New Asus Ultrabook with 5th gen i5? ASUS UX303LA-DS51T Touch

Does anyone know anything about this ultrabook? I wasn't aware that Asus had released any new laptops with the 5th generation processor. I am currently in the market for an ultrabook and was looking at the Dell XPS 13 2015 and the Acer Aspire S7-393. This laptop is cheaper and also has the 5th generation processor with upgradeable ram up to 12GB, the only downside is that the hard is only a 128GB Solid State.

Thanks.

http://www.xoticpc.com/asus-ux303lads51t-touch-p-7929.html

 

Hmmm. The Asus site still shows the UX303LA as a 4th generation Haswell laptop. Nice laptop either way. The trend now, though, is fanless even if you have to sacrifice a little processing power.
https://www.asus.com/us/Notebooks_Ultrabooks/ASUS_ZENBOOK_UX303LA/overview/

 

The specs are correct. What other information are you looking for, will be happy to answer them for you.

 

Does it have WiGig?

 

Is the SSD upgradable? What form factor is the SSD?

 

We havent seen anything saying it does have WiGig

As of right now we have it as non upgradable. Asus tends to use proprietary connections for their SSD's. We are waiting for our shipment to arrive, but once they do we'll be able to verify it and make changes if necessary.

 

I was just wondering if anyone had any performance reviews of the machine.

Do you think the lack of SSD will be a problem? My current laptop has around 300 GB used

 

The size will depend on what you install. If you're putting games on there they usually take up the most space at 10-25+GB. If this does end up not being upgradable you could get an external hard drive for movable files like pics, music, movies etc.

 

Last year's model of the UX303LA had a standard 2.5" SSD that was user replaceable. It would be unfortunate if they changed that with the Broadwell model.

 

On the Asus website they state that all UX303 model laptops come with 3216GB of WebStorage space free for threeone years. Does this also apply to this laptop? And do they mean three years or one year?

http://www.asus.com/us/Notebooks_Ultrabooks/ASUS_ZENBOOK_UX303LA/

 

Also, would you recommend the gpu overclocking XPC service; how much does that affect battery life and will it cause heat issues?
Also - Redline OS service? Monitor calibration?

 

We actually do not offer the GPU overclocking on this model because there is no dedicated GPU. It works off the Intel HD 5500 which is built on to the CPU.

 

I do not see any reason why that would not apply, however you will want to contact Asus directly to make sure since it is an offer through Asus and not Xotic PC.

 

Any update on the SSD upgrade-ability? The previous models were upgradeable. If it does happen to be upgradeable to 256 GB I will probably purchase this ultrabook.

 

No updates yet, we are still waiting for stock from Asus, hopefully next week we'll have some arrive.

 

Thanks please keep me updated. I had a few more questions as well:

• I was wondering though what your opinions were on getting a 500GB external hard drive vs. 2 years of your cloud storage service?

• Which cloud service do you use and would I be able to set it up as a network location so that I could easily access the storage without going to a website?

• You mentioned that you did not offer the overclocking service because this computer does not have a dedicated GPU, is the redline boost for the operating system available

• And do you think color calibration would make a significant difference in this model as ASUS normally does a pretty good job with color calibration?

 

Amazon has them in stock now.

http://www.amazon.com/ASUS-Zenbook-...&ie=UTF8&qid=1423390750&sr=1-8&keywords=UX303

 

Can anybody who purchased the newUX303LA/LN with 5th gen Intel Core CPU post the SSD make and model?

The previous model with 4th CPU had a SanDisk SD6SP1M-256G-1102 7mm 2.5 inch SSD allegedly connected through a M.2 NGFF adapter.

Does the update from Asus also have the user-replaceable SSD? Can it fit half-size mSATA SSD like the predecessor?

 

My UX303LA-ds51t has the SanDisk SD7SB-128G-1002, which, as far as I can tell, is an Sandisk X300s series drive.

