UX31A build quality

I know the chassis is all aluminium, but do any UX31A owners notice slight bend in the chassis at the front causing the laptop to rock slightly when placed on a flat surface? Because the center of gravity of the laptop is so far back with the screen open, the laptop wobbles when typing really annoying ...

 

I have a UX31A and I have tested to see if it wobbles and it doesn't because of the rubber feet on the bottom. Are you typing with the laptop on you.

 

I had a UX31A and I returned it due to issues with it not sitting level on a flat surface.

 

Yeah I've heard some people reported this issue. I had the problem so I had to bend it back into shape. The issue is with the front end of the laptop (because it's so light and it tapers to a thin aluminium casing there I think it easily bends. Pretty $h17

 

I don't have this specific bend issue on my UX31A, but i wanted to ask if anyone has some flex on the keyboard near the top rows around the 9, 0, F11, and F12 keys. I am referring to flex on the keys themselves rather than the frame of the keyboard. the keyboard frame itself has no flex and stays firm due to the unibody design (which is great!), but when I press a key, i notice that the adjacent keys will slightly depress as well. This is more pronounced around the keys I specified, but I see this at other places too, such as the spacebar, which will ever so slightly depress the V,B, and N keys. Just wanted to see if this is common among others or a specific problem on my unit.

 

To be honest, the thin aluminium casing is some of the WORST BUILD QUALITY EVER! I have the UX32A..and I've bent/dented the casing in about 4 places now. That's ridiculous. I use it quite lightly, but I carry it around and stuff and *occasionally* hit a door, but not extremely hard, and it will bend the thin aluminium casing.

What the hell is ASUS thinking? Why are there so many places where you can 'bend in' the case by pushing on it? They definitely need to solidify it with something underneath.. This is unacceptable.

 

UX32A has NOT one aluminium casing.

This is the cheap version of UX31A and it has some plastic casing with aluminium finish look.
In fact, all "UX32" models have this "aluminium-plastic composite" casing, the popular UX32VD included.

And the "screen back-lid bleeds" some people are complaining about is in fact... due to a too high pressure of screen surrounding plastic border (gently push on it and you will see how bad it comes, release pressure and it will be back to normal).

In my own experience, I had some which went away after some times. In any case, releasing this pressure solves most of these "back-lid bleeds".

On my UX31A, I have absolutely no complain against build quality.

 

Regarding build quality on UX31A, what do you think about the keyboard? I noticed on mine that pressing on a key could cause adjacent keys to flex slightly. The keyboard frame holds strong and doesn't flex, only the keys themselves. Do you see that on yours also?

Also, how would you go about releasing the pressure to minimize backlight bleed?

 

Indeed, if you keep pressing one key very strongly, surrounding ones slightly move where keyboard frame does not.
Pressing a key normally, I see no move at all of surrounding ones.

So I have no concern about this, if typing normally.

More over regarding this is an ultra book, UX31A keyboard is really good and feel strong for me (even compared to some other "big" laptops I owned which have a more flexible keyboard).

About the screen bleeding, I had a big bleed in the middle bottom which went away by itself over time.

My mistake if I let you think I had a way to release pressure (would not try with a nife or equivalent, too dangerous for me ).

 

Who gave you that info? I compared them both and the material on them is almost identical. Minus the bottom, the rest of the materials feel and look like real aluminium..I think you are referring to only the bottom which indeed feels like aluminum/plastic.

"The shape of the base is slightly modified, but the UX32′s design is largely unchanged except for the combination of alu base plate and plastic-aluminum composite frame where the UX31 sports a unibody chassis.È

 

To be more precise: only thin aluminium coating, where UX31A is full aluminium (unibody design).

"First of all, the UX32A no longer sports a unibody design, but offers an aluminum outershell with a plastic-aluminum composite inner frame. As a result, the laptop does not feel just as sturdy as the Prime and bends a bit when squeezed harder, but it’s still fairly solid overall. Also, the overall coating feels a bit more prone to scratches, so you should treat this one with baby gloves."

Souce: Asus Zenbook UX32A review - the most affordable Asus ultrabook

 

Ahh. Then all the people I talked to lied when this model came out, no wonder. Thinking of selling this one perhaps, getting something different or the UX31A.

 

Yeah I notice this issue as well. Though I wouldn't see it as a design flaw - it doesn't inhibit normal operation of the keyboard (under normal use). Basically it's not too irritating and to ask that the adjacent keys be completely unaffected by the depression of one key is a bit much, IMHO. [EDIT] on closer inspection I notice the issue is most pronounced for the F11 key. I think there might be empty space under there. Evidence of the flimsy quality of the case, I think.

However I still stand by my opinion that the aluminium casing is way too flexible because even one mm of flex causes the laptop to rock because it's so light. It's build quality details like this that would make me swerve over to Apple even though I loath the apple eco system so.

 

You'd have to be literally smashing the UX31A to cause flex. I can't even imagine under what circumstance it could flex.