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

Thank you very much, itaru!! I appreciate it! There are two other issues I'm wondering about before I go ahead and buy the UL50VT:

1. Does there seem to be a consensus that the keyboard and creaking issues have been addressed and are improved in current batches of the UL50 and UL80? I'm not overly concerned since I'll probably put tape under the keyboard if needed, but I'd like to avoid major creaking if possible.

2. A few reviews have mentioned that the low resolution of the UL50's screen make many images appear to be distorted. What is your experience with this? I'm generally not very picky, but I want to find out since I will be working with digital photos quite a bit.

 

About to do the first clean install onm my UL80vt.

Is it necessary to install all 5 or so ATK drivers?

Thanks.

 

Install ATK generic, ATK hotkey and ATK media.

install srs premium sound. You may need to uninstall and then reinstall both the software and the drivers to actually get this to work.. I did, and someone else earlier in the thread had this issue.

lastly, install the correct Asus nvidia drivers, the ones on the disc.

oh -I forgot... power4gears (asus utility) is also essential, to switch from intel to nvidia graphics... apart from that, I don't think you need anything else...

 

You're very welcome. I have heard that the UL50's build quality is slightly better than the UL80, but I can't confirm one way or the other. If you're unlucky, you will get the creaky palm rest but it's fixable, so no big deal.

As for the resolution, it's only 1366x768 but it's perfectly fine with me. I see no distortions on my 14" UL80VT screen during Windows use, 3D gaming, and playing HD movies. My only complaint with the screen is the poor contrast and limited vertical viewing angle. I imagine the 15" to be pretty much the same. However for digital photo editing, you may notice some aliasing effect and/or some blurriness when viewing high resolution photos. If you're not that picky, it shouldn't pose any problems but YMMV. BTW, the Nvidia discrete graphics has a slightly better picture quality than the Intel integrated graphics, and with a little bit of tweaking through the Nvidia control panel, the screen can be made to look much better.

Here's the thread to figure out what the various Asus utilities/drivers do and whether you need/want to install them or not: http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=380681

 

As for the creaky keyboard, I bought my UL80 ate the end of December and have no noise at all. I find build quality to be quite good so they may have addressed many of the issues in further revisions?

My only real gripe is that I would have preferred a 500GB hard drive out of the box.

Also, as for any re-install, I find this thing just as snappy with 80+ processes as it was when I neutered it down to 50 or so. Everybody has their own needs/desires, but I prefer to run it the way it came since the bloatware ASUS gives us is nowhere near as bad as most other notebook manufacturers. Atleast the ASUS stuff is meant to do something helpful for the most part.

 

Did anyone managed to install the latest hybrid Nvidia driver on their laptop yet? Been looking around for a customized driver but have no luck in getting it work. Asus does not update their display driver

 

A reviewer mentioned about Asus claiming to be working with Nvidia to get hybrid graphics support working in the next official mobile graphics driver release by Nvidia, so I'll guess we'll just have to wait and see. Another hopeful development (but hybrid graphics not working yet) is the one at: http://forums.laptopvideo2go.com/topic/26002-forceware-19562/

As long as Asus continues to make new notebook models with hybrid graphics, I'm sure there will be new drivers for them but those drivers might not show up on the old models' download page.

 

I have a UL50VT and do not have any problems with a squeaky palm rest. I chose the UL50VT because it has the 500GB harddrive and number pad. The screen is pretty nice, but if you're going to do photo editing you'll definitely want to switch to the discrete graphics card and tweak the settings to get good image quality. I do have to say that the screen is not as good as a MacBook Pro. Those screens are amazing but the MBP also costs 2X or more than these laptops.

 

I connected UL80vt via HDMI to my TV.

But I cannot seem to get the picture to FIT on the TV....the sides are cut off, I tried to change resolution and played around with it for hours, but cant get it to work.

The Videos in full screen however are perfect, but the main desktop sides are cut off....

How can I fix this?

