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

Notebookcheck.com (German language) has published a review of Asus S56CM, it looks very similar to U500, and it use Intel Core i5-3317U and HM76 so Im' asking to myself if some store has confused it with U500:

Test Asus S56CM Ultrabook - Notebookcheck.com Tests

 

No this cannot be there is not one single spec that is similar to U500:
- NVIDIA GeForce GT 635M: Wrong Graphic Card
- Intel Core i5-3317U: Wrong processor
- 15.6 Zoll 16:9, 1366x768 Pixel, TN LED, spiegelnd: Wrong resolution, wrong panel (not IPS) and glare
- etc. etc. etc.
waiting for the test from computerbase.de

 

GREAT NEWS :thumbsup:
If I could provide a list of questions this would be:
- color space, sRGB, contract, brightness (cd/m2)
- external resolution (1080p, 1440p, 2160p) at which refresh rate (120Hz, 60Hz, ...)
- noise in dB
- quality keyboard & touchpad
- possibility to replace/upgrade SSD
(other aspects were quite well answered in this forum respective are very satisfying: akku & power consumption, temperature, CPU, GPU, Memory, build quality)

 

I'm speaking of those shops that have published wrong specs for U500 like Intel Core i5-3317U or HM76.

 

All good questions. I would add also a serious battery test (still missing at the moment), including these cases
- idle
- light work (web browsing, typing, listening to music)
- full HD video playing with 50% brightness
- heavy load (gaming or hard work in general)

 

In case you are interested. I actually ended up returning mine, my reasons for doing so were:
I could not stand the fans always being on, they were not very loud but too loud for me. Also the noise of them was not as soft as the fans in my desktop for example.
The unit I received had a touchpad that was not perfectly mounted. The lower left corner of the touchpad was raised slightly higher than the rest of it. This lead to some annoying noise while using it.

I also decided that I did not need or want that much power, so I am going for an low voltage processor instead.

The laptop is indeed very good, it was just the laptop I wanted or needed. Though I would say if you cannot stand fan noise, stay clear of this one.

 

I just got this beast. It truly has an amazing design similar to the Zenbook Prime that Ive fallen in love with.

My first impressions are great. I just tested the display to see how well it displays reds, and it looks fine! I cant see any orange in it.

My trackpad is also a bit raised in the lower left corner, but it is barely noticeable so far (only had the laptop running for about 30 mins). It does accidentially register my palms when I type though - maybe this can be fixed with proper configuration.

There was a mVGA to VGA included, it was almost hidden in the box. I also got a usb to microUSB cable aswell, dunno what its for. There was no external DVD.

What bothers me most is that there is no Windows 8 cdkey included anywhere?? I want to reinstall it cleanly but I don't know how now when I don't have any serial key..


Edit: Just read something about the key being stored in BIOS so if I reinstall the same version of Windows 8 (non-pro) it should automatically activate.

 

Thanks for your comments. Do you feel that the fan noise is a pain?

 

The fan noise is definitely there, but if you're not over sensitive it should not be a problem. Unfortunately I haven't touched a lot of modern laptops lately so I have nothing to compare to, but it is not a deal breaker for me.

 

Can anyone recommend a software to completely backup the partitions on the laptop, so if I do a clean install of Win8/Ubuntu dual boot I will be able to get it back to stock? Would appreciate a quick reply so that I can begin!

 

Maybe Acronis but I'm not sure (and it's not freeware). Looking forward to seeing your results!

 

Thanks, that's useful information. I'm also pretty reluctant to unneeded fan noise. Especially after this dell xps 1645

 

That's a bummer. Fan noise is definitely my #1 peeve with a laptop. I can't buy it until I know I can turn down the fans, or return it without a restocking fee.

 

"Sorry" to reply and not answering your question BUT when I browsed the web I saw a lot of problems regarding linux & NVidia-Optimus?
(In the internet I found as well different hints regarding backing up the recovery partition on USB, etc. but these descriptions were not specifically targeted for zenbook so I don't know whether they match ...)

 

I haven't read up on the whole UEFI boot thing with Win8 and all that. Not sure what will happen if you overwrite the MBR, but when I received my Win7 laptop 2 years ago, I found some articles ( this might be it, not sure) about how to shrink the C partition. I split it into three ones, 1 Win7, 1 Ubuntu and 1 for data and home directories.

You could try that, but like I said, I have no idea what happens if you overwrite the MBR with the UEFI key. You might not be able to boot back into Win8. That would be the worst case of course, but venture forth at your own risk.

Also interesting in hearing how it goes for you. Please report back.

 

Looks like im gonna wait a while until I install Ubuntu, Linus Torvalds on Windows 8, UEFI, and Fedora | ZDNet.

Im still interested in reinstalling Windows 8 to a clean install though..

 

Maybe you already got the answers here in the thread?

 

The first I did was to wipe the disks and do a Clean install of Windows 8 pro beacause i need the pro functions in my job. I only work with Microsoft Products but I must say I don't like that you only can install Windows on this Machines....

 

Driver and manual download link...

