Zenbook U500 Announced: 15.6" HD IPS, GT650M, Quad-Core i7...

A question about hard disks (and SSDs): I've read in Wikipedia that drives are classified based on the form factor, and specifically on the diameter (in inches) of the disk: 8 - 5,25 - 3,5 - 2,5 - 1,8 - 1 - 0,85.
What do you mean when you talk about 5mm and 7mm? What are the typical hard disks we are used to find in notebooks?

 

That refers to the height of the drive enclosure. Slimmer laptops need drives that are less tall. Many standard notebook SSDs and HDDs are 9mm high, a bit too tall for the Zenbooks.

 

Many thanks

 

Same on Italian version, there isn't any U500VZ and obviously any touch version.

I still looking for an alternative and today I have discovered that Gigabyte P2542G has dropped its price of 100€, on Amazon.de you can find for 1399€, unfortunately this is not Windows 8 version with upgraded CPU 3630QM.

At this point my alternative to U500VZ are only Gigabyte P2542G, and Sony S15 (3632QM version).
HP has dismissed Envy line even in US so no chance to buy one, It's a shame Envy 17 was a very good machine with amazing good price.
I think that it's enough sure that S15 with 3632QM uses the same display of U500VZ.
It's not possible that LG has 2 different fab for same display, so if U500VZ hasn't orangegate then Sony S15 has no more this issue.

 

I won't be so sure of it...
When the S15 came out (in june or july, i don't remember), the HP envy 15" display (which was the same as the S15 manufactured by LG) was no more affected by the orangegate where the S15 was always with the faulty displays.
So let's see. And, without OC, the 640M LE (DDR3) is far inferior to the 650M with 2 Go of GDDR5.
Moreover, I was really disappointed with the quality built of the S15...

 

The Gigabyte is significantly heavier, though still on the lighter end for gaming laptops. And I don't think it has a keyboard backlight.

The Sony is good if they have fixed the display, except that the graphics are (presumably) a little weaker and the quality of the keyboard has been called into question (it's saggy). Also they charge an additional $1100 for a 512GB SSD setup, though that still only brings it to the same price as the 512GB version of the U500VZ. However, I understand that the 512GB SSD setup is in a proprietary format in the S15, so perhaps harder to upgrade? And does it run on SATA III? The S15 is the closest to the U500VZ for those who are looking for power in lightweight machine.

Would it be possible to buy an S15 with the cheaper HDD setup then put in a 512GB Crucial M4, saving about $500 over Sony's 512GB SSD or Asus's UX51VZ-XH71?

 

Don't know if it's really worth it...I just tried to configure a Vaio S15 (Italian site):
black color (default silver is not as beatiful as Zenbook)
i7-3632QM
windows 8
HDD 320 GB @5400rpm
8GB ram
DVD
GT 640M LE 2GB (DDR3?)
No software and no extended warranty
---> 1389 € (VAT included)
If you add a 256 GB SSD (like in U500VZ) you jump at 1959 €
Instead, if you purchase the SSD on Amazon (supposing you can actually upgrade yourself) you arrive at 1552€, so not so far from U500VZ, but you have:
- slower RAM (1333 vs 1600 MHz)
- definitely lower graphics (GT 640M LE vs GT 650M)
- crappy audio
- still don't know anything about display. Maybe they changed it: I can't believe they don't advertise it as IPS if it is. They don't even write anti-glare
- how big is the battery?

 

Because HP has changed the color calibration, in fact some says the problem is gone over Blu/Purple/violet instead of Red/Orange.
If U500VZ has throttling problem then doesn't matter if on paper GT650m is better than GT640LE, also there is thread with BIOS mod for S15 to Overclock GT640LE.
According to Notebookcheck review seems that S15 hasn't any throttling problem.
Someone is really disappointed with the quality of UX32VD little brother of U500VZ.

Yes, the P2542G is heavier, but not so much only 0.5Kg, but it include even a blu-ray burner. It's true keyboard it's not backlit.
I can upgrade HDD for myself on Sony S15 with one of best SSD on market Samsung 840PRO 256GB without a great cost.
The Sony SSD proprietary format is so pricey because it's a SSD RAID 0 in single 2.5" bay, but I don't really need of this performance and I don't know if this solution (RAID0 SSD) it's always better than a single 840Pro.
Yes, it's very easy to upgrade by yourself, there are more informations on S15 thread.

