ASUS UL Series vs. Macbook (Pro)?

from your posts, it sounds like the ul30vt is the best choice. if you can't wait, i'd pick up the ul80vt.

 

Seeing as how the UL80vt is the same thing as a UL30vt, just with a .8" bigger screen... Is 14" REALLY that huge of a difference?

 

There is also bluetooth and weight.

 

Weight? You mean 4.4lbs versus 4.8...? C'moooon. Bluetooth is a downside to the UL80, but you can get an ultraslim adapter for 10bucks.

 

Here is what I am about to do: Cancel my order from xtopicpc for U50vt.

Order UL50vt and UL80vt for my parents and keep my macbook pro 13. With these orders I will also get Amazon promotional gift card of $100 for each order. I will use these money to upgrade my MacBook Pro 13 to 4gb Memory and 500HD.

Can't wait for UL30vt in December.

 

The Asus screen is too low res. Its not a real laptop with that netbook resolution.

 

I just got my Asus UL80VT, and can whole heartedly recommend it without any hesitations. In my opinion, it's got average build quality. I believe the reviewer got a bad unit, and that the UL80VT is totally worth it considering it's incredible battery life + performance. I also really like the touchpad. It is far better than any other PC's touch pad I have tried up to this point. The two-finger scroll works very well. I was also able to play COD:WOW at 30-35 FPS at native resolution. Very playable.

 

It still does 720P on-screen, which is decent for any laptop as thin as this one in my opinion.

 

Here's a crazy 13" macbook pro deal!

http://www.techdealdigger.com/pr/cheap-133-macbook-latest-gen-226ghz-2gb-ram-250gb-hdd-deals/2450

For those of you that are on the fence, you should consider factoring this into your equations.

}:^)~

 

that's not a mbp

 

Ah, thanks for the correction!

Still a good deal, though.

}:^)~

 

Thats nice for a TV, but its poor desktop space for a funcitonal latop. Start doing spreadsheets or even browsing (ie scroll city) and that becomes very obvious.

 

I do that currently on my desktop, and it looks perfectly fine. The range is completely horrible, since it also does 1080i (In the GT210 mode).

 

I have no trouble operating at 720p. I think it's a good minium. However, 900p would be a nice option.

}:^)~

 

I have received UL50vt while it is a relly good laptop, it is no macbook. I am gladly keeping my mackbook.

THings that I do not like in UL50vt:

The keyboard does not feel right. Something about it that is not too pleasant to work on comparing to mac.

Touchpad is good and better than on other laptops but nothing like the macbook touchpad.

Design is good but not even close to macbook.

Screen and webcam are better on macbook.

I worked with Ubuntu, Windows 7 and OXS/ Now I know the difference and will stay with OSX for years to come.

THere are few other tiny details but in general Asus UL50vt is a good laptop. As for me, I am staying with macbook.

 

The Apple forum is that way.

 

... ...

 

Thanks for the brief review. I agree that the macbook has features that are extremely compelling for the consumer purchase. I was strongly considering it myself prior to settling on the UL30VT.

The thing that kills it for me is simply this: lack of a removable battery. I would be willing to overlook the cost, especially considering that it is a reasonably priced premium product and you're getting a lot for the cash. But without a removable battery, mobility is seriously compromised, especially for my use cases (back-packing in countries that have spotty power, on the road doing presentations, etc). I'd rather not carry around an external battery either.

The UL30VT has a removable battery and has epic battery life for each battery. This means great mobility.

Of course it is different for everyone. Many people don't need to be unplugged for extremely long periods, and the macbook makes a wonderful alternative in these cases.

}:^)~

 

The fact of the matter is that you will *never* find users in the Asus forum recommend a competitor's product. It has been that way for at least the past 3-1/2 years I've been around, almost exclusively in this forum for the first 3.

But being dismissive and condescending (as some posts above) is not helpful, when a legitimate question is raised .

@ Capt'n: the battery in the current MBPs is removable, it's just not readily accessible to pull out. You just have to pull the screws out of the bottom chassis and then pop the new one in - not an elegant solution, but still workable if you are stuck out in the countryside.

 

the only difference is that by removing the mbp battery, you will void your warranty.

 

That's all. No big deal.

 

What do you guys think about the quality (accuracy of colors) of the screen of the UL series compared to the MBP series.

I'm debating between the ul30vt and the MBP and overall I would take the ul30vt as long as the screen is atleast close to the MBP

 

The MacBook pro Screen is a bit overrated. I looked at several in the Apple store and what I realised is that actually they are weak when it comes to displaying fonts, but they are good for watching movies. In contrast to the best PC screen I have seen (On a Sony 16" laptop) the Apple screen was not at all competitve for web browsing. The fonts are a bit hazy even if you scale them up or down. In fact this prevented me from buying a MBP even though I liked everything else about it, but it was tiring to view web on it.

