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    U30JC discussion thread

    Discussion in 'Asus' started by coriolis, Jan 10, 2010.

  1. garyxc

    garyxc Newbie

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    Can anyone provide a list of programs that can be safely turned off / uninstalled. While I did find and disable the obvious, I'm not sure if some of the more knowledgeable users actually know more. I would appreciate any help.
     
  2. Quatro

    Quatro Journeyman

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    Apologies. I didn't mean to sound in any way like I was on the attack. Just wondering how "this can be" out loud. My extrovert way of writing, I suppose. Very sorry!

    So, all emotion aside :D ... the flex you both speak of, I can't see how that would refer to flex in the body/lower part of the keyboard ... I lift the keyboard and push hard against the lower plate in the housing and nothing gives. How much more it wouldn't give by mere finger strikes, even at 60+ words a minute. It feels very solid to me, esp when I replace the keyboard giving me, in essence, two sheets of metal as a base under the keys.

    So are you perhaps referring to the bounce the keys give? To the way the keys feel when you type?

    Or, as I said earlier, my keyboard does have a slight warp in it in the upper middle edge. Perhaps yours has more and is making the plate & keys seat slightly above the lower retaining plate that gives the feeling of flex? Or perhaps the keyboard isn't firmly seated in its clips. Mine wasn't & I needed to push firmly around all sides until it was clearly seated & clipped.

    When I type, the keyboard does have a slight high-pitched rattle/jingle under the keys. Not sure if yours does as well.

    But pushing hard all around the upper surface of the keyboard, I just can't find or feel any flex in mine. BUT that slight warp up near my F8 key does keep that area slightly raised above the housing (easy for me to see it with my eyes & feel with my fingers), but that isn't what I translate as significant flex.

    Perhaps its just the meaning of words I'm wrangling with.

    Well, I tried that, but due to running two video-intensive apps side-by-side, I couldn't see if it was improved.

    HULU+GPU-Z (or Everest Ultimate) showed the NVIDIA GPU under load. Then I opened WinDVD at the same time. NVIDIA still under load.

    Then I closed HULU/Firefox but left the WinDVD window running, ... slowly, slowly (20 sec), the load decreased on the NVIDIA page until it rested on 0% or no load at all, which would imply that WinDVD 9 at that time was running under the IGP. Same story for PowerDVD 9. So I'm not sure what that means!
     
  3. Skittlesdfw

    Skittlesdfw Notebook Enthusiast

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    I used the Asus bloatware guide on the forums, which was pretty definitive in laying out what each of the Asus programs did. I used it to get rid of a bunch of the clutter.

    On a somewhat related side note, I ended up doing a restore on my system this morning, thinking it would be the easiest way of getting rid of the bloat. Boy, I couldn't have been more wrong on that.

    First, it took 2 hours and five blank DVD-R's to burn restore discs, which was a total nuisance.

    Then it took another 90 minutes to let the system restore itself, swapping discs as it went.

    After Windows 7 finished its bit, I had to go through ANOTHER 40 minute cycle of the Asus software "Configuring my system", just like when I took it out of the box.

    And when it was finally all said and done... I was right back to the factory image, with all the bloatware still installed. Ugh. I ended up just removing a BUNCH of stuff using Add/Remove Programs, thanks to the aforementioned Bloatware guide, and that's helped the system a bit.

    The only real positive out of this is that the restore discs offered the option to set up a single partition. But that's something I could have done on my own, without a fresh install. Certainly without the 4 hour window of setup.

    Overall, I'm just not feeling the love for this machine. I want to like it, and if you look at the specs on paper, it's right up my alley. But with all its quirks, I feel like I'd be better off paying a few dollars more and getting something with a bit more polish.
     
  4. Midnighthawk

    Midnighthawk Notebook Enthusiast

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    Something weird happened when I tried to turn on this laptop today. I pressed the power button to turn it on but nothing happened. All I saw were lights next to the caps lock button and on the front by the picture of the light bulb. Nothing turned on, but the fan started to kick up really loud with a lot of air coming out. And it just stayed this way for like 1 or 2 minutes until I pressed and held the power button for it to stop. I tried again and the same thing happened. Then I plugged in the AC adapter and it turned on as if nothing had happened. What's going on? I don't want to bring this to class and have this happen right out of the blue w/o my adapter to back me up.

