ASUS UL20A-A1 Thin and Light 12.1-Inch Silver Laptop - 7.5 Hours of Battery Life (Windows 7 Home Premium)

Manufacturer: ASUS Computer International Direct
Customer Rating:
List Price: $599.00
Sale Price: $569.00
Availibility: Usually ships in 1-2 business days

This is cool.

Product Description

Style and Performance in Perfect Harmony

The energy-efficient, slim and stylish ASUS UL20A-A1 notebook redefines ultraportable notebooks. Free yourself from power cords and start exploring with up to an amazing 7.5 hours* of all-day battery life.

Powered by the ultra-low-voltage Intel® Core™2 Duo processor SU7300 and optimized with 2GB of DDR2 SDRAM, the UL20A-A1 takes you further than most other notebooks with eye-catching style and a generous 250GB of storage.

Its ultra-slim profile makes traveling a breeze and its 12.1-inch HD LED-backlit display offers bright, vibrant visuals and advanced energy efficiency.

Effortlessly navigate your e-mails and favorite websites with the enhanced multi-touch trackpad and complete important assignments with ease using the comfortable chiclet keyboard.

The UL20A-A1 also features Altec Lansing speakers, plus SRS surround, for a virtual home theater experience on the go.

The UL20A-A1 is built from the ground up to give you the best value; it’s an ultraportable notebook that truly delivers mobility on demand.

A complete notebook warranty package is icing on the cake.

ASUS UL20A-A1 come standard with a 1-Year Global Warranty and more*:

Thirty-days flawless display guarantee

Free two-way standard shipping

24-hour tech support seven days a week

Plus ASUS Accidental Damage Protection: ASUS UL20A-A1 are also protected come with a One Year Accidental Damage Warranty protecting the notebook from drops, fire, spills, and surge.**

Key Features

All-day computing with up to 7.5 hours of battery life¹
Exceptionally compact and light, just over 1-inch thin, and less than 3.3lbs
Powered by the Intel Core2 Duo Processor SU7300 for energy efficiency
Color Shine 12.1-inch LED-backlit widescreen HD display that uses less energy and gives you an immersive cinematic experience
2GB of DDR2 system memory for smooth performance with Windows 7 Home Premium installed
250GB 5,400rpm hard drive for fast, convenient storage and access to all your documents, music, videos, and photos
Chiclet style keyboard and multi-touch trackpad for comfortable and intuitive use
Built-in 802.11n wireless connectivity that enables ‘real-time’ video conferencing and Internet browsing
Integrated webcam for connecting with your friends and family
Altec Lansing speakers enhanced with SRS Premium Sound for home theater quality acoustics
ASUS IceCool Technology provides a cool-to-the-touch palm rest
Express Gate, exclusively from ASUS, enables ultra-fast booting so you can connect to the web in just 10 seconds
ASUS SmartLogon—facial recognition system detects your face and logs on automatically
ASUS 360: 1 year global warranty and ASUS ADW: 1 year accidental damage warranty*

Warranty

ASUS 360* (1 Years Global Warranty) + ASUS ADW* (1 Year Accidental Damage Warranty**) + Flawless Display Guarantee

ASUS UL20A-A1 comes with ASUS 360 (1 years global warranty), ADW (1 Year Accidental Damage Warranty*) and Flawless Display Guarantee. If the purchaser discovers one defective bright dot within 30 days of purchase, ASUS will replace the panel without cost to the purchaser.

What's in the Box

ASUS UL20A-A1

AC Adapter

6 cell Battery Pack

Warranty Information Cards

Specifications

Operating System: Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit

Display: 12.1-inch HD LED-backlit Widescreen (1366 x 768)

Intel Platform: Intel Core2 Duo processor SU7300 (1.3GHz)

Graphics: Intel GMA X4500MHD

Wireless: WLAN 802.11b/g/n (draft 2.4GHz n)

LAN: 10/100 Mbps Ethernet

Memory: 2GB DDR2 DRAM 800MHz, (upgradeable to 4GB)

Storage: 250GB 5,400RPM Hard Drive

Camera: 0.3 Megapixel

Speakers: SRS Premium Stereo Speakers by Altec Lansing, Hi-Definition Audio CODEC

Microphone Digital Array Microphones

Card Reader: 1 x 8-in-1 card reader: MMC, SD/SDHC, Mini-SD, MS, MS-Pro, MS-Duo, MS Pro-Duo , XD

