Ul30vt

This is good to know. I wonder what type of connector/module is used for the UL30s. It would be nice to order a module from Asus Taiwan and do a self install.


}:^)~

 

The wifi chip installed depends on where you purchased your UL (20/30/50/80). It looks like most (all?) US models come with an Athero chipset and Taiwan models comes with an Intel WiFi Link 1000 chipset. I have an UL80VT from Taiwan with BT and there is no visible connector for wifi/BT from any of the access compartments or below the keyboard.

 

The BT modules are usually hidden near the sides or corner of the notebook. Most of the time, you'll need to crack open the top case assembly to see it. The Asus estore in the US sells them for $15 + shipping.
http://estore.asus.com/shop/item.asp?itemid=3254

 

Thanks for the update! This is great news for those looking for BT. I may consider using this feature while tethering, and it would be nice not to consume another USB port.

I remember reading that the BT module could be accessed on the bottom (HD dock?).

}:^)~

 

Another use for BT is the PS3 controller. I plan to do some PS2 emu gaming on the UL30Vt, and BT would be tremendously helpful in this regard.

In other news...


The black UL50Vt comes to canada!!!
http://www.onhop.ca/catalog/product/10751110

This is a VERY reputable seller. If you're in or around the GTA, order by 5pm and get your product the next day! I've never experienced shipping this fast! Also, the shipping charges are comparatively very LOW.

I'm tempted to buy, but will hold out for the UL30Vt!

}:^)~

 

Hmm ... that is interesting to know.

Many thanks!

 

Are you kidding? I'm pretty sure this laptop is way too weak to run any PS2 emulation. I'm having frame rate issues on some games with my core i7. And besides, it's a lot easier to just connect the PS3 controller with USB.

 

Hi all, I've read all the *11* pages of this thread, I love the Asus UL30 and I'm waiting for the silver one here in Italy (at the moment Asus sells only the UL30A here). I wanted to buy a UL30A silver but now I'm confused .

The UL30VT has the turbo mode and the dedicated graphic.

Q1) The turbo mode needs some Asus software to be used?
Q2) The Asus UL30VT has also the intel graphic card and it's possible to switch between Intel and NVidia on the fly?
Q3) If yes this switch is possible only with some Asus Software?

The fact is I will just use Ubuntu GNU/Linux on this laptop so I know use the turbo and the switchable graphic can be useful but I want to use all these cool things too otherwise I spend money without reason.

Q4) Is there someone here using an UL30 with GNU/Linux? any issue? all these cool things can be used?

Thank you very much, and happy sbav-ing

 

Well, I'm hoping that certain games will run ok. I don't mind dropping frames and running at a reduced resolution. I was able to get Soul Calibur 2 running on my X4500 powered Core2Duo T4500 @ 2.1GHz. It was far from perfect and too slow on some stages. I'm hoping that with a good video card (G210M) I can eek out passable performance. I guess I'll just have to wait and see!

If it doesn't work, no big deal! It's more of a novelty for me anyhow.

That's good to know re: the PS3 controller and USB! Thanks!


}:^)~

 

Seriously? THIS wireless problem


http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=418429&page=35


also

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=431784

 

wow...thinkpad T400 looks really good now...im researching on it now...
yes it is 200 bucks expensive but it's levono...should be real good with ati 3670? this looks beast to me

 

I did look at T400s and loved the matte display but that old 3670 turned me off. I am not planning to game on this tiny laptop so not sure what advantage 3670 got.

I'd choose any CUDA supported nvidia or ATI 4xxx cards over older ATI 3xxx series cards as they'll not support OpenCL. I am sure before the end of life of this new laptop I'm planning to buy, OpenCL will be popular and supported by many of the programs I currently use e.g. Lightroom.

 

Finally! I'm not alone! Yes, OpenCL is a very compelling reason to buy the UL30Vt. I'm just hoping that apps receive a good speed boost from the GPU hardware.

}:^)~

 

openCL?
when do you use that?? 3xxx series are really that old?
i thought they upgrade the graphic card from 105m and they putted the old one but better in performance(but not supporting OpenCL)?

 

You'll find everything here. Given that 5000 series cards have been released a while ago, I'd say 3xxx is showing age, feature-wise at least. Nvidia has much older cards that support CUDA, hence OpenCL. But AMD for some reason decided to support it only in 4000 series and later.

 

ASUS just put some drivers for the UL30VT into their support site
so as I heard from my friends from ASUS - it will be launched in the early beginning of december and the price will be +20-30$ to the UL30A

 

That's GREAT news! First a BIOS, and now drivers! It is looking increasingly likely that we'll get this little wonder!

Check this out:
http://support.asus.com/download/model_list_os.aspx?SLanguage=&os=29&product=3
It lists the UL30VT as a unit under the UL30 series! This links to:
http://support.asus.com/download/download.aspx?model=UL30VT&os=29&SLanguage=
Which has links to different UL30VT drivers/firmware updates.

