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

    Discussion in 'ASUS Reviews and Owners' Lounges' started by sighie, Oct 24, 2009.

  1. thebigshuck2

    thebigshuck2 Newbie

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    I'm currently running it on my ul80vt. The issue I (and others) were having with the brightness settings being reset every startup seem to be fixed. It's still buggy, as it sometimes doesn't want to remember the settings for what to do when the lid closes.
     
  2. bluuz

    bluuz Notebook Guru

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    I bought a UL50V (win7 64) a couple of months ago because I needed a road machine with good battery life. Plus I got sick of my heavy, leg burning Vaio & its 30 minute battery life.

    Not disappointed at all because the battery saving mode when it switches to the onboard graphics and throttles back the processor seems to work well, though it is a little dodgy at times.

    Long thread here and I've read through some of it, but am I correct that the Asus Live Update app does nothing? I launch it and assume it executes the file ALU.exe *32 which I can see in Task Manager.

    I want to update the bios, software and drivers but am a little afraid to -- as pointed out by many others here, the Asus software update page leaves much to be desired and lacks descriptions of various fixes. Sort of afraid of getting into a mess -- you know the old saying, if it is working don't update. I have a fear of whack-a-mole updates where one problem is fixed and three new ones created.

    Anyway, I'm pretty happy because it suits my needs well which is mostly to run a few business apps and work online. The LCD panel doesn't have a great contrast ratio, but I didn't buy it to watch video or do photo editing.

    Any opinions or further guidance on updating is appreciated. I wonder if I should at least update the bios, which is dated 10/23/09.
     
  3. bob38443

    bob38443 Newbie

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    For owners of ul70/ul50 how is the build and screen quality of the laptop?

    And does anyone know when usb 3 will be the default on these models?
     
  4. vTeCz

    vTeCz Notebook Enthusiast

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  5. King of Rapture

    King of Rapture Notebook Consultant

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    Excellent!
     
  6. clandestino

    clandestino Notebook Guru

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    For anyone questioning the build quality of the UL80VT, I just found my 2yr old son sitting on the keyboard, he weighs approx 13kg. No damage done. :)
     
  7. eugenes

    eugenes Notebook Evangelist

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    The quality could be better. Compared to the U30JC I just bought, it's just not quite as good. That said, hopefully the next version of the UL80 will come with an aluminum exterior instead of the plastic one we have now. The increase in chassie stiffness and lack of fingerprints is just so nice.
     
  8. clandestino

    clandestino Notebook Guru

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    I'm running 1.1.34 and with nvidia drivers updated to 197.16. Unfortunately I can no longer switch between integrated and discrete graphics using the power4gears panel, it has pretty much become useless.

    So I have to use the button at the top left of the keyboard to change to/from nvidia card.




    edit - I've just gone back to 1.1.25.... and now I can't switch graphics at all, I'm stuck on nvidia card. :(
     
  9. droeun

    droeun Newbie

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    Contrast is low & colors don't 'pop'. Screen = 4/10. Everything else = 10/10
     
  10. lotsabs

    lotsabs Notebook Guru

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    Reading in the UL30Vt owners lounge it seems several are having varied results modifying the Asus Hybrid driver to the new Nvidia 197.16 version. If it will work on the UL30Vt, it should in the UL80Vt as well. Has anyone been able to get a 100% result-with Open CL, Cuda and Direct Compute all functional and mode switching working with both the hardware button and Power4Gear? If so, please post up you detailed instructions so we can all benefit. Sadly, if we leave it up to Asus, it looks like we'll be waiting an awful long time. Thanks
     
  11. clandestino

    clandestino Notebook Guru

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    can anyone do me a favour...

    I was under the impression that I'd be able to watch 1080p youtube clips on my UL80VT.

    Just went to youtube, searched for "1080p Nvidia" then hit the first link... but the picture does not flow smoothly at all, or look sharp.... Which is at odds with practically every review I've read on UL80VT which says it can handle 1080p with no probs.

    Can someone please check the youtube clip and let me know how it runs?
     
  12. David

    David NBR Random Reviewer NBR Reviewer

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    The SU7300 itself is not a particularly powerful CPU. However you can divert some of the load to the GPU to make your HD videos run smoother.
    Make sure you have Flash 10.1 Beta/RC installed on your UL80 and have hardware acceleration enabled as well as your nvidia GPU enabled. See if this helps playing 1080p videos.
     
  13. clandestino

    clandestino Notebook Guru

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    Thanks David. I have 10.1 flash installed, hardware acceleration enabled and I'm using the nvidia card. But unfortunately, the 1080p nvidia demo on youtube still doesn't play smoothly.

    Last night I updated nvidia drivers to 197.16 and oc'd cpu to 1.9ghz. I'm wondering if the updated drivers are causing the issues....

    Unfortunately I never tried watching 1080p videos on youtube before tonight. So I don't have any clue as to whether or not they would have run smoothly on the stock settings, hence my original query. I have a sneaking suspicion that if I had tried to view the 1080p clip last night, before updating the drivers, it would have played smoothly (as per the internet reviews of the ul80vt which indicate this is the case).