Input/Output: 1 x Mic-in, 1 x audio-out (S/PDIF), 3 x USB 2.0 ports, 1 x RJ45 LAN

Video Output: 1 x VGA port/Mini D-sub 15-pin

Keyboard: 18.33mm with MS Windows function keys

Battery Pack: 6-cell Lithium Ion Battery, - Up to 7.5 hours¹

Power Supply: Input: 100~240 V AC, 50/60 Hz universal

Dimensions: 11.8 (W) x 8.4 (L) x 1.0 (H) inches

Weight: 3.3lbs (with 6-cell battery)

Color: Silver

¹Estimated maximum battery life test was done in ASUS Power4Gear battery saving mode with Mobile Mark 2007. Actual battery life may vary based on product settings, usage patterns and environmental conditions.

*For notebooks purchased on or after Sept. 10, 2007. The ASUS 360 Notebook Service Program and Accidental Damage Warranty covers “ASUS” brand notebooks only, and does NOT extend to: “Built on ASUS,” “ASMobile,” “Powered by ASUS,” the Eee PC, or some other models. These retailers are currently among the companies that do NOT participate in the ASUS 360 Notebook Service Program and Accidental Damage Warranty: Best Buy, MicroCenter, and The Source by CircuitCity in Canada. Limited of one claim per notebook for Accidental Damage Warranty. ASUS reserves the right to discontinue this program and to modify the terms and conditions thereof at any time. ASUS Accidental Damage Warranty Program starts from the date of your ASUS notebook purchase, when all the requirements are met.

**One incident covered per notebook

All specifications and terms are subject to change without notice. Please check with your supplier for exact offers on selected models. Products may not be available in all markets. Product may not be exactly as shown in photos.
Celeron, Celeron Inside, Centrino, Centrino Inside, Core Inside, Intel, Intel Logo, Intel Atom, Intel Atom Inside, Intel Core, Intel Inside, Intel Inside Logo, Intel Viiv, Intel vPro, Itanium, Itanium Inside, Pentium, Pentium Inside, Viiv Inside, vPro Inside, Xeon, and Xeon Inside are trademarks of Intel Corporation in the U.S. and other countries.

Check Out Other ASUS Notebook Computers and Accessories

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The perfect accessory for the UL20, the ASUS Slim External Optical Drive allows you to create and read CDs or DVDs with speed, style, and simplicity.

ASUS UL30A-A2 Thin and Light Laptop
At 13-Inches and weighing under 4 lbs, the stylish UL30A offers mobility and a slightly larger screen size.

ASUS Eee Top ET2002-B0017
Need a sleek and stylish PC for the family? Check out the ASUS ET2002 All-in-One Desktop PC.

ASUS Skype Video Phone Touch SV1TS
A truly revolutionary technology, the ASUS Skype Video Phone Touch allows you to make unlimited video Skype calls at a touch without a computer or additional hardware or software.

Product Details

1.3GHz Intel SU7300 Core 2 Duo Processor
2GB of DDR2 RAM, 2 Slots, 4GB Max
250GB SATA Hard Drive (5400 RPM), No Optical Drive
12.1" WXGA LED LCD Display, Wi-Fi 802.11 bgn, 0.3M Webcam
Windows 7 Home Premium Operating System (64 bit), *7.5 Hours of Battery Life

Video Reviews

No video reviews found for this product.

Customer Reviews

The Almost-Perfect Ultra-Portable

Review Date: November 20, 2009

Reviewer: A. King, Los Angeles, CA USA

I just upgraded to this laptop from an 8.9" Atom-powered netbook (an Asus EeePC 900HA). Here are my thoughts after using the UL20A for a few days:

Pro's:
1. SMALL FOOTPRINT & LIGHT WEIGHT. The footprint of the laptop is similar to an 8.5"x11" sheet of paper (just slightly narrower and slightly longer), and at 3.3lbs, putting it in your briefcase or backpack is no more burdensome than an extra book or binder.
2. EXCELLENT KEYBOARD. The relatively large "chiclet" keyboard makes for an effortless typing experience.
3. PERFECT SCREEN SIZE. With a 12.1" 1366x768 screen, you're getting the resolution of a 13.3" laptop in a smaller package. At 130 pixels per inch, text on the 12" screen is often pretty small, but still acceptable. I would however advise against smaller screens (e.g. 11.6") at this resolution.
4. EXCELLENT PERFORMANCE. Despite the low clock speed, the UL20A's Core 2 Duo is MUCH faster than any Intel Atom. HD YouTube videos play flawlessly at ~67% CPU utilization, and general performance seems much smoother than on my old netbook. I especially notice the difference when scrolling through PDF's, which was often very slow and jerky on my EeePC.
5. EXCELLENT BATTERY LIFE. After 4.5 hours of mixed light web browsing, email, and PDF viewing, I still had 40% charge left. If the battery continued to be depleted at that rate, you'd end up with--that's right--exactly the quoted 7.5 hours! I used Windows 7's "Balanced" power scheme (not any of Asus's Power4Gear modes). After some testing, I can confirm that the processor will ramp up to max frequency during heavy usage with this mode, so there's no reason not to leave it in "Balanced" all the time.
6. VERY QUIET. Even when using it in a quiet room, it's nearly impossible to hear any fan noise.
7. EXTRA WARRANTY. The UL20A comes with 1 year of "accidental damage" coverage.
8. LITTLE THIRD-PARTY BLOATWARE. The only (non-Asus) bloatware was an anti-virus software trial and some silly games. I uninstalled these in minutes (and replaced the A-V trial with Microsoft's free Security Essentials program).
9. WINDOWS 7 HOME PREMIUM. Unlike most netbooks, which ship with either Microsoft's ancient Windows XP or the crippled Windows 7 Starter Edition, this laptop comes with the full "premium" version of Microsoft's brand-new OS.

Con's:
1. ANNOYING TOUCHPAD. The texture of the touchpad causes way too much friction, which irritates your finger. The pointer also periodically freezes, placing a strange gray circle near the cursor (this is probably some stupid Synaptics feature I haven't figured out how to disable yet).
2. GLOSSY SCREEN. This causes annoying reflections, but in fairness most laptops have these nowadays.
3. ABSURD JUMBLE OF ASUS UTILITIES. Asus includes nearly a dozen separate utilities for various functions. Most have weird names, and it's not apparent what they do until you click on them. They also each seem to have their own distinct (amateurish) user interface. At the very least, Asus needs to cut the number of included programs in half (both through consolidation and elimination of pointless and redundant functions).
4. DISAPPOINTING LCD QUALITY. As was the case with my EeePC's screen, the contrast is too high, and there's a significant blue-ish hue by default. I do NOT recommend this laptop for SERIOUS photo editing (i.e. not for professionals). It should be fine for most users though.

Summary:
This notebook seems to hit a sweet spot between netbooks and full-size laptops: You're getting an almost full-size keyboard, adequate screen resolution, snappy performance, and Windows 7 Home Premium, while retaining much of the portability, low-cost, and battery life of a netbook.

CRAZY GOOD LAPTOP

Review Date: November 18, 2009

Reviewer: S. Evans,

Current laptop is the Dell XPS M1330, a 13.3 inch laptop which seemed very cool to me in terms of build and weight (about four pounds). But even that started to feel big and heavy so when this one came out-- at this price!!!-- I pre-purchased. I have been tracking discussions here and on the notebook review forums, and have some immediate answers to various concerns:

1. it's 3 pounds six ounces with the battery. Feels like carrying a book.
2. the wireless is intel 1000 bgn and has held steady and been very fast since I first got the computer.
3. there's only one memory stick (2G) so you can easily pop in a second (which I did, before I even booted up the computer, for a grand total of $35.00) to bring the total memory to 4G.
4. The keyboard is full sized, or, if it's smaller, the difference is so minimal I can't tell. It does seem to me that some of the edge keys (delete, tab, function keys) are smaller.
5. It's crazy fast. My Windows Experence Index is:
Processor 4.1
Ram (with 4G) 4.8
Graphics 3.5 (I'm not bothered, but I'm not a gamer)
Gaming Graphics 3.3
HDD 5.8
6. Touchpad does pinch zoom and is very responsive.

Have not installed all my software yet, but three hours of removing bloatware with the computer set on "high performance" and using WiFi leaves me with close to three hours of battery left.

It's incredibly cool, meaning, in this case, temperature.

In sum: I am in awe.

