Best for all around use: UL50VT vs. K61

Been reading these forums for the past few weeks, trying to figure out which new notebook I'm going to buy. I've got it narrowed down to a couple different models and was hoping some folks could chime in with some opinions.

I know I want an Asus (big fan the whole ODM thing). I know I want some sort of dedicated graphics card (future proof). Common uses will be surfing, photo editing, watching movies, streaming Netflix to our 40" LCD via HDMI, etc. I used to like playing games, but haven't played anything in ~ 5 years or more. I can see myself getting back into gaming at some point, but have no immediate plans to. It will be used around the house mostly, but occasionally will be brought on trips.

Originally I was set on the UL50VT, but then got to thinking if I ever did want to try out gaming again, it wouldn't be able to play them well. Which also got me wondering if the slower CPU would limit me in any other way for my normal uses. So I got wondering about the K61 (or something else with a faster CPU). Will the UL50VT be too slow for my normal uses or will it be fine? Anyone with any first-hand experience of these new low voltage processors?

 

Check out this thread for information on the Asus UL50vt.

 

Look for comments by Zehpanda.

 

In my opinion, the K61 will have a longer useful life given your needs. I got an F50sf which is similar and very happy with it. They have a good deal at Amazon for this one ($750):
http://www.amazon.com/Asus-K61IC-X4-Laptop-Intel-2-13GHz/dp/B002URDJ5O/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1258682649&sr=8-4
or more detail here:
http://www.buy.com/prod/asus-k61ic-x4-laptop-intel-core-2-duo-p7450-2-13ghz-16-hd-16-9-4gb/q/loc/101/212575987.html
or you can find some more expensive ones. But the one linked would be fine for casual gaming and will handle everything else very well and much faster performance than the UL50VT. Didn't see HDMI port listed, but think it has one, might want to confirm that. My F50 does.

Battery life will be less, of course. You mentioned photo editing, either should be OK, but K61 will be better. And if you ever get into video you will definitely want the faster proc. Anyway, I fidn the UL line attractive, too, but feel the more powerful unit will be easier to live with overall.

Good luck!

 

I think the UL50VT will be fine. I have the UL20A without the extra turbo, and it's fine for me when I use Photoshop CS4, and InDesign CS4 (lags a bit though).