U30JC discussion thread

Well hey that's twice as simple and it works

 

Actually, I think the screen is sharp & the colors strong. The problem, for me, is when I watch movies or HULU full-screen. Blacks in the bottom 1/3 of the screen appear gray, not black, like a PC monitor with the brightness set too high. Limited vertical viewing is also part of the problem.

I suspect this is a common problem for 13" LED backlit screens in numerous notebooks.

This is NOT noticeable for me in normal work or normal Office apps or general browsing, so it's no deal breaker. My screen on my Dell Vostro has the same problem. ... my 10" ASUS 1000HA does not.

And I may be just being picky, though some others have found the same problem.

But this, in the larger picture, is a small matter. I like my U30Jc.

 

Not sure any one has found a way to change out the DVD drive for an extra drive on this unit.

If you want the same basic specs but not the ODD, then why not think of the UL30Jt or the PL30Jt?

 

So there is stock?

Sorry but I cant call this stores, im outta USA on the moment.

 

GenTechPC doesn't say they DON'T have them, so they might be in stock. Someone may have to call. It's too late here. I can try tomorrow if you like, unless someone has already called them.

Anyone?

 

Well I had called Gentech around 530 central today and they told me thursday/friday for more stock.

Just sayin.

 

Not sure if it's been mentioned here, but this isn't so much a problem as it is just a limitation of the type of LCD used in most laptops today that being a TN lcd. Your monitor is probably the same way unless you paid twice compared to what others of the same size are going for. I do notice that some are better then others in regards to viewing angle despite being TN. My dell 13" M1330 is pretty bad while my 10" samsung NC10 netbook is decent.

Here's a good primer.
TN Film, MVA, PVA and IPS - Panel Technologies

 

Yes, you could add a HDD caddy but not place a drive in it:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/har...ing-cd-bay-hdd-asus-u30jc-a1.html#post6112638

I'll probably will replace the optical drive with a nice SSD if I buy an U30Jc (which won't happen too soon, but it is on my wish list).

 

Well done, youth! I was just reading about TN LCD screens 2 days ago (I know nothing on that topic) trying to figure out why my 15" Dell Vostro & this 13" ASUS had this problem while my (much) cheaper 10" ASUS netbook did NOT display this problem.

You're right. It's not a problem as much as a limitation of the type of screen used. Perfect answer and very helpful. Thanks!

 

Yeah, I was following this thread last week. Rawrjar reported on the 16th that he managed the extra drive/SSD installation and both drives work.

Still, this leaves me with questions others commented on:

Another poster said:

Photos I've seen of the mod (except in black boxes like IBM) show the outer caddy face-plate not looking very nice. Ugly, in fact.

And the extra cost... depending on the size of SSD one gets. $260 EXTRA for an 80GB SSD+caddy (plus the hand-work & desecration of the poor chassis appearance). That's a 30% increase in the purchase price.

The things we do for that extra bit of speed.

Mind you, I'd LOVE to have an SSD drive in mine ... with that instant snap of opening programs. Then I can say, " Take that, OSX!"

 

Today is Tuesday, so put your pre-orders in now, folks!

 

Hey hp_dv2000, in relation to your question about screen quality, I think this link given earlier is a good info point and speaks to the limitations of the U30Jc's TN LCD screen:
TN Film, MVA, PVA and IPS - Panel Technologies

 

I wouldn't like a 15,6" notebook. I have a bulky 15,4" Asus F3Sc at the moment, but also a desktop at home... My next will be smaller as I would like to use it in the train as well, or keep it running for a day at the university.

The other part is that a culv-based notebook won't be good for me as well. I do heavy calculations and simulations on my system. Also, I do multitask a lot and run heavy applications as well.

The U30Jc is a perfect notebook for that. It is small (13,3"), light compared to my current notebook, has a long battery life and is also as powerful as larger notebooks. So the perfect match for my needs.

About the SSD and caddy itself. I don;t understand the other guy. As what i read, you can just attach your faceplate of the dvd drive: Optical Bay Hard Drive Caddy (OBHD-SATA12-SATA-U) Univ, 12.7mm [OBHD-SATA12-SATA-U] - $44.75 : NewmodeUS, Hard Drive Caddys for Notebooks

Someone used the same caddy on a dutch forum with his Vaio E and added the faceplate of the dvd drive:
[Ervaringen] Sony Vaio VPC-E Series - Complete Systemen & Laptops - GoT

 

I own a 15. something" Dell Vostro, and it feels like I'm lugging around a steel brick; heavy & clumsy. So I know what you mean.

On replacing the ODD w/ a right-sized caddy+SSD, I've no experience in any of this. Merely a reader of threads.

So you're saying that the original ODD's faceplate can come off and be reattached to the new caddy that fits the ODD slot?

My faceplate on my ODD, on a casual look, doesn't look easily removable. Just unscrew the bottom plate and release some clips?

Have you done this?

BTW, I can easily see where a person using a notebook for heavy, work-related things, esp. in some of the things you describe, that $260 extra is a worthwhile expense to get what you need.

My need really centers around Office-related apps, so my need is actually quite small.

... I really like this notebook.

 

http://newmodeus.com/pics/OBHD/OBHD-Faceplate-Installation-Guide.pdf

My F3Sc faceplate is half broken. But that happened before by an accident a long time ago. Still, it is fitted on my notebook, but not stable. I just took a look at it and it is exactly mounted the same way as in the guide. It is very easy to remove as I found the guide after I already got the faceplate detached . And yes, it's only a few clips, actually, there are only 2 really involved.

 

Okay, but does the new generic caddy for the SSD also have a place to receive those clips? They'd need to be identical to fit ... or I suppose one could break the clips & glue the faceplate on!

 

See the guide, the clips are fitted exactly the same to my F3Sc DVD drive. And probably, that is standard as other companies use the same type of drives as well. By just opening the dvd drive of the u30jc, you should clearly see the same clips on the bottom side as well.

 

Very interesting. Thank you for the info.

So the ones with photos of bizarre fix-it, jury-rigged caddy doors is because they didn't take their DVD drive faceplate off properly or their caddy wasn't a perfect fit?
_______________________________________

Looking at the underside and the sides of my ODD and at the photos of the replacement caddy, I can see what you mean. They look identical. The clips they show are the very clips on my drawer.

And thanks for that excellent link. Very informative! I can now see how to remove my ODD and how to replace it with the appropriate-sized caddy & change over the faceplate. I'm bookmarking that site.

Very nifty. Now I'm curious to see photos & results of any who have actually replaced their ODD with a caddy (w/ old faceplate) & SSD.

If only ASUS could keep sellers in stock, many more of these units would have been sold by now.

 

With a HD and a SSD instead of HD & ODD, I wonder if the power drain is greater and how it impacts battery life?

 

Is there a blu ray replacement drive for this yet? Asus estore doesn't seem to have anything ready for this laptop just yet.

 

Unfortunately, the UL30JT seems to be put on hiatus due to some processor delays and the PL30JT seems double the price of the JC. I've been laptop-less for about a year now (But have a netbook to handle the basics in terms of portable computing) and after looking at some for so long it's just hard to wait any longer .

Perhaps patience is the game of the year!
Thanks for the input, i'll keep looking around.

 

I know what you mean. I've operated on my ASUS 10" netbook (1000HA) for the last 1 1/2 yrs as my main PC.

I'm very happy to have moved up to the U30Jc.

On replacing the optical drive, did you see the few posts a page or so back where a link was given on those trying to replace their DVD drive with a caddy & SSD. Getting a right-sized caddy (about $45) & changing over the DVD faceplate look fairly simple. And inserting an SSD or HDD looks possible.

As for dates, word is that ASUS has ALREADY released the UL30Jt is some countries like Taiwan (verified by a few) and is planning to release it in the US sometime in May ... some say early May.

The i5-530M is already out in U30Jc's sold in Canada, and is in ASUS notebooks on sale now in Australia, so the delay rumors may only refer to the desktop i-series, not the mobile chips. The i7 chips are on sale in several notebooks right now (my son just bought a Lenovo Y560 w/ the i7 quad-core chip), so those chip are on sale and being used...

So hang in there. It may be released soon enough.

 

I checked those out, but paying for removing hardware just seems slightly conceptually wrong to me (Plus, being a student, funds are always a large factor ). I haven't heard that about the UL30JC, but I'm sure you're much more informed than I am so I'll take your words in confidence.
I've waited this long, and another month for the "perfect" laptop will be worth it!

 

I'm not sure I'm much more informed. But I think you'll be glad you waited. If the UL30Jt fits what you want, it should be out soon.

Here are a few links for you on the UL30Jt:
Taiwan buyer's review (mostly pictures which you can only open if you hit the links in the untranslated page.)

Untranslated page:
http://www.mobile01.com/topicdetail.php?f=233&t=1517779&last=18915940
Translated page:
Google Translate

April 9 article:
http://www.semiaccurate.com/2010/04/09/ulv-core-i5i7-notebooks-launching-month/

April 19th post:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/6159647-post1871.html

April 24 post:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/6181952-post2045.html

April 23 post that it available for pre-order in Denmark:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/6177003-post2012.html

Sounds to me like the UL30Jt's release isn't that far off.

 

Well, ChivalicRonin. You may have gotten the answer to your question about replacing the Core i3 with a Core i5 in the U30Jc:
http://www.infonec.com/site/main.php?module=detail&id=450921

Canada resellers are selling the U30Jc with the i5-430M (2.26GHz) processor AND bluetooth.

I can't imagine these units being shipped with different motherboards, which makes me think that if they come with an i5 in Canada, then the US ones can receive an i5 as well.

 

Ofcourse it is the same motherboard. That part is probably the most expensive part in the notebook. Every notebook has it's own motherboard custom made to fit. There is no such thing as ATX for Notebooks

It is however the configuration sold in Germany and France as well. Nice to see that Canada also has bluetooth versions now. I guess that the USA will get that configuration as well. Also keep in mind that there is a huge demand for Arrandale processors. There is a shortage, so Asus will probably try to get some processors. Maybe Intel sells more i5 430M processors at higher prices instead of i3 350M. I think this is also the main reason why the U30Jc (and other laptops) aren't in stock at shops.

ODDs are all the same size. It is standardized and so is the faceplate probably. Standardizing cuts costs as ODDs don't need to bee custom made for one type of notebook. So is the faceplate. So I don't see why it wouldn't fit. The other people probably don't know this at all or wanted to sell their ODD...

About the battery time. I'd guess that the HDD + SSD combo would gain some minutes. An SSD consumes less energy, but also doesn't need to spin up after it was put to sleep. In my F3Sc with Windows 7, the HDD is used too much, so it will never reach the sleep mode altough I have put the timeout at 1 min.... In the SSD + HDD combo, the OS and my apps would be on the energy efficient SSD. The HDD could be put asleep or even be disabled. Sothe HDD + SSD combo woudl consume less energy in theory. But loading files or listening music from the HDD would probably decreasy battery life. So it really depends how much you will use the HDD.

 

Oh, I can see that. My question, though, is for those thinking to replace their HDD+ODD combo to become an SSD+HDD combo. Then that user has an EXTRA storage device drinking power as opposed to an ODD that is using nothing unless it is accessed, which is very little.

So the question becomes:
How much battery life is lost in basic Office apps or other power modes if the user is accessing a SSD+HDD instead of just a HDD?

 

I believe this is what you were looking for Quatro, if you're using the SSD as primary and the regular HDD as secondary/backup... You'll barely be using the secondary during normal work stuff so it won't be consuming any more power if you apply what he's referring to.

 

Hey FlamingTortilla!

Take a look over here at the UL30Jt thread:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/asus/449562-asus-ul30jt-211.html

There are already reports that the UL30Jt is popping up for sale in several countries with sale dates from April 30-May 5! Your waiting shall not be in vain!

 

Wow. Excellent info. Thanks Th@n@tos!
... so did you get your SSD yet? Have you installed it?

 

I haven't decided which one I want yet. I'm really thinking hard about getting the 80 gig x25-m and the caddy to put the 300 gig in. I have probably 200 gig in just installed game files that I could move over to the 300 gig and only have the games I would frequent on the SSD. I'm just having a difficult time deciding on which route I want to go. I am going to take the keyboard out this weekend and check if there is an area for bluetooth, I may still take the whole thing apart just to take a look inside.

 

Out of curiosity, after your post, I just popped off the keyboard. Under it is a solid metal plate with a few access holes. One has the cable leading to the keyboard plugin (too bad, no obvious backlight plug/port). One hole has the wireless card with its two antennae and one little hole to the left of the wireless card is a tiny ribbon cable plugged in, but I've no idea what that's for. No bluetooth plugin port is immediately obvious.

But since it's confirmed that they are selling the U30Jc in Canada with bluetooth included, that little power port must be hidden away in there somewhere.

But I'm not as courageous (or knowledgeable) as you. I'd probably just get a microscopic USB bluetooth dongle.

 

I'll have a look-see under it; take pictures and trace everything down. It's possible that the bluetooth is going to be part of the wireless module or that it's directly soldered to the motherboard if there isn't a port for it. I'd like to see their keyboard just to know if there is a Fn+on/off for bluetooth. Usually when it's not on the keyboard it means it's part of the wireless.

I'll take detailed pictures of the inside if I do take it apart for everyone to see as well.

