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The thin and light ASUS UL30Vt is a harmonious blend of form and function. Powered by an Intel Core 2 Duo ultra-low voltage processor and a 8 cell 5600mAh battery, it boasts an impressive 12-hour battery life for all-day computing.
It also sports user-centric features such as a multi-gesture touchpad and provides an impressive multimedia entertainment experience with Altec Lansing speakers and an NVidia G210M graphics engine (users can turn the graphics card off if longer battery life is needed).
With Bluetooth, a 0.3MP Webcam, and Wireless b/g/n, the UL30Vt allows you to stay connected with ease. All of these features and more are shrouded in a robust brushed aluminum lid that not only looks magnificent, but also helps in maintaining the notebookâs stylish exterior day after day.
ASUS notebooks come with a 2 year global warranty, one month zero bright dot guaranty, free two-way shipping and twenty-four hour tech support seven days a week.
Plus it comes with a FREE One Year Accidental Damage Warranty protecting your notebook from drops, fire, spills and surges.
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 Very innovative notebook |
| Review Date: January 9, 2010 |
| Reviewer: Dave, Portland |
I got to use this laptop for a few days and it's brought me dangerously close to buying one for myself. If you are looking for a thin-and-light notebook with great battery life and a little gaming life under the hood this is (in my opinion) the best choice on the market today. What sets this notebook apart is two things:
1. At the push of a button you can switch from a low power Intel 4500HD graphics processor to a higher power NVidia G210M with 512MB DDR3 RAM (this defaults on when plugged in and defaults off when unplugged).
2. At the push of a button you can enable the "Turbo 33" mode which uses a mix of hardware (such as overclocking the cpu) and software to boost performance by up to 33%. I ran some basic benchmarks and it seemed to work pretty well.
CPU - The 1.3GHz Intel SU7300 Core 2 Duo Processor 3MB Cache 800MHz FSB is a great fit. Some of the thin-and-lights in this class ship with either a Core Solo (i.e. single core) or Celeron CPU. I tend to avoid both because the single core CPUs tend to choke on all the Internet Security software you need these days and the Celerons come with cut-down cache and now power saving modes.
RAM - The included 4GB of DDR3 is just the right amount to really start taking advantage of a 64 bit O.S. I also like that Asus used DDR3 which uses less power than DDR2.
HDD - It comes with a 500GB hard disk drive which is more than most users need today. The 5400RPM speed is slower than the 7200RPM drive you will find on some models but I prefer the reliability and power savings that come with a 5400RPM drive.
DISPLAY - The 13.3 inch widescreen is glossy and reasonably bright. Outdoor use will suffer from some glare but the backlit screen helps. I found the vertical viewing angles are a little tight but it wasn't a big deal.
GRAPHICS - As mentioned above it switches between a low power Intel 4500HD graphics chip on the motherboard (fine for most non-gaming tasks) and a more power hungry NVidia G210M that will actually let you do a some 3D gaming (though newer games will still run best at reduced settings). This simple and clever innovation really sets Asus apart. Oh and either chipset can do 1080P HD video.
Battery - It's rare to get a battery this good in a notebook this thin: 8 cell 5600mAh. I couldn't get the claimed 12 hours of battery life but I got very close (doing a normal mix of MS Office tasks and web browsing I got just shy of 11 hours). Even doing very compute intensive tasks like gaming or playing back video I went over 6 hours. Most notebooks can't run Word that long.
Touchpad - At first I hated the touchpad but as I got used to it I really liked it. It two-finger scrolling and three-finger right click which may trip you up at first but after a few days you won't want to go back.
It comes with most of the usual stuff: HDMI port (for an external monitor or compatible TV), Ethernet port, wireless b/g/n, 3 USB ports, headphone jack, microphone jack, and a vga (for an external monitor). It does lack any kind of optical drive, so no playing CDs or DVDs without an external drive. For this you would need the ASUS UL80Vt-A1 14-Inch Thin and Light Black Laptop. It's a "thin-and-light" which as you would guess means it is thin (1") and light (3.75lbs). I also found it to be very quiet. It comes with a facial recognition feature that allows you to login without a password but this was disabled by our IT department so I wasn't able to try it out.
I see a lot of notebooks and I've generally been impressed with the build quality of Asus notebooks. The build on this model looks great and it's helped by the sleek and simple design: no fancy little bits that fall off in a year. In my opinion this is the thin-and-light to have if you need great battery life but don't want to give up all the fun. If you don't do any 3D gaming you don't need the Nvidia chipset and you probably should save a little money on a notebook without it such as the nearly identical ASUS UL30A-A2 Thin and Light 13-3-Inch Silver Laptop. Otherwise this is a great choice for a student or business traveler who likes to do a little gaming.
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This laptop is the BOMB!!! (In a good way)
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| Review Date: January 20, 2010 |
| Reviewer: Thomas Schroth, Marietta, GA United States |
I am told I over analyze purchases and must say I have been watching laptops for a couple of years. My goals were lightweight and portable but not so small I could not read the screen and LONG battery time. After all it is a portable! I tried a 15.6 but what a moose! A 14" seemed just right but the chassis was bigger and heavier. I was afraid of a 13.3 but then it dawned on me that is was the same resolution as the 14 and only .7" smaller, not a full inch. I went from store to store lining a 14's up next to a 13.3's and I really could not tell the difference! Listen my fellow middle agers,I have exceptionally poor eyesight so if it worked for me it will for you! (no offense to my eye Surgeon, Dr. Barry Lee, he did a great job with what I gave him to work with!).
