* OFFICIAL UL80VT and UL50VT / VS Owner's Lounge *

I just received my ul80vt and it seems great.

I don't see any keyboard flex, though I have not tried really hard to find a flex point.
The screen is much better than I expected it it to be. I have not tried the screen on battery only just yet.

I found a cheaper alternative to Amazon to purchase the ul80vt.
I live in New York City and Amazon is collecting NY sales tax now.
Instead, I found a seller on ebay who is offering it for $749 "Buy It Now" with free shipping and no sales tax. Add in the 8% Bing Cashback and the 2% eBay Bucks and the net price is $674. The seller shipped it the day after I placed the order. It arrived in good condition.

 

Hey all, just a quick question about the Power4Gear and Turbo33 stuff on this. I received this laptop for work and it was wiped and installed clean with the image we use at work. I reinstalled Power4Gear but I don't see the Turbo option, which from what I can tell from reading this thread is that it should be a red button. Am I missing something to get this functionality back or is there anything else I'm supposed to install?

I'm trying to back track and reinstall most of the utilities from Asus' website, but not having luck with the Turbo mode. It took some time to get the Graphics switching working properly, so hopefully it's something simple i'm missing.

 

U need the ATK GENERIC FUNCTION to make the TURBO appear.

 

Awesome, thanks. I had installed all the other ATK stuff but somehow missed that one.

 

when i press fn+ the number pad it dosen't work. it only works when i use num lock. anyone know how to fix this?

 

Hey I know its asked before but does anyone know of a way to figure out IF or WHEN BB will get the UL80VT in with its rubberized inside paint? I saw the U50 at BB with that paint and I like it.....but don't want to wait forever to get it (and maybe never cause not sure its worth the $100 or more that it will cost extra to buy from BB including tax etc.....)

I was looking tonight at Amazon and the $100 GC offer didn't seem to work....any ideas? It said "Promotion Added: 0.00" when I checked out (so I stopped checking out

 

I'm waiting for the BB version too. I was torn between the UL30VT and the UL80VT. The silver version of UL30VT will be available in Jan according to the asus rep in amazon forum.

As for the gift card offer, it expired and amazon officially ran out of stock. It happened today, I believe.

 

Great - just when I finally decide what I want to get - they drop the $100 offer.......

I want the 80 as I want the DVD drive just in case I watch movies etc, plus I don't think the 80 is that much larger or heavier.

Does the Asus rep know anything about UL80VT best buy timing? Or because he is trolling the Amazon forum does he not say?

 

I claim myself as getting the LAST free gift card from Amazon, you guys will like this.

*I went to order the ul80vt and the $100 gift card, and the promotion did not show up in the checkout. I called support and they said they will e-mail me about the problem. (I got the e-mail a few minutes ago saying that the promotion has ended, sorry)

*After hanging up, I found the ad on the Asus website, which linked to the promotion on Amazon’s site (which did not show up in the product page anymore). I called back Amazon, and gave the new support person the link, and said I should receive the gift card for free. After support gets back from talking to the supervisor they tried to tell me that I need to call Asus about this—I said no; this is clearly your promotion, on your site!

*I was put on hold about an hour in, so I decided to bring up the promotion ad again. IT WAS GONE. They PULLED the ad from the site within the hour I was talking with them!

When the support guy got back on the phone with me, he said he would credit my account for $100. Bingo!

This all happened on Wednesday, around 3:45 PM central time.

I will be a new and proud owner of a UL80VT tomorrow!

 

Well, I just read this entire thread- what a lot of info!

I'm pretty convinced that I'm going to get the UL80-Vt, as far as I can tell it's exactly what I'm looking for in a laptop; but I had a couple of questions:

1- If it turns out I don't like the glossy palmrest, can the BB rubberized palmrest be ordered from Asus as a replacement/repair part?

2- I'm was also thinking of replacing the screen if I find it so bad I can't live with it (eventually).

A- How hard would this be to do?
B- Would any 14" HD screen work?
C- Anything I've not thought of that complicates this idea?

I'm coming from a Dell Inspiron 9300 17" notebook- (now 6 yrs old?) I've not worked/mod'd a notebook before aside from a simple memory upgrade in the 9300, but have built a fair number of desktops in the past.

 

My UL80VT came from Amazon with the $100 gift card. As soon as I got it I bought the Intel 80gb G2 SSD. I love the laptop but I can't wait for my $140 SSD to come in!

No. If this was possible then I think every UL80 owner would have done this already.

Replacing an LCD screen isn't hard but you can't just use any 14" screen. It would have to be compatible with the UL80. If Asus decides to add more LCD options then yes, this would be possible.

