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

Tell Asus ;-)

 

So let's see, from the handful of reviews and inputs from the owners, so far the following problems have been encountered:

- Too loud fan
- BSOD when the graphics (GT650M) card is in use
- Flickering of screen
- Bass distortion heard in one of the speakers at high volume
- Flickering of screen connected via mini-VGA
- Uneven rubber legs
- Ill-fitted lower frame

Except the fan problem, all other problems have been reported only once or twice.
So one could just hope that ASUS listens to guys like DvP and fixes the fan problem soon.

On the other hand, the quality control process for such an expensive equipment does not really seem like a priority for ASUS.

 

Asus service rep just told me that the noise is 'normal' and that I should accept it. FFS...

 

1234567890

 

Yeah, sadly that's how it goes. My normal method for such dumb answers is to just keep making calls with the same problem. Try to talk to a manager or something else and hammer them on social media. At some point, someone will decree this has to stop because it's starting to hurt sales (They probably don't read this forum...) and will demand a fix and allow technical people to look at the problem, which should't be too hard to fix at all.

So for now, start an offensive and hammer them about it.... Facebook, twitter, suppor calls, you name it.

 

Can the RAM be upgraded to 16GB?

 

No. Only 12gb. That should not make a difference for you in the next 5 years, though.

 

All depends on what you use your computer for.... A lot of people (me included) have use for far more than 16gb of ram now and its been that way for a while.

 

In Italy it won't be available until late January, so I'm still looking around for aternatives. I've seen Asus Zenbook UX52VS. What do you guys think about it, compared to the UX51? Please consider the following:
- I need a full voltage CPU, so I'm evaluating the 3610QM version
- I don't want Raid 0: I'd disable it in UX51. In the UX52 I'd probably replace the HDD with a 256GB Samsung 830 SSD.
- I'd like to make some occasional gaming (I'm not a hardcore gamer, mostly League of Legends and Dota 2)

I have a poor knowledge about GPUs: what does the amount of VRAM influence? Given that I plan to keep this laptop for 5 years (hoping it wouldn't become obsolete too early, especially in regards to games, which increase their minimal requirements every 6 months nowadays) should I be worried by the presence of a 1 GB GT645 (GDDR5) instead of a 2GB GT650 (GDDR5)?

Thank you for any contribution

 

Hey everyone,

First I wanted to know about that fan issue - is it really that bad? And if so how bad? Seems like it might be one of those things that could be easily blown out of proportion but i'd probably be irritated too if I spent that much and it had a LOW TECH issue like that.

Second, can someone summarize the current fix for the fan issue as it exists i.e. what to download, where to get it, how to set it, etc.? Also what has been tried and what worked/failed?

Finally, I wanted to suggest that in addition to using social media to get Asus' attention people should write some reviews on the retail sites like Newegg, Amazon...and they should probably be negative. Nothing gets a company's attention faster or better than hitting them where it hurts - the wallett$$. Just sayin, if you really want your fix.....

 

It isn't _that_ loud...

Not here.

Nope. And I'm pretty sensitive even for some dithering flicker (could see it on my Vaio SA).

Haven't had something like that. Mind you I don't use the bass boosting settings that Asus have by default. And all speakers distort at loud enough volumes...

Nope.

Perfectly even here.

Fits like a glove.

Even Apple products (that many considers "perfect" for some reason) have a lot of quality control problems then.
Remember that the chance someone that buys a computer and then posts that it's perfect is very low compared to someone that buys a computer with a minor flaw and then begins posting a lot how bad it is. A mass produced product will statistically have flaws.

For the protocol the cooling system is IMHO very good with relatively low component temperatures even when stressing the machine.

 

Yeah, I've had no quality issues on mine.

However, I do think the fans are unnecessarily loud at idle. It's not 100% pleasant to sit behind it in a silent room, for an extended period. In a meeting, for instance, I would not consider the laptop entirely discreet. And that bothers me a little, in this "premium" price category.