Sony Site it's very expensive, I have seen almost 300€ less for preconfigured version (with higher spec) on others sites or buying directly on a dealer, obviously you can't configure it in others sites.
However in this moment you can't find the new version (3632QM) on others sites, so you have to wait.

 

Alright the Asus rep gave me the goahead to share the document. i will warn you that there really is nothing new and i question the "up-to-dateness" of it.

Apologies in advance for the length, i have formatted it bellow for inline reading and have attached the original word document.


UX51VZ(U500VZ) Series Notebook PC
15.6" Ultra slim, Battery life and high performance Rev 0.1 2012/05/31

Processor & Cache Intel 35W QC only (BGA type)

•  Intel Ivy Bridge CPU QC: i7-3612QM
• Intel Turbo Boost Technology support
• Intel ® iRST Technology
• ASHE power saving technology

NOTE: Processor speed denotes maximum performance mode; processors will run at lower speeds in battery optimization mode.

Operating System
Preinstalled Win7 Basic/Premium/professional (64 bit), WIN8 ready

Chipset
Intel Panther Point PCH, HM76 or HM77 (support Raid0)

BIOS

• EFI BIOS code for win7
• UEFI BIOS code 2.3.1 ready for Win8
• 8MB Flash EPROM
• PMU, Plug & Play
• Boot from USB, LAN, Ai-Flash
• Lojack Support
• Instant on
• USB charger+

Main Memory

• 1x SO DIMM slot support up to 4GB and 2 or 4GB on board memory
• DDRIII 1600 MHz support

Display

• 15.6” ,16:9 1920*1080 IPS Full HD(anti-glare), eDP interface

Graphics & Video Module

• NV GT 650M GPU(30~35W) VGA with 2G GDDR5 VRAM
• Optimus 2012 support (GPU Performance Boost)
• Support NVidia 3D TV output

Multi-Card Reader

• One built-in 2 in-1 card reader (MMC/SDHC/SDXC support)

Storage

• 24G SSD(cache)+2.5” 7mm 500G 5400rpm HDD

Total capacity is 500GB HDD which is C disk; 24GB SSD is for cahce and iRST partition user will not see it.

• 128G SSD as C drive + 2.5” 7mm 500G 5400 rpm HDD
• 128G SSD is C disk. User will see 95GB capacity(user will see about 60GB free space and 35GB used space(OS+Driver)). 500GB HDD is second disk(TBD)
• 128GB+128GB UX type SSD(support Riad0)

Camera

• HD camera, Fix type(3.3V), ARRAYMIC

Keyboard & Key

• Backlit Chiclet Keyboard, 348mm w/numeric Key,
• Power Key with light

Network Connectivity

• On board 10/100/1000 Mbps Fast Ethernet controller
• Intel Advanced-N 6235 (dual band, 2x2 Wi-Fi/BT combo HMC module support BT 4.0)

Interface

• 1x LAN RJ-45 jack
• 1x mini VGA
• 1x 3in-1 card reader
• 1X Headphone out/Mic in
• 1 x HDMI
• USB3.0 x3 (1 of the left side USB 3.0 port support USB charger+)
• External Sub-woofer connector

LED Status Indicator

• Power-on/Suspend x2 (one on Power button)
• Bat. Charging/low, Behavior: LED Green (Battery Full) /LED Orange (Charging)/Low(LED orange sparkle)
• Storage device access
• Wireless/Bluetooth Indicator
• Cap. Lock
• Num Lock

Audio

• Built-in Azalia compliant audio chip
• B&O ICE power support
• B&O certified AMP & CODEC chips
• Asus external sub-woofer support (Amp on Main board)

Power Management

• Full feature SMI power management, Stand-by/Suspend to RAM, Suspend to Disk
• ACPI 3.0 partial supported
• MDP 2003 compatible
• HW support Instant On S3 power saving circuit (Deep sleep) to function with Asus Instant On SW

Battery

• 70WHrs, 4750MAH,4S2P, 8-cell Li-ion Polymer Battery Pack
• Battery life is up to 7hrs(TBD)

Power Supply

• Output : 19V,90W
• Input : 100~240V AC, 50/60Hz universal
• New ID design
• 3/ 2 pin compact power supply system

Pointing Device

• Click pad with 3 finger multi-touch support
• Pointing Device Gesture Definition (For Click pad)

