basically open a new tab in google chrome and the fan kicks on. I need to figure out if this is normal or not.
Thanks

 

how did you get to where you are, from a reboot or a resume? If it was a resume then reboot and see if that still happens. That's a nice feature of the S9 it has a Fn key to keep the fan off permanently if you never want to hear it.

 

It's not as bad as it seems. The reason they do that is because they use FedEx 3-5 day delivery service and they guarantee that you will have your item by that 5th day. Yesterday the delivery date was the 17th. It jumped to the 20th because of the weekend jump. That's just the latest day I'll get it... Hopefully. They say they ship the same day as long as you order before 4, so I'll give an update when they ship it today.

 

Both reboot or resume anything over 00% the fan runs, which I find odd, but I need to make sure I am not just overreacting.

 

Mine acts just like that both coming from sleep and reboot. The fan ramps up to about 3200 RPM and will stay there until I do absolutely nothing. Watching a youtube movie or a hd-movie will make it ramp up to about 3400.

It isn't very loud, but it,'s annoying. Waiting eagerly for a fix...

 

Is that the i7 or i5 you have?

 

i7. What RPM do you other people have during daily usage? (If any fan at all)

 

3200 is quite normal while doing those tasks, you only have the issue if it goes to 5000 (or whatever the max is) while resuming from sleep mode.

 

I actually had that problem, but managed to get rid of it by uninstalling the "Intel Dynamic Platform and Thermal Framework Drive" Haven't happend to my since, and my ux31a works like a champ without it.

 

Microsoft Store now has the UX21A..not sure if it is actually in the stores yet or just online but if it is that would be $800 after the 20% discount which ends this Sunday.

 

I can confirm this. I was there on Sunday, after taxes should be $860+ but it is the 11 inch which means smaller battery life. Also they did not have a display model of the 11 inch.

 

I know but everything else is identical..ips fhd display,128 ssd, same i5..pretty small fonts I guess..haha.

 

Original BIOS Version: 203
Current BIOS Version: 206

I will without a doubt confirm that my fans do not cycle on and off in short bursts. I don't remember having this problem for the short two or so hours I had it before doing a clean install of windows, however after using the device for weeks on a clean install, I can without a doubt say that I do not have a fan ramp up/down problem. I wiped it, flashed the bios, then installed windows.

My CPU stays in the mid-high 40's when I do light internet browsing/youtube/email tasks. I use HWINFO64 to monitor my min/max cpu temps and even when it goes above 50 degrees (upto 59) I rarely hear the fan come up.

I'm quite literally putting my ear right up to the machine and the fan is barely audible and rarely goes above 3200 RPM and I cant get it to go any higher unless I load the CPU with Prime95 and the GPU with furmark.

 

It apparently has nothing to do with a bios upgrade or a clean install of windows as many people have done both and have the problem. In fact way back in the beginning of this thread people didn't have the problem UNTIL they did a BIOS update.

 

Mine is the same as Dunces, 50 degrees is when everything turns on. Below 50 everything stays off. That's odd.. that different machines have a different threshold...

 

Be careful: The resolution of the UX21a model Microsoft is showing on their website (UX21A-1AK3) is 1366 x 768, not 1920 x 1080.

I learned to watch for this after looking at BestBuy.com which has what looks to be an equivalent UX21a model on their website (UX21A-R5102H). This model also has a 1366 x 768 resolution. Didn't even know this configuration was being offered.

 

Where does it say that? It doesn't in either the description or the specs.I don't think Best Buy's is either. In fact I don't think ASUS imports anything into the US with that spec. That is for the third world cheap versions that start at 799.

 

First line in the technical specs for the "ASUS ZENBOOK Prime UX21A-1AK3" on the Microsoft Store website ( Microsoft Online Store link):

DISPLAY | 11.6 in LED-backlit ( 1366 x 768)

 

Oops..my mistake..when I called the store they said they had a different model of the UX21A and I should have written it down but didn't. I would be shocked if they really plan to charge the same price for the 21A as the 31A with a far inferior screen. Something is wrong with that.

edit..well it seems they are bringing in the 1366x768 and charging for them as if the were the IPS display. Even the UX21E was 1600x900 in most cases.

