*Official UL30VT-X1 Owners Lounge*

Thanks Tallan.
I was looking at that same drive - cant beat it for the money. But I think I'm gonna put my ssd from my netbook in my vt-a1 tomorrow. I just love the silence and temp of ssds

 

I just got my ul30vt-x1 and im loving it.... really an amazing little notebook, been testing it for couple of days now, and really satisfied with it. In case someone is interested, it plays WOW fine all settings high (no shadows), this are the temps for a 5 hour raid in icecrown 25, still have to test in togc anub/twins, ambient temp 20C.

 

is your HDMI video output ok? I can't even get video to work.

 

Video output through HDMI works fine and it's almost instant, I just have problems with audio. I suppose it could be because of the clean W7 install I did - could have missed a driver or something in the process. I'll have to try CHrisHPU's recommendation tonight. Hopefully it's just a software issue...

 

You have to make sure the Nvidia GPU is enabled in order to use the HDMI output. (e.g. make sure you are in "high performance" mode)

See if that helps.

 

Think my previous post was buried a few pages back but I was wondering if anyone in the uk has a ul30vt, and if so where did they get it because I can't seem to find it anywhere.

 

Does the VT use the same screen as the UL30A? I'm a little confused because I've seen a lot of negative criticism of the VT screen and a lot of positive praise of the UL30A screen.. but I had thought they used the same..

Btw did anyone get that backlit keyboard to work yet?

 

OK, after uninstalling, reinstalling various GFX plus Audio drivers and testing three HDMI cables for about 2 hrs I finally got it to work. But not by any direct action. I was browsing some other forum for a solution with the cable plugged in when all the sudden the TV popped up as a playback device. Strange, but at least it worked. Perhaps it takes a while for the lappy to recognize HDMI audio output? Anyway, my main grief with the UL30VT is now resolved.

 

I would have loved to go that route except for the cost. I was lucky to get a 256GB SSD from Crucial a while back for another machine for $599; last I checked that same drive had gone UP to $799 . I thought computer equipment always came down over time, what's up with that?

 

I'm having a little problem with my vt-a1... I put a clean win 7 ultimate in and downloaded all (what I think) were the pertinent drivers/ultils from asus.com... but my graphics cards aren't switching - it's staying on the g210m. Any thoughts?

 

i hate the touchpad and buttons a lot now. Accidental clicks (touchpad), clicks not registering (touchpad) and difficulty in pushing the buttons are really irking me.

 

I just feel the same way. I've had my X1 for a while now, and they seemed to be getting worse and worse, I noticed all the symptoms you mentioned.

I don't know if this is an issue with the dimples accumulating dirt, etc... or what.

I uninstalled the touchpad from device manager, let the computer reboot and install the standard windows drivers. It seems to be better, but now the scroll is too fast and it doesn't register the double/triple clicks. I don't know if the other symptoms will return or not, as I just did this last night.

 

Any Canadian residents heard anything about their A1 orders yet? I've got one on order from Agile-Elec and all they've told me is that they're expecting a shipment this week.

 

The same thing happened to me too when I was doing a clean install. At first I thought I had missed one of the hot key/media key drivers, but it turns out that the GFX button functionality was embedded in a utility (Hybrid Power4Gear I think). Once the utility is installed you should be able to configure all four power modes to your liking.

The touchpad disable FN+ function is likewise embedded in the Elan driver which sucks since the touchpad works better with a generic windows driver but it cannot be diabled using the FN+ hotkey function...

 

I got my shipment from Gentech two days ago. (Three if you count the failed delivery.) In total, it took 9 days from ordering. It was also less expensive than I thought it would be. I couldn't use the e-check option for some reason, but it was still cheaper than ordering it from Canada. Not that you can yet...