 

I have had 3 ul80vt's over the last month, 2 of the 3 had creaking problems, and all 3 had flex in keyboards. Truly im not very annoyed by the flexing of the keyboard at all, don't even really notice it unless im looking at it. But the creaking in either of the 2 palm rests is really annoying. It usually doesnt start happening until 4-5 days after you receive it. Its actually really wierd the bottom frame when you first receive it seems to be farther out then after normal use im not sure what causes the bottom frame to come closer in but when it does you could get creaking right above the speakers, and the more I mess with it the louder it seems to get. My buddies say im ocd and its not that big of a deal, but I dunno I just paid 800+ bucks for this laptop not sure if i want to just deal with it when I can still return it or try for another one.

Not sure what I should do though, you guys think its worth trying to get another replacement at amazon? or should I just return it?. Anyone know if the ul50vt suffers the same creaking problems? Is the ul50vt really that much bigger then the ul80vt? I wouldnt mind extra screen size but I kind of like the smaller factor :/

Update:

I just saw the ul50vt at best buy but its a different model, UL50VT-RBBBK05, its got a different palm rest it looks very similir to the ul50ag-RBBBK05. im starting to think they returned the other ones and put in the new features. Its only $699 which is cheaper by atleast $100 you guys think this is legit, or is something else happening here im missing?

 

I just saw on ExcaliberPC's website that they have the UL80VT-A2 (silver) in stock. Can anyone verify that these are out now? If so I may get this instead of the UL30VT-A1 that' I'm waiting to come back in stock at Amazon. Here is the link

 

I don't want to sound bitter about my expierence with the UL or Excaliber in general, but they do charge a 15% return fee.

I believe Amazon doesn't do that....

 

I'm hoping the QC issues with the silver won't be as annoying as the ones with the A1. And I did not know that Excal PC charged a return fee. I think this knocks them off my short list of who to buy from. Thanks for the info bro!

 

The way I interpreted their RMA policy, I thought it left the possibility that I wouldn't have to pay for the restocking fee, provided I kept it clean and returned everything that was in the box. Turns out I was wrong. :/

 

Well I went ahead and bought a http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Asus+-+...18153002507&skuId=9701931&st=ul50vt&cp=1&lp=1

And though I've only had it for less then an hour, im really liking it so far, it has a rubberized palm rest that doesnt show finger marks so much, though that also means they had to take the bumpy mouse pad which i did like and put a normal one in.
At first it was kind of sketchy the stickers don't match and it doesnt come with recovery disks, but in cpu-z everything matches the ul50vt-a1, with turbo 33 and the switchable graphics. Im going to keep comparing it to the ul80vt-a1 I have now with benchmarks and battery life tests. Ill update you guys in a bit.

 

I saw that UL50VT at BestBuy. Does it have a lower capacity battery than other versions? I coudln't tell the difference other than the palm rest.

 

Well still running tests on it, but I did notice the battery was 5200mah and 76wh instead of the 5600mah. And the power supply brick is smaller then the ul80vt. Another thing is atleast my screen was a bit less poppy and bright vs the other ul80vts but I have heard that the 15.6" screens are a bit worse in quality.

I do have less flex and so far no creaking from it like I had on my 3 ul80vt's but we will see if that changes.

The hard drive's read and write performance is a bit better but that probably has to do with it being a 500gb vs a 320gb.

The pcmark vantage score is almost identicle to the other ul80vt's at 3830.

The temperatures are about the same as the two coolest ul80vt's I had of the 3 (the first ul80vt I had was running a lot hotter).

It is kind of big compared to the ul80vt and im not sure if i want to keep it or go for a ul30vt-a1 when they get in stock, but so far Im liking it better then the ul80vt in terms of build quality and the size isnt too bad, but big enough not to be ultra portable anymore.

According to rep at exotic they are supposed to get ul30vt-A1's by the end of this week or beginning of next. So I guess I have till then to decide what im going to do.

 

The silver ul80vt is also listed at Amazon.
http://www.amazon.com/UL80Vt-14-Inch-Light-Laptop-Silver/dp/B0034H2YNM/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1264605129&sr=8-1http://www.amazon.com/UL80Vt-14-Inch-Light-Laptop-Silver/dp/B0034H2YNM/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1264605129&sr=8-1

 

Yeah, I saw that too. If the build quality on that is better than the A1, I will jump on this. Otherwise I may wait for either the jt's to come out or the Ul30VT-a1 to come back in stock on Amazon. Or I'll just give the refurbed 13" mac pro a shot since that isn't all that much more expensive at 999 and has good battery life, a good screen, no build issues and good (though not as good as the UL series) battery life.