I'm glad I waited. It is true: good things come to those that wait!

}:^)~

 

It's interesting that they list Intel Wireless drivers rather than Atheros. Perhaps they use a compatible chipset.

I hope that the intel card doesn't eat into battery life! It would be a shame if this unit didn't have the ~10h life of the UL30a.

}:^)~

 

I currently have an Asus W7J - Core Duo 2.0Ghz (T2500) with 2.5GB RAM.

Any ideas how this would compare with a UL30VT 1.3Ghz (SU7300) with turbo enabled?

Trying to identify whether a UL30A or UL30VT will be slower.

 

Maybe ASUS UL80Vt Benchmarked or Asus UL80VT-A1 Detailed Review can give you an idea since its rumor to have similar specs to UL30VT.

 

Hmm, I ran Cinebench R10 and my W7J got a slightly lower score than the UL80VT when it had turbo mode on... so I am guessing the UL30VT will run about the same speed as the W7J.

Not sure about upgrading now... the performance will be ok for now but I wonder how it will be 2 years from now as software gets more demanding.

 

The UL30VT would not be a huge increase in performance for you. It isn't designed to be so either. It is designed though to be lighter with better battery life and more modern hardware. In this it does so very well.

This round of almost all notebook hardware has been about this theme. For years upgrades were just to get more power. We are at a point more than ample power is available for 98% of the market so to entice those who do not need an upgrade for power they had to get a new hook. I can tell you it is working as this is one fish they have the lure well sunk into and if there are no wireless issues the UL30VT will land me...........

 

Nice, they just killed the sales of the current UL30A and will take a loss on every unit that's unsold and is lurking around in warehouses/inventory of dealers.



With that being said, I wouldn't be surprised if there was a delay, cause ASUS never releases a unit when existing stock of the predecessor remain.

 

I'm not so sure of that! Many people would gladly forgoe the G210M or the Turbo33, to save $100 that have simpler needs. Also, many people may not know that the higher-specced alternatives exist, let alone their benefits.

I suspect the UL30a will sell well, despite the UL30Vt being available. I would guess that the UL30VT is more of a niche product for 'power users'.

}:^)~

 

For example people that will use GNU/Linux on this laptop and want a more standard machine, it's a sad thing have features you can't use :

• Turbo33 require some software
• Hot-switchable graphic seems not yet supported by xorg
• Plus someone said me (don't ask me where ) it's not possible to disable one graphic card from BIOS (in UL80VT, but probably in UL30VT too) so the second card is not used but suck power.

 

The source is the xorg mailing list

And the source for this is Ubuntu Forum.

Mmm...maybe I'm a little bit OT , sorry.

 

To a casual user for surfing the web, ballancing thier check books and other general office applications justifying $100 extra for no added value is a tough sale. especially when this added value sucks up more power. So there is a definate place in the market for the UL30a's..........

 

I hear ya! After running a virtual session of Ubuntu from vista, I'm ready to dual-boot my system. The virtual session is slow and I'm concerned about security. I'll continue running a virtual-guest session of Ubuntu from within windows, but if Ubuntu runs well on the UL30VT (turbo off/graphics off/good battery life), then I'll gladly dual boot my system.

If I were ONLY a GNU/Linux user, then I would would stongly consider the UL30a unless the issues you mentioned were worked out. What good is the VT if you can't use them?

When doing a search, I noticed that you posted in the Ubuntu forums, did you get a reply as to this issue?

}:^)~

 

Yes, you're right, I missed the fact others want to run windows too .

I replied to this post asking if it's possible to disable one of the two graphic card from BIOS but "the guy with the UL80VT" said no, this helped me to choose .

 

Take a look at the wireless drivers for the UL30A - no Athero drivers showing there either, but it still shipped with it.

Also, the supposed asus rep on Amazon says the UL30VT will have the dedicated card but no switchable graphics in the foreseeable future

"ASUS says: You will most likely not see switchable dedicated graphics on the 13" model in North America this year."
http://www.amazon.com/UL30vt/forum/...m_cd_ef_tft_tp?_encoding=UTF8&asin=B002Q8HK7K

 

I think we'll just have to find the units that ship with the Intel card. I'm sure some manufacturer has this product.

That stinks about the UL30VT, but I suppose I could wait another month or two. I'm not dying for a new computer, I can personally hold out using what I have now, but it would be nice if to get sooner than later!

It also sucks about the switchable graphics, but if they're using the same parts, it doesn't make tremendous amounts of sense to me. I guess we'll have to wait and see!

If I have to wait too much longer, I'll likely get a UL80VT or see what other systems the market has to offer.

