Asus TAICHI Owners' Lounge

Hi everyone,

I just received my TAICHI 21 today after months of anticipation.

I know the TAICHI is still on preorder in the US, but here in Canada it was just released on December 21st.

Only the TAICHI 21, with the 11.6 inch screen, is currently available.

So far it is perfect, except for one thing: both LCD panels have very noticeable uniformity problems. These seem to be due mainly to the backlighting because they are partially symmetrical on the inside and outside panels (which I assume share the same backlight), but it is probably also due in part to the panels themselves because it is not entirely symmetrical either. I wonder if the particular construction of this device causes pressure or flex to be applied to the panels. I have contacted Asus support and sent them pictures and am awaiting a response.

I'm very curious whether anyone else has noticed this issue as well. I hope it is just a defect with my unit and that I can have it replaced.

Regards.

Note: I will be updating this post with relevant information for Taichi owners below.


USEFUL INFORMATION AND TIPS FOR THE TAICHI 21

Processor power management bug

EDIT: take the info below as preliminary. I've had the min processor state reset to 100% once, even after upgrading the driver. Also, I've noticed that despite it being set to 100%, sometimes the CPU will still scale down its speed anyway. So, in other words, there is something else going on with power management that I haven't figured out. FYI you can check your CPU frequency in Task Manager (Performance tab) or with CPU-Z.


There is a bug that causes the Minimum processor state to be automatically reset to 100%, and the System cooling policy to be reset to Active, even if you change these settings manually. What this means is that you end up constantly running your CPU at full speed and full voltage, even when it is not required. This negatively impacts battery life.

Strangely enough, this bug is due to the Touchpad drivers that come installed on the Taichi which Asus calls Smart Gesture. To solve this problem, you need to remove Smart Gesture 1.0.35 and install version 1.0.36 that can be downloaded from the UX31 support page here http://support.asus.com/download.aspx?SLanguage=en&p=3&m=UX31A&hashedid=DNit7f9PxhWaH1Wi (note that 1.0.36 is not currently posted on the Taichi support page, but this version works fine on the Taichi as well).

Once you have updated your driver, follow these steps to set the optimal configuration:
- Press Fn+Space to open Power4Gear
- Click Advanced Settings
- Select the Power4Gear Battery Saving Profile in the drop down list
- Under Processor power management, set the Minimum processor state to 5% for both On battery and Plugged in, and set the System cooling policy to Passive for On battery and Active for Plugged in.
- Next, select the Power4Gear High Performance profile
- Apply the same values as above for Minimum processor state, but this time I suggest setting the System cooling policy to Active for both On battery and Plugged in.

These settings will effectively give you power on demand, but will favor performance over battery life when you select the High Performance profile, and vice versa.

(source: http://forum.notebookreview.com/asu...tting-itself-100-minimum-processor-state.html)

 

I have not gotten mine yet to comment, but I am wondering if you got the i5 or i7? I still have time to cancel my preorder and switch to the i7, but as of right now I am going with the i5/128gb option and am not sure if it is worth the upgrade?

 

Personally I got the i5 and I think it is plenty fast. I posted my benchmarks here WPrime and WEI Benchmarks for Tablet PCs and you can compare with the Sony Vaio Duo 11 in its similar i5 and i7 configurations. The performance increase is marginal and not worth the extra money in my opinion, unless you're running very specific tasks. The main reason to purchase the i7 version would be to get a larger SSD (and save yourself the hassle of having to upgrade it yourself, assuming it is user upgradable).

Note that because of the recovery partition, usable space on the 128GB SSD is only 94GB.

I will be updating this post with information that I'd normally put in a review. I don't have time to do a full write-up, so I'll add bits and pieces as I go on based on my personal bias. Feel free if you have any questions or special requests.

Sound quality

The Taichi has a Realtek ALC3329 codec (can't find specs online) and is branded as having Bang & Olufsen ICEpower audio, which I assume refers to the amplification circuitry (which should be class D, as that is what ICEpower is).

It also comes with DSP software called MaxxAudio by Waves. Waves makes high-end audio processing software used in professional recording, so you'd think they know what they're doing.

I haven't done much listening yet, but here are a few preliminary remarks:

- Audio from the speakers is above average for a notebook, but nothing exceptional. Music still sounds tinny and there is no bass, as is expected from small speakers of this size. In general sound is clean and pleasant with a good sound stage, though at maximum volume levels, some material causes distortion especially when Waves MaxxAudio is activated. There are several settings and a full 10-band EQ to play with in MaxxAudio so you can tune the sound to your liking.