I'm hurtin for another laptop for school after my g1's video card took a crap on me a couple months ago.

 

UPS delayed me a day, got my SSD yesterday. Honestly, I'm not noticing a super amount of difference. Everything seems more snappy, but everything was quick with my old HD as well. Boot time did improve, went from 34 seconds to about 15. Shutdown went from 20+ to about 8 seconds, no need to even hibernate anymore, boot and shutdown happen so quick. Got a basic windows 7 ultimate load with most of my applications including office in under 20 GB, no problem, plenty of room to play with. Running full drive encryption via truecrypt, just to try it, seems to work great. Been about a day of medium use and getting everything the way I like it, so far so good.

http://www.amazon.com/Kingston-2-5-...3?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1264642632&sr=1-3

That's the Kingston V-series, no TRIM support, but with the V+ series announced, the price on all of the V-series should be dropping very soon.

 

Just a short heads up, Asus has released a new BIOS update for the UL80VT bringing it to version 212. Asus has also updated Power4Gear Hybrid to version 1.1.27. I'm using them now and so far so good. I never had any problems with the previous versions though. Anyway, get them now while they're still hot.

 

Thanks for the heads-up, downloaded the new BIOS Update, but couldn't find the update for Power4Gear...I found previous updates for it but not the current one...odd. I guess I will check again later.

 

I hope someone has some input.

I've had my UL80VT-A1 for about 2 weeks, and initially was loving everything. I understand everyone's comments about the build quality, and how it could be better, but I too thought the pros far outweighed the cons. However, over the last few days something has become increasingly annoying, or i've just noticed it more..but the battery, even though it's locked in and is functioning properly, seems to be loose. I can feel it wiggle when i set the computer down, and when i push on the battery, sometimes when i'm carrying the computer, basically is this just a design flaw and are all UL80VTs the same, with a loose battery? or did i get a defective notebook?

It may just be my OCD that is taking over, but should i worry about this? i contacted ASUS and supposedly they haven't heard many complaints about this, and a tech is looking into it.

does everybody who owns the UL80VT have similar movement/wiggle room around the battery? Is there a fix, or is this something that I should send back to ASUS?

let me reiterate, the battery life and connection is fine, just a lot of wiggle room or so it seems around the battery.

thanks for your input!

 

I've gone through a couple UL80VTs for like dead pixels, but in terms of battery, it's not loose. I am currently on it right now and just double checked, and it's in tight. Did you lock it in? Unlike most laptops it has 2 lock switches. But indeed, it might just be yours. As I said, none of mine have been "loose" but this one in particular is in there quite tight.

 

I think that this is a fault common to all units. I wouldn't say that there is a lot of wiggle room but it definitely rattles (mine does).

You can fix it pretty easily by getting a small piece of e.g. plastic and inserting behind the battery, then locking battery back in place.

 

thanks for the feedback, i mean I believe both locks are locked, one is automatic no? and the other you simply slide to the left in the locked position, right?

i'm at work and not by my laptop so this probably isn't the most constructive way to discuss.

I mean it doesn't wiggle like crazy, like it's going to fall out, but if you manipulate it at all or set it down, you can definitely tell that there is movement.

I wanted to make sure it was a common theme/problem, before i go taping anything, just in case it is a problem with my notebook only, so that I can possibly send it back. They told me they're looking into the issue and to call back in 2-3 bus days. so i will wait and see.

any other additional feedback would be great! thanks!

 

Yes, one is automatic, the other you slide to lock. And just double checked one final time, my battery has zero movement whatsoever. It's locked in tight.....no wiggle, no movement, no nothing. I guess based on the guy above me, I perhaps got lucky with my battery. But again, I haven't used any "tricks" or whatnot, my battery stock is a tight fit.

 

i got a full 100% refund for my ASUS ul80 from Amazon.ca after returning it due to the "squeaky palmrest"...
they even paid for shipping...

 

So i'm at home now using my laptop, and you can definitely feel the battery getting pushed up and down as you lift and set down the laptop on the bed. you can actually hear it moving/rattling as you move it.

it's pretty loose or so it seems, is there somewhere i can bring it before i return it to amazon.com? It doesn't seem like many retailers carry this model of ASUS, but boxing this up and sending it back seems kind of difficult, if the replacement will solely be the same outcome.

are other people having this problem?

