Asus UX32vd owners lounge.

I agree, when did this machine come out? I am very curious about it? Can you upgrade the RAM? It's basically the same price as a DS71 which is obsolete now right? Is this the only version of a UX32VD now?

When can I get this through amazon?

 

It's available on US Amazon via third party sellers. Ditto with US Ebay... and a host of other online retailers... Adorama, ExcaliberPC etc. I'd like to see a first hand review before taking a plunge on this one.

 

Why does it come to these retailers first? How reliable are these retailers? Raid 0...I wonder if you can change the raid level. Also if there's room for 2 drives in this chasis, why can't we fit two 256 drives in the DB71?

 

I know that NCIX and Xotic PC have a good reputation at least...

 

New UX32VD owner here. I picked up the UX32VD-R4032H. It has a 2.0 ghz i7 with 6gb of ram. It also has the standard 500gb hitachi harddrive. I'm liking it so far, but I will downgrade it to windows 7 soon.

 

Try adding the start menu in and using the windows key and X shortcut

 

Hey guys, I've been having a really hard time finding the UX32VD in any decent model around here. There are some on German websites, but they have the german keyboard. All other UX32VDs I've run into have the lower resolution screen, which I don't really want.

Within this price range (900-1100) do you guys recommend any other ultrabooks that can run games as decently as the UX32VD with the GT620, i7 and 6GB of ram can? I think I need to start widening my search.

 

Hello UX32VD-owners

After a lot of research, I am almost ready to pull the trigger on a UX32VD-R4002H, but have a couple of last minute questions, I hope somebody here can answer for me:

1. I want to tear out the HD and put in a Samsung SSD 840 PROSeries 256GB 2.5" (7mm thick). Will that fit without the scary modifications I have seen on youtube?

2. When I install a clean Win8 on it (to get rid of the crapware), are there any problems with any drivers, I need to know about? Like Windows will pick one driver, but I should go and find another specific one, for instance.

3. Can I ignore/disable the built-in 24GB iSSD and boot from my larger installed SSD?

4. Any other last minute advise before I pull the trigger?

Thanks in advance. So much more reassuring to hear these things answered by actual owners.

/ Klaus

 

May be it has customized the 2 SSDs so they may fit in to the same chassis. Anyhoooo... anyone willing to answer my original queries?

 

Has anyone found the solution for the problem of the fans turning on and off randomly? Anything besides BIOS tweak/update or using Notebook Fan Control...

 

a. How does it compare with other UX32VD models?

It might* be a lot faster since you're comparing an SSD raid to a hard drive with an express cache configuration.

*it depends on the specs of the SSDs

b. Does dual SSD really give you better battery life?

Yes, but the question might be how much. There are SSDs optimized for this, like the Samsung 840 Pro, some people report up to a 1 and a half hours increase for their MBP.

c. Is the RAM upgradable to 10GB total or more?

I think you can't do it, if you access the customization page in XOTIC PC you can notice that there's no option for bigger ram.

d. How's the compatibility with Linux? Dual-boot or solely by itself. Willing to pay Windoze tax even if there's no recovery media available.

Take a look here, in theory it should be the same.

e. How's ASUS' customer service? I'm in US. Can I buy additional warranty. I prefer 3 yrs worth.

I'm not sure how good it is for the US but some people in Europe (ASUS Sweden I think...) report a really bad support. I remember reading about one guy complaining about the fan issue in a lengthly mail and their response was ''RMA. No more.''

 

I can tell you that South America Support is terrible too. The "worldwide" does not mean nothing, because I'm working in Brazil and I had to send my UX32VD to USA (all costs by myself). The USPS post damage the equipment and now I'm in a dilemma.

I don't know if I would buy another Asus.....

 

Hi Klaus,

1. Yes. I I've put the Samsung SSD 840 Basic in without problems.
2. No, but you need to instal all the drivers that are offered on the ASUS website. And you should get the Samsung branded Elantech driver v11.7.8.5 because all the other drivers suck.
3. Yes, you can just ignore it.
4. Put in an additional 8GB RAM stick for 10GB RAM in total and you will have a beast.

 

How would you describe randomly? The fans are supposed to come off and on... I find mine turn on when the average CPU temp reaches 48/49C and turn off when the temperature reaches 45/46C.

