Customer Reviews

ASUS UL80Vt-A1 14-Inch Thin and Light Black Laptop (11.5 Hours of Battery Life)

5 star:		(46)
4 star:		(30)
3 star:		(16)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(12)

 

 

EDIT: An updated and revised review of this laptop can be found at over at Expert Laptop Review: [...]

I recently went on a laptop buying rampage and have ended up with the Dell Studio 14z, HP dm3z (L625 + Radeon 4330), and the Asus UL80VT-A1 in possession all at once. The first part of this review will focus solely on the Asus UL80VT-A1 and the second part of this review will compare it with my experience with the Dell Studio 14z and the HP dm3z.

ASUS UL80VT-A1 DETAILED REVIEW

First and foremost, let me say that I ordered the UL80VT-A1 because I thought it was simply an awesome idea to have switchable graphics in a laptop because you get excellent battery life + excellent performance when needed. There were no reviews of the UL80VT out when I purchased it, so I purchased the UL80VT-A1 from [...], which has a 100 percent refund on purchases just in case things didn't work out with me and the new lady.

While I was waiting to recieve the laptop in the mail, I read a review over at [...]. Oh boy, was I disappointed considering all the bad things the reviewer had to say about it (i.e. bad keyboard, bad track pad, horrible build quality, poor gaming performance). Needless to say, I had second thoughts about even opening up the Asus UL80VT-A1 because I didn't think it was worth my time considering the all the problems the reviewer had with his review model.

So that morning I got my HP dm3z in the mail and was really excited about how incredibly beautiful the laptop was. It is definitely sexier (in my opinion) than every other ultraportable out there, including the Macbook Pro 13" and HP Envy 13. I'll get to the dm3z a little later... either way, my first impression led me to believe that I'd probably be keeping the dm3z and just returning the Asus. When the Asus came in the mail, I wasn't even watching for it like I had been the dm3z. But I did take it upstairs and opened it up. (Unboxing video coming soon...)


FIRST IMPRESSIONS

My first impression was astoundingly contradictory to review I had read. I picked it up, squeezed it, pushed on the keyboard, which had minimal flex that wasn't noticeable to me when typing. My other first impressions were just how well the trackpad worked. The two finger scroll worked flawlessly (though it isn't as smooth of a scroll as Apple's, it functions equally responsively and is just as useful).

GRAPHICS PERFORMANCE - Rating 9/10

Over the last view days, I've been taking the UL80VT-A1 out for spin in a series of gaming tests. The first game I tested was the ever popular Counter-Strike: Source. I was astounded by the computer's ability to put out 150 FPS in the stress test at native resolution of 1366x768. I had been expecting to get closer to 80-100 FPS. I then tested it with 4x AA on, and it resulted in 99 FPS, which is phenomenal considering that AA usually cripple weaker graphics cards like the Nvidia 210M.

I was eager to test out the UL80VT's performance in some of the latest games because of the previous review I had read that had denounced its ability to play modern games. I had recently purchased Batman: Arkham Asylum. I loaded it up with the default settings, which were set on Very High at native 1366x768 resolution. Game play was moderately smooth and playable, but it was also noticably choppy at times with those settings (26 FPS average in the video stress test), so I dropped the settings down to medium. This time the Asus got 40 FPS average in the video stress test, and the game play was perfectly playable and smooth.

I then downloaded Team Fortress 2. It has been known to give ultraportable gaming machines a tough time due to its high shader requirements. When playing, I averaged about 50-60 FPS at native resolution with everything on High with no AA. I noticed drops down to 30 FPS when in heavy action, but it was not too disruptive to game play. I don't think it went below 30 FPS during the time I played.

After hearing claims that Asus UL80VT could not run Need For Speed: Shift well. I downloaded the demo to see if these claims were true. Fortunately, they were not. I was able to achieve playable frame rates, though it was a little choopy with the default settings, which had the screen at 1024x768 resolution and everything else up in detail. I tried changing the settings, but after changing the settings to lower the resolution to 800x600, the game repeatedly gave me an error and crashed right as the race was about to start. Unfortunately, I was not able to do a formal test, but it was clear that the game was getting at least 30 FPS at 800x600 resolution with texture settings on High. I would expect the game to be very playable as long as you are content with 800x600 (or maybe slightly better res) and medium settings.

I also managed to squeeze in a little play time in Protoype, another recent game that was released earlier this year. It played very smoothly at the default 1280x720 (which was the max res for some reason) and on the default medium settings.

Another game I was able to try was Call of Duty: World at War, which has identical specs to the latest Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. People will be glad to know that I was able to achieve 35-40 FPS constant at native resolution 1366x768 with texture settings on "normal" (except for "shader settings" which I set to "low"). I also turned off all of the extra graphical features, which didn't make much of a difference in visuals anyway.

In conclusion regarding the gaming peformance of this ultraportable laptop, it has excellent performance and handles most modern games fluidly at native resolution.

BATTERY LIFE - Rating 10/10

Yesterday, I used the laptop for 3 hours early in the morning with wifi on and brightness up. Later that day, I used it for about 15 minutes running Batman: AA. I then used it about 7 hours more with brightness at about 20% (2.5 hours with wifi on and 4.5 with it off). In total the laptop lasted me 10.25 hours between a mixture of wifi, gaming, and note taking/paper writing. I was extremely happy to get this excellent of performance out of it. This was precisely what I was looking for in terms of battery life.

BUILD QUALITY - Rating 6/10

My initial impression was that the build quality was just average--not great, but nothing bad about it either, but now after having it for a couple days, I now agree with Charles' review about some of the issues with build quality. Yesterday morning when I was typing, I noticed that when I pressed down on the front edge of the left palm rest it squeaked annoyingly (it hadn't pressed down on this part of the laptop when it was on a hard surface yet because it had always been on my laptop up until this point).

