New UX31A at BestBuy - Win8/touchscreen/black finish

One thing I forgot to add and is kind of stupid on Asus's part... the SD slot is only a half slot. So, any card you get will stick out. Since you can't replace the SSD (I don't believe) your only form of additional storage is the SD card or some external HD.

The Lenovo on the other hand allows the SD card to fully go into the laptop, thus not sticking out. Plus you can replace the HDD's and ram.

As far as the convertible nature, I am in the minority I guess. I was using it about 80% of the time on the Lenovo. I thought it was a killer invention. In fact, if the Surface Pro comes out and is just fantastica their is a tiny chance i would take back to the Asus for that (small but still a chance).

Also, I just purchased a synology NAS last night. My hope is that will solve the issues of a small HDD on the Asus.

 

So I picked up one of these Zenbooks at Best Buy today, in exchange for my Lenovo Yoga which had excessive fan noise.

Initial impressions are favorable. It is sleek, it is light (half pound less than the Yoga), it is easier to pick up off the table, it has a better keyboard with no flex and backlighting, the 1080p screen is incredibly crisp, it has all the WiFi bands it should have, and, very importantly for me, has very quiet fan operation.

My one concern at this point is regarding screen bleed/yellow tinting. It is probably not as bad as some, but how much is acceptable? It particularly affects the lower left and right corners of my screen, making white pages fade into a yellowish tint. Note that this is not a whole-screen yellow, otherwise that would be easily remedied with some color calibration.

 

Does anyone know if a OWC (macsales.com) SSD (blade type for macbook air) will fit in the Black UX31A touch version from best buy....this is the only thing keeping me from buying this computer.....128 gb is just way too small for my use....

anyone opened the ux31a touch version to see exactly what type of ssd (blade type) card Asus used in this thing?

thanks in advance.

 

What kind of average use battery times are you getting on the ux31a touch?

 

I am sure it's the same as described here.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/sol...flash-storage/691183-replacing-ssd-ux31a.html

 

hi everyone. I just got on board, purchasing the ux31a touch from bb yesterday, replacing my 2012 MacBook pro. I do love the screen. and like the others, there is slight bleeding in the screen, mostly noticeable on boot up. and I hate that its such a fingerprint magnet. oh well. still got 14 days to think about getting the MacBook air instead.

quick question. has anyone with the same laptop manage to reverse the two finger scrolling? I don't like the way it scrolls to the right when you two finger scroll to the left. this is a multitouch feature from my MacBook pro that like a lot. I have read that with the synaptic trackpads, you can change it via settings. but this laptop is doesn't have synaptics trackpad.

thanks in advance

 

Yes, there is a way to reverse the scrolling if you have the latest driver. Don't trust the Asus driver manager to download it for you, go to their website and download the latest ATK utility and touchpad driver. Uninstall the previous ones from the Add and Remove Programs, then install the new ones. When you open the Smart Gestures program from the system tray you will see an option to uncheck "Content moves with your finger's direction".

I am having some reservations now about this trackpad in general, it really can be finicky to work with. Misses a lot of my single taps, and two-finger scrolling is so choppy. Go ahead and try to two-finger scroll very slowly in any web page. It will always jump before scrolling smoothly. Other manufacturer trackpads are not like this, I tested them in BB today to be sure.

Light bleed is still an issue as well, and the resulting yellow hues in those corners on white pages is disturbing. I noticed thought that this was the same on the BB floor model that I check today, so it must be quite common.

 

Just want to add my 2 cents. I have been using an Asus UX31A touch for 45 days now (only 15 left to return to BB or keep forever!) and I find it to be an excellent machine, as far as soldered-down UBs go. Having used a non-touch UX31A for a while I find the key differences in the BB touch version to be:

1) Seems to be a better built machine. Everything worked from day 1 and I have never heard that report about the earlier UX31As.

2) Touchpad is better out of the box than on the earlier UX31A but that is likely due to newer drivers standard on the newer touch model. Still not great and I've heard conflicting advice as to what driver to use to cure most of the ills of the touchpad. I wish someone would figure out the definitive solution that produces the best result currently available. (Please respond if you think you have the answer.