If the computer is idling, it will naturally go between these two temperatures, turning it on then off, on then off... It'd be nice if we could configure these points, sure.

EDIT: :O NoteBook FanControl (NBFC) actually works! (found in long ux32vd fan thread)

http://www.computerbase.de/forum/showthread.php?t=1070494

 

There's some people in this thread complaining about issues with the fans turning on and off constantly in their UX32A and UX32VD, even when performing low level tasks like light web browsing. I was wondering if there's a definitive solution that doesn't depend on a third party. I think I read about it having something to do with the power management settings but some people report that the problem persists even if you use Linux.

 

Well "light web browsing" could certainly cause temperatures to exceed 48C. Now if the fans are turning on and off every couple of seconds, that's a different story.

 

That's the problem I'm interested in. I'd like to know if there's a definitive solution that doesn't depend of a program running.

 

What's interesting is how some notebooks are unaffected. Mine certainly don't go on and off every few seconds.

 

Yeah, maybe it was just a bad early batch, I hope mine doesn't have that problem (DH71). I almost pulled the trigger for a MBP because of that problem.

 

That sounds something that could be fixed with an EC update though.

 

Hi all!

My asus ux32vd win 8 shuts down from time to time, two-three times a week without any warning.

Have anybody experienced such a problem and how deal with it.

Thanks!

 

Probably a good idea to check your temperatures first.

 

No problems with temperatures.

Sometimes it shut's down with no load.

Thanks

 

It was asked "why can't I put a 2nd drive in my DB71". You have the GT620m in yours the DS72 does not.

On upgrade questions Xotic won't know until they get but not looking good for drives. Like the UX51. RAM maybe but if wait when Xotic has it they will know.

 

Per other retailer -- [A]http://www.superbiiz.com/detail.php?name=AS-UX32S72[/A] -- graphics are 620M. Similar info is available on ebay US. So dunno... unless someone who has played with the machine confirms, it all remains speculation. I've emailed XoticPC about detailed specs.. have't heard back yet. For me, inability to upgrade the RAM would be a deal breaker.

Btw, how's the reported keyboard flexing on DH71? I saw a youtube video comparing it with UX31's keyboard... there's some major flex.... 'trampoline' as the narrator/reviewer put it! I might go for DH71 if DS72 doesn't offer a whole lot over it.

 

You are correct until we get in hands we don't know? Correct? OK I do, $1222 two SSD's? No there is no DGPU in that. 2nd I have opened my DB71 up plenty of times. The room from the lack of GPU is how they get the 2nd SSD in. 3rd 2nd SSD would add more than .01lbs to the unit.

Of ebay and the other you mentioned I go Xotic for specs.

On Flex? It also does not float but............. OK I know I am being a smarty. Yes I can get what they call "trampoline". The NBR review was not critical of flex. Great some knuckle head with a video camera and youtube account can show you. If you press your keys like that you will be replacing keyboards. I can make it flex, I am not a great typist. It does not flex on me with normal usage.

I like mine just fine, works very well. I do press somewhat hard because I lack skill. It was said that while it lacks "travel" of keys as all UB's seem to the UX32VD was better than the UX31A. Speculated it might be the thicker form, so I read.

 

I've a similar problem. I have an upgraded UX32VD (10Gb RAM and 256 GB SSD) and everything is seemingly working. BUT when I use my laptop, internet surfing, office programs, the screen randomly blacksout and the system shuts down. Only by closing the lid and opening the lid, the system resumes to the lock screen of windows 8. Funny thing is that when I close the lid slowly, the system resumes when the lid is in angle of 30 degrees or so.

First I thought this was because of any power saving settings but when I checked my bios version in the bios setup, it also happened. Suggesting it's not related to windows or power scheme.

Do you think it has something to do with the hardware? I did open my laptop to upgrade the memory and replace the HD.

 

Maybe start with a memory test to make sure there's no fault there? Although I'm not sure that is used when in BIOS.

Memtest86+ - Advanced Memory Diagnostic Tool

 

I checked my memory... there is no fault there.

 

Hello everyone.

I'm having a problem with the touchpad of my UX32VD. I can't "click" with the low buttons anymore. I think I might have damaged the touchpad when I opened my zenbook to put an SSD.

I've been looking on ebay to find a replacement part but i can't find anything. Do you know where I could find one?

