Asus UL30JT

Not heat. It pulls air in through the keyboard for airflow & cooling, like the Macbook, so there are no fans or air vents on the bottom and no intake vent on the side. There is only an exhaust grill on the left side.

The unit is the coolest & quietest I've ever owned -- absolutely NO heating issues at all even in 3D games. When it is doing something graphics-intensive for a while (using the nVIDIA 310M chip), the exhaust air becomes very warm. But that's about it. The unit body still stays cold/cool to barely warm to the touch. It is much cooler on the bottom then my ASUS 1000HA 10" netbook. The fan is very quiet.

 

Thanks for the quickie update, Th@n@tos.

Ha! Glad you've no "loose bezel" issues. Once I push & pressed on the bezel all around, my popping issues stopped completely. Whew. I'd feared I was going to have to send it to ASUS.

I like the screen except in low-light, dark movie settings where blacks appear more gray. Even then, I've gotten used to it. That issue, for me, isn't apparent in games where lots of colors & shadows are being thrown up on the screen. There, it looks excellent.

Truth be told, I'm enjoying it the longer I use it. I've had it about 10 days now. Size & weight, it is very close to my wife's 13" white Macbook.

 

Hi first time posting here.
Quatro, do you think you could take a picture comparison between your U30JC and your wife's macbook? I have the unibody Macbook Pro and I'm considering selling it for either the U30JC or the UL30VT once it comes out. I'm really enjoying how the Macbook Pro is thin so it's kind of a big deal for me.

Also, how is the touch pad compare to the Macbook? The 2fingers scrolling is so amazing on the Macbook Pro.
Thanks!

EDIT: sorry meant to be posted on the U30JC thread.. my bad

 

Hi all, what's the difference between ul30jt and pl30jt?

Thanks

 

Main differences is the TrackPad and the CompuTrace. The Trackpad looks to be the smooth trackpad and not the dimpled versions you see on a lot of the eeePCs and it has the buttons split so it's not the single one button that does both left and right clicks. The CompuTrace is a security thing on the laptop that lets you be able to find your laptop if it were to ever get stolen based on I think Mac address or unique identifier as soon as the laptop gets online.

The only other difference I think I heard about is the screen being matte and not glossy.

The PL version of the UL30JT is in all else, spec for spec is the same other than the above differences. I really like the trackpad of the PL version, so I might just order the palmrest/trackpad of the PL for the JT when their out.

 

A picture comparison? There are lots of photos of the U30Jc online. Apple has many photos of the basic Macbook which you've seen everywhere. So I'm unsure what I could add to the discussion on that point.

Is the unibody thinner than the basic white 13" Macbook? I measured my wife's at 1 1/16". The U30Jc is 1/8" thicker than the white Macbook. In my hands, the two feel about the same. I've not taken a ruler to my friends' MBP's at work.

The mouse question I've answered above.

ASUS, for some reason, has limited the feature set of this trackpad on the U30Jc compared to some of their other models. So I think the MBP is better in every respect. As for the plain white MB, I like my brushed aluminum trackpad surface more than my wife's matte trackpad surface, but the MBP's glass surface on their trackpad is the best of all IMO.

 

To me, the easiest is to do your homework and look at both specs & descriptions on ASUS' product pages:

UL30Jt
http://www.asus.com/product.aspx?P_ID=dh1loes9V1IGKwCA

PL30Jt
http://www.asus.com/product.aspx?P_ID=LXkdJbGNlUNZJ1lu

Be sure and scrutinize the specification tab on each.

Looking over the specs myself, I can't see a difference in the main specs except that the PL30Jt has Computrace to track your PC's location if it is stolen & its mouse button/bar is two distinct buttons. The UL30Jt has a brushed metal trackpad & palm rest & single toggle mouse button, like the U30Jc.

Oh, I see Goggles has already covered this ... though the specs on both say that BOTH pc's have a glossy screen, so what Goggles heard may not be what they finally did.

And while the description on the UL30Jt highlights the metal palm rest, the photos show a dimpled trackpad surface (like the UL30Vt). The PL30Jt photo shows a metallic smooth trackpad surface like the U30Jc, as Goggles has said.

Once released in the US, there may well be differences in included HD size & amount of RAM & price. We'll see.

I heard that the PL line was aimed more toward the business market.

