*Official UL30VT-X1 Owners Lounge*

As far as I know there hasn't been any update on this. I have also noticed this but it is not a problem for me as the flicker lasts less than a second.

 

phishie wrote-"All drivers up to date (according to windows update! there MAY be a newer nvidia driver?)".

Oh there are plenty of *new drivers* that have been released since 2008, ie when the current Hybrid Graphics driver was evolved and crafted to be the little monstrosity that it currently is. However NONE OF THOSE will apply, and work in the G-210M environment, so don't get your hopes up about new drivers for the nVidia graphiX system in the UL30Vt-series computers...that just isn't going to be happening, sorry to say, (wish it were different, but we're in "terminal-Land" when it comes to EOL drivers for our beautiful, antique graphiX card setup)!

rexrzer727

 

A few items I haven't seen mentioned:

Video out through HDMI at 1920x1080 - desktop is cut off by about 100 pixels on each side. This seems to happen with both a samsung xl2370 monitor and a panasonic ae900 projector. I can reduce resolution to the next step down, this leaves a black boarder about 50 pixels wide where the desktop does not fill the screen. Using the invidia utility to shrink or stretch the desktop makes things fuzzy. Any thoughts?

3D modelling software (Rhino 4) runs quite well. Rendering a simple scene with Vray was slower than I expected (2 objects, 1 light + GI, basic materials, 320x240) took about 2 minutes.

HD video ended up working perfectly for me, but only with the right setup. 720p video ran well regardless of player. But, a 1080p (2HR, 13gb) mkv file would not play smoothly on vlc or media player classic. Only Media Player 12 after installing cccp would handle it. This was all with 5% bios oc, 'turbo mode', and nvidia video.

Anyone have luck with the disputed S/PDIF via the headphone jack? If not, how are people dealing with 5.1 audio out without an HDMI enabled receiver?

 

Very good stuff. Thanks!

@RR very interesting as well, I will definitely try that battery regimen every other month.

 

vlc is noted to have stuttering issues with certain configurations playing 1080p using the mkv container. Not sure about mpc though.

I use zoom player and have no such ill effects.

 

so can we install xp on the ul30vt
coz i am getting sick of win7

 

Ok, I'm really hoping for some feedback. Without going through the 271 pages of notes, I have been sitting on the fence about the XT-A1 for months now, and have given up on the JT. With that said, I know the reviews have been glowing on Amazon. However, I would appreciate some insight on the trackpad and the wireless from users that have had the laptop for more than a couple weeks.

Thanks very much. I hope to be a fellow owner soon.

 

I think I can help a little bit. First of all, the trackpad has often been referred to as such, but Asus refers to it as the "Touchpad", so if you're searching for the newest driver for example, or any little thing of an official nature from Asus, don't use the "trackpad" nomenclature, it's a "Touchpad", ok?

Now about all these problems, they are really waaaaaay overblown as far as I can tell, because I just turn it OFF with Fn+ F9 keystroke when I am using my BT mouse, which is 90% of the time I use the notebook, and then it's a non-issue in terms of "erasing words, inserting the hyphen in the wrong place, etc etc", which people complain about incessantly for no dang good reason when all they have to do is turn the thing completely OFF! :wink:

As far as the touchpad's software goes, there are no less than 9 iterations of touchpad software drivers to choose from at the Asus notebook software web pages, so that's plenty of variety there, and you cannot accuse Asus of being complacent or non-proactive when it comes to trying to mitigate all the complaints about Synaptics, or Elantech software drivers, take your pick there...and besides, I don't have a single issue with the touchpad in the 1st place, never have, and never will most likely, because I'm an old-time touchpad/trackpad user because of having Apple notebooks since the 1990's, and I have had my PRACTICE at it, all the different types and styles of them, and the Asus touchpad is just great as far as I am concerned! :yes: :yes:

If you are comparing it to an Apple MacBook/MacBook Pro's touchpad/trackpad, please don't bother, because the Apple wins every time, it's just a superior interface in every respect. But compared to other touchpads in PC notebooks, this one is better than 75% of them, by my gauge anyway, and as for the 25% that are better (I name Sony and Lenovo as being the best at the touchpad game in PC Land), they are only marginally so, and only by virtue of having a better touchbar motion at that, which some find the Asus touchbar to be "too stiff" or "not responsive" or other silly gestures of frustration...to me it works just great, and I have not a single complaint to register other than the fact that it IS a trifle stiff and requires a good push to activate, but so what? Next subject!

