Asus UL30JT

Well, if it's any help, I've measured the difference between the 13.3" & the 14" 16:9 screens (length & height-wise. We all know the diagonal difference).

The 14" UL80vt screen gives you about an extra 1/2" width and an extra 1/4" height on the actual screen, compared to the UL30vt. In true screen real estate, that's not a very big noticeable difference.

For what it's worth, both screens are the identical resolution, so the 13.3" appears just a tad sharper. But seen separately, you'd never notice that difference.

The extra pound IS noticeable. A decent external USB DVD drive can be bought on Amazon for around $50 or even cheaper, so the drive (to me) isn't a big factor compared to the price of the whole notebook.

It is handy, at times, to have the drive internal, -- but only at times.

 

I'm betting that like the UL30vt & the UL80vt were nearly the same price but with different features (DVD/no DVD, bluetooth/ no bluetooth, 320GB/500GB).

So I'm betting it will be the same with the U30jc & the UL30jt. I'm guessing they'll be within $50 of each other.

 

ASUS' main site shows that it will ONLY come with the Intel Core i5-520UM. It will be clocked at 1.06 GHz with Turbo Boost up to 1.86 GHz. So no different processor flavors.

ASUS UL30JT promo site (specs are a different tab):
http://www.asus.com/product.aspx?P_ID=dh1loes9V1IGKwCA

 

Ok great. Thanks! Looking at the U30jc on Amazon shows its $900. I'm hoping the UL30jt is around the same price. Sounds like the perfect notebook for me. The specs are ridiculous.

 

OK well someone posted this link on the last page.

http://itnews.inews24.com/php/news_view.php?g_serial=485238&g_menu=020200

If you translate it, it says that

"Processors with Intel's Core i5 has a built-in graphics core. Processor performance with turbo boost feature in the 1.8 gigahertz to 2.4 gigahertz is automatically controlled. "

Is it wrong?

 

Yea, I looked at that page earlier as well. I don't know. But I think I would trust the ASUS site more. The Korean one looks more like an announcement then a review.

 

Yeah good point. So is this thing looking to release this month or is it being delayed because of that whole Intel thing?

 

Agreed. $850-900 (USD) before taxes for me is the reasonable price point. This is factoring Asus still being viewed in America as an up and coming notebook company in America and not another big-name brand like Dell, HP, or Apple that spends heavily on advertising and promotion.

Once we start going into the $950 realm and beyond, I'll have a hard time justifying a $200 premium over a UL30VT. It'll be even harder to rag on Apple fanboys for paying too much for soon-to-be refreshed Macbooks. Even though for $100 less I'll be getting Nvidia Optimus and turboboost, no other company can beat Apple's brick and mortar customer service. I'm not supporting fanboyism or Apple products. But IMO there's much to be said when the OSX user experience alone seems to account for so much customer satisfaction.

 

Yeah. OSX is a nicely polished OS. But I have been extremely happy with Windows 7 on my 1.6 GHz Atom netbook and 2.2 GHz Core 2 Duo TouchSmart HP pc. I'm pretty sure I'll be even more satisifed on a i5 with turbo boost and the Nvidia Optimus system. Plus the U30jt looks sexy lol.

 

The current trend we're seeing toward toward many more of our applications such as Flash using our GPU to improve performance is one of my motivations for getting this laptop over some other notebook out there that will only come with the cpu+integrated graphics solution. It's no secret that Windows 7 with all its bells and whistles runs much more smoothly on a machine with a graphics card.


I don't have any particular desire to buy from Apple unless I can obtain an equivalently speced Macbook/Macbook Pro equipped with Win7 for less which we all know is never happening without Apple pushing the price to $1,400 and beyond. I personally tend to attribute the extra price premium to OSX. Though it's the main reason Apple's margins are so high, it's also a reason people willingly pay premiums ranging anywhere between 30-100% for machines with the same or weaker weight, dimensions, and specs.


But then again, I'm staying realistic. If the UL30JT gets released for $1,000 or more, it won't the first time I've seen a machine be priced ridiculously high compared to similar competitor offerings. If for some reason or another this bad case scenario takes place, I'm probably going to buy the Sony Y for roughly $800 (before the occasional $100 off sale) or the UL30VT for $750.

 

Exactly. The dedicated graphics card in the UL30jt will be great for streaming HD videos and such. I really want to see how it is for gaming, Photoshop/Illustrator, and general performance.

I haven't tried the Core i5 processors but I'm hoping it runs better than the 2.2 Ghz Dual Core on my PC now. My PC runs nicely now but faster is always better.

 

Count me among those who are at high risk of suffering from "Hour Glass Syndrome."

