*Official UL30VT-X1 Owners Lounge*

I didn't see this question being mentioned before, so i'm gonna ask away.
Does the touchpad do zoom in and out? Thanks.

 

Yea you may be right..but that sucks. I was hoping to get it during Christmas break when i would actually have the time to customize it. It would also be sweet if they sold it at like CanadaComputers so I would easily be able to go over there and ask any questions or return if defected.

Also, any recommendations on a SSD? Intel seems too pricey for me. I'm looking for a SSD with about 120 gbs or more and around 400 max. high read and write and low power consumption. Should boxing day drop SSD prices too?

 

Has anyone got an external DVD drive for their notebook? is the Asus one recommended?

 

No, the touchpad doesn't have pinch and zoom multitouch functionality. It has two finger tap, two finger scroll and three finger tap actions apart from normal trackpad functions.

 

external USB DVD have been around so long, I'd just buy the cheapest thin one you can find from a manufacturer like LG, Samsung, NEC, LITE-ON, any other name brand from Newegg. I mean, the manufacturers would probably have to try to screw it up.

http://www.newegg.com/Store/SubCategory.aspx?SubCategory=420&name=External-CD-DVD-Drives

 

To what specific item are you referring to in the task manager. Again, I see no Intel graphics icon when my nvidia graphics is in use.

 

I would agree with this statement.

 

Thanks for the info!

 

iclicku, how much did you pay for your SSD if you don't mind me asking? I seem to getting a lot of recommendations to get an OCZ vertex or Intel G2 but man they are super expensive.

 

I purchased the 80gb version for $215 total from newegg during blackfriday sales.

 

I got in on the same deal. 1 for this laptop and 1 for my work computer.

Now I wish I had got a couple more. That's the best price I've seen on this drive for a while.

 

This OCZ Vertex 120GB drive is pretty great. I have one in my desktop machine. It uses the Indilinx controller and is almost as fast as the Intel drive and doesn't suffer from the J-micron controller problems that many other SSD drives have. And you can find it in many places under 300 euros so it should be quite well within your budget in dollars:
http://www.ocztechnology.com/products/flash_drives/ocz_vertex_series_sata_ii_2_5-ssd

And to get back to the topic. I have ordered the UL30VT-QX030V from Webhallen in Sweden and because they will not ship it to Finland I will go over there by ferry and pick it up if they get enough of them on the 15th. Also for anyone interested on getting one in the Nordic countries the other Swedish store Alina agreed to ship the laptop to Finland for me so I may order it from there too if the shipping fees are reasonable. Although they haven't responded to my inquiry yet. Here is the link to both shops if someone is interested:
http://www.prisjakt.nu/produkt.php?p=520990

 

Intel x25-m is one os the best ssd, the 160gb but it sells above 450. Another good ssd is the OCZ vertex turbo probably aroun 400.

 

the vertex 120 is a great drive, but i also went with the intel 80 G2.

for what i want to do with this comp. 80 gigs + the original 500 gig 5400 in an enclosure is way more than enough.

 

during BCB 20%, you could have gotten it for 200 even

 

thank you for ur comment you are the only one who commented on mine...
anyways, yes it is cheap one but i had it for like 2 years n never happened with my old DV4000 oh well...
ever since it has been a great machine.

is there any other issues? this launge is now out of my control...too many thread every seconds....lol

 

Yeah, back when I bought the drive there was a significant price difference with Intel, the 80gb version was almost double what I paid for this 120gb Vertex so I couldn't justify getting the best But I think I will buy the Intel 80gb G2 too for my main desktop comp after Christmas and put this 120gb Vertex to the UL30VT

 

I think the 4400mAh battery can last 8 hrs with brightness down to like 40-45% + web surf/chat/integrated graphics/turbo off. I'm at 50% and it says I got 4 hrs left.

 

Sorry, I wasnt thinking. I mean device manager.

 

wait a year, ssd price will drop

 

wait a year, everything drops in price..
Its just a matter of timing your purchases so you have no buyer's remorse.

 

I meant to say I do know the difference between the A1 and X1 , but ASUS rep on amazon forums shut someone down asking if the A1 will be out in january, saying it will not. are you sure you are willing to wait till february? and that's in the US, not mentioning the delay for Canada. heres the link to the forum bro

http://www.amazon.com/UL30VT-A1/for...PX5SENYNLHEQ/1?_encoding=UTF8&asin=B002XZLURC

 

Just got my UL30vt today - arrived in Canada safely. No dead pixels, no cracks. Amazon triple boxed it too (my US-based brother simply forwarded it to me as-is)

The screen is not as bad is I imagined. My HP tablet (tx2000z) has a crap screen. I own 24" PVA and IPS monitors so I'm a bit particular, but this LCD is alright.