The wireless is supposedly better in my model, the X1, the black one, with its Intel 1000BGN WiFi setup with twin antennas, and a supposedly superior to Atheros basis, but you'd really have to be a critic to fault either one, because the notebooks both are just great as far as WiFi goes. I have a couple notebooks, and netbooks (see signature), and I don't have any issue with any of them frankly, because I have a particularly robust Extreme N Router and cable modem setup, and I get 5-bars on EVERYTHING in my arsenal, anywhere in the house, so YMMV there, but the complaints about WiFi usually are relating to the Atheros WiFi system in the A1...and they are not very significant complaints from all my reading, and I've read every single page here in this forum/owner's lounge, and a ton of reading outside at all sorts of places that review this notebook duo, namely Amazon.com, anandtech.com, tomshardware.com, hothardware.com, etc etc.

If you'd like to read some reviews of the notebook that are fairly far-reaching, I might suggest a trip over to Amazon.com where there are as of today 59 reviews of both models, so read away if you think it's necessary...however the notebooks are self-sellers IMO, and my review doesn't even delve into the WiFi and touchpad "issues" at all, for example... at Amazon.com, because I am more interested in giving readers and users alike tips, tricks, settings and explanations of the control panels of various sorts, and some comparatives from Everest Ultimate, EmBatPower battery utility, and some other sources that I favor for notebook reviews and statistics.

If you have "given up" on the next model, don't despair, because Asus is doing quite well for itself right now selling THIS model, so it may be awhile before the JT model is finally released, based on sales figures for both of these and also the companion models in the UL30 lineup, of which there are many if you have checked that out. It may be quite a long wait for those sitting on the fence waiting for the "next great model" from Asus, so I say buy while the buying is good, and it's never been better than right now in terms of supply and pricing for either of the two here, the X1 and A1 UL30Vt models of significance, so why don't you pick your favorite reseller and just order the thing and get it over with! :smile: :smile:

You won't find a better small notebook from ANY manufacturer in this price range, and waaay above it too, for that matter, so when you finally do pull the trigger on either one rest assured that you've made a good choice, and that almost all of us with these notebooks are really enjoying them 100% and then some!

Good luck, whatever you end up doing, and I hope that this has helped you clean out the cobwebs of objections, because there are few, if any, that make any sense with either of these notebooks...it mostly comes to color preference, when the bottom line is drawn, and I for one immensely prefer the all-black, the "Piano black" X1 over the two-tone silver and black A1, and it's nothing to do with features, it's just the appearance that sold me on this one, and it does look ABSOLUTELY STUNNING every time I look at it, even after more than a month in the stable!

 

I got some problems here ...

After flashing BIOS 210, I cannot see Turbo button in P4G anymore. I then resort to the little Gadget, the Gadget tells me that TURBO33 is no longer available in this BIOS version.

I wonder what have happened. Is anyone facing the same problem?

 

has anyone found a way to use fn+f9 (disable touchpad) thorugh the synaptics drivers?

 

I have not updated to the newest BIOS, but I am shocked you are having this problem. Being as it is not in Beta and listed on the products update page, I would imagine that it is fully functional.

My suggestion, and one that is neither elegant nor highly recommended, would be the following:

1. Try rolling back to BIOS 208 via update, given that it will have a valid checksum, you should be able to do this via the onboard BIOS utility (not using windows based update utility).

2. If successful, confirm whether or not turbo mode is re-enabled:
A: If yes, move on to step 3
B: If no, try uninstalling P4Ghybrid and re-installing (version 1.1.26
was stable for me)

3. Once P4Ghybrid turbo is enabled and functioning, try BIOS upgrade again.

4. If Turbo is still absent, try uninstalling P4Ghybrid and installing v 1.1.33 . This is the latest release of P4Ghybrid, and perhaps the new BIOS revision requires newer software revision of P4G

Actually, I would try step 4 first and see if that resolves the issue... then proceed with the other 3

Please bare in mind that repeated BIOS flashes is risky and not exactly the safest or most effective solution.