    Edit: This seems to happen all the time now when I close the lid and put the laptop to sleep.
     
  5. lowlymarine

    lowlymarine Notebook Deity

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    My keyboard flexes nearly a millimeter just typing on it. It doesn't really feel like pressing down on it firmly would depress it much further, I suppose. The flex is most noticeable around the edges of the little "tray" the keyboard sits in. If you press down on the edge of the tray, near where it meets the rest of the chassis, the gap is quite noticeable.

    The surrounding chassis is solid as a rock, though - the flex is limited to the little "tray" the keyboard is in.
     
  6. aout

    aout Notebook Guru

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    Am i the only one who bought the i7 version ?

    I would have liked some feedback about the i7 owners who bought a 8cells battery (the standard i7 version is delivered with a 4400mha/6cells battery instead of a 5600mha/8cells one).

    What about the battery life with such a configuration ?
     
  7. lowlymarine

    lowlymarine Notebook Deity

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    Another observation: I can't seem to replicate the CPU performance typically displayed by the Core i3-M in NBR's reviews. Even after a clean re-install, setting the power profile to "High Performance", and then a thorough nuking of running processes, I can't manage a wPrime score much better than 24.9s. NBR managed to get 21.45s in their review of the U30Jc, and even the ThinkPad Edge 15 they reviewed today posted a score of 22.6s with a Core i3 330M.

    I know it's a minor difference, but it's better to find out early if there's some underlying problem with my notebook. NBR might just be using a different version of wPrime, of course, since they don't state in the reviews which version it is.

    EDIT: I tried all of the available versions of wPrime. v1.55 (the one marked "Stable - Use this for HWBot") and v2.00 both return average results well within margins of error - 22.1s for v2.00 and 21.7s for v1.55. v1.64 returns 23.2s and v2.03 returns the 24.9s result. I'm just going to assume NBR uses either v1.55 or v2.00 in their reviews and worry no more about it.

    As part of an optional test protocol, we now present an amusing fact: Back when I wrote this site's review for the Gateway S-7700N (NBR used to outsource their reviews to freelance writers from time to time, a practice my contribution no doubt put an end to) we still used SuperPI because dual-core processors didn't actually exist yet. For shiggles, I downloaded and ran SuperPI on my new U30Jc. Without bothering with any process-killing or whatnot (it is single-threaded, after all), the Core i3 350M managed to calculate PI to 2 million digits in 47 seconds, nearly a full minute faster than the Pentium M 740 used in the S-7700N. My, how time flies.
     
  8. garyxc

    garyxc Newbie

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    I have a few questions for you all. Please provide any input that you may have.

    1. Is upgrading to BIOS vers. 205 (currently have the stock 204) required? I don't have any problems so far so I wouldn't want to make anything worse.

    2. My 310M driver is currently 188.71 but the driver for the 310M on nvidia's site is 197.16. How do I go about updated this driver? Or is it even required as long I have the most recent Optimus driver?

    Thanks for the bloatware guide btw.
     
  9. eugenes

    eugenes Notebook Evangelist

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    The 4400mhA battery has about half the capacity of the 5600mhA battery (due to number of cells and voltage differences). So double what you're getting now to find out how your system will perform with the 8 cell battery.
     
  10. eugenes

    eugenes Notebook Evangelist

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    1. I'm running 205 as well and haven't noticed any issues or improvements.

    2. 197.16 is the latest driver for notebooks with only discrete graphics. If you want Optimus driver, you can download 189.79 here: NVIDIA DRIVERS 189.79
     
  11. lowlymarine

    lowlymarine Notebook Deity

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    1. I've upgraded to 205, and nothing noticeable seems to have changed. I wouldn't worry about it, but if you want to give it a whirl I had no issues using ASUS's EasyFlash utility.

