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

So, after having this laptop for a month, I have updated the very first post of this owners lounge with the synopsis of this thread and my own feelings. I recently sold the laptop for most of the reasons listed and I am going with a macbook air that will dual boot windows 7 and osx. The battery life and graphics are worse but I realised that since I dont use it for more than 5 hours and I rarely need to play games on my laptop at high settings that Im way better off with it.

Keep in mind I am not a noob to this- I actually did the work to install my own backlit keyboard and really put it through its paces. Fact of the matter simply is that the awesome battery life wasnt as important to me as I thought it was, and when you come down to it- Thats the only thing that sets this laptop apart. There are certainly way better 14 and 13" laptops out there in *ever* single department (graphics, cpu, build quality, etc..) - The only thing they lack is battery life.

 

So what you really wanted was a UL30 or similar notebook, but you picked a UL80 instead. While I agree with some of your points, I think you're doing a disservice to all potential owners by your update of the first post of the "OWNER'S" lounge. You're comparing apples to oranges, not to mention a $800 price difference!

 

It does what it says - OCs the CPU up to 5%. So, along with the s/w OC, the chip runs at 2.13. No issues on mine.

 

Anyone noticed that the colors on the lcd is washed out when using the intel graphics. I tried playing with the color management for intel graphics but it's too sensitive. Anyone have a fix?

 

That's interesting to hear when there's another review saying it's pretty good.

I wonder how the build quality is for maybe the latest received. IF ASUS has changed anything.

If the internals can maintain stability for at least 2 years even through me dragging it across campus every day for 12+ hours. I'd say I'm happy saved the extra 800 from not buying apple's overpriced hardware.

Anyway, I'm okay with it. Since it's replacing a Tosh Satellite I had to buy for school really quick. Thing is, the ul80 beats every feature by a good amount. Build quality might be a problem but I've went through some baddies.

 

A couple of questions --

1. Did anyone upgrade to the AS5/ICD thermal paste for both CPU and GPU in your UL80VT? If so, was it worth the extra $30?

2. Any news of ASUS releasing the UL80VT in the silver chassis (the UL30A chassis)?

The silver looks better plus I'm assuming it hides the fingerprints better than the black chassis.

 

1. Not worth it. The standard paste works just fine, and if it doesn't and your CPU overhears (highly unlikely), you have two year warranty.

2. I haven't heard of any silver chassis, though I think I would have preferred a silver chassis as well. I do think it hide the fingerprints better. I didn't particularly like the looks of the UL80VT until I got it in the mail. I think it looks better in person than it does in the factory pictures on Amazon. I think the pictures [edit:review link in sig] I took with my dSLR come closer to doing it justice.

 

Good call.

Great pictures and thorough review! Very much appreciated.

I could live with the black ... I think. I'm going to hold out and see what all this UL30VT hype is about (praying they include the silver chassis). Then I'll make a decision between the 80VT and 30VT.

 

So I ordered my UL80vt on Amazon last week and apparently they went out of stock just as I ordered. No big deal I figured, the deal was just too good to pass up. I log into Amazon today to check on it and find this



I guess maybe I will get a laptop from the second production run? Any Suggestions? I'm a pretty big cheapskate so I am having a hard time convincing myself that getting it sooner is worth the extra 100 dollars required to order it somewhere else, especially with all the quality control problems I am hearing about.

 

@Quadron
Sent you a PM

D'you guys think I should better wait for the UL30VT or go for the UL80VT instead?

 

You probably have it on power saver mode. Asus's "Power Saving" feature makes everything lack contrast/turns off windows Aero. Instead, put it on "Power Detection" mode, which sets the power mode to "Entertainment" for the Windows Power Options. You can see the windows power options by right clicking on the windows battery icon in the system tray.

You can change the "Entertainment" mode to use the Intel settings in the advanced power options (If you want the laptop to use Intel's graphics when plugged in and when on battery). I never use it. Instead, I use "Entertainment" mode all the time unless I am loading into a 3D game.

If you want a CD drive, go for the UL80VT. If you don't, you might as well wait for the UL30VT.

Dude, that stinks. You can cancel your order and maybe potentially order one through xoticpc.com or gentech.com.

