Asus UL30VT FAQ / Official Owners Lounge redux

I have never noticed any clicking at all in mine. Easily the quietest notebook I have ever owned.

I am eying the whole back lit keyboard mod. though. Man that would help in my dark living room at night.

 

I didn't pull the trigger just yet. I keep having second thoughts about the SU7300 and whether I will regret not getting the U35JC with the i3-370M. Arg...

 

The only time when I've ever heard a click from this laptop is when I've picked up while it's doing something. That's not even a bad click, its just the HD trying to lock itself down so that it doesn't get damaged. Otherwise, this notebook is super silent.

I'm also debating the back lit keyboard mod. Not because I'm in a poor lighting situation, just because this notebook would look awesome.

 

I have a question regarding the restore partition. I want to reformat the drive so I have 50gb in the C: partition, and the rest of the drive in a D: partition.. Is the warranty void if I delete the restore partition?

 

I don't believe it will void your warranty, but to be safe, you might want to make a clone of the drive, and then if you ever have to send it back to Asus, you can just reformat the drive according to the clone. Then you're guaranteed to have no problems.

 

The new version of TrueCrypt can encrypt faster on select Intel hardware, as well as configure your encrypted volumes or drives to automatically mount with specific preferences. The hardware acceleration is implemented through Intel's AES-NI instructions.

Do these computers have AES-NI instructions?

Thanks

 

No..also not on the i3..

Intel
Intel Westmere based processors, specifically:
Intel Gulftown processors.
Intel Clarkdale processors (except Core i3).
Intel Arrandale processors (except Core i3, Core i5-430M and Core i5-450M).

 

Do a lot of you guys use mice with your laptops? Would you recommend a smaller laptop sized mouse or is a regular sized one better? I was looking at the Logitech MX1100 at Best Buy on sale for $35. I don't know if getting a smaller laptop mouse would be better though. What do you guys recommend?

 

Just to reiterate and confirm what nvikram mentioned, formating or re-partitioning your laptop hard drive will NOT void the warranty.

Although I do have a mouse for my UL30VT, I find using the touchpad just as convenient and easy to use unless I'm working with photoshop or other image/video editing software and especially if you have your laptop connected to an external monitor with a much higher resolution. On a day to day basis, the multi-gesture features such as the 2-finger scroll and 3-finger tap for right clicking is quite sufficient and becomes very intuitive after little practice. My suggestion is, if you have the extra money, it won't hurt to get an extra mouse. It's a nice addition and it'll be good when you need it to perform more accurate mouse movements.

 

What about swapping it out for an SSD then? I plan on using the old HD as an external HD.

 

It's the same deal with swapping out the HDD. In fact, that's exactly what I did with my UL30VT which I swapped out the original HDD for a SSD. The only thing that will void your warranty is if you break the warranty seal sticker located underneath the keyboard or there are obvious signs of tampering (intentional damage) performed by the end-user, for example, marks hammer marks on the chassis or scratches on the motherboard and other internal hardware.

As a side note, if you do need to send your laptop in for repairs (touch wood), make sure to replace your original hard drive back into the laptop.

 

Great news! I would prefer NOT to use a mouse, but I kept hearing about people having issues with the touchpad. If the touchpad works great then I will use that Thanks!

 

Thanks for your answers, I hope to have my laptop delivered today with some luck...

 

Well, the issue with touchpads is that each person has their own different preferences and tolerance levels. What one thinks is great may not be true for others. I would recommend using the touchpad for a couple weeks before purchasing an external mouse. That way, you'd give yourself enough time to get to learn and become acquainted with the touchpad and decide if you like it or not. If the touchpad turns out to be unacceptable, you can then purchase an external mouse. Not to sound too much like a preacher, but why spend the money on a product if you're not sure whether you're going to be using it or not?

 

Yep, burns through two AAA's every 40 days I use it a lot when traveling and gaming, no dongle needed. I get free batteries at work so it's not so bad. I'm using a MS-5000. The built in BT internal module does take some power but not much. Your radio should be turned off, if you don't use BT, when trying for max battery life.

RF mice are much, much better on batteries. My favorite are still corded mice but laid back on the sofa, the touch pad rules. YMMV.

 

Wrong thread

 

xoticpc just told me that their UL30VT is sold out, will not be restocked... lol, where else can i get it for $699 or less?... i think i'll have to order from JR too if i decide to get this...

 

Not only is the UL30VT sold out at many Asus resellers, but AFAIK it is also EOL and replaced by the U30JC series. Try a google product search on the UL30VT - there should still be quite a few retailers offering this model.

ASUS UL30Vt A1 - Core 2 Duo 1.3 GHz - 13.3″ - 4 GB Ram - 500 GB HDD

Worst case scenario, you can always pick one up on ebay or craigslist.

