U30JC discussion thread

When I connect my U30 to my TV it only runs in 720p (which I assume is normal), and I also had to adjust the horizontal and vertical sizes. Can anyone confirm if they had to do the same thing?

 

I connected mine as well at 720p (because the tv itself was 720p) and I had to adjust the horiz. and vertical. I'm not quite sure how to adjust them very well. Intel makes it alot harder than nvidias control panel tool. I may have done it wrong, but whatever I did, it helped it a bit. It will support 1080p output, you might have to manually change the resolution though

 

Interesting, if someone could tell me how to get it to output in 1080p it would be much appreciated

 

Hi all

Quick question. I'm also trying to connect to my tv through HDMI. It seems to work fine when I select the "HDMI" mode. However, when I choose LCD + HDMI in hopes of having the image both on my tv, and on the laptop it doesn't work. The image is on the laptop, and the sound comes through the TV, but there is no image on the TV.

Any advice? Thanks

 

Just checked out the Asus shop in Taipei and they had the U35/U45 on sale.

These have the exact same casing as the UL30/UL80, but the palm rest has been upgraded to metal (or at least has a metal layer on top). Both comes in black and my first impression is that the U30 is better built. The keyboard still flexes slightly on these.

Specs:
i5-430M
2GB DDR3
Nvidia 310m w/1GB
500GB HDD
DVD (U45 only)
802.11n/Bluetooth
Comes with 6 or 8-cell battery

$1000 for the U45 and $950 for the U35.

Weight should be the same as UL30/UL80.

So for those of you holding out for the UL30/80VT's successor and don't want to wait for the UL30/80JT, the U35/45 should fit what you need, when it becomes available in your region.

I started a thread on the U35/45 and added slightly more info there.

 

Thanks, eugenes, for the helpful info!

 

Hey guys, I had a quick question and I was hoping you guys could help me out.

My C drive reads as 75 GB and my D hard drives reads as 206 GB. That adds up to 281 GB. Then I open disk management and it reports a third completely blank primary partition of 17 GB. What is the purpose of the this primary partition?

Interestingly, when using Linux, Linux is able to read a separate partition of 20 GB which is not able to be seen by Disk Management in Win 7. Which partition contains the recovery image installed by Asus? I'm assuming the 20 Gb partition.

75 Gb + 206 + 17 + 20 = 318 GB so I'm not seeing the 17Gb and 20Gb drive twice, they're separate partitions. The 17 Gb is completely blank and the 20 Gb is 75% full.

 

Due to 1024K=1MB (not 1,000K), your 320GB should total 298GB, not 318GB. When I bought my U30Jc, it initially was partitioned as follows:

17GB HIDDEN FAT32 partition = OS Restore files (there's no Win 7 install DVD. This is in lieu of that.)
75GB C: NTFS = Win 7 OS install partition
206GB D: NTFS = Storage area for files other than OS & app install files

17+75+206=298GB (320,070,287,360 bytes or 320GB)

The thinking behind this is that it's the OS primary partition that gets the greater amounts of reads & writes and therefore fragments the most. It's faster for the OS to defrag a 75GB partition than a full 281GB (75+206) ... or in my case, since I repartitioned my drive as a single partition of 298GB.

I've no idea what partition Linux is seeing as 20GB. Are you saying that Linux sees 4 partitions? Sometimes there is some leftover space in the partitioning, but that would be like 20MB, not 20GB.

Or perhaps I'm wrong and had a 20GB partition for the restore files, then it was 20+72+206=298GB. I can't be sure now as I've erased all of that, repartitioned & reinstalled the OS.

But Win 7's Disk Management reports my entire 320GB disk as 298GB, as I said. It's a trick of figuring it in summarized bytes or as GB's. It should have reported the same total on yours.

If Linux saw a 4th partition, that should be a small leftover that is basically unformatted and NOT 17 or 20GB big.

Any other more tech-savy folks have any input?

 

Quattro,


Linux only sees three partitions. 20Gb, 75 Gb, 206 Gb. I forgot about 1024 k = 1 mb. I assumed that 320 GB means 320 GB and 206, 75, 20, 17 conveniently add up to near 320. I thought that Linux didnt see the hidden partition but saw a 20 Gb that was missing.

I guess Linux reads the 17 gb hidden partition as 20 gb. I'm sure it was 20 GB because I never partitioned my hard drive. I used wubi.