- With headphones, sound quality is actually very good, except for one thing. Asus have not isolated the audio circuitry from EMI interference, so you will hear the usual annoying squeaks and noise it generates, especially in quiet passages. You'll probably want to turn off MaxxAudio processing too if you have good headphones or IEMs and like neutral sound.

Inking experience

As a point of reference, I've been using Tablet PCs for over 8 years, and have always had Wacom-based devices, except for a Lenovo ThinkPad Tablet which I resold due to the subpar inking experience.

A few initial remarks on the new N-Trig digitizer in the Taichi. First, the lag is more than I was expecting for an i5-based machine. It isn't terrible, but it is noticeable when drawing long continuous lines or just hovering the cursor around the screen. It's about the same as my HP tm2, perhaps a little worst. When handwriting, I'd say the first impression is an experience between a Wacom digitizer and the older N-Trig tech in the Lenovo tablet, though it is closer to the former. One thing I disliked about the Lenovo is that it felt imprecise with very short pen strokes (often not picking them up at all), and it seems there might still be a little bit of that with the Taichi too, though it is slight in comparison. I'll update this once I've used it more, but my current impression is that it won't be a nuisance as the Lenovo was, but Wacom still has the edge.

One thing that anyone who's used Wacom digitizers will appreciate: there is no cursor shift at the edges of the panel, the cursor position is precise all around.

Finally, the entire outside display (including the LCD panel itself) does flex a little bit when you apply light to moderate pressure with the stylus or a finger, but it is not bothersome.

To be continued...

 

Thanks for the reply and the useful review info!

I am so anxious to get mine, freaking ASUS keeps pushing the dates back for the US. It looks like it wont be until the end of January at the earliest now....

As long as the extra 0.2 GhZ and extra 0.4Ghz when turbo'd difference between the i5 and i7 isn't huge, or the 1mb cache difference, I think I will be okay with the cheaper i5/128gb combo. I thought I would need the extra space but I am only using about 60gb on my current hdd, plus I have a ton of flash drives and external hdds if I ever need a lot of extra space.

Its disappointing to hear about the new Ntrig stylus, I was hoping it would at least be on par with Wacoms. I suppose it is nice to not have to deal with the edge sensitivity and ,manual calibration that comes with the Wacom though. So I guess its a decent compromise, but hopefully it wont be terribly noticeable for note-taking in class.

Do you think battery life is a lot better now that you fixed the CPU constant 100% issue? I wonder if that wasn't the reason most reviewers were only getting 3 hrs or so of battery when ASUS states between 5-7 hrs?

 

If you write in script, you'll probably find the new Ntrig to be on par with Wacom. I write in detached letters and there is a slight but perceptible difference between the two because of the very short pen strokes I make.

I haven't had the chance to test battery life properly yet, but I also suspect that many reviews might not have realistic figures due to the bug described above.

 

crabnebula,
Thank you very much for sharing your thoughts on this site. One thing I'm really curious about is the performance of the Touchpad driver you're using. Many complaints I have read about Zenbooks and early reviews of the Taichi were that the cursor jumped around the screen and selected things unintentionally. Did you ever run into problems like this with either the Smart Gesture driver or the UX31 driver you downloaded?
Thanks!

 

I'd like to also thank you for all the information you posted so far. Can you please post a photo or two of the screen problem too?

 

FYI the UX31 driver is also called Smart Gesture, it's just a newer version.

No, I did not experience any such issues with the touchpad, I find it works very well.

However, I am having a strange issue where the device registers phantom touches on the touch screen for a few seconds after resuming from sleep, even in notebook mode. I also saw a review in which the touch panel remained active in notebook mode, meaning you could put your hand around the screen and use touch when the outer screen was off. This might be what was happening.

I forgot to mention it but I installed all available Asus updates as soon as I got the machine and I haven't been experiencing any issues when switching displays from notebook to tablet, like some reviews have reported.

Here is a picture taken in the dark to avoid reflections, comparing the Taichi with 3 other IPS panels. It's hard to get the right exposure with the camera, so in the second picture I reduced the brightness to emphasize the problem.

 

The uneven light is very clear in the lower brightness photo. Seems it's hard to get it working right with 2 screens in a very thin space like we have here.

 

Possibly so. One thing I realized is that there are in fact probably two backlights, because when the outer screen is off there is no light bleed at all.

However, by looking at pictures in reviews around the web, it does seem that my unit is noticeably worse than others.