ASUSTeK Computer Inc. -Support- Drivers and Download UX51VZ

 

So...has this machine regular BIOS or what? ie, is it possible to install other OS's than "windows"? Or you do not know?

 

I've kinda been lurking around here and reading the posts, trying to decide between Asus UX51vz, Sony S1512, Asus N56vz and Lenovo W530 (same price as the UX51vz, but a LOT better base config and very upgradable).

Since in Germany we only got the two versions with 2 custom-made SSDs in RAID-0, I looked for the laptop in my home country (Romania) and found something interesting.

There's another model, called UX51VZ-CN066H

- 15.6" FHD Non-Glare
- Intel i7-3632QM (2.2GHz 6M)
- 4GB DDR3
- 500GB+128GB MSSD
- Nvidia GeForce GT650M 2GB DDR5
- WLAN N, LAN, BT4.0, USB3.0, HDMI 1.4
- Bang & Olufsen, HD webcam, W864 - anyone know what this is?
- 2.16Kg, 8 cell battery, Windows 8 64 Bit

The price is 1390 EUR. Sadly not in stock.

The weird thing is, it seems to come with a standard HDD and a soldered-on MSSD, like the cache modules they built into UX32VD.

I'm going to contact the shop and ask about the ETA. To be honest, if the Lenovo wasn't this butt-ugly, I would have bought it.

 

Windows 8 64 bit.

 

I assume you didnt backup the partitions before you installed w8pro?

 

Are you sure that MSSD is soldered?
Maybe it's a simple mSata SSD.
This Version could be interesting, but seems that Asus has relegated to East Europe.
Have you any info about chipset of this version HM76 or HM77?

 

Sadly no further info. It'd be nice, to have both mSATA and a regular SATA III port, but I highly doubt it. I'll ask tomorrow.

@oneforall: now that you've told me, it makes sense. Thanks!

 

Having owned a Dell XPS 15 for a week (had to return it for screen issues), with 128GB mSATA and 1TB HDD I have to say that is one awesome combination for a balance of storage and speed.

I really hope there is the possibility with the U500VZ to have a similar arrangement, even if it means upgrading after purchase. If this thing only has provision for a pair of (proprietary?) mSATA type SSD drives then it won't suit my needs. 2X128GB is woefully insufficient and 2X256GB (even if available) is bound to be needlessly overpriced and sticking a music and video collection on SSD seems a complete waste.

 

My ideal configuration! Hope they sell it in Italy too!

 

Was this a painful procedure? Did you have any trouble finding the appropriate drivers etc. for the machine without having to install all the bundled crap? Did you remove the backup partitions or anything like that?

I'm asking because, for me, it's standard procedure to do a clean install on the computer immediately when I get it. So that I get to choose what's installed.

 

So, to add to Jako's list, we have:

U500VZ-CN012H - 3612, 500GB HDD + 24GB SSD - rs
UX51VZ-CN021H - 3612, 500GB HDD - cn
UX51VZ-CN023H - 3612, 2x128 - ch
UX51VZ-CN025H - 3612, 2x128 - pl
U500VZ-CN032H - 3612, 2x128 - uk
UX51VZ-CN035H - 3612, 2x256 - de
UX51VZ-CN036H - 3612, 2x128 - de
U500VZ-CN038H - 3612, 500GB + 128GB - ua
U500VZ-CN046H - 3612, 2x128 - North Europe
UX51VZ-CN066H - 3632, 500GB + 128GB MSSD - ro

UX51VZ-CM039P - 3632, 2x128, 8Pro, Touch - za
UX51VZ-CM042P - 3632, 2x256, 8Pro, Touch - cz
UX51VZ-CM054H - 3632, 2x128 - cn
U500VZ-CM055H - 3632, 2x256, Touch - hu
U500VZ-CM055P - 3632, 2x256, 8Pro, Touch - pt
U500VZ-CM064H - 3632, 2x256 - es

U500VZ-DH71 - 3612, 2x128 - US
U500VZ-XH71 - 3612, 2x256 - US

18 versions and counting. No discernible pattern to the model numbers. Top of the line models only in the Czech Republic and Portugal. I am beginning to think Asus is run by lunatics.

 

Why is it so hard for everyone but Apple to understand how to do a product launch?

 

Wonder will this make it to some black Friday deals

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk

 

Everything else in this form factor (except the MBP) has a 640M or less.

 

Newegg has the DH71 version now in stock.

Xotic has the XH71 version now in stock.

I'm hoping the in-stock statuses lets us see some reviews soon.

 

Potentially interesting article for people that would like to connect an external monitor/beamer for stereoscopic 3D Support: intru 3d - 3D Vision Blog

 

Regarding the idle fan noise, I did a small test with Android Sound Meter on my Galaxy Nexus last night.

When hovering with the phone 2-3 cm over the front of the keyboard, it registered about 40-41db. When I moved it further away from the hinges towards my body (up until 15cm above the front of the keyboard) it went down to approx. 35db.

