*Official UL30VT-X1 Owners Lounge*

Can you elaborate more? Is this for the price drop on the X1? Or because of a different seller on the A1?

 

Yeah there is one its called the ul30vt, its $800, ever heard of it? Then there is the ul30vt-A1 for $850. heard of that one?

 

what i meant by this is that if i looked elsewhere i would be willing to go up to 14"

 

oh this was for the A1 I preordered through amazon.com.......it was $850 when I preordered and just a few days after it was released, the price is now around 831 and I just received my laptop yesterday so I shot them an email and they responded back to me within an hour and said they don't pricematch anymore and would make an exception and would credit me back $17...

 

I'm in the same situation, and I emailed them. But I got back a response with the standard story that prices change all the time and they were sorry. So on their site, I clicked the method where they will call you back right away, and I explained it to a nice guy. He would not give a refund, but he said they would give a promotional certificate for the amount. There is no coupon code for it. The next time I order at Amazon, this will show on the page where they show the final price. I would have preferred the refund, but this is fine...if it works.

 

are you kidding? of course i know this, but you claimed there are many OTHER options for this kind of laptop. you just listed what is already being discussed.

 

lol, maybe he or she is bipolar.

 

I tried that and they refused.

 

Amazon used to have price-matching and price protection, but they don't offer it anymore. Depending on your order history with amazon, they may exceptions but it is entirely on a case by case basis.

 

Hey guys,

Here's my video review of the UL30VT-X1. Sorry it took so long to get put up here! I've just been so busy!

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Maybe you are bipolar, the computer that was referenced was the ul30jt not the the ul30vt I am referring to. so you are both wrong, once again the ul30jt doesn't even exist, look back and read again.

 

Hey, David, any news on your backlit keyboard?

Also, I notice that you had a unibody Macbook 13" at one point. Can you comment on how the Macbook's screen compares to the UL30Vt's. I own a UL30Vt and find the screen to be very distracting in regards to vertical viewing angles. I am a web designer and developer and generally use top of the line displays all day at work and at home, so I am unsure whether it is just my lack of exposure to TN panels or if this UL30Vt's screen is really that bad. I have been toying with the idea of selling it, as it is still brand spanking new, and getting a Macbook instead. Your thoughts?

 

The UL30VT screen is inferior compared to the Macbook. However, the Macbook's screen isn't that great either. Unless Apple has changed the screen panel lately, I wouldn't recommend it if a good LED/LCD is one of your top priorities.

 

Well, I bought my wife a little Asus 1005HA a few months back. It is the version with the matte screen, and find that screen to be excellent as compared to this UL30Vt's screen. If the Macbook's screen was at least as good as the 1005HA's screen I would strongly consider a swap. However, it sounds like it may be a negligible different in quality as compared to the UL30Vt, so perhaps I will stick with what I have. I really do love my UL30Vt. It does everything I want it to do. I just wish the screen was even decent.

PS: Any keyboard news?

 

Question for anyone. Does the Asus AI Recovery Burner create an image at the time you run the program? What I am curious about is, if I were to run it now, would I be essentially making an image of my computer in its current state with all of the programs and files I have personally installed? Or is it only writing an image of the original Asus config as it was when I originally got my system?

Thanks.

 

Personally, I read "there are many other options" as: there being many other options. I would not say 2 or 4 options from one manufacturer is many. Also the words "options begin to really open up" at the $1k price range states there are several options in that price range. Suggesting models we already know and are $200 less than $1k is irrelevant.

And you really don't need to get snippy about it either. "Ever heard of it" Come on.

That being said, has anyone seen a comparable offering to the UL30VT, that has been out for 2 months now, from competitors? I know about Dells and HPs dm3z but they don't really stack up.

 

Heres an unordered list of the offerings from HP and Dell. I tried to make most the components the same to give the best comparison. The 3dmark05 scores were pulled from notebookcheck. I don't know how reliable they are. The ul30vt seems to be ahead of the pack, especially when taking into account the switchable graphics that enable such long battery life. HPs are offering less than 5 hours of battery life with the upgraded card.