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/36334072/ns/technology_and_science-tech_and_gadgets/


But as for gaming, if I were you, I'd check out Acer's Timeline notebooks. Their M-version i-series processors won't be clocked down like the UL30JT's UM processors. You'll probably see some performance difference between the two in this area.

 

Haha thanks for the article. I'm not that big of a gamer but just being able to run a few would be nice. I'm more concerned with great battery life and being able to run Photoshop/Illustrator more. I'm a graphics design major. I also browse with multiple tabs sometimes which my current PC has no problem doing. I currently have a 2.2 Ghz Dual Core processor with a 256MB Nvidia 9300M graphics card now.

The UL30jt should be faster right? I'm wondering how the i5 at 1.0 GHz compares if it overclocks itself to up to 1.8 GHz. Seems like the gfx card should trample the 9300M.

 

I'm a PC and my wife's a Mac. Helping her oft times with her Mac, I've seen first-hand how incredible Apple support & drive for customer satisfaction is. Help at any Apple Store is amazing.

I just don't like the OS, stable as it is. Menu options feel so limited. It demands control (incl via iTunes) over so much. But what they do, they do very, very well.

 

Macrumors has published a piece that indicates new product numbers for Macbook Pros are limited to the 15 inch and 17 inch models. These are meant to be updated next week, suposedly with new Intel Core i7 and i5 CPUs:
http://www.macrumors.com/2010/04/10/macbook-pro-updates-imminent-really-part-numbers-appear/ The 13inch model doesn't show up in the list. This probably means Apple hasn't been able to super-charge its 13inch Macbook Pro with a real discrete graphics card or a newer Intel CPU. Only ASUS seems to be able to design a ultrathin laptop with serious GPU oomph, with their U30Jc model, and the upcoming UL30Jt and PL30Jt laptops. Acer is behind, with an updated 3820TG model, featuring ATI's Mobility Radeon HD.

 

I'm not sure what you mean by Acer being behind. Do you mean hardware-wise or release date-wise? The 3820TG model can be equipped up to an i7-620m and up to the ATI HD5650 along with lesser flavors with the i5-430m or HD5470. The i5-430 trounces what the U30JC has with the i3-330. The HD5470 is on par with the nvidia 310m and an Acer with the HD5650 would destroy it. I don't see the Acer competing with the Asus U30JC on the grounds that the Asus is pretty hefty in size and weight, and it comes with an ODD. Two different classes in my opinion.

Even if you compare the Acer 3820TG to the UL30JT it's hardware is more impressive. The U30JC and 3820TG have already proven you can get about 8hrs running off standard wattage cpu's and unless the UL30JT can bring in something with 10 - 12 hours then I'm not sure it stacks up well against against an Acer machine that would be thin, light, and packs some serious hardware. Unless the Acer has serious heating issues or is expensive then I don't see it being "behind" the Asus machines.

 

the 3280tg with a core i5 430m or a i7 620m will really last 8 hours ? do it has switchable graphics?

 

I think he meant "behind" by release date. He was making the point that Apple can't seem to design a decent 13" notebook.

Yes and Yes. Acer has even put in low power fans to cool the CPU/GPU heat sinks (now watch people complain about them running too much - like the Sony ) And, it has switchable graphics.

Bronsky

 

but what about the price of acer?

 

I5-430M version with HD 5470 GPU likely to cost around $900. The one in my sig (w/o SSD), I7-620M/HD 5650 around $1,200.

Bronsky

Edit: Here are some of the early models at a recent Asian technology show. http://forum.notebookreview.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=48384&d=1270981870

 

so the acer seem to beat the asus in every field, except for battery life. And what about the quality of the build of an acer? I've heard that isn't very high

 

Scan from an Acer catalog I picked up today at an electronics expo in Taipei.
Many vendors selling the new i3 & i5 Timeline X machines.

 

While there has been a recall of some timeline models, generally the build quality of that line has been good.

 

Indeed, ASUS is thinner and lighter.

UL30JT: 1.48~2.46cm, 1.7kg, 8-cell
3820TG: 2.3cm~2.89cm, 1.81kg, 6-cell

(Info from ASUS global and Acer Taiwan.)

 

Acer is using ATI's latest graphics cards, so how are they behind?

 

Someone had previously posted this link, and explained to me the differences between the various i5s in the acer. So I am now trying to determine the differences between the asus i5 in the ul30jt and the i5 520 in the acer timeline 3820t. http://www.notebookcheck.com/Mobile-Prozessoren-Benchmarkliste.1809.0.html
so does this mean the acer timeline processor is number 22 on the list and the asus one is 160th?

