Asus UL30JT

Ah, thanks for clearing that up. That is certainly some maketing hoopla from Asus. Kinda bummed this isn't what I thought it is. I like these technologies like Optimus that take the manual aspect out of getting max battery life/performance. Oh well. As long as battery life is still good I guess it doesn't matter too much.

 

I'm pretty sure Best Buy put in the wrong information. It is indeed the i3-330UM running at 1.2GHz according to one reviewer of the UL80J on Best Buy.

 

Bestbuy's UL80J has the i3-330UM processor (check previous posts or a review in Bestbuy site), not i3-330M processor.

 

I am trying to bring everyone on topic every chance I get.

Let's see the improvements on the UL30Jt (with i3-330UM) over UL30Vt-A1 that deserves the price increase.
On the plus side, UL30Jt has G310M with 1GB VRAM (together with Optimus) rather than G210M with 512 VRAM. This produces significantly more heat and less battery life than it's predecessor. The 1.2GHz i3-330UM processor "should" beat the 1.3 GHz Pentium SU7300 without Turbo33. From intel site: Comparison
Among the negatives, I think UL30Jt is missing bluetooth from its base configuration. It has the same low quality screen, webcam, network card etc.

 

Yes, you're right. I hadn't noticed the 2 user reviews. So it IS the 330UM 1.2GHz with no Turbo33.

So the differences are really just a smaller battery and a much-shorter 1-yr warranty (and the ODD, of course.)

Anyone know if the ASUS UL30Jt has Turbo33 o'cing?

 

The danish UL30JT with 520 UM has turbo33 and clocks to 2,5 GHz

 

You've actually seen the Envy 14? Where? A trade-show?

 

Yes, but the i5's always been overclockable. My i3, on the other hand, is not overclockable. I'd heard that none of the i3's were overclockable. That's why I'm unsure if ASUS provides Turbo33 w/ their i3-330UM models.

 

No, not the Envy 14. A different size. The 14 is only just now being released.

 

According to post# 2809, Bestbuy's UL80J with i3-330UM has Turbo 33. So, UL30Jt with i3-330UM should have Turbo 33.

 

I called Best Buy last week to sort out the mismatched CPU specs on that UL80J, and they told me to call Asus. I called Asus, and they told me to call Best Buy.

I think it's an alright deal, all things considered. Sure, the lack of Turbo33 is a pretty strong blow to performance, but I've realized that like the UL80VT-X1 before it, the UL80J available at Best Buy has a shorter warranty and a lower capacity battery than other models available. And even now, those models retail for anywhere from $10-$50 less than the A1/A2 models.

HOLD THE PHONE, one poster reports that this Best Buy UL80J in fact does support Turbo33; just not Intel Turbo Boost. Read his post here

 

yo guy, i OWN the Classy Club! lol, j/k

can we just leave best buy out of this? to my knowledge, the reason why best buy (and future shop in canada) doesn't carry a lot of ASUS is that they refuse to provide them with products that they can put ridiculous mark-ups on. i don't want people to risk buying asus products from BB in case they've cheaped out on places that we can't see

ul30jt doesn't have bluetooth on the base model? i thought they only have one model... but then again, i haven't seen a lot of ASUS base models selling anywhere. we aren't talking about cars afterall

 

UL30Jt has bluetooth "optional" according to the specification provided by xoticpc site. You need to pay $39 more to get the optional bluetooth adapter (that generally means one less available usb port).

 

yeah, i am a little confused about it. asus usually doesn't cheap out on the bluetooth...

upon reading the asus ul30jt page... it says it has a bluetooth indicator LED... but no mention of bluetooth connection XD

 

Why pay for that much for a USB bluetooth?! When you can get a really small USB bluetooth adapter from meritline or amazon or shop4tech.com for about $3?! Hell, why buy a laptop that doesn't have bluetooth at all when you can get others that offer the built-in module? If I were to buy a laptop w/o bluetooth, and I am not going to, then I can/will get a USB adapter and solder it in inside without seeing that eye-sore on the side of my laptop. Just my 2 cents and wanted vent my perpetual frustrations with Asus, well at least until the CES-stated spec'ed UL30jt releases.