I'm loving it so far. It's beautiful. Runs faster than I thought it would too. I think anybody would find it fast enough. Even power users like myself. Battery life is amazing as well. I left it running a torrent through wifi and checking it every half hour at work. It went for the entire shift and was on 30% (2.5 hours left) at the end. So 10 hours battery or so, at least with the screen mostly off. I have yet to really put any stress on it yet though.

 

Someone managed to get spdif to work trough HDMI?
I have some trouble to get spdif out on my laptop (ASUS UL 30 VT) to work trough HDMI. I use the latest version af AC Filter and MPC HC. When I playing files with DTS I only get the message "Disabled (SPDIF output is not supported)" and I only get PCM sound on the receiver.
However when I´m checking the button "Disallow PCM Output in SPDIF Mode" i get the correct Passtrough in AC filter configuration box but the sound of the reciever its only digital noise.

Please help.

 

these are not isolated incidents with just the ul30vt series, i have a 1005ha and ive got the same issues.

seems to be just really cheap parts were used for the rocker button (plastic piece of crap!) and the trackpad sensitivity has always been just so-so ...

this is another area that asus could really stand to improve on for a very little increase to the consumer - id love to see them get rid of the rocker button and use a harder 2 button style...

as for trackpad, kill the bumps and go follow macbook's example.

 

I moved the elan Palm Tracker bar all the way to the left instead of to the right (supposedly less sensitive the more you move to the right) and it hasn't registered an accidental palm click yet in the 30 minutes that I've adjusted it.

I wonder, can the rocker button be removed and just cut in half? Are there switches on both sides of the rocker button? I'm guessing there is a fulcrum in the middle as well, that maybe I could shave down. Has anyone taken the trackpad button off yet?

 

UL30VT, Win7HP

Mine has the clicking part on the right front and the crackling HDD. Doesn't bother me too much. These things do though

Battery draining fast in standby, from 99% to 89% in 5-6 hours. I've used sleep with my old laptop (XP) and never had any issues. However, I've read that this is a problem with some laptops, and I've experienced it with my EEE. "Fixed it" with hibernate on that one, as I seldom used it, but I do not wish to rely on the hibernate solution on the UL30.

Function keys for screen brightness stop functioning after waking the computer from sleep. Reboot solves the issue.

Logon screen displays one user only, and requires me to click with mouse / press enter to type password. I want it to go straight to password prompt without having to select _the only_ user. I've seen this as default on other Win7HP computers but I can't find any selection in the user menu.

Bluetooth is not compatible with Jabra JX10 headset. Checked the drivers which apparently are fine. I have a small dongle that I plugged in and it gave some error messages. However, with the dongle the headset connects and works fine. This is not such a big deal, but it would be nice to use the built in bluetooth so as to not be dependant on the dongle which takes up a USB plug. The dongle uses other drivers, but I don't know if these are compatible with the onboard module or if it's at all possible to change drivers in that manor.

Anyone else have these issues or know of a way to resolve them?

 

Agile Electronics has the A1 up for $883. I called them and they said they're expecting a shipment this week. Its up for pre-order on most Canadian sites for $899.

 

Same problem here anyone got a solution for the crazy touchpad?

 

Cheapest I've seen UL30Vt-A1:

It's all over ebay now for $850..... which after 8% Bing cashback makes it only $782, the cheapest I've seen. I paid $794 through GenTech, but there you go, if anyone's interested.

 

Hey everybody, been having a good time with my 30vt, but just today, my touchpad stopped working. It doesn't even show up in the device manager. I disabled and re-enabled in bios to see if that would jump start things, but I've got nothing. Any ideas?

 

Everything is still on pre-order it seems...

 

Is the screen quality better than older asus models? I own a A8JM and that screen sucks and the screen hinges are awful. I also own a macbook non led non pro model and the screen is great. If the UL30Vt screen is close to a non pro macbook I will be happy, if it anything close to my A8J model I will pass.

 

Hi

First time here.

I am from Australia. I am torn whether I should get the Dell Adamo Onyx locally or should I order the UL30VT1 from USA. Both have the same price (Australian currency).

