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

I am almost certain he got a bad one. My UL80VT has zero keyboard flex and the case is solid. The only flex is when you press down in the top when it's closed but that's the case with pretty much every laptop on the market. My only issue with the keyboard is that its on the noisy side and the right shift key is only half sized. Also I don't know why your speakers were so bad, mine are very loud and clear.

It's not Charles' fault he got a bad unit that falls squarely on Asus quality control (mine came with a dead pixel near the middle of the LCD) but he clearly let these defects effect the rest of his review. How does the battery only get 3 sentences in the review? I mean that to me is one of the major selling points of this system along with the thinness. I'm sorry Asus couldn't manage to get you a better model for review but you really need to put in a disclaimer that you may have received a bad model.

I didn't love my UL80VT at first either but after tweaking display driver settings the screen is much better and I have actually grown to really like the touchpad and all of the multi-touch gestures it supports. I look forward to you reviewing a non-defective one.

 

I 100% agree with Charles. Rattling keys (especially longer ones like Enter and CapsLock), keyboard flex. Also, I don't like the touchpad, especially that it's not secured at its edges. I've also found plastic creak when I put my hands at palm rest. Everything else is good or very good. I'm talking about silver unit from Europe other people who bought in the same store had no problems with quality so just some units are bad.

 

So, are you returning your UL80VT then and not recommending it to others? Just wondering...

One of the following must be true: 1) Charles has too high of standards for build quality, 2) all the other reviewers have sucky standards of build quality (and Charles has a good standard), or 3) Charles' review unit was bad.

 

I'd probably return it if:
1. I haven't already took off all stuff securing touchpad, lid, LCD etc (I thought I can live with it's quality, still haven't decided)
2. I had any idea what to buy instead.

One of persons in my family said that she can buy it from me, she likes it look so much and use mouse anyway I can always use it and wait untill something better appear. Also, keyboard flex can be easilt fixed with paper towel put under or U80 keyboard swap, but definitely touchpad can't.

I'd recommend it to everyone who has no problem accepting the touchpad, keyboard can be more or less fixed.
Oh, and I repeat: am I the only one having problem with oversensitive scrolling in case of Opera and Adobe PDF Reader? That's with Elan/Asus drivers, Windows generic ones fix Adobe, but Opera is still not perfect.

 

I think a lot of this boils down to our personal experiences with different machines; everything is relative. Did you try pushing in on the ASUS logo below the display? The display on mine flexes outward a half-centimeter. Additionally, try putting your fingernail between the benzel and the display at the bottom and pulling away. On mine it comes away several millimeters. That's not good.
Also, grip the chassis at the front corners and try to twist it with the back of the notebook remaining flat. Notice the flex? That's what I see on my unit. Compared to most other notebooks I have tested that indicates weak build quality.

Understand that the reviewer's job is to inform the reader of what the laptop is capable of. I noted the G210M was okay for casual gaming but not ultra-modern gaming. Crysis not going to run well on this laptop period. If I stated that 'this laptop can handle modern games fine', then I'd be creating the wrong image. You guys in the forums are in the 99.9% percentile for technical knowledge but most readers are not. Giving them the wrong impression can be accomplished in a single sentence; it would be a critical error on my part.

I appreciate though, that you realize I gave my honest impressions on it.

NotebookReview.com is not like other review sites and I don't say that just because they let me review a laptop here and there. What makes NBR unique is that all its reviews don't sound the same. We try to be as in-depth and descriptive as possible and we believe we give the reader a better idea of what to expect that other sites. All of our editors have different styles.
In reviews I place a high(er) level of importance/focus on the input devices (keyboard/touchpad/screen). Reasoning: the input devices are the sole connection between you and the computer and will greatly affect your computing productivity/experience. For this review I felt that merely saying "the keyboard has minor issues such as rattle and lack of tactile feel" would not have created an accurate picture. I have tested over 40 notebooks over the last five years from $300 netbooks to $6000 gaming laptops, and this laptop's keyboard is one that strikes me as being significantly below average as far as input device quality is concerned. My judgment may be sharp-tongued but is the truth from my perspective. Recommending a notebook with the issues this notebook exhibited would be a bold-faced lie in my book.

