Asus ZenBook Pro UX501 Owner's Lounge

Once you download the BIOS file, unzip it and you should get a file called N501JWAS.209 (or something similar ending in .209). You can then start the Asus Winflash utility and tell it to update the BIOS from this file. The utility will show you the current and new BIOS versions and ask you to confirm, then reboot and watch the BIOS update.

 

I have been following this laptop for quite some time. It really is impressive for the price - nothing else comes close in value and aesthetics.

The only obvious issue is the screen. I have not bought it yet because it is really hard to decide if this color problem takes away from the user experience. It is hard to say, simply by seeing photos online.

One question i do have is, why is the NX500JK over $1,000 more, with a weaker processor and gpu?

Does it have a better screen? even if it did, it does not justify such a price over the zenbook pro. Help me understand this.

 

I had the same problem here and resolved it pretty simply. First I noticed that the link for 207 was:
http://dlcdnet.asus.com/pub/ASUS/nb/N501JW/N501JWAS207.zip

So I changed the "7" to "9" and entered that into my browser address bar
http://dlcdnet.asus.com/pub/ASUS/nb/N501JW/N501JWAS209.zip

And 209 downloaded . I extracted the bios file from the zip and pointed the WinFlash utility to its location.

Updated as expected. Problem solved. Hope that helps everyone.

 

NX500 comes with a FHD display. If you can find a UX501 with FHD display, you won't experience the color issue. I don't usually notice the mustard yellow during day-to-day use, but when editing documents in Word, the mustard yellow is very obvious when highlighting content in yellow.

 

I will get the UX501 FHD Model with a 128 GB SSD + 1000 GB HDD. Can anyone tell me what kind of SSD is used? And also for the RAM? I would like to change both for a bigger storage. Are they some special models (size/dimensions)

 

This should come with a m.2 SATA SSD, likely a Sandisk. I believe half of the ram is on the mainboard, so unless you are buying a model with 16GB, you would max out at 12GB after replacing the 4GB module with a 8GB module.

 

I remembered reading about a yellow film over the screen of the predecessor NX500. But couldn't find the review. Now I've found the review back, and apparently the Theater mode of Asus Splendid puts a yellow film over the entire screen:

I realise that it's been posted before in this thread that uninstalling Asus Splendid didn't change anything. But what if the current mode is set to Theater, and uninstalling Splendid doesn't change that?
There would still be a yellow film over the entire screen.

So would an owner of a UX501 with 4K display be willing to check that setting the mode of Splendid to a mode other than Theater (Normal, Vivid or Manual) resolves the off-yellow issue?
Even if it's already set to a different mode than Theater, just change it to one of the others first, and then to Normal mode.

Pretty please with sugar on top?
Otherwise I will have to buy a butt fugly MSI PE60-2QE* with only FHD resolution.

[offtopic]
The PE60's screen is absolutely amazing though. With dedicated keyboard keys for switching pre-installed colour profiles, and the possibity to exchange colour profiles. I've seen it in a room with dimmed lights, in the shop. And the guy who helped me, showed me that colour accuracy could be improved even further by calibrating. Although only someone with 20/20 vision would be able to notice that though. But the numbers didn't lie. DeltaE of 0.8 after calibration. Factory 1.6.
[/offtopic]

 

A clean re-install would fix something like that.

 

I will try it out, thanks!

 

I have downloaded and extracted 209. How do I point the WinFlash utility to its location?

 

I would. If I already had the UX501 with 4K screen. It was top of my list until I found out about the off-yellow/mustard-yellows issue.

But re-thinking what I asked, it doesn't make sense. If the issue was caused by a mode setting in Splendid, it would have also been an issue with the FHD screen. Or any other panel in the UX501.

Damn Asus for screwing up with the choice of panel.

 

If the winflash utility is not installed, then you need to download it from Asus support as well.

 

The yellow issues is not software related. It is due to Asus using a pentile display from Samsung. If Asus had sourced a Sharp display instead, we'd all be happier.