 

Do you have the laptop set to go into standby when you close the lid? Sounds like the laptop thinks you're closing the screen and going to sleep.

Sent from my LG-P930 using Tapatalk 2

 

The Technologically Inclined Theologian: Zenbook Prime and the Unexpected Shutdown Problem

 

:thumbsup: Thanks a bunch~!!
Will try to disable the option VT-D in the bios and change my powerscheme and not to use Sleepmode, but Hibernation instead.

 

Has anyone's UX32 touchpad coating wear off? because mine has and it isnt looking very pretty and finger doesnt move as smoothly on it anymore

 

Thank you very much!

 

Hi Guys,
Asus fixed my UX32VD .. but they racked my pc body ..
Here is the link on other topic with pics (worth reading) ..
http://forum.notebookreview.com/asus/679687-ux32vd-issd-not-detected-4.html

 

I had the "shutdown" problem with my UX31A. I've since upgraded to a UX32VD but I did fix the UX31A's problem and figured I'd share. I tried all the things listed above. Software, BIOS, drivers, VT-D settings, etc etc etc ...

What fixed it for me? I opened the laptop up and noted that the battery connection to the motherboard was masking taped down. (This was not the case on my UX32VD). I touched the tape and one side of it came disconnected immediately - like the tape adhesive had worn out or dried out. I reseated the connection firmly and sealed it with some new tape. My until then easily repeatable shutdown problem - was gone.

Hope it's that simple for you, too. Good luck!

 

A short caused by rubbish tape *face palm*

 

How are you guys finding the battery life? I'm lucky if my estimate on my battery meter says 4.5-5hrs after a full charge. And that's with screen below the last 1/4 brightness, no keyboard backlight, wifi ON, not doing anything (processor is idle), and an SSD. Our battery is 48whr, how is the battery so crappy? How does a MacBookPro 13.3" with a 42whr battery last so long!? My sister can get 6hours out of it actively watching youtube videos and doing stuff. I can get 2.5h at best if I try that with this UX32VD (win 7).

 

The mac os is better optised due to knowing what hardware will be running. One advantage of a closed system.

 

I saw some threads about people trying to downgrade Windows 8 to Windows 7. But they seem to have problems due to the Serial code that came from the OEM.

I'm wondering does anyone have the same problem?

 

Really? That optimization can double the battery life? What hardware would be off while watching youtube videos that would be constantly running on a Win7 machine?

 

Maybe it's not because of the hardware being switched off, I think it's a matter of the processes/services that the system runs. There are a lot of things that might be running in the background that you may not need, those spend resources and battery life. I've heard of people saying that their system gets 30 minutes more of battery life from switching to Ubuntu. I think it's a matter of system optimization; Google always strives for that with their Android releases, stability and resource management :thumbsup:

PS: It's all in the code, I didn't wanted to go into full detail but I can tell you that the better the code the better the software. There are some experienced coders that can solve problems in better/faster ways that most amateurs. I'm not implying that the guys at Microsoft aren't good enough, I just think that their focus is on others things.

 

Guys, I'm on the verge of buying a ASUS UX32VD-DH71. I have several questions:

1) Do I buy the laptop from Amazon and then purchase the harddrive separately along with the RAM? I built my own PC so I'm fairly good with computers but if it's alot of work then I don't wanna bother. The other option is to go with XoticPC which I have heard good things from but its unclear on how long it takes to build the box with the harddrive and ram built in..?

2) If I go with XoticPC they offer to do:

2A) IC Diamond Thermal Compound - CPU + GPU (Cools better than all Compounds) (XPC Service) ( + $35 ) ? Seems like cheap price to try and keep my fan from running more? Is it worth it?

2B) 256GB Samsung 840 Pro Series Solid State Drive (Up to Sequential Read 540MB/s - Write 520MB/s Serial-ATA III - 6GB/s) (SKU – X5X005) ( + 259 ) I am assuming this is the best 256Gb drive. 256Gb is right where I wanna be. This is 50 dollars cheaper on amazon but I'm not sure the one on amazon is 7mm or whatever you need to fit it in the box...