I have a powerful desktop so I did not need a desktop replacement class Laptop. I also can't stand a slow poke so a netbook was out and so was a celeron. The T6600 CPUS are the sweet spot for price and value and they are plenty snappy but they are power hungry (compared to the SU's). The SU7300 was just the ticket. Yes, I got the TURBO 33 VT version but I don't think that matters at all. I wanted it for bragging rights only. Same goes for the separate GPU, I want to hedge my bets in case I do some vector art editing. I am NOT a gamer.
I wrestled with the lack of a DVD drive but hey you can download ANYTHING, DVD drives are really on the way out, don't sweat it!It's worth the size and weight savings. The keyboard is REALLY GREAT, I am not a touch typist and the keys have nice spacing and definition. (I would have paid BIG money for a back lit keyboard but that just narrows the field TOO MUCH. Touchpad is fine also but I live with my Logitech NANO V450 mouse anyway.
The battery life is the real deal and that sold me on this unit. I am coming up on 4 hrs with wifi, bright screen, remote desktop, iTunes, 2 browsers and only down 25% on the battery. Seriously! I charge it and leave without the power cord. I really wanted the silver cover after seeing a black one in person it really showed finger prints. Silver is GREAT!
Another thing I like about the VT version is a little bit faster DRAM and Bus, I don't believe anyone could tell a difference but it makes me feel like I have the latest and greatest and am hedging my bets regarding being outdated sooner then later. If you need to save a few dollars, don't worry about it!
There are no compromises here and if you don't know ASUS, they have been around FOREVER and have been an OEM supplier since, like FOREVER! Don't get hung up on the big name companies, it means nothing! The ONLY complaint is the lack of documentation. I got NOTHING to help me figure out the VT features like discrete graphics switching or the Turbo boost (That's the over clocking feature. It steps the CPU up 33% This is VERY unnecessary, I can not come close to pushing this thing in standard mode.) I suspect most will never adjust these features anyway but HEY ASUS, are you listening? Send me a manual, pdf is fine! If its on here somewhere then you made it too hard to find! :) |
Sweet machine, very impressed
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| Review Date: June 16, 2010 |
| Reviewer: Suman Chakrabarti, Pittsburgh, PA |
I was trying to decide whether I wanted an iPad or a netbook, but neither really fit the bill. I'm a photographer and I need to have a machine that's fast enough for photography, but something light enough to carry. I never use DVDs to install anything anymore and I need a lot of battery life. This machine is the best choice for me.
Pros:
Battery life: On full power, 4 hrs. On normal use, 9 hours. On power saving, about 11+ hrs. UNBELIEVABLE!
Graphics card: I need a video card that can support Photoshop CS4/5 and Lightroom 3. I don't play games, but I figure 512MB of RAM would be good for that.
Keyboard: absolutely love the chicklet keyboard. It has Home/End keys which are important to me and don't exist on HPs similar line.
LED Monitor: unbelievably clear. Still nice to have an HDMI port to output to my 23" monitor, too, but great for on the road.
Weight: This thing is ~4 lbs. No need to carry the cord, since the battery life is awesome.
Quickboot: It has a nice quickboot option that allows you to boot to a lightweight browser and skype experience. Neat, but Win7 boots so fast, I'm not sure I need it.
Turbo mode/overclocking: Very nice option, not entirely sure I'll use it, but still, very nice.
500GB Drive: They partition the drive so drive0 is ~120GB and drive1 is ~340GB. The rest is used for the reinstall partition.
Cons:
Facial recognition login: I like the idea, but the camera resolution is too low for it to work well. They'd have done better by not doing it at all.
Touchpad: It's nice. It does the 2-finger tap to double-click and 3-finger tap to right click, but it's slightly inaccurate and I have to get used to it. I like using a mouse anyways.
Turbo-mode: you have to reboot to switch to turbo mode. Just doesn't seem worth it.
Bloatware: DON'T INSTALL CRAPPY SOFTWARE I WON'T USE ON MY MACHINE!!!
I have several machines, and this one is definitely my new favorite! |
ASUS got it right on the second try
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| Review Date: June 19, 2010 |
| Reviewer: ubat, Sao Paulo, Brazil |
I was thrilled when I removed the Asus UL30VT-X1K from its box and set it up. For a third of the price, it seemed as good, if not better, than the top-of-the-line 13.3" Sony Vaio that had died on me after a mere year and a half of use, and no abuse.
Beautiful 13.3" LED screen, good specs -- fast, energy-saving processor, 4GB of RAM, a 500GB hard drive, hybrid graphics card, fantastic battery life -- and the chiclet keyboard I'd learned to use and love in my Vaio? It seemed perfect. Except for one slight glitch: the Intel graphics chipset failed after 72 hours. Diagnosing the problem was easy enough; fixing it was not. I returned the laptop to Amazon feeling horribly let down and disappointed. I'd come so close to finding a replacement for my Vaio and it had fallen through in such a big way. (One observation: Amazon refunded me with no delays or arguments.)
