Zenbook UX303LA Owner's Thread

Thx @Hawkeye62 pretty much solves everything.
Yes CP mouse allows for changes (except acceleration) --- I had been looking in Asus Smart Gesture area.
MY TP driver is same date version as you indicate ... thx for taking the time to show what driver is on your unit. Asus and Elantech keep issuing driver updates and each has somewhat different features and oftentimes different problems based on my reading of older 2013 early 2014 forum posts - hopefully all of that is now fixed and stable.

Since I am able to create a "right click" in several ways, I am currently not going to be concerned that my touch pad in lower right area does not seem to work in any software that I have tried it.

Really appreciate your sticking with me through solving things, thanks.

 

I just double checked my unit and I can't find any app that will recognize a tap in the lower right area, all apps I have tried only recognize a click. So I guess your unit is not defective.

Jim

 

Has anyone compared this to the 2014 Dell XPS 13? You can get them configured just about identically. I am looking at both for my wife. If the XPS 13 had an SD Card slot, I would have already made the purchase, then I stumbled on this guy at Microcenter. I thought the keyboard and screen and sound were better on the XPS comparing side by side, but this has the SD Card slot. The screen seemed pretty dim on the Zenbook as well and the brightness kept fluctuating...Not sure if it was a problem with the floor model or what.

 

I quit buying Dell years ago because they seem to always have some proprietary hardware and/or software installed.

The UX303LA doesn't have any fluctuating brightness issue that I know of. I always turn off the adaptive brightness app. It never seems to work very well on any laptop I have had.

One thing about the SD card slot. A card only fits in half way. So, it is not suited for leaving a card in the slot full time.

Jim

 

Hi guys. I'm considering this model and the ASUS Zenbook UX301LA-DH71T.

Does anyone use this machine? Anyone using Photoshop on it? I'd primarily be writing/surfing with it, but I'd like to do some intermittent Photoshop and Lightroom work, too.

Thanks, guys!

 

Anyone seen the new SKU's?

UX303LA-R4338H | Asus ZenBook UX303LA Core i7 6GB 128GB SSD 13.3 inch Full HD Windows 8.1 Ultrabook - Laptops Direct

Looks like we'll get the broadwell chips in them next month. I've put my order in for the above unit, hopefully get it by the end of next month.

Cheers

 

It all depends when intel lets systems out of the gate.

 

Scan say early January! Keeping my fingers crossed!

 

It will be interesting to see what they can do

 

Clockspeeds are faster, giving about 10-15% better overall performance for the same TDP Win win I'd say! Same price to.

 

Hi everyone! Been looking at this forum for a while but yet to join until today. I picked up the UX303LA yesterday from my local Future Shop. I was debating between this and the UX303LN for a while because of the better resolution and graphics card, however, after testing the LN I hated the colours, and wouldn't be able to deal with the new resolution until it is better supported.

Found the LA at Future Shop for $200 off = $1099 which I thought was pricey but this is Canada -_- I just wanted to share that it is the model with the 1080p screen, i7, 2GHz, 8G ram, however only 128gb SSD but I will be upgrading that to 500 anyways. I noticed that this model seems to be hard to find or almost non-existent in North America. Battery life seems pretty comparable to my 2011 Macbook Pro for web browsing but it really drains instantly when trying to play a game. So far decently happy with it

 

SKUs and models are offered depending on the judged market and availability.

 

This is a stellar laptop! It's quite sleek and light. If anyone is having huge WiFi problems (like I had the first few days), I'd like to direct them to this thread: http://forum.notebookreview.com/networking-wireless/716325-intel-7260-a-84.html

Disabling uAPSD and making that registry change fixed it right up.

I was wondering if anyone could run a test for me? There are two little holes at the bottom of the laptop, right by the edge where your wrists would sit when typing. I think they're supposed to be the microphone. However, my mic only works out of the far right hole, and not the left one. Is that supposed to be the case, or is my laptop faulty? Could anyone try seeing if any sound is received from BOTH holes (rubbing your finger over the holes should do just fine)?

Thanks!

 

Has anyone managed to install Windows 7? I'm currently struggling with this error message (A required CD/DVD device driver is missing). Since i can access the hard drive from the Windows 7 installation menu, i put every possible driver on there (using the Windows 8 installation), but none works (different error messages). I used the Windows 7 USB DVD Download Tool to put a Win 7 Pro 64 image from MSDNAA on an USB stick.
I'm not even sure which device is missing the driver.

