Asus UL30JT

Has anyone noticed that the default font size on macs is a little small? I might end up sticking w/ Win 7 just for the adjustable default font feature.

 

similar to the 1 in SG.

but currency wise

 

Light bleed IS the issue with the TN panels that ASUS uses in their UL and U-series of notebooks. View a full-screen movie or dark screen and you'll SEE the difference in the superior quality that Apple uses.

The vertical viewing angles aren't even comparable. I went to the Apple Store and tried both. No comparison.

As to color quality, the TN Panel of the U30Jc is great. But the light bleed from the bottom and the extremely limited vertical viewing angle are proof that not all TN panel screens are created equal.. I have read several articles on Apple's panel's that say the same.

And Apple has now improved the panel on the 13.3" screen of the white MB and given it the same screen as the 13.3" MBP. That was not true in last year's model.

This article has some good testing to demonstrate that Apple's TN panel they are using now (Samsung LTN154MT07 on the 15") is very good and not "the same" as others at all; though all tested are TN panels:
http://www.anandtech.com/show/3669/...o-more-battery-life-tests-display-evaluated/4

This reviewer, comparing the Macbook TN panel with the MBP TN panel in Oct 2008 found:

And these are both TN panels.

 

Correct. TITCR


As I've stated a few times in the past, the differences in black deepness and viewing angles are unmistakable. When you start using an IPS or in the case with a MBP, a high quality TN panel, you WILL notice the stark contrast! My desktop monitor is a 24" HP ZR24W. I paid a pretty penny considering how other 24" screens can be found for half of what I paid. Let me tell you that it's a huge convenience being able to shift/turn in my desk chair while watching a movie without noticing any changes in what I'm seeing. Plus all the text I read comes out a deep black instead of just a really dark blue. Going from watching stuff on a normal, run of the mill TN desktop monitor to the ZR24W really took me some time to getting used to as ZR24W seemed to reproduce images in completely different colors!


My Asus G50VT-X5's 15.6" TN panel is actually surprisingly good considering how most budget gaming notebooks normally ship with mediocre screens. I had one person at a coffeeshop remark that stuff just comes out looking nicer on it than on his laptop. The gloss certainly contributes to this effect somewhat when exposure to sunlight is limited. But face it. It just doesn't measure up to the MBP 13!

 

Look over at whirlpool to see how heaps of other Aussie users have imported their UL30Vt's from the US: Asus UL30VT....new release - Notebooks - Whirlpool Forums

Hope this helps. I'm not sure if they have used a middleman such as www.priceusa.com to get it in though, but they most probably did.

 

I agree, but what I am poiting out is that once calibrated any TN screen is good for non photographic use. And even then I still see backlight bleeding on Macbooks (just do the big red-orange dot test in full screen). I guess it depends on the luck you get, some models have more bleeding than others, that's a rule for every pannel.
And in the end MPB (at least in europe) arn't in the same price range so there's nothing to argue about. And yet on a mobility aimed device, paying 300€ on top for just less backlight bleeding and better horizontal angles seems to me quite useless unless you're using the UL or MBP as a main computer. Moreover on a mobility notebook I'd rather have very narrow angles for privacy.
Actually if I didn't hate the hype around anything that's apple, I'd just get a MBP after the refresh and run windows 7 on it (it works fine, a friend has a dual boot one, the only blemish is the low autonomy 4-5 hours max where a VT would go 10h long). But heh, I don't like feeding the troll.

In the end it depends what you need, if you want a second mobility laptop well the UL's are very good and price efficient, if you want a main laptop (=more budget) that's also mobile to a lesser extent aim for a MBP... since they even run windows7 near perfectly. Of course wait the refresh of the MBP, you don't want to pay 1300€ for a 400€ worth of hardware, screen put aside when in the next month are coming cores i7 MBP 15" with 330M with an optimuslike technology right ?