I began squeezing the front edge and noticed that top part of the chassis isn't cemented to the bottom part of the chassis very well so that when you put pressure on it (such as when you rest your palm on it) it made a noise. I tried placing about an inch long piece of scotch tape across the part that was sqeaking, and the squeaking went away completely. It was disappointing to find this because it was the first issue with the build quality. Also, I now understand what Charles meant when he said that when he pressed in the center of the laptop it causes the bottom of the laptop to touch the surface it is resting on...

It's not if you press in the middle of the keyboard like I had thought Charles had said (my bad!!)... it's if you press on the trackpad buttons (like Charles had really said), he was right that you can feel the laptop touch the surface it is resting on, but the thing Charles was wrong about is that it isn't the bottom of the laptop touching the surface below it... it's a little "support peg/foot" that protrudes from the bottom of the laptop about 1/10" of an inch.

The overall chassis does flex a tad, but it is just the peg touching, and the peg is maybe moving 1/16" of an inch tops (probably less). So yes, the chassis does flex just a hair, but not as bad as the review makes it sound (I think the review should be updated with this information personally).

I am thinking about putting a drop of super glue on the edge of the left palm rest to keep it from squeaking. I'm pretty sure it would work without a hitch unless you put too much glue and then tried to take the casing apart and wasn't able to. I figure it wouldn't void the 1 year accidental warranty but maybe the 2 year standard warranty if they figured out what I did. I'm not sure though... I figure you can always "cut through" the glue so that the chassis can be opened if you needed to send it in for repairs.

I also noticed that the entire surface (including the aluminum top) acquires fingerprints. I was disappointed that the aluminum top also was prone to oils from my fingers.

HEAT MANAGEMENT - Rating 10/10

The heat on this bad-boy is hardly noticeable. I think more heat is generated because it is restricting the airflow over your lap more than anything. Whenever my lap started to feel a little warm, I would feel the bottom of the laptop but the bottom of the laptop never got hot. It was always just the fact that my legs weren't getting as much air to cool them down.

I was also able to play Batman:AA while on my lap just fine, though it was starting to be mildly uncomfortable by the time 30 mins rolled around. Still, as far as gaming on the lap goes, I think it would be doable, and far more doable than on any other laptop I have ever tried.

This laptop is by far the coolest running laptop I have ever owned (I've owned about 14 different laptops...). For this reason, I give it a 10/10 in heat management.

KEYBOARD - Rating 8/10

Overall, I find the keyboard to be a little above average. I do not like the fact that there are no keys dedicated to playing and pausing music. To access media controls, you must hold the FN button down and tap the arrow keys (down arrow = play/pause). I do not notice any flex when typing. The primary concern that I had was from the squeaky palm rest edge when typing. After I fixed that issue, the keyboard became quite pleasant to use.

TRACK PAD - Rating 9/10

I find the track pad to be the best track pad I have ever used on a PC. It does have a glossy surface, but I did not find that the surface was not nearly as sticky as the surface on many HPs (including the dm3z). I also found the trackpad to be responsive and that the multitouch gestures such as two-finger scrolling to work perfectly nearly every time.

The ELAN touch pad has configurable options to enable you to change the sensitivity of the two-finger scroll as well as enable you to use two and three finger taps to do customizable actions. I have my two-finger tap to do a right click and my three-finger tap to show my desktop.

My only complaint regarding the touch pad is that the uni-button. The uni-button looks like only one button, but has a left side and right side that makes up two buttons. When the uni-button was pressed towards the middle, it was very difficult to click, but if you pressed it near the ends the button became more usable. This was also the case with the Acer Timeline 4810t that I had owned for some time. I have found that the tap to click function is very usable, especially since I can just use two fingers if I need to right click. Therefore, I hardly use the button anymore anyway. My system works just fine.

OVERALL VERDICT - Rating 9/10

Despite its (fixable) flaws in build quality and poor touch pad button (again just use "tap to click" instead), I'm still impressed with laptop and can definitely recommend it to friends who aren't particularly picky about build quality. The UL80VT-A1 will provide the performance most casual gamers want in a portable package that has a very long battery life and is inexpensive compared to similar models. [Oh, wait, scratch that... There has never been anything like the UL80VT-A1 to ever come out before... except maybe the Acer Timeline 3810TG that had switchable graphics, but that computer was only available in the UK. ]

COMPARED TO THE COMPETITION (DELL STUDIO 14Z and HP DM3Z)

I have now owned a Dell Studio 14z for about two months. I also purchased a HP dm3z, which I had originally planned on writing a review of but I don't know if I'll find the time. Maybe I'll just do a video review...

Anyway, the HP dm3z initially impressed me tremendously with its fantastic metal looks and thin profile. However, two issues became immediately apparent that prevented me from considering the laptop further: the HP dm3z produced a tremendous amount of heat even while just idling (the bottom got roasting hot while playing games... though the palm rests stayed pretty cool) and I quickly became frustrated by track pad lag and malfunctioning two-finger scrolling. The problem with the two finger scroll is due to the fact that it does not always register that you are actually using two fingers, therefore, it thinks you only have one finger down and shoots your mouse all the way across the screen where you didn't want it to go.

Beside the two-finger scroll I noticed minimal track pad lag (though there was lag). The track pad was definitely usable and should not prevent someone entirely from purchasing it for that sole reason, but after trying out the UL80VT's track pad and comparing the two. It was night and day. The UL80VT's was immediately responsive and the two-finger scrolling worked perfectly pretty much all the time. I have sorely missed two-finger scrolling since getting rid of my Macbook Pro a year ago. I am very glad that PCs are starting to make it standard on the majority of notebooks today. Unfortunately, the HP dm3z did not have good enough drivers to make the two-finger scrolling worthwhile.

One thing that I really liked about the dm3z is that it had an excellent keyboard with zero flex and it included media control buttons for the function keys (like Dell Studio 14z). I would definitely recommend the dm3z to people as long as you understand that it is going to produce a lot of heat (especially while watching video/playing games), the track pad is just going to be so-so, and you aren't going to achieve the same battery life you would if you went with the UL80VT (unless you went with the intel version with integrated graphics).