 

This Amazon discussion thread mentions that Amazon should be receiving a new shipment of UL80Vt's this week.

http://www.amazon.com/ships-to-months/forum/Fx1978M98LGJ2GT/Tx908YNCYP8ZPE/1/ref=cm_cd_pg_oldest?_encoding=UTF8&s=electronics&asin=B002Q8HK7K&store=electronics&cdSort=newest

 

Hello

I recently bought a UL50VG laptop, and i have some questions for others UL series users.

Could you please use CPU-Z and see what is CPU operating frequency in idle/load operating? How does speedstep operates them?

It seems my SU7300 is max 1300 MHz and i had read somewhere in this forum that it can go 1600 MHz or with turbo 33 asus technology - even 2200!

(And i know i dont have Turbo 33 - but 1600 MHz would be nice, rather than 1300...)

 

Amazon did just get a new shipment this morning. I went ahead and ordered the 80VT with the gift card promotion, and it is supposed to arrive next week. (I went cheapskate shipping, as all shipping is slow to my location.)

 

I got the same notice from Amazon about shipping after Christmas so I cancelled my order.

Then I find today that the UL30vt is coming out soon and looks to be a LOT better in looks and quality if not the same. xD So now I play the waiting game...

 

regarding the wireless issue, you can just buy a good wireless USB adapter and use that for better range right? i feel like a noob asking this. ><

 

Technically yes ...

But you've already paid for the internal wireless card so why buy another one? Plus, you're only given three USB ports so having a wireless adapter plugged in all the time puts you at two. No bueno.

 

I put my order in with Amazon last night for the 80vt but haven't seen any update about the estimated ship date for the laptop. But, my order status on the giftcard has changed to November 23. Did you receive some sort of notification???

Thanks!

 

Mine just updated to reflect the new shipment they received and now has an estimated arrival date of tomorrow!

Amazon usually ships parts of an order as they become available. In fact, since my laptop took so long to ship I was able to change the payment method and use my card on the laptop!

 

Well. i just got my UL50VT. The only thing I can say is: amazing.

It is true what a lot of people have said about the nagging screen due to its glossiness. Honestly, to me, as long as i can see whats on the screen without spraining my eyes and seeing my own reflection, the screen is good.

On the other hand, the keyboard is just a joy to type on which is contrary to what i thought would be a cheap keyboard with tons of flex. The keyboard is very nice and until I heard about the flex on here, I would not have even noticed it.

The starting bootup was terrible. It took about 5 minutes but after the initial bootup, most boots take about a minute. I have yet to remove to excess programs running on it as well as uninstall the unwanted bloatware. However, as much as my experience so far, I feel that it is a truly superb laptop not only for the price but of most laptops that I have tried before.

Keep in mind that perhaps I got a tiptop quality laptop since I do not feel the flex that charles did nor the squeekiness of the edge that Quadron did for the UL80vt. It could also possibly be the fact that I got a ul50vt.

The laptop also seems a lot wider than I had imagined it. Sitting down next to it, although it is thin, I felt it to be a bit wider than my preference but at the same time, I want the screen size for movies and games.

One final note: I will be trying various games on it and telling you guys the results.

So far, I ran CS1.6 on it at native and 800x600 without widescreen and I get the max(100fps). However, I did a smoke test(throwing smoke grenades on the screen until the fps drops). It took only about 4 smokes before it dipped being WITHIN the smoke and about 8 smokes looking at it about 20 feet away.

This is interesting to me because I thought the G210M would be a stronger card than my desktop AGP 7600 GS. Based on the smoke test alone, I can say that the 7600 GS on the desktop is more powerful. Again, I may be wrong for not considering other aspects.

 

Haha... that's hilarious that you used the gift card on itself...

I'm glad you like it! The UL50VT is going to be quite a bit bigger than the UL80Vt because of the bigger screen.

Also, I am sending my UL80VT to Asus tomorrow to get the creakiness of the palm rests. They said they may end up sending me a brand new one if they can't fix the creakiness. The best part about talking with Asus's technical support is that they spoke good old american english.... lol I've spend hours on phone calls with HP support when the call should have only taken 5 mins.

 

So I will be getting my External HD to move all my games and files soon and I will do more extensive tests.

So far, I could run CS1.6 with no problem until 5+ smoke grenades.

I just tried l4d. All i can say is WOW. I put it on the highest resolution supported which i believe is 13xx x 11xx or something. I put shader detail on very high and effects detail on high plus everything else on high. I turned vsync off(i honestly dont think it matters). I could run all of these with around 30fps. It dropped sometimes but I rarely noticed a disruption in smooth performance. That just blew my expectations right out of the water.

