U30JC discussion thread

Probably not. HP switched those keys were you will need to hold Fn to use the F1-F12 buttons instead.

Oh and I finally ordered my Asus U30Jc.

Specs:
Asus U30Jc - QX043V (German)
Intel Core i5 430M 2,26 - 2,53GHz
4GB DDR3 1066MHz
500GB 5400rpm HDD
GF 310M / Intel HD Hybrid
Wifi, Bluetooth
8 cell 5600mAh battery

Can wait. Hope that zhe Germans ship zhe laptop schnell

 

My wife's MB also has a single key (something like F10-F12) that controls the sound.

I think on the ASUS you must do a 2-key hotkey combo to control the sound. And, yes, I realize that if you want to do it one-handed, those F10-F12 keys are far away from the Fn key.

Just the way it is.

 

Oh. I'm jealous. An i5-430M that's TurboBoost capable AND internal bluetooth.

I've added a tiny USB bluetooth dongle and I'll eventually order a hybrid drive (tiny SSD+HDD) ... and I've learned to be content with my i3-350M that doesn't go over 2.26GHz.

With different experiences on the keyboard rise/flex issue, let me know how yours is. Will you be changing out your keyboard or keeping the German one?

On my keyboard there is still a very tiny, tiny raised area near my F3 key, but I have to look to notice it.

 

You don't want to CREATE an image file, but use an existing one (an ISO file). Use the ISO link I gave you above to download. That will save you a few steps. Then tell ImgBurn (or whoever) to burn that ISO image to disc.

 

I will be swapping the keyboard, but it can take some time before I get it (shipping would be 15-30 days :| ). I will keep you updating, alsow with my SSD and HDD caddy (that will also arrive much later).

 

He mentions that his pre-production notebook has an "Intel Wireless Display" adapter. I'm not sure if the U30JC comes with that adapter or not or is even compatible. To do WiDi it must be" Intel Wireless Display compatible".

UPDATE: Doing more reading, I'm not clear if the U30JC's i3-350M comes bundles with WiDi compatibility. It appears that only a few notebooks do.

Is WiDi linked to the processor since it is Intel tech? Articles mention the i5.

Looking at the Intel WiDi site, they list 10 laptops with WiDi compatibility ("it just works"). The U30JC is NOT among them.

Next generation?

 

AND you're going to do the caddy swap with your ODD bay and put in an SSD/HDD combo.

Now I'm REALLY jealous!

 

But you paid like $450 less Looking at the € <> $ conversion, I already paid 23.77% more on the notebook itself

 

Ah yes. I lived in the UK for 3 yrs. I forget about those conversion rates (and taxes.)

Okay, I'm sort of jealous. I don't have an SSD combo because I'm unwilling & unable to pay the price. So I'll have to settle for the poor man's solution: a Seagate Momentus XT Hybrid HDD (later, when they get to 640GB and a larger NAND flash.)

I was just looking at the Acer 3820TG Owner's Lounge. It's specs combined with the graphic power of the HD5650 is very impressive ... but I mustn't look any further.

In truth, it's all relative. What I have is more than adequate for my needs. Even in gaming, my speed is about HL2 or HL2:E2 level. For that, the 310M is great. I don't play many games. I own about 4 games now and it'll take me a long time to get through them at the speed I play them.

I won't be upgrading my laptop for at least the next 3 yrs. (I'll try. I promise.)

 

Well, it is still a nice invention. You could also use a caddy and buy a SSD when prices drop. Intel is already busy with a smaller production proces to lower the price.

The only thing better in the Acer is the graphics, by much yes. But on the downside:

- Just 1 year warranty (at least, in Holland we have, nor do I get i year ADW..)
- Runs hotter
- Lacks the DVD drive (important to me )
- Brightness is only 160cd/m2 where the U30Jc measures 230cd/m2 (cd/m2 = nits)

I game on my desktop, my laptop could be used for some older simple games, but not more then that. The U30Jc is a better laptop compared to the Acer in my eyes. The only positive point is its graphics power, but the U30Jc has some other good features to be competitive.

I don't know how the 3820TG is with its cooling, the 4820TG does clock down to prefent itself from overheating... That is a mayor cooling design fail that wouldn't have my recomondation.

Overall, the U30Jc lacks some graphics power, but promises a cool, stable, rock solid laptop that you can count on. The Acer will never give me that feeling.

 

As is typical with you, you've researched the features well (I only just looked a bit today).