 

I pulled the trigger on the UL30VT-A1 and then canceled it a few minutes ago. I seriously can't make up my mind and its driving my crazy! I know the SU7300 will be enough for my needs, but I want to future proof myself. I don't want to be kicking myself in the for not getting the U35JC. The one thing that is holding me back form the U35JC is its release date. It most likely will not arrive at my house until maybe 2 weeks after school starts. I have a LOT of down time inbetween classes and I do not know if I can go without a laptop. I just cant make up my mind and its so frustrating.

My parents are paying for the laptop for me (graduation gift), but it is still a lot of money and I do not want to settle. I just really can't stop thinking about whether or not I will really regret the UL30VT-A1 down the road with the SU7300 processor. Why do I need to keep 2nd guessing myself.

If anyone wants to incorporate their input that would be greatly appreciated. (Thanks for your input earlier David)

 

If you only need it for simple tasks, the SU7300 should be enough and if you care about money, the UL30VT is definatly a good pick.

 

So the backlit keyboard mod would void the warranty? Maybe I'll hold off then.

 

Yeah, that's something I'll also hold off on. Also, I called their support today and asked them about the HD. It doesn't void your warranty if you format or repartition it, and if you switch out the HD, they won't care either. But it's always better to be safe and make a clone.

 

I performed the keyboard mod last Friday, and didn't break any seals.

 

Just buy the UL30Vt-A1 and a Intel 80GB X25-m SSD. You won't regret.

 

nvm.. deleted.

 

Actually I intended to only play some really old games on my new laptop, but now after playing Starcraft 2 on my PC, I wonder if Starcraft would run well on the UL30VT?

I mean, playing online, 2on2, does this work on the ul30vt?
The CPU seems to be a problem as a 1,9 GHZ Dual Core is recommended...

 

I found that leaving it on entertainment mode is just fine and DPST gives little gain in battery life when enabled. The latest version of P4G seems to be perfect, switches graphics without problems and even remembers the brightness settings. I think it is version 1.1.37.

And finally, how can I get swipe gestures or pinch zoom on the touchpad?
Ironic that my cheap eee pc has it, but the ul30 doesn't.

edit: Maybe not. Ugh asus needs to fix p4g.

 

I just got my UL30Vt-X1 yesterday. This thing is SLEEK. I love how thin and light it is and am enjoying using it so far, the only thing that has me worried is the battery life I'm getting seems kind of short (only got ~4-5 hours last night), but thats because it needs a few charge/discharge cycles right?

Also, does anyone know if SCII can run on this laptop?

Overall I'm impressed with how snappy things run. I guess moving from an ASUS 1005HA-P you would notice a difference .

 

friends just chipped in to buying me a momentus xt 500gb for a late bday present! gonna backup of current hdd, switch in the momentus, clean install then off she goooeeessss

 

Hey,

SCII runs perfectly fine on the medium settings.

Anyways, could someone help me with my fan? Is there anyway to quiet it down a little bit?

It seems to always be running even when my temps are at 35 degrees.

 

Sorry if this is an old question, but I can't find anything specifically mentioning it.

I have a relatively new UL30VT. I decided to try the latest version of Power4Gear downloaded from the Asus site. It's version 1.1.31. I'm running the stock Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit.

When I tried to install it, I was told I needed to uninstall the current version first. I did that. During the uninstall, I was told that batterylife needed to be disabled first and it would be re-enabled after the uninstall. I said ok and the uninstall continued.

Now, I'm trying to install power4gear. It starts the install. Everything looks good and the progress bar shows progress - until it starts going in the wrong direction.

The install fails and I'm given the following message:

"The installer was interrupted before ASUS Power4Gear Hybrid could be installed. You need to restart the installer to try again."

I've have "tried again" several times and I always get the same message. Is this something that others have run into? Any ideas?

 

ok just so you all know the gigabit card in our laptops is a gigabit card. It works great and I can get good gigabit speed on my network.

 

Some were saying that once you play 2on2 with many units fps start to drop to 10fps, is it true?

 

I have the same problem with Nvidia.

I use legal Win7 64bit Pro and install the Nvidia Driver (from Asus site for ul30vt) using Safemode.

The install was success and recognize in safe mode (the icon was appear without triangle in my device in safemode) but when I restart normally it shows yellow triangle in mydevice

I tried P4G 1.25 and 1.31 (recommended for Ul30vt by ASUS)

Any advice is appreciated.

 

Advice on the battery?

