ASUS UL30 Review

The ASUS UL30 series is a thin and lightweight 13.3" notebook powered by the Intel Core 2 Duo ULV processor. Aiming to compete against the Acer Timeline series, this model boasts an impressive 12 hours of runtime, for true all-day computing. Offering a brushed aluminum lid and sturdy construction, it is designed to look great, but keep looking good day after day. In this review we put the 12-hour battery life claim up to the test, and find out just how well this notebook performs.

ASUS UL30A-A1 Specifications:

• Intel Core 2 Duo SU7300 (1.3GHz, 3MB L2 cache, 800MHz FSB)
• Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium (w/ SP1)
• 13.3-inch glossy LED-backlit 16:9 display (1366x768)
• Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 4500MHD
• 4GB DDR3 800MHz RAM (2GB x 2)
• 500GB Seagate 5400.6 HDD
• Atheros AR9285G/N WiFi, 10/100 Ethernet
• 8-Cell 15V 5600mAh 84WHr Battery, 19V 2.1A 40W AC Adapter
• Limited 2-year Global Warranty
• Dimensions 12.9" x 9.28" x 0.6"-0.98" (W x D x H)
• Weight: 3lbs 14.8oz
• Price as configured: $799

Build and Design
The ASUS UL30A-A1 at first glance looks very sleek, with a low profile designed to make it look as thin as possible. The color scheme shifts between silver and black, with the exterior being brushed aluminum and the interior being glossy painted plastic. The keyboard is a Chiclet-style model, with matte black keys and silver lettering. I think the design looks excellent, working for both the average consumer and business professional alike. The finish is also designed to look great over time, with the aluminum cladding resisting smudges and scratches.

One aspect of a notebooks design that is sometimes overlooked on models with extended battery life is the battery itself. ASUS managed to fit a flush mount 84Wh battery into the back of the chassis. It sits flush with the rear of the notebook and sticks down a fraction of an inch from the bottom. For the average consumer this means form-fitting slip cases are easy to fit into and a notebook with a more polished look to it.

Build quality is above average, with the overall construction feeling pretty solid. The bottom of the notebook has one soft spot, where a panel has some mild flex, but besides that there is very little flex anywhere on this notebook. The aluminum screen cover does a good job of protecting the screen from impacts, showing little or no color distortion as you press firmly on the back of the screen. Inside, the palmrest and keyboard have excellent support, having no flex at all. Even though the front profile is very thin, ASUS still manages to provide a well-built internal structure for a solid typing platform. Another surprising quality is the very strong screen hinges, which have no wiggle and actually show a good deal of resistance.
Users looking to upgrade some of the components will like that there are still two access panels on the bottom. Because of space or strength concerns, the panels are only sized for RAM and HD access, but it is better than no panels at all.

Screen and Speakers
The screen offered on the UL30-series is a 13.3" LED-backlit 16:9 WXGA panel. The display rates slightly above average, with good color saturation and contrast thanks to the glossy surface. Black level s are good with no apparent backlight bleed at high brightness levels. The area that doesn't really shine with this panel are the viewing angles. Vertical viewing angles show a good amount of distortion with as little as 10-15 degrees movement forward or back. Horizontal viewing angles are better, but still show signs of mild color inversion past 45 degrees. Backlight brightness levels were very good, even at the 70% level we like to use for battery tests. I usually had the screen set at 70% in the office and 40-50% at home with less overhead lighting.

Most thin and lightweight notebooks sacrifice speaker location for other more important aspects of the design. The ASUS UL30-series offers lap-firing speakers, which sound tinny at best, muffled at worst. When you have the notebook sitting up on a stand or on a flat desk surface they sound average compared to other notebooks of this size, but once you put it on your lap or a soft surface they are completely muffled. Headphones would be highly recommended for this notebook.

Keyboard and Touchpad
The ASUS UL30-series offers a large Chiclet-style keyboard that is very comfortable to type on. The palmrest seems to be sized perfectly even for my large hands with a soft edge on the front that prevents any pressure to your wrist. The keys are very responsive with a nice springy action on each press. The individual keys appear to be almost flat, but a straight edge over the surface shows a very small cup to the center of each key. The texture is a rough matte finish, and doesn't attract finger prints or smudges.