My son has a Lenovo Y560 with the i7-720QM Quad-core and, I think, the HD5730. Its graphics chip is awesome ... but, when I used it a bit, I found that it gets REALLY hot and the fan is noisy & never gets quiet when doing anything with graphics. Battery life was poor as well, I think, because there's no shared Intel IGP.

Conversely, even in graphic-intensive things, the U30JC stays very cool. The air from the vent gets warm-to-hot but not the chassis.

On a funny downside to the vent air, when I play HL2:E2, it requires using the W, S, A+D keys to move Freeman forward or back, etc. So my left hand dangles over the left side of the keyboard making the end fingers get hot from the vent's air! I shall have to remap those 4 keys over to the right a bit to get my hand out of the fan's exhaust.

The screen is very bright; too bright at times, so I have to scale it back.

I don't have a desktop any more. Just the two notebooks.

I think our screen is sub-par compared to the MB+MBP's present TN panels (apparently, not all TN panels are created equal.) Movie watching is annoying for me with the large light bleed at the bottom (3820TG is the same).

But I'll get over this by buying soon a Samsung P2570 HDTV monitor (25" is what I can afford.) My wife+I tried to watch a movie last Saturday night together. The light bleed on her older MB, Dell Vostro 1000 and my U30JC was pretty unbelievable+useless. It annoyed us both, because that's not its strength.

Comparatively, the U30JC was by far the brightest. And in daily use, the light bleed is hardly noticeable.

For movies, we'll use an external screen. For now, when I'm alone, I ignore the light bleed.

And as you said, ASUS' 2-yr warranty and the 1-yr ADW is remarkable. So you DO get that 1-yr extra ADW in Holland. The one poster several pages back from Sweden appeared to not have it.

My U30JC does feel (mostly) rock-solid in construction. I say "mostly" because I take off a point for their looser-than-I-like flexible bezel on the lower part of my screen.

But that doesn't affect the construction as a whole. This notebook is very solid.

 

I won't be using it for watching full movies or photo editting as well. I will just a nice old JVC TV screen (and no, it is not a flatscreen, just a heavy **** huge TV). However, the high brightness is a big plus for me so I can use the U30Jc in the garden or while traveling in the train.

The Acer would be comparable to my current notebook. I can use it in the shadow, but the U30Jc will be much better. My F3Sc and A6T really generated much heat, are heavy and have a low battery time. For me, a real laptop has a bright screen, a long uptime on the battery and doesn't produce much heat. That is the only way you can actually use it as a real laptop. My F3Sc can get pretty hot when I use it on my lap....

 

Ha. I had an older HUGELY FAT Panasonic TV that I recently gave away.

I hope that works out for you. When I'm outside, that highly reflective screen does get in the way.

Just for you, I went outside to my backyard. It's 2 PM here and a cloudless, very hot (35° C), sunny day. Sitting in the direct sunlight and at full brightness, I can still read the screen. Not comfortable on my eyes, but it is readable. Sitting outside in the shade, it is super-readable.

 

The "adapter" that he mentions is made by netgear and it plugs into your tv. Here is the adpater: NETGEAR - Push2TV Adapter for Intel® Wireless Display - PTV1000-100NAS

It is not officially compatible per Intel. As Intel states it must a Intel Graphics card. But with Optimus you have the luxury of the Nvidia graphics card when needed and the Intel Graphics card as well. So, with his theory and by what he is stating, when you use the intel wireless display (netgear box) the Nvidia Optimus will automatically switch to the intel graphics card and thus it will work.

 

That is the difference. My current laptop is not comfortable in the shade and not readable at all in sunlight.

 

It sounds like the laptop must use a wireless function to communicate with the adapter. Older systems used a USB dongle. Intel's saying that on compatible systems, that USB dongle is no longer needed.

A bit like internal bluetooth vs an external USB bluetooth dongle.

I'm still not sure the U30JC is internally compatible, but I'm still very uninformed. I've not read enough on this technology.

 

I wonder whatever happened to Helpmyfriend and his ISO / Win 7 install trials. I hope he got some sleep!

A shame if he returns the SSD & the U30JC. A great combination and he'll learn more working through it.

I offered to mail him a Win 7 install DVD (I think he lives in Canada). Save him some grief. But it would be better if he learns how to use the ISO file.

 

Couldn't agree more.

 

Tell me more about this "light bleed", I watch movies on my laptop. In low light situations is this an issue?

 

I think it's easier to show than to explain..
Here's a random google image
http://www.elsniwiki.de/uploads/Main/inspron9400_black.jpg

Basically, the backlight is bleeding through the screen, and it's more noticeable during dark (or full black) scenes.. so you won't be able to see actual BLACK on your screen.