    2. Currently, Optimus requires a special driver. There are slightly newer Optimus drivers (189.79) available here. In theory Optimus support should be rolled into the standard nVidia reference notebook driver "eventually," but for now we're stuck with slightly out-of-date drivers.

    Edit: Beaten to it. :p
     
  12. eugenes

    eugenes Notebook Evangelist

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    So unless it's a driver related issue, we probably won't be getting any hardware assisted decoding/encoding with the 310M. The output for the UL30JT also doesn't have any of the computing functions ticked.
     
  13. garyxc

    garyxc Newbie

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    thanks for the lightning quick replies!!!
     
  14. Midnighthawk

    Midnighthawk Notebook Enthusiast

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    Can anyone help me?
     
  15. Quatro

    Quatro Journeyman

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    This is interesting, lowlymarine. Remember that I told you I had slight flex/warp up by my F8 key? I took out my keyboard again and gently bent it up near the F8 key the opposite of my warp. My left edge also had (an even smaller) lift. I gently bent down on the edge. I then replaced the keyboard.

    My F8 and left edge no longer had any slight lift ... but now there is a tiny lift between my F2 & F3 key. :cool:

    This shows me:
    1) The aluminum plate on the underside of the keyboard is fairly thin and can be bent, and may not be perfectly even/straight from the factory (my screen bezel still isn't).
    2) A perfect fit is perhaps not easy as it may be slightly warped somewhere on the keyboard plate. Even my taking it out puts pressure on areas and might warp it slightly.
    3) And there is a keyboard ribbon on the underside of the keyboard that doubles-over and is pushing up on the keyboard plate as well. This prevents a perfectly snug fit ... but it is still a pretty good fit on my U30Jc.

    And that secondary plate under the keyboard plate is solid and assures me that there is no real structural flex/weakness ... more the feeling of flex if any area of the keyboard is warped and not resting flat on the chassis' metal plate.

    You may want to note where it most "pops up", pop out your keyboard and gently bend where the keyboard has been most raised up.

    It's easy to pop out the keyboard. Just insert a flat-headed screwdriver (or I use my tiny Swiss-army knife's flat-headed blade) in the small openings at the top of the keyboard. There are 4 clips underneath them to push down on. Do them one-by-one and you'll feel the keyboard pop loose as the clips release. The botton of the keyboard has vertical slots that slide in and out.

    BTW, if you are still a "lowly Marine", I had one son in the Marines (two tours in Falluja) and a second son who is presently a "Data Marine". He is on tour on a ship even now and just got his corporal stripes!
     
  16. Quatro

    Quatro Journeyman

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    Sorry, Midnighthawk. I didn't respond because I didn't/don't know what to tell you. Disturbing symptoms indeed.

    Sometimes, if I have a glitch that feels like the BIOS or a hardware spaz-attack (if your's does that on boot up, it's got to be hardware/BIOS/MB and not software), I'll:
    1) unplug the notebook
    2) remove the battery.
    3) Then press & hold the power key for 10 sec. (bleeds any remaining power in the system).
    4) Then I'll put the battery back in
    5) reboot the notebook
    6) press & hold the F2 key to get into BIOS.
    7) Then in the BIOS' last tab, I'll tell it to Restore Defaults in BIOS.
    8) Save settings & exit.

    And then see how the system behaves. Is your battery fully charged? Charges normally? I wouldn't have thought full battery vs AC adapter would have any affect on your bootup.
     
  17. lovelaptops

    lovelaptops MY FRIENDS CALL ME JEFF!

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    Apologies if this is not the right thread, but I didn't see anything for ordering the U30-jc.

    My question: where can you buy one? I can't find it anywhere!

    Thanks
     
  18. MrVibe

    MrVibe Notebook Consultant

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    I think I did the ultimate non scientific test because my wife still owns an old thinkpad r61 from work (the series with the magnesium alloy case, and the real thinkpad keyboard) which has honestly the best keyboard ever, absolutely no flex whatsoever). So I put the g73 and then the u30jc up to the test agains it

    and let's be honest the u30jc is losing the contest versus the thinkpad but is almost on par with the g73, a little lower because the g73 is also really sturdy. What is my non scientific conclusion? On the u30jc the keyboard right part is really flexing, try to type on all the keys from "delete" to "->" and you will see what I mean, this is not happening either on my g73 and even less on the r61. is it a big deal? Certainly Not defintely something asus could fix in their next design. I never understood why people are so anal about keyboard flex anyway, but i must admit that if you were to have a thinkpad keyboard in the asus, that would be a great plus.
     