UDPATE: I have been using the laptop continually since my purchase. It continues to impress me with build quality and performance. I have been upgrading all our home computers to Windows 7, and I notice that the Intel card on this laptop finds the network more quickly than the gigabit ethernet card on my quad core desktop, and transfer speeds are as good as or better than the other wireless N cards in the house. So I think the people who have had trouble with the card may have gotten a bad card. (Small comfort, I know...)

I had some minor issues with the touchpad, which felt sticky and slow to me. I finally spent some time in the synaptics settings panel, changing the sensitivity and speed of the pointer, and now find it works very well for me. So if the touchpad is bothering you, give that a try.

I really like the keyboard-- my Dell xps m1330 often inserts an extra letter if I hit a key too hard, or, at the other end of the spectrum, misses a key. Never happens with this one.

More than one person, on seeing the computer, has thought I finally upgraded to Mac.

Note: Did a clean install of windows 7 from a usb drive, no problems, to get rid of bloatware. All updated drivers available for download on the Asus website. There's a very nice summary of all Asus installed software at NotebookReview dot com forums-- search "bloatware" in the Asus section.

GOOD THINGS COME IN SMALL PACKAGES

Review Date: December 1, 2009

Reviewer: Mike Trojanowski, Pinebluff, NC USA

They say good things often come in small packages and here the ASUS UL20A-A1 surprisingly impressed me overall. Let me tell you why.

1. LOOK & SIZE - When I took the ASUS UL20A out of the box I was quite impressed with its svelte and silky look. Photos simply cannot replace seeing something firsthand. The light-colored silver brushed aluminum lid is a fine complement to its ultra thin profile. It weighs only 3.3 lbs and doesn't feel as back heavy as other netbooks/ultraportables that have 6-cell batteries. Quality in design, fit and finish are quite evident throughout and that is something you don't often find in a laptop in this price range.

2. SIGHT & SOUND - When I powered the ASUS UL20A up for the first time I was impressed with the display's noticeable increase in brightness and vivid contrasting colors compared to the many notebooks I've owned in the past (HP, Toshiba, Lenovo, Samsung, Sony, Apple & Gateway covers the gamut). The High Definition LED-backlit screen really will make a pleasurable improvement in your viewing experience.

The front bottom positioned Altec Lansing speakers have a lot of volume at least for my ears and the Realtek HD Audio control panel offers 13 equalizer settings to satisfy your personal tone preferences. I keep the volume at about the 75% mark on my ASUS UL20A because that's plenty loud for me most of the time.

Note: Much has been said about glossy screens in general giving off glare from the sun through indoor windows and overhead lights. Frankly I thought this would bother me more than it does but the bother is hardly anything at all with this laptop. Of course everyone's lifestyle is different and what may be good for one person may not be good for another. My lifestyle doesn't require me to use my laptop outdoors and using it indoors imposes little inconvenience for me to turn the laptop or lid slightly away from the offending overhead light or sunlight.

3. TOUCH & NAVIGATION - The chiclet-style keyboard is a breeze to type on. The gaps between the keys provide both room and better viewing of the separate keys, particularly with the keys being a charcoal black color and the deck being a contrasting silver color. This allows me to quickly find the characters I'm looking for when I'm not touch typing.

I can now consistently navigate easily and comfortably using the touchpad. Getting to this point of satisfaction though wasn't easy because:
. The touchpad is rather small that caused my husky fingers to sometimes go out-of-bounds. Initially this caused unpredictable 2-finger scrolling results that was immediately fixed when I removed the questionable default check mark next to "Enable Edge-Motion when scrolling".
. Synaptics offers a lot of options, perhaps too many, that take time to understand what they all do, which ones are right for you and what settings you need for each choice. I finally got it right. Hopefully you will too but in less time than it took me.

Note: If you want to do 2-finger scrolling, you will have to install the generic, but more advanced Synaptics software directly from their website. Be sure to download the 64-bit Windows version. Installing it was easy but you will need an external mouse since the touchpad will have to be disabled during the install.

Lastly, I found my laptop to be amazingly COOL to my touch much unlike some other laptops that feel uncomfortably warm especially on the bottom-side. Also, I have to say I never heard the fan come on even once to keep this laptop so pleasantly cool.