 

Can someone run http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yQ5U8suTUw0 1080p batman trailer with (turbo + nvidia on) and see what kind of cpu utilization they get?

 

Turbo + Nvidia, the average CPU Usage is between 55%-60%. Sometimes as high as 77% and only once did it reach 90%. Video playback at 1080P was smooth.

 

and yet still out of stock./ ?

 

I get anywhere between 40-70% CPU utilization.

 

Watching it on the laptop screen:
nvidia gpu, cpu usage hovers around 15%
intel gpu, cpu usage hovers around 40-45%

I'm not sure this is true 1080 though, as the laptop screen doesn't support a resolution that high.

On external display via HDMI in true 1080, the cpu usage was higher, up around 60% or so.

Everything played stutter free (except during initial loading).

I think I have turbo on, even though the button isn't shown in power4gear. (cpuz says I'm running at 2.1 which I know isn't right, but I think it reads the multiplier wrong).


Lastly, its kind of disappointing that the HDMI port will only work with nvidia gpu, especially if the intel would handle 1080, because a lot of battery life could be saved. Oh well.

 

My screen flicker is getting pretty bad here, not sure what to do

 

Just got this laptop 2 days ago. It took 5 days for "2 day air shipping". I hate UPS.

I was the one who broke the news to Engadget a few weeks ago that started that internet flurry on news about the laptop.

Before this, I had (have) the ASUS N10J. I like that netbook/laptop a lot -- it was my first time purchasing an ASUS laptop. I have long been an HP fan, but after EVERY laptop I have had with them (except one) had some significant issue that I had to send it in to HP for repair for, I decided it was time to switch brands.

This laptop has not let me down yet. I have done some light gaming, nothing serious, some streaming over my home network of media files, and some other things. This is a significant upgrade after having a netbook for over a year and gotten use to that.

As in comparison to my plethora of HP laptops, the build quality of this laptop clearly wins over them. It also does not get that hot. I can type on it in my lap without feeling significant heat or hearing the fan run loudly (which I got use to with my HP laptops). The selling point was the switchable graphics for me. I got use to this feature on the N10, which I used the dedicated graphics for playing HD files and light gaming (all of which work well, despite having an Atom CPU). I have played some HD 1080P files and streaming Youtube videos on the dedicated graphics card with no issues so far.

The only problem I have is the Hard drive (which a lot of people have commented on) It is slower than the 250GB 7200 RPM hard drive in my netbook, and is loud a lot of the time with its clicking. The only reason I decided to keep this one is because of the increased space, but I may decide to replace it at a later date.

So bottom line: If you want a decently powerful laptop with a lot of battery life this is the way to go. You could get a netbook for cheaper with the same battery life, but you loose the power and screen size. You could get more powerful features on a laptop for a few hundred dollars more, but the switchable graphics and the battery life along with the CULV processor is the selling point for this size.

 

One thing I didn't really comment on before was the keyboard. I would just say its not as intuitive as some previous keyboards I've had. For instance, on my m1330 there is a very clear distinction between groups of Function keys 1 to 4, 5 to 8, etc... making it very easy to hit F5 for refresh, etc...

On this keyboard, I really have to hunt for the keys, and forget trying to hit the volume up/down or screen brightness up/down without looking.

I suppose I will get used to this over time, but it would be nice to have more "feel" to some of the specific keys.

Some have mentioned the UL80VT has a back-lit keyboard. Is it the same size and is there any chance it would be an easy swap-in? Or would there be any other easier options to getting a backlight for this?

 

i did a reformat with win7 ultimate and its definitely snappier and i hear the hard drive less.

so far, i have only installed asus' nvidia driver (although it looks like we might be able to use nvidia's stock drivers). windows came with drivers for the sound card and bluetooth, but i had to get drivers for the intel wireless card (which i got from intel's site).

i am wondering if i should install the elan touchpad software. right now, im having major problems with my hands hitting the touchpad while i type, and i remember seeing something in that software that could help to prevent this.

i also wonder if there is a way to remap some of the function keys. the location of the volume and screen brightness function keys is awful.

also, while typing this post, i accidentally clicked on the touchpad about a dozen times

 

the u80 laptops have backlit keyboards (i think only some sold at best buy dont). the ul80 keyboards are not backlit.

also, i agree completely about the location of the various function keys.

 

it would be nice to have a wiki or something similar for the necessary software to install on the ul30vt. perhaps we should create a new thread just for this topic ?

 

Yep, the location is very bad. I don't know about re-mapping, but that would be great if there's a way.