 

I was seriously considering to buy the ux21a from the store, didn't know it was not ips.

 

for those of you having trouble with the fans cycling, do you have the Intel Thermal and Power Management installed?

After I uninstalled this, the fan cycling stopped on my machine, and only ramps up when it's actually hot.

I think I'd prefer the hardware manage itself, rather than the software.

 

took awhile, but looks like the merchant honored their price mistake, should be getting the UX31A-DB71 soon wewt ($1099). out of curiosity, is there a decent performance boost from the I5 to I7 or is it marginal? Wasn't sure since they seem to be the same clockspeed except for boost

Hoping to avoid serious backlight issues.

 

I have tried with and without Intel Thermal and it makes no difference. I have actually tested it both ways in 203 and 206. Best seems to be 203 with Thermal as it's a little less cycling than 206 but it can just be variance. My temps are mostly around 49-50c atm.

After watching the system monitor it seems that fan is not responding to temperatures only but also to CPU load. Burst happens almost identically as are spikes in CPU load window. The problem is then that those CPU spikes are not enough to raise temperature in long term but fans react to it anyway. So as someone suggested couple of posts back, they should change it to respond temperatures/loads with some buffer or wider threshold. Can you ppl confirm this?


And also as someone noted we are not speaking about the problem where fans turn on to the full speed. I think they have fixed that mostly but this "normal" behavior is not good either. It's really annoying that the fan makes burst when it really not need to and it's very audible in quiet room.

 

I can't speak for real world speed differences, but the benchmark differences are substantial. The i5 doesn't do hyper threading IIRC amongst other things.

 

I see the only review on the BB site does say it is 1366x768. Can't see how they call that high definition.

 

Removing Intel Thermal Framework (you lose configureable TDP which I'm okay with) fixed this for me.

Edit: Oh there was a new page already with everyone posting the same - oh well.

 

Hi guys,

Where can I buy UX32VD in US?
Are there any store that still have in stock?

 

I ordered from them on Sunday, and it said it would be delivered by the 17th. After speaking with them, however, they said it probably would ship on the 16th and get to me by the 20th. They will still honor what it said when I bought it though, and I'll get a $15 refund if it does not deliver by the 17th. So far pretty good customer service if you ask me, also, the 30 day free return policy really sealed the deal.

 

jittles.com is not an authorized re-seller for ASUS in the US. Would the manufacturer warranty still be valid if you buy from them?

 

Received my UX32VD from BB yesterday. Booted it up once and noticed the backlight bleeding.. It seemed to get a little better as the night went on. Only noticeable now near bottom right corner.

Fan issue was resolved by installing the Thermal Framework.

SSD + memory upgrade has made this laptop a dream. Really hoping the backlight bleeding diminishes a little more, but I think I can deal with it for a semester.

 

Wow..what a product..one fixes their fan issue by installing thermal framework and another fixes it by removing thermal framework..maybe it has nothing to do with thermal framework. As frustrating as I have ever seen.

 

Whats Thermal Framework?

 

Its an Intel provided application that works to better read thermal readings and speed fans up/down accordingly.





To whoever uninstalled to fix the problem; Did you do a clean install before hand?

 

I think Jittles is legit. The sell through Amazon and have 66 reviews with the vast majority positive. For the negative reviews, they have also specifically responded which is a nice touch. The BBB considers them an accredited business as well. I did there chat feature and spoke with Anna their "Customer Service Manager" here is the transcript.


[REMOVED]: Please don't post content from private correspondence!

 

I just received another ux31a today (I exchanged another for backlight bleed, but this one seems just as bad, if not worse... so perhaps it's just what I'm going to have to live with).

However, there seems to be another issue with this one. I've noticed that some people have commented on squeaky spacebars, but I was wondering if anyone's experienced a sticky spacebar. When you press it, it doesn't feel as firm as the other keys, and on the way up, it almost feels as if it gets caught on something. Lastly, when pushed down, even very gently, you can visually see the B and N keys depress also.

Just wondering if my unit is behaving strangely, or if this is just another concession we have to make with this laptop.

Thanks!