1. Scrolling - Two-Finger Scrolling (vertical, horizontal)
2. Pinch Zoom
3. Rotating
4. Button
5. Tapping - Tap and Drag
6. Smart Area
7. Two-finger tap: Launch property menu (Only for Click pad)
8. Three-Finger gestures

• Brush down (To show desktop)
• Brush up (To select applications)
• Brush left and right (To swipe forward and back)

Dimensions (WxDxH)
380x 254.5 x 6~19.7mm
Weight
W/ HDD: 2,2kg(TBD) , w/o HDD: 2.1kg(TBD)
NOTE: Height varies depending upon where on the notebook the measurement is made. Weight varies by configuration and components.

Security

• Pre-OS Authentication by programmable key code
• BIOS Booting User Password Protection
• HDD User Password Protection and Security Lock
• USB Lock(all USB port available)

Accessory

• 15.6” UX style Carry Bag(optional)
• External ODD(optional)
• USB mouse
• Mini VGA to VGA cable

Software Utility
S/W Utility By Driver CD Preinstalled SW:
Entertainment
ASUS LifeFrame3

System tool

• ASUS Power4Gear Hybrid
• ASUS Wireless Console 3
• ASUS Winflash
• ASUS Live Update
• ASUS Color Enhancement (Splendid)
• USB Charger+ V2(with Charge IC H/W solution only)
• Instant on V2 (with Deep S3 H/W solution only)
• ASUS ControlDeck (For Touch Screen SKU only)r

Backup and Restore

• ASUS AI Recovery (will phase out after Backup and Recovey ready)
• Safety & Protection
• ASUS Face Logon
• Lo-jack (Bios Support only)

Other

• ASUS Secure delete
• ASUS Screen Saver
• e-Driver
• eManual

By HDI Preinstalled SW:
Multimedia

• Power2Go(Starter /no ODD without)(combine CyberLinkMedia Suite / CyberLinkLabelPrint)

Entertainment

• Game Park Console (JP/US /Starter without)

System tool

• ASUS Tool Folder
• BBY installer (For tender case only)
• Safety & Protection
• Trend Micro Titanium 2011 (30 /365 day Trial)

Network

• Asus Web Storage
• Windows Live4 package & Toolbar
• @Vibe 2.0( JP without)
• Google package & Toolbar
• Word processing
• Office 2010 Starter (Starter without)
• Nuance PDF (BBY without)
• Adobe Reader (For BBY only)

Other

• ASUS Product Registration Program (APRP)

Industry Standard Certifications
EMI: USA(FCC-B), TWN(檢磁 , CCC, VCCI, CE, MIC, C-TICK
Safety: CE, CB, cUL, CCC, BSMI
TWN 環保標章
UN38.3 certificate
Energy Star 5.0 certificate.
WEEE, ROHS, SJ/T 11364
EPEAT/EUFLOWER/KCC
KCC

Regulation

• EMI: USA(FCC-B), JAP(VCCI-B), TWN(檢磁, CCC, BSMI
• Safety: BSMI, CE, CB, cUL, CCC
• TWN(DGT), PRC (FCC68), JPN(JATE), EURO(CTR21, JATE
• Wireless RF Certification: TWN, CHN, FCC, European, Telec
• TWN 環保標章
• RoHS (S-AT2-001)
• China RoHS 
• WEEE (S-AT2-002)
• Energy star 
• TCO05
• E-stand by
• KCC
• Jeita test
• EPEAT
• EU Flower
• 中國環境標誌

Windows Certification

• Language: US Int’l, JAP, TWN
• Supported OS: (Win7 64 bit)

Keyboard Language

• US, UK, JP, TWN
• France, GR CR,DN,CZ, IT, BL, NW, PO, SF, SP, SW, SC, FR, JP, RU ,UK Spain, TUR, AR

 

These storage options suggest an mSata connector, also it's not notice of 2X256GB version.

Good news Asus has used eDP connection for display.

Very strange the availability of 2 different chipset HM76 and HM77.

 

That would mean a maximum configurable RAM of 8GB. I hope that's not true since I had planned to put in 8GB to bring it up to 12GB total.

 

The doc was last updated in may... like i said i doubt that its up to date. since XoticPC are offering upgrades to 12gb ram, unless they are taking a guess that they can upgrade it. maybe ask xoticpc support to clarify that?

