Asus UL30VT FAQ / Official Owners Lounge redux

Hi guys!
I have read many pages on forum but have not managed to go through all 400 including the now closer forum.
Bought the Ul30vt a1 (silver) last week while i was in the usa. Loving my laptop so far but have issues with the rattling keyboard. I emailed asus and they asked me to ship it off to be repaired here in the UK. I dont really want to be without a laptop right now so Im guessing that since ive let them know the problem already i can send it off after xmas for repairs. Does that sound plausable?
Also, what kind of sleeve do you guys use for this notebook? Im anal about not getting it scratched or damaged lol
cheers to everyone for their inputs to these forums. its been a huge help

 

About the 13" Bookbook case :

I've sent an email today to Twelve South, here it is:

They answered quickly (thanks !) :

But I've bought anyway a Bookbook 13" right now from the French Apple Store, to see it with my own eyes. I think (AND HOPE !!!) that the extra 1mm/0,05inch width will not be a problem

So tomorrow (Tuesday, November 9th) :
-My UL30VT I ordered from Germany should be shipped to France
-the 13" Bookbook should be shipped too

As soon as I receive them (maybe Friday or Monday), I'll tell you if it's OK or not
And I'll post some photos/videos

 

Akyra: I too emailed them regarding the BookBook and the ul30vt. Have not heard from them, so please do share with us how it works!

 

Power4Gear problems: I have had my ul30vt for a couple weeks now, and the automatic gpu switching no longer works. Originally, when plugged in the laptop would use the nVidia gpu, on battery the builtin intel was used. Now, it just stays on the nVidia gpu regardless. Sometimes after awhile the tray reports the intel gpu in use.

Pressing the gpu selection button doesn't work either. I have tried toggling the gpu by forcing it to one or the other, but no joy. Setting it back to auto detect does not work either.

I am still using the drivers that shipped with it, I believe the only one I upgraded was the elantech.

Any ideas? This is frustrating as I can't pipe the video out to my LCD via HDMI to watch netflix or whatever since it is currently stuck on the intel gpu.

 

Well, you probably said the answer !
Try upgrading the drivers from Asus.com


---

Edit : Received my Bookbook 13" right now
Don't have the Asus UL30VT yet, but I've done some quick mesurements, and it should be OK !
But gotta go, I'll post some photos tonight

 

The most recent nVidia driver on the Asus website is v.8.15.11.8688 from last year, and is also what came with the laptop.

Can't wait to hear your thoughts and see your pics of the BookBook!

 

i had the same problem you have start power4gear software then choose "high performance" and click on the right side "advanced settings" then scroll down to gpu settings and click on nvidia hybrid sli graphics and change the setting from "save power (motherboard gpu) to "Boost performance (multiple gpu´s)" and your notebook will switch immediately to your nvidia graphics card, now press aplly and in p4g save and close and that´s it

 

Thank you for your reply, much appreciated. After you did this, did the autodetect setting start working again, so that it switched between the Intel and nVidia GPU's automagically as it is supposed to?

 

About the Bookbook 13" :

First, sorry for the bad quality of pictures, but my digital camera's battery was empty, so had to use my phone's one

Here is what you receive :
http://img259.imageshack.us/img259/194/photo0061z.jpg
The bookbook, a little sleeve and a paper

The problem for the size comes from the zipper :
http://img607.imageshack.us/img607/5416/photo0064.jpg
As you can see, there's one with some "extra leather", and one without

The consequence :
For the one without : http://img829.imageshack.us/img829/7939/photo0066zl.jpg
It's 235mm width I would say (UL30VT has 233mm), so it may be very very tight...
For the zipper with extra leather : http://img801.imageshack.us/img801/6203/photo0068j.jpg
It's 250mm width lol


So I don't know for 100% sure if the UL30VT can fit in it
I think (and hope ) that it should fit (I'm sure à 90%)
But I may finally receive my UL30VT on Monday to test it for real, so you'll have to wait till that day to be sure, guys


And one last thing : the Bookbook is really lovely in real, I just love it already

 

@ davmat yeah for me everything was fine and working like before

 

I just received the UL30VT from the US (I live in Australia) today. It's not charging and I don't know whether it's the battery or the adapter. Will the notebook run just on the mains without using the battery? I'm using Cloverleaf Power Mains Lead - Jaycar Electronics so the adapter can be used in Australia. Tx

 

@Tezzab4: yes, the ul30 will run on plugged in power only, you do not have to have the battery installed in the ul30 for this. Sorry to hear you have a bad battery.