 

That's actually also what I had posted.
I already found 2 other notebooks with the exact same panel as the Asus NX500 so I won't bother you anymore.

 

I have the European version 96Wh, 265 gb SSD, 4K matte display.
I haven't noticed some yellowish issue that you talk about but maybe thats just me not noticing it yet.
I bought this computer for school and use win 8.1 with metro completely disabled and a program to add startmenu like win 7.

Anyways, sure this computer looks nice, has good sound and nice keyboard, but other than that we can throw it in the garbage.

List of things that suck:

-Mousepad that needs much tweaking and even after that doesn't have the two-finger click to middleclick function. instead the Asus idiot gestures gives you rightclick when you tap with both fingers. I had this function on my old Asus.

-I won't even that about the fact that buying a 4K display was the worst decision of my life. Everything is tiny and useable. More that half of the programs don't even scale so it looks like i'm on the ****tiest laptop on the planet. Important programs like VLC or Adobe Flash are all TINY. I cannot even scroll forward in the video, only useable button the "play", the other ones are too small. To be honest, right now I don't know if I will just sell this laptop online asap because it is that unuseable.

-The laggs. This computer is so freaking laggy, I had to put every setting to max to be able to watch a Youtube-video. I mean it has a 960M. My old laptop (Asus) had some crappy graphicscard and handeld games like COD easily.

Then I have some questions for you guys:
First of all, do you have some fixes for these problems?
Should I upgrade to win10? I don't have the touchscreen version and I just want a stable windows version.
How can normal, non-tech people, use a computer like this. If I, who have some computer knowledge, have these issues, what do other people do?

Anyways, I gotta close down right now since my eyes are bleeding from this tiny Firefox. (The text I write here looks good-sized tho).

 

I actually really like the trackpad, better than most windows laptops. also are you sure you have your windows scaling set to 200%? I have the 512gb us Touch version, and i have none of your problems. The only issue i have is with the flickering screen!

 

Hm... But what resolution do you have your computer on? And you have the 4K display right?
Yeh sure the trackpad isn't that bad but since I use the middleclick function like every 10 seconds and there is none, I get really mad at it And I haven't seen the flickering screen you're talking about.

 

Make sure games are set to 1080p rather than 4k, 4k gaming is in the realm of dual desktop 980/980ti setups.

 

Yes I have the 4k model and I run the screen at 4k as well. Oh ok that makes sense. Maybe the default Élan driver has it? I think the screen flickering was fixed recently with a bios update. Also windows 10 runs pretty darn well on it! Haven't had any issues with it.

 

I have the same version, and it sounds like you are doing a lot of things wrong mate:

- First of all did you reinstall windows 8.1, some of your problems may come from not making the setup right?

- As it was mentioned above, make sure you're tekst dpi settings are 200% or above (it goes to 250%)

- The trackpad is really nice on this laptop, and believe it or not two-finger tap is standard right click by most producers these days, something I personally appreciate. You can however change the settings to the middle button if you wanted in either the Elan drivers or via Asus' smart gesture (just duble click it in the actions tray) dependable on what you have installed - asus driver are the best tbh

- I have only had problem with very few programs scaling to 4k (VLC being one of those), however setting your dpi values correctly should remove the problem.

- I have no idea about what lags you're talking about, this laptop is lightning fast - which setting are you putting on max? Remember 4k gaming isn't really possible, make sure you game on 1080p or at least reduce you resolution to something comfortable and put the gtx960m as the prefered graphics adapter in nvidia options, windows power options on high or balanced ofc.

- Make the upgrade to windows 10 and all your problems will go away, as it will download and do the setup correctly - only two drivers are necersary to download and apply afterwards (chipset and ICPP control and thunderbolt if you have it)

Sounds to me like you made some changes, like reformating the laptop and didn't know how to set it up again

besides that, both the yellow colour reproduction issue and screen flickering (close lid with it on and wake it afterwards and you will see) happen on the 4k matte version as well - it's the same screen. It can however be reduced by calibration

 

Ok thanks I will try that. I won't be playing any games but it's good to know for the future

I will try other drivers then.

