ASUS ZENBOOK UX32VD Problems?

[ZiChen225]

I'm planning to buy a laptop and I love the specs on the UX32VD. If I do decide to purchase it, I will be upgrading the hard drive to a 256gb SSD and to a 10gb ram.

I'm very curious of the problems of the UX32VD, I will be doing light to medium gaming, I'm worried about the temperature problems reported, the backlight bleeding, or the keyboard flexing, etc.

Can someone tell me about their experiences with the UX32VD? The problem I worry about most is the temperature problems.

Should I get the UX32VD ? ( I'm going into college as an Electrical Engineering major and I will be bring this around with me at all times, and I will be gaming)
Are the problems really noticeable?
Overall experience with the UX32VD?

Thank you in advance!

[CompUG]

I don't have any temp problems once in awhile the FAN will jump and spin very fast. Backlight bleeding very minimal hardly noticeable even when I am watching movies. Keyboard flex is hit or miss, some people have reported to have it really bad while others have it where if you press it really hard you see it. For me I have non when I type but I press the button down REALLY HARD then I notice it, but not an overkill for me.

[cl-jeffrey]

Hello my name is Jeffrey fand I work for ASUS Customer Loyalty Team

Never heard of a problem regarding the temperature problem.

Regarding the back light leakage if you do have a problem then you will have to send the unit in for service.

But before you send it in we will ask you to email us a photo of the back light leakage if any.

If you have any questions you can email me at cl-jeffrey@asus.com.

[samurai1200]

Damn, just accidentally refreshed this page and lost my whole response.

In short: Got the laptop 3 days ago. I upgraded to a 128gb SSD and put Win7 on the 32gb internal. Running pretty well. Running Diablo III @ 1080p and all other settings on low. Definitely playable, probably getting around 30-40fps, but D3's CTRL+R command doesnt work for me anymore.

No excess heat noticeable where my hands rest during use. Bottom of laptop gets a *little* warm, but thats where the CPU and GPU are sinking to, so its understandable. Not *hot* to the touch or anything.

Keyboard flex is unnoticeable under normal use, and people who complain about it are nitpicking. If you push down between the Y, U, and H keys, the metal goes down about 1mm, and you've got to push a lot harder than you normally would when typing.

Backlight bleed (at least on my unit) is only noticeable when the screen is completely pitch black and is on a higher brightness setting. Right now, i cant see it even if i try with highest brightness looking down at the taskbar, which i have colored in windows as a dark transparent grey.

The one thing that is still an issue is the fans having weird spin-up and spin-down behavior. But i'm confident that asus will fix this with a bios update. This laptop has been out less than a month, no? give them some time.

So far i'm very happy with it. I had a macbook pro (argh!) before this, and another asus laptop before that. I'm SO happy that i didnt have to buy Apple again to get a sexy but powerful ultrabook.

[ericchang8888]

The ram just make sure u get the corsair vengence DDR3 1600 8gb cl10 one. I tried the kingston 8gb and it wasn't fully compatible. As for SSD upgrades, rem to get 7mm thick SSD. Most of the SSDs come in 9.5mm. Or u'll have to take out the top cover of the 9.5mm like i did with my vertex 4.

[kpopsaranghaex3]

The ram just make sure u get the corsair vengence DDR3 1600 8gb cl10 one. I tried the kingston 8gb and it wasn't fully compatible. As for SSD upgrades, rem to get 7mm thick SSD. Most of the SSDs come in 9.5mm. Or u'll have to take out the top cover of the 9.5mm like i did with my vertex 4.

If you get the CL10 ram, the UX32VD will underclock the ram to 1333 CL9. If you want 1600mhz, you will need a ram stick with a latency that matches the soldered 2GB, which is CL11.

[ZiChen225]

Thanks for everyone's response!
It seems the problems of the UX32VD isn't really serious at all.

Now I'm stuck between getting the UX32VD or the Sony Vaio S ...>.<

any suggestions on which one I should get?

[samurai1200]

Don't know, but I'm really happy with this Asus so far.

[DrPacman]

If you get the CL10 ram, the UX32VD will underclock the ram to 1333 CL9. If you want 1600mhz, you will need a ram stick with a latency that matches the soldered 2GB, which is CL11.

Utilizing the above info, this module should be compatible with UX32VD's

Kingston Technology
8GB Module - DDR3 1600MHz
Part Number: KVR16S11/8

[baseball62991]

Just got my UX32VD yesterday. So far:

1) Backlight bleed. This much reported issue is on my machine too. It seems like you're pretty much guaranteed to have this problem on all of ASUS IPS panels, unfortunately. It's a case where you have to decide for yourself if the pros are worth that one big con. For me, the incredible viewing angles outweigh the con of seeing the bleed on dark screens with the brightness turned up.

I'm considering sending my unit back - rolling the dice for perhaps a unit with less bleed. But I'm not sure it's worth the hassle, considering 90% of them seem to have this problem in varying degrees. I can deal with it and expected it - it's just unfortunate. Right now it seems most places are sold out. If the next batch has the issue fixed, I'll try to get a replacement. But I suppose I'll standby on that for now.

2) Keyboard. It only really flexes if you're purposefully trying to make it flex. It's not a problem for me at all. I've been very, very pleased with the keyboard. Much better than the Macbook Air's and the last Zen's.

3) Touchpad. This thing seems to have a mind of its own, unfortunately. I've had netbooks with better trackpads. Not sure why this is so hard for Asus to get right. It'll take you some time to tweak the settings to make the thing behave a little more rationally.

4) Temperature. It gets warm, but haven't had it get hot on me yet. Fan noise is very minimal for me. Haven't done any intense gaming on it or anything yet though.