I began searching for a new laptop shortly after I found paint chipping on my Dell Studio 14z. It was frustrating since I try to take excellent care of my laptops and chipped paint tends to bring the resale value of laptops down tremendously. All in all, I found my experience with the 14z to be a good one and would recommend the laptop to someone who has a strict budget and can't afford a UL80VT.

With the dell, I was typically able to get about 3.5-4.5 hours of battery life (8-cell in windows 7) while surfing the internet-writing documents. The HP dm3z seems to get about 4.5 hrs of web surfing time. The Asus literally doubles the length of my time I am going to be away from the wall (with both the HP and the Dell...).

My primary complaints with the Dell Studio 14z were related to the build quality (paint chipping and noticeable keyboard flex that was causing me discomfort). I loved the back-lit keyboard and will miss that feature on the UL80VT, though I am a touch typist so it will make little difference in terms of actual functionality.

I love the fact that my UL80VT has a DVD-RW because I like to watch DVDs at Starbucks that I rent from Redbox. I couldn't do that with the 14z because it lacked an optical drive, but I can do that with the Asus.

It should also be noted that the UL80VT has a better screen than both the Dell and the HP (in my opinion).

IN CONCLUSION

After I discovered the flex, I began contemplating switching over to a Macbook Pro 13". So I went to my local Best Buy to compare sizes, keyboard, touchpad, etc... I got to the store and there was a bestbuy sales guy there that I got to know pretty well when I bought my Dell Studio 14z. I began explaining to him how the 14z hadn't met my needs due to a sucky touch pad and paint chipping off for no reason, etc. I pulled my UL80VT out of my bag and explain to him the features of the laptop (i.e. switchable graphics, 10 hour battery life). I loaded up Batman Arkham Asylum and he was amazed that it played smoothly at native resolution. I showed him squeaky palm rest and explained to him I was considering getting a 13" Macbook Pro. He responded pretty quickly that he didn't think that apple would have anything that would be an upgrade from this so just recommended that I just stick with the Asus... (lol and he's a sales guy that is supposed to sell laptops for best buy, not recommend for me not to buy them... lol)

I agree with the guy at Best Buy. Apple's got nothing on the Asus UL80VT... except maybe better build quality, poorer performance, and a $500 dollar increase in price. Hint: get the Asus, unless build quality is of utmost importance to you.

I'm sorry that this review was so scatter-brained. I like to keep things more organized, but I also just wanted to get this review posted!!

I don't usually spend my time putting in reviews because it doesn't benefit me much (I know, kind of selfish) but this product was just too good to not leave a review, especially since there's no review here yet.

I've been looking at laptops for years now, always looking for the one that hits all the sweet spot. I didn't NEED it so I was able to just keep waiting for the right one. Here were all the things I was looking for.

Fast speed - For gaming like World of Warcraaft, etc.
Long battery life - It's not mobile if you're chained to power cord.
Decent price - Nobody should be paying more than a grand for a laptop.
Temperature - This is something many people don't think much about until too late. Laptops get HOT, and then they're no longer LAPtop, but a DESKtop.
DVD drive - Because I like to keep my options open.

Every laptops I've seen through deal sites, etc NEVER met all of these criteria. Until now. This computer really is THE laptop to get right now.

Pros-------------
Great speed - I just ran World of Warcraft and it runs SMOOTH with mid-high setting. I also saw from another review that this can run Farcry2 or Crysis2 at 40fps which is pretty damn good.

LED screen - This takes some getting used to since I'm not used to seeing such rich black on monitor but it looks bright, crisp, and shiny. (latter might be issue if you live with many light fixtures)

Video - YES it has Nvidia video card on top of Intel integrated. This allows for awesome gaming which many other laptops just can't do.

Temperature - It doesn't burn! :D It still gets warm, especially on left side near vent but it's not so hot that I have to put something underneath to shield my lap like previous laptops I had.

Weight - I'm kinda scrawny guy and I can lift this with one hand with no issue. This will be handy as you move around the house or carry in yer bag.

Battery life - AWESOME. just check any other review on this because they'll all tell you this thing last a loong time. It was tough to find laptops that can last long WHILE also having great performance AND be under a grand. Now there is.

ExpressGate - It allows you to turn on a laptop from off or hibernation mode, into special operating system that has skype, photo, and web browser among others. So if you need to google something quick, now you can! There's downside to that in cons section.

Cons----------------------

Keyboard - This is very minor annoyance but I want to be thorough. When you type, sometimes, you hear this light metal ringing-ish sound that's coming from metal underneath the keyboard. It's not the quietest keyboard you'll use but it won't drive you crazy either.

Touchpad - I had to figure out the issue with this because it was bugging the hell out of me. It has two and three finger gestures like scroll and right/middle click. Issue was it wasn't accurate and working sporadically. Scroll especially was driving me nuts because it'll scroll at its own speed/time. I tried pressing my fingers lightly/heavily but difference. Then I figured it out. You have to have you movement straight up and down or left/right. When people use the touchpad, we usually have our hand in an angle so we end up scrolling in almost like \ instead of |. Well, touchpad doesn't like that. Same goes for right/middle click that requires 2-3 fingers. It works best if you have your fingers in same x axis. Some people won't be affected since they'll use mouse but if you'll be using touchpad a lot, be prepared for bit of adjustment. Oh, and if you prefer to click the button instead of tapping the touchpad for mouse clicks, exercise your finger because button's bit harder to press than other touchpad buttons I've used.

ExpressGate - Idea is great. Execution, not quite. I was expecting instant on like when you come out of sleep mode but unfortunately, there's still some wait involved. 10-ish seconds I believe. Also, Asus installed regular monitor version of expressgate onto this widescreen laptop so everything's stretched to fit widescreen. So far, I haven't figured out how to change resolution in this mode. It's good for quick browsing but not for long session.