    Can any ul80vt or ul30vt users out there, confirm whether or not they can get the nvidia 1080p clip on youtube to play smoothly ???! cheers !! :)
     
  14. David

    David NBR Random Reviewer NBR Reviewer

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    Using this youtube video, I encounter significant lag when viewing 1080p in windowed mode on my UL30VT, but as soon as I switched to full-screen, there wasn't any stuttering that I could see.
     
  15. clandestino

    clandestino Notebook Guru

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    hmmm just as I suspected. For me, the clip stutters slightly using integrated graphics, but the picture is even worse using nvidia. I have a feeling that I should have stayed with the Asus hybrid driver instead of attempting the upgrade detailed in the ul30 thread.
     
  16. tommatoes

    tommatoes Newbie

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    The video runs pretty smooth once I downloaded to my computer and using VLC player to play it. I ran it through the G210M with the ASUS drivers.
     
  17. JohnDu

    JohnDu Notebook Enthusiast

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    This might seem like a simple question, but how can you tell which video driver is currently running -- the discrete or the NVidia? Also, how do you manually switch? I have the UL80vt

    Thanks
     
  18. nekoshoujo

    nekoshoujo Newbie

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    reposting: Is there any way for me to rebind the FN + Arrow keys (Media player keys) to be used in winamp instead?
     
  19. David

    David NBR Random Reviewer NBR Reviewer

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    Right click on your desktop. If you see the option for Nvidia control panel, then you laptop is running with the Nvidia graphics card enabled. If you see Graphics Properties, then you're running integrated graphics.

    To switch between the 2 graphics options, press the top left button (with an arrow pointing).


    I haven't tried this personally, but I've heard that you'll need to enable global hotkey in winamp for hotkeys to work.
     
  20. JohnDu

    JohnDu Notebook Enthusiast

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    Thanks, my video switches when I plug in or out. However, the top left button does not switch the video. Do you need to do anything special (hold with a function key etc). If not, which software controls that? Maybe I don't have it installed.

    Thanks
     
  21. David

    David NBR Random Reviewer NBR Reviewer

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    So does the top left button do anything when you press it? More specifically, is there any message pop-up on your screen when pressed?
     
  22. JohnDu

    JohnDu Notebook Enthusiast

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    Nope, nothing. But, if the computer was off and I pressed it, it would start up into expressgate, which I found useless, so I uninstalled it. Would this have anything to do with the button switching video?
     
  23. czmagic

    czmagic Newbie

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    I don't think so. Do you have Power4Gear Hybrid utility installed and running?
     
  24. tommatoes

    tommatoes Newbie

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    Are you still using the ASUS video drivers that came with the laptop? I find that when I use the new nVidia drivers, the button doesn't allow me to switch between cards. A quick re-installation of the asus drivers allowed me full functionality again.
     
  25. lotsabs

    lotsabs Notebook Guru

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    The button is supposed to perform 2 functions. If the notebook is off and the button is pressed, it will boot into expressgate. If the notebook is already on and the button is pressed, it should initiate the graphics switching between the nvidia and intel graphics modes.
     
  26. JohnDu

    JohnDu Notebook Enthusiast

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    I'm still using the original driver (never changed it). I did upgrade the Power4gear. Perhaps I should try reinstalling the drivers.
    What do the ATK drivers do? I thought I would reinstall.

    There are 5 ATK drivers, PowerGear4 and 2 Video drivers (NVidia & VGA Patch). What order should I install these in? Are there any others I should install?

    1 ATK ACPI Driver
    2 ATK Hotkey
    3 ATK Media
    4 ATKOSO2
    5 ATK Generic Function Service

    PowerGear4

    Nvidia Driver
    VGA Patch (is this needed)


    Thanks!
     
  27. lotsabs

    lotsabs Notebook Guru

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  28. lotsabs

    lotsabs Notebook Guru

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    You have probably noticed that the sound volume, even when maxxed out is still fairly low. Here is an easy fix:
    Right click on your white speaker icon in the taskbar, choose "playback devices"
    On the playback tab, highlight "Realtek High Definition Audio-Default Device"
    Click properties-another window will appear
    Choose the enhancements tab
    Scroll thru the choices available to the very bottom one "Loudness Equalization" and check the box, then click apply.
    You will immediately notice louder external speaker volume levels. Now it's not gonna blow out your windows, but it is fairly substantial.
     
  29. fumanstan

    fumanstan Newbie

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    Wow, that helped a lot. Thanks!
     
  30. JohnDu

    JohnDu Notebook Enthusiast

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    OK, it works when I am logged in as Admin, but not when I am logged in as regular user. Anyway to get this button to work while logged in as a non-admin?

    Thanks
     
  31. itaru

    itaru Notebook Consultant

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  32. popeyejones

    popeyejones Newbie

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    Hope this is the right place:

    Just got a ul80vt-a2, fresh out the box, charged up the battery fully, unplugged it, and at 100% battery it's saying it has just over 6 hours of life. Anyone had this problem? Any suggestions?


    Edit: Did a search and didn't find anything.
     