 

UL30JT drivers got drivers to download. PL30JT doesn't
woah~!!! the release date seems to be taking forever!!! rahhhs

 

Whats up guys?

So Im in the market for a new laptop and im thinking the Ul30JT is it. Second on the list would be a 13" MBP.

But I have a few questions which may be better suited for the VT thread, but:

How are the hinges on the screen expected to be? Wobbly screens are a pet peeve of mine and Id really rather not have them. I hear build quality is pretty good on ASUSes though.

The Core I7 versus I5 in ULV... Will this have the option of both because I seem to have seen both being listen in different places.

Also the battery seems like it may be either 4 or 6/8 cell. Is this just another choice when buying it?

Does the Turbo 33 boost the overclocked speed for the I7? Like the 640um is 1.2ghz, but seems to overclock to 2.266 from the spec sheet on Intels site. Is this the Turbo 33 or does Intel do this? Or will Turbo 33 take over? Some clarification would be appreciated.

Thanks for the help, sorry if these have been discusses, but the new technology is kinda over my head at this point.

Lastly, I have a Core2Duo in my laptop now at 2.0ghz, would I expect the 620/640um I7 to be faster than this?

 

there must be so many people who were looking to buy a laptop in jan of this year who got to read in the forums/internet that the ul30jt was gonna come and then they didint buy a laptop since then...

now its almost end of april.... thats a 4 month wait already...!!!

i'm one of those people who have waited for 4 months .... how many more are there....???

 

I'm debating on whether the weight of the JC is really that bad. I mean, the laptop I have right now is 3-5 pounds and manageable and it's a 13.3 inch.

 

Hah! It's just like my law school decisions! I have a safety school lined up but am still waiting for replies from a couple of schools. It's been 3 months!

 

The hinges on the U30Jc (& probably on the UL30Jt) are perfect. Quiet & tight, yet not too tight. Nothing wobbly at all.

If you look here at ASUS' spec page on the UL30Jt (look in the specifications tab):
http://www.asus.com/product.aspx?P_ID=dh1loes9V1IGKwCA
You'll see that it appears to ONLY be offered with the i5-520UM processor in the US.

They did the same with the U30Vt and the U30Jc. One processor offered in the US. At times other processor flavors are offered in Taiwan, etc.

The higher demands of the i-series processors appear to be forcing ASUS to only offer these new UL series notebooks having the i3 or i5 processors with the 8-cell 5600mAh battery to get as long of a battery life as possible. The U30Jc & UL30Jt are being rated for 10 hrs of battery life (no wifi, low brightness & using Office apps only.}

In the US, it seems the UL30Jt will not to come with the i7 processor. But the i5-520UM it DOES come with IS overclockable via ASUS' 33% TurboBoost33 (& Intel's 3% Turbo).

Intel offers a 3% boost via the BIOS on some ASUS UL machines. ASUS then offers a further 33% TurboBoost33 via software overclock. I'm not at all sure if ASUS offers a TurboBoost33 overclock on the i7 chip.

The i7-620UM is clocked at 1.067GHZ. TurboBoost33 would boost that to 1.4GHz, if it is offered with the chip. The Intel BIOS Turbo would boost the chip a further 3%. Intel rates the chip to reach a max of 2.13GHz if one core is turned off and it uses only one core instead of the 2.

The i7-640UM is clocked at 1.2GHz. If TurboBoost is offered, it can be boosted 33% to 1.6GHz. Intel says, if one core is turned off, it can reach a max of 2.26GHz on one core.

But you need to be more specific as to what ASUS notebook you're looking at as the UL30Jt will probably not be offered with the i7 chip.

Do look on their site for the specs first.

 

I was one. I finally gave in and bought the U30Jc instead. I'm very happy with it.

 

See my post here:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showpost.php?p=6169001&postcount=366

It's not heavy or bulky to me.

 

Thanks. So since Im in the US that should mean I5 only. Im guessing the 520UM at 1.06ghz and can be clocked up to 1.4ghz on both cores and 1.86 on 1 core which should have more potential then my Core2Duo T at 2ghz, right. Processing power isnt terribly important since this is more for portability, but this is out of curiosity.

Is ASUS's Turbo33 user managed? If so how does this work because I think I rememeber seeing a gadget to enable it for Windows 7. Does it just produce extra heat and lower battery life, but it can be left on for good if desired?

Edit: I see you mentioned it would be the 520UM.