Regards, Leuli

Edit: nvm, it's running now (i had to integrate the USB3.0 drivers into the installation image and use ubuntu as live os to get additional drivers on the laptop)

 

Hello from Austria, :hi2:

I have been looking for an ultrabook and given my budget and requirement the UX303LA seems to fit the bill. However, I am still sitting on the fence because:
1. The yellow screen issue that I read from so many place, is this real? is it valid for a particular model or for all model?
2. What is the different between the 1366x768 resolution and 1600x900 version?
3. What is the quality of the screen in comparison to UX301? (I have been unable to test UX303LA here in Austria only available from net order.
4. In austria there is so many variations i.e.

ASUS Zenbook UX303LA-RO280H (90NB04Y1-M04260) 4 Angebote ab € 729,--
ASUS Zenbook UX303LA-RO262P (90NB04Y1-M04240) 7 Angebote ab € 749,--
ASUS Zenbook UX303LA-R5097H (90NB04Y1-M01110) 3 Angebote ab € 1007,39
ASUS Zenbook UX303LA-R5094H (90NB04Y1-M01080) 2 Angebote ab € 704,86
ASUS Zenbook UX303LA-RO262H (90NB04Y1-M05710) 2 Angebote ab € 722,--

Which would you recommend? I won't be running 3 d games on...

Sorry for many questions! I am really desparate.

Thankyou!

 

grüße zurück aus österreich : )

i'm also considering buying a zenbook - there's also a new edition out now, the UX305 - maybe that'd be also intersting for you? anyway, the editions you found (probably on geizhals.at?) differ a lot concerning the harddrives (ssd and hdd).

 

The yellow color issue is only on the 3200 x 1800 resolution screens, which none of the models you list have. My UX303LA has 1920 x 1080 resolution which is excellent, but none of the models you list have it. And it doesn't appear that any models you list have touch screen. I like touch screen. If I had only the choices you list, I would choose one with at least 256 GB SSD, 8 GB ram and the 1600 x 900 resolutin.

Good luck, Jim

 

Does anyone know the resolution/full specs of this model: UX303LA-R4338H? It's really hard to find specific details depending on the model, only a catch all UX303LA page exists on Asus' website.

 

Specs are hard to find, but from a trawl of retail sites it looks like the R4338H will include
Broadwell Core i7 5550U CPU 2GHz
SanDisk 128Gb SSD
6Gb RAM
1920x1080 FHD IPS Touchscreen
Backlit Keyboard
USB 3.0
Windows 8.1 64-bit

Note that this is not much more than an informed guess at present, and as the release dates seem to have slipped into Feb 2015, we'll all have to wait for confirmation.

 

Hello guys, I bought one of those for my wife, we live in France and the keyboard is in AZERTY. She is french but cannot type in the freaking AZERTY keyboard.

I bought it thinking that I could easily find it as it was the case with every single notebook I bought before this one and for the life of me I cannot find an english QWERTY to fit.

Can anyone guide me to a solution for this? Does anyone knows a place where I can order this keyboard and change it myself? (I'm no stranger to IT hardware) Also, bizarrely enough, there is a lack of disassembly guides for this model.

Thanks in advance,
Arky

 

Evening all

Got the UX303LA-R4338 today (Amazon UK) and it's a little different to the listed specs. Everything's correct apart from the CPU being the 5500U instead of the 5550U (doesn't bother me as I'd prefer the extra 400Mhz over the better integrated graphics) but what is the real let down is the screen isn't touch sensitive. It's still a 1080P IPS Matte panel, but non-touch.

I'm struggling getting used to this trackpad as well, doesn't seem to want to behave it's self all the time and I think I'd prefer separate right/left buttons instead of them being integrated. Hopefully it will grow on me.

I'm seeking some compensation with Amazon regarding not having a touch screen, will see how that goes!

Apart from the minor niggles above, it's a very nice laptop! Silent and very fast!

 

Aside from the screen being non-touch how is it? Are the viewing angles and colours ok?

What colour is the bezel around the screen. Is it black or metallic silver?

And what are keyboard back light settings? Just on and off or different levels?

Thanks.