3) The touch version is pretty much silent and doesn't seem to get very warm when playing 3 videos simultaneously (I don't game).

4) With the Adata SSD (I think all of the touch models have it) the SSD is extremely fast, as fast as any non-RAID0 soldered-on drive I have used - 500/500 sequential read/write.

5) The black finish on the BB model is a terrible fingerprint/hand oil magnet. It takes some real elbow grease to clean with a microfiber cloth and cleaning solution. This will matter more to some people than others. To me, much of the appeal of the UX31 series is its appearance. Constant smudges diminish that appeal.

6) Ditto the touch screen (fingerprints) but you only see them in certain lights. Also, they are much easier to clean than on the body. Also, the glossy screen is a mixed blessing. It actually improves the already awesome brightness and contrast of the "standard" matte IPS screen. I can best analogize it to the difference between a partly cloudy day and one with bright sunshine. The whites are absolutely bright white and I have not experienced the yellowing in the corners that others have reported. The colors pop even more than on the matte screen. When you put the two side by side you really notice the difference. While the glossy screen can pick up reflections, it's easy to find an angle where they disappear and being an IPS display looking at it from a slightly obtuse angle does not diminish the image quality a bit. I am a fanatic about matte screens and never thought I'd be praising a glossy one, but given the outrageous brightness of this screen and the ease of looking at it off-axis which eliminates the reflections, I'd have to say the glossy screen on balance is a slight positive for me. That said, I really don't know why Asus put a glossy screen on the touch model when their matte screen is superb and got nothing but accolades. There is no reason I know of why glossy screens are better for touch screens.

7) On the subject of touch screens, I need to get something off my chest: I find a touch screen on a non-convertible/hybrid laptop to be pretty close to a waste of cost and weight. It doesn't really do any harm, but I rarely use it because, a) it becomes uncomfortable pretty quickly to have to reach over the keyboard deck to use it and, b) I think the "need" for a touchscreen to optimize use of Windows 8 is pretty close to pure marketing hype, giving hardware makers a way to sell more gear with dubious benefits. When you think of it, it is pretty nutty to contend that you need to have a touchscreen to use W8 because its tiles are so large! Modern trackpads are large enough and support gestures in ways that make them absolutely ideal for navigating the "metro" UI. What's more, it is extremely inefficient to have to take your hands off the keyboard to reach over to the screen and then have to look down to reposition your hands on the keyboard. Touchscreens are mandatory with tablets and thus with convertible/hybrid/detachable screen products. But they are superfluous and mostly useless on standard clamshell laptops and once you get over the novelty its far more comfortable and efficient to use the trackpad to navigate and click on icons, IMO. Plus, for me - and the majority of W8 users, I have read - after the novelty of the tile UI wears off, the best way to use W8 is in W7 desktop emulation mode with one of those add-on programs to give you the traditional W7 Start menu.

I'm happy to hear dissenting views - maybe I just haven't learned to use the W8 UI in the way it was designed to be used and I''m just stuck in the past. Still, in a group of recent W8 "converts," I believe the majority who read my comments, above, would respond: "yeah, what he said.

All in all, I'm getting really tired of hearing about touch screens as the "way of the future." They've been around for ages on Convertible tablet PCs (of which I have owned several in years past) and even then the ones with touchscreens were used only when the screen was folded over the keyboard and there was no other way to navigate or click on icons or hypertext. In fact many of those products were valued mainly for their WACOM pneabled digitizers and, even in "tablet mode,' people used the pen for navigation as it is far more precise.

Sorry for my diatribe.

8) Value. My UX31A touch cost the same as the equivalently specd non-touch model and since Asus seems to have tweaked the production process so that the rate of "lemons" coming off the line is vastly reduced, i would advocate this as the better choice as long as you can put up with the smudges on the black painted case and don't mind the glossy screen. I'm sure they will produce models with the standard metallic finish and matte screens after BB's exclusive runs out.

