Asus ZenBook Pro UX501 Owner's Lounge

anyone know when this is going to get a UK release?

 

I also have the UX501 and I love it!

It is my new work computer, since I need a workhorse for VMware Workstation.

The display is glossy, and is the biggest gripe I have with the machine.
Will upload a CPU-Z screenshot any moment!

 

1) Do you have US version - UX501JW-DS71?
2) Can you please upload a GPU-Z screenshot (it gives more detailed info about GPU)
3) One more thing - can you please upload a photo of display?

 

CPU-Z and GPU-Z from my UX501JW-FJ192H

http://imgur.com/5QMjXCa][/url]

 

I have some mixed feelings.

Pros:
-The laptop itself looks great. The rounded edges are nice, the silver is a good color, the lid of the laptop is unexpectedly smooth. If you've felt other Asus laptops many that have ripple design on the lid have an actual tangible ripple on it. This one is polished smooth.
-The ripple effect on the keyboard also
-The hinge is sturdy and so is the AC port.
-There's no keyboard flex.
-Keys are very responsive and feel nice to the touch
-4K scaling appears to work well in most apps
-The laptop boots on and loads very fast
-The touch screen actually works very well. I thought I would never use it, but I'm actually finding myself using it at times. It's pretty convenient.

Cons:
-The yellow is definitely an issue. It bothered me more as I started to realize how prevalent it is. It is something, with time, your eyes will simply adapt and become accustom to, but I really wish it wasn't there.
-The screen could definitely be brighter
-It DOES get pretty hot when playing games and multitasking. Not just the bottom either. The top and the upper keys will get hot as well after a long period of time.
-I really wish the trackpad had actual buttons on the bottom like my old Alienware. It makes frequent right-clicking somewhat of a pain.
-The screen is VERY glossy.
-Some of the keys feel small and very crowded together.

 

@Knocturne
Could u make some photos of your laptop?

 

Overall, is it worth the buy in your opinion? And also, do you think that yellow issue is only because the 4K screen, like if I were to get a FHD one, it wouldn't have that issue? Great Pros... but the fact that you said it gets really hot kinda bothers me

 

The yellow issue comes from the panel itself so it just depends on which one they decide to use. It could have it or may not have it.

 

I have not heard of 1080p panels with colour issues so you should avoid anything with the 1080p panel.

 

Does anyone know what the low end configuration will look like?

I will probably slide in my own SSDs and have no need for a 4K screen.

 

Another issue I just came across

The graphics card they put in does not support 4k video. GTX960m does not, verifiable on NVidia website.

So, the 4K screen is really only there for additional clarity or still graphics work.... ?

 

I'd imagine it would support up to 5K, if not at least 4K.

But I still don't understand why manufacturers keep producing nice laptops with high resolution screens yet gimp them with GPUs that could never ever run graphic intensive programs at native resolution.

1080p is more than enough on a 15.6" laptop.

 

I think there are several reasons. One is basically that the argument for future-proofing can be made. 4k content is not a big deal now, but there might be a lot more 4k content (not just games) in a few years time.

Another point you could make is the one about resolution independence. Having 4k is great for photo and video editors and multimedia in general. you can have your UI scaled up independently, from the content you are working with. basically you can sit with 4k video and it fits in your view finder no problem, while the entire UI of the program is not tiny tiny tiny.
But the adaptation rate for apps to get updated to 4k and 5k has been slower than anticipated, and it has been a bumpy road.




I think finally manufacs feel that whatever they can do to boost impressive numbers, even if they are useless, is a big selling point. you will often see them make laptops with medium-poor graphics cards bundled with a lot more Video Ram than they can handle on their bandwith. So why do it? Again - bigger numbers.

It's too bad too, because the energy efficency gains in battery life gets twarted. But we are now seeing the difference. Lenovo felt the pressure and have come up with a y50 IPS screen that is 1080p. there was a 1080p screen before that but it was horrendous (TN)! Alienware also now backs up their Alienware 15 with both a touch and a non-touch 1080p option to compliment. so they are getting the drift.



the final point you could think about, is that lowering from native resolution and running your computer in something lower that shares the same aspect video, is not like it was 10-15 years ago (a blurry mess)! I run bootcamp on my macbook pro at 1080p, and I honestly don't feel the difference in games from native rez. I feel it is very exaggerated, when people act like lowering the computers resolution. it's completely fine from my experience. You just need to lower to a resolution that shares the same ratio. So for my macbook pro (and this probably) both 1600x900 and 1920x1200 should look fantastic on a 16:9!