 

Ah, then that 20GB Linux is seeing is indeed the hidden FAT32 restore partition.

 

I am having a bit of an issue, not that it matters really I am more just curious. My Fn button does not appear to be working with all the functions. For instance, it works with Sleep, wifi, brightness, and monitor, however, it does not worth with volume and some of the other buttons. Anyone have an idea as to why this is happening?

 

driver update? Had the same problem on my UL30A, only some functions worked (screen brightness) until I installed the drivers.

I think it's called the ATK hotkey utility.

 

I agree. I'd reinstall the ATK Hotkey driver (reinstalling all of the ATK ones won't hurt) and then fully shut down & reboot.

See if that helps.

BTW, is your present OS & drivers from the original factory install or did you reinstall Win 7 from a DVD and then use the drivers CD to put in the drivers? I'm asking to be sure you have all of your drivers installed. I reinstalled the OS and then picked & chose some of the drivers from the CD ... and I missed a few important ones. I didn't have full functionality of all of my Fn hotkeys (eg. Fn+C and Fn+V) until I installed all of the ASUS drivers & apps and then removed ones I felt I didn't need little by little.

 

You guys are awesome. I have done a fresh install and installed ALL the drivers on the disk (drivers not programs). I have the "keyboard" driver, and the "ATKACPI" driver which I believe is for the keyboard as well. What I DON'T have installed are the following ATK programs:
ATK Generic Function Service
ATK Hotkey
ATK Media
ATK OSD2
I believe these are all to do with the keyboard, but to be perfectly honest I would rather not install them unless I know exactly what they are for. It seems as though most of the Fn keys worth with the exception of volume and mute, so I am really not sure whats going on!

Edit: I decided to install the ATK Hotkey program and that solved the issue (It now also displays on the screen volume, brightness, etc.)
So, not sure what the others do, or if I need them, but I guess I'll just wait and see if something comes up.

Edit2: after some searching I found this post which explains exactly what they all do. Figured I would post it here in the event anyone was as curious as I was. http://forum.notebookreview.com/asus/222868-asus-atk-hotkey-downloads.html#post3035399

 

I wouldn't rule out all of the ASUS apps.

The ASUS Splendid Utility is nice as well. It activates the Fn+C keys and allows you to choose from several different Gamma coloring templates that affect the slight color tinting on your screen. Easier to try it then for me to explain it.

ASUS Lifeframe is needed if you want to set up your webcam with any special requests (resolution changes, zoom, etc) and activate your Fn+V keys.

I found the ASUS Fastboot did help my boot time. It took a few boots for it to learn and then I told it certain ones I wanted to load last.

I assume you have ASUS' Power4Gear installed. That's a pretty good program for power management.

The weird one I at first left out was the " Intel Management Engine" driver which is listed as the "MEI_INTEL_XP32_VISTA_WIN7.zip. That became obvious when I looked at my Device Manager and saw an area with the yellow question mark.

Win 7 64-bit isn't as limited as the old 32-bit Windows memory days. 4GB is a lot and it can access it all. A few programs in memory don't seem to affect my operation's speed that much.

Perhaps by Christmas, I'll have enough saved to buy a Seagate 640GB Hybrid Drive (HDD+small SSD), if they've come out with that size by then (they're up to 500GB right now.) I'd love a real SSD but it's just too expensive for me.

 

I do have some of the Asus apps, I should have made that clearer. I did originally have the Power4Gear one, but I hated the fact that every time I changed power profiles it would un-hide my desktop icons. I'm pretty sure you can do almost everything with the regular high performance, balanced and battery saver modes so I am not overly concerned with not having it.

I am also considering an SSD, was looking at the Crucial C300 and the Intel's today. If I were to purchase now I think I would go with the Intel, although it may be a bit slower you get more space for the same money. We'll see.

 

I've read on many websites n this forum that this laptop is getting around 7 hours battery life no problem with WLAN turned on. For me, I turned the brightness settings to very low but WLAN turned on, but I still only get around 5 hours. Any advice?

 

Under "Power Options", you can select "Change Plan Settings" beside any plan and then "Change Advanced Power Settings". Then you can change about anything, incl the hide icons feature under "Battery Saving" mode.

I changed that long ago, so my desktop wallpaper & icons stay put when I use that low power mode.