 

Intel's Turbo is not simply 3%. If you look here, the multiplier for the i5-520UM can go up from 8 base to 12 (1.6GHz) on 2 cores or 14 on 1 (1.867GHz).
It's possible ASUS might be able to increase this a further 33% by changing the base clock speed of the CPU, but I'm not entirely certain about this.

Also, Quatro, I think you've got the Intel/ASUS thing mixed up.
ASUS' Turbo, if it exists, would have to be in BIOS because the base CPU clock speed would be changed (from 133MHz to 178MHz); this could not be done in software. On the other hand, Intel's Turbo works by stepping the multiplier up and down depending on the load, subject to electrical and thermal limitations.

 

So there isn't going to be any backlit option on the JC or JT?

To any other Asus JC, XT users or anyone that edits HD videos, how do you guys import your videos if the laptop has no firewire port (I asked earlier if these laptops have a firewire port and I received no answer so I'm assuming not).?

 

It's depressing that with such a large selection of Windows notebooks, there's still nothing that compares to Apple's aesthetics and build quality.

I'm still looking for something that's light, well built, Core powered AND has a decent screen. Does it exist?

 

It will be very interesting to see what GHz speed the i5 reaches via the Intel 3% boost and the ASUS 33% TurboBoost.

But until the UL30Jt is actually released, I've heard all sorts of guesswork. My advice is to not concern yourself with it until it is actually released. Then see what the various reviews say. They'll benchmark it for you. Then you can benchmark your present 2GHz C2D notebook with the same program they used and see how they compare.

Or you can look up any review of an ASUS i5 notebook and see what the ASUS Turbo33 (if available) actually did for the processor speed. I'm not 100% sure myself.

ASUS' page here:
http://www.asus.com/product.aspx?P_ID=dh1loes9V1IGKwCA
that says the i5-520UM can be Turbo Boosted to 1.86GHz (Intel feature?). That jump is much more than 33% so something more is going on, but I don't know what (perhaps choosing between one-core & two-core use?). Again, you need to read a real-life review & testing on it.

This article:
http://www.notebookcheck.net/Intel-Core-i5-520UM-Notebook-Processor.25719.0.html
explains more about the i5-520UM in general and how 1.86GHz is achieved. It doesn't sound like it stays permanently clocked there but is based on need.

GHz is deceptive as it isn't all that is going on in a processor, so how much better/faster is an overclocked i5-520UM than a 2GHz core-2-duo? You'd have to look up real-life benchmarks. I don't know.

Sometimes, it's not about faster in a notebook but how a new processor can do more or about the same on less voltage, therefore giving longer battery life.

IMO, compare benchmarks of various notebooks with the processors you want to compare and how that is balanced with battery life.

 

you have to know, the price premium not many is willing to offer.

 

I gladly bow to your expertise in this, lackofcheese. You're right. I don't know for sure as relates to the i5. It sounds confusing to me compared to the overclocks they were achieving in the UL30Vt.

Your explanation of how they achieve 1.06-1.86GHz in Turbo makes sense, esp as it relates to one core or two by affecting the multiplier. But some on this forum have excitedly taken the 1.06GHz, then applied the 1.86 Intel boost to BOTH cores and then (even more excitedly) applied ASUS' Turbo33 33% increase to make 2.13GHz for BOTH cores, which seems an extraordinary figure to me for starting with a 1.06GHz dual-core processor. Maybe, but it just sounds too amazing. I realize that's NOT what you're saying.

Yet ASUS does advertise their Turbo33 for the UL30Jt as well. What does it mean? I await the results with baited breath.

Yeah, you're right that changing the multiplier can be done via software in real-time, but changing the BUS speed would require a change int he BIOS on bootup, so maybe I am getting them backwards.

Yet I thought I read that the ASUS Turbo33 feature on the UL30Vt (dual-core SU7300) was not activated in BIOS but was a software overclock activated by a switch on the notebook (that increased the actual BUS speed ... or was it the multiplier?). There was a further boost of 3% achieved in the BIOS. Or that is what I took from the reviews of the UL30Vt. ... But I am more of a hands-on guy, so I do best with actual CPU-Z results and benchmarks.

But I've not read any real reviews on an actual ASUS i5-520UM notebook. Have any been released that have been reviewed that we can see what they discovered as to ASUS' Turbo33 & Intel's Turbo Boost overclocks and how they work together? How much for each? What was for both cores and what was for one? I get the impression from an article on notebookcheck that the 1.86GHz is a standard Intel boost offered that is based on need/demand on the CPU and its using one core or two. Is that accurate? That's what it sounds like you're saying as well.