 

I'm making a very similar decision in the near future, whether to get a UL30VT/JT or a MBP 13".

I do like the build quality of the MBP, and here in NZ if I include the educational discount the MBP isn't too much more than the UL30 series.

However what I'm worried about are weight, battery life when running windows and ability to do some light gaming.

I'll be running windows 7 exclusively anyway, and it seems as if MBPs fare less well with battery life with windows whereas the UL30VT-A1 can keep up a good battery life.

Also the laptops are actually 1.7kg for the UL30 series and 2.0kg for the MBP. It's not too much but the UL series seems perfect as it forgoes the optical drive for some weight savings.

I am very tempted for the MBP but my main concerns are battery life under windows, weight and maybe the keyboard layout and lack of built-in HDMI.

 

Yeah, I was in your position but I couldn't wait any longer. Aside from your points of mobility and battery life, build quality was a big one for me. I haven't seen the UL30JT but when I checked out the UL30A's their build quality was only par to my expectations (it was ok but keyboard moved too much and not as rock solid as my old Asus W7J).

The build quality of the Macbook Pro is outstanding.

I think it sounds like the UL30JT would be a good match for you. Hopefully it doesn't take much longer to arrive.

Regarding battery life. I haven't tested in Win7 yet but in OSX I am getting a very respectable 9 hours so far using wifi and general web development. It's early days yet though, only got it Friday. I'm likely to utilise Win7 too but not as the main OS, so the battery life won't be a big issue. My old W7J could only hit 1.5-2 hours anyway.

I'm not sure what has happened to the Asus distributors here in NZ. They don't seem to import much of anything these days and there are meant to be at least 3 companies representing Asus. It's pretty disappointing. I'm not going to take the risk importing by myself, I always prefer to see a notebook first hand (to check build quality) before I decide whether I buy.

 

Hoping this is ready for pre-order on May 13th so I can get the UL30VT on sale. I want to get the UL30VT-A1 right now but would suck to buy it and see it two weeks later for a 100-150 less

 

Majority of them just bought theirs through BH Photo and Video. Get an SSD off ebay and you're set

 

Why is going to drop in price 13th May? Whats happening then?

 

you should set a deadline for yourself. If it doesn't drop by May 13th, you should just turn a blind eye and get it for the price that it is. Who knows when the ul30jt is going to come out or if there's going to be a significant price drop for the ul30vt at all

 

A close relative of mine who has a bigger laptop budget just bought a MacBook Pro and I set it up for them. I had my UL30VT side-by-side so I could do a comparison, here are my thoughts for those trying to decide between the UL30VT/JT/MBP:

- Decide early on if you're ok with moving to OS X. I was personally not really sure about it, I wanted to play my Windows games on my laptop, run Media Center, and various little PC apps that I'm used to. If somebody had given me the same deal on the MBP as on the UL30VT though, I probably would have sacrificed my ability to run all the apps I want and taken the Mac. Yes, you can run Windows 7 on the Mac but last I heard you're not going to be able to take full advantage of the hardware and IMO dual-booting is inconvenient.
- The MPB definitely looks and feels like a MUCH more expensive machine, although for a plastic laptop the UL30VT feels very solid.
- The MPB is heavier but it's noticeably thinner and from the top it looks about the same.
- The screen on the MBP is bigger and as stated earlier the viewing angle is much better.
- You only get 2 USB ports and a DisplayPort with the MBP, so expect to buy some fancy adapters.

So, given a similar price, like it seems to be in NZ, the MBP is absolutely the better value. I think it's also a better value than the UL30JT (assuming a similar price), based on the build quality, thinness and the screen, most other specs being the same (and you get an optical drive).

I think the choice is:
- If you're OK with either Windows or OS X and money is an issue, and you can find a much cheaper UL30VT, take the VT.
- If money is no object and you need more power and don't care about the OS, take the MBP.
- If you MUST run Windows and you MUST have the fastest possible CPU, take the UL30JT. But that would be my last choice.