 

Hi

Bezel around the screen is the same as the lid (silver/brown)

Back light settings on the keyboard have 3 brightness levels but don't automatically turn off/on with activity. So you have to manually turn them off if you leave them on.

 

Anyone know when the UX303LA with the broadwell chip will be available in the US?

 

The UX303LA-DS1T is now available online with the Broadwell Intel Core i5-5200U 2.2GHz CPU.
Other specs seem identical to the DB51T

 

Hi, greetings from Austria, grüße aus österreich.
I'm waiting for the delivery of a UX303LA R4343H next week.
Could someone who receives theirs post the SSD model number, especially with 256GB version?
Does the laptop include USB 2.0 to 10/100 Ethernet adapter or USB 3.0 to Gigabit Ethernet (like the newer UX305)?
I'm going to order the USB 3.0 docking station for the office, but as far as I've read the graphics do not work under Linux.

 

The hard drive is apparently SanDisk SD7SB3Q256G1002 (X2150000). The adapter is 100Mbps Fast Ethernet. I installed Linux Mint 17.1 on the laptop and it detected most of the hardware out of the box, only the Focaltech touchpad needed a driver backported from linux 3.19 and the display brightness F-keys do not work yet (but one can adjust the brightness using any applet). The intel 7265ac WiFi works fast enough for me (on Wifi 802.11N, I get the full bandwidth of my cable connection around 75Mbps), but I have not done any benchmarks on the LAN.

 

I am intetested in purchasing the ux303la broadwell version. Really want a i75500u...which is available at amazon uk...but no touchscreen...not that I use touch much on my aspire S7 but it does grow on you slowly and my kid was born in the touch screen generation. Might have to settle for the US version with the i5 5200u. I already have a 1tb samsung evo to upgrade the beast. Still deciding though...let me know, if possible, if somebody finds a i7 broadwell with touck, ok? If it exists i will send the original ssd drive to whoever points it out...haha.

 

There wont be a huge difference in actual performance between i7 and i5, it's mostly power limited.

 

For me the touchscreen doesn´t add much to my overall experience....as long as the trackpad or mouse and win8.1 is configured mostly for desktop...touchscreen is rarely used by me. My son on the other hand thinks is from the touch generation and thinks trackpads, mouses and remote controls old school..haha.
Considering my shipping address in the US is in California, with taxes and all, the price of the US version is only 20 dollars less than buying the i7 one from UK with global shipping. I prefer the i7, eventhough the difference in performance is not much more than 5% maybe closer to 10% if lucky, it does make a diffence when I do algoritmic simulations for financial modeling....just a few seconds difference...nevertheless opted for the nontouch i7 model out of choice...either one should be a great machine. Of course return policy to the UK is much more difficult, so need a bit of luck so that all comes ok and in working order.
Forgot the UK also has 2gb less memory, but I plan on adding the 8gb ram I have anyway....and of course the 1tb samsung 840 evo from other computer that had the motherboard fried.

 

I am wondering if a normal msata will fit in the extra slot? or is in fact just ffor the half size one? if so, bummer.
Also is the wireless card soldered? or it can be upgraded in the future if so one desires?
If anybody knows.....much appreciated. thanks.

 

Could anyone who's technically-minded offer a suggestion here?
I need huge storage for my job, but 2TB drives are 9.5mm deep - I'm pretty sure 7mm is the maximum in the Zenbook,
So how about replacing the SSD with a 1TB HDD (you can get these in 7mm depth)
....and installing the OS onto a half-size 480GB MSATA drive which fits in the spare slot.
Anyone could offer any thoughts on whether this would work. Otherwise I'll be sticking with my trusty old Vaio.
Cheers,
Dan

 

I haven´t received my yet, so if I am wrong, hopefully someone will correct me. HD manufactarers are making 7mm drives, but I haven´t seen 2tb ones yet, only up to 500gb, but I haven´t been looking recently at the new releases.
The 1 tb samsung evo are very good ssd´s, and relatively reasonably priced , which can be found for a little over 400 bucks or so, perhaps cheaper on ebay.
This is where I am not 100% sure yet, since I don´t have the laptop yet, but through the pictures on the Net, the extra msata connector is half-size, which means options are very limitied in terms of storage space. The normal msata form factor has the same samsung option for 1tb, but half size you will be lucky to find something over 128gb. So the best option, if in fact, a normal msata won´t fit in the UX303LA, would be a 1tb in the drive bay....and use usb3.0 for external storage.