 

I think your imagination is wrong.

The 960m, according to the chip manufacturer, does not support 4k.... go to NVidia website and see for yourself.

 

tired of waiting for the perfect 15.6" laptop and I finally put the trigger on the top of line UX501 (16G RAM, 512G PCI SSD, UHD display and 96WH battery). I wanted the FHD version but the tiny 60WH battery was a deal breaker. Should come in few days. If the yellow screen issue is too much, I will buy a calibrator and see if I can fix it...

 

Doesn't the 860M support 4K monitors? Would it not support 4K video in that sense?

 

The 960m supports 4K.
http://www.geforce.com/hardware/notebook-gpus/geforce-gtx-960m/features

Look under "High Resolution Display Support".
Can anyone that has the 4k version upload some pictures of yellows with varying screen brightness, and/or show side by side comparisons with another laptop (MBPr if possible)? I've read everything that I can find about the display, and it seems like the problem might not be bad at full brightness.

Also, are there any other owners that have any thoughts on the maximum screen brightness? Obviously it's probably sufficiently bright, but I'd like some opinions. Lastly, how is the keyboard?

 

Ok, but if you look at Product Info frame, you will see it that 4k is not included and you need to select 970m or above for it to be so.

One guy who put a review on Amazon found out the hard way (albeit for the nearly identical ROG501):

 

You have to distinguish between 4k and 4k.
Currently Youtube on Chrome serves VP9 encoded video, and there seems to be no GPU which decodes it in hardware. For 1080p it isn't that bad, but 4k could stutter. That's why there are extensions like h264fy to force another format which GPUs can decode in hardware

The desktop GTX960 seems to be the first GPU to decode h265 and 4k@60fps, but VP9 support seems to be unclear, in fact, the following table says VP7 support:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nvidia_PureVideo

I think, the 850m, 970m and 960m all support partial 4k support up to 30fps, but you'd need to avoid using VP9 video in any case, regardless of GPU.

So I guess that's either the reviewer was trying VP9 encoded video or 4k @ 60fps video, which no mobile GPU seems to decode in hardware?

 

Please, can you guys run the following commands in the PowerShell (run as Administrator) and post the results?

Code:

# What's the RAM manufacturer/model?
Get-WmiObject Win32_PhysicalMemory | Select-Object Manufacturer,PartNumber

# What's the HDD & SSD manufacturer/model?
Get-WmiObject Win32_DiskDrive | Select-Object Model

# What's the display manufacturer/model?
Get-WmiObject Win32_DesktopMonitor | Select-Object PNPDeviceID

# What's the TPM (Trusted Platform Module) manufacturer/version? *** needs admin privileges
Get-WmiObject -Namespace "Root\CIMV2\Security\MicrosoftTpm" Win32_Tpm | Select-Object ManufacturerId,ManufacturerVersion,ManufacturerVersionInfo,SpecVersion

 

Twin brothers?
http://www.asus.com/Notebooks_Ultrabooks/G501JW/specifications/
http://www.asus.com/Notebooks_Ultrabooks/ZenBook_Pro_UX501/specifications/

 

Ok so I had to register just to stay that half of the posts on this thread are stupid. I mean, 960m doesn't support 4k? Come on. The person who said that might not be so much into tech... but then again, a 2000$ machine is not for your mama's emails, so again... come on. I usually don't care about peoples' opinions but I am, like most of you, invested in this subject, that means that I want to buy this laptop from here with ~2000 dollars (1976$) and I just want to debunk some myths that have already been made on this brand new laptop.

So... my 2 cents from my ~2 days knowloedge of reading posts, askings on forums and reading reviews like this one (more objective than many reviews or opinions that I've seen on this thread) are:

- A glossy screen doesn't equal a bad screen. I mean, take MacBooc Pro. It is not that bad on the display side, right? Glossy (or Glare) is good for graphic-related activities like photo manipulation or watching a movie. On this ultrabook you can do that, even outdoors. Sure, I don't advise you to watch a full Stanley Kubrick movie outside because your eyes will get tired... and why would you want to do some serious digital work outside? (just curious - don't want to be mean).

