Hard drive clearly audible, battery non-removable, display not very far hinged, otherwise everything super

To put it first to anticipate: In principle, I am satisfied with this Ultrabook and outweigh the positive things. But there are also a few things to criticize, with whom I also begin the same:

1) noise:
The hard disk is at activity clearly audible and louder than in all previous laptops that I had used in recent years (have no SSD, but a normal HDD with 500GB ordered). The sounds are reminiscent of a soft Kruscheln in a potato chip bag and nerves in completely peaceful surroundings, slightly, because they occur at all read and write accesses. Do not know if I caught here a "Monday device", or whether the all installed HDDs the case (my seems to be Toshiba). Once there are other noise sources in the environment (faint radio or office noise), the HDD is drowned out, but in very quiet environments, it is annoying in the long term with the constant silent krrk * * and * * krrz in the background.
The fan is barely noticeable, however, jumps at normal ambient temperatures to hardly and the device is also not very hot (especially not in the area of ​​the palm rest).

2.) Display:
The display folding angle is not particularly large. After 130 ° is concluded, which is significantly less than with my old laptop. One use with legs bent in bed or on the couch, where an angle would be required of approximately 180 °, so do not make this Ultrabook. This is very inconvenient!
Otherwise, the display is great. Since it is dull, it reflects little in sunlight and also the brightness and viewing angle stability is very good. The automatic brightness control via light sensor can be deactivated if required.

3.) Windows 8:
Well, as we all know really what to expect before you order. Nevertheless, a complete disappointment. Had this Ultrabook with Windows 7 or without OS, I would have ordered it so. So I'll have to live with Windows 8 and wait until Microsoft finally retrofit a clever Start menu in a few months. I have now tried a half weeks, get involved with the Kachelkram and now abandoned. Without touch screen that is not useful and also with touch screen, it would not inspire me. But now flows not in my rating of Ultrabooks with an.

4) Battery
The battery is permanently installed and can not be removed, unscrew without the housing itself. This is probably due to the flat Ultrabook design, but when it comes to battery life is not optimal. At first I thought that then every time I plug in the AC adapter, the battery is charging. But if the battery is between 95% and 100% charged and you connect the AC adapter, is explicitly in the taskbar, the battery * not * Loading. So it is quite well protected in terms of charging cycles, at least when it is fully charged.
Upon delivery, the battery was completely preloaded and I now tap for more than 30 minutes in battery mode (with activated WLAN and reduced display brightness) and only 10% of capacity so far have been used up. So take a look far from good when it comes to endurance.
The power consumption in network operation I measured time with a power meter: With 100% display brightness, WLAN enabled and with 100% CPU usage it did not go beyond 38 watts. In mains operation at idle and when the battery is at 100% and is thus not loaded, the values ​​range from 12 watts (at 100% display brightness) and 8 Watt (at minimum display brightness).

5.) Sound
The speakers are the best I have ever experienced at a laptop. One should not expect miracles, because with such a compact design is no longer physically possible. But the sound stands out positively from the from what I have experienced in the past 15 years in various laptops.

Other little things:
- The power button is located where normally the Delete key. So you press like to accidentally. The button can be but lay quietly when needed.
- The system is ASUS typsich littered again with preinstalled software, even if it is obviously not quite as bad as they did a few years. The unneeded programs and apps are uninstalled in 10 minutes (including demo versions of such as McAffee, MS Office or similar fuss as ASUS Webstorage or access to games and entertainment portals). The set in Internet Explorer forwarding to Asus-Home can be a few clicks to switch (or equal to another browser installed).
- The keyboard and the touchpad like, in particular, the key illumination is very convenient.
- In other reviews was partly criticized that not there was all accessories (including no bag).. I've ordered directly from Amazon and me both pocket and USB adapter for VGA and network were present. But Sofware CDs are absolutely no case. Neither Windows nor for drivers or manuals (the latter is just as in PDF format on the hard disk).

Conclusion:
Overall a very balanced Ultrabook with only very few can afford for disadvantages and currently unbeatable price / performance ratio when like me meets all your requirements. The overall workmanship is very good and the metallic appearance and also stability. I ordered the version with 8GB RAM and integrated graphics and it seems including all Office applications. Graphics processing well ranging from a performance point. Those who want to necessarily play graphics-intensive games, but should resort to the variant with Nvidia graphics. Only the loud HDD tarnishes the good image a bit, which can be due to the series dispersion in the Toshiba drives and thus can also be an isolated case. Maybe I'll let the unit still exchange on Amazon in the next few days. If the hard drive then be quieter, I would give my vote yet "high levels" of 4 to 5 star.

Addendum: In a Google search for "ux32 hdd noise" or "ux32 harddrive noisy" can be found in some English-speaking forums similar reports about loud hard drives for this Asus series. On a forum something is written by a chance of 1:10, that is "noisy" gets hard drive. Might be worth it so, then switched positions such devices. I would be definitely above comments, if you can hear the hard drive with you or not. Maybe we're getting then the HDD manufacturer or serial numbers on the track.