 

So quick question:

Will the incoming Acer Timelines have switchable graphics?

 

Yes, they'll have switchable graphics. Just not as eloquent as Nvidia's optimus technology

 

The Core i5 in the TimelineX's are way faster than the Core i5 in the JT. The Core i5-520UM in the JT is actually the second slowest Arrandales (with the upcoming Celeron U3400 being the slowest).

Also, all the Core i UM's on the charts have stars next to them. That means their position could change once they actually get tested.

 

and the quantity of ram of HD 5470 GPU is 512 mb or 1 gb?

 

You think they'll rise or decrease in ranking once tested?

 

We'll have to remember that the UM processors in the Asus latops will have the turbo33 mode so when plugged in or when the battery life is not a problem their performance is increased quite a lot. The korean website (posted in this thread some replies ago) said that the turbo33 would increase the clockspeeds to 1.8Ghz turboboost off and 2.4Ghz with intel turboboost. But then again the report is probably not very reliable.

 

Will they require the user to switch manually between integrated and dedicated GPUs with a button or a few clicks, or is it just a less seamless automatic experience?

 

Ati hasn't released any Optimus-like system to seamlessly switch graphics, so it will be a physical switch or something...but definitely not Optimus. The benefit from Optimus is on the other hand always debatable. The possibility to switch graphics will be very common feature in future intel laptops because every one of them already has an integrated GPU with the CPU.

 

Plugged in, ATI grapgics on. Away from plug, Intel graphics. ATI website.

 

Whoa, didn't know about that! I guess this will make it less attractive since sometimes you would like to have the discrete oomph for a moment also when away from an outlet...

 

Myabe you can turn on the ATI gpu from the drives, I don't know since I've never had a notebook with ATI switchable graphics.

 

^ I'm sure it defaults to those settings but you can change it when necessary. Otherwise that'd be kinda dumb.

 

And if you prefer Asus, you want the U33JC = UL30JT but with the M CPU instead.

 

And bamboo case, not metal or plastic

 

The very reason I didn't consider the U33JC (besides it not being released yet). The bamboo surface on the lid & palm-rest would make it much more expensive. Not interested. Now if the U33JC was the U30JC except without the DVD drive and a pound lighter and an inch or less thick, I'd have gone for that.

My U30JC arrives tomorrow.

PS I wouldn't have minded the UL30JT either if that had been released. Such was not to be.

 

Enjoy the U30JC! I wouldn't mind getting that beast. It's just a little thicker than the UL30JT so i'm holding off a little.

 

so you guys reckon UL30JT will be as powerful as U30JC? in terms of CPU power? I can't seem to decide between UL30JT/PL30JT/U30JC/U33JC.. I only am interested in cpu power and maybe ram.. U33JC is the only one that takes upto 8gb right? arggh.. :S

 

no. probably not comparable in terms of performance

 

I think the U30JC should be more powerful than the UL30JT even if the UL30JT has the i7UM processor.

 

There I was hoping by some miracle 530um would do the job..hah.. or someone to say ul30jt would kick u30jc anyday.. (but we all know that was never going to happen..) ok.. I don't know why those i5s and i7s are clocked so low.. i just want a under 1inch notebook that has decent grunt. Thanks guys

 

They are clocked low to extend the battery life. But reports from the UL30VT are while it may be slow for gaming and video editing, its quite snappy for most uses. I have seen video on youtube where users run Photoshop and HD video without any problem, and even some video of some some games (not any of the graphics intensive FPS). Remember also that ASUS uses overclocking on these processors. Check out you tube for some videos, it may fully well be able to handle what you want.

Lets say you want to use this for Photoshop, remember you can install a SSD at a later date, plus I think the newer versions of Photoshop also makes use of your GPU and not just your CPU. So the combination of this may be good enough for you if its Photoshop you are looking to run.

 

http://www.benchmark.pl/testy_i_recenzje/Asus_UL80Jt_-_dobra_wydajnosc_i_12_godzin_pracy.-2735/strona/8626.html

 

Yeah thanks. I think I might just get PL30JT then, glossy screen really does me.. it's same as UL30JT.. SSD would help! tho GPU is only supported with cs4 and upwards so and I use cs3.. (cost too much upgrade just to use gpu..heh) But I am sold on the basis of above benchmark.. UL80JT uses same CPU as UL/PL30jt right? I have toshiba m300 with T8400 I think and that seems to do much better.. not so much but the 3dmark but then again I don't care much of games or 3d stuff so. awesome! thanks

very helpful and going to get it! thanks heaps.

 

Photoshop CS5 is supposed to be released tomorrow I think, maybe the price of CS4 would drop a bit.