 

OK, Davmat, thanks for that because my UL30 will not run just on mains power so it must be the adapter and not the battery that is faulty . It could be the power lead that I need to use here in Australia as well that attaches to the adapter but it most probably isn't the battery I would say.

 

Hello!

I have gotten my UL30VT today and I am very happy with it.

Has anyone got 5.1 AC3 sound out of the notebook through the hdmi-cable? Mine will only put out 2 channel sound...

 

I am happy enough with the existing touch pad and button action on my A1 but I am curious... does the elantech driver add squeeze and pinch ala Mac? My touch pad works great for scroling, but I would like to re-size like you can with a Mac.

Do you have to either re-install the OS or delete the old driver to install the new? Sorry, I am a bit dense when it comes to drivers...

 

It adds pinching, rotate, 3 finger back/forward, app switching (same as Alt+Tab) and explorer shortcut. You can also set scrolling using sides of touch pad.
I might have forgotten something, because I don't have new features unless I reboot (they disappear when resuming from hibernation)

To update, you have to uninstall old drivers first, then reboot and install new ones.

 

Received the UL30VT
Very nice

About the Bookbook 13" : It fits in it, but it's very tight...

---

Edit : Finally, to be sure, I am doing an exchange from 13" Red Bookbook to 15" Red bookbook

13" is really to tight. It fits in it, but I think that in a long period of time of use, it will be as bad for the Bookbook as it is for the computer

 

Post pics when you get the other case please.

Sorry for the newb question, but how do I do this? If in uninstall the old driver first how will be able to install the new one with no trackpad?

 

Hehe, nice question. Windows handles trackpad just fine without drivers. You get only basic functionality, but that's more than enough to double click installation executable
You could try tap-to-click for me if you'll remember. I wonder if it's gonna work without drivers.
I'm secretly wishing for Mac styled trackpad, which doesn't have any physical buttons, because I would say I used both of the buttons on my laptop for combined total of 10 clicks. Removing them and using gained space for trackpad would be super sweet.

 

has anyone update expressgate? Asus website has a corrupted file for download and no matter what I do, can't extract it...

 

Thanks, I just installed this driver, and it works great.

 

Is there any way to get a hinge cap replacement? the left one in my UL30VT-A1 is busted.. It is strange, because the hinge has been doing this crackling sound for the past two weeks, and maybe it was the cap stressing itself, and not the actual hinge (which is a relief), because now the noise is gone (at least for now)..

 

hi there folks.

Just got my notebook back from Asus repair... thermo paste redone (GPU now running cooler) and a new power adapter lead too...

But now there is a new problem. The speakers no longer work !! Any ideas what could have gone wrong here? Sound is coming through the headphone jack, no problems.... and windows diagnoses no issues either.

ps - I took the HDD out before sending the unit into Asus for repair.

 

They probably just forgot to plug the speakers back in. I haven't taken this laptop apart yet, but I assume it is like most others. Most laptops have wires coming from the speakers that plug into the motherboard or separate sound card.

 

Thanks for your reply, I think that you are right. Unfortunately I don't have the skills to do this myself so it'll have to go back in for service.. a little annoying.

 

Hi, I've had a UL30VT-A1 for around 3 months now and am wondering if the temperatures I'm getting are normal. On Idle, the GPU runs at around 57'C but when I start playing games (on a hard surface, wooden desk) it can climb to 86'C(Need for speed hot pursuit, COD 7, etc, min settings). This overclocking guide ( http://www.expertlaptopreview.com/?p=422) seems to suggest that is not normal and I haven't even overclocked.

I don't think it would be a dust clog since it's quite new but how would I go about cleaning the vent anyway(without opening it up and voiding warranty)? I can't find any intake vent like on my last laptop, and so where would the dust blow out if I used compressed air to clean it? How does stock cooling work on this laptop exactly? I ordered a laptop cooling pad from eBay which should arrive soon, hopefully that will help.

 

my GPU runs at around 50 normally, not overclocked, 57 seems a bit high

personally i donno where exactly the air is taken in, as theres only 1 vent and some holes on the bottom... maybe try a vacuum, use compressed air to loosen the dust

 

on a cold boot, the colors of the screen is washed out, but after I switch to nvidia and switch back, it's back to normal color. Any idea what's causing this problem?

 

Yes. Colors are washed out because of Intel's power saving technology, which decreases LCD backlight strength. In attempt to get away with it unnoticed it also changes colors, which you and many others including myself find distracting.