  33. David

    David NBR Random Reviewer NBR Reviewer

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    Try using power saving mode on power4gear, turn your brightness down, and disable your bluetooth adapter. Also close any applications you don't need and uninstall any pre-installed bloatware you don't use. Disable indexing on your C drive can also help.
     
  34. easy9

    easy9 Newbie

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    just received it today. very nice.
     
  35. droeun

    droeun Newbie

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    Let it idle for a few, if it's still booting up it's still loading startup services.
     
  36. droeun

    droeun Newbie

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    I've got the rubber palmrest version from best buy - what are you guys using to clean the rubber material with?
     
  37. akhobbes

    akhobbes Newbie

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    Just got my shiny, silver A2 via beachcamera @ebay.

    Let me just say that after many hours of research, I pulled the trigger on this and I am very happy with my purchase. I just wanted to thank you guys for all your input.

    The other contenders were the M11x, Dell Studio XPS 13, and the UL30VT.

    I went with this based on the battery life and its performance. I'm looking to play some light-moderate games, price/value, and the fact that it has an optical drive (vs the UL30VT).

    So here are my questions:

    Will this play Starcraft 2 well?

    Should I perform a clean reinstall of Win 7?

    What are your recommended settings for getting 7-8+ hours on one charge?

    Thanks!
     
  38. abaddon4180

    abaddon4180 Notebook Virtuoso

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    I am currently trying to decide between the UL80vt-a2, UL30vt-a1, U30jc-a1, and the Sony Vaio CW and I have a couple of questions if anyone has the time to answer them.

    1. I have read that the UL80vt-a1 has build quality problems, is this true of A2 as well? And is the UL30 really built much better (I would like an optical drive)?

    2. I know all the benchmarks say the SU7300 is fine for basic use but is there any slow down that anyone feels when doing basic things?
     
  39. SteveC5375

    SteveC5375 Notebook Enthusiast

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    I wanted to share a very frustrating experience trying to use Eclipse on this laptop in case someone else runs into it.

    I had not been using my laptop for any kind of software development until I was in a training class at work for the Google Web Toolkit. We use Eclipse at my shop. I was trying to do code completion using Ctrl-C and every time I would do it, the keyboard would produce some type of Asian characters on the screen until I did another Ctrl-C to toggle it off. After much digging, it suddenly recalled seeing a posting about Asus preinstalling the Korean keyboard on this laptop to ease in support should it be returned for fixes.

    I literally had to REMOVE the Simplified Chinese (or whatever it was) keyboard from the laptop in order to use code completion in Eclipse.
     
  40. hydra

    hydra Breaks Laptops

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    Oh how I wish my ul30vt had the rubber palmrest. For that mater I would have ordered the rubber screen bezel if available!! My worthless shiny black bezel has wear lines from contacting the palmrest.

    These are tools made to be carried on a pillow in a clean room?

    .. off rant.

    I would use a damp cloth..
     
  41. Soulsaber

    Soulsaber Notebook Evangelist

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    http://www.sgpstore.com/product_info.php/products_id/967

    and while we are here... a whole bunch of really cool looking covers!! But I still like my brushed aluminum.
    http://www.sgpstore.com/advanced_search_result.php?keywords=UL30a&x=0&y=0
     
  42. hydra

    hydra Breaks Laptops

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  43. Kyjibo

    Kyjibo Newbie

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    I can definitively say that yes it does run Starcraft 2 well. I am participating in the beta and am able to run it great at the medium presets with the NVIDIA card enabled. I have not tested the game at higher settings but I don't get any lag or hiccups at medium so it will probably run with some if not all of the settings higher.

    Good find! For those interested the ones for the ul80vt are here. I'm going to order one and report back with how effective it is.
     
  44. b1lk1

    b1lk1 Notebook Enthusiast

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    Oooooooh. I just ordered one of them for my UL80VT. I really love this thing but always HATED the wrist rest area. I will report back after I receive/install mine.

    PS: These laptops also look far better with all the damn stickers removed. I strongly suggest everyone do it to theirs.
     
  45. woodzballer08

    woodzballer08 Newbie

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    Just got my UL50VT today and i love it! HOWEVER im having issues playing world of warcraft. it installs but wont even load! i get a error saying no valid display was detected! anyone getting this too?
     
  46. King of Rapture

    King of Rapture Notebook Consultant

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    The beautiful UL50Vt has two display cards. Have your tried to install it under the Nvidia Discrete display card and under the "High Performance" mode.

    And, try to play under the same card and mode.
     
  47. woodzballer08

    woodzballer08 Newbie

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    working on a fresh install as i type!
     
  48. Mirek4

    Mirek4 Newbie

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    I'd like to buy UL80Vt . But I need to work (fulltime) with Visual studio 2008. Is performance oh this NTB adequate for real work with VS. Thanks. M.
     
  49. abaddon4180

    abaddon4180 Notebook Virtuoso

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    Would anyone mind answering these questions?
     
  50. decorum

    decorum Notebook Enthusiast

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    whats the difference between the UL80vt-a2 and UL80vt-a1?
     
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