I have an i3-350M notebook (U30Jc) that can't be overclocked by an Intel or ASUS Turbo33 switch or BIOS change ... so I just glide along happily at 2.26GHz, unless I go into "Battery Saving" mode wherein the processor speed is-halved (900-1.2GHz). Then again, I may be wrong about how ASUS does their Turbo33 overclock as on my i3, switching power modes affects the multiplier in every instance, thereby affecting the GHz processing speed. And it is done on the fly via software & hotkeys.

 

Actually, 1.6GHz *1.33 = 2.13GHz, so that would in fact be the correct figure for the UL30JT on two cores. On one core, it would be 1.86 * 1.33 = 2.489GHz.

Indeed, these figures seem too good to be true, but I can say that one of three things is likely to happen under the circumstances:
1) Turbo33 will not actually work for the Core i5-520UM
2) Turbo33 will work, but the CPU will not reach its maximum multipliers because of electrical and thermal limitations.
3) Turbo33 will work and the CPU will indeed reach the aforementioned clocks, but the CPU will consume significantly more power when running at the higher cocks.

No. 3) is probably the most likely occurrence. Nonetheless, because of the CPU being clocked much lower when not fully loaded, battery life might not suffer too badly.

 

Are you implying that the Macbook is light, well built, Core powered AND has a decent screen?

My wife's 13" Macbook (less than a year old) weighs MORE than my U30Jc, similar thickness and has a less sharp screen with similarly poor vertical viewing angles. It's highly glossy too. Granted the MBP's screen is much better than the plain white Macbook's.

The only place I see her's topping mine is asthetics & solid body ... though the U30Jc is a very solid build and looks very sharp.

What do you mean by "Core powered"?

 

And where are you getting the beginning 1.6 figure from? The 1.33 is our hoped-for ASUS Turbo33 33% overclock, but how did you get the core from 1.06 to 1.6GHz?

 

The latest 13" MBP is 4.5 lbs, but I'm not sure what the weight of the U30JC is. ASUS' site says 2kg which is ~4.4 lbs, but other websites say 4.8lbs.
In any case, both of them are relatively heavy as 13" laptops go.

As for "Core powered", I'm guessing that translates to Core 2 Duo or Core i - i.e. not AMD.

The i5-520UM gets to a multiplier of 12 with Intel's Turbo Boost, as I said before. I would assume that Turbo33 would work by increasing the base clock speed from 133MHz to 178MHz, which leads to 2.33GHz with the multiplier of 12.

 

Ignorance is bliss, so I remain blissfully skeptical that that little 1.06GHz dual-core processor is going to reach 2.13GHz on both cores.

I'll need to see an actual review on an ASUS machine pulling it off. Maybe. The whole thing is still so theoretical to me.

Cool if I'm wrong. Is there some review of this being done on an i5-520UM?

 

My wife's 13" Macbook (not the Pro) weighs 4 lbs 15.5 oz or 4.97 lbs. My U30Jc weighs 4 lbs 12oz or 4.75 lbs.

Even for the MBP at 4.5 lbs, the difference of .25 lb (4 oz) is hardly noticeable to a human carrying it.

And an extra pound (most likely for both) is taken up in the DVD drive. Hence the lighter 13" notebooks at 3.7 lbs have no optical drive. Some would find this ideal. Others not. It depends on need and preference. But 3.7 lbs is certainly lighter.

Oh, I see. I suspected he meant the i-series processors.

Okay, so the Intel overclock is not a % but a multiplier overclock from 8 up to 12. And where did the 12x multiplier figure come from? This has been done already on i5 chips? And the processor stays stable at that big of a multiplier jump? ... and then (maybe) ASUS can increase the BUS speed from 133MHz to 178MHz ... and it still stays stable & not too hot.

How can the CPU handle this?

An overclocker's dream. I look forward to seeing this in action.

 

Keep in mind that when it comes down to it the i5-520UM is still an Arrandale; the same architecture that reaches 3.33GHz on one core in the i7-620M.

However, it does seem to me that 178MHz base clock speed is getting on the high side, even though the actual CPU speed is perfectly reasonable for an Arrandale.