Final thought: touch or no touch, I think the UX32VD is just the smarter buy in this line. You get the great screen, superb design, 90% of the torsional rigidity of the unibody chassis and the immensely value capability to increase RAM from 4GB to 10GB and to install the SSD of your choice. The cost will be higher if you only want a 128GB SSD for now - though there is value to having the option to upgrade later - but if you want 256GB SSD the final cost of buying the 32VD and swapping out the HDD for a screamin 256GB off the shelf is about the same as buying the soldered-down UX31A with the 256GB SSD, which will still lack the ability to upgrade the RAM or to go to a 512 GB SSD should you find you need it down the line, and as prices continue to plummet on aftermarket SSDs. Oh, and then there's the matter of the weak-ish but still useful d-gpu in the UX32VD. Also, for some reason, the production problems of the UX31A - possibly cured or improved with the new touchscreen models - are nonetheless not generally experienced with the UX32VD from the start. Just look at the user reviews on Amazon or Newegg for evidence of this.

Sorry for going on and on, but I have really focused on this product line as I think it is the best designed Ultrabook out there with by far the best screen, so I worked really hard to determine the best way to buy and get maximum utility and enjoyment out of it.

 

thank you for the quick response. really appreciate it. I downloaded the latest drivers, and scrolling works like MacBook now. well not as smooth but getting there. also about the finicky touchpad, well expect it when getting a windows laptop. apple makes probably the best in trackpads.

nice review, sooo are you returning it then? as I am still debating between this, the MacBook air, and the windows surface pro.

 

How do I stop the desktop from auto-dimming?? For the longest time I could not figure out why my screen was getting darker and brighter when going back and forth through the desktop, then realized that there is some kind of 'feature' enabled that dims the screen (even when auto brightness off) when the desktop is displayed. Cannot find the solution on Google yet...

 

control panel and look for POWER OPTIONS. under POWER4GEAR BATTERY SAVING, change plan settings. then change advanced power settings. from there play around with DISPLAY. I disabled adaptive brightness on both battery and plugged in. so I can turn the brightness on pull power anytime I want. and not be restricted by power4gear

edit: or just search POWER OPTIONS so you don't have to go looking in control panel

 

Thanks... I did try these steps, but my Adaptive Brightness setting was already set to OFF for both plugged in and battery, and if I even try to enable it and apply it immediately reverts back to OFF. I wonder if there is some other setting? Or did you confirm on your machine that Adaptive Brightness was the exact cause of the desktop dimming?

 

I am in communication with Asus support regarding improving the 1.0.36 Smart Gesture touchpad driver, since 2-finger scrolling is currently very choppy and NOT smooth! I recommend anyone else who has this issue to contact Asus as well so that they will see multiple requests for touchpad improvement.

I did find something to help in the meantime... an extension for Google Chrome called " Chromium Wheel Smooth Scroller". It has lots of options for making scrolling smoother and more bearable in Chrome. I currently have my "Mouse Wheel" settings set at: 66, 63, 4, 2

 

Yeah, I'm going to return it, but I can't swear I won't buy it back! I too am very interested in the Surface Pro. I think I'm going to keep my powder dry for a while. It's never a bad idea to wait - more products come out and the ones you are looking at get cheaper!

 

Good thought. Firefox also has a number of "smooth scrolling" extensions. Still, if the basic touchpad doesn't work well, no add on will make it entirely right. I could have sworn I read that the right set of drivers pretty much cures the scrolling and flying cursor problems. Can anyone confirm - or deny - this?

 

for me, the two finger scrolling is good, not as good as the macbooks, but not bad. i think some of the issues i encounter with the trackpad is the hidden things in there. swiping from the left corner inwards, switches to the other open apps, swiping from right corner inwards, opens the right screen menu. then theres the two clickers in the bottom of the trackpads. all those features gives the user less space to use scrolling. microsoft should have just followed how apple did there right click, by two finger pressing. microsoft should have just removed the left and right click buttons. would have given us more space to work our finger magics. lol. also the swiping from the left, microsoft should have just made it three finger swipe from the left and the right side menu a three finger swipe from the right.

agree. i will probably switch out to the surface pro when it comes out. cant wait. and to bestbuy i want to give them +1000000 reps for changing their return policys for laptops/computers. last time i bought my macbook pro from them, it was only 14days return period. now its 30days return. loooove it. thanks bestbuy.