My setup is like yours and it seems that my computer has gotten better over time. The text isn't blurry anymore and the computer is faster. Damn laptops.. I will wait for windows 10 a bit, and then maybe upgrade seeing the reviews after the first updates.

I will add some pics to show you what really bothers me, and don't care about the websites, these are just examples, but it can be found everywhere.

http://i59.tinypic.com/htwynd.jpg
http://i61.tinypic.com/s30fpx.jpg
http://i57.tinypic.com/33aeb0o.jpg

First two images are from websites which absolutely are unusable with the scaling.
The third is to show programs which do not scale right and look all blurry. Btw I have this keyboard thing on the bottom right which I can only temporarly disable and then it comes back. Any idea how to remove that useless thing?

Thanks

 

how does the toshiba p50t's 4k screen compare with the 4k zen book pro?

The toshiba can be bought for $75, but it comes with a weaker gpu (not that it matters, as it still supports 4k @60hz) and a HDD. An aftermarket ssd can be bought for 1-200 $ (about 500gb).

I am thinking of going with the p50t, mainly because of the crippling yellow color issue on the asus.

 

Did you change your text dpi settings? that should help the problem - I run firefox aswell and haven't seen images like these before.

just search for "DPI" or "make text" in the search bar and check the marker for setting your dpi settings for all screens to 200% or above - this removes the blurry text in steam and firefox - some scalings issues will still be there for now but it will be much better

You can set the middle mouse button option in both drivers - I just prefer the asus ones, and setting it to have no delay makes it very nice to use. The only thing I would like it to improve is to be able to set an individual sensitivity setting for the touchpad instead of relying on the global value

I'm not quite sure what keyboard thing you are referering to, did you download the ATK drivers ?

btw I see your swedish, so I'm guessing you got your laptop from the same place as me (komplett) making it the same setup . you can be quite certain that windows 10 is a great upgrade over win 8.1 and there are only very few issues - i've been running it as my primairy OS since april with little to no issues

 

Correct me if I am wrong, but I think you are talking about the on touch screen on screen keyboard.
http://www.eightforums.com/tutorials/49461-touch-keyboard-toolbar-enable-disable-windows-8-a.html

This link should help.

 

I got the UX501 FHD model today. I wanted to install a different SSD. Can anyone tell me how to remove the silicone feet at the bottom to reveal the screws? I am not able to remove them by hand

 

I've held off buying this for a few months in the hopes that the yellow screen issue would be resolved. Has it been? I really need a laptop for college and am highly considering the nx500 assuming that this model still has faults.

 

You just pry them off carefully with a flathead screwdriver. They have double sided tape on them, so it'll take you a few tries.

 

NX500 has a FHD display. UX501 with FHD display does not have the yellow issue. Only the 4k display models have that issue.

The yellow issue is hardware related and will probably never go away for this particular model.

 

Was looking to purchase this laptop in Poland - here is it available with a 256 or 512 GB SSD and 4-12GB RAM.

Might be of interest to others, per a local online shop the specification is as follows:
LCD : LCD 15.6' FHD WV US EDP - LGD/LP156WF6-SPB1
RAM : 4Gb built in to MB.
HDD : SSD 256G X300S M.2 2280 - SANDISK/SD7SN3Q-256GB

Ie slower SSD drive and LG FHD screen.

 

I need a laptop for school and I'm strongly eyeing this one since for another computer with similar specs (namely Apple) costs nearly 1000$ more.

I'm an engineering student so I'll be doing some Creo, AutoCAD, COMSOL and the typical stuff and some games. I've heard that the CPU and stuff is pretty powerful so should be fine but this screen issue. Is the scaling fixed with the upgrade to windows 10? And realistically how bad is the coloring? I'm not doing any like real photo editing or any really artsy stuff where color detail is critical so will it really bother me?

