ASUS U/UL/PL Series Discussion

[Menthu_Rae]

Just thought I'd post a thread for discussion of the Asus U series, UL series and PL series notebooks.

Feel free to post your reviews, prices, rants or praise about your U/UL/PL series Asus notebook

----------------------------

I'm going to go on a little spiel here... I previously had my eye on a PL30Jt-RO025X - however due to a very limited shipment I missed out on it - the main thing that bugged me was that every other laptop on the market had some kind of annoying flaw - as per my rant here.

Now, along has come the U36Jc! This thing looks great - and whilst not a true power-efficient and sexy aluminium beast like the PL30Jt - it has a fantastic design (matte nearly-everything, stupidly thin!) along with some nice features (USB3.0). Downsides appear to be that the CPU doesn't support VT-d/TXT/AES - although it supports VT-x so that's good enough perhaps - additionally the screen appears to be a glossy glare type and the screen bezel is also glossy (urgh!). These downsides aside on the whole it appears to be a nice subnotebook overall.

Specifications:

Intel Core i5-460M (2.53GHz) Processor
Intel HM55 Chipset
4GB DDR3-1066
500GB 7200RPM SATA
13.3" HD (1366 x 768) LED backlight
NV G310M 1GB DDR3 VRAM + Intel GMA HD
8 cell 5600mAh Battery
WLAN: 802.11 B/G/N
LAN: 10/100/1000 Base T
Bluetooth: Bluetooth V2.1 + EDR
Built-in 0.3 Mega Pixel Web Camera
5 in 1 Card Reader (SD/ MMC/ XD/ MS/ MS Plus)
1 x Microphone-in jack
1 x Headphone-out jack (S/PDIF)
1 x VGA port/Mini D-sub 15-pin
3 x USB 2.0 ports
1 x RJ45 LAN
1 x HDMI

ETA for the USA is the 29th of November - I'm going to call Asus Australia tomorrow to see if it'll land here. If not, importing time!

[Dodoman]

I have a UL80VT. Zippy little thing and after overclocking the SU7300 to 1.9Ghz I couldn't be more happy. The GT210M is a let down though, but atleast I can play games from 2008 and beyond (and all the CoDs ).

[Tenoq]

That laptop looks awesome.

Perhaps like you, I've been trying to find a decent replacement for my netbook that is still reasonably portable but is actually usable in terms of performance: this looks like the unit!

Might be a bit pricey though.

[nelson92]

got a ul30vt here, love it. Only let down is the G210M but i dont really game on it so its not that big of a problem.

[Dodoman]

It ran Bad Company 2 (at 1280x720 and all settings off/minimum )

[bennyg]

Anyone's UL broken in a stiff wind? I was looking at a UL80VT but took me a femtosecond to drop the idea when the demo model at JB flexed about 20 degrees in my hands.

That U36Jc and all the rest have a massive flaw - still using I-cant-believe-its-not-a-rebadged-8-series GPUs. The 4xxM is out, and is superior in every way except to ATi GPUs maybe, I am beginning to look around to drop the current hot hungry beast for something a bit slower (so long as I can hook up a desky GPU) and a lot portabler.

But there's no way I'm going to be buying the same goddamn tech a whole 4 years after I bunged a 8800GT in my bro's desky.

You asked for rants

edit: don't get me started on glossy plastic. This G51J has a glossy lid as well as glossy bezel, and around the keyboard as well. The internet would run out of harddrive before I'm done ranting on that one.

[Menthu_Rae]

Hoorays... picked up my U36Jc today. It's nice (for the price) Unfortunately there's no BIOS option to switch the GPU between integrated/nVidia but otherwise it's schmick. Thin, light, fast.

[shift6]

Originally Posted by Menthu_Rae

pics

Nice notebook.

I was actually looking at it being a possible value alternative to the Macbook Air and Sony Vaio SA/SB/Z series as a possible replacement later down the track.

My main gripes with it are the screen resolution and glossy finish on it..one of my main needs is a good screen comfortable enough to have two browsing windows/word documents side by side...

How's the battery life?

[Fedevor]

I've had a UL50VT for close to a year now. Absolutely love it. Price was great ($1100), Battery life is great (gets 10 hours fairly easily. This means I don't take my charger off my desk at home!), warranty is great (got a free upgrade to 3 years).

A numpad is awesome! I appreciate the numpad SO much as an engineering student.

I put an 80gb Intel G2 SSD in it; the laptop flies for everything office based! Also handles SC2 (albeit at lowest settings)!



Things I don't like: Gloss. Seriously, does anyone like gloss? ANYone? Glossy screen, glossy internal casing. Fingerprints and glare everywhere.

The touch pad. Ergh. Piece of junk. Multi touch is great, and the only saving grace. I carry a M950 24/7 now though.

