ASUS U30JC-A1 with NVIDIA Optimus Review Discussion

I'm looking forward to see how this laptop handles heat during the summer when the temperatures are 35-40 celcius, during a 2-3 hour intensive gaming session.

I'd like to see anybody test it before I buy it myself. I'm not sure how long it will take asus to sell this laptop in Belgium but if it will take as long as with the g73jh release, I'll have to wait for atleast 2 more months

By then I might aswell postphone my purchase till next semester in oktober and won't have to worry about temps in the summer for a while. Not sure how the temp differences are with asus between the seasons, but with my acer its a difference from 64 to 94 celcius.

 

If you want a good screen for photo editing you shouldn't buy it.

Look for a 13" MBP instead. Much better contrast, black levels, brightness, gamut and color accuracy.

For detailed measurements check out Notebookcheck and Notebookjournal.

 

I purchased the Asus U30JC-X2C from Infonec Computer (Toronto) last Saturday for $999CDN. The system comes with i5 430M/4GB RAM/BT/8-cell battery. The notebook I was using prior to this upgrade was an Asus N20a-A1 which was an excellent system...

Anyway, I wiped the original OS and installed Win7 Ultimate...I've to say that the system is awesome; installed the latest drivers from Windows Update.

However, I can't seem to turn off BT nor get my BT mouse to work properly. The mouse would work for few minutes then it would stop...Not sure if it's driver problem. Also, my mouse cursor does go off screen...It's annoying!!



I didn't install any Asus utilities/programs...I am hoping that the switching between the dedicated/integrated graphics is done automatically...

 

Hi I'm really considering buying this laptop but I was trying to customize the computer on xoticpc.com and it gave me the option to increase the ram. If i want to play games and at other times run a lot of programs at the same time do I need to increase the ram to 6gb (is it worth it?) or should i increase the 4gb 1066mhz to a 4gb 1333mhz. Will I see a dramatic change?
Thanks

 

4GB 1066MHz memory is probably your best bet for performance/cost. You won't notice a difference with 1333MHz memory or 6GB for gaming or multitasking.

 

Hi imEric.

Interesting. So the Canadian U30Jc has bluetooth & the i5-430M 2.26GHz with Turbo available! BETTER than our i3-350M's (w/ no Turbo) in the US version and no bluetooth either. I'm jealous. ... though I don't really need more processing power right now.

On drivers, I also wiped the HD and reinstalled Windows and the basic drivers I felt were needed. I had problems getting everything to work until I finally popped in the ASUS drivers DVD and installed EVERYTHING (except TrendMicro AV). A fairly painless process.

Suddenly everything was right with the world.

I then began to remove those apps I didn't feel I needed (Live Update, Secure Vault) and watched how it affected things.

You may want to do the same. Clearly you've left something out that needs to be installed.

 

The 4GB 1066mHz appears to do pretty well on reviews with various games and in multitasking.

Why not try it as is and see. If you feel you need more RAM, then go for it.

My 2 cents.

 

Hmm thank you for your tip...I was hoping that Windows Update would automatically download the latest drivers for me! Anyway, I am still adjusting to the screen size as I have always used 12.1" notebooks in the past...The U30Jc is still a little too big I think...

 

I wish, but Windows Update didn't do that for me; only the ASUS driver DVD.

Hey, I upgraded from a 10" ASUS netbook, so this seems huge by comparison. I like it for doing finances and more work screen space than my 1000HA had.

Much faster, of course, then the netbook as well.

And the HULU HD movies are very nice now.

If you're worried by the ASUS "bloatware" on the default DVD, don't be. For so many complaints I had read about, I found it to be a very minor issue & easy to remove whatever I found I didn't need and didn't affect operation or hotkeys.

And it was a relief to have everything working as it should be.

 

Whoa, it was definitely a big upgrade for you and have more room for the numbers Now one disappointment is that the U30 doesn't have eSATA which my N20a had...However, I still like the U30 very much given its design and specifications.

As for the multi-touch pad, what exactly is its purpose?

.Eric

 

And ASUS' newer models like the U33Jc Bamboo will come with eSATA. A helpful feature I would have loved to have in the U30Jc as I do lots via an external drive.

I'm not clear what you're asking.

IF I understand you, an regular touchpad moved the cursor and did left-mouse clicks via a tap on the surface. That was it.

Newer multi-touchpads can recognize more than just a single tap. They can:
1) see two-finger tap as meaning something like a right-mouse click for on-screen submenus.
2) see three-finger taps as meaning something like a middle mouse-key or a "go back" command in a browser or app.
3) do drag+drop (like cut+paste).
4) scroll vertically+horizontally
5) on some touchpads (not the U30Jc), a user can zoom or unzoom in an app or browser via a pinch=or-zoom feature.
6) some do even more gestures.

You get the idea.

 

Ah ha, thank you for your explanation re: the multi-touch pad

 

Hi,

Anyone know where to get this in Europe with a QWERTY keyboard?

 

I know a few points have been made for optical drive vs. no drive. I for one am looking for a 13" thin and light WITH optical drive so I can play DVD movies on a plane without having to buy a seperate DVD drive and bring with me.