 

I agree with all your points, however I've found that the cost of the UL30VT-A1 in NZ is 1700NZD and the MBP is only 2000NZD (down to 1800 with student discount). This is only a $100 difference so normally I'd definitely choose the MBP considering they sometimes even have free ipod deals.

However, the battery life issue really makes me rethink it as I will only be running Windows7. AnandTech and lot of people seem to be reporting an almost 50% loss of battery life when using windows on a MBP.

 

Any reason why you can't use OS X? The UL30VT is great but not for MBP money...

 

I have too many engineering applications that require windows. For general office and productivity apps I'd be fine to use OS X, but I'd rather stay in one OS all the time.

Also I'd like to play MW2 and other steam games on the laptop if possible. I've seen MW2 run on a UL30VT fine so I'm assuming it'll run just as good on the MBP.

So both options seem bad at the moment. Either a UL30VT for MBP price, or a MBP with significantly lower battery life.

 

Hi,

thanks for the review: I'm toying with the choice and cannot make my mind - so actually hope somebody who played with both can give some insights...

I'm looking for a machine to churn a lot of RAW photo files (big and power hungry Photoshop CS3). but since I travel a fair bit - also size and wight are an issue.

Was looking at the Asus UL30JT with i7 processor (if it's ever released...) or MacBook Pro. But this is where I hit the wall:

3 choices:
- 15" i7 MBP (perfect except for the chunky size of it - it feels huge when playing with it!)
- 13" MBP with Core Duo + 8GB RAM and possibly (if that would make any difference) SSD drive instead of the slow 5400RPM
- UL30JT with i7 and 7200RPM HDD

any thoughts on:
- which would make most sense in terms of power / speed
- comparing the Asus and Mac in build quality (no access to Asus anywhere near here)
- are the the two MBP comparable (with the config as above).

Thanks,

f

in general preference would be for 13" machine rather than 15".
The problem that come in is the power: I could get the 13" Asus or - better built bla bla bla MBP - with Core Duo processor

 

You should also consider the new Acer TimelineX 3820TG that should also be released sometime in the next month. It has a similar form factor and processor of the UL30JT but has a better discrete graphics card.

 

is the Intel GMA HD/ATI HD 5470 better than nVidia 230?

 

ASUS' product page lists the UL30Jt as coming with the NVIDIA 310M GPU, like all of their present U & UL line.

Where are you getting 230M?

Notebookcheck lists the HD 5470 as #97, a Class 2 (middle class) GPU and the 310M as #108, a Class 3 (bottom class) GPU.

http://www.notebookcheck.net/Comparison-of-Graphic-Cards.130.0.html

Benchmarks (they're close, with the 5470 somewhat better):
http://www.notebookcheck.net/Mobile-Graphics-Cards-Benchmark-List.844.0.html

BUT in actual gaming, they were close in many games and mixed results in others (sometimes the 310M was higher FPS. In other games, the HD 5470 had a higher FPS.)
http://www.notebookcheck.net/Computer-Games-on-Laptop-Graphic-Cards.13849.0.html

 

Macs are great machines. I have the santa rosa 15 inch model and it's still going strong. Doesn't feel slow at all.

I got the ul30vt because of the battery life and weight factor in the end instead of the new 13inch MBP. Overall, i think the UL30VT and 13inch MBP are good picks, followed by the Acer timeline and lastly the UL30JT.

 

Lenovo announced some ULV laptops for June. That seems encouraging that we might hear some news about the UL30JT on the 13th.

Lenovo IdeaPad U Series updated with Core i3, i5, i7 ULV processors -- Engadget

 

Totally go with the 13" MBP. I would have if I did not own a Aluminum 13" Macbook. It works perfectly but was not a gaming rig and the new 13" mbp did not warrant the upgrade. I got my ul30vt for the battery life, ability to game, and the low price. If I had to choose 1 laptop for all. It would be the 13" MBP. IMHO the build quality of the Macbook Pros is unbeatable.