That said, I feel I have accurately defended my position on this notebook. The critical response is a refresher so any comments are welcome.

 

I just opened a PDF and scrolling was same as when using Firefox and IE. This was with Adobe Reader 9. I am using the drivers that came with the unit as I haven't upgraded anything. Sadly won't have time to try out Opera as I am about to pack my unit up to send back due to the dead pixel in the middle of my screen. I am pretty much certain now that I am going to get another UL model but I think I might just wait for the UL30VT. I have a lot of traveling coming up over the next 6 months and think that the 13.3" model will make for easier traveling, even if the footprint isn't that different. I wish there was a store that sold the UL30A so I could actually compare it with my UL80 before sending it back though.

 

Thx. Which ELAN driver version and Windows is it?
Did you open PDF directly or in internet browser window?

 

I agree with you on the bezel but I have the same issue with my Dell Latitude E6400 and give in the bezel hardly is a sign of a weak overall chasis. Also I don't exhibit the same kind of flex you are talking about when gripping the corners at least nothing to the extreme level you describe. Unless the unit has a metal chasis there is always going to be a little give due to the nature of plastic. It seems that you like many of us had very high expectations for this model and I stand by my belief that you had an especially bad unit and your disappointment due to these flaws biased your review. Only giving 3 sentences to battery life and switchable graphics which to many are the key selling points of this laptop is an indication of that. Sure, I wish this laptop was built of all metals and would be willing to spend an extra $150 for it but for the price and feature set you get here I wouldn't let a little give in the bezel get in the way.

I tried it both in Firefox and seperately with the same results. I am running Windows 7, 64 bit and the driver is 7.0.5.7 according to device manager.

 

32 or 64bit Windows and driver?

 

For the record here is my latest reply in the UL80Vt review:

 

AGREED. Anyone who purchases this laptop thinking they can do anything but low detail casual gaming with any decent amount of FPS is deluding themselves. I ordered one knowing that I would only be able to play games on lower settings/resolutions, but I am fine with that. The GPU is listed at the top of Tier 3 on notebook check, which is about halfway in the list as a whole. Anyone looking to game for more than a small fraction of their time on a laptop should probably consider one with a more powerful CPU and a GPU that is in Tier 1 or the top half of Tier 2.

If you want a well rounded laptop that has great battery life and good aesthetics, at a reasonable price (sorry G51j, maybe I'll get you when I have more money) while still having the ability to run games, this might be the right choice.

I will try to post my impressions of my UL50Vt-A1 when it arrives in about 2 weeks. I am sure that will be late, but it's all subjective anyhow.

 

Apparently the fan isn't the only issue. I discovered that the usb port next to the hdmi port is malfunctioning. Anytime i plug a device into that port. I get a warning that my usb device has malfunctioned. Tried many devices and all the ports. I asked Amazon for a refund and will purchase this laptop at a later time. Hopefully I won't end up with another lemon.

 

@_@ All these problems with the laptop are starting to scare me since mine will be coming on Tuesday.

Hope I don't get a lemon!

 

