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

Yeah, most places don't have a restocking fee for defective items. I'm most interested in finding places with a satisfaction guarantee return policy. i.e if I am not satisfied, even after opening, I can return it. I think that's what really sets return policies apart. Some don't allow this at all. Others have 25% restocking fees. And, from what I can tell, some, like Best Buy, do not have a restocking fee for this.

 

Here in Portugal, Media Markt are the only big ones doing it (as far as I know). FNAC and Worten both allow returns only on defective items and FNAC also has the nerve of giving you store credit only, even with defects (it's illegal, and you can get your way if you write lots of letters).

Guess which one got 1200€ for my wife's Zenbook Prime.

 

I ran Prime95 and Furmark (burn-in test) at the same time while having hwinfo64 in logging mode on. I ran for about one hour. CPU and GPU usage was around 99-100% all the time.

The top part of the keyboard gets warm, but not extremely warm. There is no heat by the palm wrist and the bottom two rows of the keyboard. At the end of the test I used Android Sound Meter on my Galaxy Nexus, and it measured about 40-42db 15cm above the back of the keyboard (towards the user of laptop) in full load.

Looks like CPU topped out at 90c at one point, and GPU max was about 82c. Isnt these numbers very good? I read that the same test made rMBP CPU go to 104c!(?)

About 15 minutes after I shut down furmark and prime95, the CPU went down to ~50c and GPU down to ~42c. I now notice that the fan sound is a bit annoying..

However as I see it there are some throttling going on, but as previously said it does not look like its caused by overheating (at least regarding the CPU). Also the GPU seems to throttle, as Furmark told me that in the status text during the test. I took a screenshot but could not find it, it said something like "(Throttling: -700)".

Can anyone who is experienced take a look at the logs and tell us what you make of it?

Link to the furmark+prime95 test: http://dl.dropbox.com/u/4480781/u500vz_furmark+prime95_1hr.CSV
Link to my test where I had hwinfo64 on during 3dmark11: http://dl.dropbox.com/u/4480781/u500vz_3dmark11.CSV

 

Attached you also find my two AS-SSD tests I did, one before I installed IRST and one after I installed IRST.

Before I installed latest IRST: http://dl.dropbox.com/u/4480781/Cleanfirstday.png
After I installed latest IRST: http://dl.dropbox.com/u/4480781/irstfirstday.png

 

The CPU temps seem to not be entirely related to the throttling, which is strange because the temps are in the 60's when the CPU drops down to 1.2gHz. Then the temps are in the 80's when it goes back up to 2.1Ghz. The GPU stays pretty cool and at full speed in your tests.

 

CPU has performed for all the time at 1.2GHZ, while GPU has kept turbo active at 835MHz.
Is it possible to have a test with only prime95? 10 minutes should be enough.
Please can you tell us what is your ambient temp?

 

This whole throttling thing has really turned me off from buying this notebook. I think I'm going to look elsewhere. The Sony S13p looks like a good little unit and it's a lot cheaper if you want to bring your own SSD. Plus 15" laptops are a little big, even if they are thin

 

Don't those Sony ones come with dual-core CPUs, not quad core? Seems odd to reject a quad core CPU for a dual core because you're worried that throttling will rob you of some CPU power. I would think that for most purposes the quad core would still be more powerful, even if in a limited range of circumstances it throttles.

 

The issue is that every single system (Except the Sony Viao S15, which apparently has overspecced cooling) with a quad-core 35Watt intel i7's seems to overheat and a 1.2Ghz quad core is much slower than a 3.6Ghz dual core. Also, the single(and dual)-threaded performance is better even in the best possible case.

If it's $950 for a S13p and $1800 for this ASUS, the price-performance ratio is not very good. The specs are not that different, at least not for what I'm using it for. Also, 15" is big.