 

Is there anyway for me to get ahold of the i5 430 / Bluetooth variant of the U30JC here in the States? Or perhaps in Japan? I reallllly want bluetooth and the i5 just seems like a bonus.

 

Maybe try to order it from one of the Canada distributors that were listed one page back (if they'll ship it here or over seas)?

I bet we get that model in the states as a revision like they did the UL30VT model.

 

Oh, excellent. That will indeed be really useful for the rest of us. I don't think there's any page yet that has photos of the U30Jc's insides & where things are located.

Perhaps it is under the wireless card. Very possible.

Mine looked happy where it was, so I just left it.

The ASUS 1000H is setup like that (not location). The wireless hotkey toggles thru wireless on+BT off, wireless on+BT on, wireless off+BT on, etc.

 

Seems you could order it from the Canadian store and have it shipped to you here. Here's the Infonec Computers link for their i5-430 variation of the U30Jc:
http://www.infonec.com/site/main.php?module=detail&id=450921

Oops. Th@n@tos just said that!

 

Only problem is last I checked the infonec people don't ship out of Canada.... or has that changed? (I was looking this up when I saw that post)

 

Well, if you checked it and they said 'no', then I guess not.

But perhaps they know of another ASUS reseller with that model & specs who DO ship outside of Canada? There's a lot of business that goes on between that border.

UPDATE: I went to http://www.shopbot.ca (a bit like our pricegrabber.com, but for Canada). They only listed that one seller has having that unique U30JC-X2C with the i5-430M and bluetooth. Everyone else appears to have the U30JC-A1, the same specs as we have here in the US.

And Infonec.com does not ship outside of Canada as you said.

Sorry, Nixit!

 

Looks like infonec is the only one with the X2C variant up here in Canada, for now. Everyone else carries the A1

 

Ah, I was hoping that our collective hive mind would yield something other than the above situation (I could only find it on infonec and they don't ship to US, maybe I could get them to ship to Biittersweet and she could ship it to me) but alas I think that is too much work.

I will resume waiting for XoticPC to ship mine, and does anyone have a drive they recommend that is 7200 rpm for me to throw in as a replacement for the stock? 320 to 500gb would be nice .

Otherwise I'll just look for the best reviewed/most reliable drive on Newegg.com.

 

Maybe a Western Digital Scorpio Black in the 320GB rendition?

 

Before you buy a drive, here is an interesting NBR review on the very drive that comes in the U30JC:
Hitachi Travelstar 5K500.B Review
Hitachi Travelstar 5K500.B Performance and Conclusion
Hitachi Review Forum talk

It's faster than you think, even compared to the 7200RPM, and it has a lower power consumption=better battery life.

 

Ah Quatro you kill me. But thank you very much for this info!

 

oops wrong thread!

 

Ah, you see. No one really takes me seriously. I'm crushed.

Now did you actually look at those graphs & transfer rates in the review's benchmarks? The 500GB 5400rpm Hitachi equaled or surpassed the Western Digital Scorpio Black 7200rpm HDD. Just saying.

AND if you want my (unasked for ) opinion, the Hitachi 500GB 7200rpm drive is excellent for speed & quality (which is what I have), Very quiet and seems fast enough. Its average transfer rate is 80MB/sec. That's great for a HDD.

http://www.amazon.com/review/R21P91VHIIV6O8/ref=cm_cr_rdp_perm

... but then, if price is no object (or only partly so), those SSD's look very tempting!

 

Hmm I jumped ship from the UL30JT to the U30Jc, but now it looks like its really hard to find an available one, and to make things worse, Amazon usually has th status as ships between 2 - 4 weeks, now its 2-5 weeks?
Note: for about 2-3 weeks Amazon has the status as usually ships within 2-5 weeks I though maybe it would move to something like 1-3 weeks ?

 

Have you called GenTechPC to see if they have any and when they might get more in (if they're out)? At least you can get a human on the line compared to Amazon.

XoticPC's ETA is the end of April (2 days?).

 

That's odd, mine didn't come with that drive and it's not advertised on any of the normal sites? How did you get a 500GB drive?

 

No, I was referring to the Hitachi 5K500.B drive (in general) which, unlike what its number seems to imply, comes in MANY different sizes:
Newegg.com - HITACHI Travelstar 5K500.B HTS545032B9A300 (0A57913) 320GB 5400 RPM 8MB Cache 2.5" SATA 3.0Gb/s Notebook Hard Drive -Bare Drive

Mine came with a 320GB Hitachi 5K500.B 5400RPM HDD, just like yours.

I DO have the Hitachi 500GB 7200RPM version in my little 10" ASUS netbook.