 

Hi ,
Thanks for your reply.
Yes I've seen 1TB 7mm drives eg.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/2-5-inch-SATA-Internal-Hard-Drive/dp/B00DCM91WQ

Yes, the MSATA is half-size - a 128GB would be OK. -:
http://www.amazon.com/Emperor-128GB-SATAIII-Upgrade-Version/dp/B00BMV4B7O

But I don't know whether I can install the OS onto the MSATA in this way, and boot from the MSATA, using the 1TB HDD as storage.

 

I remember reading in the UX303LN thread somwhere, that someone had confirmed the OS install and boot from msata connector in their new laptop, while having a 7mm ssd connected to the sata port as well. I haven´t confirmed it on mine, since I don´t have the half size msata only the normal size one to check it out.

 

Hello everyone, I also posted virtually this exact same message in a thread on the main Asus page, but thought I'd post here as well.

I recently bought a UX303LA from the Microsoft store, updated the drivers that needed to be updated, and installed a few standard applications like Microsoft Office, Acrobat, uTorrent etc. The laptop came with absolutely no bloatware as it was the signature edition. I did not update the BIOS or anything like that though. I partitioned the HDD as well, though I'm almost 100% sure that doesn't really play a role in this.

Now, sometimes for whatever reason whenever I open the lid to wake the computer from sleep, it freezes on the user profile page or whatever it is (below) and I have to turn it off then turn it back on for it to be usable.

This is the screen it freezes on:


Does anyone have any idea why this may be happening and how I can go about fixing it because it is very annoying right now.

 

Hi all

Took delivery of my ux303la yesterday, with i7 5500u processor. Loving it so far, coming from a 3yrd old Toshiba with a 2367m you can imagine I'm blown away by the speed of the machine.

My only gripe is the size of the ssd, so as a preliminary solution I'm looking to install a 64gb msata drive. But I've got a couple of queries before ordering one:

- Can the msata drive be used for storage? I saw one YouTube video which suggested the msata port could only be used for caching drive
- Does the msata drive need to be screwed into the mobo?
- What torx screwdriver do I need to open the laptop?

Thanks for any help.

 

IIRC without the caching software running you can use it as a data drive. the msata will be secured to the motherboard yes.

There is no mention of torx screws here:

http://www.laptopultra.com/guide/asus-ux303la-disassembly/

Are you sure it does not use standard screws?

 

I just picked up a new UX303LA-DB51t. It is a very nice machine for the most part; I'm happy with it. I took the back off today to inspect the internals. I plan on upgrading the RAM, SSD, and adding an Msata SSD. On this model, all can be upgraded. The i5-5200 broadwell architecture CPU is reasonable fast. Battery life is okay, it really depends on your power settings. The machine looks amazing and is light. The speakers are great for a laptop. The keyboard is super smooth and nice with the backlight. The upgradablity of this machine is why I bought it. Taking the back off was a little tricky. There are two hidden screws under the back feet. They need to be pried off. The adhesive they used was a giant pain. The feet stick back on though after removal. There is also a strip of snaps along the back edge of the back panel that need to be carefully pried off as well. Once the back is open everything is accessible besides the SSD/hard-drive caddy. I believe the entire battery needs to be removed in order to swap the drive. The msata slot is very easy to get at. The wifi card can also be easily swapped. All in all, this is an excellent laptop for upgrading. My biggest complaint with this machine is the trackpad which is atrocious. I tried switching every setting and disabling all smartgesture features and it still is unresponsive. The aluminum body looks good but is kind of thin and cheap feeling. The 1080p screen looks mediocre at best. Nothing is perfect, I love this computer despite it's shortcomings.

One more thing, if you are using Thunderbird and decide to keep the McAfee software, you need to disable email scanning in the McAfee settings.

 

I have had the Haswell model since July. I think it is the best laptop I have ever owned.

My track pad is far from "unresponsive". I find it to be excellent. I wonder what about it causes you to not like it.

And the 1080p display is super sharp to my eyes. My only comparison is a 768p Yoga so maybe your comparison is for a higher resolution?

