New Asus UL Series laptops on Amazon for pre-order

All the new UL series notebooks are available for preorder.

Hit the UL series notebooks

UL20A-A1 - $589
UL30A-A2 - $779
UL80VT - $849

 

Yeap, all the Windows7 units are now ready for pre-order. They'll ship October 21st-22nd

 

I really wish these had the backlit keyboard that the U series had, but I do not think I will lallygag on this anymore. Time to get my UL80VT!

 

Get it from xoticpc - http://www.xoticpc.com/asus-ul80vta1-p-2701.html

Cheaper + you can get a SSD + internal bluray + as compound for cheap.

 

Trying to decide between the UL80ag and the Thinkpad 400. I was already to go with the ASUS until I saw the Amazon specs this morning that showed the UL80 coming in over a pound (4.8lbs) more than the UL 30. For another half pound and another $100 I can get a Thinkpad with a WXGA+ LED display, 1.3MP camera, P8400 processors, 320GB 7200RPM drive, Dual Layer DVD burner, fingerprint reader, bluetooth, and faster wireless (Intel 5300 AGN). I know the Thinkpad has a good rep for reliability and build quality. I seems like a faster machine with a better display. A little heavier and shorter, but still very good battery life.

Any good reason for buying the Asus instead?

 

There's also the UL30A-X5 for $679. Seems to have the same specs as the A2 but it's black and I'm guessing the X5 has a 4400mAh 8-cell battery while the A2 has the 5600mAh 8-cell battery.

Since 10 hours is enough for me, I just got the less expensive UL30A-X5. With 2-day Prime, I'm showing expected arrival of October 26.

 

12 hour battery + 210m == blows away the thinkpad.

 

Thanks for the response

But isn't that 12 hour battery on the UL30? What is the battery life on the UL80? And what does 210m mean?

 

210m is the NVIDIA graphics card.

 

nope, the UL80VT has switchable graphics. you are actually getting a real gpu too!

the real battery life should be 9-10 hours even though they advertise 12.

210M refers to the gpu. (you can actually play games at decent settings and do other graphical intensive tasks)

 

Well im confused about size,

XoticPC ASUS UL80VT-A1 comes with 15.6'' while Amazon ASUS UL80Vt-A1 says 14.1'', probably one is mistype?

 

UL80 is 14" class. It's the UL50 models that are 15". If you check out the Tech Specs in the XoticPC page, it also shows 14".

 

Back to the discussion regarding the Thinkpad vs UL80. I was not comparing the graphics versions. This is for school and business not games, otherwise I could upgrade to the version with swithable graphics (ATI Radeon) and a P8700 for another $100. To me I am thinking the WXGA+ which allows me to see more of a document on the screen, the bluetooth for a mouse or headphones (I have audio lectures) and the faster hardrive might we a good idea. It still gets decent battery life of 4.5 hours.

 

thinkpads are really ugly laptops. they have an old type of design, I really don't understand how some people can find such notebooks attractive.

anyway, if you don't care about the graphics then get the UL80AG. it's cheaper.

4.5 hours of battery isn't 10~ hours.

in the end, it depends on your preferences and what you find more important.

 

I actually like the ThinkPad's simple utilitarian looks. Don't like the price tag as much, though.

 

I went ahead and purchased the Asus UL30-A2 a little while ago ... 16 hours of battery life for the win!

 

how good is the 210m? 9400m level?

 

greater than the 9400M

 

Torn between the Asus UL30-A2 and the Asus UL80Vt...I want a light weight laptop that I could bring to class but also want some gaming capability (even though I'm pretty busy with school, don't have that much time for games)...

Asus UL30-A2
No Games
3.8 lbs

Asus UL80Vt-A1
Capable of playing some older games
4.8 lbs

What to do... What to do??

 

For what it is worth here is my 2 cents on your question.

Would the 14 UL80 meet your needs for your school based work as well? If you can answer the question with a definite yes then go for that one.

Still seems a little unclear if the UL30-A2 will actually be able to crank out 16 hours of battery life....

 

let me correct you..

capable of playing newer games (at low/medium settings) and pretty much all older games at max.

and personally I would take 1 pound of extra weight for a slightly bigger screen and much better graphics.

 

Yeah - with the switchable graphics the thing can crank out a little over 11 hours at max power settings (I would guess) ... so if that is sufficient for your uni needs then why not?

 

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=418836

I know this review was for the UL30-A1, but they seem to have the same specs (A1 and A2)... Both have the 8 Cell 5600mAh battery correct? In this review, it's a little under 12 hrs.

 

I noticed that ... thanks for chiming in with it though ... my guess is that Asus may have a done a tweak or two and windows 7 may contribute to the better battery life.

I will believe it when I see it, but since I was already set to purchase this model with 12 hours max ANYway, why not give it a chance and try and get more?

 

I got in on the UL30-A2 laptop. If it gets anywhere near 10 hours, I'll be happy Never had a laptop go near 3 hours

 

A fellow potential victim/delightfully surprised buyer then! Welcome to the club! I also pre-ordered the UL30-A2!

 

I am noticing as I go through the Amazon site the weight specs are all over the map. I am not sure the 4.8 lbs is correct. The ASUS site lists the UL80 at 2kg which converts to 4.4 lbs. If that is correct the actual difference is 11 ounces (less than 3/4lb).