 

How do you guys check the version number of Power4Gear?
I used the driver/utility disk (version 2.0) that came with my system and it worked perfectly. After I did a clean install of windows 7, I popped in the driver disk in the external writer. It gave me options regarding what softwares I wanted to install. I chose all the drivers, ATK softwares, and Power4Gear without a hitch in installation.

 

Power4Gear runs on high performance mode (with discrete graphic card running all the time) on install. Change the option to auto or battery saving mode by clicking the graphic boost button.

 

There may be another way, but the only way I found was to go to "Uninstall a program" in the control panel. The version number should be shown in one of the columns.

 

It's already on battery saving mode.

 

Ok, phew. I finally trudged through the original thread which was a zillion pages and just finished this thread as well. You UL30VT'ers are quite the voracious bunch!

I've really settled into a sense of comfort with the idea of buying the UL30VT-X1K. I've read of tons of people having technical issues with this machine which worries me a bit, but I also know from being a longtime Asus consumer on the desktop side of things that their tech support and warranty service are top notch.

I have a few questions for you all, some of which I know have been addressed but would make me feel better to hear further affirmation

1) Regarding the TurboBoost. I know it must be rebooted each time; however, the common suggestion seems to be to leave TurboBoost on but setup P4G to throttle during normal activity. Is this an efficient use of processing power? I'm curious as to how effective P4G is at dynamically managing such a throttle.

2) For those who have successfully overclocked their 210M... I've seen the 3DMark sits ~4k. How stable has your gpu overclock been? Any artifacting or temperature issues arise? I will not be doing much gaming on this machine but might occasionally throw on a few year old title to tide me over on a plane or in a hotel. The 210 isnt my ideal chip, but I cant justify the move up to the 310. If the overclock is effective and efficient, it seems like a fantastic compromise.

3) The most consistently conflicting data seems to revolve around the battery life. Some people attest to getting ~10 hours of light to normal use yet others says they only get ~4. I do not want to start another sprawling debate about it so I will simply ask: Can I hope to see 6+ hour battery charges with basic use?

It seems like all of the machines that I've narrowed down to have potential annoyances/flaws. The 4820TG throttles during heavy activity and gets too warm, the UL30JC is chunkier for only minor performance increases, the X420 is too aged and performs slowly and ofcourse the UL30VT sees the aforementioned.

Summarily, at ~$700, the ul30vt-X1K seems to be the best risk assessment for me. I sincerely thank everybody for their ingenuity regarding fine-tuning this product and would appreciate any responses regarding the questions posed.

 

3) The X1 has a different battery from the A1. The A1 gets better battery life as its battery is 5600mAh and the X1 is 4400mAh. From what I hear you can usually get 6 hours out of the X1 and 8+ on the A1. I could be wrong about the battery life times, but the A1 does have a longer lasting battery.

I am in the same boat as you. Don't know if I should get the UL30VT because it seems so weak compared to the new laptops. I definitely want the U35JC the most, but it comes out after classes begin.

I am considering the U45JC, but I do not know if I want the extra weight/thickness it comes in. Most likely will be between the UL30VT-A1 and the U45JC for me unless I just go with the U35JC and find a way to make it through 2 weeks of class without one.

 

I hear you, 100%. The U35JC is a sweet choice but the undetermined "August ETA" worries me. That would be a whole lot of note taking until I could get back to typing!

From everything I've seen, the ul30vt in turbo mode is not heavily trumped by an i3. I think in order to see a real performance gap you have to look towards the i5 which adds another $100 to the machine.

 

That is another thing. Is the U35JC absolutely CONFIRMED to release the end of August? I could possibly wait 1-2 weeks to get the laptop, but I cannot pre-order it if it ends up getting delayed again even further.

 

If they waited into September, they would lose alot of business to competitors during the "Back-to-school" weeks. This would not be good for Asus, I'm sure they'll do whatever they can to get these shipped out ASAP.

 

Thanks. I am using version 1.1.29

 

Have had my UL30Vt-A1 for a few weeks now. Did a clean Win7 install and it works much better now, no more random halting while the machine would be doing some weird crap in the background.

Just installed Starcraft2. On default settings (medium to low throughout) getting around 26 FPS with native resolution. Have not overclocked anything yet. Anyone else running SC2 on UL30VT? Any suggestions on settings?

 

Um, isn't it already available?

 

Nope. Not in the states anyways. Aug 23 according to GenTechPC.

 

Oh great to know. Was i hard to do without breaking the seals or easy?

 

Hmm, how'd you measure the FPS?

It runs at native resolution on the same settings super smoothly for me.

I overclocked my GPU a little bit to get my 3dmark06 score to about 3850, stock is around 3450.

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Can anyone help me with my webcam? I appear upside down and my sound doesn't work. Did ASUS install my webcam upside down?