 

Eureka! I discovered how to get dedicated volume buttons on the Zenbook Prime!

I used a key remapping application called KeyTweak, and successfully remapped f10 to mute f11 to volume down and f12 to volume up. I can't remember EVER using the f10 and f12 keys in the past, and f11 I would only use once in a great while to full-screen a web browser. So I no longer have use of those buttons, but have dedicated volume buttons, which I think is a great trade-off.

Side note, I also remapped my right ctrl and context menu button (who uses that??) to dedicated Home and End keys, which I find to be useful for text editing.

Hope this can help someone else

 

Really? What driver/Smart Gesture build are you running? Does it not stutter every time you try to initiate a 2-finger scroll in a webpage, and continue to be choppy? This has been my experience. Only since installing the Chromium Wheel Smooth Scroller have I been able to tolerate 2-finger scrolling on this machine. Otherwise I am getting used to the touchpad and find the actual pointing function to be quite good.

 

The two finger gestures have been very smooth on my machine as well. I'm using the latest drivers for the touchpad.

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 2

 

this. im using the latest drivers too. im not saying its the best. but its good enough for a windows laptop. it does kind of stutter but it doesnt skip around/jump around. like i said, its good for a windows laptop.

ok. im a lil bummed out right now, i just checked my ssd and i got the sandisk u100 one. damn. wish i could have gotten the adata. o well.

 

Can you both clarify which touchpad drivers you are using and specifically where you downloaded them from? Also, do I need to uninstall and update the APK?

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I727 using Tapatalk 2

 

from asus support page. ASUS - Notebooks- ASUS ASUS ZENBOOK UX31A

ATKACPI driver and hotkey-related utilities - Version V1.0.0025

and

Touchpad - Version V1.0.36


....you must uninstall current versions prior to installing the newer versions.

 

are you talking about my information? uum its up to you. the link i gave is the support page for the ux31a from asus website. the latest drivers most of the time help. the scrolling is not the best but its good enough for now. i havent seen a windows laptop with great/excellent touchpad.

 

Update...

Just FYI, I exchanged my UX31A-BHI5T11 at Best Buy today due to excessive light bleed in the lower-left and lower-right areas of the screen. The problem was that it caused those areas to look yellow when the page was white. Two employees looked at the unit also and agreed that this should not be expected. My replacement is better, but does still have small amounts of light bleed around the edges. It does have kind of a brighter spot in the lower-center part of the screen, more of a brightness irregularity than light bleed.

Moral of the story for prospective Zenbook buyers: Expect your unit to have some light bleed, but if it really seems to be excessive or you can't tolerate it after some days, look for an exchange unit or other laptop.

The fan behavior seems different on this unit... definitely runs more often, less on and off. The fan turned up VERY high once when I restarted the computer, hope that is not normal.

Regarding touchpad drivers. I actually tried installing the oldest of the 3 Asus drivers available, v1.0.32, and, interestingly, the 2-finger scrolling is much smoother with this driver. It doesn't have the inverse 2-finger scrolling which comes default on version 36, and I think the cursor movement may not be as good, but the scrolling is so much better. Really makes me hope they will still improve upon the latest driver with better 2-finger scrolling like they had in version 32.

 

Every UX31A ever made has had light bleed, just some more than others. Much the same with the fan issue, they all have it just some not as bad as others..this from someone who has had 6 of them over the last year and returned them all. The other issue is the SSD, get one of the early ones and you get Adata, wait a few weeks and you get Sandisk..same with this version as all the others. I would really like this laptop a lot if only Asus knew how to make it.

 

Or support it. I love everything about this laptop except for this awful touchpad, and deciding whether to return it and wait it out until something better, or just hope that there will eventually be a driver that doesn't suck. I'm guessing the latter will not happen.

