Any P-1 UX Series Users Out There!

I've been pawing over the Internet for about a mouth now and think I‘m going to replace the old Satellite 1675 CDS with a new UX from Portable One. I’ve read everything I could find on this site and was just wondering if anyone had any other comments regarding this machine.

The things that draw me to this guy are the size, the availability of the transreflective screen and robust build quality.

Any thoughts or input would be much appreciated.

Thanks,
Mark, in PA USA

 

It would be a great purchase! After many months of research and unfortunately first purchasing a Fujitsu S7020D I purchased the UX in October. I really cannot say enough good things about the unit and Portableone in general. Their customer service is unparalleled, both before and after a sale.

When I received the unit I wrote up a rather detailed first impressions here: http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=28839

If you have any other questions feel free to ask. I can say that my daughter has used this constantly since mid-October, in and out of a messenger bag filled with books (of course one that has a padded laptop sleeve) several times a day. While it is handled carefully it does get a lot of use and it still looks as good as the day she got it. After knowing how much it was handled after finals I checked it out and was impressed to see that it was totally solid; nothing was loose. With the exception of some sheen on the keys, where the finish was rubbed from use (this is no comment on the keyboard- she laughed that all her friends' laptops looked that way from tremendous use) it looked like it did when I unpacked it.

Also- since you mentioned the transreflective screen- although it is an expensive upgrade, it is well worth the money. Once you see it you'll know what I mean. Despite using the laptop sometimes from morning until well into the night during finals outlining and such, she never complained of eyestrain. This combines the benefits of glossy and of matte screens- having the color richness of the former and the eye comfort of the latter for text applications.

 

Thanks m61376, for your thoughts, I had read your report and I am glad to hear things are still going well with the machine. Sounds like your daughter is giving it a good work out.

Now to add to my decision making, the list is mentioning a new unit from P-1. I might wait and see what that’s all about.

Regarding the screen, does the transreflective effect the sharpness do you think?

 

Interesting question- overall I would have to say it does affect the sharpness, esp. if the laptop isn't in an ideal lighting situation (which it generally isn't). There is a BIG difference with overhead lighting or with sun streaming through the window.

Let me offer a comparison. We had a Fujitsu 14" CV which we returned for other reasons, but it is reputedly one of the best screens on the market. The 12" UX has the same screen resolution, so text would naturally be smaller. Let me preface this by saying that both my daughter and I hate high resolution screens because of small text. When comparing different models, I found the 12" Toshiba unuseable for me and the 12" Sony better but not comfortable. I was very concerned about downgrading in size, but weight was a very important factor since she carries it all day with books and has a bad back, and the Fujitsu was a lemon.

I had the opportunity to compare the two side by side and was surprisingly impressed with the clarity of the 12" transreflective screen. Letters are sharp and crisp, easily readable for extended periods of time. Color clarity on pictures, for example, is comparable to that of a good glossy screen.

While it is a lot of money, the screen of a laptop is really important and I think this is money well spent.

As for the new unit from P-1- does sound interesting. If you are intrigued, e-mail them or give Ivan a call and he will be happy to fill you in. From what I've seen posted it will be a 13" widescreen, which is a plus and a minus depending upon what you are going to be using it for; overall screen real estate will be greater, but it will be shorter vertically, so if you are going to be doing a lot of Word-type files there will be more scrolling. The 12" UX is as high vertically as the 14" MX.

Good luck- any other questions feel free to ask.

 

I received my UX with the transflective screen about two weeks ago and I am very pleased. I was shopping for a laptop for nearly a year. It is solid and it is fast. The fan is on most of the time (2.0 GHz), but the fan is quieter than on the MX. Heat is not a problem. The screen is just ... lifelike. I highly recommend that screen upgrade. And P1 customer service is as everyone raves.

Had the MX before but sent it back mostly due to size and weight.

Looks like the UX will be P1s last non-widescreen. For me, that was reason enough to buy it.

 

Glad to hear! Portableone is a unique company- they make a great product and stand behind everything they sell 100%; I have never experienced customer service like theirs.

 

If by making a great product you mean taking an asus notebook and slapping their logo on it then yes yes they do make a great product. They do have good customer service. But they dont make anything they just rebadge a product.

 

SRD, just about every single laptop manufacturer listed‘re-badges’ units made by only a handful of ODM’s. Fore instance, Dell uses primarily Wistrom (Acer), Uniwill & Samsung. Sony uses primarily Quanta, Compal & Asus, same with Toshiba, and Apple uses Quanta, Asus and some other Chinese outfit that I cannot recall the name of. But integration companies that are doing what P1 is doing are the closest thing to made in the USA nowadays, (i.e. assembled in the USA), and P1 is not your typical whitebox company that just slaps names on to systems. P1 offers various LCD modifications and various hardware design improvements and thermal modifications options, including software firmware upgrades etc. P1 also offers extremely competitive pricing like the EX Series, based on the Asus Z63 fully loaded starting at $1199 and until we find a better ODM than Asus or we can somehow manufacturer the units entirely here in the USA without being 3 to 4 times more expensive than the made in China & Taiwan systems today we will continue to offer solutions built around the Asus chassis, which are the best designed chassis available today.

 

I wasnt trying to put your company down ivan its a great company. Just i really believe alot of people think these laptops are actually made by these companys. thats all.

 

Your right most people do not know that, but you went out of your way to post that we use the chassis of Asus, and do nothing else but put our name on them. which is the best and most expensive ODM out there. Almost all manufacturers: Dell, Sony, Apple, Toshiba, Medion, Sager, Averatec, Gateway, Alienware, HP, IBM, Panasonic and even Fujitsu on certain lines do not make the machines they offer. We do wish could make the entire machine here in the US, maybe if more consumers demand it the US government just might help assist US pc companies to build Made in the USA pc’s, but will not happen unless manufacturers see consumers demanding it since China has taken over the PC manufacturing industry. Nowadays the only thing that separates one pc manufacturer apart from another is the quality of the service/support!

 

i appologize you are right i was to harsh. support makes a difference trust me i would suggest to someone that they buy from a company like yours way before dell. See dell fujitsu and others may not make their notebooks but they are mostly just for them. Asus may make a model that only goes to dell and them Fujistsu may get another so they may not make it but it is still their model. You sell asus which an identical model can be purchased from a number of dealers. But that is not a bad thing i think they are great laptops. But you do give screen options which is unique noone else really does that.

 

Actually if you do the research and just picture shop, you can find just about the entire Dell, Sony, Toshiba & etc. lines non-branded. The ODM’s make more selling smaller quantities to smaller companies, but obviously give precedence to the larger quantity run rates. Apple is one of the only companies that holds exclusive design rights for their units because they designed them and hold all the patents/copyrights...

 

ive have seen a couple pcs like that. But where could i find a sony unbranded i would like to actually see that. like their 13.3 in widescreens just curious not being sarcastic.

 

Have not seen detailed pic’s of their pre-announcement of that unit, but my first guess would be Samsung on that one. But until you can see detailed pic’s it is hard to tell exactly who is making it for them yet; but all the ODM's have their signature chassis designs.

 

Yes, their units are modified Asus machines- BUT- depending on the unit, they do make modifications and offer better components- for example, they offer the option of the transreflective screen which is amazing. They offer the best hardrives on the market. In general, wherever they can change it they make sure to offer quality components (for example, when I bought my UX, which is a modified Z33a, they were using a better RAM than many of the Asus distributors were using). Comparatively, their prices are fair- and, don't forget what might be the most improtant thing, their customer service is unparalleled. Call them for any problem and they will patiently help...so to say they simply stick their sticker on something does them a real disservice!