Power cable - OMG, where do ASUS think people live in? Castles!? Power cord is the longest I've ever seen. About 10-11 ft total (big power block right in the mid point). And although it comes with velcro strip to manage the cable, I found there's too much cable to roll the cable neatly. Just prepare for some mess when packing cable. Good thing this has 10 hour battery life so you won't have to deal with cable too much.

All in all, Pros are all important crucial items and Cons are minor annoyance at best. This is really the best laptop you could get at this price with this much features and performance. I remember coming across Sony and HP that had similarity (good speed, light weight, dvd) and those were going for 1800ish.. and it didn't even have 10hr battery life. If you don't believe me, when you go out for laptop shopping, just have this computer's feature written down and compare. You ain't gonna find one that beats it easily.

EDIT:
Couple things I came across after prolonged use.

1. It does get hot, especially near vent but only when I'm using it intensely like 3d games. but it doesn't get hot on the surface much. Just underneath near vent.

2. Changing performance mode requires you to quit any apps that use video card, such as Photoshop, games, etc. So change before you load them. Otherwise, when you press the button to change the power mode, nothing happens.

3. OMG FINGERPRINT MAGNET. EVERYWHERE. >.<

Still loving it though.

I have never written a review of any kind, not that I don't come across good products or service, but it's like the next item on one's list which one never gets to. However, the ul80vt-a1 is just too awesome a laptop that after one week of ownership, I am still jumping up and down like a little puppy, given my typical enthusiasm normally lasts no more than 48 hours.

By the time you read my review, you've already known all the good things about this laptop -- very long battery life, fast performance, cool to touch, bright screen with sharp resolution, clear and loud speakers, thin and light weight in spite of the presence of an optical drive, fast to boot. The list goes on and on, and it is all true. By the way, there is one item I haven't seen mentioned yet -- the battery charges extremely fast without getting hot. And no, I don't work for Asus. In fact, before I started researching for a good laptop to buy, I didn't even know who or what Asus was, and I still cannot pronounce its name.

But what makes me so happy is that all the bad things I heard in these reviews are also not true. Not every single feature is perfect. There are some items one can fault with, but they really amount to nothing. This is what I want everyone to know so one doesn't gloss over this great laptop because someone out there doesn't like the feel of the keyboard.

1. Regardless of what other people said, the build quality of my laptop is very high, no different from the HP's, the Dell's and the Lenovo's I have owned. No, it is not flimsy, and everything snaps correctly with no gap or sharp edge.

2. The keyboard is fine. It does not feel the same as a Lenovo, but it doesn't flex like others say either. It's just that the keys are not as bouncy, so they feel a little bit soft.

3. Some reviewers mentioned the screen does not have sharp contrast. It is true when the brightness is set on high, the screen may look a little washed out, but it's not something you cannot solve by tilting the screen a little up or down. By the way, reflection from the glossy screen is not an issue, to my surprise, and you can see fine outdoor.

4. The touch pad arguably is the worst feature on this laptop. It is more sticky than one with a matte finish, and once in a while you will go out of boundary without realising it. The large single touch pad button below is positioned awkwardly and is quite honestly hard to press because the frame the button is set in is in the way. The touch pad one can get used to; the button, highly questionable.

5. Yes, fingerprints do show up, but they can be readily wiped off without much fanfare. However, if you like having a bag of greasy chips in one hand and use the computer with the other, this laptop can be a problem for you. On the other hand, it may help one kick one's junk food addiction.

6. So far I have two minor problems. Both are related to switching the power management mode:
6a. When I plug and unplug from the power cord, the screen does black out for a couple of seconds, unlike other laptops I've owned. Furthermore, sometimes when the screen comes back on, it will flicker when I mouse over something on the screen. The only remedy I have found so far is to close the application (IE 8 in my case) and start it again.
6b. When I press the Graphix Boost button, it changes the time zone automatically to pacific time (GMT-8). I haven't tried changing through the power management tool by selecting any of the Power4Gear options, but it probably will change the time zone just the same. It's minor to change the time zone back, provided you notice something is wrong with the time.

I genuinely think there is more than a good chance you will be very happy with the laptop. I know I am.

p.s. If reliability is important to you, a Nov 2009 study published by SquareTrade on the 3 year reliability records of 30,000 laptops from 9 vendors ranked Asus at the top. [...]

I went through a long, 6-month search before I finally settled on the ASUS UL80Vt. As a college student, I had many seemingly contradictory criterion. I wanted:
- Core 2 Duo processor and 4GB of RAM, for general productivity
- Long battery life, for working on campus and in class
- Decent portability, for carrying it around all the time
- Discrete graphics, for the occasional game
- CD Drives, USB ports and HDMI, because connectivity is important

Like any college student, I looked at MacBooks, Dells and the idea of a netbook/desktop setup, but for the net $720 I got this computer for, the ASUS UL80Vt blew them away. On to the review...

PRODUCTIVITY SPEED: 8/10
A little technical note: At stock speeds, the Core2Duo SU7300 is a 1.3 GHz processor with a 800Mhz FSB. Asus overclocks this to a 1.73 GHz on a 1066Mhz FSB, matching the 4GB of DDR3 DRAM. For those who, like me, were deciding between this and laptops with faster processors, you will not notice the difference with most software. Microsoft Office works like a charm, even on massive Excel financial models and graphic presentations. Web browsing is quick even with the 11 tabs I have open right now. The only time I've noticed faster Core 2 Duos matter was on extracting large RAR files, and even then the difference is less than a minute for a 4GB file.

PHYSICAL PORTABILITY: 7/10
Definitely heavier and larger than I expected. The 14-inch screen is balanced with a decent bezel on the top and bottom. The 8-cell battery weighs a lot more than it looks. However, it is definitely smaller and lighter than the MacBook Pro. It is also very thin, topping at slightly more than 1 in. It weighs in at 4.74 lbs., and I would say is actually light for its power. However, this is not as much a Thin-and-Light as others in its class, so do adjust your expectations.