The touchpad is an ELAN model, built into the palmrest, offering limited multitouch capabilities. The included drivers support two-finger scrolling for horizontal and vertical movement, but nothing else. I actually found it to be almost too responsive, scrolling both vertically and horizontally at the same time as you moved down a page. Disabling the horizontal scroll seemed to improve things in that regard. The touchpad worked quite well, having no discernable lag and equal speeds on both axis's of movement. The dimpled surface felt smooth and once it had some oils from my hand built up on it, allowed fingers to glide across it very well. The touchpad button is seesaw style, with a fixed center pivot point. Each side took a moderate strength push to trigger, with a small click given off when pressed.

Ports and Features
Port selection was good with three USB ports, HDMI and VGA out, LAN, and audio in/out. One feature missing that was a Kensington lock slot, but in its place was a lanyard-style attachment point. The notebook also sports a spring-loaded flush-mount SD-card slot, handy for expanding storage without needing to remove the card when putting the notebook in a carrying case.

Front: Activity lights

Rear: Battery

Left: VGA, HDMI, and USB

Right: SD-card slot, audio in/out, two USB, LAN, and AC-power

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Performance and Benchmarks
System performance was quick once the notebook was cleared of all bloatware, but not before giving us one of the longest initial boot sequences we have ever seen. It took almost 15 minutes to go from out of the box pressing the power button, to finally at the desktop. This process was filled with initial configuration processes and many waiting screens. Once the system was ready, the first thing we did was remove the included system security software. After a few power cycles the OS stopped activity pinging the hard drive, and it became a rather speedy CULV notebook. Boot and shutdown times felt quick, and the rather snappy Seagate 5400.6 hard drive kept access times to a minimum without sacrificing battery life. The system had no problem handling 720P or 1080P HD video, showing a good amount of leftover overhead for other applications while the movies were playing. 3D gaming was out of the question unless the settings were heavily tweaked, or if the games were many generations old. For normal everyday uses, like typing documents, browsing the web, or watching streaming HD video the system performed beautifully.

wPrime Processor Performance Benchmark (lower scores mean better performance):

PCMark05 Overall Performance Benchmark (higher scores mean better performance):

Synthetic Gaming Performance using 3DMark06 (higher scores mean better performance):

HDTune Hard Drive Performance Benchmark:

Heat and Noise
Under a light to moderate load the ASUS UL30A-A1 stayed quiet with only a few hot spots forming. Fan noise was minimal, with it defaulting off under most conditions. When the fan was on, your ear had to be next to the case to hear it. With the system on for the entire morning, the case warmed up about 10-15 degrees over room temperature, with all the keyboard and palmrest staying the coolest.

Battery Life
One of the most important features of this notebook is its 12-hour battery life claim. Packing a CULV processor, LED-backlit screen, and gigantic 84Wh battery, ASUS has the right stuff inside the notebook for extended battery life, but just how well does it perform? In our tests with the screen brightness set to 70%, Vista in the balanced profile, and wireless active the UL30A-A1 stayed running for 9 hours and 43 minutes before it went into sleep mode with 2% remaining. While it is less than the claimed 12 hours, if the wireless was disabled or the screen brightness was reduced further, it should come close.

Generally we only talk about the AC adapters on notebooks when something strikes us as impressive or odd. The ASUS UL30A includes a 40W AC adapter, which felt undersized and stressed during our review. With the computer running in high performance mode there was little overhead left for charging the battery, which extended the charging times. Another issue was it would get very hot, upwards of 130F. While a small power brick is nice to travel with, a 65W one wouldn't be too much larger, but wouldn't be as stressed.

Conclusion
The ASUS UL30A-A1 is a very nice 13" ultraportable notebook. The design is attractive and the construction of the body is great; with high quality materials used throughout. The keyboard is comfortable to type on, with excellent support to resist any flexing. Our battery test fell 2 hours short of the 12-hour claim, but it was still impressive at right under 10 hours. With a starting price of $799 it is priced above the Acer Timeline, but offers a faster processor and better battery life. Overall if you are looking for a super slim and lightweight 13.3" notebook with great battery life, the ASUS UL30A is well worth checking out.

Pros:

• Excellent battery life
• Solid build and good looking design
• Great keyboard

Cons:

• Display has limited viewing angles
• Small AC adapter gets hot under stress

 

That is a nice little notebook. I like what notebooks are doing now a days. Much better than the netbooks alternatives.

 

<s>Nice notebook, looking good. But IMO it will fall against the Timeline series, way too expensive compared to a 3810T for example....</s>

Maybe it's just me but I kinda liked to have the reviewed product highlighted in those graphs.....what is up with that?