 

Yes, I'm having the exact same problem as you. I haven't tried Po$ers suggestions yet.

 

actually i have tried install lots of version of P4G (1.1.24, 25, 30, 32, 33) but not 1.1.26.
and rolled back to BIOS 208 and tried some versions of P4G and updated back to 210

none of the above works, and I will try 1.1.26 later.
It is funny that the clock of cpu before loading windows is 1.3Ghz (shown in BIOS and linux live system), in windows 7 it is 1.7Ghz (266x6.5), which means the turbo is on sometime when windows loads. It may be a software issue, the P4G turbo command is left behind.
So if nothing works, then I think I will re-install windows7.

Hope I dont have to take it back to Asus customer service...

btw, new BIOS really fix the brightness issue, try it and see whether you can still find your turbo icon

 

Why are you upgrading the BIOS?... I mean.. besides the brightness button.. Is there any improvement what so ever?

 

BIOS updates should only be done if something is definitely 'broken'. Otherwise you could end up with issues.

 

Well, it looks like I'll be an official member of the UL30VT owners. I just ordered a UL30VT-a1 from Amazon for $762. I went with the a1 since it has a slightly larger capacity battery, and I liked the silver look, it's a bit different and shouldn't fingerprint as much.

I got tired of waiting for all the new Asus and Acer models, plus they'll probably be around $1,000-1,100 and I could use the saved cash for other things and figured as much as I'll be gaming on this, and the games I'd play, the performance will be fine.

 

Hey Guys,
I have a question about this laptop (UL30VT). I really like what I have been reading about this laptop so far, however I would like to do web and software development on this laptop. I would be using software like Visual Studio 2008 (soon to be upgraded to 2010), Expression Studio and maybe even SQL Server express edition.
Do any of you guys use this for development work? If so can you please let me know if it handles these tasks sufficiently? I am considering waiting for the JT model, but I have no idea when it will be released or even if I would be able to afford it, or even if there will be a significant performance increase or just a price increase with no real significant performance change.

 

i am annoyed by the brightness button....the buttons were always not effective in previous BIOS

 

I really don't see where your reluctance comes from...
This is a very capable computer in all respects, yah?

Just order one from Amazon and you'll have 30 days
to try it out...doing precisely that wad how I ended
up with Sabine here (my pet name for my UL30Vt-X-1)
and if you are really in the market for a beautiful
package like the notebooks are, you owe yourself that
privilege! Don't cha think?

IMO it's hands down the best 13" notebook there is for
sale at any price on the PC side...so get one and quit
procrastinating about it!! Worst case scenario? You return it
and try something else, right?

I'm sorry about being so frank, but it's a fantastic computer
with a lot of enthusiast supporters...like me;-)

Quit searching so much and try this one out...chances
are your chances are... Very good!

Sent from Rex's iPhone 3G

 

I just received my UL30VT-A1 today from JR.com and it is honestly the best laptop I have ever used. I am having a hard time finding anything wrong with it. Sure the webcam could be better, but that is about it. It is plenty fast and beautiful. I just need to tweak the size of fonts to make them bigger.

 

If you plan on ordering from Amazon and might return it for a refund, I would suggest getting it from J&R instead. They have a 30 day full refund, while Amazon charges for restocking unless the unit is defective.

http://www.jr.com/information/help.jsp#returns

"Keep your purchase, accessories and all packing materials in new condition to avoid any restocking fees"


http://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html/ref=hy_f_4?ie=UTF8&nodeId=901888#policy

"Any opened computer returned within 30 days of delivery: 85% of item's price."

 

will 1333mhz work with turbo33??? I want to upgrade to 8gb ($120 each stick), but i am wondering if it'll interfere with the overclock.