BATTERY LIFE: 11/10
Incredible battery life. On integrated graphics, I regularly get 9 hours with 30% brightness, overclocked and WLAN on, surfing the web and taking notes. 11.5 hours may actually be realistic without the overclocking or WLAN. I've watched two full-length 720p movies and still had 25% left. On the discrete graphics, you can get 3 hours of solid gaming before you're drained. This blows netbooks, MacBooks, Dells, etc. away. Simply unbelievable.

GAMING: 8/10
This laptop has both integrated Intel graphics and a discrete nVidia G210M with 512MB of memory. I have mine slightly overclocked, and it gets 4000 points on 3DMark06 with the discrete card. Can play Dragon Age, Civilization 4, Sims 3, NBA 2K9, Warcraft III and WoW with at least medium settings at native resolution. This is probably not important to most people but I love having the flexibility to play games or play movies more smoothly with the discrete graphics. This is not a gaming rig, but can play most modern games well enough.

PORTS AND CONNECTIVITY: 8/10
It has a DVD SuperDrive (burns DVD-R/RW, DVD+R/RW, Double-Layer), 3 USB ports, an Ethernet port, a 4-in-1 memory card reader (MMC, SD, MS/MS Pro), and HDMI port, a VGA port, a microphone jack and a mic jack. It also has a 0.3 megapixel webcam and mic integrated. There's an integrated b/g/n WLAN solution, although it is not as strong as the Intel ones. A solid selection, especially on such a thin laptop. The only gripes here are the lack of eSATA and Bluetooth.

WARRANTY & SUPPORT: 10/10
2 year limited warranty with 1 year of accidental damage protection. Most laptops just come with 1 year of limited warranty. In general, extended warranties are not worth the cost, but in this case it's a welcome plus. Asus has also been very helpful with a solid support site and staff who answer questions even here.

TEMPERATURE: 10/10
Does not burn your lap. Stays very very cool. Right now the CPU is at about 98F, hard drives at 104F and the ACPI is at 118F. On load, CPU hits 130F and the GPU's have hit 180F, but still feels very cool to the touch. Can get a bit warm near the fan area on full load, but normally the fan doesn't even need to turn. The fan is also very quiet; even on max load it only has a soft hum.

Finally... to address some common gripes

BUILD QUALITY: 6/10
Definitely the weak point of this computer. Quality is not as subpar as most reviewers would have it--most laptops not called ThinkPads have some flex and give--but definitely give. The bezel is not entirely cemented to the screen, and there's a lot of give right below the screen. Keyboard flex is fine by itself; it seems extreme when you're on a desk, but that's because the entire chassis flexes when it's slightly raised. That in itself is the bigger problem. On the bottom, the two chassis halves are not cemented well together, and there is some give there. I bought a padded laptop sleeve which seems to protect it fine. I would not put too much weight on the keyboard when it's on a desk (as opposed to on your lap).

DISPLAY: 8/10
To be fair, it's a standard 1366x768 screen, plays 720p videos fine. It's a very bright LED screen, and can outshine the outdoors even though the screen is very glossy. The noted contrast problems are really a device driver problem; on integrated graphics, contrast will sometimes decrease noticeably, perhaps in a play to reduce necessary brightness. On discrete graphics, great contrast, sharp screen.

AUDIO: 7/10
Altec Lansing speakers located on the bottom of the front of the chassis. By no means audiophile-quality at all, but much better than most laptop speakers. You will sometimes block the speakers while it's on your lap, but in general distortion is lower than in, for example, ThinkPads, and volume is better than a Mac's.

In conclusion, I am highly satisfied with this purchase. If there were better speakers and better build quality, I would award this product 10/10, but as of now I am willing to rate it a 9/10 and round up. Amazon was also very helpful; I was allowed to still purchase through the $100 Gift Card promotion even after the link stopped working.

For those interested in the next generation, the UL80Jt incorporates a low-voltage dual-core Core i7 overclocked to 1.73 Ghz and an nVidia 310M with 1GB. It promises even better performance and battery life, but will clock in at just over $1,000.

This is also my first review of a product. I was really looking forward to this laptop and when I received it and turned it on I was pretty disappointed. The display on this laptop is very poor. The contrast ratio is low, so everything looks a little washed out. Its not terrible and would be tolerable but the horizontal viewing angle is horrible! You have to get the angle perfect to make the display look acceptable. If you move it slightly towards or away from you, it looks discolored and is pretty much unusable. I have owned several laptops over the last couple years from a 13 dell xps to 18.4 inch hp hdx and I have never had a problem with or complained about a display before. I've never even considered examining a display because I'm not that picky, but that was the first thing (and only thing really) that stood out through all of my time using the laptop. The only reason I'm writing this review is to caution people about the display. If it is not that important to you than this is a great laptop. It's speedy, fairly well made, great battery life, relatively thin and light, and windows 7 rocks. If the display was better it would get 5 stars. If I had the choice to return this laptop for a full refund I would, only because of the display.

NOTE: I also have asus eee pc 105ha and it has a much better display than this laptop for contrast and viewing angles.

**UPDATE** I feel the need to clarify this because I have received a few comments with tips or information about this display. I have owned and used many laptops of all brands, price ranges, manufacturers etc... This is a BAD display, it's not just my subjective opinion. Here is a link with actual data on the subject= [...]
I'm not saying this laptop is bad, I gave it three stars, but Asus absolutely skimped on the display!

Edit: 5/18/2011

Bought this rig in the first month or so it was released, so now almost 2 years into ownership (okay, maybe year and a half). Asus has won me over in terms of hardware reliability and build quality. Not sure what the negative reviews are about, mine has consistently run quiet and cool. So much so that I am now revisiting my review to update on how much I enjoy owning this machine.



>>> Original Post <<<

Im an average computer user, a few years out of college and work in finance... I use my computer to check email, watch movies, edit photos (with gimp) and light gaming. I was looking for something that fits in a weekend backpack, has good battery life for travel layovers and handles anything I throw at it.