 

There are so many different drivers people have used and found to make the touch pad work much better, some have said "perfectly!" while I would say "acceptably" and even "quite good for a Windows laptop." My best success has been using Acer Elantech drivers. They work about the same as the latest in the Asus "smart gesture" set but they have more adjustments available - such as for speed of two finger scrolling rather than just an on/off toggle for the feature.

I share your frustration that they just can't "get it right" though I think Elantech is largely responsible for the touch pad functionality. I never thought I would say this, but I wish they used Synaptics!

FWIW, my UX31A UX31 touchscreen from BB has had zero problems out of the box and for 45 days of continuous use - except of course the touch pad, which I think is the one thing that will get perfected as Elantech has so much riding on it. Just to be clear : no lightbleed, no heating/fan issues, no keyboard issues, Adata SSD crazy fast, audio even passable with enhancements made (hint: for. $20 you can download SRS Audio Essentials and it makes a noticeamble, if incremental difference .

Nutty conclusion : probably will return it for UX31VD; really want larger SSD and more RAM. Don't value the touchscreen even with W8, which I don't plan to use anyway!

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I727 using Tapatalk 2

 

is there any real advantage of the touch screen besides the novelty? i would probably look to buy the UX31A non touch if they were significantly cheaper than the touch but doesnt seem to be the case right now

 

Touchscreen is just novelty for me. I don't really need it, but since, like you say, there is hardly any price difference, and it doesn't adversely affect functionality or battery life, I am fine with having the touchscreen in the event that I want to use it at a later date.

 

What he said ^ ^

I don't find Windows 8 in any meaningful way better with a laptop touchscreen, but other than a tiny bit more weight and - this could be a dealbreaker - many, like the Zenbook, have a glossy screen, there's no real downside to having one.

 

I just posted in the Elantech drivers thread here. So far much better, but just wondering if there are other non-Asus Elantech drivers that also work with the UX31A...

 

The zenbook looks infinitely better in black. Too bad i dont really need a laptop right now. My u36sd has served me well

 

I looked at this model today at BestBuy for the first time. I was a little shocked to see the glossy screen. I guess I should have known better.

A glossy fingerprint laden screen is a showstopper for me. I give touch the finger.

 

Anyone having HDCP type errors playing protected content? If I connect an external monitor via HDMI it works fine, but it gives me an error using the built in display device. Such a shame as it's a gorgeous display. I'm using windows media center to playback live tv (cable card using silicon dust hd home run prime).

The error message is:
imgur: the simple image sharer

 

I now have a 2 inch oil stain right on my trackpad where my finger touches to move the mouse pointer around.

Does anyone have any suggestion on how to get rid of this stain? I can't get rid of it for the life of me.

 

I'm in the market for a thin 13.3 Intel Core i5 3317U notebook. I saw a press release from Intel recently in which they predict a major drop in prices for ultrabooks in 2013. I'm guessing this will happen after the next generation Intel chips are released? So far I've been looking at the Asus UX-31A and the Samsung Series 9.

 

Thors,

I completely share your feelings about glossy screens - haven't bought one in several years - but if you are otherwise attracted to this product check out my review on Post # 108, above. In a nutshell, this screen is so bright and that plus being IPS means that it is easy to find a slight change of angle that eliminates all reflections and appearance of fingerprints on the screen. That alone would not make me want it vs. a matte version except that side by side the colors (already 80% aRGB) are deeper and brighter and the contrast (already over 1000:1) seems significantly greater. Knowing all the machines you own, if you were considering this one for your "fleet" I would urge you to take it home and try it - BB gives you 30 days (60 if you are a "silver reward" member) for full refund.

Point of fact, I returned mine after 45 days largely because of the 128GB SSD being the only storage option. Just thought I'd point this out, as it may be one of the rare exceptions to the matte as only screen finish to consider rule.

 

I went to see it with the intention to buy. I liked the exterior, keyboard and interior. The dark color looked great. I just didn't think the screen and bezel matched the rest of the machine. The gloss finish wasn't attractive to me and looks do count. I will likely buy an ASUS eventually, but most likely it will be a silver non touch model. I'll probably wait until the Ultrabooks adopt the new SSD interface standards so I have some flexibility if I want to upgrade.