 

Isn't CS1.6 very CPU dependant rather than GPU, so the SU7300 is probably less powerful than whatever your desktop has with the 7600GS.

 

AGP Slot? Doubt whatever CPU he is running with that is more powerful than a c2d, even undervolted. It would however be much better to get an idea with a game that doesn't run on my 10 year old computer with a 6800GS.. I can't complain though because it's free information. Thank you so much for the review. Mine will come in a couple of days, as soon as my UL50Vt gets here!!

 

Had my ul80vt for about a week now- some thoughts:

Technically speaking, its great. The flexibility of hybrid graphics, an overclocked low power cpu, an 84Wh battery and the thin chassis is phenomenal. Whatever task you are doing you can tailor it for maximum efficiency and battery life. On the one hand it can go all day on a single charge for work/internet browsing. On the other it is powerful enough for most gaming. Best of both worlds.

The (default) overclocking from 1.3 to 1.73 ghz makes a big difference. Superpi 1M goes from 37.0s @ 1.3 to 28.7s @ 1.73. Not spectacular but good enough. Consider that the early entry level core 2 duo chips e6300/e4300 had a 65 watt rating and now these have only 10 watt with nearly the same performance! Unless raw performance is your main concern, I doubt many people would find this laptop underpowered. In any case raw power isn't the point here-- but for efficiency and flexibility its definitely top of the class.

Build wise, mine seems pretty decent. No keyboard rattle or squeaky palmrests but yes keyboard flex and fingerprints. Nothing i cant live with however. Typing experience overall is good- keys are well spaced with those all important dedicated home/pageup/pagedown/end keys included. Screen is overly bright and washed out at default, so be sure to reduce brightness and mess around with gamma.

Overall very happy with it.

 

I'm deciding between the UL50V and a Sony VGN-NW270. My HP dv9008 died from the infamous overheating issues and their support sucks. Class action suits have been filed. Recent Product Satisfaction report has ASUS at #1 and Sony at #3, HP is dead last, haha (that's a bitter laugh heh). http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-10400447-1.html?tag=newsEditorsPicksArea.0

I think I can live with the lower speed of the su7300 and the switchable graphics is cool and would make up for that. I would mostly be using the laptop for viewing HD Tv using a Pinnacle usb hdtv tuner, DVD, and streaming video, some light photo editing and video editing. The ability to run some games is an extra. The HP had a 17" screen but I can live with the 15-6" screen probably. It certainly would be easier to lug around.

Some issues though: the asus ul30a series are having problems with the aetheros wireless card as reported in the asus forum. Are any of you UL50 owners having the same wireless problems?

I know the su7300 shouldn't have overheating issues but if you switch from the Intel 4500M to the Nvidia chip and running hardcore games are your general temperatures and gpu temperatures running fairly comfortably in operating ranges?

From general discussions about build, keyboard flex, etc., do you think your UL50 will hold up to general use and travel. Meaning will you have to be extra careful in handling it while going about?

thanks

 

Hi guys,

So it's been a month since I learned about the UL80VT and I've been contemplating switching to it to replace my Compaq X10101ca (who's not dead yet but is starting to get really slow). I had my Compaq for 6 years (bought it in 2003) and I loved it.

What I really want to know, and I'm asking the people who have that laptop, if you think it could match my Compaq in terms of years of services. I know that the build quality has been discussed here, but it seems the complaints wouldn't necessarily affect long term durability. I'm a student and walk a lot with my laptop on my back. So would I been making the right move by buying the UL80VT?

Also, should I wait for them to put out the UL80VT with a better screen and the rubberized palm rests, or is this unlikely to happen?

Thank you for your replies.

 

I love my ul50vt. Thats all I am going to say.

btw: CS1.6 is definitely more GPU intensive than CPU intensive. That being said, its definitely not CPU intensive by ANY means compared to new games since it is a 10 year old game. My theory on the fps drop in smokes in 1.6 is not because the G210M is a bad card but I believe it has some weaknesses in certain categories( cant be any more specific than that as I am not knowledgable in GPU tech ).