I've had my UL80VT for a week now and so far not overly impressed, but still very happy with the purchase... I havent experienced the loose construction others have mentioned in the plastic, but the keyboard does have a good amount of flex and sounds a bit tinny. Not too bad, but noticeable. I also nearly cut my hand on a sharp corner of the aluminum lid, and now that I know its there I'll avoid grabbing it from the corner. The build quality of the HP EliteBook I use for work far surpasses the feel of this, but then this is a fraction of the price...

My biggest complaint is the lack of dedicated media buttons. The volume is adjusted with Fn+F10 through Fn+F12, too long a stretch for one hand... Lame... Speaker quality is otherwise very good, plenty of the subtleties shine through the music and very little background noise at max volume.

Battery life showing 9 hours and 30 minutes now, and has been unplugged for about 30 minutes. I have the TURBO (overclocking) turned ON and discrete graphics turned OFF. It is easy to turn the graphics back on and doing so causes battery life to go down to 5 hours and 30 minutes. Totally acceptable, if not impressive at 512mb. Boot-up is very quick and Win 7 with all aesthetic features turned on runs flawlessly.

I dont own/play a lot of video games, but I do enjoy the Battlefield series. Battlefield Heroes plays flawlessly with the discrete graphics on and still acceptable without. Im impressed by the commercials for the new Call of Duty and will probably buy it this weekend since Im confident this rig can handle it.

The black aluminum looks sophisticated. I dont mind the fingerprint magnet of the shiny plastic and the subtle blue accents are a very nice touch.

The trackpad is very responsive and accurate... Took a day or so to get enough finger oil on the plastic to keep from feeling sticky, and now that I've "broken it in" am very happy with the feel. My only complaint here is the seamless integration into the case. While typing it's way too easy for my palm to wonder onto the trackpad and move the cursor. There's an option to reduce the sensitivity to "palm touches", which has helped but not eliminated the problem.


I am MOST IMPRESSED by the Asus rep reading the forums here. I hope their service center is as responsive (but hopefully I'll never need to call).

Overall first impression, great machine with a few obvious design flaws. Not enough to ruin the experience, but does make you think why they were overlooked.


So, I was waiting for a CULV with a backlit keyboard, but my Dell suddenly stopped working due to a motherboard problem. I'm not a vindictive person, but I really hope somebody reads this and decides not to buy a dell. They claim to have fixed the problem under warranty (by replacing the monitor?) and wont even answer my calls since I'm now a month out of warranty. Dell service has kicked dirt in my eyes in a very spiteful way.

As an average user with plenty of laptop experience, I'm happy to answer any questions within my range of knowledge.


EDIT: 11-22-2010

Just recieved my computer back from the ASUS service center. The fan started clicking a while ago as if it had a broken bearing. Also I mentioned to them the squeaky plastic (which surfaced about 2 months into ownership). Took about 2 weeks to recieve the computer back and the fan is fixed, but the plastic is still squeaking. Seems like they replaced it which leads me to believe it is a defect in the design.

That said, I recently replaced the hard drive with a 7200 rpm, 500 gb Hitachi. Win7 startup feels slightly faster, but the real improvement is in decibals... This laptop is dead silent, even when transferring 20 gb from one partition to another. When the fan eventually kicks in (which is rare with my usage), it is still surprisingly quiet. Battery life is still at 10 hrs web surfing and about 7 hours watching movies with the graphics off. With the graphics on it is about 4.5 hours watching movies and 2.5 hrs playing Battlefield. All in all, one year later and my UL80vt is even faster and quieter than the day I received it. Very happy with the machine, but the touchpad design is still iritating as I still havent found a decent fix for "palm touches".

What I was looking for: I set out to find a laptop that was light, decent graphics and screen for gaming and watching HD movies, powerful enough to run video-editing and image-editing software, and a good battery life for times in an international airport where all the power jacks look alien to you and you don't feel like dropping $15 on a gadget you are going to use once in your life. I wanted a laptop that wasn't a gaming laptop per say, but could handle the needs of the occasional gamer. It should also have all the basic peripherals like ample USB, VGA and an optical drive. I also wanted to have an HDMI output for my optimal viewing pleasure on big screens. I also wanted the weight to be around 4 pounds and the screen around 14 inches which can be classified as a thin and light laptop. My budget was around $1000.

resources used prior to purchase:
notebookreview, pcmag, notebookcheck, laptopmag, engadget, washingtonpost, anandtech, youtube

Why I chose the Asus UL80VT

Major reasons:

512 NVidia G210M graphics card: This spec. is very likely to go under-appreciated by the majority of the people who read this, but if you are an occasional gamer like me, this can easily handle games of today like Call of Duty 2 Modern Warfare under regular settings. You can also watch HD movies 720p and not experience any lag. The aero theme is beautifully rendered on the desktop. When this part of the computer is being used, this is the only time you will experience hot air coming from the left side of the keyboard. Other than that, the notebook is completely safe in your lap. It also has integrated graphics, which is the default. The switch to NVidia graphics is only a touch of a button.

14.1" LED screen: The LED technology takes a whole lot of weight off the laptop and also enables the thickness of lid to be extremely thin. This is one of the best screen I have ever used it is truly HD and watching movies is sheer pleasure. Because it's glossy, it is bound to attract fingerprints easily, but this should not be a deterrent because you should not being touching your screen, even by mistake... unless it's a touch-screen monitor.

Battery Life: It is more like 10 hours give or take with wireless and some occasional video streaming. If you are only doing office type work, you can surely go beyond 10 hours. Gaming will give you about 4 or 5 hours depending on the game. My LAN sessions do not go for more than 3 hours at a sitting so I don't have to lug my power gear when I am playing at a friend's place.