 

Well now that you have it, do you regret going for the Taichi or it still feels like the best option out of the "I guess" 3 possible options, Lenovo Yoga 13, Dell XPS 12 and Taichi?

 

Isn't the Battery life on the Taichi pretty bad?

I own the Dell XPS 12 (well a faulty one) and it's going to be until February until I receive a new one, so from placing a order in November to when I should receive a working one it's going to be over 80 days. The Dell was the best at the time of purchasing one, I'm trying to figure out if I should wait or take the plunge.

 

I will be returning the Taichi because of the screen and since they have no more stock, I have no choice but to get a refund.

To me, the Taichi is the perfect design for my usage scenario. Svelte, beautifully designed, high-res IPS display, active digitzer and stylus, illuminated keyboard and full-size trackpad, dual screens for occasional collaborative work (and matte screen in notebook mode), etc. The one thing holding it back is indeed the battery life. Under active use (WiFi, browsing, videos, etc.) you can expect about 3 hours. In airplane mode with low backlight and writing in Word, you might get 4. Under idle conditions (no CPU use -- eg, reading), you might get a little more. I've been using BatteryMon to check the consumption rates and arrive at these figures. They aren't bad compared to the laptops of a few years ago, but are anemic given what we expect today from our mobile devices.

Since I want a digitizer and stylus (more important to me than touch) plus the possibility of using the keyboard in the bus/train/airplane on my lap, the other options I've been considering are the Sony Vaio Duo 11 and the Samsung ATIV/500T.

The more I read about it, the more I'm leaning towards the Sony, which has a 50% higher capacity battery than the Taichi + an optional sheet battery, and otherwise similar specs. The form factor is very different but also appealing to me.

If that doesn't do I'll end up getting the Samsung Smart PC 500T and sacrifice the HD screen and performance for 3x the battery life, in a much less expensive package.

 

I owned the Duo 11" and had to return it.

The travel on the keys was unusual and the keys are tiny, I mean REALLY tiny.

Asus TransformerBook is what I'm interested in if my XPS 12 doesn't work out.

 

I too considered the duo 11 as I really could use the digitizer on a daily basis, however the bad reviews about it and now the not so great reviews about the taichi have made me decide to hold off. I actually managed to snag a thinkpad x230 tablet for just over $600 US, to hold me over until these OEMs can figure out how to work well with Windows 8 pro.

 

Most of the reviews I've seen about the Duo 11 were fairly positive, at least in terms of the criteria that are important to me.

But yes I agree, we're still not there yet. If only we had an Atom SOC with a proper GPU and we could get something like the Taichi with a FHD screen and 8-9 hour battery life... I'd be perfectly happy with that.

 

I was referring to the hardware of the Vaio, the software side of things all seem to run pretty smooth on the duo as well as a good battery life for its capabilities however, as a mechanical engineer, I can't in good faith spend money on a slider mechanism as exposed as the one on the duo 11 is. That is simply poor design and is just asking to be broken. I have used a C2D Vaio Z for the past 4 years, and Sony has screwed me time and time again on hardware issues, I'm not about to go down that route again for a product that seems prone to breaking

 

If you can wait 2 month the Lenovo Helix will come
http://www.theverge.com/2013/1/6/3844010/lenovo-thinkpad-helix-convertible

I has double the battery time and you can also have up to 8 gb ram, but the starting price is 1500$.

I wanted the Taichi as well, but I have decided to wait another month or two, and then be getting the Lenovo Helix.

 

GAH, My replacement XPS 12 is due halfway through February, I mean it's nice, so nice but a tad heavy. Should I wait for the Helix, but then the Haswell processors will be due a few months after that...


That Helix better have backlit keys, if not thats a deal breaker for me.

 

Thanks for the feedback on the 700T. At some point I decided to eliminate it from my choices, but I forgot why now. Maybe I should reconsider.

The Helix looks like a very nice device indeed. But it doesn't look like the keyboard is backlit, and that is also important to me.

We'll see... In the meantime the Taichi is going back tomorrow and I do have mixed feelings about having to let it go because it would really be perfect if they could increase the battery life. Hy HP tm2 feels completely outdated in comparison, but it will have to do for now.

 

Hey owners, I have two questions:

1) Can the SSD be upgraded easily?
2) And as above, for RAM?

Thanks in advance!