- Ah, the yellow. Now look, in my country, for my needs (heavy browsing + movies (this may include the random mkvtoolnix editing of movies) + music + skype + other knick knacks and paddy wacks) it's this or an Apple. So, I am willing to trade the potential yellow problem for a better overall experience because, in my case, I wouldn't mind. And I am pretty sure that the majority of you wouldn't mind also after you first boot this baby up. This poses a problem only for anal characters and professional users.

- Keyboard: better than NX500.

Other than this potential problems, in my country atleast, this is the best ultrabook for me fullstop.


Sidenote: Where is a moderator? A bunch of posts here are wishlists and off-topic stuff.

 

Not trying to be confrontational, just my own opinion on the points you made about the screen.

On glossiness:
Yes, glossy screens aren't necessarily bad. They are good for certain activities and have their advantages. The problem is the reflections. It's not about be able to do digital work - it's for general use. Glare screens make it just about impossible to use this notebook outside, or even in particularly bright natural light indoors. For my mobile needs, I'd like to work outside every once in a while.

The Yellow:
I disagree with your statement here. For me personally, inaccuracies in color fidelity are very noticeable. Like you, I'd use this notebook for heavy browsing and movies (mostly anime), and I am very sensitive to color inaccuracies. Of course, I can live with it being slightly off , but the greenish tinge I saw in some of the pictures here is pretty much a dealbreaker when it comes to getting the color reproduction I need in a monitor/screen.

 

A few points here;

1) There is no need to call half the people in this thread stupid, even if somebody are misinformed about about something. It reflects poorly on you. Also, I think the comments about 960m is that while you can of course support 4k it's, not really a good driver for 4k video editing or 4k gaming. And this laptop is a multimedia laptop with gaming possibilities.
Also, as noted by other posters 4k displays have a negative impact on battery which hinders the ultrabooks usefulness as a mobile device.


2) That Ultrabookreview is an early-impressions, not a review. It says in the article. And while the keyboard has improvements like improved typing experience, the article also has some significantly bad things to say that indicates a step back from NX500, like the speakers being put in the back, the addition of a crammed numbed (which is completely beyond me why they would do that).
The jury is still out on temperatures and battery life and those will be important. With the juicer CPU than NX500 I wonder if it can sustain 6+ hours of operation. I hope so,but I am concerned.


3) I work with graphic design and am typing this on a Retina Macbook Pro, and I can tell you that glossy does not do anything for designing or displaying better colors.
The reason why many screens are glossy is that it looks better when you view it in the store. Depending on the glare of the display, even indoor usage can yield very poor viewing experiences. It depends on the panel.
But if you are designing you will prefer matte, always.
We haven't been able to customize matte screens on MBPs since 2009, unfortunately. Thankfully the screen on the last few gens of rMBP has had great color, contrast, blacks, and viewing angles.

The problem with the display in UX501 is its a samsung. Yellow tint issues has been a big problems on many imacs and macbook pros in the past, and it's not just for people who are "anal" as you said. It's a major deal breaking issues for many users, as whites appear as piss yellow. no calibration can really fix it.
In the case of Macbook Pros the samsung LCD panels also has brought many other problems like IR (image rendition) which is a major pain. This has been the case on both LG and Samsung panels.

Ghosting and backbleeding are just part of the game, but the yellow tint issues on many notebooks have been super serious. It was a major problem on many notebooks including the sony vaio S15.



4) As Mike says on ultrabookreview; there is no such thing as a perfect laptop, and every laptop is going to have deal breaking issues to somebody else. It's not wish lists or off topic for people discuss their needs, wants and desires for this notebook. This is about the discussion of this product and all its aspects and what they should improve and what could, can and what will be done in the future.
It's a better strategy to acknowledge the flaws in everything instead of downplaying other peoples issues with something.

 

Well guess that's me, stupid. But that's ok, you obviously feel you are above others in most things including technical knowledge in the IT area, but you still fail to answer the question that concerns some other "invested" people who also are considering spending $2000 on this machine.

On the 960m 4k question, I refer to the Amazon review that seems to be causing some concern here and in other places. It is correct that on the NVidia website, that "4k" as a product feature is not supported while it is for higher spec GPUs, despite the fact that it also says it can support resolutions up to 4k, but presumably specific to certain applications. The guy that posted the Amazon review clearly could not play back 4k video, which means likely 4k gaming would be improbable as well.

