Asus U80 Hands-on!

well don't let this laptop change your mind. The macbook pro does have significantly greater battery life and better build quality ;P

 

eh i find apple products over prices and a silly way to seem trendy. You dont get what you pay for, so its not worth it.

 

Ya, its ridculous, the margin that we get at BB for apple products is not that much either. On the new macbook pros 15.4 they sell for 1999.99 but we stock them for about $1750 CAD at BB. Still way overpriced.

 

Just wish there was some info on this laptop. A price range would be good so i know if its in my budget or not, and generally when its expected to hit stores.

 

True but the thing is I need a laptop by like close to end of july. I will probably be sticking to the u80 since I contact a retailer and was told the u80 will be released around mid july. Over here in the states I see it being no more then 1200. Less then 1000 i think.

 

mid july's good for me too. hope that date's good for canada as well. if not i will be very disappointed

 

usually retailers in Canada are not too late to get the same products within the U.S. and are pretty updated themselves. Have no fear my friend

 

Does the u80 have better graphics and gaming performance than the dell studio xps 13? I'm seriously considering that dell as well.

 

I've posted something like this earlier. U80's ATI Radeon 4570 should do better than Dell SXPS 13's default Nvidia 9400M. Plus the 4570 is discrete (512 MB of VRAM) while the 9400M is integrated (shared 256 MB RAM). On 3D Mark06, Nvidia's scored at around 2000, while the 4570 up to 3200, so the performance is 50% better. Catch is that the 4570 uses DDR2 version of VRAM.

 

not to mention your dell sxps 13 will melt itself when you start playing games =)

 

lol^.
even if the dell has a better gpu i still wouldn't get it by hearing problems people encounter with their laptops.

 

Dell SXPS 13 users are crossing their fingers that a future BIOS update would fix those nasty audio latency spikes. Hearing problems? For a second there, I thought Dell was causing a health hazard. Heat isn't much of an issue though with updated BIOS. With the arrival of the 200M Nvidia GPUs, I'm guessing Dell will do a refresh soon.

Postphoned buying though. For the moment, the U80 is the most attractive laptop to me. I'm hoping by December that either the U series would be refreshed or another line from ASUS would come out. Plus a lot of discounts and coupons by that time.

 

Ahhhh this laptop looks awesome! when does it come out!??!?

I WANT IT

WHEN AND WHERE!!!

 

Seems like it will be coming out mid July.

 

wait wait so the sxps doesn't have heat problems anymore? this kind of changes things a bit..

 

Yeah the dell is another similar laptop i was considering. I didn't know the dell sxps13 is getting a gfx card upgrade tho...

 

I'm Freaking out, I want info! damnit

 

i think all that it comes down to for me is its ability to play games on medium settings.

like COD4, CS, maybe the occasional racing game like NFS, and hopefully starcraft 2. on medium settings. is that asking too much for the 4570?

 

Yep. Same here. The 4570 is a decent graphics card in itself. Beats Intel's by a ling run. Wished they had used the same DDR3 VRAM as with the Studio 15 and the refreshed Sony CS though.

It's just a prediction. I mean with the release of the 200M Nvidia series GPUs, there's bound to be a market for it. It's really nice for the SXPS 13 or any other ultraportable because the lowest offering (210M) is 10x more powerful than the Intel 4500MHD. According to users in the Dell review and BestBuy, updating the BIOS fixes the problem for them. Don't know whether it causes the fan to kick in sooner though.

 

does anyone in Singapore knows where to buy this laptop. I think it wont be sold in Indonesia, so I have to get it some where else.

 

http://vip.asus.com/forum/view.aspx...)&id=20090624074826953&page=1&SLanguage=en-us

If you go to the drop down menu it lists all the versions of the u80.
The u80a, u80a best buy version, u80v and u81a

also, http://translate.google.com/transla.../elemzesek/asus_u80v_mindenbol_egy_kicsi/457/

but idk how accurate specs are

 

Pretty good review. Nice find.