There are at least two ways to turn it off.

First and the best imo is going into advanced power settings (start by right clicking on battery icon -> power options -> change plan settings -> advanced...). Expand Asus P4G Power Settings and turn off Intel DPST Controll.
You should turn it off in every plan that has it on if you want to completely eliminate it.

Another way to tweak that is by right clicking on desktop and accessing Intel's control panel, where you have to mess with power settings. I have a feeling that changing power plan via P4G overrides those setting tho, so I highly recommend first method.

I hope it helps.

 

what the?? Are you saying that if I "turn off Intel DPST" then my screen will no longer look washed out when I'm not using nvidia??? If so - I can't wait to try this. ( wish I found it out 12months ago too)

 

Well I've found that it idles at around 50'C (after 15 mins of use) too when started from sleep. So maybe other people get the 86'C when playing games too?

 

Yes, looks washed out but only because the background goes to white. After I fixed up my settings on Power4Gear (I use Entertainment setting for everything, feel free to adjust the settings within) everything worked.

When running white background, just choose a new background and do all your personalizations to however you want it to look. Next time it goes to your Intel IGP (ie. old white background) it will now look better.

I felt the same way until I personalized it and now it looks about 96% the same as the discrete chip.

Also, temps of 80+ on the GPU is too high. Typically gaming usage mine goes from 60-70 degrees. Idle is much lower.

Go into your P4G setting and select Entertainment. See if it then works. Under High Performance and Power Saving the graphics are forced regardless of if its plugged in or not. Perhaps that will help with the switching.

For perma-discrete GPU use high performance setting.

 

I don't have Asus P4G Power Settings tree in advanced power settings. Any insight?

EDIT: NVM. I went directly to the Intel graphics options through the notification tray, Display settings tab, Power settings, Modify settings, uncheck "Intel(R) Display Power Saving Technology".

The only time it was checked by default was on P4G power saving mode, unplugged from mains power. So scan through your power saving scheme to uncheck on each scheme.

+1 Wisse. Thanks.

 

I actually upgraded the nvidia hybrid driver to the modified one and the problem no longer occurs, but thanks for the insight

 

Yesterday I played around with Throttle Stop trying to find out the lowest voltage to run the cpu @1,7 GHZ.

I tested with prime95 @ 1,7 GHZ and with the lowest voltage of 0,875: prime had errors after some minutes. Ok 0,875 is too low for 1,7 GHZ I thought.

Out of interest I tried to find the max stable voltage @ 1,9 GHZ and overklocked the CPU to it. To my big big surprise I also could go down to 0,875 without locking up the computer. I thought when 0,875 gets unstable at 1,7 GHZ it would lock up the laptop completely at 1,9 GHZ.

So I fired up prime and did the torture test @1,9 GHZ and 0,875V. The test ran 30 minutes without an error I also double checked if the processor really ran with 0,875V with an ammeter: With 1V the hole computer running prime used about 40W, With 0,875V about 35 Watt.

So it is more unstable with the same voltage @1,7 GHZ than @1,9 GHZ? Hard to belive... Can't explain this...

Also it is almost unbelieveable that you can overclock a cpu designed to run at 1,3 GHZ to 1,9 GHZ (almost 50%) and at the same time undervolt it from 1V to 0,875V... Crazy Crazy Crazy.

Maybe I was just dreaming yesterday night...

 

where can i find actually these modified driver? i looked it up in google but didnt found one which says it works with the g210m.

 

check this thread: http://forum.notebookreview.com/asus/474538-modded-197-16-hybrid-graphics-driver-ul30-50-80vt.html

To be honest i dont know why people are jumping to update

even the author said

but its your call, i havnt updated

 

Well it was useful for me because now I can use coreavc with cuda acceleration, so I can watch 1080p movies now with hardly any cpu strain. Also youtube hd videos seem to run with less cpu utilization now. And i gained like 10% fps in starcraft 2. Can't tell how it is with other games because I only play starcraft 2. By the way: starcraft 2 runs good with medium details on the asus.

 

Has anyone upgraded the LCD screen on their UL30VT with an aftermarket part? Anyone know if it is possible and of parts?

I doubt I would upgrade the screen right away, but the limited viewing angle is somewhat annoying. I am very happy with my ul30vt otherwise, glad I popped for a true notebook over a 12" netbook.

Also, I have a 60GB OCZ Agility 2 on the way, I can't wait to clean install Win7 on it.

Also, if anyone is interested, I have narrowed down the problem of the "hybrid graphics not automagically switching when going from/to plugged power/battery. If the laptop is cold booted or restarted, it works fine. However, after resuming from S4/Hibernate anywhere from 1-3 times my hybrid gpu switching no longer works. The graphics switching button does not work either at this point, and I must restart it to regain this functionality.

Anyone else having a similiar problem? Happy Thanksgiving to all!

 

@davmat787,
Go to the uninstall programs list, single-click on Asus Power4Gear Hybrid. At the bottom, it will tell you what version you are running. You should be running 1.1.24 or 1.1.25 for this laptop. Newer versions are known to be buggy.

If you are already running 1.1.24 or 1.1.25, then I'm not sure what the problem is.

If you are not running 1.1.24 or 1.1.25, go to the Asus support website and download either version. 1.1.24 is available in the UL30VT section. 1.1.25 is available in the UL80VT section, if I remember correctly.

Then:
Set it to High Performance mode, making sure it is using the Nvidia GPU.
Uninstall P4G Hybrid.
Run the 1.1.24 or 1.1.25 executable.

 

I'm finding CoreAVC overrated. I'm getting lower utilization using media player classic which is free.

Modding is fun but I find it sad that Asus will not support the 30/50/80vt with video support.

 

has anyone bought the UL30Vt without built in bluetooth? I'm finding conflicting specs. Some say the UL30VT comes with bluetooth. Others are saying that it is an option.

I bought a UL80Vt a few days ago, and as much as I like it. I'm thinking I would rather have the UL30Vt. I am replacing a 7 year old Dell X1 (centrino mobile, no ODD, 12.1" screen) I think the 30 will be closer to the size and weight that I'm used to.

I love the built in bluetooth on my X1, I usually use a bluetooth mouse.

If I buy a UL30Vt without bluetooth, can I add the card? Does anyone have any experience? I'm not afraid to tear things apart, but I don't want to void a warranty.

 

Regarding the conflicting specs, could you be mistaking the model numbers? I did when researching this series at first, then I found this.

I prefer Bluetooth as well, allows me to connect my phone, mouse, keyboard, whatever without claiming usb ports with transceivers.

I am fairly certain I came across modding instructions with part info for adding bluetooth to a non natively equipped ul30 such as the ul30a series. If you need modding info and can't find it, I can dig it up probably, but I found it reading the owner lounge threads and google.

 

thanks davmat. I don't think its a mix up of model numbers. Since, I have only been researching the UL80VT, UL30VT-x1 and UL30VT-A1.

I've been trying to make my way through the previous UL30VT owners thread. (I'm only half way through) I cheated and jumped to the end here

I found on Asus' website the specs for the UL30VT, but they don't show different specs for the X1 vs the A1. It does list the built in bluetooth as an optional accessory. ASUSTeK Computer Inc.

On the first page of this new thread it lists the differences between the X1 and the A1. The A1 has the Atheros wireless card, but the Asus website, lists it as the Intel wireless. Is this something that Asus changed and all versions of the UL30VT come with Intel wireless and 2 antenna?

Sorry, to be such a pain. I just wanted to make sure I buy the right model.

I think I want the X1. I would prefer it to have the built in bluetooth. But, I did see a bluetooth module (bt-183) on ebay for $10-$15. Just wondering if anyone had to install one of these.

 

it comes with on board BT, A1 has slightly more battery and of course its silver = less finger prints on plastic

 

I have the black ul30vt-x1, and yes it does show finger prints/dust more than I would have liked. But, I personally could not justify the extra dough ($100 or more at the time) for essentially the same laptop.

Why is the silver version so much more, am I missing some spec that justifies the additional cost?

EDIT: I guess you answered my question: the extra cost is due to the higher capacity battery + silver finish?

 

thanks holymoly.

Still reading through all of the first thread. I'm only on page 87 of 324.

Then I can start on the 150 pages of this thread!!

 

hmmmm, idk why amazon is selling A1 for $895 right now cuz back in july it was $700 lol...

 

There was only a $20 difference when i bought mine, and i wanted the bigger battery.

At the time amazon was showing only the A1 with a two year warranty but I think Rezer77(sp) said that was no longer the case?

The only other difference was the wi-fi cards..

 

Hydra, did you purchase the ASUS UL30A-A2 (which does not have an nvidia GPU)? This is currently, $599 at amazon.

I purchased my -x1 on 10/26/2010 via amazon, and thought I would check current prices on amazon between the x1 and a1. Check out the substantial price difference: