Asus UL30A-A2 Black Friday Sales!
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Asus UL30A-A2 Black Friday Sales!.
Product: Asus UL30A-A2 Amazon Price: Too low to display Availability: In Stock |
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Like the previous reviewer, I also pre-ordered the UL30A-A2 and it was delivered on October 22nd sterling. (Kudos to amazon.com for such lickety-split delivery!) I also have only had it for a day, but thus far these are my impressions:
Middle of the Road:
1. Lack of an Optical drive - either internal or external. While this may be an boom for some people, it is plenty easy to hook up an external optical drive to it. However buyers should support a piquant explore out for which external drive they catch. The cpu in this machine is an ultra outrageous voltage processor, and some of the external optical drives out there that only speed on the power of usb ports (1 or 2) will pick up that the UL30A-A2 does not crank sufficient power through the usb ports for many of the drives available. I fortunately had an external drive powered by only usb ports and one with an external power supply. The usb powered external drive I owned (a nu-esw860, which worked with an HP 8710w laptop) did not work, whereas the external power source usb drive (an dvd writer/cd burner from Iomega) worked sparkling.
2. The Touchpad and Mouse Buttons. While the touchpad is fair for me the mouse buttons actually consist of a single button that rocks wait on and forth. I glean it a dinky awkward, but not unusable. In general I try to expend an external mouse with laptops anyway.
3. DDR3 memory limitation. While the inclusion of DDR3 RAM is wonderful in of itself purchasers should be aware that this model maxes out at 4gb of RAM - that is, the amount it sells with. No upgrades in this location of the machine. And since the machine sells with a 64 bit OS, which is not subject to the 3.5 gb RAM cap of 32 bit OS's, it kinda makes one wonder what Asus was thinking, especially with the video card potentially borrowing so worthy memory. That being said, other UL models DO near with an 8gb max and ship with 4gb of RAM, although usually those models utilize DDR2.
4. Keyboard. While I very grand like the chicklet earn of laptop keyboards my unit has noticeable (but not abominable) flex across the keyboard splendid. For those of you who are broken-down to the standard of the worn IBM laptops this is a bit of a disappointment. But even though I opinion it should be mentioned it is very easy to live with nonetheless.
5. Runt power adapter. A very dinky adapter comes with the unit, and although I too have seen reviews (admittedly of the UL30A-A1 model) where the adapter got downright hot thus far my spend of it has not achieved that. At worse it has been noticeably warm. Maybe a determining factor for the size of the adapter was to shave a few extra ounces off of the overall weight of carrying the machine and its accessories around?
6. Intel x4500 graphics card. Not the greatest of cards, but sufficient to the the job on a basic daily level. Likely chosen in portion for purposes of battery life.
Negative:
1. No bluetooth. This was a disappointment for me, but there are models in the UL series that do near with bluetooth capability. In the extinguish I opted for battery life over the bluetooth - a person could always regain a usb bluetooth adapter if need be. Detached - it would have been very convenient to have this.
2. Usually Asus's laptops near with a bag and a mouse, as the previous reviewer has mentioned. No such extra accessories came with my machine.
3. Internal Wireless Card. My unit was bundled with an Aetheros wireless card and only one of the two antennae was attached/active. I would presume that this was to crop power consumption. For me personally it is not a jam, but I have heard many fellow users complain about its outmoded signal and miniature range. It works - impartial not very strong or far-reaching. This has been a deterrent for some in considering to pick this machine.
Positive:
1. Sturdy make, light weight. I am impressed by the general external fabricate of so thin and light a laptop as this one - it is not shipshape sturdy, like, say, the faded IBM T40 series, but it is quite adequate. Kudos to Asus on this front!
2. Conceal. It is a attractive and vibrant conceal indeed - although potential buyers should be aware that it is the reflective cloak.
3. Glowing Produce. I personally contemplate it is an pleasing laptop as well. The same basic gain comes in both silver and shadowy. Looking only at pictures I opinion the gloomy looked slightly better of the two, but on receiving the UL30A-A2 (which is the silver model) I am quite ecstatic with how it looks, and even impressed. Asus did a very top-notch job on this one!
4. Cooling system. As advertised, Asus did an impressive job with this. The machine stays very, VERY cold when running. Even when doing high intensive cpu tasks the machine only heats up in a barely noticeable contrivance.
5. HDMI Port. This is something I have seen many people ask about. Different models of the UL series either approach with or omit the hdmi port. This hdmi port also is not of the sort that can also be weak as a usb port.
6. Not a whole lot of bloatware. Mostly Asus programs - a few could be useful, like the power saving app, which I have not yet ancient. Mine came with a trial of Trend Micro antivirus and MS Office 2007 student level - both were easy enough to uninstall.
7. Windows 7. This is my first hands on sight at the OS, and while it took a while to come by my intention around the thing, I have to say I am impressed, in particular by the power saving features and general hasten improvement over Vista.
8. Battery Life. This was the deal breaker for me. The battery itself fits up very snugly to the overall acquire of the laptop, and the UL30A-A2 model was advertised (perhaps incorrectly) as having up to 16 hours of battery life. I effect it through some initial tests and these are the rough figures I came up with:
Initial Battery Life Results:
When I earn a power saving profile maximized for battery length (which means cover dimmed to lowest possible and wireless turned off) AND slice the color from 32 bit to 16 bit this is what I got before shutting down the machine at 5% power - these are rough numbers only, mind you:
Playing .avi files and installing a dazzling size program: about 8 hours of battery life.
Playing .avi files only: about 10 - 10 1/2 hours of battery life.
Only word processing: about 13 - 13 1/2 hours battery life.
So, at least based on the first hurry of draining the battery life, while it does not live up to the 16 hours listed on amazon.com, it DOES do better than the advertised "up to 12 hours" for the other machines - but this is in obscene power saving mode.
Conclusion
Overall this is an ideal machine for me personally. I notion long and hard before choosing what my next laptop was going to be, and I am very pleased with the result. I would recommend this machine to others who need long battery life with decent cpu strength and race in their machine at the same time. For the recount, the Intel Core 2 Duo SU7300 cpu is very roughly the equivalent of an Intel Core 2 Duo T5500 and/or an AMD Turion 64 X2 TL-64.
I am hopeful that in the future Asus (or some third party) will develop available larger power supplies and especially larger batteries! Then something like 16 hours of battery life could easily be reached with dedicated power saving settings (as opposed to ultra-extensive, as I did) .
I ordered my ASUS UL30A-A2 last week with one day shipping so I could collect it ASAP with Windows 7. It arrived on Oct. 22, the Windows 7 release date, and I am very pleased with it. I did a lot of research on thin and lights with vast amounts of battery power, and from all the reviews I could accumulate, the ASUS UL30A was the sure winner, with the Acer Aspire Timeline 3810T unbiased slack it. I've had my computer for less than 24 hours, but keeping that in mind, here's my original assessment:
Pros:
- It is very thin and very light. It's about half the wight of my venerable Dell Inspiron, and the size is tiny enough to be really portable and grand enough to peek movies.
- I haven't fully tested the battery life yet, but so far it's been sparkling impressive.
- The shroud quality is incredible, and it comes with some of the most shapely desktop images I've seen. I am truly impressed.
- It doesn't rep hot. It has been on my lap for hours at a time while working hard to transfer over files from my other laptop, and it hasn't been even uncomfortably warm.
- The keyboard and touchpad produce are tremendous. I like the mac-style keyboard that will abet support crud from accumulating under the keys, and is easy to type on. The touchpad is flush with the wrist-rest areas, which means it also will conclude cleaner with years of utilize. Some computer reviewers did not like the touchpad, but for me it's plenty enormous, and it only feels "sticky" when you press down too hard. You have to spend a light touch, but it doesn't remove long to adjust to.
- It's expeditiously enough and broad enough for everything I need. I'm in the midst of transferring all of my music and videos, from both my outmoded laptop and my external hard drive, only my Asus so that I can have everything with me at once, and only spend my external as a backup. The system operates speedy enough for my needs, though from what I've read it won't suffice if you're a gamer.
- It doesn't approach with Norton Anti-Virus pre-installed. This means you don't have to go through hours of trying to uninstall it so that your computer can bustle the draw it's supposed to. It simply comes with a basic internet security program.