 

I keep replying to you because I want to do my best to help you out, but I have to tell you from what you're saying it does not sound normal. And indeed returning to Amazon is tedious (I have returned 2 previous Asus UL80VT's) so I know your situation. But I'll tell you, it's worth it to get another, until you're satisfied. Spending that much money, you want it the best it can be.

Now just in case you're wondering, the first return had a dead pixel, the second had a key that wasn't centered. It was tilted sideways a little and no matter what I could do, I could not get it to face out properly. The third one (the one I am on now) is perfect at least from everything I can tell. So indeed it took 3 tries, but I am happy and content now. You should be too, so if it takes a return, then a return it shall be. At least that's my belief. I don't like returning so much, but I wanted to keep the Asus.

 

Oddly enough, the last 2 versions of Power4Gear Hybrid aren't listed on the UL80VT download page. You have to go to the Notebook->Apps->P4GHybrid download page to see the latest version. That's where I got it.

The battery pack on my UL80VT fits properly with no wiggle, so it's definitely not normal for it to wiggle. It's most likely caused by improper molding of the plastic either on the notebook or the battery pack. Yay for Asus quality control (or lack of it). I agree with Jonathan360 about going through the trouble of exchanging it. However, due to the cheap nature of the build on the notebook, it may take a few exchanges to get everything perfect. My UL80VT doesn't have the battery wiggle, but it has squeaky palm rest and sharp edges along the front because the top and bottom plastic parts don't match up exactly. I'm too lazy to exchange it so I let that slide. But the battery wiggle can cause problems later on with wear and tear of the battery connector, so you should exchange it.

 

From the sound of it my battery moves less than yours does, but I definitely have a little bit of wiggle on mine. It doesn't make any rattling noise but it does shift slightly depending on how much pressure is being put on it. I don't think its a big issue but if yours is rattling noticeably then it would at least be worth trying to see if you can find a way to secure it more.

 

Hey guys. I have the UL50vt-x1. I had issues where it would randomly (quite often) freeze. I sent it back to newegg and they sent me a new one. I'm having the same exactly problem. Anyone else having similar issues? Has anyone been able to fix this issue if so? Sorry if this has been discussed, I am an extremely busy student and don't particularly have time to read through 99 pages.

Thanks!

 

Well firstly, you need to tell us more. Have you installed any third party software? Is it freezing after opening it up freshly from the factory sealed box? Or is it freezing, after you've installed some software. If it's the latter, then it might be some incompatible software. If it's freezing from the factory, then that is just simply very odd and should not happen.

 

Can you post a link to that? I still cannot find it! Thank you so much!

 

I had random freezing problems with my UL80VT a while back and only while I was using Winamp to play music while surfing the web. I always update the BIOS, drivers, Windows, and other software whenever new updates are available, and eventually the freezing problems went away completely. I'm still not sure which update(s) cured it, but my UL80VT is rock stable now. So, it's most likely a problem with some software that you are using. Try updating everything you can to the latest versions, and don't forget Windows Update too since Microsoft has released stability updates for Windows 7 also.

Here's the link: http://support.asus.com/download/download.aspx?model=P4GHybrid&os=30&SLanguage=en-us

 

thanks so much, i did call amazon last night and arranged a return. I have to say, I love Amazon. Granted they have my CC information, but the new PC should be here monday and i don't have to send the old one back until March 1st! Can't complain about that. This battery was rattling around more than it should, i compared to my friends UL30VT, granted it's smaller, but the play was so minimal in comparison, this had to be defective. everytime i pick up the computer i can feel the battery moving/rattling up and down. fingers crossed that this replacement is perfect! thanks again.

 

My Turbo33 does not work, says settings in the bios do not support the overclocking feature...this is after I reinstalled windows using the ASUS CD. Any ideas?

 

moved to ul30vt forum...

 

It could be software or hardware. What software do you have installed?