After reading Charles review I felt the need to chime in here. First I will say that for the most part I love my UL80VT-A1. When I was looking for a laptop to buy I really was not that concerned about the cost, as long as it was under $1500. When I started reading about the UL80VT-A1 I thought man this sounds like the laptop for me.
So back to my point here, I have had mine for a few days, love everything except the keyboard, My keyboard feels and sounds CHEAP! It is actually driving me a tad batty as I really dont want to send it back in but typing on this thing is not pleasant for me. When typing on it you hear all kinds of rattling going on, especially on the left side. I also understand Charles point about the travel on the keys, I can live with that but the noise, man kinda blows. Is there anything else that bugs me about the laptop, not really, no other complaints at all. I have heard some people com[aining about the touchpad but I actually like the touchpad very much, in fact it is the first touchpad I have ever had that I did not immediately turn off "tap to click"
So am I going to keep this laptop, you bet. Will the keyboard bug me, you bet. If I get brave I may try the two sided tape under the keyboard trick, though apparently this keyboard is help in place a little differently than most and can be tricky.
In case anyone thinks I am just now griping about the keyboard, if you search on mobileschoney and keyboard you will see that I started complaining about the keyboard a couple of days before Charles put his review out there.
I do have a question, is there such a thing as having a custom keyboard put on your laptop? I would seriously consider sending my laptop off if a sweet keyboard could be installed.

 

Not one that ASUS makes, you'll have to do it yourself.

 

Curious to see those who are talking about doing a U80V/UX80V backlit keyboard retrofit, and whether or not their pursuit proves to work out without looking ghetto, or voiding the warranty (i/e reversable)

 

It won;t void the warranty unless you remove a sticker that specifically states "voids warranty if removed". Apparantly, all ASUS laptops now don't have that sticker anywhere, mostly just netbooks.

I'm a certified ASUS repair rep at my work, and from what they did for a customer recently... They even cover third-party modifications if they aren't working within an ASUS laptop. (IE, upgrading memory is still covered.) Go ASUS.

 

I got warranty sticker on one screw but it can be seen after taking out the keyboard.

 

I already did it with success. Check my other thread.

 

Sweet, glad to know!

 

Received my UL80VT on Friday. It has many of the same issues discussed here.

1. My keyboard flexes on the left side, but only when I look for it by pressing down hard on the keyboard. Otherwise, it is not noticeable when typing, and certainly doesn't make a sound during normal use.

2. Longer keys move very very slightly when I try shaking them sideways hard, but they don't really move or make noise under normal use.

3. The "ASUS" sign under the screen does give in and/or pull out as described by Charles, and it seems the material isn't hard plastic. It is bendy. However, that area isn't really being used for anything, so I am ok with it. Visually, it doesn't stand out.

4. Battery rattles very slightly up and down on the left side. This is with battery locks in place. I had the same issue with Asus 1000H, and all I did was cut a thin strip of tape, and put it on one of the rail. Then the battery locks in tight. I have been using my 1000H for more than a year with this fix, and the battery is still tight. I will be doing that for my UL80VT tonight.

5. Screen quality doesn't bother me whole lot. It's only a laptop.


Overall, I am happy with the purchase. The build quality, especially item #3 above is the biggest thing, but good thing that it isn't on the palm rest or other areas that are under heavy use. I like the trackpad, because I am so used to the multi-touch feature from 1000H, I never use the physical buttons anyway.

I have been doing video editing using CUDA over the weekend, so I am very satisfy with the performance. People had been warning me that ULV would not be adequate with HD video editing, but in the end CUDA gets the job done. Combining CUDA with long battery life, I can edit video while siting on the couch watching TV at the same time.

Note: I do want to mention that Charle's review is honest, and all the things he pointed out are true to some degree on my system. The review may sound like that the con outweigh the pro. To me, however, there is no other laptop out there, in this price range, that fit my use except the UL80VT. So I am happy.

 

Awesome, but unfortunately, I ordered a UL50Vt for the 10key and bigger hd. I am hoping the UX50V has the same size keyboard.. 348mm?

 

I just got my UL80VT-A1 in the mail, and so far I have been thoroughly impressed. I like the keyboard very much. I find that the trackpad's responsiveness and multi-touch are the best I have ever used (EDIT: I meant to write, the best I've ever used on a PC) (very comparable to a macbook pro's...except maybe the fact that the trackpad on the asus is a tad stickier... Apple's is better, but not by much.).

