Global Thrivability

ASUS U30JC-A1 13.3-Inch Laptop (Silver)

The NotebookReview.com gives the ASUS U30Jc its coveted
Editor’s Choice Award
. See what they had to say about it: “Overall the
ASUS U30Jc-A1
is a solid sub-$1000 notebook with good performance,
very good battery life
, and an appealing design aesthetic….
the U30Jc is easily one of my favorites
…”

The popular HotHardware.com awards ASUS U30Jc its prestigious
Editor’s Choice Award
. See what they had to say about it: “ASUS really executed well on the U30Jc, from the
gorgeous design
… not to mention
the power-saving and intelligent NVIDIA Optimus
solution.
A Five-star machine at a reasonable price
…”

To set the context: I have a two year old Dell desktop, a 4 year old Dell Latitude D400 (12″ screen with INtel Pentium M), and a 1 year old Dell Mini 9″ (Intel Atom). Like many, I no longer use my desktop, and the D400 was getting a bit long in the tooth. The Mini I found useful for taking on travel but was agonizingly slow for daily use with a very cramped keyboard. Even the D400 choked on multiple websites on occasion and multitasking was a chore. Of course, neither laptop had discrete graphics.

This new laptop has changed everything. To be fair, I would probably be raving about the better experience on any current laptop compared to the older Latitude. However, I really do think the U30JC, even though it’s under $1000, is on the cutting edge. It sports Intel’s new Core i3, the successor to the Core 2 Duos (still around at good deals), and Nvidia discrete graphics. Critically, Nvidia’s Optimus allows for seamless switching to the integrated graphics when power saving is an issue.

I have not really taxed the computer yet and I will update the review down the road with thoughts on more heavy duty performance and battery life issues. But I imagine a number of folks are considering this model and would find initial thoughts helpful.

1) The build quality is very nice. The brushed metallic exterior and lack of plastic except on the screen bezel minimizes fingerprints. Very solid and looks great.

2) I prefer matte screens but the glossy screen in regular indoor conditions is great. I can see this be annoying in very bright light, however. Definition and video quality are leagues better than what I’m used to or have seen before in sub-$1000 laptops.

3) Performance is awesome on my limited trials. Hulu, youtube, multiple websites, quicken, windows media player. Everything pops up so quickly and the platform has no issue with lots and lots of multitasking. No stuttering, no lagging.

4) I really like the programmability and adjustability of everything. For example, maybe this is a Win 7 feature, but I really like the ability to assign “hibernate” to the power button.

5) This is definitely not a thin and light ultraportable. It’s a bit heavier than my D400 and bulkier because of the bigger screen. I am still going to travel on work with the Dell Mini. It would be OK for students but I think it’s too big (and performance overkill anyway) for most business travelers. I am viewing this as a desktop replacement and because I’m not going to be using this as my primary movie viewer or gaming platform, I really think 13″ is where I want to be at.

6) Battery life seems to be excellent. I have not put a video on endless loop to max out the battery (and you can read technical reviews that are now popping up). HOwever, just having the laptop idling and using it periodically throughout the day, it was lasting a looong time.

7) I am not a huge fan of the chiclet keyboard and prefer the regular keyboards with more travel and contours. However, I can see that this would be easier to clean and it’s not a bad typing experience. I don’t find the layout strange in any way.

I really hate touchpads (one reason why I stuck with Dell and its pointing stick). I found this touchpad hard to use and not uniformly sensitive, especially on the left side. This could be a slightly fiddly unit or could be my lack of experience. In any event, I am going to use a mouse. (Lack of integrated bluetooth on this laptop is a demerit).

9) very quiet, didn’t run very hot in my limited testing.

I found the whole Asus package to be stripped down and bare bones, which I actually liked. I didn’t think there was a ton of bloatware compared to other companies. The box was very small and spartan and there is no manual (it’s on the desktop). Some of the built-in Asus utilities are not fully explained. Most of the Intel/Nvidia and random stickers come off easily to provide a very clean, elegant look.

Overall, I believe now (and will update with additional thoughts) that this is a spectacular value. Yes, there are things that I would like changed, but I am very happy with the machine standing alone and then compared to the price point, it’s awesome.

Update: After a few weeks of usage, I definitely affirm my initial positive review. This went on a coast to coast business trip. Battery life was phenomenal (I still haven’t fully drained but it was lasting for hours off the cord when just doing basic businessy-web stuff). Traveled very well and was not as heavy to lug around as I expected. (although it is slightly heavier than it appears).

One of my keys popped out (my fault) and so I had my first encounter with Asus support. The support was fine and they are shipping me a new keyboard under warranty. So I am satisfied with my limited interaction with Asus US support. Speaking of the keyboard, I still am not in love with it. The chiclets slightly squeak sometimes and the limited travel does take some getting used to. But I can imagine some folks would prefer this kind of layout (very similar to Macbook).

Having the optical drive definitely came in handy for installing some software.

Finally, the glossy screen has turned out to be less annoying than I anticipated. Almost all of my usage has been indoors and not in bright sunlight. I would not recommend writing a novel in a sunny coffee shop, however.

The balance of this (performance, value, battery) is really perfect for me.

Technical Details

• Intel Core i3-350M Processor (2.26 GHz)
• NVIDIA® GeForce® 310M Graphics Engine with 512MB DDR3 Dedicated VRAM with NVIDIA® Optimus™ technology
• 4GB of DDR3 1066MHz DRAM (2GB x 2 slots), 4GB Max; Wireless 802.11 b/g/n
• 320GB Hard Drive (5400 RPM); Super Multi Optical Disk Drive; Windows 7 Home Premium (64 bit) Operating System
• 13.3-Inch HD (1366×768) LED Display; 0.3MP Webcam; HDMI Port; 8 cell 5600mAh battery

Features:

• The new Intel Core i3-350M dual core processor gives you smarter multitasking performance
• 4GB DDR3 RAM for increased multitasking speed
• Thin and light design only 1.5-inches thin and dressed in brushed aluminum for on-the-go portability
• 13.3-inch HD LED-backlit widescreen for crisp visuals that don’t compromise battery life
• NVIDIA GeForce 310M Graphics 512MB DDR3 VRAM delivers great HD entertainment performance
• NVIDIA Optimus Technology automatically and seamlessly transitions between powerful NVIDIA graphics and energy-efficient Intel onboard HD Graphics to suit the task at hand
• High-speed wireless N networking (802.11 b/g/n @ 2.4GHz)
• SuperMulti DVD drive to enjoy your favorite movies where you want
• HDMI output for easily streaming HD video and audio to a compatible HDTV or external display
• Altec Lansing speakers with SRS Premium Sound for resounding acoustics
• Multi-touch trackpad lets you intuitively navigate through web pages, documents, and pictures
• Chiclet keyboard for increased typing precision and comfort
• Express Gate for instant access to internet, music, Skype, and more in seconds
• Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit for a faster and more reliable operating system
• Eco-friendly EPEAT and Energy Star certified
• Up to 9.5 hours of battery life for all-day unplugged freedom
• 2 year global warranty and 1 year Accidental Damage Warranty

About the Author

Samsung X360-34P Laptop Computer

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