Good luck!

 

I just did a clean install of Windows 7.

Can someone tell me the required Drivers and Softwares required?

Thanks.

 

Anyone found a notebook sleeve that fits the UL50 nicely?

 

thanks for the quick reply,

I'll probably just start with the best buy version then... Now the part that puzzles me: I can't find it on their website. Has it not been released to BB yet? Is there a release date?

I'm not in a rush to pick it up, in fact I'll have to wait until I take care of my holiday expenses anyway.

The screen confuses me though, what determines compatibility for the UL80? I mean to me, a screen, is a screen, is a screen. Just with different demensions, resolution, and display quality. Wouldn't Asus use a standard connection?

 

quick question. I am going to do a clean install of Windows 7, but I'm wondering if I should use my 32 bit version, or the 64 bit version that the laptop comes with (I think it comes with 64 bit anyway)? Are there any performance changes, is one faster or more efficient than the other?
thanks.

 

There's a memory limit in 32bit, IIRC it's 3g, so to use the 4g (or more) you should have you'll need 64 bit.

 

Anyone?.......

 

Install ATK, video, audio, chipset, and wireless drivers. As for apps: Power4Gear.

Could be more, I don't remember, but i'd just install everything.

 

It doesn't appear that its been released - its just a rumor at this point that they're getting it. I wish I knew someone at Asus or BestBuy who would know - if its weeks, I might wait. I'm not going to hold off buying an UL80vt just based on some hunch or rumor though -- fingerprints can be wiped off......plus as I said in an earlier thread, you'll be paying more (at least 10% just due to taxes even if the list px is the same) so I'm not even sure $80+ is worth is vs wiping off some fingerprints.....

 

I recently noticed that the 3D looking pictures that used to pop up when I used the hotkeys like adjusting the volume, switching between the graphics cards, or changing the power modes (Using Fn + desired key) no longer pop up. It seems to have happened after I had upgraded a few the Asus utilities and rebooted the computer. Does anybody have any idea how I can get them back? It's not a huge problem, but kinda inconvenient because it's hard to see what setting it's on.

I looked through most of the forum and didn't see this issue on it. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

-Jason

 

Just got my UL80Vt from Amazon, seems to be working pretty well - besides the slight palm-rest flex and the display flex, solid build quality and speed.

Has anyone else noticed the CPU multiplier fluctuating between 6x and 8x? I've seen it go from 1.6 GHz to a solid 2.13 GHz, and right now its running stable at the higher 2.13 GHz. Don't know if this is permanent (or bad detection from CPU-Z), but good freaking deal if it is.

Edit: Seems like it has been addressed before, and is a bad reading from CPU-Z. Oh well, still a great laptop.

 

i got my UL50Vt-X1 today. the keyboard is loose on the upper right and left side. the cover sinks down a bit if i press the keys there.

EDIT:
flex at the front of the trackpad too.
is flex fixable? will they be able to correct it if i RMA?

EDIT 2:
okay, so the chassis "flex" is apparently normal for thin laptops. my brother's fat toshiba does it a little bit if i push down hard. i guess all laptops do this?

 

I have a question about boot times. I have seen some references where they say the boot time for the UL80VT-A1 is 30 seconds. The fastest mine seems to boot up is in 47 seconds (using the reported time by the Control Deck app) and I have an Intel SSD - G1 model in my UL. So what boot up times are you guys seeing and if it is faster than the 47 seconds I am seeing could you possibly recommend settings for me to speed up my boot time, not that I am really complaining about the 47 seconds

 

Got my UL80Vt today. No dead pixels, and there is no creaking sound of any kind when I press on the corners, unlike in a youtube video I saw, so I guess that guy got unlucky or maybe they have since fixed the issue. It plays my games very well. I recorded it playing Modern Warfare 2 at max detail settings and 2x AA, but with all the heavy effects like shadows and things off, but that stuff doesn't make a big visual difference anyway. It handled it very well, I am impressed. Video is still processing as I type this post, it will be in HD later.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qCYRO9MvAv0

 

You're quite lucky. I got a dead pixel on mine. no creaking sound though. I hope Amazon gets more in stock, then I'll get mine exchanged. I want a perfect one hehe, I'm used to HP, so I know sometimes you have to go through a few to get the one that has no issues.

 

is it a dead pixel in the center? because if so I had that too, but it was just part of the desktop background for some reason. I changed it and it is gone.

 

No it's kind of to the northeast of it. Hard to describe but, its more towards the right, and a little higher than the center. I didn't discover it till I tried the Asus screensaver, that's pretty much all black/dark grey. Then it stood out like a thumb. Also the desktop background I use it predominantly black, so the dead pixel is very noticeable, a red pixel in a black background. My previous HP had the same exact issue, when the background was black, the pixel was shown red and very defined.