I agree it is good to keep things cool, but at idle there is not much getting hot to start with, and airflow is not needed. Other ultrabooks (even Asus' own) do not have this kind of air movement at idle, which further supports the idea that the fans in the U500VZ/UX51VZ need not spin at this speed either.

I have asked the service rep to relay my request for a fix to the BIOS division, which he said he had done.

 

Thank you. Already found confirmation about 1-year international warranty. I live in Ukraine and I see model U500VZ-CN038H started to appear in our online stores. From my point of view its better than DH71 or XH71 available in US. 128GB SSD is more than enough for system drive and having another 500GB normal HDD is pro from my point of view. I think I still not able to fully trust having SSD only for storing data. Locally in Ukraine price is around $1780 for U500VZ-CN038H model. Not bad. I think I will wait for a couple of weeks and right before Christmas will try to get it here.

Let's look if noise problem will be resolved by then.

 

I sent a message to Asus through their website, specifically stating that I was acquiring information on the fan noise before purchasing the laptop.. And the guy that answered my petition wouldn't give me an answer because I hadn't already purchased the computer.. Just closed my petition with a "Then I can't help you."

I've since turned my interest mostly elsewhere.

 

Okay, I just wanted to say something about the fan. I recently bought this laptop and I was very excited. First of all it's basically a marvelous machine. Astonishing design, amazing handling and nice hardware too.
BUT: the fan... It is SO freaking loud! My tech knowledge is really low and therefore I don't had high expectations to my machine. But it is literally impossible to work with it in any location, where there is not much noise else. For example, I couldn't imagine going in the library with this thing. I'm using besides a Compaq, whose fans haven't been cleaned for 5 years and it's still more silent! And just hope, the fans never have to accelerate... I tried Crysis 2 and even while having the volume on about 80% I had problems understanding the dialogues!
BUT again: the fans would have potential. First thing I did was installing the tool "Notebook Fan Control" mentioned in this thread earlier. And it perfectly worked - almost. With the fans turned off completey this machine is just sent by heaven. Unfortunately, there's a problem with the tool. Apparently, the fans try to switch on every few seconds for just an instance. But you can clearly hear them revving up, so this unconstant sound was (at least for me) even more disturbing then the normal sound.
Honestly I can't understand people telling the noise wouldn't be that bad (no offense). Perhaps I'm also just spoilt or have completely wrong expectations, but this was just crazy... Directly returned it after 30 minutes of use. I measured with the iphone app 35-36 db in idle and 50 in stress, so this shouldn't be an assembly error but must the normal noise of the machine.
I mean okay, if there's some music around you, than it's not that bad. But as a student, I can't consider bringing this to library or lecture and not even working longtime on it.

Long story short: perhaps I'm just overreacting or super-sensitive, but really consider this or at least make sure that you're able to return this laptop to the store after testing it.
Or at least hope, that it gets fixed. Notebook Fan Control would already be sufficient as soon as they could solve the problem with the fans starting every few seconds.

Cheers
Sepp

 

When using a smaller shell the space for the fan goes down too so they will be faster spinning. However if it's annoying just on the desktop you should report it and see if you can get an EC update because idle should be low enough to let fans shut off.

 

Interesting. Would really like to pick one of those up myself but seems like the only place they sell these is Ukraine and Romania. Guess the retailers over there don't ship internationally? I really wonder how is the storage done in these and whether they are able to fit the HDD in the spare space that's been confirmed. Also found this link which actually sells this model for $1669 US which is very reasonable but they don't have it in stock atm.

 

What you don't want to read through 247 pages of posts? Lazy!

 

Yeah I decided to get a life at around 150 pages.....
I can't go see it anywhere, nobody has it around southern MI. It's hard to judge the severity of the noise issue, some seem to think it's perfectly acceptable while others seem really bothered by it. I was hoping some of you "in the know" could give the rest of us a realistic idea of what were dealing with.

 

BREAKING NEWS: I just received an updated BIOS file (version 204, labeled UX51VZAS) from Asus TSD that is supposed to address the fan issue!