 

Well, after further testing of Power4Gear Hybrid v1.1.27, it has an annoying bug of not remembering the GPU settings (discrete or integrated) for the power modes after a restart or logoff/login. All the power modes go back to the same GPU setting after a restart depending on what the setting was before restart, so it's very annoying. Same thing with v1.1.26 after I reverted to it from v1.1.27. I never noticed it before because I always use hibernate and never restarted my notebook. Only after I had to restart my notebook due to a software update did I realize the bug. I've reverted back to v1.1.25 and it works as it really should. So, stick with Power4Gear Hybrid v1.1.25 since it's the best for now.

Oh, and I've also discovered that the Asus Easy Overclock in the BIOS does not work in Turbo33 mode. With Turbo33 mode off, it does overclock the bus speed properly. With a 5% overclock, the bus speed becomes 210MHz from the stock 200MHz. However with Turbo33 mode on, the bus speed is locked to 266.7MHz and the Asus Easy Overclock BIOS setting is ignored.

It's too bad since it would be nice to be able to overclock it further to 280MHz for a CPU speed of 1.82GHz, but I guess Asus is playing it safe and doesn't want to overclock an already overclocked CPU.

 

I've been using my UL50VT-A1 for about 2 months now. It's my first Asus notebook. I've had Dells, HPs, and Sony. The fit and finish are fine: the keyboard is solid and the keyboard deck is tightly attached to the frame; there is no gap or rattle in the frame. There is little flex on the keyboard, at least for me. Maybe Asus listened to the customers on Notebookreview! All the stickers came off easily except for the Intel C2D sticker and the NVIDIA sticker, which left a sticky residue that came off with a petroleum-based polish. The black glossy interior and brushed aluminum top lid does call for a microfiber cloth nearby. I find the UL50VT-A1 thin and light and handsome. I'd really like to find a sleeve that would fit the thing *perfectly*, but I'll probably end up making one myself (actually, to try to get my SO to make one for me, heh.). For now I'm using my 17-inch sleeve for transportation.

My UL50VT-A1 is used mostly as a TV/multimedia center for us. I had an HP 17-inch monster but it was not meant to be moved, ha! So the UL50VT-A1 was the perfect compromise between screen size and portability. I have Altec Lansing speakers and subwoofer and a USB TV tuner hooked up to get OTA TV/HDTV. The 720p OTA broadcasts just rocks on the screen and I find the sound fairly good. The built-in speakers, not so well. I use Phillips earbuds and my SO uses Sony headphones off a splitter when we travel. With some work on tweaking the Intel 4500MHD and Nvidia Geforce G210M settings, I'm more than satisfied with the viewing, though I would have liked a higher pixel count. As a side note, the Windows 7 Media Center is the bomb compared to earlier versions. And with the 500g hd, I can record hours and hours of standard and HD broadcasts. All HD video, Youtube, Hulu, USB TV broadcast, sports, DVD, etc., runs without stuttering or video/sound offsync with the Intel 4500MHD but the Nvidia GeForce G210M looks better. Of course, I get better battery life using the Intel graphics chip.

That brings me to the next observation about the UL50VT-A1: you really want to learn the Power4Gear applet to customize your power/graphics/battery needs. As we all know, Asustek does not provide very helpful guides or manuals for their built-in control apps; you have to scrutinize the help screens, play around with settings, basically trial and error type work. At the same time, however, the Power4Gear applet gives me fine control over every aspect of the power consumption of the notebook. But it's worth it; I can travel and watch over 4 hours worth of HD video (ripped DVDs, recorded HDTV, etc.,) on battery (sometimes longer if you really dim the screen on a night flight). I'm no longer an intense gamer, but I'm glad I have the choice if I want to run some recent games. I do want to pick up the latest SimCity and some others. I'll be sad when Asus upgrades the Power4Gear applet because I'll probably have to manually redo all the settings again ;-(

I don't like the track-pad button, it's stiff but I've gotten used to it. The track-pad is still tricky no matter how many times I've played with the Elan settings: it seems almost to be app dependent; some apps seem to work well with the track-pad and others it gets twitchy. The latest drivers haven't helped much. I do like the multi-gesture ability. But I don't like using a USB or blue-tooth mouse either. My cpu/gpu/systemboard temperatures have been well within operating limits and the palmrests are always cool or just slightly warm. Having just come from my fiasco with the HP 17-inch notebook, this is comforting. However, I do miss having the infrared remote control that HP included with the 17-incher. The 0.3mp video camera is disappointing but I don't use it much anyway. I rarely use the Linux on a chip quickboot app. Windows 7 boots up very quickly for me (I don't know how much the Fastboot utility really helps but I like having it) and I have my notebook battery set up such that airport or coffee shop waits don't use much juice.