 

has anyone figured out how we can add bluetooth to our ul80vt's?

 

got my ulv80vt yesterday. little bit of flex in the keyboard but nothing major, everything else seems sweet. 4 days to get from tennesse to Australia and A$400 cheaper.

Can anyone help me with the confusion with power4gear and windows 7 power options? In power options i cannot change it from high performance, it always says that that is the the mode that is active, even if i change in the p4g osd. And there seems to be 2 differenrt sets of settings for the same modes listed in each, damn im confused

 

I don't really understand it either, it doesn't always work for me. You have to make sure you don't have the windows media player open or something because it can't change the gpu when stuff is using it.

 

The dvd optical drive button is so difficult to push....is this for me or everyone?

 

Has anyone successfully used the AI Recovery Burner to backup their settings? I've tried twice and have had the system freeze. I was actually able to burn one dvd(first disc of four) on the first try before it froze. Then tried again and it froze right in the middle of the first disc burn. Overall, the system has froze several times during various tasks(TF2, burning, web browsing). I have run memtest86+ and it found no errors(almost wish it had, since I would like to upgrade to 8GB anyways). I'm wondering if I should just reinstall Win7 with the disc provided and start off clean, and then install Asus software as needed. I'm thinking it's a hard drive issue and maybe not a software issue?

Any suggestions?

Yes, the dvd button is fairly difficult to operate. After several tries, you sorta get the hang of it though.

 

Yeah, it's a bit tricky.

I just made a hotkey to eject the drive. My fingers are already on the keyboard anyway, so it's easier than fumbling for the button.

 

I did a clean install and that seemed to solve the problem. My ul50vt was freezing several times a day while doing CAD work while using an external monitor; Quite irritating to say the least.

I am thinking it is one of the ASUS programs that is not win7 compatible and that is where the problem is. I still get an occasional lockup, but it is only once a week at most and seems to only happen when i use an external monitor.

I did not want to RMA my laptop for such a trivial issue as I dont think i could be apart from it for too long. Best darn laptop i have had and this is my 3rd ASUS laptop in the last 4 years.

 

you don't actually have to press the button thing exactly you know, just know that the button is directly right of the right arrow key, and then just give it a good push.

 

You are a genius Doubleshock, or maybe I am a goon lol. In any case I did not have too much difficulty opening the DVD drive but I did used to feel around for the button. Using the arrow key as a landmark does make it easier to find!

 

I happen to work at BB part-time, and I can tell you that as of late last week the UL80Vt is nowhere in our internal inventory systems. I've been checking pretty frequently for its listing, and I finally just ordered from Amazon right before the giftcard promotion expired. Laptop should be here Monday.

Based on normal lead times for new product to arrive in-store and the fact that we don't list it anywhere, I'd be surprised if BB had this available for order before mid- February at the earliest. And that's IF BB is even really supposed to get this model - the only source for this rumor is the addendum to Anandtech's 'First Look' article.

Don't get your hopes up, and if you want the UL80, just order from Amazon for now.

 

Has anyone figured out how to get Power4Gear to run in a standard account?

Also, I was wondering for those who use HWMonitor, what are the stats on your battery?

Mine has a designed capaciy of 84000 mwh and my max charge capacity is only 80764 mwh. Does that sound right? I have not done any battery benchmarks to see what kind of battery life I am getting. Also, the laptop is only a couple days old, it has been re-charged like 3 times(2 times from like 15% and another time from 50%).

 

Thanks for the suggestion. After my post, I downloaded all the drivers/software from Asus and did a clean install using the Win7 recovery disc and the Asus software disc and everything is working like a charm! The freezes were really starting to bother me and I was hoping it was not hardware related. I am glad it seems to be just a software issue which is a relief. I haven't added all the Asus software that I downloaded, but I am just going to go on a as needed basis going forward. I hope Asus will work on rectifying their software issues, because the UL80VT-A1 is really a gem of a laptop!

 

For those of you wondering about the Asus RMA service, I still haven't got my laptop back from Asus yet, but I was notified that they finaly completed repairs on it. They should be shipping it tomorrow. It's been more than a month now. Craziness! I don't think it would normally take this long to get something fixed. I think they had to order a new chassis for the laptop in order to fix the palm rest issue... or something along those lines...