The screen resolution. 1366x768 is restrictive.



Had a couple of issues with it, both not related to build quality. Escape key broke due to some rain seeping into my backpack. Asus fixed that under warranty. Laptop cracked at hinge; pretty sure this was due to backpack rolling off a low chair onto a wooden floor. Asus fixed this under warranty too.



Really looking forward to what asus has in a similar form factor in another 2 years time. Would love to get rid of the gloss, have a great touch pad, and high res screen. Maybe something a bit slimmer and lighter too; cause, hey, don't want to make it easy for them!

[Menthu_Rae]

Originally Posted by shift6

Nice notebook.

I was actually looking at it being a possible value alternative to the Macbook Air and Sony Vaio SA/SB/Z series as a possible replacement later down the track.

My main gripes with it are the screen resolution and glossy finish on it..one of my main needs is a good screen comfortable enough to have two browsing windows/word documents side by side...

How's the battery life?

I think you are trying for 2 different things here. You're not going to get something in this size and weight class with a high res screen for anything less than one kidney... or rather, $3000+ (Vaio Z Series --> http://www.onlinecomputer.com.au/pro...937770d0ac237a and --> http://www.onlinecomputer.com.au/pro...937770d0ac237a ).

Sony are releasing their SB series soon, if I were you I would look at that as a MacBook alternative:

http://www.goodgearguide.com.au/revi...csb16fg/377819

It has all the features the U36 doesn't have and it's only $200 more:

+ Sandy Bridge
+ Backlit keyboard
+ Matte screen
+ No glossy bits
+ Optical drive
+ Better GPU

Seeing that... I kind of regret grabbing the U36 now but hey the colour and finish of the U36 chassis is great (trying to lull myself into a false sense of happiness ).

Anyway the battery life is good. I haven't given it a full work out but extrapolating from my usage I'd say you'd get 6.5hrs or so or more from a full charge with WiFi and just general net browsing, screen on mid brightness, etc.

Also FYI the Macbook Air is not even in with a chance IMO:

- Inferior CPU
- SSD size/lack of upgradeability
- Connectivity?!?!?!

Why you would buy one? I don't know... and as for the 13.3" Macbook Pro - it's great, except for the GPU.

[grumpy1377]

I picked up a U36 on Saturday - it's replacing my Late '09 MBP.

No major issues atm.

You can force the NVIDIA GPU on or off by the NVIDIA control panel.

Of course you can't do it if you're in Linux though.

[shift6]

Originally Posted by Menthu_Rae

I think you are trying for 2 different things here. You're not going to get something in this size and weight class with a high res screen for anything less than one kidney... or rather, $3000+ (Vaio Z Series --> http://www.onlinecomputer.com.au/pro...937770d0ac237a and --> http://www.onlinecomputer.com.au/pro...937770d0ac237a ).

Sony are releasing their SB series soon, if I were you I would look at that as a MacBook alternative:

http://www.goodgearguide.com.au/revi...csb16fg/377819

It has all the features the U36 doesn't have and it's only $200 more:

+ Sandy Bridge
+ Backlit keyboard
+ Matte screen
+ No glossy bits
+ Optical drive
+ Better GPU

Seeing that... I kind of regret grabbing the U36 now but hey the colour and finish of the U36 chassis is great (trying to lull myself into a false sense of happiness ).

Anyway the battery life is good. I haven't given it a full work out but extrapolating from my usage I'd say you'd get 6.5hrs or so or more from a full charge with WiFi and just general net browsing, screen on mid brightness, etc.

Also FYI the Macbook Air is not even in with a chance IMO:

- Inferior CPU
- SSD size/lack of upgradeability
- Connectivity?!?!?!

Why you would buy one? I don't know... and as for the 13.3" Macbook Pro - it's great, except for the GPU.

Yup, I've been following the SB and SA recently too. Hoping that more non-market pictingures of the SB come out so I can better gauge the size.

I'm more or less exploring various ~13" products. Reason I included the Air is that I'm not too fussed about OSX, (hoping it will replace a 15" MBP) and that it has a pretty nice matte/okayish res screen, fantastic trackpad and awesome portable size.

For the Vaio, I would probably prefer getting it on Ebay for around $2k (http://cgi.ebay.com.au/Sony-Vaio-Z-S...em27b8fe76eb); so about 500 more than the MBA (After iPod Touch/EDU discounts). A bit iffy about the battery though.

As it's only really used for MS Office/Web browsing I don't need something too powerful either, just primarily something portable, lightweight and big pluses if it has a high resolution & matte screen.

One of my more important priorities is battery life, and seeing as the U36 fairing nicely on your end it's good to hear. Just not sure if I can handle a 1366x768 res and glossy screen.