What do you guys without optical drives do for movies to view on a plane? Can I load a DVD movie onto a USB flash drive? If so I guess I wouldn't need an optical drive!

One alternative is to buy the ASUS UL30Vt-A1 which has the older dual core processor and doesn't have the optical drive...but it is also a full pound lighter! I would then buy the ASUS DVD External Writer for movies. The price on Amazon for both is about $750. I can get the Asus U30Jc-A1 for around $900....decisions decisions!

Thanks.

 

You can burn the ISO onto your HDD and run it off from a program such as Nero (virtual DVD drive).

 

I've been looking at the U30Jc for a while now, and am specifically looking at the U30Jc-X2C from Infotec in Toronto. Here in Calgary, a local retailer has the U30Jc-A1, but the better CPU & Bluetooth is enticing for under $50 more. My concern is battery life. I use my systems for a lot of web/app development, so it's not like I'm encoding/watching movies on it, just editing text files & pushing a little network traffic (maybe with some streamed audio), but still want something with some power for those times I plug it in and /want/ to do some more demanding tasks. I intend to use it in a "low-power" mode when I'm out & about, hoping to get about 6-8hrs. Realistic?
Is there likely to be a difference in battery life between the A1 and the X2C? Both CPUs draw 35W at max (right?), so I don't assume it would affect it. But for those who /have/ a X2C model, what kind of battery life are you getting out of it??

 

When I use my X2C on battery, I usually set the CPU power to 20% with BT turned off (screen to max brightness with WIFI on, using Intel gfx) and would get approx. 7.5 hours of usage (roughly)...I am very happy as I could only squeeze 2.5 hours from my N20n (12" notebook)...

.Eric

 

Hey Eric,

I'm looking to buy the notebook today from infonec too. The only thing that concerns me is their return policy in that they have NONE. You buy it and you can never exchange or return it, which seems a tad shady to me.

How does the 310m handle games? I play mainly league of legends and Starcraft 2, can they handle these types of games even on Low?

Thanks guys!

 

Infonec has good reputation but their return policy isn't so great...However, Asus's repair center is also in Markham (walk-in) and so no worries.

I don't game myself, but I am sure others have better experience to share re: gaming with the 310m!

 

After reading a lot of reviews and specs b/t u30jc and u33jc I didn't wait or want to get the u33jc. The battery life looks like it took a hit, and it did not have DVD-rom for movies or divxs on plane. But at a loss of the usb3.

I recently took delivery of my laptop u30jc-b1 ( i3-370M, 2.4GHz, 4gbRAM) from xoticpc, it was nice service until I found out that after upgrading my harddrive from 320-5400rpm to 500-7200rpm, they wipe out the recovery partition from Asus. So, when I booted it up, I was unable to make recovery discs. I contacted them and was told I need to purchase it! This is BS and sucked big time.

I could have installed my own drive at a lower cost and would have made my own back up, plus have an additional dive lying around. Lesson learn, xoticpc is not the best as they dont tell you this up front.

Ok, here is my Asus u30jc-b1 review so far:

I open the package and there was nothing special about it, but it was a tight little package looks like it was well made. Most of the surfaces was cover to protect it during shipment. After unpacking, and plug in the power cord, when opening the lid of the u30jc, I notice there is no lock to the lid and it can be tighter if there isn't a lock. Also after plugging in the power, there is a little light in the front bottom of the u30jc, but with out knowing the laptop well, I had no idea what those lights are for. Also the marking/labels are only seen after the lid is opened.

Machine seems, pretty fast during boot, and did not wait long. I starting testing the battery life after a full charge. I was using it on and off better media and power saving mode, it gave me about 5.5 hours. During total power saving mode, it get me about 6-7 hours, but the default settings, the screen shuts off too soon.

I have to complaint about the Intel link 1000 wifi wireless card, its pretty weak over all. I am right next to the router and testing against my dell xps16, it was not getting the same strength as the xps. Speed test was good at short distances, showning 104-130Mps. I tested by streaming from my NAS to the u30jc a 1080p video running on VLC with 3 second buffer. Video was seemless and jitter free at this distance.
I then move to my second floor, one floor above. Signals was weaker, showing 26-104Mps, it jumps around a lot. Streaming the same video, there was a little stutter here and there, I would say jitter 1-3 frames per few minutes.
I followed and moved up the the 3rd floor which is about 30 feet with 2 floors/walls on separation. signals was drop to 1-26Mps. Good for surfing the web, but streaming HD is out of the question. It was painfully lagging and freezing.
Oh, this is after I updated to the latest driver from intel. But over all, it was better than my older dell 1450 laptop which only had a G connection. But I was expecting better.

Also, as complaint by others, switching b/t power modes changes your screen by lots of blinking/flickering and changes your background to a default asus background. Any why to fix this?

Overall, the laptop feels pretty portable and it feels delicate. I feel like i have to baby it, maybe its just the new feeling. screen was big enough to view movies and I was able to shrink the 1080p video window to any size with out glitches. So far so good.

I will test out other stuff as I use other features, will update then I have it.