UL30 buying advice

Hi,

I help a friend shop for a business laptop (original thread here). We're looking at the CULV category and among the options that we have locally (in Israel) the Asus UL30 looks good. The UL80 was recommended to me but it is not available from a reliable vendor.

My options for a preconfigured laptop are:

1. UL30A: Win 7 Premium, Intel graphics, SU7300, 3GB RAM, Bluetooth, 320GB HDD, battery unknown. Silver.
2. UL30A: Same but 4GB RAM. Silver.

3. UL30VT: Win 7 Premium, Intel + GeForce 210M graphics, 2GB RAM, 500GB HDD, battery unknown. Black.
4. UL30VT: Same but 4GB RAM. Silver.

The integrated graphics in the "A" model could serve us just fine, but the VT configs cost about the same, so they're tempting. I understand a switchable graphics config invites complications in several areas because pretty much everyone has their own idea about how to implement it. For example, the FAQ here suggests that to use the HDMI port you should switch to Nvidia graphics.

I am also unsure about the battery. My specs are not clear on that. How do I make sure I receive a 8-cell battery and not a 4-cell one, and how do I tell if the 8-cell battery is 4400 or 5600? Preferably without taking the laptop out of the box, so we could verify with the sales agent or the warehouse beforehand.

I found a shop that has the UL30A on display and I'll be there tomorrow to see it.

Thanks,

 

I saw the UL30A today (option 2). Very nice machine, and the touchpad looks okay too. It was a black model, not silver, and here are the details I copied from the Asus label:

UL30A
ID: 2B
MB Ver: UL30A
UL30A-Q0248V
Check Number: 6240

I read in the UL30VT FAQ that the black model uses the weaker, 4400 mAh battery. Where does the UL30A stand with regard to that?

Also, any comment on whether I should get the A or the VT? If the VT has a BIOS option for disabling the hybrid configuration (in case I run into issues) and using plain IGP or plain discrete instead please let me know. I think the switchable Lenovo T400 has that option.

 

Unfortunately I don't have a direct answer to your question about how you can verify before you purchase which battery you will get, but while I was trying to find out I came across some other information that I'm passing along to you which may help a little bit anyway.

I tried to find out what the UL30A-QO248V is, without much luck. Google brought up a few hits on Polish websites, but I couldn’t find that model number (QO248V) on Asus’ Polish site. I don’t understand Polish, but from the specs lists on the sites I saw, the battery is 8-cell but it isn’t clear whether it is the 4400 mAh or 5600 mAh.

In the States, there were a few UL30A models, some of which aren’t sold anymore. The UL30A-x3 and –x5 had single core processors, so they're not relevant anyway. Then there are the –A1, A3B, and A2. Here, again, at various vendor websites, I saw specs that listed an 8-cell battery but didn't specify whether the stock battery supplied with the computer would be the 4400 or 5600 mAh. On some pages, it seemed clear that they copied the spec from someplace else, hopefully from Asus. On some sites they just listed 8-cell. The only thing of note is that no site I saw listed a 4-cell battery for this model (UL30A-whatever). The question remains whether it's the 8-cell 4400 mAh or 5600 mAh. Frankly, if it were my purchase and this were a key issue for me, I would check with the specific vendor immediately before buying to verify exactly what will be supplied.

I know you said you plan to buy in Israel, but have you considered ordering from the U.S.? IIRC, the customs duties on computers aren’t as outrageous as on most electronics (because they are categorized under educational materials, if I’m not mistaken?). But you need to make sure you’ll be backed up by the local distributor for service under warranty. Asus has a global warranty, but (in a situation you may have seen before ) doesn't seem to list Israel on its global site. Perhaps they weren't sure if it should be listed as part of Europe, or the Middle East, or maybe North Africa, so they just didn't list it at all. Yes, I'm sure that's probably what happened . Again, if it were my purchase, I'd make 1,000% sure that I have a Plan B and also a Plan C, D, and E for not being grounded if my computer needs repair or service under warranty. To me, that might mean the ability to bring it back to the States, or having a backup in case this one is out of my hands for a while, or knowing I could repair certain things myself, etc. IMO, buying from the U.S. is a reasonable idea as long as you factor in the question of service, and make sure you're comfortable with local service and repair options.

If you want to consider buying in the U.S. and having it shipped, you might want to check out B&H Photo in New York, which is a real store (not just Internet) with an excellent reputation, in real life and on the Internet. Two other stores (both real stores, not only Internet vendors) that I wouldn’t hesitate to buy from are Beach Camera and Adorama. I’m sure you can find plenty of info about all of these, on this site, and other sites like resellerratings, photography and digital camera forums, bargain and deal websites, and probably just by searching on Google. I know that quite a few folks from Australia have ordered from B&H and were very happy with the service.

B&H has (all these are base prices before adding shipping charges):
a) the UL30A-A2 for $700 (no HDMI), battery info: 8-Cell Lithium-Ion Providing up to 10 Hours per Charge (5600mAh);
b) the UL30vt-A1 for $740, battery info: 8-Cell Lithium-Ion Providing up to 12 Hours per Charge (5600mAh); and
c) the new-ish U30JC-A1 for $900 (i3-350M processor, has an optical drive, weighs 2.16 kg), battery info: 8-Cell Lithium-Ion (5600mAh).

I think they are reliable as far as listing the specs, but again, if I were ready to place an order, I would contact them directly with any critical questions to be absolutely certain about the details.

As far as your other questions about whether you can disable the hybrid config in BIOS, there are a lot of threads in this forum that dig deep into the guts of the UL30vT, and I'm pretty sure they've discussed endlessly the question of how the system triggers use of either the discrete or embedded graphics and what the user can do to enable/disable it. I could have looked it up for you but since I don't actually own this model, I thought this kind of information is probably best heard from people who do. I'm also shopping, and also have it on my short list - hence my readiness to look up your questions - but besides a few minutes looking at and trying out at the one they had on display at a local store, I'm not personally familiar with it.

There are also some decent (= knowledgeable) discussions about this model in Amazon's buyer forums that may give you more insight about how the graphics features work.

Hope this helps – good luck!

(Should go without saying, but I'll say it anyway - I have no connection to any of these stores other than being a happy past customer of Adorama and B&H, and knowing about Beach's good rep.)

B&H Photo
Adorama
Beach Camera

 

I'd go with the VT personnaly, it's got Turbo 33, and switchable graphics (although manual). The new JC have a 310M, which is the same card. Depends on the price of course. They are old gen, a i5 / i3 optimus would be as good mobility-wise, with automatic switchable graphics.

 

Yeah, frankly, I think so too, and I think OP is leaning that way too. Especially since the price difference between them is minor. I stopped short of saying so directly because I don't own either machine, but from everything I've read - which is a lot, because these are both on my very short list - the vT is just a better purchase all around.

If it were me, I'd try to stretch my budget for the i5, but if OP is purchasing in Israel, it's possible the i5 isn't even available yet, or the price difference is bigger than here in the States.