I've got a U30JC-A2B coming in tomorrow, so I'll let you know what I think about the screen.

 

Yep. That pretty much sums it up. Though cameras can make it look worse then it does to the human eye.

Here's another photo. This one looks closer to how it actually looks:



And that's a photo from last year's MBP model.

The easiest way to see it on the U30JC is to set the screen saver to "blank" and then preview the screen saver in a dim or dark room.

To be fair, most laptops seem to have this issue.

In regular use, it's hardly noticeable, but in a dark room with a movie going ... mine's pretty noticeable. It feels like I need to adjust the screen except no adjustment removes the bleed, unless I push it further back, which helps the bottom half but pushes the upper half darker/murkier or into negative.

 

And here is someone's new Alienware m11x screen's light bleed!



Again, the camera is making it look more extreme than it actually is. The light isn't THAT light.

Still, it is a problem. So many units are affected by this.

Most of us, like me, just get used to it or use an external monitor.

 

And here is my U30JC while watching "Galaxy Quest":



Like I said, light bleed.

Trying to adjust it, you can see where it is starting to go into negative in the upper corners.

 

Thanks guys!

 

Just got my U30JC...
unfortunately it has infinite light bleed

 

I was hoping you all could help me with an external monitor. I am looking for something either 23-24" that I can connect my laptop to while at home. What I don't understand is resolutions. Yes, I know what they mean, but I don't know whether the monitor I purchase will work correctly with my U30. Are there any insights or advice you guys could give me? I am looking at these two Samsung's
Samsung Syncmaster 23" Widescreen LCD Monitor With 5ms Response Time (B2330H) - Best Buy Canada
Samsung 24" Widescreen LCD Monitor (B2430H) - Best Buy Canada

edit: am also looking for a good bluetooth keyboard and mouse combo to go with my little setup

 

Prepare for a detailed explanation...

Resolution is how many pixels (individual points/dots) there are on the screen. Width by Height

Your laptop's screen has a resolution of 1366x768
Those monitors are both 1920x1080.
The standard HD (high-def) resolutions are 1280x720, and 1920x1080

The ideal scenario is to set your resolution in windows to a 1:1 ratio.. Meaning if your screen is 1366x768, you should set windows to that. You can set it lower, but it will stretch the screen to fill the screen area (making it a tad blurry)

The biggest thing is to make sure the ratios (Width / Height) between the resolutions are the same, so the image will scale accurately. For instance...
1366x768 is = 1.77864583333...
1280x720 is = 1.777777...
1920x1080 is = 1.777777...

So if you upscaled 1366x768 to a 1920x1080 monitor, it would be super close (but not exact) to the new resolution. (You should be fine)

Now, in Windows there are a few ways you can set this up. If you use Windows 7 hit Windows Key + P it will popup and ask you to pick how you want to manage your screens.
- You can choose to display your desktop on either the laptop OR the external monitor. Meaning the resolution would be different based on whether your laptop or external was set as the display. (This is ideal).. You would have a larger workspace while using the external (unless you set windows to a lower resolution for that display, in which case it would stretch the image)
- You can do screen duplication, where your laptop and external monitors are both on, and you'd see the same thing on both, windows would use the 1366x768 resolution and the image would be upscaled (stretched) to your external monitor.
- You can also extend your desktop (dual monitors), where your laptop and external monitors are both on, but each one is separate. If you set them to use their native resolutions (1366x768 on the laptop and 1920x1080 on the external).. the workspaces would be attached. Meaning you could have a window on your laptop, and drag a separate window onto your external monitor, and the external just asks as an extra workspace.

Now, as far as those two monitors are concerned.. the only differences I can see off hand..
B2330H: 23", 3 year warranty, VGA, DVI, HDMI
B2430H: 24", 1 year warranty, VGA, DVI

Your laptop has a VGA and HDMI port to hookup to an external. VGA is analog (older tech), DVI/HDMI are digital. You'll get a better picture with DVI/HDMI. If you went with the 23", you could hook up your laptop effortlessly with an HDMI cable.. Otherwise if you got the 24", you'd need to get an HDMI -> DVI adapter, or use VGA->VGA.

I believe the U30JC also supports audio over HDMI, which means if you hooked it up to a TV, you wouldn't need extra cables for audio, and you can just reuse the HDMI cable you have hooked up to your external monitor if you wanted.

Sorry, I can't help you with the bluetooth.

 

Looks like the Swedish guy's daughter's screen. The scene none of us ever want to see.

Cool! I didn't know about the Windows Key+P to toggle monitor use. I love learning new tips like that.