 

So I received my Taichi 6 days ago, and so have had some time to figure it out and get adjusted. I will admit, the first day I received it I was pretty frustrated, but that was due to the abruptness of windows 8, and my unwillingness to change. After a few days, I can appreciate windows 8 on the Taichi, although I haven't upgraded my desktop, and do not know if I will. I am in the United States, and ordered it through ABT electronics. Background: I'm a PhD student in physics, who was looking for the ultimate graduate student tool, and tired of lugging around an iPad and laptop in order to get anything done effectively. After a few days, I have come to the conclusion that:

-Reviews pdf's/journals/textbooks well, although sometimes the high resolution makes the text hard to read. So I changed the resolution to make things a bit bigger; the Taichi doesn't like this and will reset it back to default at your next reboot. Maybe there is a fix, I have not found it, nor have I invested much time in the search.
-handwriting is great within OneNote. The other marketplace apps I checked out were meh, but I was pleasantly surprised with OneNotes ability to ignore my palm, and the pen works great. I am OCD about my notes, and wasn't expecting to be able to switch to digital handwritten notes just yet(iPad was useless, even with all the fancy apps), but 1 week into school and I'm thrilled.
-switches between notebook and tablet for me quickly, and so allows me to flow in class between tasks.

-people have marketed this as being great with the dual screen potential, but I find that a touch gimmicky. I'm quite happy with what I purchased it for though: journals, handwritten notes and web for homework.

Issues:
-driver for the touchpad was not loading after coming out of sleep, and could not be activated again until restart. Downgraded driver to an older version which has claimed to fix this issue.
-as everyone else has mentioned and I was aware of going into this purchase; the battery time is pretty bad but thankfully I don't have to be taking notes for 3 hours straight so I'm ok.

I have the i7 with 256GB, boot time is excellent, but I appear to be filling up my hard drives fast... As for replacing RAM and HD's, I have not taken it apart yet but I'm sure in the future I will, looks easy enough to pop the bottom off.
Will post more I guess as I work with it more, my apologies on the organization of my post, kinda my first review.

 

Thanks for your quick review - and appreciate you looking into how easy it is to upgrade a bit later on

 

Out of curiosity, have you noticed any problems with the screen uniformity, for instance when scrolling through documents or web pages with white backgrounds?

 

just got my taichi today. i'm also overwhelmed by windows 8.

can someone explain how to delete the recovery partition so i can get the 30 gb back? also...asus doesnt recommend this but is deleting it a bad idea?

 

Finally got a chance to play with it. It was at Fry's

https://plus.google.com/112820523848918247329/posts/bVyzsJYchSG

$1599. Nice concept, but I don't know about having dual screen like that.

 

Hey, have you managed to find a solution for the issue of the touchscreen still being active even in notebook mode? I just received my tiachi and cannot find a solution for this issue, it is really annoying if I accidentally touch the outer screen.

 

when my taichi is in notebook mode, the back screen doesnt register touches.

 

Issue solved! According to Asus staff, it was an issue with the close lid app. just had to reinstall it:
http://support.asus.com/Download.as...id_Win8_VER1018.zip#CloseLid_Win8_VER1018.zip

 

does anyone know if the backside of the taichi has a mic or just a camera?

 

While I LOVE the screen and form factor, it looks like I'll be returning mine because the battery life is atrocious! At best, I can squeeze out maybe 3 hours of use on it. The charger is small but it isn't good enough for a $1600 laptop!

 

I'm pretty sure the hole next to the camera on the outer screen is another mic, and I vaguely recall seeing that in the manual. Although, there is also a light sensor in that vicinity so maybe I'm confusing it with that... I'll have a take a second look at the manual tonight to be for sure.

Has anyone been getting a large amount of heat radiating from the outside screen webcam area when notetaking? Its not quite a burning sensation on my palm when I write, but its coming close..

 

Thanks for all the feed back on the Tai Chi I got mine less then a week ago and I am loving it. I already followed the directions on the touch pad drivers. I have not run into a battery problem yet as I use it mostly at home and work where I can plug it in. I looked at both this and the Sony Duo 11 and I went with the Asus because I preferred the full laptop look then the slide out keyboard. From what I have read in reviews they are pretty much matched out in all other areas except ports.

No no heat problems here I did not the bottom was getting warm until I changed out the touch pad drivers.

 

Repeatedly having problems activating the onscreen keypad when in tablet mode. When a typing field is open, even the sign in on the lockscreen, when I try to type, the keyboard does not appear. What am I missing? taichi i7

 

Does anyone know how to adjust the scroll direction of the touch pad? I'd like to have invert scrolling like on macbooks.

Edit: Nevermind, I just needed to update the touchpad drivers.

 

I have been considering the Taichi for a while and am getting close to buying it (had the lenovo x1 carbon touch on order, but due to terrible customer service it was never actually delivered).