ULV processor and memory: If you haven't being paying attention to the 'thin and light' notebook market, this is the new standard. Less is more in terms of battery life and less heat production. Even though it has a 1.3 ghz processor, the Core 2 Duo and the 4 gb of memory combo packs quite a big punch. I have never experienced any major lags while running multiple applications.

64-bit: While majority of the today's processors are based on 32 bit architecture, this is the next step up. A 64 bit machine is more capable of using of the two RAM modules than a 32 bit machine, this helps a lot when you are using applications that require a lot of memory like video editing or gaming. You can definitely notice the speed at which it boots. Applications that run in the 64bit mode will result increase in performance but the problem is that not all application are available in the 64 bit mode. (For example, VLC does not have a 64 bit compiler yet and the 32 bit version has a bug that turns all applications into VLC players which is very annoying. If you are looking for a good alternative to VLC, Media Player Classic x64 is a winner.)
Warranty: two year warranty with a one year accidental warranty included! usually you have one year warranty but this is extremely outrageous
Price: When I was looking towards buying a laptop, its top competitors were prices from $1100 so $823 was a steal! With all the given features of this notebook, the free $100 Amazon giftcard sealed the deal.

Minor quirks

Expressgate: fast linux OS which can start in under 10 seconds. I dont really ever use it because Windows 7 boots in about a minute. And that if I needed to quickly go online, the iPod touch is always active.

Ice cool palm rest: this should be refuted the moment you read it. Makes you think, that there is a cooling system included, especially for the palm rest. Let's just say it is never hot from the internal parts.

Fingerprints: Like the glossy screen, the lid is too is prone to oily fingers. But this does not bother me too much because I spend most of my time staring at the screen, not the lid.

Touchpad: My least favorite part of this product is probably the touch pad. It is built in into the palm rest and it made from the same material with multiple grooves to give it some definition. There is a lot of friction when you use it, and feels much slower because of that. I have increased the sensitivity but there was no major improvement. This is not only the worst part of this laptop but it qualifies for the worst touchpad ever designed! But once again, no problem because I hardly ever use it, the ultra-responsive laser mouse is mightier than any touchpad!

Speakers: Even though it's built-in speakers might be better than many laptops it cannot compete with even an okay external speaker or headphones.

Other Recommendations
I wish they had included a Blu-ray player, and I wouldn't mind paying a little more for that, it would then be a formidable media center

Bottom line: This laptop can go head to head with the whatever best of 2009 or top lists you can muster. It will be a sure winner, in performance and in price, which is very surprising. The difference between this laptop and the average one all lies under the hood. It may not look like an Apple, but it surely looks most of the pc laptops. It performance can rival the Macbook Pro any day, not an overstatement... I mean with Windows 7, what is the use of a Macbook?

Before I begin, just let me say that I am an IT/IS professional and have been in the business for over 20 years. To say that I have owned MANY laptops over the course of my career would be an understatement. This is the 12th laptop I have purchased and I am SO impressed with it's performance that I had to write a review.

I've been using (over the last couple of years) a 13-inch MacBook and a couple of different Windows-based laptops. As much as I love OS X, in my line of work, some of the tools that I really need on a day-to-day basis only exist in a Microsoft world, and therefore I had to resign myself to the fact that I was going to have to get a Windows laptop. But, my career has taken me into a position where I work overseas quite often, and the issues of portablity and long battery life are now of great importance to me as well.

I began looking with several criteria in mind that a prospective laptop would have to meet in order to be ideal for my use:
- LONG battery life (at least 6 hours or better)
- NO NETBOOKS (if I wanted a cripled processor, I could certainly find one at the corner store)
- 4 gb ram (always want more if I can find it, but I wasn't willing to trade off weight or battery life to go beyond the 4 gb cap)
- light!! (If you have ever had to pack for a month at a time and plan for 16-hour plane trips, you can certainly appreciate this)
- Windows 7, upgradable to Ultimate

There are other things that I looked for as well, but those were the main points. Originally, I started looking at the new Viao series (I think it's the "W" series). I've always had misgivings about Sony laptops because, over the years, I've seen people shell out large amounts of cash for these, only to find out later that when they want to upgrade their operating system, Sony just does not write drivers for all of their hardware and they are essentially stuck with the laptop in its original configuration until they are ready to go buy another one. Well, this time, Sony has even outdone itself, as the new super-light models come with Home Premium edition and CANNOT BE UPGRADED TO ANY OTHER WINDOWS 7 RELEASE!! I found several sites with many people complaining about this, and it just completely pushed me away from even considering any of the Sony models.

When I started to add my criteria that I listed above, there were only a couple of models that even started to meet all the specs; IBM had a couple (and I've owned a ThinkPad in the past and loved it), and my favorite laptop manufacturer, Toshiba, had a couple as well. But, in looking at those further, the battery life was JUST above where I wanted it (6 hours), which means that I'd be lucky to get 4-5 out of them in actual use.

These Asus branded laptops kept popping up though as I continued to search. I knew of Asus from their desktop component parts (motherborads, etc.), but I had never really even looked into their laptops before now. But, the more I read, the more impressed I became as their claims of 11-12 hour battery life and many positive reviews kept coming the more I looked. Not to mention the fact that they were absolutely the most inexpensive laptops considering the features that they were offereing. I figured at these prices, even if it bombed on me, I wouldn't be out too much money!

As I narrowed down my choices, I was torn between the 13.3" and the 14" models. My MacBook was only 13.3" and it had been just fine to work on as far as size of the screen and keyboard. But, there were two features on the 14" model that just sold me on it (aside from the fact that it was only about $100 more):
- integrated optical drive -- I know this is not a deal-breaker for a lot of people, but I really enjoy having one on-board rather than another piece of crap I have to keep up with in my carry-on. And, it only adds 1 pound to the total weight of the device!
- switchable graphics -- this just blew my mind... not only would I be able to throtle down the processor when I needed, but I could even switch over to a lower power-cosuming graphics mode to get MORE juice out of the batery??