The beauty of the Power4Gear modes is that they set the minimum & maximum of the processor. You can do that manually via the above method, but P4G makes it very straightforward & easy to see & access.

 

Just checking in on the U30JC users...Has anyone tried getting OSX on their UC30JC?

 

What is your:
1) Power saving plan/mode (affects min/max speed of CPU)
2) Default GPU under NVIDIA Control Panel
3) Any websites viewed using flash or video, etc.
4) Any app or game that might make a call to Optimus for the NVIDIA discrete GPU to be used
5) Anything plugged into your USB ports

These affect battery life as well. Not just brightness & WiFi on.

Oh, and if you're outside the US, does your U30Jc have the 5600mAh battery?

 

I'm within US, so yea. Just wondering, does the Power Saver plan save more battery or the P4G Battery Saving mode?

 

"Battery Saving" mode allows the CPU to operate between 5%-60% of its stock speed. "Power Saver" mode allows the CPU to operate between 5%-100% of its stock speed.

So I'd think Battery Saving is better. Many dislike Battery Saving's making the desktop wallpaper & icons disappear. You can change that by the method I just described above on pg 112.

"Quiet Office " often gives me pretty good battery life as well and isn't as extreme as "Battery Saving".

 

Sorry, chris2K5. We're not allowed to discuss OSX installation on non-Apple hardware on this forum as that is illegal.

... and it is, actually. And anyway, you lose features as well by going that route. Best to do it the right way and stay within the law.

 

You can also change the CPU percentages in the advanced options for "power saver". And since many have to go into these options anyway if you want to change the Power4Gear options (as you noted previously), I don't really see the benefit of using the Power4Gear ones over the stock ones.

 

I would remind you OSX on non-Apple HW is against their EULA. So please don't discuss it further on these forums.

Thanks!

 

You're absolutely right. Beyond the graphical interface and ease of use (direct quick access) of the basic power modes, P4G isn't needed. All of those settings & changes (and more) are available through the advanced power settings.

But a true confession ... I really like Power4Gear because I like the way it ripples and pops up as I change a mode. That wave effect is really cool. I try to change modes at least once a day just to see it ripple.

 

Ah ha! Now we're getting to the truth!!

 

NOTE: I posted this in another thread but it is actually about the U30JC. I felt it may be useful to some who are new to this thread so I'm reposting it here.

I've owned my U30JC since it was first released on Amazon at the start of April (8th). So it's been a little over 2 months. Here are a few pro's & con's IMO:

The Aluminum Lid
To me, the aluminum plate on the lid (same as on the UL30VT/JT) is far too thin. You have to be careful with it.

Aluminum construction doesn't always mean stronger. I'd not worry if I dropped something on my other two notebooks' thick plastic lids, but the ASUS aluminum lid feels like it will dent easily and is very flexible.

By contrast, the MBP's unibody is a casing entirely made of aluminum. The lid is impossible to bend in my hands. They're just a lot thicker and of an entirely different shape. The MBP lid can handle a bit of abuse.

I baby the lid of my U30JC.

When I take hold the lid/screen in two hands (while the notebook is resting on the table & the lid is up), I find I can easily bend the screen & lid in my hands; hence my concern. I cannot do this with my Dell Vostro nor my ASUS netbook.

On the other hand. the thinness of the aluminum lid doesn't mean (to me) it isn't durable. My U30JC feels VERY solid. It only means that it has its vulnerable spots. But honestly, when the lid is open, who (but me) pries & twists on the lid & screen? When it is closed, the chassis & keyboard provide plenty of support for the screen. I do still think the lid could be dented if you hit or whacked it hard enough. I would take extra care if I were a student carting it around freely in my backpack.

The Screen Bezel
As well, the bezel is an odd flexible plastic around the screen that is barely popped on (tiny plug-like bumps) and can be easily pulled on & separated from the lower edge of my screen. Again my Dell Vostro & ASUS netbook are nothing like that.

Others don't have that problem, so that may be a construction issue with my unit from the factory (the workers were in a hurry?). I merely used two fingers to press firmly on both sides all around the edges of the screen. As I did this, little pops were heard as the bezel frame popped more firmly into place in the lower section. Several others did NOT have this issue so it's not a general manufacturing issue.

And it wasn't a big deal as it's fine now ... and who pulls on their screen bezel anyway (besides me)? That's on my lid.