 

One of the many reasons I'm afraid of getting a laptop with magnesium casing (also exploding batteries could screw with living in a major way)

While some of you may think that the best buy pl80j is a huge rip off, it's actually pretty cheap compared to the US$1182 i5-520um pl30jt offered in australia

 

Yes, that was my point, you were speaking to the 14 as if you have seen and used one before. The design is different than the previous 13 and 15, so it's a bit premature to offer the comparisons.

 

Not really. You're right that the Envy 14 is a very different build to the 13+15, but my comparison had to do with ONLY one thing: the casing of the MBP vs Envy 14.

There are several reviews of demo Envy 14's. Here's a good one from HP. And here's another one. I've read/watched them. And I've seen the extra heat shielding (via the video review). It's very nice. It looks like an excellent laptop. It still appears to have a molded plastic bottom (or is that painted metal?). It weighs 5.4 lbs. It's 1.1" thick. The MBP is less then an inch and 4.5 lbs and it's an all-aluminum body (unibody).

My only point was that no one on the PC-side has yet to make a housing made entirely of one piece of thick & solid aluminum (or any metal). And that's my only point. It has nothing to do with the quality make of the Envy 14. I find it strange that others make a comparison between my notebook (U30Jc) and the MBP because the U30Jc has some aluminum in its construction.

If the MBP housing/chassis is made entirely of aluminum, except for the white Apple logo, etc, and no other notebook yet is molded or machined from a single piece of aluminum ... then comparisons are not equal on that point.

HP's Envy (who seem to have done the best in that department so far) or anyone else (perhaps the Sony Z, which also doesn't have an aluminum bottom) are doing great in their own designs and have come the closest yet to an all-metal design, but, IMO, the MBP (chassis/housing design-wise) is still in a class by itself.

BTW, it may be that other makers are NOT putting in an aluminum bottom to cut down on burning heat reaching the user's legs if he/she uses it in their lap.

 

business laptops always tend to be really expensive, no matter what the make. but i'm gonna guess the matte screen plus the anti-theft program are the culprit

 

FYI. Mac Book uni body construction is patented and pc manufacturers simply can not copy it.

 

Yep. Too bad for us PC-guys & gals.

Oh well, the construction on the Envy 14 & Sony Z really does look very nice!

 

Do you have to hold it a certain way? (for it to work properly)

 

Don't worry. They patched it to give it the appearance of working properly...

 

I checked the specs of the UL30JT on XoticPC and under the tech specs tab and on the Operating System / Utilities column, it says Asus Turbo Gear. I'm going to assume that is the Turbo 33.

ASUS UL30JT-A1 - XOTIC PC

 

Sounds like a portmanteau of Power 4 Gear and Turbo 33 if you ask me!

That shouldn't make a difference, since both are standard for the UL series.

 

i'm sure they'll give you a bumper for $50 if you ask for it!

http://www.notebookcheck.net/Newsentry.153+M5973a87345f.0.html

$1000 for i3 and a smaller hard drive than the ul30jt... i don't know, Quatro, it's kinda a tough sell for me. not to mention it's bigger, thicker, heavier.
i remember when i first caught wind of the envy. i thought it was going to be like the Voodoo laptop in terms of styling (possibly the best, finest, sexiest, most sophisticated laptop i'll ever see... also one of slowest, but what can you do, it's quite old). I was disappointed when i found out how thick it is.

 

How thick it is? Let's see, if the Envy is 1.1" WITH its slot-loading ODD and the UL30 is .98" ... that makes a difference of 0.12" or a little under 1/8" for the extra DVD drive.

So, yes, it's thicker, but "how thick it is" is really relative. Is it at the 1/16" extra that something suddenly becomes "thick"?

It's a whole different creature from the UL30Jt anyway: full i3-370M (2.4GHz over 1.6GHz after Turbo), a slot-loading ODD, magnesium body, 14" display, higher res screen (1600x900), twice the power GPU (ATI HD5650) ... and the downsides: $230 more ($1,050 after coupon. Ouch), a smaller HDD, 1.66 lbs heavier and a weaker, shorter warranty.