I'd just go to Amazon and look at their customer reviews on different bluetooth keyboards & mice (may not be many that are bluetooth-driven. Most use their own USB dongle & their own wireless frequency). I find Amazon customer reviews very helpful for such add-ons.

 

It is.. Trying to RMA and get a new one shipped asap. Going out of town on Tuesday. Should have enough time unless this next one arrives the same way.

It was from buy.com and they put the asus box in a box that was 4x larger, with a few pieces of that scrap brown paper. Only 6" of the tape on that box was keeping the flap closed. It was pretty pathetic.

First impressions with it were actually pretty good.. Everything feels solid except for the flimsy screen panel.. if they had reinforced it better, there would be no issues.

 

wow! Awesome info, thank you guys so much.

edit: and what do you guys think are the better brands for monitors? Samsung I have heard is quite good, but the local shop where I purchased my U30 also has several Acer, Asus and Benq models. For instance, this Asus looks pretty nice, but I have no idea whether they make a quality monitor. http://www.canadacomputers.com/prod...item_id=028744&sid=ptnhufdfgl23agbpd4vbgjuv32

 

Oh no! I'm sorry. I really thought you were just trying to be funny. It arrived with a broken screen? Yuck. And with a time constraint, no less.

Even with poor packing, I'm surprised it broke since the ASUS box should pad the notebook pretty well ... or so I would have thought. They must have REALLY whacked it hard in transit.

Bummer. Thankfully here in the West, RMAing a package is fairly painless. When I lived in the Middle East, such a thing was nearly impossible.

I hope the next one can be more enjoyed than the few minutes with this one.

I really laughed when I read your comment, "First impressions with it were actually pretty good.. Everything feels solid except for the flimsy screen panel."

Most of us, if we opened the box to find a shattered screen that was white when turned on, would have been hard-pressed to say anything good, much less "first impressions were actually pretty good." What a great attitude!

 

Again, I'd read lots of customer reviews on Amazon & Newegg. Here's the page for this ASUS model you listed:
Amazon.com: ASUS MS236H - 23" Wide

And Newegg cutomers on the MS236H:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductReview.aspx?Item=N82E16824236081

And the ASUS MS238H:
Amazon.com: ASUS MS238H - 23-Inch Wide LED Monitor: Electronics

Of course, where there is only one review, that doesn't mean much. The more reviews, the better to understand the pro's & con's of any model.

Here's a site that collates reviews on the MS236H:
http://www.testseek.com/computers/d...h-p-22c819c5-9970-7502-1446-da6f35585f98.html

 

I shop through newegg (personal preference)
Asus MS236H - 27 reviews
Newegg.com - ASUS MS236H Glossy Black / White 23" 2ms(GTG) Ring stand and Ergo-fit technology Widescreen LCD Monitor w/HDMI 250 cd/m2 ASCR 50000:1

Asus MS238h - 151 reviews
Newegg.com - ASUS MS238H Glossy Black 23" 2ms Ring stand & Ergo-fit LED backlight LCD Monitor Slim Design Built-in Speakers250 cd/m2 10,000,000 :1 (ASCR)

 

For reviews & research, I read both Newegg & Amazon, but of late, I'm often finding Amazon's price to be lower.

But having said that, on this monitor, Newegg's $20 mail-in rebate & free shipping make Newegg the cheaper of the two. Way to go, Newegg!

Newegg for speed of shipping, packaging & returns is truly awesome!

 

I wish I could give you both more rep, but alas the system says I must disburse my thanks elsewhere before giving you more.

 

Hi guys, I got my U30JC last week, but whenever I talk on skype with just the built-in microphone, the person on the other end hears a horrible screeching noise. Is there any way I can fix this or does anyone know if this is a skype issue or computer issue. There is no noise when I use my headset.

 

Sounds like a microphone setup issue or a defective mic in the screen. ASUS tech support may be able to talk you through checking if the microphone software setup is correct which could rule out a defective mic.

Try this. Let's check the setup of your built-in microphone now.
1) Look for the white sound symbol in your lower right taskbar. (There's a red-orange one as well. Ignore that one.)
2) Right-mouse click that white sound icon
3) Select "Recording Devices"
4) Select "Recording" tab
5) Click (& highlight) "Microphone"
6) (Now when you talk into the microphone, the little sound graph to the right of the microphone moves up & down in green. This shows that it is on.)
7) Select the "Configure" button in the lower left
8) Select "Set up microphone" (the second one)
9) Follow the steps. Mine even does speech recognition (though Win 7's built-in app for this is very slow ... but it works.)

