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

Here there a review of Sony Vaio S15 that uses the same display
They don't write anything about orangegate o bluegate, maybe LG has solved in last displays...

The IPS panel used by the other Zenbook (13") is not made by LG, it's a Chi Mei product.

 

ho, my mistake.
still, it wouldn´t be to hard for asus to request some improvements to the display, or maybe lg fixed it by him self, either way is´t good news!

 

Mike just said that he did not notice any oddities regarding colors and the display. Being that orangegate was corrected in the LG display in the Envy, you never know what will happen from now until release.

Originally I thought the release date was in October, looks like this will be available around the holidays instead. I hope Asus can stick to that!

 

I guess U500 come out together or immediately after Windows 8 release.

Any info about Price?
We have seen some price on line for 2X128SSD, 3612QM and GT650m with 2GB GDDR5 (U500VZ-CN046H)

Maybe this one is too good or VAT is not included
U500VZ-CN046H-BE [ 90NWOG212J11B35D831Y ] - Westcoast

 

Or maybe that's the 128ssd+500hdd version.

 

Maybe it is, but U500VZ-CN046H indicate version with double 128SSD.

 

Oh, just so great to have you here Could you please post one photo showing a desktop monitor, your mobile + the U500 showing the netflix website?

https://signup.netflix.com/MediaCenter

Just like this one:
http://s147867.gridserver.com/images/sony_orangegate_1.jpg

That would already anwer the question if this notebook might be THE one for me of if I should keep on waiting Thank you very much!

P.S.: Thank you also for the hint that it will be released in November Hopefully worldwide....
P.P.S.: Heat on the bottom is ok in full power mode. Nobody will play higher end games on the lap anyway.
P.P.P.S: VERY IMPORTANT QUESTION TO ME: Does it turn off the fans in idle mode? Is it silent when browsing or watching a movie?

 

you'll barely hear the fans when the laptop is on idle or runs very basic tasks, that in a quiet room. But they seem to be never off. They are active when watching movies, but the noise is easily covered by the speakers, which are awesome btw, especially once you connect the external woofer.

About that pic, netflix doesn't look like that over here, but here you go:



One more thing: temps tend to get a bit higher when playing games, above 90 for the CPU and above 80 for the graphics, that after playing crysis 2 on FHD at full details for about 1 hour. More on those in the review

 

Thanks for taking the time to answer so many questions, etc. The screen looks perfect. Maybe after you having said that the screen looks fine, and then showing that it's fine, these faithless people will take your word more seriously.

 

The screen of X220 looks better...

Please when you do some test with games keep HWinfo64 active in log mode, it's important to lunch HWinfo64 after some application that active Nvidia GPU otherwise only HD4000 appear in the log.
Maybe you can include the result of the log of HWinfo64 an .CVS file in your review or post it in this forum.

 

It seems like it wont cover sRGB
it´s probably the same screen envy has..
but still no red green blue or violet problem

 

I already had this running when playing the games, but like I said, I can't get into that many details when it comes to gaming performances and benchmarks. Thus, I'll have to consider whether I'll include the file or not. But I'll definitely post my observations based on what it says.

 

These temps could be good in CPU and GPU keep their base clock, 2.1GHz for CPU and its base clock for GPU by the way what is the base clock of GT650m used in U500VZ, we know that there are several version of this GPU with different base clock.
These temps could be extremely good if CPU and GPU keep Turbo on.
Instead if these temps are the result of CPU or GPU in throttling the result is very poor.

PS. maybe you can post your ambient temp

 

The review's coming veddy soon. Maybe a lot of these little questions will be fulfilled then. I know it's exciting and all, but if we keep asking he may be repeating himself in the review.

 

Thank you so much! Screen looks great!

I would have hoped that fans turn off completely in idle like in the Samsung 700Z7C ... but maybe they still find out that this is possible when optimizing the bios.

Btw. : I am hugely impressed by the package content, but (last question) is there no sleeve in the box similar to those which come with the 13" zenbooks?

That is JUST WOW! The 700Z7C has the biggest batter as I know which is 80WH and deliveres great battery life for 17" machine. I would expect the U500 to consume the same or less amount of power which would be 2 (load) - 5 hours (watching DVDs) and the Samsung has a 45W TDP CPU and the U500 35W + SSD only which should also help. I would be suprised if battery run time would not be "quite good".
I think it is the biggest battery in a 15" notebook apart from the MBPR which has 95WH...which is sick. The XPS 15 hast 65WH and you can websurf about 4:40 (according to notebookcheck).