The LCD TN Panel Itself
For me, my screen is quite adequate. Good color, etc, though it does have its problems w/ light bleed in the lower 1/3 of my screen making washed-out blacks & very limited vertical viewing angles. The shiny & highly reflective surface of the screen is what you'd expect ... very shiny & reflective! Here are three quick links. The most informative is the link to the AnandTech review on the screen:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/asus/449726-u30jc-discussion-thread-108.html#post6324418
http://forum.notebookreview.com/asus/449726-u30jc-discussion-thread-109.html#post6325182
AnandTech's LCD Analysis on the U30JC

The Keyboard's Aluminum Backing
Others have felt a keyboard flex. I have never felt that in my keyboard. The keyboard with its aluminum backing, if popped out, easily bends in one's hands and can be easily warped (!) I've done it. The metal sheet supporting it in the chassis is fairly strong and doesn't bend. There was a very tiny warp that happened when *I* popped out my keyboard to see how it was seated and constructed.

That's why I suspect some people's complaints of keyboard flex is merely a warped keyboard not resting flat on its supporting metal sheet attached to the chassis frame. It takes only a very tiny bit of warp for the keyboard to feel like it is rattling slightly in its seat in one area while typing. The good news is that such tiny warps can be straightened out with work & feel. I've done that too.

And as Bronsky recently commented to me, "Double-sided tapes cures all."

Hinge & Chassis
The hinge seems very solid as does my entire chassis. My keyboard seems very quiet unless I bash on the keys.

No Underside Air Vents Yet It Stays Very Cool
I like that there are NO air vents on the bottom to accidentally cover up. That's kinda' cool (no pun intended). The U30JC draws air from the front and pushes it out the left side. My unit runs mega-cool. I've played games with it sitting on my legs (while in shorts) and I felt nothing except it being only slightly warm on the upper left side (though the exhaust during gaming can get pretty hot). The aluminum palm rest just adds to the feeling of being cool-to-the-touch.

A Little Thick
While it DOES add 3/16" more thickness plus a pound more weight compared to the UL30VT/JT, I like having an internal DVD drive. I use it at least once every week. And some are glad to have the extra space if they want to remove their DVD drive and put in a drive caddy (with the same cover plate) for an extra HDD or SSD. Yes, the original faceplate can be removed & reattached to the replacement caddy.

CPU is Fast
When I open Word 2007 the first time after a boot up, it takes about 4-5 sec. After it is cached, it takes about 1 1/2 sec. That's nearly instant. And that is with the stock 320GB 5400rpm HDD. Awesome! I generally keep my unit asleep so that it opens instantly when I need it.

I really like this unit and the look of it. I think it looks classy. A tad thick, but classy nonetheless. (And still lighter than my old Dell Vostro 1000 15".)

 

Hey, everyone.

NVIDIA just released their new Optimus WHQL 257.21 drivers for the 310M here.

These work fine (so far) with my U30JC.

Enjoy!

 

Thanks for the review, Quatro. There's a lot of useful info there

 

quatro, i downloaded the optimus driver. and now i cant access my nvidia control panel. D:

 

Thinking of installing an SSD in this unit. Does it come with the OS cds, as well as software cds in the retail package?

 

Are you serious? What unit do you have? The U30JC like me?

I can access my NVIDIA Control Panel just fine. Strange. Oh well, then either roll back to your previous NVIDIA driver or install an earlier version. Or uninstall the NVIDIA driver, reboot and install an earlier version.

But if you're using the U30JC, something else must be causing the problem. Perhaps your AV. Perhaps you're not using a 64-bit OS or you downloaded the wrong file. Because the 257.21 drivers work well so far on my U30JC.

Did you clearly specify Win 7 64-bit as your OS in the Optimus download fields before you downloaded? Are you using W7 64-bit?

A bit more info might help clear this up.
1) What unit are you using? U30JC?
2) What OS are you using? 64-bit or 32-bit?
3) What's the name of the NVIDIA file you downloaded? My NVIDIA driver file I downloaded is named:
257.21_notebook_winvista_win7_64bit_international_whql.exe
Is that the file name that you downloaded?

 

The U30JC doesn't come with any OS DVD. Mine only came with a single DVD for ASUS drivers & apps. ASUS keeps an image set of the Win 7 install files in a hidden FAT32 17GB partition.

