Got my UX

So, I got my my new UX yesterday. First off, the specs:

Portable One UX
2Gb RAM
100 Gb 7200RPM hard disk
2Ghz Core Duo processor
1280x800 regular (glossy) screen

Anyway, my first impressions:
FAST: this baby screams

SLICK: all silver, streamlined, very nice looking unit

THIN: though not an ultraportable in the true sense, this is still quite a thin laptop - thinner than my GF's Dell Inspiron 700m

SOLID: very sturdy build. The whole unit feels *much* more solid than the Sony SZs I've seen, and is a world apart from the Toshiba U500, not to mention my old HP ze4100 and most other laptops I've tried out in stores over the last few months.

QUIET&COOL: at least running on batteries, which has the processors clocked down to 900Mhz, I think the fan is on, but I can barely hear it in a quiet room. Remarkably cool as well (might change when I use with full power and/or DVD).

The one small minus is that it weighs a little more than I thought it would - it's somewhat heavier than my GF's 700m.

Overall, my first impressions are very good - if it continues to impress me like it has, then I've just gone and got myself an excellent notebook.

I'll try getting around to a more detailed review soon. Any questions - go ahead and ask and I'll do my best to answer them.

 

A detailed review would be great If you're interested in writing one let me know ( http://www.notebookreview.com/writeReview/ ). The nice thing also is that P1 are so darned good with customer service, it's nice to buy a product from a small company and not a big box retailer and get a product that not everyone else will have.

 

Sounds very nice. Looking forward to a longer review as well. Kind of wish I'd of held out for this one rather than rushing to purchase my current notebook. Oh, well. Live and learn.

 

I'll try writing a review of my brand spanking new UX as well once im settled into college


The UX is amazing.

 

So have you stuck in that ever important Ubuntu disc yet? How's the screen as far as leakage and viewing angles? Is it a high gloss, or less glossy than others?

 

I tried booting up with the Kubuntu live CD that I burned a month or two ago, and all went pretty well, except the wireless didn't seem to work. Apart from that, booting was very fast and the general interface seemed very snappy.

I'll download the latest live CD and give that a whirl and report back.

 

For what it's worth, I booted up off a Kubuntu Live 6.01.1 Linux CD and it seemed to work fine, though all I did was surf the net a little. But wireless networking and so on worked without problem and the graphics were properly configured automatically.

All my previous observations about the notebook still hold - I'm very happy. I still intend to give a full review, but I'm struggling to find the time at the moment. Maybe by the weekend.

 

Quick update. I am now typing this from my UX from a Windows XP virtual machine running in Parallels Workstation 2.2 under Kubuntu 6.10 beta primary OS. The internet connection is my wireless connection, which appears as a regular ethernet connection in Windows XP.

So far so good. A few minor problems getting the native 1280x800 screen resolution running in Kubuntu were solved by using the 915resolution patch. And wireless is a little tricky to set up.

Anyway, in Parallels, Windows XP seems fairly snappy on this machine - not bad at all. I'm looking forward to showing off by flipping from Linux to WinXP in front of a bunch of scientists at an upcoming meeting.

 

Hello, doddles.

I'm interested in UX, but I am worried that the keyboard might be too small. My wife's Dell 700m keyboard is too small for me, so I have been looking at 13.3" laptops. But, UX seems nice and the keyboard might be bigger than 700m's keyboard.

As your girlfriend has 700m, would you please comment on the keyboard size?

Thanks!

 

Congrats on your purchase. I have heard only good things about P1 quality and service.

 

It's exactly the same height as the 700m (3 3/4 ") and about 1/8 inch wider than the 700m (10 1/8 "). Personally I like the compact keyboard, but understand that some people do not.

 

I have last year's model, so I don't know how the keyboards compare (you can give them a call and ask them about this). Anyway, I was very concerned about keyboards on the ultraportables before purchasing it; I was uncomfortable typing on all the keyboards I tried locally on the 12" machines (Sony, Toshiba, Dell 700, etc.). As a matter of fact, if this wasn't being purchased for my daughter, who has small hands, I never would have ordered it, because my typing was a disaster when I tried the smaller keyboards out in the store. I set the machine up and was amazed at how different the keyboard felt on the UX. I could type comfortably and accurately. It may also have to do with the build quality- a solid, not mushy feel.

If the new keyboard is similar in size to last year's you will be pleasantly surprised. If you have any qualms, give them a ring...you will find the most responsive customer service you have ever encountered. Once you deal with Ivan and the rest of his staff you'll never want to buy a laptop anywhere else!

 

Thanks for replies, doddles, m61376!

I've tried a few keyboards. Certainly, I didn't like the Dell 700m keyboard (too cramped: they could have made the keyboard bigger utilizing spaces in sides), but Thinkpad X41 keyboard was great for a 12.1" laptop.

I guess the UX keyboard would be much better than the 700m keyboard, and I would take a chance at UX this holiday season.

 

I've been using my UX since it first came out in late August... while I absolutely love the little machine, my one complaint has been the battery life. It is great they include two batteries, but honestly the little 4 cell is somewhat pathetic (maybe 90 minutes, not using wireless, which is rare), and the larger one is only decent (about 3 hours or so on average). Have you found the same? I have the 2.0 GHz processor, and the 60 gig HDD. In general, I use the wireless, and word processing.

I've contacted P1 a couple times about this, and they've been very helpful in trying to diagnose any problems that might be causing battery drain, but ultimately have found nothing. Do other users have the same problem?

 

I have been noticing that most people have been putting very high-end powerful Core Duo CPU’s into the UX’s lately and if battery life yield is as important as CPU power I would suggest staying with the T5500 cpu, you can always upgrade down the road if needed. So many have been putting 2 to 2.33GHz Core Duo processors because the upgrade prices are good but most of the time the extra cpu power is not needed and does effect battery life, significantly. The UX’s were originally going to be launched with LV (9 watt / 15 watt) processors that can yield 8 hours with the 8 cell only, but since those particular processors rendered the cpu’s/units systemboard’s un-upgradeable we launched core duo machines that included both the 4 cell & 8 cell to get up to that same battery yield, but with these new very powerful processors at TDP 34 watts, if you do not require such a powerful machine keep in mind that between the 1.66 and 2GHz processors we are seeing up to an hour more battery life on the 8.

 

As a matter of fact, I had this exact specification in mind, and originally requested the 1.66 GHz when I ordered the machine. I was advised, however, that it was inadvisable to get the soldered chip, which could not be upgraded, and given the option of a free upgrade to the 2.0 ghz machine. I took the upgrade, regrettably it seems. So isn't there a way to scale back the processing voltage, so that I can pretend I have the 1.66 ghz cpu?

 

1.66 (T5500) is not soldered on, I think your talking about the original Lv 1.66 option we decided against.

Yes there are cpu clocking utilities too.

 

Any chance one of you lucky buggers that have your new model UX could give us a little more in depth review? I am sure I want to order the UX, but I am trying to decide on speed (T5500 vs7200) vs battery life. Ivan has been very helpful, but I wondered what real life was turning up. Any other thoughts or observations would be appreciated too! Thanks...K