 

I went with the 13 inch MBP too.. The reason I was waiting for the UL30JT was battery life but reports seemed to suggest battery life on the UL30JT was significantly worse than the UL30VT.. the better display and build quality + office for mac 2011 around the corner I think is enough to push it in favor of the MBP... the friend willing to put me on the friends and family discount for Apple helped too!

 

ok so whats the deal on the release date for this thing!?

thread started in January and 4-8 weeks was predicted...its mid may now!

 

Ummm...I hope I'm not double posting but I found this site that takes a look at the UL30JT (google says it was put up within the past 24 hours) so I think it's new. At least the battery life info helps in rendering a decision. -TJ

Asus UL30JT review – 13 incher with extra-muscles and good autonomy

 

Man ,I waited and waited for this thing..couldn't wait anymore, ,so I went all out and got the G60-JX gaming laptop + the EEE 1001P netbook lol.

 

incorrect..

The new Acer TimelineX 3820TG has a different class processor.

ul30jt vs 3820tg
UM vs M processor
nvidia 310 vs ati 5650 gpu

 

Groovy. MBP should it be... but now the question of config / coparison of the two machines:

- any idea how much difference there is going to be in performance between 15" with i5 and 7200RPM and 13"? (never used the new processors so no idea what the gain might be)

- would there be any point of getting SSD with 13" for work with graphics (not games - just photos)

- is extra RAM going to make much difference? some say above 4GB it's a waste of money...

need to decide what is of more sacrifice: power in 13" or can I bear using 15" (really did not like the sheer size of it - the only nice thing was the matte screen that was appealing)

any ideas about the difference but also best configs would help

f

 

It's already released and on sale, in stock and users posted they have it in this thread already. Not in every country yet obviously.

 

Something's fishy about these benchmarks. The MW2 scores I'm getting on the 210M (UL30VT) are much better than what these benchmarks suggest, it's really nicely playable even with everything turned on at native res, I just turn off the shadows to make it extra fluid. Really the only limitation is the tiny screen size, when I switch over to my 24" desktop I feel like I'm surrounded by the game in comparison.

 

There's probably going to be a big difference in very specific and very CPU-intensive tasks, but keep in mind these tasks have to be pretty long in order for you to notice. These days opening a RAW file is not really CPU-limiting, it's limited by the HD.

Yeah, your photos would open much faster, but if you plan to keep a lot of RAW files on your HD you'll need a big one, and a big SSD is VERY expensive. If you really want that, then a cheaper laptop like the UL30VT might let you afford a big SSD drive.

I think if you're JUST using Photoshop you might be OK with 4GB but manipulating large RAW files with 8GB will definitely help a lot. Again, that amount of RAM is going to be very expensive so you might not be able to get an expensive laptop to begin with.

If you want portability definitely go for 13", you can fit that in small bags.

 

MW2 is playable with the U30JC that has the 310M just in 512MB (vs 1Gig that shouldn't have any affect at native resolution) @ native res and medium graphics but BFBC2 blows @ native res and everything on low. I would assume the VT and JT would be the same way?! Something does look a tad weird with those benchmarks, I would agree.

 

New UL30jt review is up here: Asus UL30JT review – 13 incher with extra-muscles and good autonomy

And benchmark results here: Intel Core i5-520UM benchmarked on Asus UL30JT

Strange, it 3dmark06 scores less than the UL30vt stock:

UL30vt stock clocks: 3461 points
UL30jt stock clocks: 3298 points

So it looks like the earlier tests before where correct, the GFX performance of the UL30jt is down

Also the battery life seems less than the UL30vt-A1 too.

 

I'm starting to think that I don't want Optimus. It's too driver dependent. Being able to switch the GPU at the push of a button in 5 seconds is not a huge inconvenience.