 

Scaling in Win10 is not fixed, it is same as it was in Win7 and 8 - terrible, especially for engineering soft. Use FHD resolution - it solves the problem in many cases.
Some engineering software is not supported by Win10 yet, for example, SolidWorks 2015, AutoCAD 2015. Use AutoCad 2016 - it works fine.
You will never have real yellow - it will be around 15...25%green, calibration just helped a little. Dont forget that contrast is bad and screen backlight distribution is very bad here.
If I choose now, after using of 1month of UX501, I wont buy this computer because of the bad monitor And to return it back for me is not an option as well.

But CPU, SSD and other stuff are very good (except screen).

 

I don't really know what to do with those settings. I have them at 250% and they as you may see, websites like chatroulette fail. Btw could you take a screenshot of spotify and chatroulette and your settings? Cuz I tried to google "dpi" and "make text" but didn't find anything useful :s

Now I have gotten used to the mouse, it's really good except that I will fix this middleclick thingy! same goes to the keyboard, really good!

Yup I bought it at Komplett (They shipped it without any packaging, just the Asus carton and a big sticker with my adress on it. I have always really liked them but that was a dissapointment.) Plus I read before I bought it on some websites that they got a bag and stuff like that for their computer. Me - nothing.

Exactly, thanks! Can't see why they should enable it on a non-touchscreen computer

 

I've had almost no issues with scaling. Anything that looks weird you can "disable high-DPI scaling". Last resort, you can temporarily change resolution to FHD or 2K.

Color definitely won't bother you if you're not a photographer/graphic designer. Don't let the haters get to you; having actually tried it out it's far beyond any laptop screen I've previously owned. Contrast + brightness are definitely on the higher end.

If you're an engineering CAD user (like me) definitely think about this one over Apple's $2.5K (the one with a GPU). The GPU in UX501 is much much better than Apple's, should be very good for CAD and very decent for gaming.

 

Sounds good, my only question is how much better do you think this computer is than the macbook with the GPU? I'm only asking because Apple is allowing me to finance the computer over 18 months and I can easily do 150$ a month cuz i got a part-time but coughing up 1500 now might be a little tight.

Worth living like a bum for the first 3-4 months?

 

Performance wise, the GPU has a 60% boost over Apple's 3-year old Radeon.
Financially, it's really up to you how you feel about paying a $1000 more just because you can't show up upfront. Apple has a great machine, but definitely costly for what it is. UX501 is better value for sure - my advice would be if you are able to; go for it.

 

I suggest you read the last 5 pages 10 pages or so to see what other owners think about the screen problems.

 

I must admit that for my personal use the screen is really good and in the higher end, which every professional reviewer concludes aswell.. I too use the computer for engineering and have had very few scaling problems, as the yellow issue does not bother me at all and I rarely notice it. There's little to no doubt that this laptop is a very good investment, with only a few short commings (which all laptops have, even the macbook with their low performance and thottleling).
And if you read the posts, notice how many actual owners complain, rather than people wondering to buy or not.

 

If the yellow issue doesn't bother you, then this laptop can be a good investment for you. But for others who are bothered by it, simply labeling them as "haters", "minorities", and "unprofessional" will not make the problem go away. The degree of tolerance to color inaccuracy differs by people, and it's important for potential buyers to look at both sides of the story before purchase, especially when they are tight on budget.

Even good reviewers (not sure what you would categorize as "professional") like MobileTechReview and Dave Lee have mentioned this flaw in their overall positive review.

It's not even about the laptop but the Samsung 4k panel. Every laptop that comes with this panel has been criticized for color inaccuracy. Take this MSI GS60 review for an example. Look at the screen comparison. This is the screen that gives several good laptops a bad name. This is the screen people doing color-sensitive work should avoid (ironically, one reason for people to use 4k display is for high pixel density video/photo editing). Even Eurocom is now offering this Samsung 4k panel upgrade for free on their Eurocom M5 Pro.