}:^)~

 

That rep said no switchable graphics before the UL30VT was confirmed.

Now that the UL30VT is coming out that post is outdated.

 

Haha.. You're so right! Also, if you check the support page, it clearly has NVidia drivers (under VGA):
http://support.asus.com/download/download.aspx?model=UL30VT&os=29&SLanguage=

It would be silly if Asus didn't include the switchable graphics option. Now, all we have to do is wait!

}:^)~

 

Here's a thought regarding WiFi.. This is pure 100% unfounded speculation.

Asus *could* have changed the card after learning about the bad experiences people had with the Atheros card, and started shipping devices with the Intel card. Now, because there are skews with the Atheros card, people ordering the UL30a may still receive it. However, since the UL30VT is a new product, all new devices will have the updated Intel WiFi card.

If you notice, the support site features only Intel wireless drivers. This is a good sign that the Intel card is destined for the UL30VT. Of course the UL30a also lists the Intel drivers, so I suppose it's no guarantee (unless these drivers are for the 'updated' UL30a).

It looks like we'll have to wait for something more official!

}:^)~

 

I read another forum speculating that the wireless issue on the A2 may be attributable to Windows 7. Any thoughts to the validity and feasibility of such a claim?

 

The site shows wireless drivers for both Atheros and Intel cards.

 

Umm.. Perhaps I'm missing something. Where did you find the atheros drivers?

}:^)~

 

Maybe he's referring to the 'Azurewave Wireless Lan Driver and Application'. If you look up UL30VT on support.asus.com, there are 3 drivers under wireless:

- Azurewave Wireless Lan Driver and Application
- Intel(R) 1000 WiFi Wireless LAN Driver
- Intel(R) 5100 WiFi Wireless LAN Driver

Do Azurewave wireless cards use Atheros chipsets?

 

I'be waiting so long for UL30VT and finally I learn that there would be no switchable video card on it. That's suck... and so what is the reason to buy this laptop? Turbo 33? I am thinking to get U20A-B2 or Thinkpad instead.
http://www.excaliberpc.com/593821/asus-u20a-b2-12.1-notebook.html

Does any one have any comment on Thnikpad X200 or X200S? how this model compare to UL30?

 

Azurewave uses Atheros chipsets. As I've mentioned a few times, Asus is providing different wireless chipsets in different regions of the world for all models of the UL series. North America seems to be getting Atheros based chips while Asia is getting Intel 1000 chips and BT.

 

Then who is getting the 5100 card?

 

'VT' means switchable graphics and turbo. ASUS has confirmed the VT will come out, after they noticed many customers are asking for it. Please read the entire Amazon thread, in temporal order

 

Possibly nobody. Laptop mag had a review unit with the 5100 card, but that is the only instance I know of where an Intel 5xxx series chip is used. All US owners of a UL, who have responded, have said they have an Atheros card installed and all units I looked at in Taiwan had an Intel 1000 card.

There is really no reason to install a 5100 over a 1000, just check the spec sheets.

The main difference between the US and TW units are the inclusion of bluetooth in the TW units, so maybe the Intel 1000 card is only shipped with units that also have BT?

I'll take a look at the UL units in China to see which cards they use.

 

If you check this post:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?p=5514491#post5514491

You'll notice that the poster fixed his UL30 WiFi problems by connecting a cheap cable via the harddrive bay on the bottom of the laptop. It was a simple fix, only needing a screwdriver. It seems it was left out by ASUS. I can only imagine that it was left out accidentally, and may be included in the UL30VT if they figure it out and get around to fixing it.


}:^)~

 

So I hope the UL30A I'm buying here in Italy has an Intel Wi-Fi (it has also the bluetooth adapter), I'm not sure but I think Intel will create less problems to me under GNU/Linux. I hope it has 2 antenna too.

When it will arrive I'll write here which Wi-Fi card it has and how many antenna.

 

I've heard some complaints regarding the UL80VT screen. Does anyone know what the quality of the UL30a screen is like? Is it as bad as the reviewers of newegg say it is?

}:^)~

 

http://www.notebookcheck.net/Asus-UL30A-A1.21411.0.html

http://www.notebookcheck.net/Asus-UL30A-QX050C.22114.0.html

http://www.notebookcheck.net/Asus-UL30A-X1.20888.0.html

lot's of reviews

btw - ASUS updated the UL30VT BIOS on their support site to the 203 version. R&D is in progress

 

It arrived today, so also here in Italy Atheros and just one antenna, I don't know yet if it has wireless problems .

 

Too bad. Gladly it's an easy fix! Let us know what you think of the computer!

Also, let us know how you get on with GNU/Linux.

}:^)~

 

Thanks for the reviews! I'll give them a once over. I've read a bunch already, but I've not seen any complaints re: the screen, until I read the user testimony on newegg.com.

}:^)~