Best regards, Jim

 

Hi hawkeye. I'm not sure if we have the same trackpad but mine is both unresponsive and lags. About 30% of the time I will swipe or tap to click and it does nothing. It's not that it doesn't work, it's just annoying. I played with the one at Microcenter to see if it was my machine and it was the same on their computer. I haven't put too much time into trying to fix it but I did reinstall the drivers. I also messed with the mouse settings and lag settings in windows 8.1. What operating system are you using? I'm going to install a linux distribution once I get my new SSD.

In regards to the screen, again it may just be about configuring everything. The computer is brand new. I was having issues with fuzzy icons but I was able to improve that by changing the scaling settings. I also changed the Asus splendid setting to vivid.

Despite these annoyances, if I could do it over, I would still buy this computer. I'm going get my upgrades and max out everything.

 

My model number is UX303LA-DB51T. It is a Haswell version, processor is i5-4210U. It came with 8 GB ram and 128 GB ssd. I upgraded to 256 GB ssd. I doubt if Asus changed anything other than the processor for the 5th Gen version. I am using Win 8.1. Too bad your touch pad doesn't suit you. Mine is as near perfect as I could expect.

Good luck, Jim

 

So few quick questions, as a new UX303LA owner. Also, I have the Broadwell model.

How difficult is it to remove the back on the laptop? Saw a YouTube review which mentioned you had to remove the rubber feet?

Any update on Linux support for Broadwell UX303 models?

mSATA can be used for storage, right?

 

For the question of opening it, yes, you have to remove the two rubber feet closest to the screen. They have an adhesive on them so they should stick right back on.

 

HELP. I've had my UX303LA since October 2014 and have been extremely happy with it.

However unfortunately it is not responding to me now. It ran out of charge and it turn off as usual, when i put the charger in and tried to turn it back on, it refused to switch back on. The power light only turns on but the whole system isnt on(fan is off, no sound or signs of life). When the charger is in the orange charging light turns on.

I have no idea how I can resolve this, has anybody experienced this and recommend a diagnosis and fix??

Thanks so much in advance.

 

Is there a place I could buy replacement feet if something went awry?

 

So I spoke with Asus customer support, and they told me I'd basically be on my own if the rubber feet were damaged during the upgrade. They didn't know if they'd repair it, or if the parts are available online. Fairly disappointing to say the least. I love the laptop, hate the support, so far.

 

http://www.asusparts.eu/en/Asus-13NB04R1L14011

I bought two rubber feet from them for my friend.

 

Every company that I've ever dealt with has had horrible customer support. That's just how computer companies are.

 

I was an owner of this laptop up until 2 days ago and I loved it, but ultimately had to return it after going through not 1, not 2, but 5 different units, all plagued by build quality issues.

It's a really nice laptop (or ultrabook) that was very fast, had a gorgeous touch screen, and really easy on the eyes compared to other Windows laptops out there. I really wanted to keep it but each time I got a new unit, I had to return it because of an out of the box build quality defect. Each time I returned it, the store exchanged it without question, agreeing with the issues I pointed out. After going through 5 different (new) units, here were the issues I came across, almost all units with similar issues.

- Noticeable black lint stuck underneath the glass of the display
- Wobbly/Flimsy trackpad that kept getting worse over time on a couple units
- Poorly sealed display/exposed adhesive at the bottom of the display prone to collecting lint and dust
- Clicking sounds on the left side of the hinge
- Dents/scratches right out of the box

If I'm spending nearly $1000 on a brand new laptop, there should not be things that you need repaired right out of the box or problems with the unit that you should have to simply live with and accept. From a consumer standpoint, that's really unacceptable.

I've always been a fan of Asus products but it seems their quality control has really taken a plunge. It's almost as if they assemble these laptops and just throw them in the box without even examining the finished unit at all. I had a Macbook Pro for the last 5 years which I ran both OSX and Windows on it. I needed to upgrade and really wanted to go for a Windows ultrabook due to the price compared to Macs and the fact that I'm not a fan of Apple's business practices or them as a company, but this laptop forced me to go back to getting a new Macbook Pro. Although my wallet wasn't happy, I'm extremely satisfied with the overall build quality of Macs, perfect right out of the box.

I could only hope that one day Windows laptop manufacturers will step up their quality control instead of just aiming for the best specs. I'd have to say that after this experience I probably won't be buying another Asus product again.