Any Update on a New UX model

Anything in the near future for a new UX model, and what Asus model might it be based on?

 

There is a core duo UX model out there... not sure which ASUS model it is

 

It's not Asus, it's a Clevo model. its quite interesting, comes with a 1.66ghz.. but ULV! thats pretty impressive!

 

Looks like just an LV actually...

Pretty cool! What's the word on the low voltage Core Duos? Anyone had an opportunity to use a machine equipped with one? I'm guessing there's a slight performance trade-off for improved battery life and cooling?

Goren (ODM Superstar), do you know which Clevo model this is based off?

Cool stuff, this looks like a really nice little machine!


Edit: Okay, so it looks like it's a modified Clevo M520 or 521.

I'm really intrigued by the possible benefits of an LV Core Duo!

 

This looks really nice. Looks to be 4lbs with the smaller battery. Probably around 4.5 with the 8 cell. If not too much of a performance hit with the LV Duo, this could be the laptop I've been waiting for. Looks like a nice design too.

Q: Is Clevo the maker of Sager laptops? Because I bought a Sager 3360 (500MHz PIII!) about 6 years ago, and it's still working just fine. Best laptop I ever bought, with a wonderful build quality. Put my HP ze4100 to shame.

 

Yeah, Clevo makes a whole bunch of the Sagers. Updated ODM info can be found in Goren's sticky in "Other Manufacturers" and Chaz's in the Sager forum.

 

yep you got it, its LV not ULV, and it is an M520N (the Gs are the sonoma models, and it doesnt seem that clevo added the updated version on their page yet..but N is the current one)

 

Here are some realworld pics of the new ux:
here

I checked portableone's website and they have an onsite warranty option. Does that warranty only cover the Bay area or something like within 50 square miles of their headquarters or does it actually cover onsite support anywhere in the USA?

 

I live in NY (about as far away from them as you can get ) and purchased a unit with on-site servoce. Most companies sub-contract to local companies that provide on-site techs.

That said, having had less than stellar dealings with on-site service from Fujitsu, if I could be without the unit and depending on the repair, I would consider sending it back for service to Portableone because you know who is working on it. However, I think on-site is a nice option and worth the relatively few $ in extra cost.

 

On the transflective display upgrade:
400:1 contrast
25ms response (which hopefully means full 24bit color)
160 degree horizontal

Merom upgradeable (per Intel, so as long as Clevo gives a BIOS update)

Ivan says of the keyboard, "No flex very nice, comfortable and quiet keyboard."
He's clearly very honest and open, but he's also a businessman, so take that keyboard comment with a grain of salt.

Thanks Ivan, for all the answers!

 

Pulled the pin and ordered this one yesterday. I'll let you all know what it's like as soon as I get my hands on it. Specs for the one I ordered:

L2400 Processor
100G 7200RPM hard disk drive
2G RAM
Regular display

 

Any impressions will be much appreciated. Thanks and congrats on your purchase!

C.

 

I'm looking forward to hearing first impressions from those who have ordered the UX. And I'm hoping for some pictures. I'm especially interested in the keyboard, display, and battery life.

 

I'll be happy to do my best. It will probably be a couple of weeks before it arrives though - I think the folks at P1 are pretty busy filling orders, and from what I hear they do a very thorough job of testing the units before sending them out.

 

Portable One is the best. I wouldn't buy from anyone else. I bought my little Fujitsu P5010 from them and have had it for a little more than three years. Now I'm ready for a new little laptop and the UX is the one that looks perfect for me. That's why I'm looking forward to hearing from those who actually have one in their hands. I love my Fujitsu but want something faster with a slightly larger LCD. I debated about whether to go for the SX but I think in the long run it will be just a bit too big for me. Also, I do not like the keyboard layout on the SX - the backspace key looks too small and the Function and Control keys are switched in position from what I am used to on my current keyboard. Also, interestingly, the UX keyboard looks identical to my current keyboard. So I'm happy for that. The UX has everything you need and is one of the few smaller laptops that has s-video. It will be fun to hear about everyone's experience when they get their new UX notebooks.

 

I can't wait to hear about the display, would you like to run it through a monitor test?
http://www.passmark.com/products/monitortest.htm
I don't know if you'll even be running Windows at all, if not there's also Monica for *nix.
http://www.pcbypaul.com/software/monica.html

I'm pretty much commited to the UX now barring a really great Lenovo refresh or a poor UX keyboard, but I'm just not sold on the transflective display yet. It will be good to hear about the normal display first, I think.