Thanks

 

Hi all,
I am a proud new owner of a UL30-VT. I just did a clean install and had a quick question. Are the 2 led lights next to the graphix button supposed to turn on when I switch the graphics card? I noticed that the lights only turn on when I turn on the laptop initially. I just want to make sure I got everything to work. Please let me know. Thanks.

 

I believe those are the Caps Lock indicator (the top) and the Number Lock indicator (bottom)
Try pressing the Caps Lock key and see if the top indicator turns on, and then do the same with the Number Lock (Fn + Insert).

 

Hello, my UL30VT-A1 arrived today and it works great, cept my fn keys do not work. I was reading that I had to install the Asus ACPI driver. I've been looking for it and I can't find where to install. Can someone give me a link to download it? Thanks.

Oh nevermind had to press Fn then the key, I'm such a noob at these laptops hehe.

 

Just an interesting tidbit...my laptop didn't come with a recovery cd, only a drivers cd. An insert said that they are no longer included.

 

Thanks a lot for the help. =) Cleared things up.

 

Yeah, that was the word over in the G73 threads as well; I had hoped it wasn't across the whole line but it looks like it is. So now creation of the Recovery Disk Set is kinda a necessity and if you want a clean install of Windows I guess you have to buy the retail version, or download a disk image from somewhere.

Thanks for the heads up.

 

the image is free from microsoft anyways.

 

Hi All,

New here but I feel like I have read through almost every post on this forum as well as the reviews on amazon...I have been tormenting myself trying to decide between the UL30A-A2 and the UL30Vt-A1. At first I thought the cheaper UL30A would be fine for me as I don't do much gaming. Then my friends pointed out that 50$ extra for some good gaming options is worth considering. I think I agree but I still have a few questions as I carefully monitor prices on amazon. (As of right now the best price I can find for the UL30Vt-A1 is 738$ on Abes of Maine through Amazon...I'm hoping that if I give it a month I could see an even 700$.)

Anyways I'm wondering if any of the qualified people on here could help me with some basic questions:

1) I would just love to play GTA IV on the UL30Vt-A1...even on low graphics. Is this possible? Another user said it was not. What if I added the 4gb of ram that everyone is talking about, how about then? What about after an SSD upgrade?

2) Is the only difference between the the UL30A-A2 and the UL30Vt-A1 the graphics card?

3) Both models are perfectly capable of playing and outputting 1080p to, say, my new ASUS M238H monitor right? I feel like I keep reading about people writing that the Integrated Intel GMA 4500MHD is not capable of full HD playback. But the UL30A-A2 is capable of full HD playback and only has this integrated card. Right?

4) This guy: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_CkjahvMkmk , says that the UL30A-A2 has 6MB of L2 cache whereas I read that the UL30Vt-A1 only has 3MB. I don't know what this means but is it significant?

4) A couple of people have pointed out that the .iso files for Windows 7 are readily available and legally usable for owners of the UL30Vt-A1 but I can't seem to find these files...maybe I'm missing something but everything seems to be for SALE on the Microsoft site.

Thats all for now,

Thanks a lot for the advice !

 

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=428068 for windows image

 

Thanks a lot!

 

anyone able to answer my ram question??

 

Trust me, buy the UL30VT. It's worth the extra $50 for the video card and if you don't want to use it to save battery life, you can switch to the integrated card. It'll also help with overall PC performance.

It might be able to run GTA IV on low settings; I found this video on YouTube running it with the same video card found in the UL30VT.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fD3iAGpZyIE

Additionally, I'll be getting mine Friday and I own a copy of GTA IV on PC, so I'll be more than happy to test it out if you don't buy it by then. But I'm sure it can run GTA IV if it can run Crysis at native res.

 

That is a very helpful comment, but on the one hand correct about Amazon.com's return policy, while in practice it turns out that they give you back every single red cent of your purchase price, at least they certainly have for me, and people I know the same, and I've used their 'Return Policy' perhaps more than anybody in these Forums in the past 6 months, let me explain.