  19. Th@n@tos

    Th@n@tos Notebook Consultant

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    Maybe try here:

    Asus U30JC-A1 13.3/Core i3-350M/NV G310M 512MB GDDR3/4GB DDR3 1066/320GB/DVDRW/Win7HP64/Silver: GenTech PC Store

    it states in stock!

    I saw this searching on Amazon as well:

    http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B0036ZEANO

    1 left in stock but the price is a tad steep I think!
     
  20. Quatro

    Quatro Journeyman

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    My U30Jc has absolutely zero flex on the right from the "delete" to the ">" key, or anywhere in the right third of my keyboard. So this is not a problem everyone is seeing.

    Again, this says to me the flex others are finding is related to places where their keyboard lifts slightly (1 mm or less) off of the supporting plate. This could be due to the keyboard's metal sheet being bent or warped slightly.

    The supporting plate underneath the keyboard (once the keyboard is lifted out) feels solid to me, so there should be no real flex, just a warped keyboard,or it's resting poorly on the cable ribbon underneath, IMO.
     
  21. Midnighthawk

    Midnighthawk Notebook Enthusiast

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    I wonder if upgrading the BIOS will help. I'm currently using version 204. I might try that first and then your method. This is just really disappointing after waiting a whole month just to get it.
     
  22. Quatro

    Quatro Journeyman

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    After posting a response to you, my U30Jc hung twice (in a new install of WinDVD Pro2010) and then hung on a black screen on bootup. On a hard bootup, the black frozen screen continued (!) Then I realized it was freaking out over my slim USB blu-ray drive plugged into two USB ports (no disc inside). Perhaps the extra power pull of the blu-ray drive was freezing it.

    I unplugged the blu-ray drive (tried it twice) reseated the battery, and it booted normally. Sometimes it's as simple a matter as that. Not always the notebook's fault.

    I hope you get yours sorted!
     
  23. findit

    findit Notebook Enthusiast

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    If those do not work, you might call Portable One - Custom Laptops; built the way you want them!. They had stock earlier this week. I know that they received a shipment last Friday. Maybe another this friday?

    FYI - both GenTech and PortableOne are located in California. I always like to know shipping time when making decisions.
     
  24. Midnighthawk

    Midnighthawk Notebook Enthusiast

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    *sigh* No cigar. After updating the BIOS and the computer shut down, I pressed the power button and to turn it on again and still got the same thing. I don't know what's wrong. Do you have to really press and hold on to the power button for a while or is there some weird kink to this thing? I usually just gently press it down like a click. It seems like the HDD does not respond in these situations, causing the fan to spin super loud.
     
  25. Cupra

    Cupra Notebook Enthusiast

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    Which country are you from?
    I thought the standart i7 version was with the 8 cells battery.

    I'm thinking to buy the i7 version that's available here in Portugal and it costs 1050€. I hope the battery that comes with it is the 8 cells or I'll be disappointed...

    This is it:
    A Fnac disponível 24h
     
  26. Quatro

    Quatro Journeyman

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    Wow. Sorry, Midnighthawk. If it were me, and on battery, the screen doesn't come on & the fan kicks into loud, I think I'd call ASUS tech support and start their trouble-shooting. You may have a fault in your MB.

    Tech-savy folks here have any thoughts or another suggestion?
     
  27. lowlymarine

    lowlymarine Notebook Deity

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    Random questions time. What kind of RAM and wireless cards did you all get? The review here reported getting DDR3-800 RAM and an Intel Wireless card, but my unit came with an Atheros wireless card (AR9285) and DDR3-1333(!) RAM.

    I also got a Seagate hard drive instead of a Hitachi, but that's nothing unusual.
     