Call me an idiotic optimist, but I wasn't about to write ASUS off so easily. In the scant 72 hours I'd fiddled with the UL30VT, I'd really loved it. I also understood that, no matter how rigorous quality control can be (in this case, both ASUS and Intel's), flukes will happen. And given my history -- you don't want to know --, they will usually happen to me... So what did I do? I got myself an identical replacement.
I received it, set it up and began the countdown to failure. To my delight, it didn't happen. Two messed up units would have quenched any optimism and blacklisted ASUS to me 'til hell froze over... As the days passed, I rebuilt my trust in the brand and really began to use this little machine for all it is worth.
The problem with me is, not just any laptop will do. What I look for:
* Low weight -- I travel a lot and can't lug lead bricks around. At 3.8 lbs., it's as good as it gets for a machine with its specs.
* An AC that doesn't look and weigh like another lead brick. This one is a lot smaller and lighter than similar machines', and with a long cord.
* Fast processing, with plenty of RAM -- I edit photos, same as another satisfied reviewer.
* A big enough screen (over 12.1"), great quality-wise.
* Generous storage space.
* Bluetooth and wireless.
* A comfortable, ergonomic, well laid out keyboard, because besides editing photos I also write a lot.
* Off-board graphics card or a hybrid graphics solution, for obvious reasons.
* As many USB ports as can fit on the laptop. This one has three, not bad at all for its size (the Vaio only had two, hah).
* A machine that is pleasing to the eye and nice to touch is a bonus.
The UL30VT has it all. Plus a webcam + mic, which I may end up using some day. And it is beautifully thin, taking up little space in my backpack.
What I don't need:
* A trackpad, because I always use a mouse.
* A DVD / CD drive. I can install or back up to an external hard drive or my network.
* Shiny surfaces. Yes, this machine has them all over. They make it sleeker, but not easier to maintain fingerprint-free. I can live with that.
The UL30VT truly is a pleasure to work with. It is responsive, quick, clever and didn't come with too much brand bloatware -- very little, in fact, compared to Sony and HP machines. I have Turbo mode on all the time, and taking no energy-saving measures will give me almost 5 hours of battery time with no noticeable lag in performance. If I make an effort to stretch it by doing all the things ASUS recommends, the battery lasts over 10 hours. I have never had a laptop with such an impressive battery life. The Kindle for PC software was also a nice little touch. I can see myself reading on the computer's very clear screen, but more than that, being able to carry my bird field guide in the computer's hard drive and not in my backpack -- this is the only Kindle download I've made so far -- is very, very handy.
The ASUS UL30VT is truly conceived to be portable. It balances heft and resources very well, giving me the best of both worlds for a price that seems more than reasonable. I am very happy that I gave ASUS a second chance.
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Light, Powerful, Cost Effective 13.3", a "Must Have"
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| Review Date: February 6, 2010 |
| Reviewer: P. Purcell, USA |
I have been following the 13.3" laptop market for the past year waiting for someone to offer one with a powerful video card at a fairly low price. ASUS has done it with the UL30Vt! This is the second ASUS we have in our household and it definitely does not disappoint -- the build quality is as good or better than the other name brand laptops we have in our stable and I traded a 14.1" HP for this. I do not regret it.
Pros:
- Light -- I can carry it one handed anywhere I go and I'm not worried about dropping it.
It is like carrying a spiral notebook!
- Great video card -- The laptop automatically switches between an intel video chipset
(low power demand) and a powerful NVIDIA card when as you plug and unplug the laptop
into the powercord.
- Great screen -- the HD screen is awesome and looks better than others provided by other
well known brands.
- DDR3 Ram -- blazing fast and low power usage.
- Intel Power efficient processor -- while the intel chip is rated below 2.0 Mz, it runs
faster than my 2.6Mz chip on my work laptop that also has DDR3 memory. Don't know how,
but it gets better "Experience Ratings". Also, you can overclock the chip using ASUS
software, but I haven't needed to.
- Cool -- the machine runs cool. I have never had it become uncomfortably warm.
- Battery life -- battery lasts a long time. Have put in a 7200 RPM HDD to replace the one
provided by ASUS... and the battery lasts 10 hours or more.
- Looks -- holy smokes, looks cooler than my daughter's school MacBook Pro. I cannot
keep her off my machine.
- Keyboard -- I was a bit leery of the 'chicklet' keyboard as I learned to type on a a
"Selectric". However, the keyboard supports my heavy typing style and hasn't slowed me down.
Cons:
- A bit more 'bloatware' than I expected, but most was ASUS software to try to make the
machine more 'user friendly' Had fun figuring out what to turn off...
Overall?
- A great buy and I'm glad I waited. There are at least two other named brand laptops that offer a similar laptop
(switching video cards to save power) but they run at least twice this price or more. ASUS created a winner here...
... and I'm the ultimate skeptic of computer hardware. |
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