4. SPEED & STAYING POWER - This laptop is FAST. I will admit I installed another 2 gigs of memory that probably helped improve its speed somewhat. It boots up from a cold start in about a minute and shuts down in under 10 seconds - QUITE FAST. However, I may open and close my laptop about 6 times a day and most of the time I just put it in hibernation mode which backs up your open applications to the hard drive and then shuts down completely causing no further battery drain as sleep mode does. Startup from hibernation for me takes around 20 seconds - about a 1/3rd of the time as from a cold start - VERY FAST. Also, opening and closing programs in day-to-day use is quicker as well. I didn't do timings here but intuitively I know they open and close faster.

I use the Balanced Power Setting option offered by Windows 7 instead of using one of the 4 discreet power levels offered by ASUS. The Balanced power Plan gives you added horsepower when you need it and less horsepower when you're just cruising on the highway. With this setting, I receive between 6 - 6.5 hours of battery life that I'm very happy with. Your own mileage will vary based on your own usage and brightness settings.

5. TIPS & COMMENTS

* Preloaded on your laptop will be Trend Micro Virus Protection that after a free trial period concludes, will cost you. Some folks suggested removing Trend Micro off your laptop right away and replace it with Microsoft Security Essentials that can be downloaded directly from the Microsoft website. This anti-virus and anti-spyware software is FREE. That's right - FREE from Microsoft and it works seamlessly as part of their Action Center Suite of security programs. I downloaded Microsoft Security Essentials to my laptop and it's surprisingly unobtrusive and very easy to use. I recommend you give it serious consideration.

* Hard Drive Partitions - Some folks have commented that they don't like the 2 partition setup (C for programs & D for data) on the hard drive that comes pre-configured by ASUS. I did initially have to remind myself that my personal files should be written to the Data partition where most of the free space resides. If you prefer not to have 2 partitions, you should consider re-formatting your hard drive at the GET-GO. Instructions for a partition-free disk setup are provided in the Appendix of the ASUS eManual that's present on your desktop.

* Express Gate allows you to boot up in a few seconds but is limited in functionality and is rather unpolished. The screen resolution is incorrect for web surfing since it is not optimized for a 16:9 widescreen ratio and cannot be changed. I for one will not use Express Gate.

* ASUS offers a number of utilities that are preloaded on the laptop. I did remove some of them but some I considered to be useful such as Fast Boot and Splendid Utility. I suggest you give at least a cursory look of what they offer before you decide to remove them from your hard drive.

6. CONCLUSION:

I can now navigate easily and comfortably using the synaptics touchpad but only after spending too much time I thought in making trial and error gesture adjustments. Also, a larger touchpad would surely contribute to a more pleasurable navigating experience.

Clearly overall though, there is a lot to like with this compact, thin & light. I think the laptop's 12.1 inch size is perfect and I appreciate its light weight, sleekness and the fact it's always quiet and cool to my touch. The display is beautiful and bright, the keyboard is a pleasure to type on, battery life is quite generous and the performance and speed it offers is worthy of laptops costing more, perhaps much more. If you can afford the price, the ASUS UL20A-A1 should be on your short list in deciding what laptop or netbook is the right one for you.

Very impressive: light and kind of fast

Review Date: November 18, 2009

Reviewer: goliath100,

I got one of these to replace my ASUS 1000HE netbook.

I love the smaller form factor of the netbook (more than I like this much larger notebook) but the low resolution and slow processor made me want more.

Pros

The UL20a weighs about the same as the netbook: amazing.

Putting the UL2a thru its paces it plays YouTube videos without a hitch (where the netbook struggled to keep up.

I am still loading the UL20a but it feels like a full size notebook; just weighs a bit over 3 pounds.

I love the dual core processor and its apparent speed.

The touchpad is very responsive after being set to its maximum speed.

this is a keeper.

Cons:

I do wish it had bluetooth.

Great computer!

Review Date: November 19, 2009

Reviewer: C. H. Solomon, Dallas, TX

I received this computer this morning and so far i love it!! I did a lot of research while trying to decide what computer to buy and this is the one I decided on. So far i am not disappointed!! It is thinner than i thought it would be which is a plus. It is very light and the performance is amazing! The keyboard is very comfortable and easy to type on. Probably the ONLY complaint that i have is the way that the hard drive is partitioned. There is an OS partition, which is 58.2 gigs, and a DATA partition, which is 160 gigs. All of your programs automatically install to the OS partition so i am trying to figure out how to get them to save things to the other partition.

So far i am extremely pleased with this purchase, and i would definitely recommend it to anyone who it looking for a very portable and affordable laptop!!

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