So would be careful to find the right screen to compare to as a benchmark, unless you are watching movies, in which case, okay yes the Apple MBP screen is a top notch choice.

 

I agree with all of the above, 100%.

 

Also the UL30VT isn't out yet, so nobody has seen the screen for it...

Heres to hoping its good!

 

Thanks for the information! Yes, I was aware of that you can take off the back and replace the battery. This is great if your battery dies and it needs to be replaced, but not so great if you need extra power on a train or a plane. The latter case was the reason for a no-purchase by me.

I'd just like to point out that I'm brand agnostic. I do not have loyalties to one manufacturer over another. Example: if Apple/Lenovo/Sony had a PC better suited for my needs than the fabled UL30VT, I wouldn't think twice and purchase the Apple/Lenovo/Sony model. But given the battery life and performance ratio, it looks as if there's not too much competition for Asus' little machine, at least for my purposes.

If the macbook has a 'quick-swap' battery, it would be a much harder choice to make between it and the UL30VT. I love the quality of the MB but the UL30VT battery life is simply unbelievable (battery life isn't even a thought). If this were the case, I'd have to spend some time with both before choosing.


}:^)~

 

I think there is a very good chance it's the same as the UL30's. The problem is there are no stores near me that have any of the UL series so i can't do a direct comparison myself.

 

@ippikiokami,

Second. I wish I could see/feel/try the UL30a to get an idea of what the UL30VT will be like. Sadly, I know of no units in my vacinity. I'll have to go on the reviews alone for the time being.

Here's a question for anyone that has the UL30a:

What is the LED situation like? Personally, I HATE many ultra-bright flashing LEDs. I'd rather the outside be completely dark. I notice that the UL80VT has four on the front. Is it the same with the UL30s?

If so, I'm going to have to have to use a few spots of paint to cover them up!


}:^)~

 

The LED's on the UL30A are almost just pinpoints, not overly bright, and almost unnoticeable unless you actually want to pay attention to them. They did an excellent job in making them very discreet.

THe only real thing I found other than the whole wireless thing, is the joint where the top and bottom case comes together is a little rough, almost like the residue left from the seam in the the mold wasn't quite buffed off. Had I kept the one I had I probably would of hit it with some emery paper of something.

 

That's good about the LEDs. The reason I ask is because I leave my computer in my room at night, and the bright lights are especially visible at night.

For example, I have an inspiron. It's got a power adaptor LED and a power LED on the front of the system. Both of these lights are entirely too bright. The power adaptor is bright enough to read by (no joke!) if you're a couple of feet away, and lights up the entire room. The power LED is like a spotlight. It's not as bright, but if you open your eyes in its direction, you will need to squint.

I've used paper and tape to cover the power LED (it's a cutout symbol rather than just a circle), and I turn the power adaptor upside down. Honestly, I don't know why being this bright is necessary! It would be just as effective with an ultra-dim status light on the computer alone.

It would seem that these are the types of optimizations that apple is famous for: an extremely polished user experience. I wonder why more companies don't solicit feedback so that they can tend to a more comfortable product.

On that note, I'm glad that ASUS reps frequent this and similar forums collecting feedback. It's probably why they make such solid products.

}:^)~

 

I'm personally leaning toward the new UL30VT in this debate, but: does anyone know why there is so much disparity in CNET's Multimedia Multitasking Test benchmark? The UL30A-A1 scored a 1,432 while MB Pro's score about 66% better. Is this because Mac's are tuned for itunes encoding or is the difference really this huge? I would have thought a SU7300 powered system would have been competitive like in all the other benchmarks. I'd still lean toward the UL but I was wondering about this.

http://reviews.cnet.com/laptops/asus-ul30a-a1-core/4505-3121_7-33772104.html?tag=mncol;lst
http://reviews.cnet.com/laptops/apple-macbook-pro-summer/4505-3121_7-33676744-2.html?tag=txt;page

 

The new UL30 series notebooks feature a 33% overclock on the fly. brings it even closer to the macbooks none CULV processor another reason why the macbookpro can't compete in the battery life department.

 

Well here is my .02.

I'm a long time PC user, and LOVE the new windows 7. I really wanted a MBP until I read this thread. Seemed to be TONS of love for the UL series. My roommate has a MBP 17" and it is a freakin hoss, but I decided to buy the UL series b/c of the price, win7, and all of the great reviews.

I got it(UL80vt-a1) yesterday, and it will be picked up tomorrow by ups and sent back for a full refund tomorrow.