1. My keyboard exhibits a little flex on the left when pressed hard, but it is not noticable when typing. I do find the keyboard to be a little nosier than when typing on a macbook with rubberized keys, but realistically, ALL keyboards, even my desktop keyboard makes some noise when you type. This Asus doesn't make any more than usual. I just got a dm3z in the mail, and it's keyboard is definitely nosier because its keys are straight plastic.

2. No comment.

3. I am also able to bend it in if I pull the Asus plastic part back, but who is going to do that? Under normal circumstances, I don't see how this should in any way affect anyone's view of the laptop. I tried doing the same thing on my Dell Studio 14z, and it actually let me bend the plastic further than the Asus did...

4. Battery rattle is fixable. Agreed.

5. Screen quality seems better than both the dm3z and the Dell Studio 14z.

Some other thoughts that I have...

The sound quality on this laptop seems to me to be ABOVE AVERAGE, althougth the volume seems to be a little low. I would say that they are just a tad less quality than the Dell Studio 14z' speakers.

For those of you who are interested the WEI is:

Processor. 4.9
Mem: 5.4
Graphics: 4.9
Gaming: 5.9
HD: 5.6 (with default 320 GB... I'll be doing installing my 500 GB 7200 RPM...)

As far as the mouse button is concerned... if you click towards the middle it is a lot harder to press the mouse button, but if you click on the edges it is way better.

Also, heat when using the 210M isn't nearly as bad as the dm3 (which is pretty bad), but I can still feel the heat on my laptop. It's definitely warm, though it is still charging the battery, so it gets warmer during that time. I also imagine that when you switch to integrated graphics and are on battery power, you won't be able to feel the heat at all. The palm rests have been perfectly cool the entire time.

I'll be doing some gaming benchmarks soon... Overall, I'm in love with the UL80VT.

EDIT: Just did a benchmark with the CS:S, and I got 137.6 FPS at native resolution without (as far as I know...) graphics boost, and 149 FPS with Graphics boost... which is absolutely phenominal... I would imagine you could play with even 4x AA on at native resolution...

EDIT: I just did another test with 4x AA on... I got 99 FPS. I'm going to do one with 16xQAA

EDIT: I got 35 FPS on the 16xQ CSAA setting. The lowest it dropped was to 25 FPS, but realistically, you can't tell a difference between 4xAA and 16xQ CSAA on this size of screen anyway...

I'm downloading Batman Arkham Asylum and COD: WOW as I type this. Benchmarks will follow (it'll probably be a couple hours before I can post them unfortunately...)

 

Quadron, glad to hear you finally got yours and are happy with it. I sadly just sent mine back today due to the dead pixel issue. What are your thoughts on the size vs the 14z and dm3? If you could take some pictures that would be great. I am starting to lean towards getting the UL30VT instead of another UL80VT but it doesn't seem like the UL80VT is even going to be that much bigger.

 

The Asus is thinner than both the dm3z and the 14z. They all weigh about the same, but the dm3 weighs just a little less, but that noticably lighter.

The dm3z definitely looks thinner and is thinner for most of it, but it is actually thicker than the ul80vt at its thickest point, which is about 1/3 of the laptop. The UL80VT is noticably "Taller" and wider than the dm3. It seems about the same as the 14z, maybe just a hair bigger.

 

Quadron and others, thanks for your honest opinions. I am really close to pulling the trigger on one but am waiting for a couple more games to pop and others thoughts. I dont play the latest and greatest in games so I wont have an issue. My biggest concern is build quality I am reading about. How do the keys feel on the keyboard, like to the touch and typing? Also how does this computer handle watching shows off Hulu.com and other sites like it.

 

Would you mind running some games on battery mode to see how long the battery lasts? If you could 50% screen brightness + Any 3D Game running the battery down to around 50%. I'd like to know how long this laptop can last under 'full load'. No one seems to review this specific thing except for Anandtech (which is still being currently written by their staff). Beat them to the punch and report some battery numbers while 3D gaming on the G210M.

