Ivy Bridge Zenbook with FHD IPS screen UX21A UX31A UX32A UX32VD

Ah, your talking about in store talking to a real person. I'm talking about the website where I never saw the 14" available from when they were released and they only have one 15" model and the desktop in the online store. Microsoft (company, not individual workers) actually has a vested interest in vizio succeeding as its one of the few machines released into the wild outside of microsoft stores thats running the microsoft signature disk image which ive become quite a fan of because of getting a vizio.

I think the vizio niche is really the samsclub, walmarts and costcos of the world. As a company they don't advertise and they route their products through the superstore chains. It's worked great for them so far with TVs, will see how it works with computers.

Honestly though, i tried out just about every ultrabook out there including FOUR ux31a units before getting a lil 14" vizio and so far its shown them all up in sheer usability and performance for price.

The zenbook has a 1/2 pound lighter weight, but I have to put alot of value in actually working out of the box without issues and obviously the ux31 didn't do that although I was persistent and tried 4 times. I so wanted to like that computer but in the end had to pass on it.

 

Hoping to join the club here... Bought UX32A-DB32 from Best Buy Canada today. Rip off imo... But it came with a US keyboard... That and it is way faster than the previous Samsung with a AMD A6 APU. Though it's also $200 more expensive...

How's this laptop so far? I'm going through the last couple pages of this thread and there seems to be issue with backlight bleeding, which I know about.

 

I tried 3 31As before giving up and I just sent my S9 back today. I almost kept it but just don't like Matte displays and really hated the keyboard backlighting, it was like it didn't exist at all. It's either get another MBA now or wait. My current MBA is 11.5 so I started this whole journey in search of a 13.3. Not sure what I will do now.

Samsung showed off a new S9 with a 2560x1440 display this week (move over Apple) but no word when or if they will put it on sale.

Samsung Series 9 laptop: matches Apple Retina display in PPI

 

Are they any good? I have read some bad things. It is suspicious that it always says in stock. Are they new?

 

I bought ux32vd. Can I use discrete graphics (620m) to video playback? When I watch 1080p videos (no matter is it internal or external display nor what media player) there seems to be a little bit lag. Has anyone got same problem? I checked my energy options and its on performance mode. I would love to get my nvidia GPU working with videos..

 

Thanks for the feedback. That actually makes me more confident in buying the UX32VD, I am quite worried about the heat/fan noise and if they managed to fix that (with software updates or whatever else), I would be happy. I think I can live with some light bleed and the touchpad won't bother me much. Did you upgrade any of the parts - RAM, SSD? I hope that ASUS got their act together with this batch.

 

You will likely see alot of machines with high res displays and / or touch when windows 8 rolls out. Win 8 finally introduces good scaling support for large displays. Its an update that was really needed, when you can get a $350 phone with higher resolution screen than your computer... well the computer is a bit behind. lol.

Win 8 comes out oct 26th so the november holiday buying season will probably be prime time for nifty notebooks hitting the street. Thats one reason I went with the vizio, its cheaper price and great specs let me save money for win8 devices and still likely be able to sell the vizio for a fair amount in a few months if i choose to.

 

when will it arrive in us?

 

question about UX31A:

Is it possible to configure the touchpad so that it scrolls (e.g. PgUp/PgDn) when you move your finger in the vertical direction along the right-hand side of the touchpad?

I've always use this scrolling technics with my previous laptops. ELAN driver on the Asus supports a two-finger gesture for scrolling but i find it rather inconvenient.

 

Probably with your nvidia app you could change it to always use the 620m. I have noticed this issue on my ux32vd with windows media player but not with VLC.

 

There's no one finger scroll in the elantech or smart gesture drivers. It may be available in the registry.

 

Thanks. Any guess where exactly to look at at the registry?

 

Question to those who tried WiDi with UX31A-DB51.

Which WiDI adapter for the TV proved to work well for you?

I gather you may need to update WiFi drivers, e.g. with the Belkin adapter, also with the Netgear one (in the latter case, it seems the Intel driver is coming from Netgear rather than Intel)...

Adapters are not cheap, don't want to make a mistake and get a "problematic" model...Thanks

 

I tried both and both worked fine. I didn't upgrade anything initially for them to work. Eventually the software said there was an update available and I let it do its thing but it worked fine without it. BTW, the Belkin adapter IS cheap if you get it from Amazon..I paid under $40 and it works every bit as good as the $100 Netgear did.

 

Did you try it with 1080p? The comments on Amazon make me kind of skeptical about the performance. Some say audio/video quality is not very good, others say it is.

The available ones on Amazon aren't shipping directly from Amazon, so I'm hesitant to buy and deal with returns to other merchants.

 

Anyone have any issue with waking up from sleep? I press the power button, but it does nothing. I can only wake it up by closing/opening the lid. Everyone else experiencing the same thing?

 

Does anyone know the solution to the fan noise? Whenever I open an application the fan noise goes crazy and full blast.