The inspiron 14 has the i5 in it however so I really don't think it should be included in the comparison.

hp dm3z
AMD Turion(TM) Neo X2 Dual-Core L625 Processor (1.6GHz, 1MB)
512MB ATI Radeon(TM) HD 4330 Graphics 4987 3dmark05 score
320GB 7200rpm
4GB Ram
$784

hp dm3t
Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Duo Processor SU7300 (1.3GHz, 3M Cache)
512MB NVIDIA GeForce G 105M 4214 3dmark05 score
320GB 7200rpm
4GB Ram
$839

dell Studio 14z
Intel® Core™ 2 Duo T6600 (2.2GHz/800Mhz FSB/2MB cache)
NVIDIA® GeForce® 9400M G 3151 3dmark05 score
500GB 5400rpm
3GB Ram
$849

Dell Inpiron 14
Intel®Core™ i5 - 520M
512MB4 ATI Mobility Radeon HD4330 4987 3dmark05 score
320GB 5200RPM
4GB Ram
$899


ul30vt
Intel SU7300 Core 2 Duo 1.3GHz Processor
NVidia G210M Graphics with 512MB DDR3 + Intel GMA 4500MHD (Switchable VGA) 6710 3dmark05 score
500GB 5400RPM
4GB Ram
$800

 

how do the AMD neos stack up against the intel SU? Are the comparable in performance?

 

mobone, you are my hero

The AMD L625 most likely has better performance than the SU7300, but it probably not worth it.

Key Differences of L625 vs SU7300
- 65nm (lol) vs 45nm process
- 18W vs 10W TDP

 

Mobone, thanks for the comparison, it's nice to see it all in one place like that.

 

Your welcome, I appreciate it. If anyone can think of any similar models I'll add them to the list.

 

I'd say a 18w vs 10w would be noticeable in battery power, something that is a factor for myself when choosing a laptop.

 

Apple did indeed upgrade the screen on the MacBooks last refresh, bringing them up to the same wide color gamut and improved viewing angles of the MacBook Pros. Some reviewers have said the screen still isn't quite as good as the Pros; I've never tried comparing them side by side so I can't say.

 

I am actually considering a Pro and not a standard Macbook, although I did notice that David has reviewed a standard Macbook and not a Pro.

Anyone else have any experience with unibody Macbook Pro's that might be able to comment on the screen quality of them versus the UL30Vt?

 

thanks for the video review quadron, that was really good.

 

I just called the Asus estore earlier today and they haven't shipped out my keyboard yet.

 

how's the webcam? i know i shouldn't expect much but is it good enough to record videos of me playing guitar and singing and whatnot?

 

Very grainy and pixelated, especially in low light, as you'd expect from a .3mp camera. It works well enough for Skype, but detailed and clear not so much.

 

I haven't actually run this program yet, but here is some information. There's a reminder screen that comes up when I bring up the system. It's an "AI Recovery Reminder", and it says:
"You have not created a backup copy of your factory state Windows".

That gave me the idea that it was going to backup whatever I currently had on the system. And it wanted to warn me to do that before I made changes.

If I ignore that warning and click the icon to actually try to run it, I get another screen warning me about making changes to my computer (not sure why I get this). But here's the interesting part. It says:
"Program name: Backup the hidden partition to make the recovery DVD".

This doesn't make much sense, does it? We received a recovery DVD that probably already matches the hidden partition, so I don't know why we need to make another.

So...maybe someone who has actually done this step can tell us. Sorry if the answer is buried somewhere in this thread. I've read it all over the past month or two, but I don't know if this was addressed.

 

Major bummer! I am anxious to hear of your findings whenever you get the keyboard. Asus, get on the ball!!! A backlit keyboard mod would be fantastic, especially if it was plug and play.

 

Yea, the wording of those messages is causing me to go back and forth on what I believe might be true about AI Recovery. I forgot that we received a disc with our machines, perhaps you are right in that this is the same as the recovery disc it is trying to build? Surely someone who has done this can chime in and clear up all of this confusion for us?

 

Usually the backup disk is just the recovery partition. I wouldn't be surprised if this is the case. I doubt any manufacturer would go through that much effort.

 

I'm actually looking at getting one of the ul30 laptops for my uni work however I'm a little confused as to which one. The ul30vt seems the best as it has switchable gpus but I'm confused by the revisions. Could anyone enlighten me as to the difference between the x1 and the a1?

 

Sounds like colors and wifi. Anybody else correct me there because I haven't been there in a while. I've got my eyes on the UL30JT version or w/e its called now.