I had the microphone hole in the phone pointed towards the device all times. For me the noise is not a big problem, it is barely noticable when you are in a room with other electronics turned on, but if you are in a quiet room you definitely will hear it.

I am VERY impressed by the temperatures of CPU and GPU though. I dont remember the exact digits, but when I ran 3dmark11 yesterday I also had hwinfo64 running, and the temperatures did not go much over CPU=75c and GPU=65c. Isnt that very impressive? I will try the throttling test later tonight.

When I analyzed the hwinfo64-log afterwards, I do see that some cores of the CPU go down to 1,2GHz but I never saw a situation where ALL the cores went down to 1,2GHz (meaning that at least 1 core always had the 2,7GHz clock at all times). Maybe this isnt really throttling?

 

Sounds good!

Does your machine have a Swedish keyboard and Swedish Win8?

 

Yes, that is impressive but why the hell are the fans running that fast in idle mode? The temperatures should be very low anyway...right?

 

Yes. The language in Windows 8 is replacable so it should not matter. The keyboard layout is a common layout for all the nordic countries.

I dont know.. maybe there will be BIOS updates that will allow us to control this more? Im all for tweaking it!

 

I hope so! How will you test throttling? In normal gameplay (please!)? Could you please also do the 1080P (x264/h264) battery test with 50% display brightness?

 

Sure, I will both do the furmark+whateverthenamewas+hwinfo64 in log mode test, and some real gaming tests. Any specific game you want me to test? I will have hwinfo64 in log mode in the background for all of these tasks just for reference.

About the video/battery test, I was about to test that yesterday but there was no time to let my new beauty be untouched.. I will try and see if I can do it tonight!

 

I just created a owners lounge for this laptop! http://forum.notebookreview.com/asu.../695704-asus-u500vz-ux51vz-owners-lounge.html

 

Have anyone tried wake on wlan? If not, can a ux51vz user test it?

 

I might take a look at it at some point this week, no guarantees.

 

Do you have a link to the Newegg? All I can find is this discontinued one.

 

Oh dear, it's also showing up as discontinued today.

 

Here are U.S. online vendors that have it w/ their current status:

Adorama
Return Policy: 30 days unopened. Cannot be returned once opened.

ASUS UX51VZ-DH71 $1,799 - pre-order
ASUS UX51VZ-XH71 $2,199 - pre-order
--------------------------------------------------

Newegg
Return Policy: 30 days unopened. If opened, restocking fee of 25%+shipping.

ASUS UX51VZ-XH71$2,499 - out of stock - ETA: 11/10/2012
--------------------------------------------------

XoticPC
Return Policy: ?

ASUS UX51VZ-DH71 $1,939 - website allows ordering, chat on 11/6/12 said coming in later this week
ASUS UX51VZ-XH71 $2,419 - website allows ordering, chat on 11/6/12 said coming in later this week
--------------------------------------------------

TigerDirect
Return Policy: 25% restocking fee.

ASUS UX51VZ-XH71 $2,499 - pre-order
--------------------------------------------------

Best Buy
Return Policy: 30 days with no restocking fee.

ASYS UX51-VZ not yet listed (but included in this list because it will be, and they have a great return poicy).
--------------------------------------------------

J&R
Return Policy: Appears to have no restocking fee? 30 day return if not satisfied.

ASUS UX51VZ-DH71 $1,999 - pre-order
--------------------------------------------------

SuperBiiz
Return Policy: 15% restocking fee + shipping costs

UX51VZ-DH71 Asus Zenbook UX51VZ-DH71 15.6 inch Intel Core i7-3612QM 2.1GHz/ 8GB DDR3/ 128GB SSD + 128GB SSD/ Windows 8 Ultrabook Computer (Silver Aluminum) - Ultrabooks - SuperBiiz.com $1,999 - In Stock (unconfirmed)
--------------------------------------------------


Would love it if anybody wants to contribute to this list of reputable vendors selling the laptop. Most interested in comparing return policies. Basically no way I'm buying this laptop from a place like Newegg unless I'm 100% sure I am going to keep it. Best Buy seems to have the best return policy. Would love first-hand experience from anybody who has returned open laptops to any of these vendors.

 

Don't worry, it has showed like that (for me at least) since the weekend. Nothing new. That page never even had full specs of the laptop, so I don't think it says anything about the laptop itself being discontinued or not coming soon. I'm sure it will be fixed up once they have the laptop.

 

I'm confused about this price discrepancy with Adorama. They aren't listing it as any sort of discount. Are they the only one's advertising the real MSRP? Asus made it sound like these laptops would be topping out at $2,000. Is that supposed to be for the DH71? It's too bad about their terrible return policy on laptops.

 

I just called Adorama and yes, their system shows it's backordered. But he called their warehouse and they had two in stock. I bought one of them. $1,799.99, no tax to Texas, free shipping.

Now I need to sell my Macbook Pro Retina. Haha!

 

I asked about the return policy, he told me if something's wrong with it they will take it back within 30 days. Forgot to ask about restocking fee, though. Doesn't matter, I'm buying it with American Express. So if they won't take it back, AmEx will.