 

Not its not, the dual core 3810 is the same price, and has the same specs except for a faster SU9400 and Intel 5100 wifi card. Also, you can choose 500GB HDD or an Intel G1 80GB SSD.

 

It has a much bigger HD and more ram so this could be the premium version and cost more.

 

An ASUS with good battery life, who would've thought?

 

Me, after owning an EEE.

 

this config has c2d, the acer timeline doesn't... or does it? to me that's a big deal.

 

I would expect the Asus to be better built and have better support than the Acer.

 

Yeah my mistake, I was looking at the core solo version. Though I wouldn't pay extra 200 bucks for su7300 and 500gb but this is just me.

Edit: OK, I'm wrong, I got it. No need to repeat it over and over again. I scratched my statement in my original post.

 

Well after reading the review 3 or 4 times I'm convinced. I'm going to order one as soon as i can find out who is selling them. New Egg has two models that look similar but not the same so I'm not sure if these are in the wild yet. I prefer Mac's in almost all circumstances but I want a separate Windows 7 laptop and this looks like what I have been looking for. It would be nice if it runs Linux also which it probably will.

EDIT: Buy.com has them for $773 so I just ordered one from them. The lowest price i found was $752 from a place I never heard of so i would rather go with buy.com. Too bad New Egg doesn't have them yet. This also comes in black which looks very nice depending on your tastes..

 

If it's available at Buy.com, it should be available at Amazon as well. ExcaliberPC has a black and silver version, though the silver is not in stock atm.

It is interesting this review mentions a 1Gb ethernet while other sites show 10/100 only. The 10-hr battery life makes up for lack of bluetooth, though some may disagree. I am curious if bluetooth can be added by the user much like the Acer Timelines?

 

I just went through the notebook devices again and saw that I misread the LAN spec, it is only 100. Still surprised that 1Gb isnt standard on everything that isnt a Blu-ray player these days. I mean come on!

 

Also would like to add that there are a few versions of the UL30A.


UL30A-A1 = Core 2 Duo U7300
UL30A-X1 = Core 2 Solo, no BT

UL30A-A2 = Core 2 Duo U9400 (not confirmed)



Also, UL30VT = Core 2 Duo + G105 video card? (unconfirmed)

 

Also in Energy saver it should come close or go over it. Why don't you test it that way? My guess is that most people will put their notebook in Energy Saver when they want maximum battery life.

True, but the Timelines come with Synaptics touchpads.

 

More like $170~$180 more. You get a slightly larger HD, from a 1.3ghz single core to a 1.3 dual core, 2 more cells in the battery, and 1 more year of warranty which has a 30 day no dead pixel guarantee and accidental damage warranty.

*poke* *poke* *poke* *poke* *poke* *poke*





Anyways, there is also a SU9400 version of the UL30A, I'm assuming that is the upcoming A2 model.

 

in the review it says there is an Atheros AR9285G/N wifi card, but on the asus website, it lists an intel 5100 as the wifi card
is this just another one of the regular discrepancies between the asus website and what asus actually sells ?

 

Those $180 in Europe will probably be around 200 euros.

But yeah....I forgot about the warranty issue. Well then, when you put it that way...I might take it

 

That could be a mistake in the review here, too.
LAN = Atheros
wifi = Intel 5100

 

Kevin, did it have an overclock function?

 

GenTechPC has had this avilable for a little while.

Id take this over the timeline, 2 year warranty and little keyboard flex i think that would seal the deal for me if i was deciding between those two.

Great review

 

As a frequent traveler I am LOVING these all day laptops. Even my 15-inch MacBook Pro is good for 7 to 8 hours now. Makes flying and airports a little less miserable.

 

What does the Asus come with?

 

so... is whole.... moving on to 16:9 inch screen from 16:10 dead now? or is it still alive?

 

Is this is true, this will be one of the few Core 2 Duo based CULV devices with a gpu other than the intel 4500hd. BTW isn't the G105 just a higher clocked 9400m?

 

Yes it is. I think a 3d mark of around 2500 or so.

 

The UL50 also has a SU7300 but a GT210

 

It had the Power4Gear stuff preinstalled, but no overclocking setting found in there. The processor was doing some weird stuff though in balanced and power save mode.

When under no load it would jump to 1.6ghz, then as soon as a load was applied it dropped back to 1.3ghz. No idea why, unless CPUz can't properly read this particular processor.