I suppose if you've an extra $230 lying around and those extra specs mean something to you, folks will pay it. It's heavier, but it's got a lot of metal in the body.

 

Ha! My, but I'm slow at getting jokes. You're referring to the new iPhones having to be held in a certain way for the antenna to work properly.

Apple must have different engineers working on the MBP. No one in that division has thought of putting the antenna on the outside housing of the MBP's lid .... yet.

Yes, that was pretty unbelievable. Apple spokesmen (or Mr Jobs) said that the problem was that the signal bars were showing wrongly (stronger) then they really were, so they've made a patch to show the bars less.

YouTube videos show pages loading w/o being held and then freezing in their loading when held (while the signal bars decrease). That's just wrongly displayed signal bars? Rubbish.

 

That's interesting. GenTechPC doesn't list ASUS Turbo33 in their software list. Sounds like it does have Turbo33.

So how DOES ASUS' Turbo33 work? What is it upping and why can't it work on certain processors (like my i3-350M or the i3-370M)?

And Chanda Bear ... portmanteau? Really??

A new word for me. Never figured I'd come to this forum to improve my vocabulary!

 

Those videos you quote are not reviews of production models by independent reviewers, so I'd take them with a grain of salt right now. However, you are correct for a comparison of the case materials, those are a given. I'm not sure why consumers are so held up on the perception that the full bodied aluminum case on the macbooks is "premium". It has its disadvantages just as you point out. But consumers are consumers, if one of the major players were making full bodied carbon fiber laptops those would be just as popular I'm sure...

 

The 2nd video shot in someone's room did seem to look like an independent review (not HP employee like the first one.)

I suppose people like the idea of metal as "indestructible" though aluminum shows scars easily and can be dented as it's not as flexible as plastic. Yesterday, I was in a hurry and put a small spiral notebook on my U30Jc's lid, carried the two to my bag and put each in their sleeve areas. Later I noticed that the spiral end had lightly scratched my aluminum lid in two places ... just walking across the room! And the lid, while aluminum, has the upper lip at the front which is painted plastic (black painted silver). That got an 1/8" scratch too which is very obvious due to painting black silver (duh).

Sigh. My black plastic Dell's plastic housing has been abused for years and shows little visual wear because plastic gives and the black hides any scratches. So clearly aluminum has its downsides ... but it looks so pretty.

The MBP's, to me, feel so tight in their construction and solid. Not so easily damaged. But, man, are they a pain to open and change out things. I hate opening my wife's MB. "Tight" comes to mean "Why @#%*& did they put it under there?" or "How many different-sized screws do I have to remove to get to that part??" and heaven help you if you dare to want to change out the wireless card!

 

Don't mind me, just being an English major

As for Turbo33...it seems that it really depends on the processor, as hinted at in this post about the SU7300. This may be why your U30JC lacks Turbo33. But another poster said that the UL80J has Turbo33, and it has a i3-330UM.

And while it does not say so in the specs, there is a paragraph about Turbo33 page in the product description...

 

Should I wait for the UL30JT or buy the UL30VT-A1? The XoticPC salesman claims the laptop will arrive in 1 or 2 weeks. Can anyone confirm this?

I just need a lightweight business laptop that is capable of playing WoW, nothing more. The Passmark benchmarks give the i3 cpu a score of 1301, compared to 982 for the SU7300. Plus having 1GB video ram vs. 512KB should help a lot. It seems to me the UL30JT is clearly better. Is that the received wisdom of this board?

Can someone confirm that WoW on the UL30VT has good framerates (> 30) at native resolution?

Thanks.

 

The MBPs are definitely have very clean tolerances in their construction. I just can't justify the cost. I'm either getting the Envy 14 or the Asus U43. It will be interesting to see how the bamboo will hold up on those Asus models.

 

Why not call GenTechPC and ask them the same question about the UL30Jt and arrival dates? Let them confirm as well. The sellers know more than our guesses on this thread.

 

Yep. You didn't see me buying a MBP for $1,200. I just admire their bodies!

Plus I don't care for OSX. Use(d) it. Don't like it all that much. But a snappy, efficient 64-bit OS, it is.

The Envy 14's start at $1,100 ($1,050 after coupon). That's only $100-150 cheaper. The MBP isn't that much more expensive. BUT you get more in the Envy 14's specs.