Given the above seed of doubt, I'd like to understand if this laptop can support 4k video playback. Simple.

Does anybody know ?

Sorry if I am allowed to post a stupid question, oh, moderators, I think mama here is volunteering his superior intellect to clean up this thread...

 

Now, as I said, I didn't want to be mean and I don't think this insulting tone is necessary @BringItOnBaby . When I stumbled upon this thread I thought that this is going to be like an oasis in the desert of the internet. Well it kinda is, I said to myself, after finishing reading all the posts. I wanted to post in order to correct some of the mistakes that made me doubt this machine. And that is quite ok, it's not a bad thing because it made me search more about the ultrabook.

@ilikealuminum About the glossines, it all depends on how bright the screen can go.
@luffytubby
1. The 4th definition on reference.com of the word stupid is irritating. I think that's pretty accurate. And I didn't call the people stupid, only some of their posts. And it wasn't meant to be upsetting. Just a harsh word to correct things, thing enforced by the fact that I said that I don't want to be mean, and I hoped you people will get it. I hope that now I've clarified myself.
2. That impression is based on the dude playing with a copy of an early build of this ultrabook. So yeah.
4. Yes, thank you. I forgot to say that. You will not find the perfect laptop. Well, this is the owners lounge, that means that you can make a blog or a video and fantasize about the ideal ultrabook, like MKBHD (I think) did some time ago on the topic of the perfect smartphone.
@BringItOnBaby Well, I appreciate if other invested people will ask some questions. Next week, I think (banks man), I will buy this laptop. So, I'll be able to answer. And yes, you can watch 4k kittens on this baby.

 

thankyou but can you allow me to corroborate your advice with a link to fact ?

 

Ok, fact: Dell has released a model called Inspiron 7548 with a 4k screen. That model has an AMD card equating with a GT 750M or even worse (look this up, tired to post links). Now, Dell is a pretty good company run by some clever people. Why would they put a gpu so bad in there? Welp, because it's not for gaming but we're divagating. On that ultrabook you can watch 4k youtube (meh). Now, GT 750M is two generations behind GTX 960M. To furthermore explain why I made your post stupid. Do you think Asus would put a 4k display on an ultrabook which cannot be used? That would be a bad business strategy.

@luffytubby would you trade your rMBP (I assume 2014) for this ultrabook? Why?

UPDATE: We have a video!

 

Oh dear. mama boy made my post stupid by his sanctimonious authority. And 50% of all others on this thread too.

err, as I understand it the ROG G501 has the same gpu. Not for gaming ? Let me try to figure what 'ROG' stands for ...hmmmm

You really are something else. I wish you the best in your future life's endeavours with your attitude.

 

My rMBP is late 2013 (750m). It has served me very well for the time I have had it. Bootcamp has caused issues. I don't like the temperatures (idle at 50-60). That is too high. It's very cool under OS X, even when messing around in AE and Premier.
Apple has little incentive to give a crap about Windows Drivers, but it annoys me still. I am interested in seeing the temperatures under load for this machine.

Many of the thin-and-light powerful laptops get very hot. I hope when Pascal comes out later this year(or 2016) that it will lower temperatures along with Broadwell Quadcores. It would be nice to not see the GPU and CPU go above 80 degrees!

 

Question for UX501 owners:

Can you overclock your 960M or is it locked down?

 

received my UX501. Its a beautiful machine. Been copying my data into computer and installing Apps and Windows updates. Temp. around 60-72. Will know more once everything settles down. A little hotter than i expected.

 

Has anyone hooked their laptop to a 4k monitor like a Dell 2414q? If so any issues or does it work well?

 

Do you find the temps to be annoying? Is 60-72 a normal temp? Seems kind of hot... if you are just working with a light load.

 

It was many GBs of data. Plus windows updates running in the background. Idle temps while not performing these tasks are around 49-55. Room Temp is abt 33. However, the cooling system does a great job managing temperatures. During heavy gaming, I havent seen it go above 85 which is good as compared to my previous Acer. Its just not a very cool laptop when idle. But it also doesnt get very hot.

 

dealbreaker or no? I wont mind a LITTLE warmth, but if I can't just use it on my lap without it burning me... then that might be annoying

 

Looking forward to hearing from people who have tried the 4K matte non-touch display. I hope it doesn't have the mustard yellow problem.

Do anyone know the manufacturer/model of that display?