2C) Clean Windows Installation (Install drivers only - no bloatwares) (For factory installed OS only, not required if OS upgrade is selected) (XPC Service) ( + 15 ) , for $15 bucks this seems worth it if there's alot of bloatware, but wouldn't it be better to just do it myself, how hard is it and do XoticPC really know what drivers to put on the box?

3) Windows 8 vs Windows 7? I have heard people that Windows 8 sucks...I don't think this is an option though and I have to go with Windows 8. I'm concerned that it will suck cause it seems to be a touchscreen orientated OS. Oh well...

4) Warrenty, someone said in the other forum to get a SquareTrade warrenty as they are worth it. The square trade warrenty is so much cheaper buying thru amazon thou for some reason with the box there. I don't get it... has anyone bought the square trade warrenty?

Is there anything else I need to know or buy? Like is there a better machine coming out in the next 2 months I need to be aware of? like a new version of a Samsung series 9 to compete with this? My only other consideration was a lenovo cause their build quality and QA is superior to ASUS. Or at least it was a few years ago.

 

The smallest battery in a Macbook Pro is 63.5 watt hours. Ours is 48. That alone is a 30% increase. I'll assume its a 1280x800 screen with an i5 processor and will use slightly less power. Considering I get 4-5 hours with the stock hard drive, the battery increase alone would get me up to 5.3 to 6.6 hours.

Go buy an equally specced windows laptop if you want the battery life. You can't have it all, and an extremely compact laptop with a 1080p ips display and a second graphics is going to have sacrifice a few features.

 

- Thermal compound installation is the only reason I'd go with Xotic PC, as it voids your warranty and you can purchase Xotic's own warranty.

- All of the Samsung 840 SSDs will fit in this ultrabook with no modification (just check the official web page if you aren't sure). BTW the memory and SSD (if it's the right size and you have the right tools) swap are quite easy, there are a couple of good guides in Youtube and in this forum, just make sure to change the BIOS settings before installing your OS. Here's an SSD swap with the 840. Of curse, there are better ones (tutorials).

- If you just swap to a brand new SSD there's no reason to use the ''bloat ware free'' option.

- Windows 8, has better scaling features, that's important for a laptop with that much resolution in such a little screen. A lot of people complain about it, but I think they just haven't used it for enough time. It's the same as with the Youtube/Facebook layout changes, people complain about it but after a few months they get used to it. I know quite some stuff about computers an I when I had the chance to use it I didn't find any major annoyance or a decrease in productivity. Most people spend more time using other software than navigating through the start menu so the new layout it's not that awful for most users, plus you can just install Start8 if you don't like metro.

- I don't have any experience with SquareTrade but to me it looks quite nice, specially since ASUS' warranty doesn't seem to be the best.

 

I ordered the DB71 w/ICD, 830 SSD, 10GB RAM shipped 10 days after order placed.

Xotic will upgrade to W7 for $104. If you are going to upgrade OS yourself then do the SSD and RAM yourself. Try and get the 1.35v SoDIMM vs 1.5v.

 

Hi all, just wanted to report my experience with an SSD upgrade and Windows 8. I purchased a UX32vd-DH71, with Windows 8 installed. I got a 500 GB Samsung 840 (non-pro) and cloned the HDD to it using Samsung's Data Migration utility. Then installed the SSD, along with an 8 GB RAM stick. A couple of programs had bugs and I reinstalled; other than that, the upgrade worked flawlessly! I was originally planning to downgrade to Windows 7, but after installing Classic Shell and effectively disabling Metro, I'm actually pretty happy with Windows 8.

For some reason, though, the Graphics score in Windows Experience Index dropped from 5.6 to 4.8 with the SSD/RAM upgrade -- anyone know why that might be the case? I think I read that some other people have had similar drops.

FYI, I ran PCMark 7 after the upgrade and got a score of 4817.

 

I assume you got a 4.8 on the Aero sub category? I have Windows 7 but I get a 6.6, I got that by making WE use the Nvidia card not the 4000.

I have so many CPU adjustments I wonder if your install changed any settings. The one that comes to mind is the TDP adjustment and clock speed. I set mine to 17w 2.4GHz. Running wPrime I slightly improved score. Your CPU still upclocks above the 1.9GHz and mine above the 2.4GHz I think it must just help by starting faster or something.

Good luck.

 

I'm a bit worried about CPU going up above 90c when loading some games. For example Minecraft (lol )

Is these high temps normal?