 

Thank you Mike for taking the time to do this. As I already posted on your YouTube page, many of us would really want to know the exact weight of this laptop.

This is probably the most exciting Windows laptop of the year!!!

 

hmm the temps seem high so not much chance of OCing it if its already turboing but for that frame ill take it. As for the screen, the new envy screen has the reds fixed and i dont find it to have the blue issue. I would be very satisfied if the u500 had the same screen as the new one

 

Thanks Mike for jumping in and answering so many of our questions! I'll ask what no one else has. Can you please confirm how much ram you have in your system? Is it dual channel? Can you also confirm whether the U500 has two actual hdd bays? Just trying to figure out what / if anything is soldered onto the mobo or is proprietary. I'm hoping nothing but it would be good to get a confirmation. I realize you might not be able to open the unit but if you happened to know please let us know!

Also do you notice any backlight bleed when booting?

 

hey mike.. any word on the battery life?

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus

 

Look at the shade reproduction of the screen = full of WIN:

ASUS Zenbook U500VZ - hands on (foto) | Laptop News

 

I'm afraid the matte screen is a little bit more glossy than I was hoping, see pics 3 and 13 of the 19 image series.
Anyhow, that room is likely very well-lighted (direct sunlight on a desk in pic 1) so it should be acceptable.

 

Could you please check wireless performance while walking away from the router? E. G. With some speedtests? Nobody tried for the XPS 15 during beta phase and now it's a fail laptop.

Sent from HTC HD2 with Tapatalk

 

Thank you Mike! I'd just like to ask what I think has already been asked somewhere - What is the max ram the unit can handle? 8 or 16GB? It should be in the specs somewhere. Since I'm planning on using the unit for developing with multiple VM's, its a dealbreaker if it cant have 16GB and then I'll go for the rmbp now and not have to wait till November! It would be much appreciated, thanks!

 

OK, let's take them one at a time.

1. I cannot open the unit, but I'll ask the guys at Asus, maybe they'll let me.

2. Will check and let you know on the max amount of memory, My unit comes with 8 GBs presintalled

3. I did check the wireless performance and it's consistent, on par with what i get on my Lenovo X220. Will conduct more tests though for the review.

4. the screen is somewhere between glossy and matte, like on the other Asus Zenbooks. It's good though even when used outside, as the panel seems quite bright

5. there's little to no bleeding on this unit, but bleeding is pretty much a given with all the IPS panels I've seen in the last years and it's not really a big issue for me...

6. Will get back on the weight

7. This unit does not come with a sleeve, but there may be one on the final unit, I can't say that for sure.

8. I've only coducted some early battery life tests and the results aren't that good: about 3 - 3.5 hours of daily use on Balanced Mode with the screen at 60%. BatteryBar shows that the laptop eats close to 20 mah each hour in idle, I was expecting a bit less. Will get back with more details on that, these are just some early results.

 

hey mike, thanks for providing so much info on the notebook. I know this may not be your area, but do you have any information on prices for the different u500 models?

 

Mike, will you please measure the width of the machine in mm? Besides thickness, I can't seem to find the dimensions anywhere.

 

I can't say anything about the prices, they are still under debate.

I can say that there seems to be 4 GBs of memory soldered on the motherboard and there another upgradeable module which should take another 8 GBs (for a total of 12). The two work in dual channel. But, this is based on the indications from CPUZ and HWInfo, i did not open the laptop to double-check

 

Thank you very much! Can I ask you what "bleeding" means referred to a display?
Could you test battery life with Battery Eater? Just to have a standard result to compare with other notebooks.
Thank you again!

 

I will also add my thanks to Mike and the others that have been able to provide news and/or reviews.

From the unboxing video, it looks like there will be an an external drive inlcuded. Was this CD, DVD, or Blu-ray? Does anyone know if an external Blu-ray will be an option?

In my enthusiasm for this laptop, I ordered an external blu-ray burner. Since it might arrive today, I am wondering if I should return it.

 

the battery and the heat really throw me off...if one does not need portability, then why get this over the N56?

 

Better graphics card. GDDR5 vs GDDR3.

Portability is a huge factor though. If one does not need portability, there are a ton of powerful and heavy 15" options out there.

MikeTLB mentioned that this is a DVD-RW with a possible Blu ray option

 

Does it have 3G (mobile broadband) option?

