Asus's Macbook Air killer U36

Hi I saw this notebook on the asus global site today , then quickly looked in forum couldnt find any info on the laptop. Anyone saw the machine? any opinions? I think with an optional SSD it could be a serious competator to the air/3820tg/vaio Z (not as a gaming rig of course but a daily usage machine) with a agressively pricing ofcourse. Saw a link for 8cell and i5 460m for 950$ not sure if its the final price. Any thoughts?

ASUSTeK Computer Inc. - Notebooks - ASUS U36JC

YouTube - ASUS U36JC Hands On and Preview

YouTube - ASUS U36JC compared to Sony Vaio Z12

Sorry for the bad english. Not my motherlanguange

 

Same specs as the U35... just slimmer (and 200 dollars more) ... looks gorgeous, I'm thinking about getting one prob. sometime in the next months.

 

Hoping for it to be refreshed with some SB goodness, but I will probably get the u41, which uses a gt 425m

 

I believe it's just been reviewed in Australia, not long now then until its release here . I personally don't need the graphics card but the overall product is exactly what I want. I'm sure there are other busy students out there that would like to own a machine like this.

 

Do you have a link to that review? I hope it doesn't use the same crappy screen as the UL30 series...

Also they forgot to put in a backlit keyboard!!

 

i think it does use the same glossy screen -_-

 

Can the 310 handle 1080p video without flinching?

 

Has anyone gotten a U36JC yet? Is there any indication how easy it is to replace the HDD with an SDD?

 

It is sold at Mediamarkt in Germany as of today I read somewhere. So some people should pop up. They call it PRO36jc and sell it for 730 Euro.

That price is amazing, wanted a 14" but it really got me thinking.
Is there any news about the u36 getting sandy bridge? when?
and whats the difference between the u41 and u36 other then the inches? Is it same chassis?

 

The U36 has a modest dedicated graphics card (310M) while the U41 has a faster 425M. This is mainly a concern for those wishing to do some gaming on their laptop.

Also the U36 lacks an optical drive (the U41 has one) but adds USB 3.0. The U36 is also made with magnesium alloy for lighter weight and more rigidity. The U41 is made of plastic.

I was wondering the same thing. It doesn't look like the U36 has a HDD access cover on the back. Is the HDD accessible at all?

 

Ah, plastic. Hard decision there, I´d love a u46 with sandy bridge. The question is as always, wait or not.

But I guess SB is still a longer wait, as they all sell their old stuff first. Too strange the u36 didn´t directly come with SB.

 

Looks like a Cheaper, Faster, Better Equivalent of the CrapBook.
Mag Aluminium Alloy Pwns Crappy UniAluminium Body.
Will Consider if pricing is competitive.

 

It seems too hard to tell... it looks like it might be there?

 

Unfortunately first german buyers confirm the access cover is just for RAM. So one probably would have to work his way down from the keyboard or so.

 

Some sort of a review here:

Most notably, they claim 2 hrs 5 mins battery life, which would be completely at odds with the official claimed 10hrs.

 

Nice review they have!
It makes me wonder why they only got 2 hours out of the battery...maybe the optimus wasn't shutting down the nvidia GPU, or maybe they weren't using a battery saving mode. I do hear its never up to par with the 10hours Asus advertises.

 

I got one of these laptops. I purchased an SSD to upgrade with it. and not only is there no bay. I couldn't get it open for the life of me. I took out all 6 screws from the bottom. put as much pressure as i could to get it open but wouldn't budge. I am wondering if there are screws under the rubber feet. but don't want to risk it, i want to return the laptop if i can't replace the hard drive. any advice?

 

have you tried downloading the manual?

in the N series asus sometimes put the screws on the feet and you need to remove the keyboard to unscrew more

 

MM where did you order yours from?

Also is the underside of the case plastic or magnesium?

 

I dont have one, and the underside is plastic as far as I know

 

have one as well,

it seems that it is better to replace the HDD at laboratory rather than yourself in order to avoid warranty issues.

the underneath material is plastic (although feels like agood one)
on all models.

the HDD located on rightmost side, closest to you, straight underneath the
palmrest.

 

there is no warranty issues for swapping the HD

 

Even if you have to take apart the whole case to gain access to the hard drive?

It makes sense that replacing a HDD on a model with an access bay wouldn't void the warranty, but cracking the case open on a model with no access bay... I don't know.

 

Yes you need to take the case apart to access the hard drive:

- Remove all screws at the bottom includes 4 hidden screws underneath the robber feet.

- remove top case with the keyboard.

- Also the CPU is soldered on the mainboard so it's not upgradable.

 

Can I fit a 2.5" SSD (OCZ Vertex 2) or I need to buy the 1.8" one?

 

From the picts Ken Lee posted, it looks like it is a 2.5" drive bay.

 

Yes it fits 2.5" SATA drive.

