ASUS Zenbook 14 UM3406KA-PP102W
VerifiedMPN: UM3406KA-PP102W1 review
Physically, this is a great little laptop: light and compact and with great specs. The screen is bright and clear, but I do miss a touchscreen as alternative input. The problem is the software and firmware this comes loaded with - and the "security" chips that bricked this computer within the first month. This computer's pre-installed version of Windows 11 is so full of intrusive bloatware that it is really tedious to get down to any work, and the BIOS settings seem to be designed in multiple ways to prevent the installation of any alternative, so that even if you can get it to look for an alternative (USB) device to boot from, it can't read it (and yes, I pretested on my desktop).
After 5 or 6 attempts with different USB sticks with different tweaks (eg MBR vs GPT), the BIOS suddenly locked me out, demanding a password - and I had never set a BIOS password, so I was now stuck. Of course the ASUS service department (when it finally got a human involved, which took a week of back and forth with A.I. systems - why does Artificial Stupidity have the acronym "A.I." - wouldn't believe I had not set and then forgotten a password, and wouldn't reset the system under warranty.
I don't blame the ASUS service department for that, and was prepared to pay for the factory reset, which involves the local agents sending my proof of purchase (again) to ASUS and getting a special secret code - BUT that process didn't work on this laptop's motherboard, maybe by accidental design issues, but more probably because the BIOS hardware system on this laptop is faulty - SO ASUS WANTS ME TO PAY ANOTHER $1000 TO REPLACE THE MOTHERBOARD on a computer less than a month old!
This is not a service issue but a design issue: the "security" features built into the motherboard of this computer virtually lock it to the factory-installed bloatware, and any attempt to change that risks making that irretrievable - and according to the technician may prevent even future Windows updates.
Follow-up · Ok, now I've used it for a bit under the pre-installed Windows - but mainly under Linux Mint, I can comment further: I still don't really trust my files to this machine in case there's an underlying design fault with motherboard or firmware, BUT THE SCREEN IS BRILLIANT! Only realised this after I stopped being quite so nervous about the whole system bricking itself again - it hasn't so far - but the clarity and vibrance is superb. To answer the specific questions: #1. The battery life -just with a bit of text work, but with full screen brightness and wifi on - was a bit over 4 hours under Windows as installed, and without removing the bloatware (very disappointing) - BUT under Linux was well over 8 hours. These figures are not rigorously accurate, just ordinary use rather than formal testing. I suspect that hoovering out all the Microsoft/Asus bloatware (instructions available in online forums) would result in far better performance under Windows - both of the computer (battery life and speed) and the user, who would no longer be distracted and interrupted by "breaking news" and advertisements. #2. Key board is unremarkable - i.e. just fine and no complaints. #3. I haven't tried a third OS yet: tempted to try Ubuntu Studio again- but I think that needs a much bigger screen than 14" to be enjoyable, while (a few months ago) KDE Neon wasn't yet supported by the software I use most often . Not keen to try Fedora again - Fedora plus its bootable USB stick utility have to be suspect in the initial bricking of the motherboard - even though it was more likely to have been a faulty motherboard issue in the first place.
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