Build quality absolutely cannot touch the Mac. The mouse feeling is terrible. The screen licks . The black shows fingerprints EVERYWHERE all of the time, so annoying. The keyboard is pretty lame, key spacing is ok but not very solid. The screen is so shiny even indoors at school with the florescent lighting it reflects off of it and is hard to see. The edges were also kinda rough on mine, and the palm rest area did have quite a bit of flex. Oh and talk about bloatware!!! OMG!! I had like 40 icons on my desktop when I first booted!! It cant shake a stick at the build quality of the MBP.




The price is great though, the warranty and the battery is supposed to be ( i didnt give it a chance to die, used it for like 3 hours.) I also liked how thin it was, and the lightness. Those of you who have personally had a MBP in your hands or know someone who has one and you like theirs.......i'd recommend saving your money and getting the MBP. You can always dual boot and have windows as well.

I'll go ahead and stick with Mac for laptops and with PC for my desktops.

Oh and maybe the new UL30JT and 80JT will be built better, and in silver and with bluetooth for you guys who must get the asus?

 

interesting debate going on here, jumping in to give my two cents as well

All fanboyism aside, i personally own both the ul30vt and the macbook pro 13 inch. theres a few categories in which these laptops needs to be compared:

1) Windows 7 vs OSX
i guess this would be people's biggest decision make or breaker, the macbook could dual boot windows 7 in bootcamp but it does has its disadvantages. but the asus cannot boot OSX.

To me OSX is like a swiss army knife,it might not have every tool, but it has basically everything you need, its smooth, snappy and it works with almost everything you throw at it. The system and the operating system is made by the same manufacture and it shows, especially in boot up and shut down times.

Windows 7 is like a whole bag of tools, its not as light weight, but it will have those star shaped screw drivers that you wont find in a swiss army knife. meaning if its something out of the ordinary and you just really need it to work, chances are you are going to get it working on windows other then OSX, not to mention the community support base for windows is just way bigger (doesn't always mean better) than OSX

Theres really no clear winner in this category, really comes down to personal preference and fanboyism

2) Quality
The build quality of the macbook is top notch, the unibody is solid, and feels great in your hands, the asus is definitely above average, the ul30vt doesnt have a lot of the flex problems in the ul80, but there is still a bit. but you cant compare plastic to the aluminum unibody . Also there are these little things that makes the macbook great, such as the magsafe power plug, the mutitouch track pad etc.

You are paying premium price for the macbook pro, and it shows. you paid average price for the asus, and it looks like a above average product.

Bang for buck, asus, build quality in general, macbook pro

3)Connectivity
Hands down the ul30vt, theres no question about it, its got 1 more usb port, hdmi, vga (which the mac lacks) on top of everything the macbook pro has, the only thing its missing is the display port, but chances are your monitor will support vga hdmi before you find a display port back there. im actually stuck at home with a 22 inch 1080p hd monitor, unable to connect my macbook to it till i buy an adaptor.

4)Performance + battery life
In everyday situations (in this case this is subjective and we all use it for different reasons, im a collage student and i mainly take notes and light gaming) performance on the asus is better, my macbook is the base model with the 2.13ghz c2d compared to the 1.3ghz ulv. In all honesty i did not notice a difference when opening basic programs such as word or firefox, but if you are photoshoping you could crank up the processor to 1.7ghz OC and that .4ish ghz difference would be extremely minimal in real life situaltions. Although the macbook is definitely snappy when operating such as boot up, shut down, browser, the speed difference is not noticeable to a point where it would bother you. During light gaming the asus has a better grapic card and it shows, the 210m scores almost twice as much on 3dmark 06 compared to the 9400m.

Asus also has better battery life compared to the macbook pro, hitting about 8 hrs in real time use compared to the 6ish that i get in the macbook (i have a ssd installed)

All in all they are both very well made products, theres a tad of apple tax on the macbook pro, but for their hard work on the unibody, i am willing to overlook it, Asus ul30vt is an amazing laptop, and with the ul30jt annouced it would be even more amazing. It is very reasonably priced at about 800 dollars, its solid, out performs many other 13 inch laptops around its price range, and it is lighter than the macbook pro, you would not regret buying either(i've notice that no apple buyers admit they regret buying a mac), but in this case, best bang for buck would the asus.

Hope this helps

 

Excellent post! Thanks for taking the time to write it up!

 

One thing ommitted here is the weakness of Mac, which is that they dont play some common video codecs. I used to wonder why Handbrake was so popular and why people were spending so much time transcoding. And then I realised many of these were mac users.

If you want to just throw any video files at your computer and play them, you probably dont want a Mac.

 

codecs is not a problem of the operating system but the player itself, i use vlc player on both windows and osx because it plays everything