Asus U80 Hands-on!

Well that nifty aluminum body won't be a fingerprint magnet. You can get the macbook pro for 1099. You can also upgrade to 8 gigs of ddr3 1066MHz ram on it too. It comes with a better cpu and better ram and a slightly less capable graphics card so idk where you are getting 2g from.

 

he was probably looking at the 15 inch mbp, which has the dedicated gpu. towards racerman119, the 1099 mbp is a good alternative, it's really up to you i guess. and especially if you need the laptop urgently, you won't lose anything with buying a mbp. just for the price you're paying the standard specs don't really add up, that's all.

 

maybe he was. If I am to get a mbp i'd get the one with 2.53Ghz and the 4 gigs of ram which is around 1400. But I think i'd use windows more over the mac os so I am trying to stick with the windows based computer. I deff need one before the end of the month so that is why I am either looking at the mbp or u80.

 

The thing about Macs is they sacrifice graphics usually to get everything else in. The 9400m GS is not a very capable card. Not when compared with almost anything Asus has out for a lower price point. So yes, Macs have a good build quality and are pretty trendy, but you will NOT be able to match the performance of an Asus without spending several hundred more on it. There's just no way around that fact.

 

Yea that is true tellarion but you can upgrade them more then what the u80 can handle. The reason why i am hesitant on getting a mac is because of the whole windows issue and every other person has it which i don't really care about but i know it'd get pretty annoying.

 

Just remembered the times when Apple was still using a X3100 GFX in their machines. It's aesthetics over performance. Not to mention "Apple tax". At least with the U80V, it'll perform 50% better than the 9400M.

I wonder what problems would we encounter with the actual model. Only way to know is through actual user experience.

 

is this a thread for mbp???
asus u80v: my next notebook!

 

lol not it is an asus u80v thread


mid july is approaching soon so I hope it will come out asap

 

Same here. They already have the U80V at Singapore and Australia. 899 USD for this + Free Windows 7 upgrade would be very sweet indeed.

 

Sorry for the late answer guys. Week-end and sun = Picnic ;-P

Sorrix : I ordered from ldlc.com (it is a french website). The laptop has been out in France for a couple of weeks now. I'm back in France so no need for international duties or anything like this for me ;-P

Epik : Yep the U80V is in stock on french websites ... try this one out, it'll give you list of a couple of them :
http://www.i-comparateur.com/acheter-x10p0078249.htm

Phoenix_Rising : Hummm i guess you must have your answer by now ;-P I lived in Oz for about 6 years but everything got an end ...

 

Oh and btw, the debate between the asus and the apple clearly isn't one.
In France for example, i paid 867 euros for the U80V.
For an equivalent config on a MBP (plus in quality less in graphic power), i would have to pay 1534 euros. Nearly twice the price ...
Everyone can draw its own conclusion !

 

Got this as a response from one of the stores i emailed

"Our vendor does list the U80V-A1 notebook for $1119.99, but there is no ETA
date for it at this time."

 

I am not in Europe buddy. i won't have to pay tax on it and get 15% off.

 

I actually dont mind that because its a good sign that we're getting the t9550.

 

yea that's true i never thought about that

 

@ Greg_InOZ :

Please Please Please.

I'm french and I'm going to going crazy. I'm really fond of the U80 but I can't only find a test about it on the internet. Before I buy this notebook, I would like to know every little thing I can't guess just by looking at it and especially as far as the game part is concerned.

I'm not stupid. I don't want to buy the Asus U80 to play hardcore games, so I forget about all First Person Shooter games. But I'm quiet sure it would be able to make some new arcade games work very well.

So if you can, I suppose so, install a game like Velvet Assassin, Wolverine, Ghostbusters, SF IV, Prototype... and tell us if it works and how it works, it would be great.

Thank you by advance.

 

Found a pic of the backlit keyboard under light. Pretty good imo

 

I don't get it, how is it a good sign that were getting the t9550 model.

The A1 is the t6500 and if thats priced at 1119$ CAD the t9550 would be atleast another 150 bucks.

 

engadet and some other sources said the price was going to be 899. if it is 1119 that means there could be a potential upgrade to justify the cost increase. If anything it may be a t9400.




idk how accurate that is though.

 

well from what i gathered the 1119$ is Canadian for the U80v-A1 with the t6500
which works out to be roughly 960$ american.

anything with the t9550 or t9400 would be higher in price.

I also never respected the 899$ price point kinda seemed to good for such a slick laptop with a t9550.

just my thoughts.