 

Chipset HM76 has no RAID and HM77 has.

 

I guess if those specs are a jumble of 2 laptop UX51/U500VZ and UX52...

 

What does it mean?

 

Yes I know, but usually is used only one version of chipset on a laptop, also HM76 doesn't support iRST

 

The specs are from May when it should been released and as I said before they are six months behind with this laptop. This laptop is on fire.

UX type SSD could be some custom made for UX series.

 

If SSDs are custom made I leave

 

What do you mean by that?

It's certainly odd that they had the marketing spec sheet ready in May and the laptop still isn't released in (almost) November.

 

They'd probably be candy bar ssds like the macs have.

I really can't see any alternatives, from what I can see (slim, light, 15.6 FHD IPS, DGPU, fullvoltage I7 etc).... I mean the Sony S15 comes close, as others have discussed.... not really anything else?

 

The only alternatives I see that aim for the same things (big enough and powerful enough to do most things on, good screen, light enough to carry) are the Sony S15 or the Retina MacBook Pro. The first has some quirks that would be irritating (e.g. the orange problem, the squishy keyboard). The second one is very expensive, impossible to upgrade and runs the wrong OS, but the longer Asus wait the more attractive it looks.

 

U500VZ display is the same panel of Sony S15, the only significant difference between S15 and u500vz is the GPU even the storage options looks similar in fact they are the only laptops that offer an Raid0 SSDs.
The others specs are practically the same: cpu, 4GB ram soldered, same FHD IPS panel produced by LG, same weight (Sony is slightly lighter).

Do you believe that LG produces the same panel, but it supplies only to Asus the good version?
If panel is fixed then is fixed for both Sony and Asus, but if it still has orangegate then both will have orangegate.

Inviato dal mio GT-I9100 con Tapatalk 2

 

No, but I had been under the impression that part of the problem is Sony miscalibrating the panel in the S15. HP apparently managed to make some improvements in their implementation of the same panel by tweaking the colour calibration.

I don't know how much improvement you can make by recalibrating. But I would like to hear from people who see screen on the released product, since there does seem to be some variation in the severity of the problem even between different models using the same panel.

And are we 100% sure that Asus are using the very same panel?

I do have one other question: what is the result like if you set the MBPr's Retina panel to display at 1900x1200? Is it blurry?

 

On market there are very few IPS FHD 15.6 panel, maybe only 2.
One is used on Sony S15, HP ENVY 15 and now on Asus U500VZ.
When MikeTLB has released his review I ask to check windows ID of display panel the result was the panel is the same of Sony and HP.

The other panel is RGB IPS FHD 15.6 panel used by Dell Precision M4700, this solution is more pricey than that produced by LG.

Difficult to say if 1920x1200 is blurry on rMBP, maybe pixels are enough smaller to not notice it, but in others LCD displays with lower dpi I would have said yes for sure.
Surely a choice of 1440X900 is a better choice on a rMBP display.

Inviato dal mio GT-I9100 con Tapatalk 2

 

The release of this laptop was not intended for windows 8. It has old cpu, many pictures with W7 keyboard, specs with HDD because SSD ware very expensive when they designed it. There is W7 in the specs and W8 ready so it should be on the market long time ago. The only reason to delay the release must be some heat and throttling issues or some production issues.

 

Calibration doesnt solve the color trend, there must be revisions of the panels like most panels have. For example the mbps have always had a trend towards green.

It wont be blurry to use a rmbp 15 with a 1200 res. Its actually the res that I use. There is also the scaling factor, you go for 3840*2400, then downscale for 1920*1200

Yes there are only 3 panels and the sony and hp ones are the ''worse'', the dreamcolor 2 from hp is by far the best, there is no comparison. The m4700 panel has some trends towards colors and is also a 10 bit panel against the 8 bit ones from hp and sony.

AnandTech - NGFF SSDs: Putting an End to Proprietary Ultrabook SSD Form Factors

this is what it means, its a new standard. Or at least this is what it should mean. The problem here is that it may have a custom pcb to accomodate the drives like what sony does on their raid 0 options.

its not odd. When you design a notebook, you have that long process. Most of what is being released now, has been researched since last year. The specs vary little from what was thought at first.