I am a college student, and I mainly just take notes in class and read/write papers, so the short battery life of the Taichi shouldn't be a problem since I'm always near an outlet.

My one concern however is the screen size. Is 11.6'' enough for everyday use in writing/web browsing and occasional photo/video editing(lightroom, photoshop, premiere)? I am considering waiting for the 13'' (Taichi 31) but kind of need a computer now. I think the 11 '' would be better for using as a tablet (not as heavy) and would fit on the desks in our lecture rooms better than the 13'', but I still feel that the 13'' would be better for using in notebook mode. Any advice?

 

What retailer did you buy the laptop from?

 

Just got my Taichi last night and learning to make my way around Windows 8. One of the first things I tried to do was activate Windows Defender, which is disabled (but apparently installed) by default. Can't find a way to do it. Have no interest in the McAfee trial and the ultimate paid subscription.
Any hints?
Thanks.

 

Solved - just had to open Action Center after un-installing McAfee.

 

Just got my tiachi today. Everything is great so far except for one thing... my computer doesn't seem to be registering when I plug in headphones. The sound just continues to play through the speakers. Anyone else with the same problem?

 

So after some more testing it seems like you can't plug in the headphones all the way. If I put them in and then wiggle them out a little bit it registers (both left and right channels). This is pretty annoying, especially for a device that is so well designed otherwise. Does anyone else have this problem? I think it is a hardware issue since I have tried the other audio drivers on the asus page. Should I consider getting a replacement?

 

What kind of headphones are they?
Do they have a remote control or integrated mike of some sort?

Does the barrel of the jack have 4 or more distinct contacts instead of 3 (2 rings + tip)?

 

I've tried multiple headphones -- ones with remotes and mics (4 contacts) and normal ones with only 3 contacts. All of them have the same problem -- when plugged all the way in, the computer doesn't recognize them, but if you pull it out a little bit, the computer does recognize them. I think the port is just faulty and have ordered a replacement already.

 

Quite possible it was a hardware fault, yeah.
Just tried it on mine and detection worked fine for most headphones i have.

Fingers crossed you get a replacement fast!

 

Got the replacement thanks to Amazon's great customer service.

Has anyone tried using sketchbook pro with the pen input? It doesn't seem to be registering pressure sensitivity for me (it only works in the painting apps that come pre-installed).

 

Batting 0 for 2 here. First unit within 4 days, the displays (both internal and touch) would not light up. Possibly due to a bad/failed driver update. Couldn't get external monitors to work either. (so, no way to do a reset back to factory).

2nd unit lasted almost 3 weeks. Then, one day, the external/touch display quit working. (if you use it in laptop mode and put up something bright or mostly white, you can VERY faintly see it when you close the lid.) So, it seems like the back light has failed or the the signal switch displays is working but not the back light? Since the 2nd unit had a functional laptop mode, I restored to factory default. Unfortunately, this did not fix the problem.

Guess because the TAICHI is so new, not a lot of info when searching around the Internet. Mostly reviews, not people that own or used the TAICHI beyond these reviews.

The good thing is I bought a no questions asked extended warranty which includes accidental damage coverage. (was expensive and something I normally don't purchase). Talked with the store manager and they have given me 3 options. 1=get me a 3rd TAICHI. 2=give me a full refund, or 3=store credit.

At this point, I am leaning towards a store credit to apply towards different tablet. (Got my wife a Samsung ATIV 700T. It has been working well). I really wanted the TAICHI to work out. i7 processor versus the Samsung's i5. 256GB ssd versus Samsung's 128GB. etc.

 

Asus quality control seems to be off, the second laptop that I got works well, except I have now noticed that a couple of the keys (he p and the 6) are loose. (they do not fit on the scissor mechanisms underneath them correctly and come loose when typed on). I am contemplating getting a replacement, but really don't wan to since I have already spent a lot of time loading files/settings onto this one.

Does anyone know a fix for loose mechanisms on these chiclet style keyboards?

 

hi all i just got an i5 taichi few week ago. The problem i am facing is that if i put the resolution down to 1366 x786 it goes back up to hd. i tried everything from software updates to resetting windows 8 .The the only solution is to do a clean boot and stop ASLDR services. The only problem with this is i lost the back lit key board. Has any one got any ideas.
is there any way to up grade the hard drive to 256g.

 

Hi, all. I was wondering if anyone else has the same problem as my taichi.. It seems when i press on the fn+f1-f9 and also the side volume button.. it doesn't increase or decrease by holding it.. you have to spam it. Please help!