I still think Sony Z's specs are awesome. But talk about expensive!

On the U33/43Jc, at least if you lightly scratch wood, you can put scratch remover polish on it!

 

i swear i've seen the bamboo cover laptop on the asus website for years and years, but it has never been released. did they give a release date? because if not, something tells me they just brought it out for show.

apparently some brushed-aluminum covered eeePCs were released early recently at BB. hopefully it's a sign for things to come

 

The bamboo U33Jc & U43Jc's ETA to online sellers is mid-late July, so they're not just for show. GenTechPC & XoticPC are taking pre-orders now for them.

There's a thread running on them over here.

 

can't they just put the bamboo in UL30 serie

 

You have seen bamboo laptops from Asus for years, just not these ones. You are referring to the 11" and 12" models from a couple years ago. The new Bamboo collection was first shown in January I believe. They just went up for pre-order at the end of June. ETA is the mid-end of July.

You may want to take a look at the U35JC which is almost identical to the UL30JT but comes with a full-power i3 CPU. They are the same price and should be released around the same time (mid July). XoticPC.com and GenTechPC.com both carry the U35JC and UL30JT, and both list the same ETA.

One UL30VT user here says WoW plays "absolutely beautifully." Up to you. I would spend the extra dough and get the new i3 CPU and GPU with Optimus, but the UL30VT is cheaper and will probably do everything you need it to.

 

Actually, I like learning new words (just as long as I can use them enough to hold on to them).

Just the other day I was reading a 1940 Big Little Book of The Shadow (an early form of comic book) and was surprised to find two new words in it. Yet I didn't write them down so I've forgotten them now!

 

You guys seem to know your ultra-mobile laptops very well. Hence asking for some advice. I am heading back to school for an MBA and am trying to buy a really light laptop in the next 4 weeks.

Usage:
heavy MS Office, some simulations, online video eg Netflix, HULU etc. No gaming, No photoshop, No video editing. (have a desktop for those)

The following are my criteria for a windows laptop that I will practically live with throughtout school and carry it almost everywhere all day:

Features listed in priority:

1. < 4 lbs weight (~3 lbs would be awesome)
2. battery life > 5 hrs
3. 12-13.3 inch (11.6 is too small, 14 is too big)
4. core i3 (or i5 if possible. SU7300 and SU9400 would be OK for now, but will feel slow in a couple years. not sure how fast the i3UM will be over SU)
5. 3 or 4 GB ram
6. $600 - $850 price range
7. HDMI out
8. webcam
9. inbuilt DVD drive
10. Dedicated graphics card

The only ones that I can find given these are:

1. Thinkpad X201 (compromises on 6,7,9,10)
   12.1", i5/i7, 9+ hrs, 4 GB, ($1050 shipped with SPP and coupon)
2. Acer 3820T (compromises on 9, 10)
   13.3", i3, 8 hrs, 4 GB, $700, HDMI, webcam
3. Acer 3820GT (yet to be released)
   13.3", i5, 8 hrs, 4 GB, ~$850, HDMI, webcam, graphics card, 4 lbs
4. Asus UL30JT (yet to be released)
   13.3", i3, 10 hrs, 4 GB, ~$850, HDMI, webcam, graphics card, 3.7 lbs

Any other suggestions? I am gonna wait it out for a couple weeks and order it late-July. In addition to this, I am carrying a very powerful desktop with a 25" Samsung 2570HD LCD/TV for all my home entertainment needs.

I am seeking advice on any options that you think I should seriously consider. If the SU series is not significantly slower, I could justify the hopefully lower price. (If this is the wrong forum, please ignore)

 

Get the UL30JT or U35JC those seem to fit your requirements without any compromises and both seem to be up for pre-order.

 

Three choices, IMO, you need to make from your list. Which do you most want?:

1) Lesser cost & longest-life battery: I wouldn't throw out the UL30VT-A1 too fast. It will only seem slower down the road if you significantly upgrade your OS and apps. But it is adequate for what you listed and much cheaper ($700 at XoticPC) and has a real 12-hr battery life.