  28. Quatro

    Quatro Journeyman

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    My US-bought U30Jc came with:
    320GB 5600rpm Hitachi HDD
    4GB (2x2GB) Micron DDR3-1066 (PC3-8500) SDRAM
    2-antenna Atheros AR9285 wireless card (that picks up many more wireless connections in my condo area than the 3 other devices in my home, incl my wife's 1-yr-old Macbook. I'm impressed with this wireless card's reception.)

    BTW, not sure if you noticed, but mine also came with a third antenna tucked in by the wireless card in case someone changed out the card for a 3-antenna wireless card ... but I'm happy with what it has.
     
  29. Quatro

    Quatro Journeyman

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    A crazy question on your problem: have you tried removing & reseating your RAM? Run a memory tester on your RAM? Poorly seated or faulty RAM can cause weird MB problems. Just a thought.

    That may not be your problem at all!
     
  30. garyxc

    garyxc Newbie

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    I am currently at idle and my u30jc is at 32ish% memory usage. Is that about right considering I have non-essential services disabled and bloatware uninstalled.

    Also, is the stock ddr3 memory pretty good, or could I benefit by upgrading to some name brand? I figure going to 8gb would be best but damn thats expensive.

    I also got a seagate 7200 rpm drive a couple days ago, I like it. This laptop runs very cool with only slight warmth coming from exhaust vent and hdd during video playback and gaming.
     
  31. Quatro

    Quatro Journeyman

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    Hard to say. I'm using Firefox right now (3 tabs open only), on the internet, of course, and have open Task Manager, my AV plus 11 other items in my task bar. Task Manager shows my CPU fluctuating around at 3-10%. I have my IGP set as the default GPU in NVIDIA Control Panel.

    My stock memory is Micron, which is good memory. As for how much you need, that depends on what apps you run and how many apps at the same time you have open. For me, the 4GB DDR3 SDRAM is more than enough. To get 8GB, you'd need to remove both 2GB sticks & buy/insert 2x 4GB DDR3 ... and as you said, expensive. On Newegg, the cheapest I see for 2x 4GB DDR3-1066 (PC3-8500) is $305.
     
  32. garyxc

    garyxc Newbie

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    thanks again quatro
     
  33. Quatro

    Quatro Journeyman

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    Help!

    I've upgraded to WinDVD Pro 2010, but even when I launch it via the context menu requesting "High-performance NVIDIA processor", Optimus stubbornly still runs it under the IGP.

    Is this just my setup or can one of the other U30Jc owners (who have WinDVD or PowerDVD 9 or up) test that app under Optimus and see if they can get it to use the discrete GPU?

    TotalMedia Theatre & Media Player Classic x64 under Optimus each use the NVIDIA GPU, but Optimus only runs WinDVD and PowerDVD on the IGP.

    I upgraded thinking it would solve this issue since WinDVD Pro 2010 is supposed to be WIn 7 64-bit compliant. No such luck.

    Help!
     
  34. eugenes

    eugenes Notebook Evangelist

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    Return WinDVD 2010 and buy TMT3 instead? I'm tempted to install the hybrid 195.xx drivers to see if those will work.

    Something else you might want to check is the actual executable WinDVD runs. The program could be modular and just loads different .exe files as needed. Have you tried putting all .exe files found in the directory into the profile?
     
  35. eugenes

    eugenes Notebook Evangelist

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    Pull the battery out and try turning the system on using only A/C power. If that works, then you probably have a bad battery (best case) or a motherboard with a bad charging system (worst case).

    A good way to test is to borrow the battery from a friend with a UL30/50/80 or U30 notebook.
     
  36. gary1958

    gary1958 Notebook Guru

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    According to the usa.asus.com website there are i5 and i7 versions of the U30JC. However, doing a google search I can't find any one selling these versions. Does anyone know if there are i5 and i7 versions out there? (In the USA that is).

    Thanks


    Gary
     
  37. lovelaptops

    lovelaptops MY FRIENDS CALL ME JEFF!

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    Thank you both for your suggestions. Amazon only has one, used, through a third party. They were taking "pre-orders" at one time but no more show the option.