 

Except, of course, the Sony VAIO Z at 3.07lbs.

 

Oooh. Now we're getting to Macbook Air weights. How has Sony done that? Very impressive.

... Wait. Are you saying the Sony VAIO Z at that weight has an optical drive?! OMG, I just ready Sony website on it! 3.07 lbs AND an OD?

Blu-ray? 6.5 hrs battery? Available in i7 & i5? Back-lit keyboard? SSD? .. at around 3 lbs???

I'm tempted ... until I see the $1,900 starting price tag!

Wow. This thing is the Mercedes of notebooks. Drool, drool. :wub:

 

If an Arrandale is an Arrandale no matter the flavor, then why clock them down so much for mobile use? Cooling issues in tight spaces or battery life considerations?

Both would be pretty important in a notebook, even if one could reach its desktop counterpart speeds.

... but you were citing the i7-620M, which is a mobile processor, not a desktop.

Whew. It's late and I should go back to bed.:SLEEP:

 

Of course. Other than the Air, Apple notebooks are universally too heavy to consider. But then again, even if they weren't the backward buttonless keypad instantly disqualifies them as Windows machines.

But the Pro's screen and backlit keyboard is a winner. I'd like that.

Yes, As I was saying, Apple gets the general aesthetics right.

I meant to say "Core i"

 

Well, as for looking for your perfect notebook, my vote goes to lackofcheese's suggestion ... the Sony VAIO Z (see above). Unbelievable & incredible all at the same time!

It has everything I think you're looking for.

It is a tad more expensive than the others ....

 

Not sure if its being posted yet but the Asus UL30JT-RX002V is listed on 2 german websites at €889 no specs that i can see but a release date of june 6th

http://www4.hardwareversand.de/articledetail.jsp?aid=33824&agid=732

http://www3.anobo.de/articledetail.jsp;jsessionid=E2DBE909FD455B85F52E549EAE9B110B.www3?aid=33824&agid=942&ref=27

 

You're right about that.

 

One of the best review sites have now reviewed the U30JC!

http://techreport.com/articles.x/18778

 

You know, I would, and I've bought two in that series, the TR1 (which is still going strong) and the TT (now lying with a cracked screen, and an expensive replacement screen, that I never managed to get going), but am loathed to go down that track again unless the price comes down dramatically and they make them a bit less fragile.

 

When you consider the price, you have to think about the stock SSD. There are versions of the I5-520M/330M/4GB Z that sell for ~$1,600 with bing cash back. With SSD installed, the price looks much more reasonable.

Bronsky

 

Yeah. And no discrete graphics either. But in that insanely thin & light machine, you just can't have it all, though it appears Sony is trying!

I can see where the screen might be fragile.

 

I read a review from one of the European conventions when ASUS had the PL30JT on preview that the reviewer said it was a matte screen, also I forgot, but the Asus magazine also featured it as having a matte finish.

 

Why in God's name does Asus not include expansion slots like pciee or eSATA for USB 3.0 or firewire? That's their only flaw, otherwise they're an amazing company that makes amazing laptops.

 

Well, we'll see. ASUS contradicts itself again.

On their product page:
http://www.asus.com/product.aspx?P_ID=LXkdJbGNlUNZJ1lu
They describe the screen as "13.3" HD (1366x768) Color-Shine (Glare-type)"

So we'll see once they actually release the notebook for sale!

 

UL30JT versus 13" macbook pro running Windows 7...

Which and why guys?

 

Well macs wont run windows 7 as well as a PC can, boot camp has its issues. The UL30JT has an i-series chip with turbo which should make it at least perform as well if not better than the higher clocked core 2 duo. However the macbook's 320M > ul30jt's 310M, but at the given price point of the macbook v ul30jt, i give my vote to the ul30jt.

 

Im basically on the same page as you. The no windows key and right click and also no support for graphics switching is also an issue. Just wanted to see what others thought.

 

I think the "It doesn't have right click" issue has become more myth than reality.

 

What? How is that a myth? It doesnt have a right click button... Maybe you could point to it for me on the trackpad

 

There's 2 ways to right-click on a mac laptop. Either by pressing Crtl + click or just tapping the touchpad with 2 fingers.

 

All my friends have macs (literally like 80%)

I know how to do it. but that doesnt mean it has a right click button.

Considering i set up my computer to use the right click BUTTON in conjunction with the left click, I dont think Im speaking a myth