Really looken forward to this being released in North America. Hope its not to long. Need one before aug

 

Yea I though the reviewer was pleased overall. I like the 500gig hd. Personally i'd prefer a 500gig at 5400 rpm over 320 at 7200. It'd be nice if the price is also the advertised 899. I hope it comes out before then too cuz i need one by then as well. I contacted a reseller and was told mid july

 

afaik, the u81a uses an intel graphics chip right? (ew.)

and towards the hungarian review, i'm guessing their configuration is different than jolynke's since the benchmark numbers seem to be slightly different (looking at WEI in particular)

 

I can't wait for this. It looks awesome and I was very pleased that it gets 4-5 hours of battery life.

 

yea me too!
the recent review said it lacked bluetooth. maybe u.s version will have it.
http://drivers.softpedia.com/get/Other-DRIVERS-TOOLS/Asus/Asus-U80V-Bluetooth-Driver-52800.shtml

 

jolynke's had bluetooth
so i think itwas just that particular configuration?

 

HOpefully the US configuration also has the t9550 proc. If it doesn't I'll be pissed. I'm also counting on that projected mid-july release. I really need something by then.

 

The ASUS website says in the specs of the U80 that it will have bluetooth. At the recent IT fair in Singapore, the U80 there is tagged at around $1100. Wouldn't bumping the processor to a T9950 raise the price to more than $1000?

U80 is eligible for the Windows 7 upgrade.

 

Saxo, i saw the laptop being sold in Funan. I think it was in the asus store on the 3d floor.

Also, how does the gcard stackup against a 9600gt?

 

9600 GT>4570. Same amount of VRAM (512MB) but different types of memory. The first uses a faster GDDR3 memory while the Radeon has DDR2 type of memory. 9600GT fetches about 5000 while the 4570 scores at around 3200 in 3DMark06.

I know why you chose the 9600GT for comparison...LG P310?

 

haha ya. i was hoping they were somewhat similar seeing as the LG is impossible to find here.

 

I thought the LG P310 only offered a 9300 GS?

 

If you go here and go half way down there is some more info on the u80 as well as other u series laptops

http://74.125.93.132/translate_c?hl...le.com&usg=ALkJrhj4OORvMu-y1GNDhxz2DY3rHjfq5w

 

good find racerman119! is it just me or is that backlit keyboard is looking REALLY good?

 

thanks tcee-, i think the backlit keyboard is excellent. Idk why the other review said it was ok because it seems to light up like all the keys from top and from the side.

 

Well, the P310's in Germany has the 9600 GT.

Backlit keyboard looks fantastic. Thanks for the post! (+reppy! ) I really want to see the keyboard in pitch black conditions.

 

i found this a couple hours ago, but now the link's kind of dead. maybe it's just me. there're many pictures of the entire u series for you guys to check out =)

http://taiwan.cnet.com/crave/0,2000088746,20138608,00.htm

 

Uh, the link's not working...

 

guess it's down. oh well, it was nice while it lasted..

 

Ugh so annoying, seems like u80 is the last to get shipped. alot of resellers have the u50 and u20 but no u80

 

Is it possible to replace the ATI 4570 with one that has GDDR3 memory, if we don't want the DDR2?

 

If ASUS could change the type of 4570 going into the U80V...

How about we take out a 4570 out of a Studio 15 or a Sony SR and put it into the U80? Their 4570s use the GDDR3 version

Anyone here knows how cool did the U80 run under idle and performance mode?

 

After reading some reviews and other posts, I am fairly certain that i'm guna get this laptop when it is available. However Ive noticed alot of comments pointing out the somewhat weakness of the graphics card. will it be suitable for light gaming, like HL2 based games, perhaps star craft 2 when its out.

Or any chance it can be upgraded in the future.?

 

i highly doubt you can upgrade the 4570 (ie swap it out for one with gddr3 memory). i think that kind of procedure has been dismissed many, many times. however i'm sure the ram can be upgraded, as well as the hdd.

 

If they're considering a refresh if it, maybe. But choosing the DDR2 RAM in the 4570 would have been the cheaper choice for ASUS.

The HDD could be upgraded, but the RAM..maybe not. It maxes out @ 4GB.

 

Man i keep on anticipating it even more every day now. needs to come out asap.

 

yea same here, I hate waiting on things i really want

 

and it seems like its always the things that we really want that we have to wait on..

 

i hate how the other ones are coming out like around now. oh well can't do much but wait.