The service rep asked me to test it and report on the results, which I will do. Please bear with me for another 6 hours or so. When I get home I will put it to the test immediately and report! Fingers crossed...

 

I also just recieved the file in my e-mail and will try it as soon as possible. Hopefully within the hour. I'm currently doing a Netbackup upgrade at a client's site, so have to sneak it through.

But euh Terpen.... Go Asus Support The Netherlands?

 

Great! Do let us know what happens!

Yeah, I'm happy too that the (Dutch?) TSD has made some progress on this. If it works, I'll be sure to give credit where due. Up until I received this file though, the communication was a bit terse ("stroefjes"), with the rep first saying that the fan speed could not be controlled at all, and then that I should accept the noise. Water under the bridge soon, I hope.

 

Alas, the upgrade didn't go as I had hoped.

The Asus flashing tool is giving me a Model mismatch. My BIOS says UX51VZA and the file states UX51VZ. Most probably this isn't a real problem at all, just a file labeled wrongly.

I have sent this back to Asus support including screenshot and hopefully they can quickly send me a revised version.

 

Pity, looks like your BIOS file was named exactly like mine (UX51VZAS.204 with the "A"), but it still reports UX51VZ inside the Winflash program. I do know my BIOS also reports the "A", like yours, so most likely I'll get the same error. A bit more waiting to do it seems...

 

Try this

From the command prompt:

Type cd \ (ENTER)
Type cd program files (ENTER)
Type cd asus (ENTER)
Type cd winflash (ENTER)
Type winflash /force

 

Mwah, if I don't hear back from support before tonight, I will probably try that, but for now I'll handle it through support. A bit too expensive piece of kit to brick it that way.

 

Sorry to disappoint you guys but I also complained about the fan noise and ASUS simply replied with a link to file which would update my Bios. Turned out I anyway already had the last version installed.

 

ZENBOOK Touch U500VZ

ASUS ZENBOOK™ Touch U500VZ

 

Which file? Which version? The same happened to most of us but we had 203 installed and Asus linked us to that file again.

 

Good luck

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk

 

http://nbtsd.asustreiber.de/Tools/DPTF_V6.0.6.1082.zip

 

That's not a BIOS file..

Very exciting news!

 

So nobody can install the new bios right now!? That would be "a bit" sad. Honestly I do not expect that they turn off the fan in idle completely which would be no problem at all as we have proven here already. Love my 100% silent UX51. Would be great if Asus would enable this option fully for us.

 

Can someone upload the new bios?

 

Unfortunately no news and also not exciting. I already tried it and got some kind of error (I forgot).

Well and the Asus guy told me if there is any error message, my U500 is up-to-date.

 

StevenSteel: You're confusing things. We received an actual BIOS update: 204 version. Until now everyone has version 203.

Quindor: Do NOT force that update! Asus' 203 (older) BIOS also came in two flavors: UX51VZA and UX51VZ. You need to check inside your own BIOS (press F12 inside) to see which one you need. I'm sure Asus would not provide two different files if you could just use them interchangeably. There is a good chance this 204 BIOS is really for the "other" type, not our UX51VZA's.

I will look into uploading the BIOS file I got somewhere, but I may only have time for this in the evening today. I wanted to upload it here, but it is too large, apparently.

 

Check, warning received! Thank you!

 

I am glad to hear that. So indeed exciting news

 

So, bad news for today. Asus mailed me back and pointed me to an "How to" Manual of how to flash my bios. Well Asus, I have known how to do this for about 20 years now, thank you.

And if they would have either read my e-mail or even just looked at my screenshot, the problem would have been obvious.... So I wrote them back, to just tell me if they don't know either and to report back to main office. Don't give me stupid mnual's when the problem is obvious.... *sigh*

But, since it's now 18:29 over here in the Netherlands, Dutch offices are closed and on top of that it's "pakjesavond" a national event called 'Sinterklaas' which means businesses close early too.

Too bad, but most likely this story will continue tomorrow morning and not tonight.