As FireFX stated, the SU7300 is by no means slow. For the most part, unless you are video editting or HARDCORE gaming(8+ hours on the laptop playing next gen games), it is more than enough to handle anything you throw at it. You can watch HD movies. You can play current gen games and most next gen games on medium/high. I think people become spoiled with technology when it comes to CPU speed. Simply because there are i7 quadcore processors out there does not make the c2d su7300 ULV slow by any standard. This is coming from a person that has used a Pentium 4 2.6 ghz for the last 8 years. I think this also applies to gaming fps as well. People tend to overstate the necessities to play next gen games. I could play l4d on low SMOOTHLY on my 8 year old pentium 4 2.6 ghz, 7600GS(256mb) with 1.5 gigs of DDR1 ram. A SU7300 C2D 1.7ghz(max: 2.1ghz), G210M(512mb), 4 gigs of DDR3 ram can DEFINITELY handle l4d, l4d2, MW2 on medium to high settings smoothly.

With all that has been said, unless you are truly a HARDCORE gamer, in which case you should not be buying this computer anyways, you will love this laptop for gaming. I certainly do.

PS. I honestly thought this laptop would be able to run l4d on low at best based on all the reviews on NBR. Like I said, I feel that people overstate the requirements and recommended settings for gaming. Therefore, you can imagine the delight of me discovering I could run l4d on high.

 

Well, just thought I would let you know I got my laptop back from Asus today. First off there RMA service was incredible. They always answered the phone right away and were great to work with. The turn around time was just as incredible, I can say that this was a great experience.
As for the keyboard they did reseat it and it is TONS better. The bezel now sits flush and the keys definitely do not rattle AS MUCH. I do like typing on the keyboard now but I will say that it does still have a rattling sound to it. Also when I tap the touchpad I can sometimes here that rattle as well. So, do I like the keyboard as well as my work Lenovo T61, no. Am I now satisfied with my laptop and happy with my purchase, absolutely. I will probably keep the laptop until my two year warranty is over and then sell it and continue my quest for the perfect laptop, this one is very close for me but not quite there yet!

 

zehpanda the g210m is only a 64bit card with 16 shader pipelines, which holds it back in shader intensive games/environments. That may explain why it struggles with smoke, and why generally it wont play next gen games on high settings. Conversely its core, memory and shader speeds are high for a mobile gpu which explains why it can play nearly all new games on low/medium. But as you say if gaming is your top priority then this is not the laptop for you. This laptop is primarily about portability, battery life, efficiency, flexibility etc-- and part of that flexibility is being a very competent gaming machine.

btw one of the asus utilities i would not delete is power4gear. Very handy for fine tuning performance/battery life.

 

I think the graphics card issue can be solved by using an external graphics card, especially if someone is interested in playing demanding games but is in need of a laptop with a long battery life.

The ASUS UL50VT-A1 is customizable at XoticPC. They offer the following external graphics card for $309:

ViDock2 w/ATI HD4670 512MB DDR3 Upgradeable External Express Card Graphics Card (Controls Dual External Displays)

 

That brings up a good question. So what ASUS utilities are you all deleting? I just got mine back from the repair shop so I have not started deleting any ASUS utilities yet but am curious what you are all getting rid of, thanks!
Oh one more question, what are you all cleaning all the fingerprints with? Just a slightly damp rag?

 

I think you should delete what you don't need. Some of the utilities are actually useful and varies depending on who is using it.

As for cleaning the laptop I use isopropyl alcohol and microfiber cloths.

 

In regards to Agnusdei, the vidock 2 external card requires an external monitor. Which kind of null and voids the whole "portibility" of the ul50vt. I guess it would serve as an ok desktop replacement but for the cost of a vidock and monitor, I would simply get a desktop replacement that would be better for gaming in the long run.

At mobileschoney, I kept power4gear, elansmartpad, and a few essential ones. For the most part, I only found about 2 or 3 that I could delete without regretting.

At milfire, I also use microfiber cloths. I dont think i will need alcohol to clean fingerprints, thats a bit overboard. However, a microfiber cloth definitely does the job

At FireFX, I see that your rationale is correct regarding the video card. However, I am still amazed I can run l4d2 and MW2(which are considered next gen games) can run on high with minimal problems.

 

Thanks for the info, zehpanda. I still think the ul50vt is my best option right now. My last laptop had lousy battery life. Whenever I took it with me to classes, especially classes that lasted for more than an hour or two, I was the only student who was using a power chord. I don't want that to happen again.

Do you know if the ul50vt can handle older games like MVP Baseball 2005 and Madden 08 at highest settings?