 

The battery also have an higher capacity.

 

Thank you for all the good information you guys have given me. I am also interested in the ULV30VT-A1 for the wife and have a question about ordering from xotic or gentech. If you choose the Intel SSD option will they clone your drive and install prior to shipping?

Thanks

 

conceyted: I'm also very excited about a backlit keyboard mod. Please take pics while "under the knife" I'm sure it will become a very popular mod if it goes well.

Any: Has anyone tried the copper heatsink mod from the main forum page to help dissipate some of the heat when running wide open gaming graphics?

 

Ive got to be honest about the heat mod. Even running wide open during gaming I am getting very little heat. This laptop does an amazing job in dispersing heat. I would not touch that aspect of it.

 

Can anyone make a guess if waiting for the UL30JT is worth it, or will the A1 be good enough?

I was looking for a quiet laptop that could handle HD editing and the A1 seemed to be it but the JT came in but I heard the i7 cores can cause heat and fan noise.

 

I've got the video card overclocked and have gained 7 to 10 frames per second in some pretty intense games, well worth the trouble, but the fan blows some pretty warm air when gaming. Still not as warm as some old laptops I've used just at idle, but if I'm opening it anyway to do a keyboard mod...

 

You shouldn't have to open anything for the keyboard. If it has the power connector that David says it does, it will almost definitely fit (again, it's kind of a laziness thing-- why spend development time and money when you can just make the keyboards fit all similar sized units.) Here's hoping the "empty connector slot" actually has power going to it...

Could anyone post pics of the notebook with the keyboard removed?

 

Just got my A1. Trying to figure out which programs to uninstall. No creaking or any physical/mechanical issues that I've encountered. Runs super cool, no heat. Very high pitch when booting up, but low volume whining from the HDD at times, but no clicking.

Hate the single/unibody mouse button, however.

 

Ah..the A1's are rolling in, pictures guys!

And it seems like many people actually use the mouse buttons on a laptop? I've always just stuck to the touchpad for everything. Other than for right clicking, i almost never touch the physical buttons under the touchpad.

 

I got my A1, and today, I noticed something a little disturbing. I was playing a game with discrete graphics and I got a warning that the battery was low. I went to plug the laptop in. It started to charge for 2 seconds and then stopped -- the icon changed from plugged in to just battery. I kept checking the power plug. Power was fine. I shut the laptop lid and went off for dinner.

About an hour later, I checked the laptop. 0%. . Within seconds, the laptop went into hibernation. It seems the laptop did not charge for that hour period of time. After it hibernated, I turned it back on. The laptop was now charging, but the battery had 0% power. Getting down to 0% is very bad for lithium ion batteries. I've had this laptop for 1 day.

Anyone else noticed this behavior? I wonder if the Power4Gear software has a bug and disabled charging. In another hour, I will check the battery again. The laptop is currently in standby. I also rebooted before letting it sleep just to clear up any Asus driver software issues.

 

Ok, this is not good. It's been about an hour. My laptop did not charge. I turned it off, pulled the battery out for 20 seconds, plugged it back in and trying to charge it again. Windows indicates it's charging. Battery isn't charging.

 

I did get it from Amazon, and it's heading back. I'm getting a refund. I would have wanted a replacement if they could get one out to me within days, but est was 2-4 weeks. From the UL30VT-X1 waiting game to the UL30VT-A1 waiting game to the UL30VT-JT announcement, and now a lemon. I'm going to look at another model. This was a really great laptop, but man, Asus is really screwing up the announcements and availability.

 

I can't get the HDMI to show on my secondary monitor's when connecting from notebook HDMI to monitor DVI port. It works however, on the VGA/VGA connection. This is when the vid card is running. Someone help me out?

 

I don't have this issue with my battery on my A1. My suggestion is to either 1. return your unit to the reseller or 2. contact asus and have them send you a battery replacement.

 

Well, after reviewing my options at the usual suspects: Apple, Lenovo, Sony, HP Probook, I've decided to stick with the Asus. The choices for lightweight, speed, and long battery life are slim. This really is a terrific laptop, except for the trackpad button. Just gotta wait for Amazon to get more stock. Amazon did good by me by giving me a refund for this lemon. I'm not sure those other guys would do that.

 

Did the a1 end up coming with a mouse included because on gentech's website it said that it did?