DemonKC135

DemonKC135's Stats

Review Count
2
Helpfulness Votes
14

First Review
June 26, 2013
Last Review
January 4, 2014
Featured Reviews
0
Average Rating
3.5

Reviews Comments

Review Comment Count
0
Helpfulness Votes
0

First Review Comment
None
Last Review Comment
None
Featured Review Comments
0

Questions

Question Count
0
Helpfulness Votes
0

First Question
None
Last Question
None
Featured Questions
0

Answers

Answer Count
8
Helpfulness Votes
8

First Answer
June 26, 2013
Last Answer
January 7, 2014
Featured Answers
0
Best Answers
4

DemonKC135's Reviews

ASUS - 13.3" Touch-Screen Laptop - Intel Core i5 - 4GB Memory - 500GB HDD + 16GB Solid State Drive

ASUS ZENBOOK UX302LA-BHI5T08 Laptop: Slim and sophisticated with touch-screen navigation, a spun metal finish and a crystal-clear display, this laptop travels in style. Use it at home, in the office or on the go.Learn more about the New Windows ›

Perfect travel laptop, but...

Customer Rating

2.0

Posted by: DemonKC135

from Polk City, IA

on January 4, 2014

My Best Buy® Member
This user is a My Best Buy® Member and is getting points for their purchases. They may have received My Best Buy® bonus points for submitting reviews.
My Best Buy® Member

Display

5.0

Performance

5.0

What's great about it: Price, size, screen, build, features

What's not so great: software, issues?

I want to really like this laptop because it has all the features I want at an acceptable price point. The screen is great (some backlight bleed along the bottom edges as others have noted, but not a big issue during normal use), the build quality and size are perfect for a traveler. The issues I have had are as follows:
#1. Wireless would keep losing the internet connection. It would stay connected to my router, but would flag the connection with "limited" connection and thus would not go on the internet. I'm not sure, but I think I have resolved this issue by uninstalling all the Intel drivers and downloading the latest driver from the Intel site directly.
#2. Screen resolution scaling. Lots of my programs were not scaling properly on the HD display. I updated the Intel video drivers and it appears to have fixed most of the program issues.
#3. I had an unknown device in the device manager that was later discovered to be the "Intel Smart Connect Display". When you download and install the latest drivers from Intel the unknown device went away.
#4. Ethernet dongle. I have been unable to solve this issue yet. When you connect the usb ethernet dongle to any of the left side usb ports, it will continually connect/disconnect (it appears that the ports are losing power and disconnecting the ethernet adapter). I have a support ticket with Asus and will see what they have to say about the usb port issue.

As you can see, this laptop has lots of promise, but out of the box the windows experience and upgrade to 8.1 is fraught with many issues. As a very tech savy consumer, I have been very disappointed in the drivers and update process to WIn 8.1. The latest Intel drivers help, but you would think that Asus would provide a nice repository of the latest drivers necessary to complete a seamless upgrade to 8.1 I don't think that the average consumer is going to be able to get this laptop running smoothly and without issue after they upgrade to windows 8.1

This product is... Good sound quality, A nice compact size

About me... Technology guru, Business Professional

No, I would not recommend this to a friend.

My Best Buy number: 53292353

+11points

13out of 15found this review helpful.

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HTC - DROID DNA 4G LTE Cell Phone - Black (Verizon Wireless)

HTC DROID DNA 4G LTE HTC6435LVW Cell Phone for Verizon Wireless: Replace your camera and your MP3 player with this versatile, durable phone. With 1080p resolution and scratch-resistant Gorilla Glass, this phone delivers a crisp, vivid display, allowing you to capture detailed photos and enjoy your favorite videos. Beats Audio delivers robust sound.Verizon Edge option available. Learn more ›

Great phone - be mindful of SIM card issues

Customer Rating

5.0

Posted by: DemonKC135

from Polk City, IA

on June 26, 2013

My Best Buy® Member
This user is a My Best Buy® Member and is getting points for their purchases. They may have received My Best Buy® bonus points for submitting reviews.
My Best Buy® Member

Picture Quality

5.0

Battery Life

4.0

Sound Quality

5.0

What's great about it: Screen, camera, size, speakerphone

What's not so great: SIM card issues

Just got this phone 2 days ago because it was free and I had a line that was eligible for an upgrade. The screen resolution is great and the size is just right. Build quality is solid and on par with the Iphone and one notch above Galaxy products. Speakerphone works great and call quality is above average. Only issue is the dreaded SIM card failure. It appears that this phone is plagued by either a poor hardware design or a faulty firmware from HTC. There are tons of online discussions about this issue. I noticed it for the first time today. I was talking on the phone and the call disconnected. I looked at the display and noticed that the voice and data network were not available. It quickly displayed a "SIM inserted" message and then registered on the network. The phone was only 2 days old and had never been dropped or used for more than 3-4 hours total. Verizon released a software update to address this exact issue, but my phone already had the update.

I will continue to monitor the SIM disconnect issue and if it happens again, I might return the phone and get another one. Other than that, I love the phone.

This product is... Replaced my camera, Tough/durable

I would recommend this to a friend!

Age:45-54

Phone size:Just right

+1point

1out of 1found this review helpful.

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DemonKC135's Questions

DemonKC135 has not submitted any questions.

DemonKC135's Answers

ASUS - 13.3" Touch-Screen Laptop - Intel Core i5 - 4GB Memory - 500GB HDD + 16GB Solid State Drive

Does this come with Microsoft Office?

It states in the description that it includes a trial for MS Office 365, but what about the regular suite?

No. Office appears as a link and only offers you the option to purchase a full license. Microsoft is only including a free version of Office 2013 on tablets smaller than 10.1". Laptops and tablets bigger than that are only getting 90 day trialware.

10 years, 4 months ago

Posted by:

DemonKC135

from

Polk City, IA

ASUS - 13.3" Touch-Screen Laptop - Intel Core i5 - 4GB Memory - 500GB HDD + 16GB Solid State Drive

Does this come with the 24gb SSD?

Some of the other models of the Asus Zenbook that I've looked up come with a 24gb SSD cache drive in addition to the 500gb HDD, for faster loading time (2 second on). It doesn't specify whether this is included in this model, so I'd like to clarify whether it is or not?

Best Answer

Yes. The device manager shows a Sandisk SSD U100 24GB. I don't think that it boots from the SSD, but uses it as a system cache for frequent programs (quick access) and memory storage (hibernate file) for a quick reload after resuming from standby. From a cold start, it boots quick, but not as fast as a computer with a pure SSD.

10 years, 4 months ago

Posted by:

DemonKC135

from

Polk City, IA

ASUS - 13.3" Touch-Screen Laptop - Intel Core i5 - 4GB Memory - 500GB HDD + 16GB Solid State Drive

Is there a way to connect to the internet using a wired connection?

I saw in a customer review that the customer used a usb ehternet cable. Is this true? Does the laptop have this capability? Is this cable included in the box? Thanks.

Best Answer

Yes. The laptop is very thin and doesn't have the room (width) to handle a standard Ethernet port, so they include a short dongle that has a usb port on one side and an Ethernet connection on the other. They also include another dongle that has a standard vga adapter.

10 years, 4 months ago

Posted by:

DemonKC135

from

Polk City, IA

Samsung - Galaxy S 4 4G LTE Cell Phone (Verizon)

Samsung Galaxy S 4 SCH-I545 Cell Phone for Verizon Wireless: Packed with features for new or experienced smartphone users, the Galaxy S 4 includes a vivid Full HD 5" display for great views of photos, videos and Web pages and touch-free navigation to view photos and files with just a wave of your hand. The Galaxy S 4 even works as a universal TV remote.Verizon Edge option available. Learn more ›

app invasion

how do i prevent the onslaught of unwelcomed stored apps that appear constantly runnimg down the battery on my S4...the apps killer works for a minute or two but within a minute they are back running again ...good grief

Root the phone and install one of the many debloating programs in the Play store. Manufacturers and Cell companies subsidize the cost of their devices by putting useless software on their phones...same problem we have with PCs

10 years, 10 months ago

Posted by:

DemonKC135

from

Polk City, IA

Samsung - Galaxy S 4 4G LTE Cell Phone (Verizon)

Droid DNA to S4

Would an upgrade from the Droid DNA by HTC to the Samsung Galaxy S4 be worth it?

If you are having the Sim disconnect issue on the Droid DNA, then of course...but from a realistic point of view, the SG4 is a marginal upgrade from the DNA...it has better processor, more Samsung software features, less sturdy build quality, expandable memory, same screen, doesn't have beats audio, less quality speakerphone, etc....YMMV

10 years, 10 months ago

Posted by:

DemonKC135

from

Polk City, IA

Samsung - Galaxy S 4 4G LTE Cell Phone (Verizon)

does this phone really require a data plan?

I need a new phone but only want to use it for calls and text messaging, I can care less about the internet features, and is it possible to just bypass the data plan.

Best Answer

There was a time that you could activate any phone without all the features, but those days are long over. If you want to activate a "Smart Phone" you will be required to activate a smart phone data plan that starts at $30/mo. Sorry

10 years, 10 months ago

Posted by:

DemonKC135

from

Polk City, IA

Samsung - Galaxy S 4 4G LTE Cell Phone (Verizon)

is there a sleep timer to shut off the phone at night & wake it up in the morning?

No, but I'm sure that someone has an application in the Google play store that can put your phone in "Airplane Mode" at a specific time and take it out of that mode in the morning. There is no phone that I know of that has the specific feature you are looking for.

10 years, 10 months ago

Posted by:

DemonKC135

from

Polk City, IA

Samsung - Galaxy S 4 4G LTE Cell Phone (Verizon)

Does this phone automatically switch to a wi-fi connections when one is available?

Best Answer

No, but there is an application in the Google Play store called, Smart Wifi. It will switch on your wifi signal when it determines that you are connected to a specific cell tower (at home) and then automatically turn on your wifi. This approach is better since it uses less battery power to monitor your location based upon cell towers vs using the GPS.

10 years, 10 months ago

Posted by:

DemonKC135

from

Polk City, IA