    The two California stores show it out of stock and offer to let you order and claim no to charge your credit card until they ship.

    Do you know if Asus is shipping a steady supply of these, or does one probably have to wait 2 or more shipments to any given vendor before your name comes up on wait lists?

    Again, thanks for the suggestions.

    One last question: Are they as wonderful as they seem? I am not much of a gamer (so the gpu is fine for me); any other complaints most users experience? I will read the entire forum; not being truly lazy, just hoping a couple of you know cold the Pros and Cons after ownership, as I provide to people for the 2 other laptops I own.

    Many thanks
     
  38. Quatro

    Quatro Journeyman

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    If you are looking into the ASUS U & UL line of notebooks, it would help if you shared what it is you are looking for in the notebook; what are your wants/needs? Asking "are they as wonderful as they seem" is a very relative question. For one person, the dual graphics is wonderful, for another, they just want an IGP or they want the discrete GPU to be more powerful. One person may love the included DVD drive while another wishes the unit was thinner & had no DVD drive. One thinks the faster processor is well worth the loss of 2 hrs of battery life. For another, the loss of battery life is a bad thing.

    Out there now is the UL long-life battery line with the SU7300 processor (1.06-1.7GHz): UL30Vt (13"), UL80Vt (14"), UL50Vt (15"), & the i3-350 U30Jc. Soon to be released in the US are the UL30Jt, UL80Jt, U33Jc (bamboo line), UL50Vf, PL30Jt, etc. It would help to know what you're looking for.

    Pro's & Con's sometimes relate to problems/faults or aesthetics but also relate to personal choices (ODD/no ODD, faster processor/lower battery life, BT/no BT, etc).

    Here are some links to at least some of my thoughts/loves (& complaints) on my U30Jc:

    http://forum.notebookreview.com/asus/449726-u30jc-discussion-thread-30.html#post6143559
    http://forum.notebookreview.com/asus/449726-u30jc-discussion-thread-37.html#post6169001
    http://forum.notebookreview.com/asus/449726-u30jc-discussion-thread-37.html#post6169083
    http://forum.notebookreview.com/asus/449726-u30jc-discussion-thread-33.html#post6157456
    http://forum.notebookreview.com/asus/449726-u30jc-discussion-thread-34.html#post6158633

    Even with the "faults", I still like this notebook & am glad I bought it.
     
  39. Quatro

    Quatro Journeyman

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    I thought about getting TMT3 instead. I suppose it's all more of a curiosity issue. I'll keep using WD2010 for blu-ray and use Media Player Classic for regular DVD's or ripped files. It seems to work fine and doesn't tax my CPU so much.

    It's more of a puzzle. I think the reason this is happening is that WinDVD 10 & PowerDVD 9 are still 32-bit players, and under W7 64-bit, Optimus is choosing to run them under the IGP. The true 64-bit players like MPC x64 (and TMT3, I think) get run under NVIDIA.

    I think it's revealing that those players which Optimus only runs under the IGP have their launch file listed in NCP as beginning with an underscore (eg "_windvd.exe") which may mean they are 32-bit. I'm not sure what it means.

    TMT3 & MPC's launch files are just the regular file names with no underscore.

    Anything with streaming video/Flash, like HULU, is the opposite and seems to kick in the discrete GPU even if I tell Optimus to use the IGP.

    The 32-bit DVD players running under the IGP appears to me to be an Optimus glitch. That's just a guess.

    These are the times when manual choosing would be easier.
     
  40. eugenes

    eugenes Notebook Evangelist

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    AFAIK, TMT3 is a 32-bit program. I've used both PowerDVD and WinDVD before, but settled on TMT3 in the end.

    18 months till my next upgrade, so hopefully Nvidia will Optimus drivers all sorted out by then =P
     
  41. Quatro

    Quatro Journeyman

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    That's the reason I inserted "I think" :p

    ArcSoft lists it as for 32+64-bit so with the way Optimus handles it, I assumed it was a 64-bit app. I'll reinstall it and look, but I think you're right.