When you first boot up, it will prompt you to burn several DVD's (mine required 4) as a back up of your OS for later reinstall, should you need it. It took my computer about 2 1/2 hrs to burn those 4 DVD's. Ugh.

For me, after I had burned the required DVD's, I repartitioned the 3 partitions into one and reformatted it as a bootable drive. Then I downloaded a Windows 7 64-bit Home Premium image file (ISO), made a DVD from it and reinstalled the OS. When asked for a key, I used the key on the bottom of my unit. It worked. But when it came time to activate, I had to phone in, but the phone process hardly took 10 min.

You can find, on this forum, links to where to download these Microsoft LEGAL ISO files. Just search for them.

Then I used the included ASUS drivers & apps DVD to install the needed driver & apps ... and I was good to go!

 

Can I have the Link?

 

Alright, thanks for the info!

 

I really want a laptop with intergrated bluetooth and atleast i5, preferrably i7. 13", long battery life and discreet graphics are a must.
U30JC is the closest to perfect at the moment--should I wait for other laptops to come out? I leave for college on August 15th.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/wha...chool/492495-asus-u30jc-wait.html#post6363531

 

If I were you (and if I had the budget) I would suggest taking a look at the Sony Z series. They have the most powerful 13" laptops I've seen to date. Also, for a more wallet friendly series, I was almost going to get the Dell Vostro 3300 (it has bluetooth, backlit keyboard and the i5 at a similar price) but steered away because it didn't have HDMI, which for me is a MUST so I can run Hulu Desktop to hdtvs. If you can go smaller, I would wait and get the Alienware M11x, as it's going to be getting an i7 in the new models, although I'm unsure of the release date on those.

I ended up going with the i3 and no bluetooth because I really didn't have a need for bluetooth (my last laptop had it and I only used it with a mouse, which I sold) and I've spent literally hours and hours looking at the spec sheet (ark.intel.com) for the various i3's and i5's and i7's. The difference between the i3's and i5's are not very big. The i7 would be pretty handy (especially in running virtual machines and encoding) but I have a Desktop for those tasks.

IMO, the U30Jc is still the best pick out there because of the balance of performance along with an 8 cell battery (US Model) You could order the i3 version WITH bluetooth from gentechpc.com It's the U30jc-A2B build.

 

eugenesaur, what ever happened on your NVIDIA Optimus driver problems?

 

hi all, since I updated to the new drivers my u30jc ramdomly freezes and sometines I get a BSOD and then windows reboot winth a low resolution and no GPU under control panel.

Does this happens to anyone of you?

 

I didn't realize there was a thread for this laptop, so I'll post this in here:

Hi guys, I think I have settled in on the idea of sacrificing power, for size, and battery life. I was looking at the ASUS U30JC-A1 and that 9.5 hour estimate of battery life is pretty tempting (if only it had a backlit keyboard )

My question is, if I upgraded to say 6 gb of 1333mhz (or possibly 1033) ram, or even just upgraded the 4 gigs of 1033 to 1333 would this affect the battery life much?

If I were to upgrade the hardrive from a 320gb (5400Rpm) hard drive to a 320 gb (7200 rpm) hard drive, or even to a 500 gb 5400 rpm, or 7200 rpm hard drive, would this effect the battery life much?

Finally, if I put a blu ray reader in there, would it use more battery life than a standard cd/dvd drive for blu ray discs, and would it use more battery life for regular cd/dvds?

Thanks for the help in advanced!

 

Oh no! You too? What have I done to you & eugenesaur by giving the link to these latest NVIDIA drivers?

I can access my NVIDIA Control Panel just fine & the 257.21 WHQL drivers aren't giving me any trouble at all, in fact I played an intense 3 hrs of HL2:E2 last night. The drivers worked great.. Strange. Oh well, then either roll back to your previous NVIDIA driver or install an earlier version. Or uninstall the NVIDIA driver, reboot and install an earlier version.

But if you're using the U30JC, something else must be causing the problem. Perhaps your AV. Perhaps you're not using a 64-bit OS or you downloaded the wrong file. Because the 257.21 drivers work well so far on my U30JC.

Did you clearly specify Win 7 64-bit as your OS in the Optimus download fields before you downloaded? Are you using W7 64-bit?