Compared to HP's online system care utility, the Asus Liveupdate could be better, if indeed it works at all. So far Microsoft has delivered updated drivers for the Atheros wired and wireless controllers. I've had no problems with wired/wireless networking. Other than that I've had to manually download updated drivers for the track-pad and Power4Gear utility. I stupidly installed what I thought were the newest drivers for the video controllers but that screwed up so I restored from a restore point. Asus needs to work on their system care web site and utility.

So far, Windows 7 and the Asus UL50VT-A1 works well together for me. I need to install Redhat Linux on the notebook for work-related reasons soon but I don't foresee huge problems, but then again, that's for a different forum, heh. I think I'm an Asus fan now: I really like this UL50VT-A1.

 

Dang my UL80VT started to take forever to start up now, and I'm getting bunch of errors. Anyways, how do I boot a CD on startup so I can do a recovery back to factory settings?

 

I've been doing some research for quite a while now (since Nov 09) and finally decided to pick up a UL50VT from my local BestBuy last night for $699.99. My ultimate decision actually coincided with Apple's announcement of a giant iPod Touch, but we won't get into that.

My first laptop was a Dell E1705 and this Asus blows that thing away. Build quality, speed, weight, battery. The only thing so far that hasn't impressed me is perhaps the screen, but I knew what I was looking at before I laid down the dough.

I was surprised about the palm rest. I thought that part of the computer would be glossy, but it's matte. It's funny, but I think that may be my favorite part about the computer. I highly dislike all of the glossy laptops on the market these days.

Overall, just a solid laptop. I would recommend it to just about everyone.

Oh, and it plays CSS, TF2, and BF2 like a champ.

EDIT: Deleted bestbuy link as it leads to a bad page. Not sure why. If you want to see the deal at bestbuy simply search for the laptop on their website.

 

bb stripped the accidental warranty and shorten the 2 yr warranty to 1 yr.

 

I posted this in the main forums, but didn't get a reply. Figured someone here could help me more.

Okay everyone, I figured I'd post this since I've searched and haven't found much. So last night, I was copying stuff from my portable HD onto the UL80VT, and it randomly rebooted itself into "Windows System Recovery." It'd say Windows did not completely shut down properly or something like that.

Then tonight, just about 30 mins ago, it did the same thing. I wasn't doing much of anything, just browsing a sports forum. It doesn't BSOD or anything, it's just go dark the screen, then pop-up into the old school DOS looking screen and says Windows System Recovery. Then I have to scroll to start Windows Normally.

Anyone have any ideas? Suggestions? Only thing I can perhaps think of is the overclock on the Turbo 33. I have not overclocked it myself or anything. Just the standard Turbo is on. Because in the past when I overclocked something too much, the computer would sometimes randomly reboot. Any suggestions, ideas, or whatnot, would be helpful. My main problem is I have no way to even replicate it, it's quite random. I have updated everything with Windows, as well as all the Atheros updates and whatnot.

 

That's fine. Give me the matte palm rest and the cheaper price. I'll buy the next version in 2 years anyway.

 

Did anyone ever end up successfully adding an internal bluetooth card to the UL80?

 

No third party software. I got a replacement from newegg and had the same exact problem. The thing was freezing and restarting even during windows setup! It would freeze at the log-on screen, when it was idling, when I browsed the internet, it froze CONSTANTLY. Hopefully third time is a charm, otherwise I'm requesting a refund from newegg, which would be a real bummer because the UL series is exactly what I want out of a laptop.

 

I've been purchased UL80VT (Silver) for 2 week.

Using HWMonitor or Everest, the nVidia GeForce G210M GPU temperature reach 102C degree while playing game under 1 hour, and when I'm browsing (not streaming youtube) the GPU temperature reach 55C degree, watching movie from DVD, GPU temperature reach 86C degree.

It's is normal for notebook? Since, I have pavilion dv3 (GeForce G105M), the GPU temperature same as my UL80VT