@Terpen Tijn I checked in my bios with the F12 like you said (Didn't know about that one!) and it indeed clearly states that I have the A version, just like the tool mentions. So not going to risk it! Tomorrow's another day. And who knows, maybe someone else on here that also created a support call to get this fixed did receive the correct version!

 

@Quindor: Typical response, sadly.

In any case, mine produced the same mismatch message, and I informed Asus TSD too.

 

Anyone having these trackpad issues?

Using ETDDeviceInformation.exe, I can actually move my finger around on the trackpad and see the numbers changing properly but the mouse movement is not in sync.

The position numbers start at 0,0 on the bottom left of the trackpad. The position numbers at the top right of the trackpad are roughly 3300,2100.

When I drag my finger from the bottom left to the top right the numbers change from 0,0 to 3300,2100 but the mouse barely moves. When I move my finger faster it seems to keep up better.

It's like the trackpad is not seeing my finger slide across but in fact thinks it's jumping across.

 

@DvP: I just tested a regular SD card in the card reader, and you only stick in about 1/3rd of it. The rest of the 2/3rds stick out from the side of the laptop and is almost as bad as a usb drive. Damit!

 

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! ! :-( Coudn't be any worse.

 

Very sorry to say this but it CAN be worse. I just tried a SanDisk Extreme III 4GB SD card out of my Canon that I have been using for 2 years to transfer pics using the SD reader in my Dell XPS and the UX51 would not only not read the card it completely corrupted 8 of the pics (jpg). I could not restore/fix them using any of the normal tools and using my Dell got only the other 8 pic files off the card that the UX51 for some reason did not corrupt. Unbelievable, I guess I should have checked all hardware before doing my other reviews but I assumed nobody could FU a simple SD card reader considering how long they have been around. I was wrong. Also note that the actual hardware for the reader is strange. The card does not lock in the reader like all others I have ever seen, it just slides in and lays there, it sticks out quite a ways and it wiggles around a lot as if the slot is too wide for SD cards. Again, very strange. Of course I do not know exactly what caused this damage (WIN 8, UX51, Driver, some combination). Anyway, sorry for the bad news. I was really starting to like this machine a lot.

WARNING - do not use the SD Card slot with any valuable data! http://forum.notebookreview.com/images/icons/icon8.gif

 

Not sure if this has been posted yet, but Engadget put up their review on the UX51VZ...

ASUS Zenbook Prime review (UX51Vz): a blazing 15-inch Ultrabook with a lofty price

 

Yeah read that one... One of the worst reviews of this computer I've seen yet. I wonder when anandtech is going to start reviewing all of the new win 8 machines, should be much better.

 

A new day, a new part of the support story.

I got an e-mail back from them asking me for my model type and serial number of the laptop. Well... I guess they forgot? Because you can't even open a support case without filling both in. And they can check the model with the serial number. And the model type was listed in my screenshots and mail history. But then again.... why am I surprised. *deep sigh*

If they communicate anything useful I'll post here again.

 

As some of you know there are two versions of the 203 BIOS available on ASUS support page, one for the UX51VZ and one for UX51VZA. I wonder what the difference between these models are..

So we probably have to wait for ASUS support to release the correct 204 BIOS version.

 

Yup. I've been in contact with support some more and they actually apologized somewhat for the way they treated me. I appreciated that. They just told me that they are in contact with their offices in Taiwan and are waiting on them and that most probably the quickest they can get the correct file is tomorrow. But hey, if that's the case, that's fine, just tell me that in the first place.

 

A user at Amazon claims that he "updated" his U500VZ to BIOS 203 and got rid of the FAN issues. Have anyone tried applying the BIOS update available on ASUS site (even though your BIOS reports version 203 already)?

Amazon.com: A. Torres' review of Asus Zenbook Prime UX51VZ-DH71 15.6" Noteb...

Also: http://www.amazon.com/review/R1E4VU...-glance&nodeID=541966&store=pc#wasThisHelpful