 

THANKS! I was hoping someone with a look at the internal BB system would chime in. Actually as strange as it sounds, I think I have now moved to getting a Timeline 4810TZ from Costco. Reasons? Cheaper, lighter and BETTER LOOKING. I looked at one and it doesnt have that gawd-awful shiny plastic inside. I havent actually seen a UL80VT in person, but I was in BB looking at all the shiny Toshibas and other ASUS'es and IMO they all look nasty, like someone ate fried chicken then rubbed all over the inside. Realizing I might get flamed on a techie board, but I rationalize it this way (the wife is going to use this laptop at least 50% of the time):

-wife definitely will notice fingerprints
-wife definitely will not notice switchable graphics
-when I do a realistic assessment, I am not going to be doing any gaming on this machine. I'm always the type to say "would be nice to have that option" but reality is I will not be playing COD or whatever on this machine
-price is cheaper
-Timeline is 1/2 lb lighter
-really would like the Turbo 33% on the ASUS though

I hate to say it ASUS, but had you made the UL80VT look a little nicer inside, with a matte surface, I would probably pay extra to rationalize the better engine. But held side by side, my wife will like the Timeline better, and so why am I going to pay up $200 for her to beeyotch about how cheap and dirty the ASUS looks inside......

 

Great advise! Works good now

 

I read almost every post in this thread and looked at several specifications pages on different web sites. No where did I see that this laptop has a firewire port. Am I correct?

I was so tempted to buy it based on everything I have read but how am I supposed to capture from my camcorder to this laptop w/o a firewire port?

 

If you are referring to the UL80vt, it does not have a firewire port, at least in the U.S. version, which I have. I think the specs vary a little for versions in other geographies; I don't know whether they have firewire.

If you are referring to the UL50vt, I don't know.

 

hi there seandm,


just hoping that you can do me a favour, if you have the time and inclination... install HWmonitor and give me temperature readings.

For comparative purposes, when I am using integrated graphics, each core is showing temps of around 40c and the main unit "THERM" is approx 50c. This is with no CPU being utilised on other programs apart from firefox browsing web via wireless. When using NVidia graphics, each core will heat up to approx 50c, the graphics card itself will heat up to 60c to 70c, and THERM shows as approx 60c. Once again, the pc is under practically zero load.

just want to get some more readings for comparative purposes before I return this laptop.

Also - I am having battery issues. Less than 3hrs on nvidia and only 6hrs on battery saving... Given that you are a happy customer I'd appreciate your views on battery life,
cheers

 

At least they attempted to fix your palmrest. They shipped mine back and told me it was part of the design. Mine seems to be getting worse. I can now see it separate, hear it loudly, and feel it bending. I may just call them up again.

 

It looks as though your setup is running rather hot as compared to my setup. My UL80VT arrived a few days ago from Amazon. The performance wasn't that great with the laptop freezing multiple times, so I decided to do a fresh install with the Win7 recovery disc and Asus software and it has been running great with no freezes at all. I would suggest maybe doing a fresh install, since maybe all the extra "bloated" Asus software is causing problems, like mine freezing and yours running hot? Just a suggestion.

Here's a link to HWmonitor stats:

http://docs.google.com/Doc?docid=0AZax_K1YC9w8ZGZrNGZ0YmtfMGQ2N3c0Nmht&hl=en

 

thanks for that BiggDogg. I will try a reinstall in the next week or two when I get time... and let you know what happens.

cheers

 

Hi everyone!
I was wondering how the build quality is on the ul80vt compared to the n81vp-d2 (or any n81vps...) is.. Is the quality on the n81 much more sturdy than the ul80?

Also, whats the quality on the screen of the ul80 to the n81vp? I was wondering which would be better if I was to watch movies with friends or family. I'm having a hard time deciding because I heard the build quality wasn't so good on the ul80, but other than that, it sounds perfect. (cept fot eh screen too?) But how is it compared to the n81?

Thanks.

 

I was playing Call of Duty a couple nights ago trying to find the best settings for playability. I ended up setting it to native resolution (1366x768) with x4 anti-aliasing and then all the graphics on the normal setting. It was fairly playable but still seemed to move slowly. My mouse also seemed to have a slow response. I'm not sure if it's the type of mouse I was using or what. I tried both and optical track ball and a Microsoft wireless optical mouse.

Any recommendation on how I can get smoother playback? I also had the laptop plugged in and set to high performance mode.

I'm guessing some of the things I need to do are second nature to a regular gamer, which I'm not. Do Win 7 need to be in XP mode or something like that? Do I need to change the overclock multiplier up to 5% in the BIOS?

Also, what do you guys use to measure your FPS when you are playing the game? I also noticed that when I was testing different graphics settings COD would often freeze on me for certain resolutions or changes that I made.

-Jason