I think I'm going for a ul30vt or ul80vt, unless the acer timelinex really impresses me.

 

Looks like your choosing between the same two as me, I'm so close to pulling the trigger on the UL30vt after waiting so long. After seeing the UL30jt and then the 3820TG timelineX announcements, I held off all this time.

I've defiantly decided against the UL30jt now, its not worth the extra wait or cash for a minimal CPU performance increase and less battery life / GPU power.

 

I don't think so, this is almost certainly because they ran 3DMark at the native res instead of the default 1280x1024. The UL30VT should get about the same 3DMark score at native res. The 3461 score usually quoted is for the free version of 3DMark which runs only at the default res.

 

Looking at AnandTech's review and Notebookcheck's review of the UL80Vt (same CPU & GPU as the UL30Vt):
3dMark06: 3453/3460 at 1.733GHz (not stock speed)
So if the UL30Jt was tested at 1.06GHz, then the 3298 score is no surprise. The UL80Vt at 1.06GHz scored 3192.

And I'm not clear what resolution the 3dMark test was run on the UL30Jt.

 

i think im definitely with you on that one.

Enough with the waiting game, the UL30VT is an excellent computer and the whole point is the battery life, which would obviously have to decrease in the UL30JT.

 

It looks like UL30JT is coming very soon in the next few weeks.....(again)
I saw UL80vt-A1 on sale for $799.99 CAD.
Do you guys think its worth it??
Or do you guys think it'll drop below $799.99 when UL30JT finally hit the shelves?

 

yes I think its worth it, thats a good price. I don't think it will drop, only maybe the UL30vt. But normally Asus don;t drop the prices unless they have way too many UL30vt units they might offer a $50 off coupon.

 

i got mine a two weeks ago. Couldn't be happier especially with the new reviews confirming my thoughts on the situation exactly.

JT is not worth the wait, the extra money and the performance increases are minimal.

I got an anti-glare screen protector and now the glossy-screen doesn't bother me anymore.

 

where did you buy yours from?

 

can post pictures of it ? kinda want to c if it really works.

my iPhone despite using an anti-glare sp is still reflective.

 

I am buying a ul30vt and a gaming rig.

 

May 13th has come and gone, no announcement about ul30jt or pl30jt. Asus Taipei event did display u33jc and u35. full power core i5, similar builds to u30jc except no dvd drive and about 1 lbs less. u33jc bamboo also has 1 usb 3.0 port. same nvidia 310m gpu, uniclick button, glossy screen.

from other reports sounds like a lot of manufacturers are planning to release ulv core i processors mid june, hopefully thats the date...

 

This wait is messing with my head. I'm confused to either purchase the ul80jt, HP Envy 14 or a new culv Toshiba.

 

For those who are still wondering MBPvsUL here is a side by side UL80VT vs MBP 13"

http://www.expertlaptopreview.com/?p=239

Just see which one looks cooler to you :>

Personally I got a 80VT and I totally agree with this in depth review (even though I brought mine in a store and took care of buying in a store who had a shipment of VT's with no squeakings or horrendous flex) : http://www.expertlaptopreview.com/?p=10

Keep in mind that in some countries the 80VT is cheaper than the 30VT even if the 80VT is a higher value because of its optical drive whilst still keeping an overall same size and weight ! 14" and 12" (i think of the eeePC 1218 which is looks awesome but not out yet) are the future standards of notebooks anyway...

What a shame only the 50VT comes in rubber inside version... (at bestbuy) http://images.bestbuy.com/BestBuy_US/images/products/9701/9701931_ta.jpg

 

Amazon.com shipped it to relative in the states who brought it up to me in canada.

Sure thing, I'll post one soon in the UL30VT thread. The anti-glare has a matte finish so it's much better.

 

Note that the comparison is with last gen MBP 13, the newer MBP 13 graphics card is substantially better.