By the way, I too think the keyboard on the UX looks perfect, except the ctrl and fn keys are backwards. To each our own

 

The keyboard on the UX looks identical to the one on my Fujitsu P5010D. There is one thing I had to get used to three years ago on this keyboard. the "period" key is directly below the "L" key instead of being set a little to the right of the "L" key. I got used to that in about a day and doesn't give me any trouble at all and I've typed at least 4 books on it as well as typset a book in Adobe InDesign. I'm a super fast typist so the keyboard is probably one of the most important features to me. I guess I like the placement of the Control and Function key on the UX because it's identical to what I've had on my Fujitsu. Also, I'm going for the upgrade on the display. But I will be interested to hear what others think about the normal display. I'm sure it will still be crisp and clear. Ivan had some very good things to say about this little computer so I'm looking forward to ordering it sometime soon.

 

I'll be running Windows to start with, but will also try loading up Kubuntu Linux on a live CD to see how well that seems to detect the hardware. If that goes well, then I might just erase Windows and install Kubuntu. Then run Windows under Xen or Parallels.

I'll try running the monitor tests you linked to, as well as the standard ones that people do in reviews here. I'll also attempt to describe the build quality, since this is the thing that was so bad on my HP laptop, but so good on my old Sager (which was a rebadged Clevo like the UX).

 

Wow, you wrote four books on a 10.6" laptop? Are they picture books? That's just mind boggling, I'm impressed. I'd also be interested to know what you've written, I might like to check them out.

The reason I like the FN key to the far right is because I switch caps lock and control. I could care less if caps lock is hidden away, and I want function easy to find for the numpad, pgup/pgdn, and home/end.

 

Excellent, thanks!

I for one would love to hear about your Linux experiences, especially regarding ACPI and suspend.

I'm really hoping that Ivan will decide to offer the new Hitachi 160GB drive.

 

Yes - 4 books on that little laptop. I LOVE the ultraportable size for writing books. I like to go out of town to write. I can take my laptop to the restaurant and get started for the day. Then I can go to a coffee place that has wifi and continue writing. Then back to my cabin or room that also has wifi and continue writing on into the night. Each book is about 60,000 to 70,000 words - not picture books So that's a lot of words to put into that little computer and that doesn't count the whole editing process. My little laptop is one of the most important tools for what I do so that's why I'm spending a lot of time researching this little P1 UX which looks ideal for me. Oh, and in answer to your question about my books - you can check them out at my website www.quiettime.org. I will say one more thing about writing books on a 10.4 inch screen - that's why I'm moving up to 12.1 inches for an lcd. I need something bigger. I had no idea I'd be writing books on that little laptop when I first got it, but I just naturally migrated to doing everything on it because it's so convenient, portable, and easy. I'd rather have a little laptop than a desktop computer any day of the week. Thankfully I have both, but I hardly ever use the desktop.

 

Good news on the Merom side of things. Looks as if Clevo will be releasing the M520N (aka the UX) with Merom:

http://www.clevo.com.tw/products/M520N.asp

(check the grayed out specs and the note at the bottom of the page).

That means that those of us buying a UX now should be able to get a BIOS update if we want to upgrade to Merom later.

Oh, also, here's the user manual:

http://www.clevo.com.tw/download/USRManualOut.asp?model=M52xN&menual=+GO+

 

Very good. Thank you for the user's manual.

 

Well, I just read the 144-page user's manual. I found two things I'll have to get used to but I don't think it will be a problem. There is no external switch to turn off the bluetooth or the wireless WLAN - you have to turn on the computer then turn off the power for both with function keys. I'm used to a switch that I actually turn off just before I board the plane. Also, the extended battery covers the ports in the back of the computer - the only port that it would effect that means anything to me is s-video. So I would either have to use the smaller battery or make sure I can use the power cord. I don't think that's a big deal. There's a lot to read in that user's manual that is kind of over my head. But there were interesting things also like how to set up the camera and good views from all angles of the laptop.

 

The UX is an amazing machine and is starting to be shipped to customers. One thing that has just been brought to our attention in sales is that the current LV L2400's have to be soldered on to the system boards, so we decided going forward not offer them and giving customers the T2500 2.0GHz processors at no additional charge because we feel that by soldering the LV processors to the system boards will limit future expandability of a machine that has a perfect platform as it is and we are currently working with Intel in getting pin type socket LV Merom's that will not have to be soldered on to the boards in the future, so if you are inclined to upgrade your CPU down the road you can without any difficulty. Also, systems with T2400's & T2500's can still achieve over 8 hours battery life with the included high capacity battery with the power management utilities that are pre-installed on the new UX’s.