Thanks in advance! If it does well, it just might be my next purchase...

 

So hopefully my next post after this one will be of complete satisfaction with my UL80VT. So today I took a closer look at the keyboard. The chiclet style keyboard has a bezel, around it and all the keys. I examined it closer and on the right side (where my keys were fine) the bezel was flush with the rest of the laptop and there was no gap. On the left side where all the rattling was occuring the bezel was not flush at all, you could physically see it popped up above the rest of the laptop and there was a decent size gap that I could actually stick my fingernail into. When I pushed down on the bezel you could see the whole left 1/3 or so of the keyboard bezel flex. Also when I pushed down the rattling noise was gone when I tapped the keys.
I did try and push down firmly to see if it would click into place, no go. So I am sure this is the issue. For those of you who say your keyboards are fine and not noisy, I am sure they are. This one definitely is noisy, you can even actually hear it often when tapping the touchpad.
So ASUS so far has been great, they offered to send me a new one. Since I did have an SSD and Windows 7 Pro installed this was really not an option. So they are paying the shipping both ways and I am sending it in to get fixed. I am sure having a tech look at it will fix the problem. Will post again when I get it back.

 

Sounds like early batch syndrome! I will report if the UL50Vt-A1 I recieve from GentechPC is affected, but hopefully it's just you 14" people!!

 

What kind of SSD do you have? I was thinking about putting one in, but not sure if I want to spend the money just yet. Might just keep the one it comes with in for now. Could you try looking up two posts at my previous one and see if you can through some light on those questions. Thank you.

 

I personally really like the keyboard. It's easy to touch type on and spacious. I like the feel of the keys. I would say that HP's keyboards that can be found on the "dv" series are better, but the performance of the UL80VT outweighs that concern. The keyboard will do just fine.

Hulu and Hulu HD play perfect. No lags or stutters of any kind. Horray!! I was even burning a DVD, downloading a game through steam, and had about another 4 windows open at the same time it played Hulu HD perfectly fine.

I would guess that the UL80VT would get around 5 hours under full load, maybe a little less. I don't think I'm gonna have time to do a full battery drain test any time soon. I would just wait for the Anandtech review to get put up.

EDIT: I just got done trying out Call of Duty: World at War. It played the game pretty smoothly at 1366x768. I was typically getting about 25-35 FPS (EDIT: Correction. I just played it again. I am getting more like 30-35, with rare drops below 30. It was very playable). I dropped the resolution down to 1280x720, which is still very clear on this size of monitor, and my FPS went up to 35-45, which play perfectly smooth. The recommended specs for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 are identical to the specs for COD: WOW, so you should expect near identical performance from the UL80VT in that upcoming game. The gaming experience on this machine (at least in COD:WOW and CS:S is outstanding for an ultraportable).

My settings were: 1366x768, Normal Texture resolution, the other options were off. You could probably squeeze by turning some of the extra options back on at 1280x720, but things got a little to choppy for my blood having all the settings turned up.

 

MarcTonk, I have an 80GB X25 G1 in my laptop. When I originally ordered it I was told I would get a G2 but then they called me back and said the G2 was out of stock. From what I have read there is not a huge difference in the 80GB G1 and G2 as TRIM only comes on the 160GB models. Honestly if I had to do it again I would probably just do what you are saying and keep the stock hard drive. Mainly for me this whole deal is novelty as I pretty much just surf the web, watch multimedia, etc., it is doing a great job at that.
Could you please let me know what your other questions were, swamped here tonight and dont have to much time to look for posts. I will tell you I know absolutely nothing about gaming, timings, scores etc. Man just tpying this post is like jingle bells on my keys, cant wait until that is fixed!
OK, one last gripe on the laptop and then I am done. I sure wish this laptop had the power plug on the right side like my Dell does. When sitting on my lazy boy the cord comes from the right and I have to wrap it around to the left side. Man what was ASUS thinking

 

I highly doubt you would get anywhere near 5 hours on full load. If I had to guess, I would put it at around 3 hours tops for full load. It would only take about 30 minutes to determine the battery life. Unplug the power cord when 100% charged, then enable G210M, played HL2 death match for 30 minutes flat, check the the battery life remaining and then base calculations on that. It isn't hard, nor is it difficult or time consuming to test. But 5 hours isn't even in the realm of possible. That would pull less power than my HP Mini 311even when compensating for the larger capacity battery.