Now, for those who are interested in 4k display for color-sensitive work, there are better options out there. The Eurocom M5 Pro page has listed other 4k displays you can get. From other reviews (namely MobileTechReview's Alienware 15 review), the Sharp IGZO 4k panels are much better. There are gaming laptops and non-gaming laptops that comes with this option. If you are looking for a budget, high performance with better 4k display, Eurocom M5 (or other Clevo P650SE resellers with Sharp IGZO option) is commonly recommended by regular posters in What Notebook Should I Buy section.

 

I did not label anyone mate, I clearly stated that it did not bother me, even though it is noticable this screen is still very good and produces fairly nice and sharp images and is pleasant to look at.

Where do they mention the yellow colour issue? that the screen is reflective is mentioned by almost every reviewer - but that's what you get in a glossy screen. I have the 4k matte version for the same reason. I have yet to see a professional review that concludes that the reproduction of yellow colours is a problem for the general user.

I do know about the issue like the lenovo y50 aswell, all I'm saying is if you don't do colour accurate work, this issue shouldn't bother you too much, dependant on how sensitive you are ofc. noticed here for an example http://www.tecspotmedia.com/review-asus-zenbook-pro-ux501/ and http://www.thephoblographer.com/2015/06/27/review-asus-zenbook-pro-ux501-laptop/

I'm no graphics designer nor photografer, I use this for school, work, games and normal usage like movies, photos and so on. In those situations the screen performs well and is pleasing to look at.

 

I understand the color inaccuracy does not bother you, but what you think can be different from what other people think, and those who are bothered by it does not deserve to be called "haters", and pointing out there's a flaw does not make any reviewer less professional.

1st video [11:40]: "the calibration out of factory was pretty darn off, even after calibration..."

2nd video [5:21]: "first, color accuracy isn't great out of the box. after calibration it looked better, but I still find a slight greeny yellow tint..."

I'm not saying this laptop is not a good purchase for you. My post isn't about you. It's about giving readers a comprehensive information so they can decide if this laptop will be a good purchase for them.

 

Mine is set to arrive Monday. I can't wait. I want to set it side by side with my MacBook Pro and compare the screens.

 

Congrats on the new computer! That would be great if you could post some pics comparing them. People often ask how monitors compare to each other, and having a side by side like that, in the same lighting conditions, I think would be really useful for people looking at getting one.

 

I design graphics sporadically, so I hope this color issue isn't too bad. I presume they used a different screen than they did in the very similar Asus computer from last year that inexplicably STILL costs far more. I watched one video review of this computer that made it seem like the ports were unusually tight. It said it scraped some writing off an SD card. I imagine it's reasonably easy to stick anything in and take it out without damage.

 

Can anyone take a picture of the screen? I would like to know just how bad the yellow really is. Also, is the build quality solid? I've heard reports that the laptop was not built up to its supposed "premium" standard.

EDIT: Does anyone know where I can buy the FHD model here in the United States?

 

The reviews of the audio are all negative or favorable. No one is saying its mediocre. Interesting. In one video review, it certainly did not seem as loud, clear and full as MBP. I'd like to do my own comparison video review and maybe even a written review to accompany it. I've never done that before, and it might be nice.

 

I've posted a comparison between the UX51VZ and G501/UX501 display. Here is the photo again. .

AFAIK, Asus is not selling the FHD version in the US. It's not even listed in the US specifications page.

 

Is the UX501 a replacement for your MacBook Pro? I have a MacBook Pro 13 at work and the displays do not compare. It's far less comfortable staring at the UX501 for long periods of time. Apple also wins on the color accuracy front.

 

I may keep both computers, but I can't wait to put them side by side.

 

I have the FHD model now - I got one question though: I installed steam on it and the Text is kinda blurry. Is this normal? Or is there anything I have to change in the settings?

 

Have you tried disabling/enabling ClearType?