U36 or wait for Sandy Bridge?

I've been reading reviews about the U36, and it is a gorgeous laptop -- however like a lot of other people have mentioned -- its "not Sandy Bridge" and Sandy Bridge is like the new Core2Duo back when Pentium M was in..

So what are your thoughts on waiting -- it out..? Trying to figure out what to do..
Also What are the chances of Asus pushing out a refreshed U36 line with Sandy Bridge?

 

If you can wait until April, May, or possibly later for the Sandy Bridge to start shipping again i say wait for it. When they were shipping the performace increase over the first gen chips was very impressive.

I can pretty much guarantee that the U36 will be replaced by a Sandy bridge model, the qeustion is when will it happen. All current models that use the first gen chips will eventually be replaced by the SB chips. The Intel recall just pushed things back.

No official announcements on when this will happen but be prepared to wait several months.

 

Yes the performance of the Sandy Bridge will be much better and should provide better battery life.

 

If the Asus U36 is updated with Sandy Bridge will a better graphics card also be added then as the SB is basically on par with the 310m or simply removed all together?

 

in my humble opinion if you are not gaming than the u36 is perfect... the sandy bridge will come out with a better video card and a unoticible processor boost. but idk may the future sandy bridge will not even feature an i5 in the us so idk

 

If you need it now, buy it now, whatever you buy will be out dated in 6mos anyway, if you can wait, then wait, sandy bridge now, ivy bridge later, haswell even later, when ever you jump in the game you're still gonna be behind the curve, it's marketing 101.

 

does anyone know if asus plans on making a u36 or b43 style notebook w/ sandy bridge soon? so far i've only seen bigger g series computers w/ it

 

With the Intel recall, I think a lot of their plans may have been put on hold temporarily until that fix is implemented. I have seen them announce models for the slightly smaller N series but I haven't heard any news yet on the U series.

 

A sandy bridge B43F is what I'm waiting for. If they can't get that released in the next few months I may defect to a thinkpad T420...

 

I'm still holding up for the sandy bridge U36, however prices are starting to drop... then again my W7sg is still holding up fine except the occasional overheating issues.. so will have to see

 

I just found this Tom's Hardware Russia article with news of a U30SD and U36SD:

They also mention the B series but it looks like there is no word on a sandy bridge refresh there.

ASUS: íîâûå íåòòîïû, All-in-One è íîóòáóêè ëèíåéêè 2011 ãîäà - â Óêðàèíå | THG.RU

http://translate.google.com/translate?js=n&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&layout=2&eotf=1&sl=ru&tl=en&u=http://www.thg.ru/technews/20110223_153500.html

 

"based on similar hardware" does that mean that the Asus U36SD would get SB and GT520M? oooh im excited now!

 

Damn.. I have just ordered a u36jc I wonder if I should cancel it and wait for the u36sd

But do I hope to belive it will hit the stores before the summer??

 

LOL this thread is already the first result for u36sd (talk about SEO... ). I can't find any other sources with info about it, besides reposts of the Tom's article.

 

Not to mention ASUS is already ready with fixed Sandy Bridge parts, according to their news on the ASUS website. Won't be long before channel partners start seeing sandy bridge items in stock again...

 

asus u31sd is coming out too probably just a cheaper version of the 36sd the 30sd should have an optical drive

 

Yeah I guess I might as well link that here too:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/asu...ndy-bridge-u30-series-u43-series-ends-sd.html
And this:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/asu...er-sandy-bridge-laptop-need-confirmation.html

 

Man, laptops are a pain, I miss the Radiance on the ENVY14, then the XPS14 is cancelled, then the 13in MBP is a dud, now the u36 SNB upgrade is due soon..... I've ben looking for a good laptop almost a year now.

 

It is disappointing regarding the 13in MBP with no discrete graphics card but if an Asus U36SD with SB and GT520M is true. I will definitely jump at it and it will last me years, yah, new models will be better but there is always something better around the corner

 

I have almost the same situation. U36 with sb and a good screen would be a choice...

An extra would be backlit-keyboard. Man, it is so annoying there is no complete package. Does anyone know if the screen of the u36 could be changed?
Is there even any asus nb with a good screen?

Other then that I am tending to look at the new thinkpad t420 and elitebooks from hp.

 

The new thinkpads have screens on the dim side, so I'm not sure that's a better choice in terms of screens.

 

If I'm not mistaken, they're using matte screens, no? The U36 screens are nothing to boast about either plus are glossy.

 

I'd imagine they're matte, but I'm not positive. As you implied, matte screens are often less bright. There's a spec sheet in this post.

 

Looks like the T420's are rated at 230 nits. That's actually 30 nits brighter than the U36 I haven't seen the T420 in person, but based on brightness, I'd probably favor the T420 a bit more.

 

Yikes! Well forget what I said then.

That T420 is looking quite good... I hope CeBIT brings some good contenders from ASUS.

 

Yes they have no superb screen either but better then the u36s and matte!
For design and thickness you need to compare the t420s to u36, though the price range is totally different.

But honestly asus: i think many would prefer to pay a bit more for some better screens! At least give the option.

 

does anyone know which will have a better video card? u36sd or t420s?

 

I don't think there's any confirmed specs for the U36SD, tho i think a few pages back there was a updated Nvidia Card 540? or something?

I'm getting really impatient for the U36 refresh lol, but hopefully they'll announce something at CEBIT tomorrow -- and we'll start getting specs and systems rolled out to the market soon!

 

It seems they're pretty much the same, but with the T420s'es NVS 4200M targeting business users where the GT 520M is targeting regular users. Notebookcheck.net is a bit vague about the 4200M, but they actually list it as clocked higher than the 520M with otherwise identical specs except no possibility for GDDR5 as on the 520M (though the U36SD specs I've seen all state DDR3 RAM anyway):

NVIDIA GeForce GT 520M - Notebookcheck.net Tech
NVIDIA NVS 4200M - Notebookcheck.net Tech

Then there's the thing about the processor. While the T420s comes with an option of either i5 or i7, the difference between these two is practically zero. If you check the benchmark score for the i7 2620M which is in the largest T240s I can find here:

PassMark CPU Lookup

You'll notice the i5 2540M ranking basically exactly the same if you calculate out the +100 MHz advantage of the i7. Also, feature-for-feature when comparing those two, the only differences are 3MB L3 cache on the i5 vs. the 4MB cache on the i7 and of course the clock speeds.

However, the i5 in the U36SD specs I can find, is the 2310M, and this is where it starts to hurt, as you're not getting Turbo Boost and you're missing out on AES instructions (e.g. for very fast hardware-accelerated disk encryption - we all encrypt our laptop drives, don't we?) and essential virtualization features, which you may or may need (I do). Check out feature comparisons here:

Compare Intel® Products,

Note that where the desktop Sandy i5 and i7 differ in the number of threads, too, this is not the case for their mobile counterparts. The i5 seems to be a really good deal in this respect!

Then there's the screen. The T420s is actually 250 nits, not 230 as previously stated, which brings it at +50 compared to the ASUS, and that's while being a matte display! Also, 14" at 1600x900 - that's just perfect!

The form factor of the T420s is much more attractive than that of the T420 - it's "only" 7 mm thicker (37% thicker) than the U36, it has the same depth (!) and is only a good 20 mm wider.

Throw in the integrated HSDPA modem, and the T420s is a clear winner. I actually just ordered one Based on the price of the current U36Jc I think it's gonna cost me twice as much for the T420s, but its feature list is just awesome, and it looks pretty good, too - I like that retro IBM thinkpad look.

This is the model: Lenovo - T Series (Actually, here they state the GPU as NVIDIA N12P-NS2 - hmmm... Gotta find some more info on that one).

It comes with a 160GB SSD, which kinda sucks, because I've already bought a Vertex 2 240GB SSD that I was planning on putting in the U36Jc I was planning on buying previously And there's no customization options available. Gonna throw in an addition 4GB mem and buy the 3-cell bay battery which should bring the battery life up to 9.6 hours.