 

What kind of gpu temps are you guys getting on idle and load?

 

@ Agnusdei: Im sure it can run MVP Baseball 2005 and Madden 08 at Highest settings as I could run more recent games such as l4d and tf2 on highest.

@ Soulsaber: I haven't gotten a chance to specifically test the temp of the GPU but I can definitely tell u that at idle and load, the fan is not making any noise. That being said, unless you are gaming on this thing, the laptop itself is completely cool (temp of the room - 5 degrees). When you are gaming on it, it gets a little warm but not even warm enough for you to take it off of your lap.

 

Got mine today, first impressions

The Good

• Outstanding battery Life!
• Dedicated graphics performs well in everything I have thrown at it so far.
• Solid build. No creaky palmrests or keyboards, no loose battery.
• Good Size. No Macbook Air, but light and easy to carry around.
• Windows 7 Easy Transfer was actually easy! Grabbed all my settings from my tower over the wireless N lightning fast!

The Bad

• Fingerprints!!!
• Initial setup takes an irritatingly long time, greater than five, maybe ten minutes.

The Ugly

• Gawd damn ASUS, way to load down a machine with crapware! There were 46 programs installed when mine arrived. 46! I was able to trim it down to a less than 10 before I began installing things.

The main thing you do not want to uninstall is the "Power4Gear" program. it is what makes the graphics switching button work and controls the overclock settings. There are other ways to do that, but why fix it if it ain't broke?

I'm going to run tests with all my games to get a good feel for how well it will perform and will report back.

 

mobileschoney i got rid of all the asus utilities apart from power4gear and fastboot. Also uninstalled loads of unwanted programs- msoffice trial, trend micro internet security, adobe suite, the burning software, srs wow thing, and probably several others i cant remember. kept the following:
wireless console 3, webcam, realtek, etdware, atk media, hotkey and generic, atheros and card reader.

 

Thanks FireFX, I will start looking at mine tonight to uninstall some of the stuff I wont use as well. I ordered mine with an 80GB SSD from XoticPC and I definitely dont want to fill that up.

 

Have you guys been getting recovery disks with your ul80vt and ul50vt's (I plan to reformat and dual boot ubuntu from day one..)

 

Laptop reliability report from warranty company SquareTrade.
Asus is amongst the best.

PDF: http://www.squaretrade.com/htm/pdf/SquareTrade_laptop_reliability_1109.pdf

 

Temps:
Gpu idles at 48, maxes out at 72 after 2 hours gaming.
Cpu idles at 35, load at 62.

Hoy, yes there is a recovery disk.

mobileschoney, sweet was just thinking a ssd would fly in this thing! might get one next year when prices have come down..

 

Sweet! thanks for the temps readings.

 

Hello all,
I am about to buy the UL50vT and I have three questions. The first is, which one is thicker, the mac air, or the ul50vt? The second is, does anyone have a site which compares the two? The third is, will the ul50vt run ubuntu 9.10?

Thanks!

 

Do these 48 programs include all of the standard Windows and ASUS utilities? Unless you're talking about having 48 bloatware programs?

I got my UL80VT from a local Canadian retailer; it came with no software other than what was advertised on the box, that is:

• demo of Trend Micro Internet Security
• Adobe Acrobat Reader 9.0
• Cyberlink Blu-ray Disc Suite

...That was it.

 

Hello all,
I am about to buy the UL50vT and I have three questions. The first is, which one is thicker, the mac air, or the ul50vt? The second is, does anyone have a site which compares the two? The third is, will the ul50vt run ubuntu 9.10?

Thanks!

 

Hello all,
I am about to buy the UL50vT and I have three questions. The first is, which one is thicker, the mac air, or the ul50vt? The second is, does anyone have a site which compares the two? The third is, will the ul50vt run ubuntu 9.10?

Thanks!

 

Hey guys, I am about to buy the ul50vt and just have 3 questions.
1. Which is thinner, the ul50vt or the macbook air.
2. Will the ul50vt run ubuntu 9.10?

 

Do these 48 programs include all of the standard Windows and ASUS utilities? Unless you're talking about having 48 bloatware programs?

I got my UL80VT from a local Canadian retailer; it came with no software other than what was advertised on the box, that is:

• demo of Trend Micro Internet Security
• Adobe Acrobat Reader 9.0
• Cyberlink Blu-ray Disc Suite

...That was it.