 

Is there any particular way to ensure you get the ADATA drive with your asus ux31a laptop?

 

Sounds to me like it's more likely a renderer problem. If you use KMPlayer you can choose the renderer from the video (advanced) menu and some render HD video much better than others. Ideally, you should get CCCP codec package and use the Haali renderer, I find it render's much better than others. Also, Media Player Classic sometimes renders better than KMPlayer. Try these other video players/renderers and see how they work for you.

 

no

10 char

 

Can anyone confirm that their fan is pretty much constantly on at 3200 rpm? I feel like the other day it was almost always dead silent, but now it only goes silent when the computer is idle. The second you start browsing the web, it kicks in and stays at about 3200 rpm.

It's not super loud, but I could have swore it was dead silent initially.

 

They sell i5 UX32VD in Asia and Australia. They actually don't sell the i7 model here which is what kept me from buying it. But the prices here in AU are higher, you'd pay around $1250-$1300 for the i5 model. I did see one for as low as $940 though which is pretty good. Also not sure if the one for $940 can be shipped outside of AU. Links below

$1300

$940

Personally I think I'm done waiting for the right UX32VD to be available and will just get the new U500 which is better in every aspect (if you're after power)

 

No, I did not run into this on UX31A.

 

There is a sticker on the ASUS box re which SSD is inside.

Also, ASUS support admitted they can tell you this if you supply your serial number to them. They rejected to clarify how to read s/n by myself.

 

Which application do you measure RPM with?

 

Yes, I used 1080P and it was fine. I didn't use it more than a few times and I'm not really sure why I even bought it but I did and I had no troubles with it at all. There will be a firmware update for the adapter that pops up and I did install that as well.

 

But the ASUS box is inside a brown shipping box which almost nobody will open as it has the manufactures seal on it. The shipping box does not tell you what SSD is inside.

 

Has anyone received their ux32vd today (being 3rd september - supposed date where there will be new stock) and where did you get it from?

 

UX32VD Owners,

Can you guys tell me what kind of battery life your seeing after replacing the hdd with the ssd and doing a clean install?

Cheers!

 

My UX32VD ordered from Amazon in July finally shipped over the weekend and, according to UPS tracking, is in my city waiting to be delivered... it'd be here today if it wasn't Labor Day, but I'll have it tomorrow. I will let you all know how it is.

 

btw does anyone know why amazon.co.uk is not selling the ux32vd? is the ux32vd not on sale at all on many other sites completely due to low in stock? Surely amazon.co.uk would be one of the first to have stock compared to other uk companies?

 

After replacing sdd with crucial m4 and doing clean install, I see 5h 30 min, when there is everything turned off(lowest brightness, no wifi, no bluetooth, 40Hz refresh rate on screen during idle). Its really difficult to say its battery life on normal use, but its about 4h+-(often less than 4h) with wifi turned on, 60Hz screen, just browsing pages... To be honest, I didnt really notice difference in battery life after replacing HDD with SSD, Can anyone confirm battery life with Hitachi HDD/after replacing HDD?

 

I am planning to upgrade the SSD (Samsung 830 256GB) and RAM (Mushkin 8GB). I was waiting to decide whether I am going to request a replacement or not.

 

Asus Zenbook UX32VD Teardown - iFixit

Here they show applying heat to remove the screen bezel adhesive, is that at all safe for the screen? Anyone want to give it a shot?

 

Well you were correct to be suspicious. I was supposed to receive my UX32Vd from laptopshop.co.uk on Monday. Never turned up. Called them today and found that all the orders coming into the UK have been cancelled by ASUS. Apparently the UX32VD is not currently fit for purpose. I guess that they are getting lots of returns.

Ah well at least I've got my money back.

I think it unlikely that we'll see any of these machines in the UK for a while.

I think I'm going to wait a while until they get these issues sorted out - may look at the new 15 incher when it comes out.

 

So, I just got my UX32VD in today from Amazon, typing on it now. First impressions, it's amazing, easily the best laptop I've ever owned, one of the best laptops I've ever seen, I can't think of anything that honestly beats it, but a few that are in the same ballpark. Screen: gorgeous, it's like the first time I laid eyes on an LCD screen, I can't stop staring, it's remarkable. A teeny bit of light bleed on the bottom, but only cause I was looking for it on start up, if I hadn't heard everyone on the forums complain so much about it, I would never have noticed (I've had screens with worse bleed by far, and hdtvs). Keyboard, pretty darn good, maybe not as good as a fullsized laptop, but plenty of travel. Trackpad, it came with Asus Smart gesture, and while it reacts nicely and is easy to use/move/click, I'd like to try the Elan that everyone talks about on here, will report on that later. The thing is silent, I could only hear the HDD with my ear right up to it, no fan noise, not even when resuming from sleep and using chrome. I'm going to put the 830 SSD and 8gb memory in so it'll get quieter, and faster. Anyways, that's all for now, will update later.

 

So I tried both touchpad drivers, I like the Elan's scroll accuracy and the 2 finger CLICK for right click (I disable all tap to clicks). However, the Elan driver's inertial scrolling kinda sucks, the Asus smart touch is much better at this, although I can't figure out how to enable 2 finger CLICK, only 2 finger TAP, anyone know how to enable that, or how to increase inertial scrolling on Elan? Thanks!

 

Looks like I will be finally getting my UX32VD after almost a month from ordering from jittles... I ordered on the 14th of August and they are finally starting to receive stock. They said that my shipment should get to them by the 6th (They got a tracking number from Asus) and they will deliver to me with FedEx overnight shipping, so I should get it by the 7th. Sucks that this delay was so damn long, but they've had great customer service, trying to make sure they could do everything possible.

 

You consider Jittles.com's ~23 day delay of a product you ordered that is still not in your hands "great customer service?"

Newegg.com has had the Asus UX32VD in stock for over a week and there is no delay when ordering from them .

 

Oops. Did not know that. I thought that that the brown box is only used for mailing individual devices...

If you have a S/N on the brown box, you can ask Asus support to confirm the SSD inside (at least when I asked them how to identify the SSD model, they asked me for a s/n).

 

There's an icon for Elan Smartpad in your system tray. Or select "mouse" from control panel, there will be a tab for it.

Elan Smartpad > tab "Multi-Finger" > "Scrolling" > and play with scroll speed. I set it to the fastest on the inertial scroll. I would like even a faster speed, but it certainly got faster than before. I can live with it.

 

If some people share their serial number, I think you might be able to guess the difference between ADATA or Sandisk SSD, no?

 

The Elan inertial scrolling is just way to jumpy to use, I don't understand why, but it is. I actually love the newest Asus Smart Gesture driver, the scrolling is slick and the inertial scrolling on it is just perfect. However, I can't seem to figure out how to enable a 2 finger click for "right click" (or pop-up menu as they call it), it only has the option for 2 finger tap, I don't want tap just click, how can they not have something so simple!? (Or if I'm missing it please tell me!)

 

*Update on Screen*

What little screen bleed I did have is all but gone now. Now you can only see a slight (very slight) variation in lightness coming from 1 or 2 spots on the bottom. I couldn't even see any signs of bleed when watching movie trailer in a dim room in fullscreen, when a few seconds of full black came up I noticed there was no bleed so I restarted the computer and could only see the slightest lightness when turning off all the lights, and believe me, it'd look perfect to anyone who would not know where to look. This is great news, I think Asus improved QC big time and now after a few hours of use the screen is perfect in my eyes.

I think I'll be cancelling my order from Jittles and just stick with this Amazon one. I really wanted to buy from Jittles after they were so nice and helpful, but this one just came in first. I'd rather not have them ship it out to me and maybe it be even a little worse than this one (likely since this one has 0 problems), and then have them do a return, I'd feel bad since they were so helpful and seem like a smaller company. But, that means whoever is queued #7 and higher will get one a little sooner than they thought

 

Nut newegg was also out of stock for almost a month.

 

Do you notice any uneven leveling in the touchpad of your UX32VD?
On my unit, the left side was slightly higher from the right side.

Should one address this issue with ASUS support, or just replace it from the vendor (Adorama in my case)?

 

You understand that what you are describing is a real problem don't you? The screen changes and while you like the fact that it seems better now there have been a lot of people on here who say that after three weeks it was almost unusable. It would be far better if it just stayed the way it is when you get it.

 

Except mine got better, not worse... that's not a problem, sorry but it just isn't, unless you think shoes getting more comfortable after breaking them in is also a problem... you'd be buying/returning a lot of new shoes.

My trackpad might be a slight bit higher on the left than the right, only noticeable if you put your finger on both edges at the same time... Not a problem at all and definitely not worth returning over, that'd be crazy. I'm using a Macbook Pro at work right now, and all 4 edges do not feel the same depth... my gf's lenovo also has this "issue"... are we really splitting hairs like this? Get over it and enjoy the damn thing.

 

Just ordered ux32VD version for the first time. Finally available on Amazon!
Vouched for prime next day air. Will be getting it tomorrow.

 

So I've been using my UX32VD for several days now, got it from newegg for $1210 (after some discussions with support when they ran out of a backpack that had been bundled with my UX32VD) including 3-day shipping.

I love the thing. Running it with 10GB memory, Samsung SSD and fresh install of Windows 8, this little machine flies. I do have a problem with periodic short bursts of fans (for like a couple of seconds) and the USB ports on the right are extremely stiff, but other than that it's an awesome ultrabook. The screen is just amazing. I initially thought that I would stick to default 125% scaling, but after giving it a try at 100% I found it completely usable without any scaling (I do scale browser fonts from time to time(Ctrl+/-/0), and also set default font size in Visual Studio and the like a notch higher than I use with other computers).

At $1200 it's not a cheap laptop by any means, but from my perspective it totally worth it.