 

i can garantee that the orange gate issue is gone from the revised envy 15. but now those laptops are gone too

 

There was a great bios mod for the S15 (1511) which improved speed greatly. But of course it cannot transform DDR3 to DDR5 but the real-life framerates are about 40% higher than stock with no heat/throttling issues. Would be great if this mod would also be available for the SVS1512. And yes...the S15 has some keyflex but I could live with that if the display is fixed. Only drawback for me would be the bad sound quality but saving 500$ I could live with that also.

 

Was it an official BIOS upgrade?

 

Nope it is a bios mod. I even tried it myself using the 900/1000 version and the results have been more than great. But sadly I had to return the S15 because of the (orange) display problem. I missed it quite a lot since then and now I am waiting day by day if there is some final information about the SVS1512 (display and mod) or the U500 (touch).
I really loved the fingerprint sensor in the S15 which is just great to logon (especially if there are multiple accounts) and I am a bit sad that the Zenbook does not have one :-/

 

It looks like this place is offering the same options as xoticpc GenTech PC - Customize System
Would you say they're just copied or could these option be real? I just don't understand how they can't be real if they're allowing people pre-order these configurations, what happens when the consumer get's it and it's just not what they ordered

 

They return it and get refunded

 

Why would someone bother to put in other configs other than the base ones if they're going to have to refund, just seems silly.

 

When I contacted XoticPC about their pre-order, they said they will confirm everything (including changes) before shipping. So basically they'll let you be roped in now, but no guarantee that what you order is what you'll get.

 

Actually, in the GenTech site they write

so at the moment you pay the configuration is 100% confirmed

 

Yes, I don't think that this is in disagreement with XoticPC. Seems like they have the same policy. Basically you configure now as "pre-order". But they don't charge your card until they confirm final specs with you and it's ready to ship. It's just a marketing tactic to get you to commit in some way to buying from them so that when they do confirm and they figure out what they can customize, that you'll return and buy your pre-order. That's the way it seemed to me through interesting with them.

Also, to get a good idea of what will actually be customizable on these sites, just take a look at: XoticPC UX31A-DB51.
Short answer: Nothing can be customized. I hope I'm wrong here and that XoticPC is able to customize everything they currently show as being customizable. But not holding my breath. They said they won't know until they get units in-hand.

 

The 512 version is available starting tomorrow at amazon.de.
The 256 version is however slated for arrival b 10th of November (already sold out?)

 

Will any of these be touchscreen?

 

Touchscreen capability is not mentioned in the description.

What is interesting is that it does mention a 90 watt battery, as compared to the 74 wHr battery that was announced earlier.

 

That would definitely cause a loud WOOOOHOOOOOOO from my side. Still waiting for any information about the touch version. Did anybody pre-order @ amazon?

 

you guys are dreaming to much, its probably the power adapter capacity.

officially asus actually states a 70wHr battery so don't expect much

 

Don't believe that shipping starts today even if Amazon still says 31.10......all other (official asus partners) changed the date to 11.11 - 15.11. Some other shops even list the 27th of November :-/ Still no word about the touch version.

 

The 512GB version is listed @ less than the 256GB 15" retina Macbook Pro in Germany, if the price is similar in Canada (or the US) that would be a good deal.

 

It's more expensive than Australia (with EDU discounts).... 256gb = 1699euro -> ~$2150 vs MBPR @$2295, 512gb = 1999euro -> ~$2500.



Still hoping for sub $2k, but not looking good

 

Did you miss that the German price includes VAT? I was comparing German to German.

 

Oh true. But still, i'd say prices for us would be pretty similar (our GST is 10%, VAT is similar yea?).

 

VAT in Germany is 19%

 

The Zenbook is not cheaper in Germany but the MBPR is much more expensive here -> 2280€ !!!! Cheapest 15" version.

 

I'd be glad to wait 2 more weeks to buy a laptop with everything I need and which works properly (even though I've been without pc for 5 months so far!), but I really hope we don't have to wait so much for some reviews. Do you think it's possible that Asus have already given some laptops to the most famous reviewers? Otherwise we will have to wait until December!!

A bit OT: I've just found something weird in the Taichi page in the Asus Global Site. In the "Storage" field they write

It seems that the other sites listing rotating SSDs just copy-pasted some wrong informations coming right from Asus

 

These are the newest SSDs based on quantum computation technology. They need to spin at moderate speeds to keep the quarks in the right spin value.