There is no point limiting future expandability, this unit will give you many years of great computing!

 

This machine is just positively hot. I have decided lately that my laptop needs to run games well, so the UX won't do--or it would be an instant purchase. Pricey, but not nearly as much as other ultraportables. Good to hear about the processor policy, also. I hope you guys sell lots of these, Ivan, and again thank you on your replies when I emailed you.

C.

 

I was actually playing tomb raider on one today and it did okay, not as good as an MX with 512MB graphics next to it but that beats my work station too, and I am banned from games ;-). One heck of a little guy, reminds me of a sleak nicer looking P5000 series and more sturdier feeling...High cap batteries look really nice on them too..

 

Wasn't that a rebranded Clevo too? They make excellent machines. And, was that Tomb Raider II or Tomb Raider Legend?

C.

 

Are you able to consistently get 8 hours out of the battery? Any idea how many hours you can get watching back to back DVD movies? Thanks

 

Yes we will have 2 pre-set profiles you can use on battery to achieve efficiency of your choice and you can make your own profiles as well. As for DVD movies...if you put the DVD movies you want to watch on to the hard drive you will obviously get more movie vewing hours than with the DVD spinning in the optical drive. Will have to have someone actually perform your question to answer that accurately.

 

That is good to know, about battery management. How about its cooling solution? Is the chassis ventilated enough to provide efficient cooling even for the regular voltage processor? (ie, underside getting hot, palmrests, etc)

Thanks.

C.

 

As always our thermal design team always goes to work on the machines before we launch them. And on these we have machined special "P1 Air Vortex" ventilation for the machine for great air flow. I am sorry to say that the standard ODM Clevo units get way too hot on the bottom where the CPU is housed, but that was one of the first modifications we did to the machines and we just supplied the ODM the fix so they can implement it too; not sure if they will or not but we feel it is necessary! And hopefully they will give our team the due credit they deserve for the design modification improvements…

 

hey is the sceen matte or glossy? how about the trioview one?

Thanks

 

UVA displays are a glossy type and do have anti-glare treatment to help reduce some of the glare that glossy type screens are prone too, the Trioview displays have an added polarizer to the outer layer reducing glare even more.

 

So is it the same panel with a different coating? Why not just put in a different panel at the 360 cost? I am interested in the UX, I am just not a fan of glossy screens...

thanks

 

You assume incorrectly. The transflective screen upgrade option on most of Portable One's laptops is a completely different screen. Why don't you read these thread and then see if you have any more questions;

http://forums.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=63237
http://forums.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=62629
http://forums.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=29346

This url;

http://aving.net/usa/Exhibition/default.asp?mode=read&c_num=19817&sp_code=28&btb_num=2478

which will show you the laptop that the UX is based on, the Clevo M520N, at the Computex 2006 computer show with it's stock screen (not the transflective option offered by Portable One). It's glossy, like more and more laptop screens nowadays. Reps from Portable One have stated here that the Transflective screen upgrades are also glossy, but provide a screen picture that is more visible and reduces glare when exposed to light sources (like office lights and the sun).

 

aww too bad that screen upgrade is so much, thats a lot of reflection from the standard machine in the pics...that computer is almost ideal...

 

It really is comparable to the screen reflection on any of the glossy screens; if they catch the light, there is glare. Many consider the Fujitsu CVscreens to be the best on the market and I can attest to the same effect. I've looked at many of the major brands (Sony's, Toshibas, Hp's, Dell's) and all their glossy screens will be relective with an overhead light source or whenever a bright light catches in the screen.

Many people are fine with this; if you adjust the vertical angle of the screen so it doesn't catch the light, most if not all of the glare is eradicated.

That said, for overhead lighting or even indoors in front of a window (to say nothing of outdoor use), the transreflective screen is the perfect laptop screen, imho. It is the perfect balance between the comfort of matte screens and the color clarity or glossy screens. It is worth the $$ to upgrade if you can afford it, esp. if you use the laptop for extended periods. My daughter had a Fujitsu with a crustal view screen and when we bought the UX with the transreflective screen she was extremely impressed with the improvement.