 

Isn't it easier and more practical to use a smartphone as wifi hotspot?

Sent from HTC HD2 with Tapatalk

 

Epic Win for you Alfling

Anyway, we're all looking forward for you review Mike, when you'll going to post it?!

 

It was just a thought. Obviously the more there is, the better it is

Sent from HTC HD2 with Tapatalk

 

in my retarded country, 3g modems take one kind of prepaid service and phone calling/edge/gprs take other service, so his question is quite normal by my standards. oh and btw, edge 10 times more expensive than 3g atthe same company

looking forward to reading the full review. very interested to jump from envy 14 to this new product. considering to buy a n56vz if the u500 doesn't deliver stable temp / battery life . hope it does. but i already see, laps will have some burn marks without some spacer

 

If one will only use this laptop for web browsing and watching HD material, would you recommend excluding the 650 card? As the battery seems fairly limited it should be able to run longer without it, right?

 

Very strange and disappointing having such a large battery :-( Hopefully there will be some optimizations. Which (manual) options are there to switch between "low power" and "performance" mode? I really liked the option in the S15 to have a hardware switch to make sure the big GPU is OFF or active.

@ pennywise10
Why the hell are you considering to buy this notebook if you want to use it for movies and web browsing only!?

 

I like the style and I want a 15" screen, which excludes the previous Zenbook models. Plus a little extra power is nice, although the HD4000 should be enough for movies if I'm not mistaken.

Edit
I obviously value portability too.
Do you think there are better laptops that fit my requirements?

 

I'd say yes, but maybe a less expensive 13" Zenbook would satisfy your needs even better. Unless you definitely want/need a 15"

 

any video card will play hd movies alright. you don't need as much power as quad and discrete top-end mobility video card to fulfil those honest needs.

but guess i can't suggest you anything so stylish and compact, yet 15". envy 15-3200 maybe, i5 would be totally enough. just take the hd screen. cheaper for sure, but not so portable.

 

My concern is how consistent will the Build Quality of the Asus Zenbook U500v be? If it's anything like the Asus UX32VD nightmare, I don't think users will want to play the return-until-you-get-lucky game again..

 

I think a 13" is a bit too small for me. I've been looking for a laptop for quite a while and it's really the style that puts me off. And since I'm not a fan of Apple this seems to be a "perfect" fit ( a touch display would have been awesome). Then I guess I'll get one without the 650. By the way, do those of you who are getting the 650 version have plans on playing on it?

 

i do that's what i7 and discreet graphics are. i guess you could take a further look at zenbook touch , that should come out with u500 . somewhere around i mean. the touch models should start popping at triple speed now when windows 8 will be available.

 

I see. The UX21 is a bit too small and doesn't pack enough heat. Even though I don't need it I'd like to have a quad core i7. You can't turn off the 650
, can you?

 

Don't know what you're talking about, could you explain please?

If you don't run something that needs high graphics, nvidia Optimus will automatically keep the 650 off and use HD4000


Sent from HTC HD2 with Tapatalk

 

I see that in the unrealistic load scenario of prime 95 + furmark this is also going to fail. For 2 reasons, 90w adapter and the cooling system.

 

Oh, well that's nice. According to Mike this doesn't run long though, do i thought maybe the gpu is limiting the battery.

 

4 hours in balanced mode could be not so low, it depends on what he did. We need a standard battery test in order to compare with other laptops. I seem to remember that notebookcheck uses battery eater in 2 or 3 profiles, don't they?

Sent from HTC HD2 with Tapatalk

 

I was thinking that myself - I wonder though - in the video there seemed to be a lot of power cables and possibly more than one adapter - I'm wondering if there might be a home base type adapter and then the small portable 90W one. In the video it was passed over pretty quickly, just mentioning that in North America you would just have NA plugs, but I'm hoping there was more to it. Mike?

I personally use my G51Jx with my small portable 90W travel adapter to do light work, watch videos, etc.. and then when I game I plug it into the full power 120W one that it came with.

Thanks a lot Mike for all this information and the ability to ask questions.

I understand that you do not have an IR thermometer - I picked mine up on sale for $25 here so I could review a laptop a couple of years ago - I'd give it to you if it weren't for shipping. As for a dB Meter - you can download such software for your phone, I did some tests vs actual ones and found it to be quite accurate - of course it depends on what phone you have, but an example of that is here - worth checking out since it costs you nothing but a minute or two and could help us all.

Thanks a lot,
Peter