The Lenovo site, if you're lucky enough to live in a country where it's possible, will let you configure your own T420s - although you're going to have to "settle" for the i5 version then (which is just fine!) and no dedicated GPU. Could I do that, I'd be able to shave quite a bit off the price opting out of the SSD

Detailed specs: http://www.lenovo.com/psref/pdf/tabook.pdf

 

Found some prices on the U36SD in Dutch...
Asus U36SD-RX013V prijzen | Core | Tweakers.net Pricewatch

 

Here's the attachment of a U36SD.

 

They have them (not in stock, obviously) here in Czech Republic, the specs (for U36SD-RX004) are:
Intel Core i5-2410M (3M Cache, 2.3 GHz)
4 GB DDR3
13,3" display (1366 × 768)
NVIDIA GeForce GT 520M w/ 1GB DDR3
HDD 500 GB (Hybrid (SSH), 7200rpm)
Wi-fi, GLAN, bluetooth 3.0, webcam, 1x USB 3.0, 2x USB 2.0,VGA, HDMI, DP, card reader, w/o OS

...for about €780.

 

What's the difference between a U31SD and U36SD? I've tried to find something in the specs (where I can find them) but don't see anything obvious...

 

Well, the U31 is a different model altogether - not nearly as nice as the U36 in terms of design, weight and thickness. So, if SD is the new term for Sandy Bridge versions of previous models, the same holds true there.

Check google for ASUS U31, and you'll find images

 

is this legit??

Google Translate

 

yeah, that's the higher-spec version that has been seen on various sites. it's got a 640GB HDD instead of 500GB, and the 2410M instead of the 2310M, which gives a speed bump and supports Turbo Boost.

 

so does that mean it's out now? 'casue i can add it to my cart.

 

out in US whats the price in USD? is it slimmer and slicker than u36jc

 

depends on the exchange rate, since it hasn't been released here yet.

it should be the exact same chassis as the u36jc.

 

I'm looking daily for information on the U36SD. The momment it becomes available in Canada or the US I'll be buying on. WOOT!

 

U36SD is set to be available in late May according to Engadget. Hopefully that's when it'll get to North America.

 

What sucks is that there's apparently no version with a "proper" CPU, i.e. one with all virtualization extensions, and the AES extension (absolutely crucial when running with disk encryption, as you should be when carrying around your data all day).

 

when U36SD comes out, U36JC should come down in price right?

 

No, U36Jc should become discontinued and if anything, rise in price.

 

I think the u36jc dropped in price about a month ago. I wouldn't expect any more of them to be made. But I'd expect the u36sd to just replace them.

 

You can find variations of the U36jc for around $899 right now

Question for the Sandy Bidge ver tho -- did they say anything about whether it is still running a standard core (e.g. desktop CPU?) as in the U36JC? or is it just getting the regular laptop one??

 

It seems every one is getting the i5 2410 AFAICT - which may be fine for most users, but I need to encrypt my harddrive as I'm kinda obsessive about not letting my stolen notebook also include all my data stolen... And the 2410 is the *only* i5 that doesn't support AES-NI which makes data encryption terribly slow

 

The U36JC doesn't have a desktop CPU in it; the "M" in i5-460M means "mobile". I think you're confusing what a standard-voltage CPU is. The distinction is that it runs at full voltage, as opposed to the CULV processors that most ultraportables run. The CULV processors for the core-i series have a UM designation, while M is the standard designation.

 

While that was correct for the first gen ICore processors, it is not true for the SB or sec. gen. units. The Samsung 9 series and the Lenovo Edge E220 both use the i5-2537M CULV CPU.

Bronsky

 

This is correct. I didn't realize they'd changed the system (never considered low-power, haha ). The current nomenclature is:
XXX9M - Low-power mobile processors. (25W TDP)
XXX7M - Ultra low-power mobile processors. (17W TDP)