Nope, the Atheros wifi cards are always odd to see these days which means I have to go into the device manager to write the name down for the review. The card listed in the spec is what this notebook has.

 

I think CPU-Z just can't read the SU line in general.

 

At idle, the CULV line actually raises its multiplier to x8 and drops the FSB (by issuing idle cycles) to 100 MHz (base). CPU-Z doesn't know this and assumes that it is still using the normal 200 MHz FSB, so it reports 1.6 GHz CPU speed instead of 800 MHz. The same thing happens with the C2D L7100 on my lenovo X300.

EDIT: PS, RMClock will report the correct values.

BTW, does the CULV have a turbo mode? Not ASUS' overclocking profile, but an increased multiplier under single core loads (the L7100 goes from 1.2 GHz to 1.4 under these conditions).

 

Elan, as mentioned in the review.

It's a very interesting comparison. The Asus probably has better build quality and bigger battery resulting in better battery life.

But the Timeline is 0.4 pounds lighter, has a more powerful SU9400 CPU and a superior Synaptics touchpad.

The price difference will depend on the country, but the Timeline is probably cheaper. In the Netherlands the price difference based on preliminary pricing is a staggering 220 euros at the moment. That's like 30% of the Timeline value.

Personally I would prefer something lighter, like Asus UL20 or Acer 1810TZ.

 

Oops, I missed that somehow. Sorry Phil.

 

Oh, and could the owner test if RMClock or any other OC software is capable of overclocking SU7300?
I know that UL models with t at the end of model like UL50V t has OC power profile in Power4Gear but it would be nice to be able to OC also non t models if SU7300 turns to be not powerfull enough.

 

With SetFSB it might be possible. I'd like to know too.

 

UL30VT should probably be only be about $200 more right? I still think it would about a grand.

 

Great, great review! This laptop is amazing and so cheap. I still haven't made a decision of which laptop to buy in November but this is one of them. I don't like the small monitor but I might make an exception.

 

good job on the review, did they ever resolve that 99% cpu issue with the acer timeline? Im deciding between this Asus and the timeline but after reading this review im leaning towards the UL30 now.

 

This issue has been resolved years ago. Intel GPU drivers update + maybe bios update and everything should be fine

 

I wonder how long the all day battery lasts all day. A year? Half a year?

 

I am interested in internal temps. How hot are things after an hour or so on idle and during more extensive usage.. like watching a movie?

 

I am also quite impressed with this laptop.... Previously I had only been considering the Acer Timeline with the solid state drive and su9400 cpu, but this one looks like a good possible contended.

Although we will see about the new 13 inch hp ProBook 5310m price wise....

Still am somewhat leaning to the Timeline though in terms of value for price.

Decisions, decisions....

 

Also, don't forget HP dm3 Although I don't know if it will have anything more than SU4100. Still 1.3GHz but probably less cache and maybe some other features.

 

Depends on how you treat the battery. But between 300-500 cycles is possible with >90% health.

 

If that's the case, then assuming a user uses 1 cycle per day, 300-500 cycles is about 10 to 16 months. That's not bad at all. Totally worth it then.

 

As an estimate that would work. The battery will deteriorate quicker in hot climates.

Here's some more info:

http://www.batteryuniversity.com/parttwo-34.htm

 

The only difference between an SU4100 and SU7300 is that the SU4100 has only 2mb L2 cache. Everything else is the same.

But wth is the difference between a SU9400 and SU7800?

 

Actually I must admit that somehow it's "look" didn't really appeal to me for some reason.... [shrugs]

 

Well, I like it's look. At least at photos. Especially that not only lid but also keyboard frame and palmrest are aluminum

 

It looks to me like everything but the lid is painted plastic, which is what the reviewer said.

 

Agreed; it will be a tough choice between this ASUS UL30 and the upcoming HP ProBook 5310m. The ProBook will be more expensive at the top end.

$699 base version: Celeron SU2300 (1.2GHz/1MB L2/800MHz FSB)
$899 upgrade version: Core 2 Duo SP9300 (2.26GHz/6MB L2/1066MHz FSB)

I believe the base one will have 2GB of RAM and the upgrade 4GB. An extra $200 for a processor bump is steep though the C2D will absolutely crush the Celeron. I am trying to figure out how well the Celeron SU2300 performs.

Other pluses about the 5310m over the UL30 - integrated Bluetooth, Intel wireless, Display Port, and available mobile broadband. Minuses of the 5310m: no HDMI.