 

BEst Price Yet on the u30JC, be quick

ASUS U30JC-A1 Notebook - Core i3 i3-350M 2.26 GHz - 13.3" - 4 GB DDR3 SDRAM - 320 GB HDD - DVD-Writer - Wi-Fi, Gigabit Ethernet - Windows 7 Home Premium x64 - Silver from mwave.com

$659 only Legit Shop

You can thank me later ;-)) ... ( I precise that I dont work for this seller or asus)

 

Your link points to mwave.com but not to the U30JC. Searching for the U30JC, they list it today for $960. Perhaps the $660 ones were refurbished & they've sold out already.

Do you have another link for the $660 price?

 

I just got a u30jc, I've noticed a good bit of flex or bounce in the center back portion of the keyboard. Athe joint to the snap-in keyboard cover. It moves a good bit with only gentle pressure. It feels almost like it has popped out in the center as the sides are much tighter, although it doesn't "snap" in when pushed. Is this common or is something out of place?

 

I've had my U30JC for almost a week now.. I think. I have the infonec i5 w/ bluetooth one (work right by the store and didn't even know it)! Just wanted to let people know that I HIGHLY recommend this laptop. Mine's very well built and I've noticed no flex, the battery easily lasts 7 hours on power saver and now that I've updated the Nvidia drivers games run flawlessly (even though I really don't care that much about playing games on high, low's good enough for me so long as it's not choppy). If you're looking for a relatively light laptop right now, this is a damn good choice.

Oh and thanks for all your posts Quatro, you may have single-handedly talked me in to buying this laptop through your millions of posts here!

 

The keyboard rests on a solid aluminum or steel plate affixed to the chassis. So it's solid.

But the backing on the pop-out keyboard is flexible, bendable aluminum. It's easy to pop out (depress the top four clips in their slots on the top and pull up gently on the keyboard.) The keyboard easily bends & warps. This can be unbent or unwarped by slight bending on the keyboard in the opposite direction while it's out. You can then experiment popping it in & out, bending it more each time until that bounce on that section of the keyboard (where it is lifting slightly up from the housing plate) is finally gone or not very noticeable. Popping it out will also help you determine if the clips are securely locked in and if they are damaged or missing in any way.

One poster also recommended double-sided tape if all else fails!

 

I think I'm only up to 543 posts thus far,... but I'll work on the millions. (*pant*, *pant* )

Yes, I'm glad you like your unit. I like your config more than my US model (i3 w/ no Turbo & no BT). But I do like this laptop a lot.

 

When I go to the 'set up microphone' link, it doesn't have an option for a built-in microphone, just 'headset microphone', 'desktop microphone', and 'other'... I tried 'other' but it said that computer didn't hear anything during the test.

 

Glad someone has such a high opinion of this. Considering getting it as well.

 

Is there any way to put internal bluetooth into the i3 version? I wasn't expecting to need it so I didn't bother purchasing the model which came with it, but now I do. Thus I am regretting my purchase and hoping there is a way for me to install bluetooth internally rather than have a dongle....

 

i3 330M Vs i7 640UM...which one is faster processor and by how much? I'm considering this and m11x. I don't game much but need a light laptop that is fast.

 

Mine doesn't have "built-in microphone" either. So I selected "Other".

Be sure that your volume in ON.

On the white sound icon, right-click & select "sounds".
Then highlight "microphone".
Then select "properties" button on the lower right
and then the "Levels" tab

Is "Microphone" level at 100% and is the blue sound icon at the end of the slider not red X'd out?

 

There must be a way. eBay sellers have BT modules for various ASUS models. Here's one for the UL80 & 30 but I'm not sure if it works for the U30.

I am using an external, very tiny USB bluetooth dongle right now, Works for me.

 

i3 330M for sure. The i7 is very fast as well with its TurboBoost. It is hard to say what the difference is. The fact is that the i3 330M will constantly run on 2,13GHz when you want it to, while the i7 can only TurboBoost (and probably one core) to speeds up to 2GHz+ (don't know the exact turboboost number for that CPU). If you don't game, I would reallly recommend the Asus. Overall it is the best high performance notebook which only lacks a decent midrange GPU. Since you won't be playing much, the U30Jc will offer more value in my opinion.

Same as the Acer TimeLineX vs U30Jc a few pages ago. If gaming isn't your priority, the Asus U30Jc shows more pros.

If I am lucky, my U30Jc will arrive today. Mine has the bluetooth, so I perhaps I could check if it is there. I won't be opening the laptop if it arrives today. Want to be sure I don't a have a DOA before modifying. But I could always look in the device manager and see if it reports the same.