 

Super! I will buy one.

Any ideas on how to proper reattach the rubber feet?

Anything else should I pay attention to in my attempt of disassembling the U36?

Thank you guys!

 

Also is the top case one piece? Basically you unscrew it from the back, disconnect the 2 connectors circled in the ram bay, and then does the top case (with keyboard?) just come out? And yes I would like to know about the rubber feet too Thanks for great pictures and advice Ken from GenTech!

 

the rubber feet is glued to the case so you just have to reattach it back.

make sure disconnect two ribbon cables (shown on the photo) first before remove the top case.

 

asus u36 vs samsung 9 series vs macbook air

only time will tell?

 

MBA is using an O.S. that I don't care to learn and a SEVERELY dated processor in comparison to the other two. Build quality is what holds the MBA in high regards.

 

True that!

 

I'm pretty excited about the U36, so I don't mean to be negging, but... it sports a pretty average (ie really crappy) screen.

The Samsung will reportedly have a decent IPS or similar screen, like the Sony Vaio Z. Which would be why it's significantly more expensive (not that a decent screen should cost that much, as the iPad has shown us).

Do the MBP's still sport IPS-like screens, or have they downgraded to crappy screens like the rest of the industry?

 

Gotta consider screen. SSD. and all metal body, plus .8lbs less (roughly). All of that for a 400-600$ difference is not unreasonable. The graphics card and processor are the real mysteries which will ultimately tell us battery life.

I am in the air about ordering a U36 or the Samsung 9 it is really a tough decision especially with all the facts still in limbo.

 

Seems like samsung are fairly bad at releasing info about their upcoming releases on their website but I suppose that it will not be on the market until april/may. I honestly do not know a lot about samsung notebooks (mainly only tvs) and about their quality/customer service etc... but the design and specs truly look amazing - minus the no dedicated graphics card.

Asus u36 looks amazing as well, not an ulv processor, a lot of ports (especially sd not a microsd?), upgradable ram/hard drive?, dedicated graphics but i am worried about battery life/heat.

ah... and i think that i would only buy a pc if it were substantially better than its mac counterpart, which although c2d the air does boast some good graphics?

the dilemma - guess you cant go wrong with any tho

 

Finally got a mainstream review:
Asus U36Jc-A1 Review & Rating | PCMag.com.

Looks great except he mentions heat being an issue.

 

Disappointing.... heat really seems to be a problem as they mentioned it like 10 times throughout the article!

 

Meh a little heat isn't a big deal really. Especially depending on where the exhaust exits. All in all the build sounds good other than that minor infraction.

 

Yes the top case is one piece with the keyboard, just like Bamboo series.

 

Heat was to be expected when you place a full voltage i5 in such a thin case...

 

is it bearable though... currently have the asus g1 which produces some heat but dont know in comparison to 115f

 

115F is only 46C which really isn't that bad in my opinion. I ve seen GPUs hold 90C and the exhaust on the laptop was toasty, but it was not unbearable by any means. Worst case you have a free coffee warmer.

 

This article/slideshow should give you relative temperatures for what is considered a hot or cold laptop:
Hottest and Coolest Notebooks

My guess is that as long as you aren't doing heavy gaming or video encoding the lower range of temperatures in the PCMag article ("Day-to-day tasks, like Web surfing and running Office apps, weren't as hot-running (90-95 degrees).") is what to expect most of the time and it correlates with some of the cooler laptops in the article above.

 

I was just using this notebook today to watch a movie on Netflix. There were no heat issues at all with it on my lap.

 

Ill give you my personal opinion on it in a couple of days when it arrives.

 

There has been a TON of heat discussions on this computer, it cant be that bad can it? It is a beefy little computer to say the least, but one thing its not is a full on gaming laptop. I suppose if a person was pushing it to do something on the extreme side of processing, like a game, sure, I would think most anything in this size range would get more than warm. I wouldn't think watching a movie would create near that. I guess you would have to look at this with a good frame of reference.

Please, give us a good personal review of it dsmwookie!

 

No problem John. The only way I have to measure heat is with a laser pointer which I use in the garage for gauging automotive temperatures; manifolds, downpipes, turbochargers, intake pipes, etc.

All in all I just don't feel like waiting for the Samsung 9 and saving some money right now sounds good. I figure this will get handed down to my wife and I will pick up the S9 around X-mas at the end of the year.

 

makes me wonder if the current U36 models are stop-gap products to allow a Sandy Bridge version to go into production. you would think that a transition to a more efficient architecture would help on the heat and efficiency fronts. and since the HD 3000 graphics benchmark higher than the 310M in pretty much all synthetic benchmarks, ASUS might have headroom to put in a better discrete GPU...

 

Another mainstream review:
ASUS U36Jc-A1 Review - A Review of the ASUS U36Jc-A1

I have one coming my way tomorrow too.