 

Yeah, I guess you're probably right. My guess is that 5 hours would probably be true for movie watching/hulu/youtube kind of heavy load, but not for 3D gaming. I am confident you could get at least 3+ hours out of it, depending on whether or not you had Wifi on, etc.

Also note, the gaming benchmarks I gave on COD:WOW were ran while on battery. They could improve a little while powered, but doubtful.

 

Quadron, do you have Left 4 Dead or Team Fortress 2 to test on the UL80Vt?

 

Almost done downloading TF2 now.

I took playing Batman: AA out for a spin at native resolution and on VERY HIGH settings (which were the default settings). The benchmark averaged 26 FPS, which is fairly playable in Batman: AA (similar to Crysis in that 24 FPS is smooth). When I was in game, things dropped to around 19-25, so I tried lowering the settings from Very High to Medium to see if I could get better FPS. I got 40 FPS average and completely smooth gameplay at native resolution (about 30 in game). The UL80VT definitely provides a very enjoyable experience for Batman: AA.

 

Could you please report the FPS with HIGH settings at NATIVE RESOLUTION and MEDIUM settings at NATIVE RESOLUTION.. THanks !

 

Well, I didn't have a chance to do the Medium settings, but I don't think I have to since high settings ran it really well as it is. At native resolution on High settings, I typically got 45-65 FPS with occasional drops to 30 FPS that were sometimes noticeable. The drops to 30 FPS could be due to downloading other programs in the background and may not happen normally. It was definitely playable at native res on high no problem. I think the only people who would be really picky about graphics performance would be super serious gamers who want 60+ constant.

I also tested the in-game battery life. I was able to play for about 35 minutes until my battery indicator got down to 75%. Keep in mind that this was with brightness on highest and wifi on. If you dimmed the screen and turned off wifi, I'd say you'd be looking at 2.5 hours, maybe 3 if you're lucky.

One thing that constantly amazes me is the incredible job that UL80VT does at managing heat. It manages heat so well that I was able to literally play Batman: AA with it on my laptop and only feel minor discomfort from the heat. It deals with heat exceptionally well. I would say that the UL80VT under load is about as warm as the dm3z at idle. Craziness.

 

Wow, Nice! I'll be definitely picking up the UL30VT when it comes out then. I just hope it doesn't have any heat issues either since it's more small and compact.

Thanks for the tests!

 

Wait, they're fixing you the keyboard?

 

Of course, this is Asus we're talking about, not Dell or something.

 

Lol I was going to fix it by myself but if they're so nice, I'll try to write them. Any contact information I could use? I believe I'll get more by writing them directly than contacting my Asus regional service

 

ASUS Service is quite oustanding. They cover replaced memory and HDD issues aswell. (They replace the parts even if they're not factory parts.)

 

How quickly does it recharge?

 

I appreciate you taking the time to testing the in-game battery life. I really appreciate it.

 

That's great to know -- thanks! I added a 7200 RPM HDD (320GB) in my XoticPC order and it arrives today.

 

UL80VT gets a PC Magazine Editor Choice Award:

ASUS UL80Vt-A1 Review:
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2355052,00.asp

 

Just got mine today, hope everything is fine

 

Yes, I have an RMA to send it in to fix the keyboard. My keyboard is definitely not clipped in right, pushing on the bezel surrounding the keys you can see the bezel moving up and down maybe an 1/8" or so and this is where the keys are noisiest.

 

Perhaps someone on the assembly line fell asleep.