I was also wondering how difficult it would be to replace the drive with an SSD drive using 'ghosting' software so it retains all the software and drivers. Anyone know how this is done?

 

the UL80Vt is around 2.141 kg which is 4.7 lbs.

http://translate.google.com/transla...talk/?prod_id=778&tid=1806&page=1&list_page=1

 

You can just replace the HDD with SSD, and use the recovery disk to install everything when you first opened the package. As long as you didn't put anything new on the hard drive, you will get identical files.

 

The 210M also means Cuda too I think. While it isn't the greatest GPU out there it should more than suffice, especially with 512 Meg dedicated video memory.........

 

Is it of any significance that this GPU is at the top of the Class 3 list on Notebook Check site?

I've been told that on the Dell XPS13 the 210 is actually a 'hybrid' card ... potentially it will have 'micro stuttering'. Any thoughts to the Asus implementation and how it'll work with the integrated GMA4500? I'm assuming the stuttering in the Dell is that it's running both cards together in SLI mode, while Asus would just have one or the other running independantly.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=425011 post #8

 

Does anyone know what the difference between the ASUS UL30A-A2 and ASUS UL30A-X5? They look the same to me, except for the silver finish and battery life.

 

Supposedly the UL30-A2 is capable of greater battery life.

Other than that there may be a few things like ports, external looks, OS available and such.

 

Yeah from what I've been reading th UL30A-X5 has a 4400mAh battery while the UL30A-A2 has a 5600mAh battery.

My dilemma is that I don't know which model grants to 9.5-10 hour usage time from the reviews I had been reading in the past (September). The only reason I want this is because it looks nice and the super long battery life.

I was completely unaware of the battery difference until now and therefore canceled my order. I just don't know which battery yields the 9.5-10 hour life in the reviewed units. The A2 version is more expensive (and not black like what I prefer) so I'm hesitant on which one to get.

Any ideas?

Thanks.

 

I was curious, so I did a document compare using MS Word and there is *no* difference between A2 and X5, besides case color, battery life and price.

 

Yeap, they're the same units. Same processor, RAM, battery cell, battery rating. Hopefully people don't get too optimistic when they get 8-9 hours. 11-12 listed is fine, most companies measure with LCD off, no connections on and left idling, I doubt ASUS is any different.

 

Does anyone know which wireless card is in each UL? Do any of them have the Intel 5100 or 5150?

 

The A2 seems to be the "next gen" of that specific model. Only difference I can see is the sometimes reported different battery life and the OS. C'est la vie!

Update: here is a post from Asus on amazon.com in terms of the differences:

 

If ASUS is anything like Sony, it will be 6 hours for the X5.

 

I saw the UL80 at best buy today (along with the Envy13/15), and wow I was seriously surprised. After coming from a G1s, I know Asus sucks for battery life. But damn, the UL80 is one sexy machine and it's build quality is league above the Envy13/15. I could actually bend the palm rest on the HPs...! The UL was rock solid as every Asus model is basically. There also was a backlit keyboard on that particular model though there wasn't an model information out yet as the tag said it isn't for sale till when after Windows 7 comes out.

 

If it had a backlit keyboard it was probably a U80 (different from the UL series).

 

Asus actually has been designing machines that are very good with battery life of late among their Eee PC netbooks ... and the review of the UL30-a1 in here showed that their claim for 11-12 hours was quite possible!

 

I see the UL50ag has shown up on the Best Buy web site listed as Coming Soon for $729.99 with 4GB/500GB, Win 7 Home Prem but no GPU. I hope they are planning to also carry the UL80 series which I would think should cost less for a similar config. What confuses me is they list the weight as 4.2 lbs. How can the screen increase in size by 20% over the UL80VT and weight .6 pounds less. I can't believe the descret graphics weighs almost a pound. Is there some difference not being accounted for? After all, if you follow the standard model rules that many laptop companies use, if the 13" is the UL30 and the 15" is the UL50, you would think the 14" unit would be the UL 40. Why is it called the 80? Perhaps it has a different motherboard design. For me, if the UL50 ends up weighing less than the 80, I'll go for that.

 

Hmm ... 30 = 13.3 inch ; 50 = 15.6 inch ; and then 80 = 14.1 inch ... erm ... maybe they have a UL40 series coming out that will be quite a bit different, so for the moment they multiplied the 4x number by two?

 

Hmm indeed.

UL30 = 3.7 lbs = 13.3" display
UL50 = 4.2 lbs = 14.1" display
UL80 = 4.8 lbs = ? Mr. Spock would say, "Logic dictates 18" display.

I know the reviews say otherwise but there seems to be a piece of the puzzle lost in translation.

 

UL = Series Name, in this case, UnLimited (lol, creative )
30 = 13.3" form factor
a = integrated graphics


For the UL series, they go like:

ULxxyy

Where:

xx:
30 = 13.3"
20 = 12.1"
80 = 14.1"
50 = 15.6"

y:
a = integrated graphics, Intel 4500MHD
vt = integrated graphics(G210, etc.), Turbo Boost

 

Coriolis wins the thread!

 

Not yet. It still doesn't explain why the 14" is a UL80 and not UL40

 

because 4 in chinese and japanese represents death. 8 is lucky.

 

Lol, I've forgotten about that bit of info... I need to start reading manga again.