I would recommend installing the elan drivers, it has a setting for palm detection. I left mine at default and only had it accidentally detect my palms a few times.

A couple other random thoughts:
with the 80gig SSD, my kitchen scale says the laptop is 3.82 lbs. (not sure how accurate the scale is)

I used the laptop for 4 hrs 45 minutes today, mostly on battery saver and about 40% screen brightness. But also there was about 45 minutes where I was using the nvidia graphics on high performance full brightness and watching HD youtube or outputting it to my TV. And this took the 4400mAh battery from 85% to 5%. So I think for normal computing with a full charge and light web browsing tasks it should be pretty easy to hit about 6 hours.

Lastly, this notebook is very cool. After almost 5 hours straight of usage, only the area by the exhaust fan was mildly warm, nothing else was even above room temp. And the back of the LCD panel was COLD. After all the heat issues I've been thru with the m1330 this is quite a nice change for me.

 

i installed the elan driver and moved up the palm detection a notch and it seemed to help.

also, it appears that it might be possible to remap the function keys using this program: http://www.autohotkey.com/
i will look into it.

 

What about this Patriot 128 drive

http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820220457

I'm looking at the intel one and its got fast reads at 250 mb/s but only 70mb/s writes? Isnt that pretty slow? The patriot has high writes and reads...I may not know what im talking about so please any advice would help.

Intel X25 80gb

http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820167023

I also notice how the intel has very low active and idle power consumptions when compared to the patriot. How much do u think this would affect battery life?

 

Hey, good to see you here This is pretty much where all the discussion goes on haha.


As for the SSD, simply put you can get the Intel G2 X-25/OCZ Vertex, or whatever else is out there. Thats it, there are two categories. The Good(Intel/OCZ), and everything else.

While the Intel and OCZ SSD's are well worth the money, its understandable that the price scares people away. The next best option is the Indilux based SSDs. One of the main reasons people recommend the Intel and OCZ SSDs is the community behind it and the very frequent firmware updates and fixes, while the other brands tends to not have it at all. Let the reviews speak for themselves, pretty much

 

Hahah I see this is where you post most. Alright Im gonna take your advice. Btw, are you going to buy the Asus ul30vt-x1 or wait for the a1 version?

 

That's like choosing either my GF or my sister from a burning house, kinda hard


To be honest, I'm sure the X1 will do but the 5600mAh battery is really enticing....!

 

I think I'm gonna just have to suck it up and wait for the A1. I plan on using this laptop as my main one and so I want it to be like perfect for me. Style and look of a macbook pro but HDMI and dedicated graphics for like half the price.

 

This is a heads up for all those who wonder the weight difference between the two types of 8cell batteries: 4400MAH and 5600MAH. While the notebook w/o battery weighs 1,380g, the 4400MAH battery weighs 398g and the 5600MAH battery weighs 441g. And they are exactly the same size. A little background of my ul30vt: I live in Canada and just got my hands on the Ul30vt-X1 and the spare battery today reshipped through myus.com which uses the DHL. Their service is solid while packaging and delivery speed is lightening (mine took just one day) that I can recommend this reshipper to anyone who do not live in the state.

 

How much did it cost all together?

 

i think we should gather together to "report" those reviewers on amazon who are dropping ratings because of price. they should not be able to lower the ranking because amazon doesn't have it in stock

 

The notebook and battery together costed my $916. The premium membership in myus.com costed $20 and they charged me $76 for shipping to my canadian address including insurance. The above charge was in US dollars. There was addition COD charge of CAD94.99 collected by DHL from custom clearance, including $7 of duty and $88 of GST and PST.

 

Either you get it now or wait for the next gen of notebooks in mid spring probably. I got it now but I still wonder if I waited, but I'm TOTALLY satisfied.

I'm really doubtful that they'd release an A1 version. I'd be hoping for another graphics bump or something next spring with the higher capacity battery instead.

 

Quick question. How far does the screen open? Does it open partway to about 120 degrees? Or does it open completely to 180 degrees so you can lay it flat on a table?

 

That prices is actually excellent. It cost me more to get my brother to ship it to Canada (FedEx 2-day plus $119CAD for GST + PST).

Time to get a SSD for this laptop - the HD noises when I pick it up are disturbing.

 

About 120 (I think I understand). It does not open 180 degrees like a tablet PC would.

 

Here's another video review of the unit from youtube in addition to the ones done by zedomax that someone already posted here.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yNrzOleViy4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pcmCE7ZCxV0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xYqWAD8kWWg

The guy sounds a bit like Pablo Francisco spanish radio Dracula at the start but otherwise it's a decent review