 

well, good news for canadians, memoryexpress has the u80 on their just arrived page. Still a special order. Listed at 1230$

 

is that 1059 usd or 1230 usd?
not a bad deal. can you link us to the page since i didn't see it on there?

 

u80:
its in canadian
http://www.memoryexpress.com/Products/PID-MX24976(ME).aspx

 

1230? i'll wait for it to drop a little bit more first =P

 

tcee that may just be a first to market price. That is $1055 USD and may be as much as -$100 from US vendors when they get em.

The Asus U20A-A1 is $1269.99 CAD ($1089 USD) from them
From Gentech it is USD $969

So if we took a wildly inaccurate stab at their margin using Gentech as the base:

( $969 / $1089 ) * 1055 = $938 for the U80

I suspect if the U20A sells for $969 from Gentech, the base U80V should be close.

 

Grrrr i dont get why i can't find anything about any release date on this thing. It's getting very frustrating now, especially because it's out in some countries.

 

well now that it's shown up with a price no less on a canadian retailer, the same should be coming up around other resellers in north america shortly in the next few weeks.

 

maybe it will come out mid july as in a week or two from now max?

 

I got an Email from http://www.pccanada.com/ saying they will have it up on the website tomorrow for preorder. And that the vendor had it listed at 1,119.99$ CAD

http://www.cendirect.com/main_en/tech_specs_NF5695944.html
also avaliable for preorder at 1,175$CAD

so its cheaper then what memory express is doing.

 

how much would it cost to upgrade the processor to t9500? or p8600?

 

Also i emailed the special order specialist at staples today. To see if its possible for them to order it in, since it is listed on one of the vendors they use. I will let you know if its possible and what the information is incase someone wants to order it through them.

 

@ Greg_InOZ :

A little test please ...
See my post @ page 47

 

http://www.pccanada.com/viewitem.asp?id=10346

there

 

anyone know when the u50v is coming out?

 

should already be out...

 

I believe someone requested the weight on the scale.

 

I can't seem to find the u50v anywhere on the internet so I don't think so...

 

I believe the u50 is out at bestbuy but the other version is not at resellers at this point. Maybe it will come out along with the u80.

I can't wait till next week

 

i can't wait till i get my hands on this sucker lol

 

Just checked out the Black U81a at Best Buy. The chicklet style keyboard and nice screen would be great for my mom. The most she plays is Hoyle card games so the 4570 wont be necissary and the extra battery life would be good for her. Anyone who has the BB version, are there any issues that I need to know about before I recommend her buying it?

 

The best buy version lacks the backlit keyboard and the light touchpad.
Also note if you buy from bestbuy you won't get that 2 years standard manufactures warranty with the one year accidental damage included. Also if you buy from others besides bb you get the carrying case and mouse too which appears to be wireless. I am also not sure how bb is handling the windows 7 seven upgrade. It is free from asus though. Besides that and the cpu everything should be fine.
gl with the purchase.

 

all of the free vista to 7 upgrades at bestbuy are handled by the individual computer makers, they'll give you literature with ur purchase that u have to fill out and send in to asus, who will then handle your upgrade. Im not exactely sure how its done, but thats the jist of it i think.

 

Does anyone think the fact that no release date has been announced mean that it won't be released in the next few weeks?

 

^^ thats correct. They will send you the upgrade cd's in the mail, some shipping fees may apply depending on where you live.

By the way Staples can special order the U80V now just so you guys know

 

do you get a special discount because you're an employee? because if you do i will be very jealous =P

 

yea just 10%, nothen fantastic but on big purchases its not bad at all.

 

Any staples can like the ones in america too? I may go this route if there aren't other resellers soon.

 

Racerman I've been trying to find something cheap for her to use that wont be over powering her lol. I do realize that BB doesnt give you the Asus standard warranty. If you know a place that I can get that model or something similar with the Asus warranty and its not too much more $$ let me know thanks.

 

I would assume so. If some of our vendors have the model here i'm sure they have it in the states, but im not positive.

 

You always have the k series. With this you get a better gpu, warranty and the carrying case but you have a slightly lower cpu and hd space but you can get the hd space upgraded. But in the end who knows what asus will have next year during your 1 year accidental damage period

http://1toppc.com/Merchant2/merchan...e=K40IJ-A1&Category_Code=AS14&Product_Count=2


The 15 inch version of the k series has the same cpu as the bb one does but is slightly more but remember no tax on it.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834220547