I have been on a bit of a "mission" to find the perfect small laptop for myself, which I use both for business and pleasure, and I mean I am a very demanding customer in all respects about a laptop's abilities. I am a writer and a professional photographer, and computer programmer for systems and industry both, and there's a LOT of things that a laptop has to be able to do for me to want to own it, and yet I am kind of a miser when push comes to shove, so I will make do with a lesser machine, if possible, as long as it does the basics well.

Last September 30 I got my wife a new MacBook Pro for her birthday present, and having owned Macs since the 1980's (I'm a lot older than most of you here, I am certain), and having worked on PC's and IBM-compatible industrial computers since the 1970's, I tried out a couple of the MacBook Pro's before I decided on the 13.3" 2.53Ghz model for my wife. I tried out the "bottom of the MBPro line", the 2.26Ghz 13.3" MBPro first, then the 2.53Ghz 15" next, and finally the 13.3" 2.53Ghz model and bingo! That was the one with the best value for its abilities, and standard features, so I kept that one for the birthday present and all was well. :smile:

All three of those were from Amazon.com, delivered under their PRIME program, as I am a member of it, whereby you get unlimited 2nd-Day UPS Air shipping and $3.49 Next Day Air UPS shipping for a $79 membership fee that you pay once a year...I've been a member for 3 years now. Just a little background...

I have a few laptops/+a netbook, but after I got Rita the MBPro I began to contract a bit with a certain public utility company you all are familiar with most likely, and my needs for a portable laptop changed. I had been using my Acer One netbook for travel jobs, as it's been modified a little, with 1.5GB RAM, a 250GB HD, and it's an xlnt small computer for my photography dumps, whereby I can push an SDHC card that is filled with shots into the Acer One, both for preview and storage until I work on the pictures in my studio, and it's nice for reviewing the pics quickly too. But my new contracts had a bit more high-end computing needed: I needed to use a proprietary modeling program for one; I needed to use PS CS3 Enhanced, Adobe Lightroom, and Dreamweaver also, and Flash on occasion; I also needed more computing power than the Acer had with the Atom CPU, and definitely needed more RAM also.

My Sony is just too large to use on assignment, and I kind of keep that at home for my work there anyway, as it's a CTO FW373J/H with BluRay reader/writer, 8GB RAM, a 500GB Samsung HD, and 1920 x 1080P pixels resolution on its 16.1" LED backlit LCD display, and I baby it a bit, and also use it for playing BluRay movies in my front room to boot...so that was out. My Acer 5920-series is smaller, but weighs too much and besides I've downgraded the OS to XP Pro 64-bit for other reasons I won't go into here, and that's not adequate for running the programs I just listed.

I began a search for a suitable small notebook, either PC or Mac it didn't matter, and I ended up trying the Mac Book in white plastic, the $999 model; a Lenovo Thinkpad 12"; plus I tried three higher end netbooks, an HP 5101 FM976UT#ABA, the HP Mini 311, and the Asus 1000HE, which was my 1st Asus ever, and even though I didn't keep it, its quality and features got me started with the line as it was pretty stunning for a $400 netbook. :yes:

I stepped up a little to the Asus 1201N, and almost kept that one but its BT module died @ 27 days, and rather than replace it I took that as a "bad sign" and kept looking, and found the UL30-series next, and there was plenty to choose from there! I was getting a little tired of my quest though, having had no less than all the above notebooks in less than 4 months time, and none had worked out for me, so I analyzed the UL30 lineup thoroughly and decided, after a LOT of reading of reviews and forums, and the like, that the UL30Vt-X1/A1 would be a logical choice.

I didn't want another silver/black model, as the 1201N was like that and I didn't like the silver quite too much, and I'm sort of a Black-leaning person anyway, with a BMW M5 that is black, most of my furniture is black Italian leather at home and in my studio, and other reasons so I ordered the X1, and the rest as they say is history as it's the one I kept, after 3 agonizing weeks trying to "break it or find something wrong with it", and the X1 beat me at all trials, I was an owner. :wink:

The lesson here is all those computers were bought at Amazon.com, and I never lost a dime on any return, they were all returned for full credit, each and every one in spite of their return policy. Why? I dunno, you tell me and we'll both know! But I encourage anybody who is in the market for a UL30Vt-X1/A1 series to get theirs at Amazon.com because of my lengthy search, and experiences with the company, and they are really fantastic to work with when you are returning any product, not just a computer.