 

Not at all. Mine cost SAR 4300. I would most definitely recommend this machine over any other.

I'm using the 1080p display. No problems related to color etc. I work on Photoshop mostly.

 

Gaming or regular use? If you're just browsing/streaming you won't have a problem, but if you're gaming it will definitely get too hot for bare lap.

 

Those of you with the laptop: how's the keyboard flex? I saw a video of the similar G501 and the flex on that was really quite bad. Does the UX501 fair better?

 

Does anyone know if this will be available in the future in the US with different options? Don't really want/need 4k, touchscreen, and may prefer matte. Can't wait to hear more reviews.

 

I bought the same machine, 4300 SAR. It is a great machine but the screen glossiness is annoying. Have you tried to watch a movie? Even if there is a some light it is so reflective that you cannot see black/dark colors.

I am planning to buy an anti-glare protective film to put on, does anyone think this will help? Any experiences with this?

It seems they put a kind of mirror finish, I can see myself clearly on the screen.

 

Received mine yesterday (4K version) and is comparing it to a MacBook Pro 17" (matte version) which should be from 2011 or 2012 (running Windows 99,99% of the time). So far I'm impressed..by the MacBook Pro.

+ Naturally, the performance of the UX501 is superior in every regard to my several year old MBP. But that should be true for any laptop bought today.

+/- Design is, well, quite good. Compared to the average laptop the build is good but compared to a ThinkPad or a MacBook Pro, well, close but not really there. This might be a matter of personal opinion though, design is "good enough".

- Screen is bad, despite being on the dim side, there are still clouds of light bleed visible even in a lit room when displaying blacks, even when the screen is not all black. Haven't seen a screen this bad for at least 5 years, reminds me of old LCD TV:s

- Keyboard is OK but does not feel as good as the ones on the MBPs or ThinkPads. Quite a lot of keyboard flex and does feel a bit cheap.

- Speakers, kind of a joke considering how much Asus pushes for them in PR. Volume is ok but sound quality is not impressive, sounds like a mobile phone speaker almost. The speakers on the MBP is much better, no contest what so ever. And that is on a table (hard surface). On a soft surface like a bed or lap its really bad as Asus has moved the speakers to the back. I even think that all in all the speakers on my Dell XPS13 (2015) is equal or even better than the ones in the UX501, which is embarrassing as that is a superslim 13" laptop.

- Yellows are embarrassing, as mentioned previously with this model and other ASUS:es. And even worse, it's not related to the panel in the laptop either, looks just as bad on an external monitor so this should be a software problem (BIOS probably) which makes it even worse that Asus hasn't done anything about it. That's an insult to customers, as no other manufacturer AFAIK has this problem.

- Size, despite being a 15,6" monitor, its marginally smaller than the MPB 17". But that is probably more of a + for the MBP than a - for the UX501, as most laptops these days besides the Dell XPS13 have amazing thick bezzels (including the new MacBook Pros).


So far, I'm not impressed, especially the bad screen (might just be my unit though), bad speakers and horrible yellows are a big letdown. Maybe as a MBP owner, I've been spoiled in the past (and paid premium for Apple products as well) but I expected more. As of now, I'm leaning towards returning this and get either a ThinkPad or a MBP instead.

 

@improwise I am left to choose between this, a Dell Inspiron 7548 (4k touch, ssd, 16gb with r7 m270) and the base model of rMBP 2015 13". What is your advice having in view that I am planning to use the machine for college, heavy 4k yt, multimedia and some light movie editing while still looking beautiful? I am asking because you have models from all three companies similar to what I want.

 

The Yellows thing is a real pain in the a**

 

Well, the laptops you mention is quite different with regards to size and performance. If portability is a priority, I would include the Dell XPS13 2015 in that comparison, by far the best 13" that I know of. You can the decide between FHD (better battery life) or QHD+ (touch and 4K) and with an i7 in it you get quite a lot of power although not a dedicated GPU which might be a deal breaker. That however is probably a discussion better suited somewhere else than in the UX501 owner thread.

 

Yes, and especially since it affects external monitors as well, which at least I didn't realize before. I thought it was related to the panels ASUS used in their laptops.

 

I'll be honest, I'm noticing the yellow thing less an less now. It really bothered me the first few days, but now that it's been a week my eyes have adapted and become used to that kind of yellow. It really doesn't bother me anymore.

 

There is no keyboard flex.