A bit more info might help clear this up.
1) I can see from your sig that your U30JC is using the Intel i7 620M TBoosted to 3,33GHz. That means your unit wasn't bought in the US and you may not be working on English-only Windows 7. Is that accurate? Perhaps the i7 Turbo boosted to 3.33GHz is making your system fragile. Can you step the i7 down to it normal range? Or does the i7 only go to 3.33GHz when a heavy demand is put on it?
2) What OS are you using? 64-bit or 32-bit?
3) What's the name of the NVIDIA file you downloaded? My NVIDIA driver file I downloaded is named:
257.21_notebook_winvista_win7_64bit_international_whql.exe
Is that the file name that you downloaded?

Again, I'm using a US-sold U30JC under Windows 7 Professional 64-bit & Kapersky AV and am have NO problems whatsoever.

Are you able to roll back or go back to the older NVIDIA driver that was working for you?

 

I believe the U30JC's system board utilizes the RAM at 1033MHz, so faster RAM won't do anything. It will still be accessed at 1033MHz.

No, I don't believe it will affect battery life very much.

Not sure. I don't think so. The power is to spin the drive, so blu-ray or DVD should be the same. But I can't be positive.

 

yes, the link you gave us is to the w7 64bits.

The cpu is working at normal range, it boost automatically and only when it needs extra processing power.

W7 home premium 64bits

yes, that's the file I downloaded.

I can access to nvidia control panel. This doesn't happens when I access to nvidia control panel.
This happened when I'm only doing normal office tasks and 2 times yesterday got a BSOD and reboots with low resolution and no gpu under control panel.
To fix it I have to go to BIOS and make Reset defaults and then it boots normal again.
I'll not roll back to previous drivers until it happens a few more times, I'll take a printscreen and dump of the error and I'll send to Asus and Nvidia.

 

I'm going to get my UL30JC (i5) today
I'm interested in putting in an 32gb ssd with a caddy where the optical drive is. Is that hard to do for a person with little to no experience?

 

Search on this site forum for a "how to" change out your DVD drive for a caddy to hold your HDD (and you put your SSD in the HDD slot).

It's there somewhere. A link even showed photos. Very handy.

 

What kind of bag fits the U30JC like a glove, has good support and pockets to fit extra stuff?

 

Well, it is 1066MHz instead of 1033MHz.

But the board doesn't make the difference at all. Only the CPU is the one to support certain speeds as long as the signal tracks on the PCB support those speeds with a good Signal/Noise Ratio. But I doubt that they will cause problems. Last thing is the BIOS not supporting those speeds maybe, but don't think Asus put a lock on that.

Still if it isn't supported, the speed will be lowered to 1066MHz. It also won't affect battery life by much. Same voltage, other frequency. Very little difference.

Also, keep in mind that the Asus U30Jc does roughly 11-12W consumption already which is very very very low. There is very little to win with modifications anywaym so just do them when you think you need that extra speed as you won't see big differences in battery life.

 

hi all,

The only thing that has been holding me back from getting this bad boy is the bad screen (or average more like it). Is the viewing angles that bad? Cause i will be doing some presentations with this in my coaching sessions and the last thing i need is for my client to spend time adjusting the screen properly so they can see it fully.

 

Ha! Leave to my engineering Dutch friend to put in the right information. I stand corrected .... and a true and worthy correction it was!

By the system board, I was meaning the BIOS on the board since they are typically sold together, but wasn't being detailed. I suspect it's the BIOS which determines the BUS speed and therefore determines the CPU one can use (plus the seating mount size & pin holes) plus other factors in the MB's construction.

Yep, I wrote without looking up my own RAM spec speed. A bit lazy of me. It is 1066MHz indeed.

To quote one poster (who hopefully researched better than I!):
"The U30JC models uses the PM45 chipset which can only support up to 1066Mhz FSB so any faster ram will just run on the motherboards max speed of 1066. It would simply be a waste of money if u put 1333 ram in the laptop"

And GenTechPC chimes in:
"Core i3 and i5 will only support 1066Mhz of RAM, so even if you put 1333 in there it'll only read 1066 that's why we didn't list it as an option."

So you're right that it is the CPU determining it, not simply BIOS, or a combination thereof.

As for speed upgrade, I'd think an SSD would do a lot more than an expensive RAM increase. For me, I'm holding out for a Seagate Hybrid drive (an SSD is still too expensive for me) once they offer the hybrid 640GB (and even better if the NAND flash was upgraded to 8GB instead of 4GB. I'm sure it will come eventually). We'll see.