The only thing that swaying me away from Asus is that I had to get overseas for this price and the risk of having a DOA laptop.

Anyway, please someone talk me out of buying a Dell!

 

Has anyone tried playing Mass Effect on this laptop? I've ordered UL30VT, but am reconsidering the decision based on its gaming performance.

I know it's not a gaming laptop, of course. I have read the gaming benchmarks for this laptop on Techreport and Anandtech, and they look just fine to me.

I want to play Mass Effect on low-medium settings at 1366x768, or perhaps at medium at a lower resolution. Any idea how well it will run?

I've asked this question elsewhere, but I get a range of speculative guesses from people who haven't actually tried it.

EDIT: Anandtech actually has a benchmark for Mass Effect at 800x600 on the UL80VT, but something about the benchmark seems just wrong to me considering how well it handled the other games.

 

Give me about half an hour to get it installed on my UL30Vt and I will post my results. I honestly believe you will have NO problems doing what you want.

Last night I had a Lan session with my brother for about 2+ hours on battery power running at max speed the UL30Vt would go and we played Left4Dead2 and I had no issues whatsoever.

 

Mine seems to play mass effect fine at those settings, getting about 28 - 34 fps in fraps. Also be having no problem playing l4d2, borderlands, and modern warfare 2. I've got the g210 overclocked which is good for a 10 - 15% boost in frame rate. Temps max out around 75 with this setup.

 

Borderlands? Really? Any idea what the frame rate would be w/o the OC? I'd prefer not to overclock...

 

Borderlands will work fine without overclock just have to lower the settings a little. I run at 1280x720 since I get higher framerates and seems to fit better on my HDTV over HDMI. Looks really good IMHO. Totally playable. Give me a sec and I'll play on stock speeds and adjust the settings until I'm stable above 30fps.

 

Thanks, that's great; take all the time you need!

 

1280x720, 8x antialiasing, low foliage, medium textures, high game detail, bullet decals on, dynamic shadows off, I get pretty steady 29-33 fps in the first part of the game. Much better frame rates OC'd, but turning game detail down a notch and AA down to 4x will get about the same results and still looks really good. Borderlands kind of cellshaded look seems to lend itself to looking good even at lower settings. I would highly recommend this game.

 

By the way, my touchpad started working again. No idea why... Oh well.

 

@conceyted: Let me know how it goes.

@pversteg: Thanks! That is a big relief; I can go ahead with the order now, I guess. Can you give a break-down of the settings you use in Mass Effect to get ~30fps stutter-free gameplay without O/C? (The same way you did for Borderlands a couple of posts later.)
Also, I'm assuming that you're getting slightly higher framerates when you don't use Fraps.

 

I would expect that you're right about a few more frames per second with fraps off. I usually leave it on, although I guess I shouldn't. Mass effect is strange though, fraps never shows a slowdown, but it feels like there is an occasional hiccup. It might just be the way the game plays though, since changing quality settings doesn't make it better or worse. Definately playable though. Difficult and frustrating at times, but that's a user problem not a hardware problem!

 

I remember the odd hiccup when playing Mass Effect on a 8800GT and a (mismatched) Pentium 4 on high settings. I thought it was a CPU problem, but now I think it's just that the game is a bit buggy. And yeah, the game was frustrating at times.
My intention of asking about ME was, in fact, to gage my expectations of Mass Effect 2's performance on the UL30VT. I'm sure ME2 will have its own set of bugs for us to contend with!
Again, what settings would you play the game at with the stock speed GPU?

 

all settings on medium, dynamic shadows off, and moderate antialiasing work fine @ 1280x720. I think it worked well with the automatic settings. It might be cpu limited as you mentioned. ME2 looks to be even more graphics intensive, but who knows maybe they streamlined the engine. L4D 2 actually gets higher frame rates for me than L4D did at the same or higher quality settings. Cleaner code? Looks nice

 

Thanks pversteg. That is much better than I had hoped for. To be able to play ME on an ultraportable without having it look like crap is just amazing. I cannot wait for the UL30VT to arrive now.