- Most of the computer is somewhat fingerprint-proof. The only exceptions are the grand glossy hide (which you shouldn't be touching anyway), the dark border around the shroud (which you will sometimes need to touch), and the touchpad button (which is runt, but you will probably be touching it a lot) . However it is composed better than most laptops, as the rest of the computer will not explain fingerprints.
- Windows 7 is mammoth! Again, I haven't fully tested the ins and outs, but so far it's been an easy transition for someone who has been using XP since it came out eight years ago. I avoided getting a computer with Vista, but have outmoded it on friends' computers on occasion, and Windows 7 seems like an improvement.
- I read that the power adapter would pick up hot, but so far mine has stayed chilly. And it has been plugged in for 18 hours straight.
- If you press Fn and the spot bar, you can easily shift through 4 different power options: Entertainment Mode, High Performance, Calm Office, and Battery Saving. This is an awesome feature because if you're watching a movie, it will let you change settings to finish the veil from dimming or turning off without even exiting the movie.
Cons:
- The Amazon order did not arrive with the mouse or computer case it promised!
- I don't like the reflections you can study in the glossy cloak. This isn't recent to this computer, I honest don't like glossy screens in general.
- It came with a sticker on it saying it had 12 hours of battery life, so I'm not obvious if the 16 hour claim is suitable... and like I said I haven't tested it. Either plan, though, I don't assume I'll ever need it to last more than 12 hours without being plugged in.
- The contrivance that the hard drive is partitioned is confusing. It has an OS C drive and a data D drive. However it automatically puts all of the users documents and music folders in the OS drive rather than the data drive. This is easy to change, but I quiet haven't figured out how to change the inaugurate menu links to my documents so that it takes me to the D drive instead of the C drive.
- The touchpad doesn't serve rotate and zoom motions that are approved on Macs and coming out in newer PCs. Certainly not a titanic dilemma, but they would be nice, since the touchpad does assist scrolling and legal click motions.
I deem that's all for now. I'll try to update this when I secure more pros and cons worth mentioning, and have measured the correct battery life of the machine.
This is an fantastic laptop. Overall worth every penny. Was debating between this laptop, acer 3810, and the hp dm3. This to me seemed to be the best overall while the other had a few things i liked. First off I am a student and wanted something light and long battery life. So far(ive only had this since day after windows 7) the battery at 100% and with wifi on and surfing the web with gross brightness the battery station says ten hours max and only goes down from there when i gape videos are initiate some heavier multitasking. As far as the processor the core 2 duo at 1.3ghz handle everything i throw at it thanks to windows 7. Itunes and mozilla begin at same time shows tiny dull down and hulu and youtube hd fullscreen play gigantic. Heres a list of some of the things i like and things i dont.
Good
Construction- aluminum lid shows this laptop has a shrimp toughness despite being so thin.
Keyboard-chiclet took some getting utilize to but learning to treasure it. I dont discover noteworthy flex at all and like typing on keyboard.
Trackpad-was paralyzed it was gonna be like the crappy eeepc bumpiness but it is smooother than i understanding. and the clicker seems useable and multitouch scrolling is a microscopic jittery but better than nothing.
Battery life- no steady numbers yet but better than my crappy hps that lasted 45min to 2 hours.
Windows 7- makes everything speedy and intuitive
Heat- Runs cooler than any laptop ive old and it unexcited also.
Asus porgrams- some are junk but some are useful
Bad
No bluetooth frustrates me but not enormous deal easy to fix but it would have been nice it had been included.
No optical drive- magnificent with me makes it lighter and that is more distinguished to me.
Graphics-Havent really tried any games but certain this isnt tremendous would like option of a dedicated switcheable card. CULV+9400M/ION would be perfect even with some sacrifice on battery life. 4500mhd has handled streaming video blooming for me objective would like to do some fps gaming.
Just would like to say that acer 3810tg in europe and asia with ati 4330 need to approach to america or asus achieve the 4330 in the ul30 and i would be gratified add throw in some bluetooth. And i know the hp dm3 had the 105m but it also has optical drive making ti slightly heavier but i have had bad experince with hp and never serious considered buying one fair wanted to compare. anyway hopes this helps people considering this laptop because so far i am gratified. also helps gizmodo named this best 13 lope ultraportable morning after i recieved mine.