 

It's evident that it's only a bios lock (and bios may be improved, hopefully). It's not like L521x, that can't eliminate throttling with any bios. In any case, if they don't improve bios control of throttling, the UX51's cooling system provides wide margins to use throttlestop if you want/need, which is far less invasive than flashing a modded bios on a Vaio (without modded bios you can forget any kind of gaming with a 640m LE...)

Sent from HTC HD2 with Tapatalk

 

I scanned through this topic for anything about the models but I can't seem to find my search.

Is this laptop released yet in Europe?
Prices?
Specs, will it be available with 128GB SSD + 500GB HDD?

I have contacted multiple stores and ASUS themself but I haven't got any statisfying information yet.

You guys?

Thx

NGDM

 

Oh yes, there is no doubt it's a better machine. The price gap however, is pretty daunting.

 

I asked to Asus via Google+ about a 128+500 GB configuration and they answered

Guess we have to deal with it

 

They can't be serious. They even announced this on their website.
ASUS

 

I know, but after seeing a pic of the internal of the laptop, I find it hard to believe they can fit a standard hdd plus one of those weird SSDs in there...

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Well I hope you're wrong

 

I hope it too!

Sent from HTC HD2 with Tapatalk

 

I live in Sweden and I would guess I have about 20-22c inside.

Wow.. I just did prime95 for 10 minutes and guess what? Barely no throttling!

Max temp: 78c
Min Clock: 2594MHz
Max Clock: 2793MHz

Does this mean that the power supply cant run both the GPU and CPU at the same time? I sure hope if this is the case that ASUS gives us early adopters new adapters. No pun intended.

Link to hwinfo64 log prime95 for 10 minutes: http://dl.dropbox.com/u/4480781/u500vz_prime95_10m.CSV

 

The US version of UX51VZ uses ADATA MX11 proprietary mSSD, battery is 70Wh and there are no 2.5" HDD slots under the battery:

 

Those are a really good temperature you're getting. :thumbsup:

This thing surely can be OC more.

 

Cooling system seems to perform fairly well.
We need to understand if throttling when CPU & GPU are working together is due to power supply or some BIOS lock.
It would be very interesting is some owner could try with a more powerful power supply.

According to Notebookcheck review of UX21A, it seems that ASUS put ADATA or SANDISK randomly, also Notebookcheck says that ADATA models have better performance than Sandisk models.

Review Asus Zenbook Prime UX21A Ultrabook - Notebookcheck.net Reviews

 

Sweet, GenTech PC now has the real customizable options. No shocker that there isn't much that can be customized. Can make the laptop 12GB Ram and update the wireless card.

 

Newegg.com - Asus UX51VZ-DH71 Notebook - Intel Core i7 i7-3612QM 2.10 GHz

Showing in stock again.

 

Yup, I see it now too. Nice.

If we can just get a handle on the fans I'm buying.

 

J &R is now also showing in stock:

ASUS ZENBOOK Prime UX51Vz-DH71 15.6" Ultrabook PC - Silver in PC Ultrabooks | JR.com

 

Does anyone know the size dimensions of this notebook? (i.e. length, width, & thickness at front and back)

 

UX51VX dimensions:

15.0" x 10.0" x 1"~1.2"

 

Is the thickness really 1" to 1.2"? I thought it was more like 0.2" to 0.8".

 

the dimensions info was provided by Asus, here is the dimensions I measured with the actual unit:

 

I don't think that dimensions are true. As far as we know it was 0.8" at the thickest point. If your dimensions are true, there is no way for this laptop to compete with rmbp. but anyway they are probably false.

Also how come ux51vz still not on the offical asus web page? I looked at the sweden version too.(some people bought it at sweden)

 

I should have refreshed the page before posting. I didin't see your last post. It seems like it's more than 0.8" but not that much thank god.

 

GenTechPC,

thanks for the pics and information. It appears ~0.875" at its thickest point, so definitely under 1 inch thick. If it's really 15" x 10" footprint, that is slightly disappointing because it makes it bigger than my old Dell Latitude D830 beast!