EDIT: I remember that Crysis Warhead performed much better than Crysis on the aforementioned setup. So yeah, I would hope that sequels based on the same game engine performing better becomes a usual thing with games, and that Bioware's done some kind of optimization to the Unreal engine.

2nd EDIT: The system requirements for ME2 are higher than those of 1:

That doesn't leave me feeling too good about the UL30VT!

 

Thanks again, I can't wait to give it a try, + rep for you.

 

Well the oft touted vaio Z pretty much fits all those points, though the backlit feature is auto. Asus can pull it off, but even if they do, you won't be seeing any of those implemented in one package before the year is over. And in the sub $1000 price range, you're not going to get the perfect mix of performance, battery, weight, durability and style. Such laptops excel in one area and disappoints in another. And I can't help but feel that's the case with the ul30vt. OVerall its a complete package, but there are many things left to be desired for.

Back to the Vaio Z: ironically, I was about to pull the trigeer on the Z back in october, but then I caught wind of a the Ul30vt. Obviously they're on completely different levels; but there and then, based on what I wanted to do, the 30vt was a good option. So I waited as well. I wouldve gotten the X1 if it came up to Canada sooner. So now post CES, I think I want to go back to the Vaio Z.

But not before I get my hands on an X1, as I really need a laptop as a stepping stone while I await for 2nd or 3rd gen Vaio Z. My 4 year old dino performance wise is fine, but weight and battery specs are horrible.

 

I'm looking to purchase a UL30vT-A1 but everyone seems to be out(aside from resellers like Gentech that apparently void the ASUS warranty), anyone have an idea of when they'll be available again from normal sellers like Amazon?

 

The Gentech site for the ul30vt-a1 seems to indicate that both the Asus 2 year limited warranty and the 1 year accidental damage warranty apply.

What am I missing?

 

Sorry it took me so long, got sidetracked and life took over.

Playing Mass Effect using the normal High Performance settings and stock 33% power boost option w/ Nvidia 210m I am playing 100% smooth in combat and all at 1366x768 on my UL30Vt.

Left4Dead2 also plays perfectly.

For those who like MMORPGs, I am able to play Dark Age of Camelot at almost maxed settings.

This laptop is FAAAST.

 

Indeed, from the options they list I can only see changing the cpu grease to possibly void the warranty. Changing the ram/harddrive/wifi will leave it intact.

 

I've only played Dragon Age so far, and I was very impressed. 1366x768 on medium to high settings played without any stutter (I'm guessing at least 30 fps). Only thing I noticed was that when hocked up to the TV, color saturation is way better than on the computer screen. I probably need to tweak the lappy screen settings, but the difference was noticeable.

 

I've confirmed from Gentech that both ASUS warranties apply if you're buying the UL30VT-A1 without custom modifications. I'm expecting mine from them in a couple of days- you gave me a scare for a minute there!

For a while, I was considering holding off for a thin and light with the g330m, but it seems from the previous posts that the g210m is adequate for "medium" gamers like myself, who like a little eye candy but don't care all that much about jagged edges and over-the-top effects in the latest games.

 

It seems you really want a full gaming PC in a very small package and the only one I can think of, available or announced, with a BL keyboard is the new Alienware Mx-11.

 

The M11X will have switchable graphics, Intel and the nVidia GT335M, some sort of Core 2 Duo CPU (I thought I'd heard i3 or i5), no 13" version. Not super thin and light like the UL30 but it should be quite a bit more muscular on games. Price is "about" $1000, so that fits. A few more weeks and it should be out.

 

My computer no longer switches from "high performance" when I plug in the laptop and stays on battery saving mode. How do I make it change automatically?