The drive is divided into:
100 MB - EFI System partition
107 GB : c: drive w/os
12GB Recovery Partition.

Weight of the notebook : 3lbs 5oz

I don't feel comfortable opening it up yet. I'll leave that to someone else.

So far, I like the computer. It looks beautiful and build quality looks solid - at least at one day old.

It is fast and the screen is great - I use it at a 125% scaling. 100% is too small for these old eyes. The bold characters aren't as crisp as I'd like, but very acceptable. Sound is quite good for something so small. It is highly reflective, but I knew that going in. Touch is very responsive.

The keyboard is good though I have to get used to it. If I'm not careful, my palm gets on the trackpad. The power switch in the top right hand corner of the keyboard is a stupid idea, but so far, I haven't hit it once. The touchpad is working really well - no hesitation on scrolling. Two finger tap replicates the right click. The trackpad buttons have a loud click, but I don't see the need to use them.

On Wifi 802.11N, I get the full bandwidth of my cable connection - around 55Mb/sec download and 5.5Mb/sec upload

Wakes up from sleep in a second or so.

 

Nice price, too bad the screen is so reflective.

Asus needs to make at least 1 model with a non-touch matte panel since that's what business/power users generally demand.

 

How's the battery life on it so far? I just bought a thinkpad yoga and I don't like it so much, was considering this for the price.

 

The UX303LA-R4343H has the SanDisk SD7SB3Q256G1002 installed, which is apparently the X215 series. It's a plus for me, because X300 could be slowed down by the OPAL encryption. The X215 delivers 540/400Mbps read/write speeds according to simple dd benchmark in Linux Mint 17.1 (with FDE using dm-crypt + luks).
Can't comment much on the battery life, since I have only received it yesterday and used it quite heavily (running virtual machines).

 

Well, on second thoughts I'm really not sure that the SSD family is X215 and not X300, I can't find this SSD model anywhere. But my disk utility in Linux puts the identifier (X2150000) after the model number.

 

Apparently a user has already replaced the SSD. Reports it on the amazon owner review page, though Asus itself responded afterwards saying it is not upgradeable. Who you going to trust: the manufacturer or the owner's "lying eyes?!!" (Not calling owner a "liar," it's just a figure of speech suggesting what happens in reality is likely more accurate than what someone else says will happen ):

"Yes. It is a standard 2.5" 7mm high SATA disk. I was able to replace it myself. To open the case, you will need Torx T5 screwdriver, and there are two additional standard Phillips head screws hidden below the two rubber pads near the hinge. The SSD is screwed in a bay, which can hold 2.5" SATA standard drive.
NOTE: ASUS support answered the question as "No". So I assume one can void warranty and SSD upgrade is not supported officially or through software. But I was able to do it physically.
Gabbar Singh Daaku answered on February 17, 2015
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No, you cannot upgrade the SSD
ASUS Support MANUFACTURER answered on February 11, 2015"

http://www.amazon.com/Can-the-SSD-b...UTF8&asin=B00S44HXRW&cdItems=25&store=generic

 

I would be weary of the customer review there. Not to say he is wrong, as he may have done it, I can't say he didn't. But he says "2.5" 7mm high SATA disk"
The specs we have is that it is a mSATA drive, not a 2.5" drive. The previous UX303 models were also mSATA drives.

Edit: Others have verified that a 2.5" SSD can be installed in this model. Thanks for the feedback all!

 

Hello, does this precise model have backlit keyboard?

 

The Haswell version of the UX303LA had both a 2.5" SSD and a separate, half size mSATA slot. I am assuming it will not have changed for the Broadwell version:

http://www.laptopultra.com/guide/asus-ux303la-disassembly/

I've ordered a UX303LA-DS51T and a Samsung 850 Pro 512gb drive so I'll let you guys know once I've confirmed it all works.

 

Great, thanks for the confirmation on that.

 

@Hutsady@XoticPC: When you offer, say, an SSD upgrade on an Asus laptop/Ultrabook, do you do it even if it voids the Asus wtty and you take over the warranty responsibility yourselves, or will you only do upgrades to machines that the OEM sanctions? I guess a third possibility is whether you would perform an operation such as an SSD upgrade that the mfr. doesn't support and you do it with a signed waiver of liability from the customer of the entirety of the remaining warranty on all aspects of the computer, not just the SSD. My sense is that Asus, in this case, would likely provide a reason why they do not support an upgrade of the SSD and in so doing you could evaluate whether it is a technical limitation or a business limitation?

 

When we do upgrades it will not void the warranty, however Asus will not cover any parts we upgrade, they will only cover their OEM parts. For upgraded parts we do cover them for 1yr. Should you get an upgraded computer through us and need warranty work contact us to set it up, regardless if its the upgraded part or stock part. We have seen more then once, when a customer sends in an upgraded computer directly to Asus for repair, Asus removes the upgraded part, installs what the OEM part was then sends it back that way. To avoid this, we as you contact us directly for warranty service.

 

Thanks for the clarification.

 

This will be true for pretty much all resellers

 

Or even if you upgrade parts yourself, make sure to pull them before sending it in for warranty.

 

Also don't sell the originals so you can put them back in

 

Just wanted to report back and confirm that I was successfully able to install a Samsung 850 Pro 512gb SSD (2.5" form factor) in my UX303LA-DS51T.

I did a fresh Windows 8.1 install on the new drive and it's working great. As expected, the Broadwell model was essentially identical to the Haswell as far as disassembly and the layout of the internals.

 

Thanks for the continued feedback. We're still waiting on ours to arrive. When you opened it up, did you also see 1x mSATA slot?

 

Yes, there is an additional mSATA slot, unoccupied. However it is only a half length (25mm), so the options for using this slot are very limited.

 

Hey, Xotic, what gives? Did you do something to annoy Asus? You guys are the best in the biz, no kidding. Do they favor certain resellers or is it a country by country rollout thing?

 

Well thanks for those nice words
With brand new models there is typically very little stock to go around at first. We've seen models with less then 50 units for the whole U.S. The 7 month dock strike in CA didnt help getting inventory either but since they just came to terms a day ago we should start seeing more stock soon. We wanna get them too!

 

Yeah that was crazy, not a huge amount of press around the world about it from what I saw either.

 

Greetings,

would somebody please confirm the form factor for the m.2 slot? does it take a m.2 pcie 2280 ssd?

 

Hello, interested in buying the DS51T, although there isn't too much info about the model, even in asus site. Couple of questions, did anyone successfuly run linux on the machine, did you had any troubles? Could I upgrad RAM with any 4GB DDR3L SODIMM?

 

I am absolutely dying to know the battery life on this machine as it is the only unknown factor. If the screen is similar to or is the same as its predecessor, it's fine. CPU is confirmed to be a solid performer and power sipper, build quality appears to be decent at least looking at its predecessors. Nice to be able to have a half size mSATA slot and 7mm 2.5in bay. You could potentially have an SSD + HDD combination on a ultrabook which would be incredible in terms of performance and storage assuming you can boot off the mini mSATA slot and there are drives available.

But the battery life! It has to do at least 8 hours on a light-medium workload for this to be a great machine.

 

It's a half height msata from what I can tell.

 

Hello,

I've been using this computer for about 3 weeks. Battery life is great, at least while using Linux (Manjaro).

I'm geting ~9 hours while doing office work (web browsing, email, working with some documents) with a wireless mouse connected. I changed the default SSD to a 250GB 850EVO, don't know if that makes any diference.

Windows battery life is yet unknown to me, as I just boot to Windows for short periods of time.

 

With reasonable power-saving settings used, you may save a bit of battery juice.

 

Indeed windows should not be much different to Linux so long as no hungry third party software is running.