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My New Linux Ultrabook: The ASUS Zenbook UX301LA-DH71T

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  • #21
    UX302LA -- I5-4200 Edition

    After having to deal with a nightmare issue on the Dell XPS 13 Developer's Edition (plagued by Coil Whine) ... I ended up going to Best Buy and purchasing the Zenbook UX302LA on sale for $899. I love it so far -- great laptop. Nice blend of features, quality of build, weight/form factor, etc ...

    I immediately upgraded the laptop -- super easy -- so the current specs are: Intel i5-4200 Processor (HD4400 GPU), 10GB of RAM, 240GB Samsung SSD (w/Windows 8.1), and then I took the m-sata 24GB Drive that was in there and used that to install Mint Linux 16. I am able to dual boot to either system in just seconds. Total Price spent: $1190.

    As far as the included m-sata SSD, it is a half-height card (pci-e). I have found that I can upgrade that with a few choices to a 64GB card by Sandisk for $80. I don't really need extra space at the moment so I am waiting a bit to see what other choices are available. The card was originally included in the system to use as a cache for Windows 8 to boost boot/load times. Since I switched to the SSD, the card could be used for other things like a clean install.

    Linux Mint installed with just a few issues experienced along the way. Most are easily solvable and there are plenty of documentation on the forums. It seems like the new 3.14 Kernel will work great with the hardware in this laptop.

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    • #22
      Originally posted by slesnick3 View Post
      After having to deal with a nightmare issue on the Dell XPS 13 Developer's Edition (plagued by Coil Whine) ... I ended up going to Best Buy and purchasing the Zenbook UX302LA on sale for $899. I love it so far -- great laptop. Nice blend of features, quality of build, weight/form factor, etc ...

      I immediately upgraded the laptop -- super easy -- so the current specs are: Intel i5-4200 Processor (HD4400 GPU), 10GB of RAM, 240GB Samsung SSD (w/Windows 8.1), and then I took the m-sata 24GB Drive that was in there and used that to install Mint Linux 16. I am able to dual boot to either system in just seconds. Total Price spent: $1190.
      That sounds awesome. I'm going to wait for broadwell graphics improvements but your price and experience are comforting. Intel's goal was for OEMs to build quality machines around the $1000 price point so I'm glad that you think they reached it. I can't imagine paying $2k unless it was for the perfect laptop, since so many have at least one niggling problem. (glossy display, terrible trackpad, annoying keyboard, etc)

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      • #23
        Originally posted by Ericg View Post
        Memory: What the hell are you even going to use more than 8GB's for on a normal desktop? Even compiling all of android takes AT MOST 16Gb's and how many of us are doing that on a LAPTOP?
        If you only need 8GB of RAM then why bother buying a new laptop. You can probably get a 2nd hand laptop for ?300 that will meet your needs.

        There are plenty of tasks that need as much RAM as you can throw at them, video, 3d, scientific simulations. I have simulations that usually run on a quad socket machine with 128GB RAM, but it is useful to develop and test them on a laptop. I have a thinkpad x230 with 16GB RAM.

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        • #24
          Originally posted by genstorm View Post
          While the resolution and IPS panel are the most tempting things about this piece, the glossy finish is extremely bad for the one task a laptop should be optimised for: being mobile in all kinds of situations. Maybe you can find a shadowy spot in a park or your favourite cafe, but on a train with constant change of light it is the worst possible thing imaginable.
          ^THAT
          I really don't get the point of glossy reflective screens. Used outdoor (hey, it's a mobile system!) is a tragedy.

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          • #25
            How fares the testing?

            I went through, and still do, annoyances with the ux51vz I got for work running ubuntu. The qhd display is sweet on the 15, but linux ui's need to adapt for it. Also, asus always seems to manage to drive linux kernels batty by default. Booting ubuntu on the ux51vz causes the nouveau driver to peg a core at 100% and will not wake up the display if it acpi shuts down the display. The proprietary blob fixes this sorta*, but install is painful. Mine had the dual ssd as well, and optimizing file systems for dual raid is still painful too, I had to use the server install and overlay kde. Learning efi booting was interesting atop it all as it cannot legacy boot. Thanks for making linux painful Asus.

            Really hoping they don't compound this, and or fix it with your model. I was going to get one for personal, the ux51, but being as quirky as it is, turned me off, especially not having a displayport. I just need to see that the new ux301la displayport is 1.2 compatible and can drive a mst dp hub for 2-4 displays and include enough crtc's to do so. Love to see the output of the xorg driver log.

            I'd get the XH72T model with dual 256gb ssd, never trust ssd's without trim.

            *compiz still doesn't like the graphics or anything using ubuntu desktop, proving to be an utter pain in the arse as usual. Kde plasma works just fine with it compositing ftw, this is what breaks nouveau on install desktop too. Arch linux worked fine on it, might go back to that route, but really wanted steam games.

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            • #26
              i7 must have at least 4 physical cores, this CPU has two CPU cores with HT.

              That's why Intel's marketing department is lying.

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