    If a 32-bit, it should install in the Program Files (x86) directory ... which it does, so it's a 32-bit app.

    So then, what is it that is making the difference, and those launch files with underscores (or normal looking as in TMT3)?

    An eventual Optimus driver update may sort out these tiny issues.

    Yep, should've just bought TMT3 Platinum and been done with it. I was fighting with the price tag. I now see there are discounts available if I had looked in the right place. :(
     
  42. Th@n@tos

    Th@n@tos Notebook Consultant

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    PM me the link and prices that you found please.
     
  43. eugenes

    eugenes Notebook Evangelist

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    Arcsoft frequently gives out coupon codes for 20-30% off. Just do a quick search and you can find several active ones :)
     
  44. garyxc

    garyxc Newbie

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    Btw, what happened to the nvidia widget that shows whether the discrete graphics was on or off. I believe you get a glimpse of it in cnet's video overview, just a tiny dark grey box with on or off. I can't find it anywhere.
     
  45. eugenes

    eugenes Notebook Evangelist

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    Only released to reviewers.
     
  46. Quatro

    Quatro Journeyman

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    Well, it's no big secret, so here are the latest coupon codes for everyone for ArcSoft's (hopefully excellent) TotalMedia Theatre 3 Platinum:
    ARC404P20 = 20% discount
    MOM2010 = 30% discount
     
  47. Quatro

    Quatro Journeyman

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    I just reinstalled TMT3 P and remembered why I didn't consider it ... I have a problem with TMT3 & the sound on my U30Jc.

    When I launch a DVD or DVD-ripped folder, TMT3 says, "The following feature(s) is not available: Dolby Digital Audio Decoder. Upgrade".

    I thought the 15-day trial was fully functioning? Any one else try the trial and have this limitation? 15-day limit isn't enough?

    Oh yes, and I forgot that the trial version also wouldn't play my blu-ray discs with the error message, "failed to utilize video overlay on graphics card" problem. Probably the full version will do it all properly.

    Or am I missing something?

    UPDATE: Oh, I see. From ArcSoft's support page:
    "Other applications aren't using our Dolby codecs and we won't use theirs, so whether they play Dolby tracks or not is irrelevent to TMT Trial version.
    TMT Trial version is not allowed to play Dolby per Dolby's request. If you buy the full version, it will play Dolby tracks. For testing purposes, use non-Dolby content."


    But this still doesn't answer if I can play blu-ray discs via my external blu-ray player. Will it work in the full version or is this a conflict with the NVIDIA discrete chip?
     
  48. lowlymarine

    lowlymarine Notebook Deity

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    For anyone interested, I've got my full review of the U30Jc up at my blog.
     
  49. Midnighthawk

    Midnighthawk Notebook Enthusiast

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    Thanks to all the people who offered suggestions. I ended up returning the laptop anyway. It didn't quite meet with my expectations. If I find nothing better within the next month, I might buy it again (here's to hoping that it comes without any frustrations).
     
  50. mrPico

    mrPico Notebook Deity

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    Extremely sad day for me... I am on my way home. I booked a STUPID ticket off Orbitz.com which had me wait at Trinidad and Tobago for ~26hours before getting on my next flight. When I arrived T&T, I did not check whether my combination lock was still on the luggage. I was looking for a cheap hotel stay but could not find one in my price range. I decided to stay at the airport. The Tourist booth tells me I can place my luggage in a room called "Left Luggage". I placed my luggages in there and the next day at around 5:00PM; I went to claim it back. I did not look at the luggage again. In the middle of my way to the check in counter I noticed my lock was missing. I immediately checked the content and the ASUS U30JC for my cousin in its box is gone... I hope the laptop explodes the face off of the thief. I did not notice that the Homeland Security of the US placed a note in their that they inspected that bag. I WILL NEVER BUY FROM ORBITZ AGAIN. I know it was my fault not to look clearly but how could they offer such a riduculous ticket. Could it be possible that the Homeland Security people took it? I think I lost two digital cameras too. I did not remember them until just now while thinking about this. I hope the airlines would help me. I had to pay for the Left Luggage place too to store my luggages. Sigh...
     
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