 

Anyone have issues with the Ctrl key sticking on this UX31 Zenbook? It causes strange behavior and makes it so you can't type (as if you were holding down the Control Key). I have to tap the Ctrl key to get it 'unstuck'. Has happened several times this morning, and repeat banging on the Ctrl key hasn't helped!!

 

Does anyone else have problems running Firefox/Thundarbird. It runs just seems very laggy. Could it be that its Win8 causing the lag?

 

Yes, that makes sense. I do prefer the silver as well. The UX32-VD would suit much of your upgrade needs but frankly, if you don't have to buy now waiting will always be rewarded.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I727 using Tapatalk 2

 

No. I think you have a defective laptop. Exchange it while you can.

 

I have noticed that adobe flash in chrome uses more cpu than flash in IE. Doesn't lag, but more cpu = more battery wasted

 

UX31A owners: want a free skin for one of these? I bought a UX31A Touch at Best Buy then ordered the sharp-looking leather skin from Spigen (google for details), along with the palm rest.

Ultimately, I ended up returning the computer. I now have an unopened package with the skin/palm rest. I'm happy to send it to the first person who wants it, as long as you send me a prepaid USPS shipping label PDF. Spigen shipped it in a priority mail box at the 2lb priority mail rate (I think its the large flat rate box approx 23x12x3).

Send me a message if you want it.

 

A big issue with this Zenbook is the overly warm color temperature of the screen. The whites have a strong yellow tint, more so than the regular non touch, matte screen - I think. When your at Best Buy pull up the My Documents folder or a web page and compare the white backgrounds with some other notebooks in the store. You can really tell a difference. Some others have a cooler blue hue, the macs seem to be the best benchmark.Bit even without side by side comparison, this issue was still noticeable the first time I saw this laptop.

I've gone to 4 different stores and they are all the same. The only remedy I can find is to go into the Intel graphics settings and play with the color adjustments. But even this isn't enough to fix it. Yes the panel is gorgeous to look at
But I personally can't pull the trigger on this unless there is a way to fix the color temp. Even the MacBook air has a great panel duspite its lower resolution and color gamut.

I know this has been an issue with the Zenbook line but it really seems to be pronounced with the best buy touch version. Its keeping me from buying one, and its frustrating because its the best windows machine on the market IMHO, maybe the Dell XPS or S7.

 

@seawalker: Yes, colors are definitely warmer than on other laptops. Performing the Windows "Color Calibration" definitely helps. But then you still have light bleed around the edges and uneven backlighting in the middle. All 3 units I have owned have had screen issues, but everything else is so nice I am able to overlook these imperfections.

Sent from my Incredible 4G using Tapatalk 2

 

Im confused about how the Windows Color Calibration tool works for a laptop panel. It seems like its only good for calibrating an external monitor that has its own adjustments to match with the software. What did you do to make it better?

I was at a Microcenter (computer store) that had 2 UX31a's and they were perfect looking panels. These were the non touch, win 8 Matte versions though same price as the non touch

 

It's been asked numerous times throughout this thread and no one seemed to provide a clear answer, so I'll ask again: What kind of battery life are you guys getting out of this machine?

I'm really interested in buying the computer. I've played with it a few times at my local Best Buy and I like everything I've seen. The only thing that's holding me back is the giant question mark that is the battery life. If it can't hold out for upwards of 6 hours (with normal use -- low brightness, web browsing, word processing) then I'm going to pass.

 

I read some of the reviews on Best Buy and someone did say they got 6-7 hours when just web browsing on low brightness. You should go check out some of the reviews on Best Buy. Me, I get 4-5 hours usually but I like my screen bright and I watch videos sometimes.

From your logo, I'd guess you're currently a MacBook user. I think the battery life is supposed to be greater on the MacBook air if that's a priority for you. MacBook airs don't come with adobe flash preinstalled do they? I do wonder though whether it's possible to just uninstall adobe on a pc to increase battery life. Read a long time ago that adobe flash took away 2 hours of battery life on average but that was a while ago.

 

If battery life is of paramount concern, wait for Haswell.