2) 9-10 hr battery life & better CPU: If you have the $819 and want more battery, but a slower processor then #3, then go for the UL30Jt, though it is a ULV CPU (as is the SU7300).

3) 7 hr battery life & fastest CPU: If you want a full-speed i-series processor, but a good but not best battery life, go for the U35Jc. It is nearly identical to the UL30Jt except for the processor (2.4GHz vs 1.6GHz after Turbo) and costs the same at $819.

 

Thanks for your input PlatinuM195 and Quatro. Looks like I will reconsider Asus UL30VT-A1 and maybe Acer 3810T as well. I don't intend to start a Asus/Acer debate here, but if you know of a quick pros/cons between the two would help me decide. For my needs, I think the 12 hr battery does outweigh the processor. Thanks again.

 

UL30VT is only $100 cheaper than UL30JT. The price is still not right, if you aim for VT, it would be smart to wait for a couple months until it gets cheaper, or look for a good condition on Ebay or some refurb, after UL30JT is out for a while...

 

Shobhs, you may find that after the UL30Jt & U35Jc are available for sale in the US (mid to end of July) that the price of the UL30Vt might drop even further. Right now, they're $120 difference. There might well be more. Hard to say & up to you.

And debates are pointless on Acer vs ASUS. Better to read reviews by the same website on the two notebooks and you'll have a better idea. Each website has its own testing methods. The UL30Vt & the UL80Vt rated nearly the same in most tests (13" & 14") so you can use reviews on either for testing the components.

Here are articles on both notebooks at LaptopMag.com:

• 3810T at LaptopMag
• UL80Vt at LaptopMag

Even better reviews are at Notebookcheck.net on the 3810T & the UL80Vt:

• 3810T at Notebookcheck
• UL80Vt at Notebookcheck (same as UL30Vt but bigger screen)

The summary on the LaptopMag's reviews, due to dual GPU's in the UL30Vt for switchable graphics and NOT in the 3810T, and a bigger battery in the ASUS and a slightly faster CPU, the UL30Vt outstrips the 3810T in every catagory. Faster (PCMark Vantage of 3600 vs 2600 in the 3810T), longer battery life (9:55 hrs vs 8:05 hrs), overwhelming better graphics power (3600 vs a wimpy 698 for the 3810T in 3DMark06), etc. As well, ASUS has the Turbo33 to oc the processor further. Acer does not.

Notebookcheck ran several types of battery run-down tests on the two notebooks, but on max power saving and min brightness they each got:
3810T = 11 hr 9 min
UL80Vt = 13 hr 16 min (the UL30 would do better due to a smaller screen!)

Again on graphics power, in 3DMark06:
3810T = 582
UL80Vt = 3453

PCMark Vantage (CPU, Mem, GPU, etc):
3810T = 1647
UL80Vt = 3545

I can see at Amazon there's more than one variety of 3810T for sale depending on the processor. The model tested above was the 3810T-6415 with the SU9400 (1.4GHz).

Price for the Acer at Amazon is $560 (1.3GHz) & $740 (1.4GHz)
Price for the UL30Vt at XoticPC is $700 (or $678 if paid in cash)

At least between those two, I can't see how there's much of a comparison, but you read the 4 articles and make your own decision.

 

acer - good place to start buying your first laptop. really can't go wrong. fine worksmanship, good bang for buck, decent styling. i'd say you'll never regret getting it, but it does leave you wanting more.

asus - for people who appreciate the finer details. one of the most reliable laptop brand, nice styling (if you choose to get one with styling... my f3sv was a pure performer with no looks), AWESOME warranty and service, BUT tends to be a little pricier than its competitors.

you probably can tell i'm an asus fan. i have one, i got my sister's for her, both of ours were not ground-breaking models yet we've been really happy with them. but acer has tempted me with good products over the years for sure

 

I had my first laptop 10 years ago, it was an Asus, it was suck so bad, it came with an array of problems, although it was light & thin.

I kept avoiding Asus and started to appreciate Dell which, was very reliable and cheap in the past, until the last 2 Dells led me to disappointment.

I've heard Asus have been improving & is now very reliable, so I'm giving it another chance,...

 

Was Asus making laptops 10 years ago?