 

Looks like Asus USA web team must be too busy, however, it's on their promotion site:

ASUS and You. Incredible Together.

 

There is also a support section up already. In their wisdom, the model is indicated with a myriad of designations. U500VZ U500VZA, UX51VZ, and UX51VZA. I have a model called U500VZ, but when I queried the BIOS, the actual type number was UX51VZA... go figure.

Anyway, it seems like the last BIOS (203) changed the "Thermal Policy". Sadly, this version already came pre-installed, and thus we must conclude that from a noise perspective at least, it is not yet optimal.

I would really appreciate some control over these fans...

 

While we wait for that, do you mind posting some shots of the machine? Would be nice to get an idea of the build quality and finishing.

 

The height discrepancy is likely due to the height of the feet. Computer manufacturers always measure their systems without including the feet, even Apple.

 

Do you think that Sam's Club really has a dumbed down version of this Notebook (4 GB, 128 GB) or is it just an error?

ASUS UX51VZ-DH71 Laptop Computer, Intel Core i7-3612QM, 4GB Memory, 128GB Hard Drive, 15.6" New!</font color> - Sam's Club

 

For that price, it better be an error.

 

Nm...I see the point now.

 

I'd imagine it's an error.

 

This question is a bit odd since I am one of the few who have the unit in hand at the moment, but I want to know if it the repair shops would be able to see if I remove all the screws and remove the bottom plate of the laptop?

There is a very small issue with the chassis of my unit, where the backplate is not properly assembled. I am fairly sure that I can fix it by just removing a couple of screws and adjust it slightly. I do not want to do it if it voids my warranty though - but the alternative is to send it in and wait weeks or even months for it to come back. So much for such a small issue.

Sorry for the bad pictures.

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/4480781/2012-11-09 13.45.09.jpg
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/4480781/2012-11-09 13.45.15.jpg

 

no they cant know if you opened or not, just dont go and ruin the finish of the screws or something like that.

 

Even if they knew that you opened the laptop, depending on your country, you might be in the clear. In the EU, if I'm not mistaken, there is a minimum of 2 years warranty AND for the first 6 months, if any defect is detected, the burden of proving misuse is on the seller; for the remaining 18 months, it is the buyer's burden to prove that it was not misuse.

In simpler terms:

- For the first six months, ASUS has to prove that you caused the problem which arose. If they can't, it's automatically assumed that it was their fault.
- For the other 18 months, you have to prove that ASUS is responsible for the problem. If you can't, it's automatically assumed that it is your own fault.

Note that:
1) Generally, resellers and manufacturers are friendlier than this in the "other 18 months" period, otherwise customers get pissed and they lose business.
2) I think this is valid in the EU and still I'm not 100% sure, so don't use this post to base your arguments vs. ASUS.

 

You have the right to open up the computer and (as HerrKaputt wrote) if there was anything wrong with the computer later Asus have to prove that you caused something (which you won't).

 

Whoa. Adorama up'ed their price from $1,799 to $1,849 today.
Asus Zenbook Prime UX51VZ-DH71 15.6" Notebook Computer UX51VZ-DH71

Glad I ordered mine yesterday and got the lower price! It arrives on Tuesday.

 

Hmmm I'm a little bit irritated because on the web site they write that the UX31 has an IPS panel but they don't mention this for the UX51 ...

 

Ups sorry I replied just above to the wrong quote ... should have been posted to this quote: "I'm a little bit irritated because on the web site they write that the UX31 has an IPS panel but they don't mention this for the UX51 " ...

 

GenTec PC mentions DDR3 for the GPU!
Is this only a US thing? Because some one with a unit in Europe confirmed it's a GDDR5.
I would assume GenTec wouldn't make an error since they have the Zenbook in stock.

 

Such kind of build quality is not expected at such high price levels. ASUS needs to understand this and tighten its quality control.

 

UX51 also comes with IPS screen, it's the LGD0323:

video card should be global spec not only US: