New Asus Zenbook 2-in1 Laptop

[bugspop1]

My Acer Laptop V5 573p-6896 after 8 years is finally giving me my first problems.
I upgraded the Laptop when I first got it, added a 256gb mSATA SSD and upgraded the Memory from 4gb to 12gb
and also upgraded the WiFi Card.
I kept the existing 500gb HDD in the Laptop and set it up for storage.
I am going to keep my Acer laptop for parts, as my wife has an identical Acer Laptop.
Her Laptop is in much better shape than mine, as she doesn't use it nearly as much as I did with mine.

Well, the monitor has been having issues, it will turn Green occasionally, but usually touching or pressing on the
touchscreen will alleviate the problem for a little while.
I did try to tear the laptop apart to see if there was a Bad Connection or a Broken Wire from opening and shutting
the Laptop, but the Computer Case where the Screws hold it together started crumbling!
The same was happening there the Monitor attaches.
I put it all back together, Supergluing some of the places that had broken just so I could keep it together (Just glued the nuts).

Anyway, I decided after 8 years it was time for a new Laptop.
I spent quite a long time looking for something I could afford with all the Toys I liked that were on my Acer.
Ended up getting an Asus Zenbook Q508UG-212.R7TBL 2-in1 Laptop, AMD Ryzen 7, NVIDIA GeForce MX450,
256gb NVMe SSD and 8gb Ram.

I tried buying this at Best Buy while it was On Sale for just under $500, but couldn't, even though they were available
in other stores locations (they wouldn't ship it), the guy wouldn't even sell me the Floor Model!
I ended up buying one on Ebay, about $150 Cheaper than I was going to pay at Best Buy.
Believe it or not, this Laptop was in Prestine Shape, just one tiny scuff mark on the bottom of the case.

I can never leave well enough alone, I wanted to Upgrade the 256gb to at least a 1 TB Drive and wanted to upgrade the RAM.
I found out I was able to Upgrade the SSD Drive, but the RAM is Soldered on the motherboard with no expansion slot
like my Acer had.
This was the First Laptop I've ever worked on that I couldn't upgrade the RAM!
I did upgrade from the 256gb WD NVMe SSD to a 1tb WD NVMe SSD.
While I was at it, I upgraded it from Windows 11 Home (Not S) to Windows 11 Professional.
So far so good, I just need some time to sit down and play with it.
Not sure if I like Windows 11 or not, but I felt the same way with Windows 10 after going from Win7 to Win10.
I did upgrade from 2007 MS Office Professional to Office 365 Family.
Figured it's been a long time since I've upgraded the Office Package.

[Sidney moore]

It sounds like you had a good run with your Acer laptop, but it's understandable that after 8 years it was time for an upgrade. The Asus Zenbook Q508UG-212.R7TBL you purchased seems to have some nice features, such as the AMD Ryzen 7 processor and NVIDIA GeForce MX450 graphics card. It's a shame that you couldn't upgrade the RAM on this laptop, but it's becoming more common for laptops to have soldered RAM.

It's also great that you upgraded the SSD to a larger capacity and upgraded to Windows 11 Professional. The upgrade to Office 365 Family is a good idea too, especially if you haven't upgraded your Office package in a long time. Overall, it seems like you've made some good upgrades to your new laptop and should have a good experience using it.

[bugspop1]

I didn't like that I was unable to Upgrade the RAM.

So far so good with the New Asus Zenbook.
Pretty much has the same features as my Acer with the added feature of being 2-in-1.
That was one feature the Acer was missing!
Not yet sure how I feel about Windows 11 Pro, don't really care for the New Start Menu in Win11.

[fink]

There are often useful hints and tips, sometimes security related, about Win 11 and other things here...


https://www.askwoody.com/

[jdc2000]

Potential Start menu fixes:

https://www.pcmag.com/how-to/customi...-11-start-menu

https://www.zdnet.com/article/how-to...11-start-menu/

https://www.zdnet.com/article/window...re-it-belongs/

[bugspop1]

Thanks guys, I'll have to take a look at these when I'm on the Windows 11 Laptop.
I'm still using my Acer Laptop most of the time, for now.
I just wanted to get a New Laptop before the Acer really bites the dust and I was without a Laptop.
I'm sure it will get used, I used it this past weekend when I was home alone!

I did Download and Install some Third Party Software on the Win 11 Laptop.
It's supposed to give you lots of different options for the Start Menu.
It had a Small Glitch where one of the features wasn't working right, so I reset to the original settings.
I will try it again as there have been about 6-8 updates since I tried it last!
I can't think of the name of it right off the top of my head right now.
I do remember when it gets an update, I have to Restart the File Explorer.

I did try Star Dock many years ago on a Windows XP Pro Desktop Computer.
I used it for a while and liked it, but when I built my next computer, I installed Windows
Vista Ultimate on it and I never installed Star Dock on the New OS.
That Desktop has since had Windows 7 Pro and Windows 10 Pro installed on it (both clean installs).
After all these years I'm still getting Email from Star Dock (I think they called it Window Blinds)!

[bugspop1]

I started looking for the Program I Downloaded & Installed that was supposed to make
Win11 Taskbar/Start Menu look like Win10 Taskbar and Start Menu.
The Program was called ExplorerPatcher.

It did some of what it was supposed to do, but the Start Menu wasn't showing everything
that it does in Win11 (For Instance: Half of the Office Package was missing, and not just
MS Office, there were a lot of Apps missing).
Then on Right Side with the App Tiles, it only had a few and most of them were just
Arrows pointing Downward.
I should have taken a Screenshot of it and posted it here so you can see what the heck
I'm talking about, but I didn't!

There have been quite a few Updates since I installed it, so I went ahead and tried
setting it up again the other night.
Ended up with the same results, so I set everything back to where it was in the beginning.

[jdc2000]

Check the links I posted. Start11 or StartAllBack are not very expensive, and you may be able to get a free trial of Start11. There is plenty of information on what each of them can do at the links and at the web pages for the software. They should not have any significant issues at this point.

[bugspop1]

Thanks jdc2000, I will get around to it.
I'm a pretty busy guy most of the time anymore.
I don't have time for my computers like I used to, I wish I did.

[Sophia_david]

You seem to have had some interesting laptop experiences throughout the years! Always have a backup plan in place in case your current laptop decides to stop working. When third-party software malfunctions, it can be very upsetting when things don't go as planned. Technology can make decisions on its own at times. Here are a few recommendations for you. Never trust new sellers and always check reviews before purchasing a new laptop.

https://sturdybusiness.com/best-busi...ps-under-1000/
https://www.pcmag.com/picks/the-best-budget-laptops
https://www.wired.com/gallery/best-cheap-laptops/

[bugspop1]

I can't believe it's been a little over Two Years since I started this posted.
Pretty much been using this Laptop ever since.
I'm getting used to Windows 11 Pro, but I still like Windows 7 or 10 better.
Guess there are some features I like on Win11 (there always is), but there are a lot
of little things I don't care for either.
Still having problems finding things that came second nature in Windows 7 & 10.

The laptop itself has been great!
I think my only complaint with the Laptop is that the Backlighting on the Keyboard
isn't all that great, my Acer's was much better.
Yes, I'm that guy that watches his fingers when typing!
I did take Typing in High School and don't have to look at the keys, but I always do!
I'm pretty glad that I do watch them, as my fingers don't always type what my brain
is thinking.

If you're thinking about buying a Laptop, I would recommend an Asus (as of this laptops
build date) but still suggest doing your own homework.
I've used Asus Motherboards in all of my Builds and have been happy with them for the
most part, but that wasn't the reason I purchased this Asus Laptop.
I did know that the RAM in this laptop was 8gb and not upgradeable before my purchase,
also knew the SSD was only a 256gb.

As far as buying from New Sellers: Well, they gotta start somewhere!
I tried selling one item on Ebay.
I had purchased many times on Ebay but never tried selling.
The Item I tried to sell was an item that was selling like Hotcakes at that time, but
since I was a New Seller, I didn't get a single bid, the big goose egg!
My Buy Now Price was about $25 Dollars less than every other seller and I had
Free Shipping.
I wasn't going to Pay to Someone so I could sell my Item, there had to be some
kind of profit and I wasn't going to give it away either.
Once my auction was over, I pulled the item and never tried selling again!

[jdc2000]

Thanks for the update. If there are still Windows 11 items that are annoying you, there may be some alternatives, work arounds, or tips that might be useful. Microsoft is once again going to alter the Start menu, but it still won't be all that useful.

https://www.zdnet.com/article/micros...-a-sneak-peek/

https://www.zdnet.com/article/how-to...g-my-favorite/

https://www.tomshardware.com/softwar...ike-windows-10

[bugspop1]

Believe it or not the Start Menu isn't my biggest complaint.
There are many things I used in the past that are still included in this OS, but I'm
finding myself having to search for them in Windows 11.
They are usually just small little things I don't need or use often, but in the
other OS's, I knew where they were (didn't have to spend half an hour looking
for them.

I did look at your links and although I am tempted, I think I'll just stick with the
Windows 11 OS as is.
My iPhone has a Page that looks similar to the new features in the upcoming
Windows 11 Start Menu