I have other examples with products I tried and returned at Amazon.com, and basically I have simply said "no longer needed", or "it wasn't what I thought", or "I found a better price at xxxx merchant", and each time I have never been penalized one single red cent, I have always gotten my $$$ back from Amazon.com, every single time.

This is why I wanted to expound a little on Amazon's practices vs their "policy", and I assure everyone reading this that I know other people with similar experiences to mine with the company, and we all keep doing business there because of their liberal return policy, no matter what the product is...what it turns out to be, they'll take it back within 30 days if you haven't abused it, broken it deliberately, or lied to them about it, end of discussion.

I always like to refer people to businesses that go beyond the normal state of 'customer relations' and Amazon is one of those companies, so by all means if you are interested in the UL30Vt-X1/A1, get it there because if it turns out you have to return it, you'll get all your $$ back as long as you return it in good condition, with the warranty papers intact, with the OEM boxes and packing intact if possible, but mostly you just have to tell it like it is to them and Amazon.com will stand behind their 'Returns are Easy' advertising, and take it back for full credit every time.

 

Is there a way to configure the wireless on/off button? I want to adjust how it goes through the wireless (make it so that it turns both bluetooth and wifi on/off at the same time instead of going through all 4 combinations).

 

Hi!

I saw that Asus released a load of updates for the UL30vt. Has anyone tried them? Especially this looks interesting (not that I know what it's supposed to be, drivers? HW path?):
VGA patch

 

I seems to experience bad jerk and lag on my UL30VT, the loading somehow seems slow to me...can't do photoshop on it neither....

any solutions for me?

 

Sounds good, I can't wait to hear if it runs.

 

These are the updates that interest me the most:

-BIOS 210 (users are complaining of losing turbo functionality when upgrading)
-VGA Patch (why are they referencing the ul50, and how bout a new driver bundle)
-P4G Hybrid 1.x.x.33 (anybody tried this yet)


Also, would an upgrade path be supported that installed chipset and discrete vga separately... probably not, but a thought

 

Does anyone know where I can find a tutorial on how to open the UL30vt?
I want to mod it but can't seem to find anyone who actually cracked opened the device (I have an idea I want to try).
If you know of any website/review/video of dissecting or dismantling it please let me know.
I already tried but with no luck so far, I unscrewed all the screws and still had a lot of resistance to open the case...

 

there are a bunch of clips along the edge, and it's a pain to open them. Just ply them open

 

dalamchops:
Have you done this before? it looks like the plastic cover next to the battery area is hard to detach. do you have any reference or pictures? that would be very helpful to know what I'm getting into.
I opened many notebooks before but never encountered so many clips, what's with that?

 

I've only done it on the Asus UX50v, but it was one of the most painful disassembly i've ever done lol

 

Oh yeah, I can see that. The UX50v looks like the big brother of the UL30vt.
OMG, I just broke one clip, DAMN.

If I'll make it, I will most definitely post the pictures since non is available.

 

it's ok, i broke like 3 clips when i opened mine from the front. There's not much you can do, the screws will hold it together when you put them back on anyways.

 

Do I need to mess with the keyboard at any point or it will come out with the top plastic?

 

u should've lifted up your keyboard 1st, it comes off pretty easily. 4 clips hold it down at the top spaced out evenly.

 

just did a cold boot from my new x1 w/ a 80gb g1 intel. 21 seconds.

 

Though I haven't tried downloading the VGA patch, I'm assuming this is the fix for issues with the hybrid graphics people are having ie HDMI with integrated graphics.

I'd start off with closing any unnecessary programs you have running, especially some of the Asus bloatware that was pre-installed on your system. You may want to disable hardware acceleration if you have it enabled and vice versa to see if that changes anything. I run PS CS4 without any issues on my UL30VT.

Take a look at this post:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showpost.php?p=5979592&postcount=2468

Nice, SSDs are the way to go on laptops like the UL30. I recently upgraded mine with a 256GB SSD and it's blazing fast