So, I ordered the black 14" unit to be delivered for when I was returning home from one of my overseas trips. When I called my wife from my last layover before returing to my home airport, she informed me that "another one of my toys had been delivered" (smile). I should tell you at this point that I DID order a 750 gb WD hard drive to replace the 320 gb that is supplied with the unit. I would rather have as much of my stuff as I can on an internal drive as opposed to having to dig for another piece of crap in my carry-on (I know... I'll get off that soapbox!).

When I unpaced the unit, I was immeidately impressed with its appearance and design, not to mention the fact that it actually weighed LESS than my 13.3" MacBook! I powered it up, and the battery (which had about a 40% charge when I opened it) charged in LESS THAN AN HOUR! I immediately created the restoration DVDs and replaced the factory hard drive with no problems to speak of.

I've been using this for about 3 weeks now and just can't say enough about how good this laptop is. For those of you who used MacBooks, the chicklet-style keyboard and trackpad will be VERY easy to become accustomed to. The trackpad two-finger movements are not as accurate or refined as Apple's, but, if you want that, go buy an Apple :) Otherwise, for a Windows based laptop, it's really good.

The screen is just fine as fas as resolution and clairty goes. It's not a matte screen, so don't expect it to show out in direct sunlight; but, as far as day-to-day use goes, it's just fine and on-par with any other lsptop out there. Overall performance is just fine as well, with minimal lag in program start time and performance. I did make note that although the "SpeedBoot" is turned on, I really don't see THAT big of a difference in startup times (if that's really important to you). But, wake time from hibernation and sleep are really pretty fact.

The battery life is AWSOME :) I mean, let's face it... for a sub-$1000 laptop, even the claim of 11.5 hours of battery life seems outlandish. However, I ran this poor thing with only the brightness turned down (not the processor) for almost 8 hours and STILL had about 15-20% left. As far as my 16-hour plane trips go, I also have an external battery (check out "batterygeek" if you're intrested) that can usually give me about an extra 4-5 hours on a convential laptop; this guy managed to get a FULL RECHARGE while I was sleeping for a couple of hours and I STILL had some juice left in my portable.

Before I go, I wanted to comment on a few of the negative points I'd seen in other reviews, as they made me think very hard about buying this unit (when I shouldn't have had to):
- fingerprint magnet -- ABSOLUTELY.... it looks like I could run my own crime lab off the surface of this thing sometimes. But... you know what??? THEY WIPE OFF!!! If something like this deters you from buying this model, then you really need to be looking for a laptop that has "JUICY" stamped across the back of it and has the option to come with bedazzling finish of not.....
- flexing keyboard -- WHAT?? Do all the people out there complaining about this problem type with the same force that Mike Tyson punches with??? I just don't see what people are complaining about here... it's a LAPTOP.... not a tool bench. If you expect that it will take you beating your fist on top of it when you loose a game of Bejewed on-line, then, again, maybe the "JUICY" model would be more up your alley....
- trackpad issues -- ok, I can't beat up on people too much about this one, becaue using a MacBook teaches you how to use two-fingered scrolling and only have a single button to click with. But, just like most of us did when mice and trackpads first showed up... we LEARNED! Granted, maybe I'm seeing the benefit of driver and/or firmware upgrades, but again, that is NO reason at all not to use these laptops. I can't say that I've had ANY problems with mine from the start.

Bottom line here is that for business or casual users who what something light wiht a long battery life and don't want to buy a netbook with little or no processing power, these laptops are a perfect fit. I couldn't be happier with mine and I hope all of you reading this review are equally as happy when you 1-click-order yours! :)

Asus is HUGE in Asia, but was not well known to me as a laptop maker until a year or so ago when friend bought an Asus in Bangkok and she loves hers. Now I see it at Best Buy all the time, but do not remember seeing Asus in years past. So I know now that Asus makes great products and the UL80VT is no exception. It is not perfect, but it is great at what it is suppsoed to be: An Ultralight computer with an amazing battery life, an excellent design and great performance for an Ultralight. Therefore I rate it 5 star. You cannot get Uber-Performance in an Ultralight, but I am strictly a non-gamer so this computer does everything I possibly need as fast as I need.
PROS:
1. Chiclet keyboard is fine with nice key spacing and, unlike others, I have not had any problems with the mousepad while typing.
2. Case fit and finish is fine. I have not noted any problems with keyboard flex/screen fit etc.
3. Minimum of bloatware. Every computer has this, but Asus is better than most.
4. Two year Global warranty is better than anyone else, and 1-year Accidental Damage Warranty is also extended to TWO YEARS if you Register your computer within 60 days of purchase. (Every other manufacturer would charge you at least $100 extra for that kind of warranty.) BTW, ADW is a separate online registration which then generates an email with case number for a second mail-in for the ADW.
5. Windows 7 is great - it automatically downloads software for any external device like a speech mike. I have 2 mikes, one Philips speech mike I use for work and one headset for Skype, and Windows 7 downloaded the software within seconds of plugging them in. Then when I plug in they become the default speaker, and when I unplug them the internal speakers take over seamlessly. (That was NOT the case with Vista on my home desktop where it was a huge hassle to go into Control Panel repeatedly.)
6. I have not had a chance to put the battery life to the ultimate test, but after reading countless reviews and testimonials I trust it will truly last for 8-10+ hours (if not the 11.5-12 advertised) which is long enough for an international flight and as long as I would possibly need.
7. Wi-Fi connection is great. Immediately recognized my home network and took me a minute or two to be online with this baby.
8. Making recovery disks took about 3-4 hours, but it went fine with no glitches.
9. It looks great and feels great!! It is a fingerprint magnet as commented on by scores of others, but the sleek looks are still impressive for a computer with a 12-cell battery. The black version looks marvelous - an eye catcher.
10. An $800 laptop with a switchable dedicated/integrated Nvidia/Intel graphics option is a great deal.

CONS:
1. My biggest negative about this computer is the Mousepad/Mouse button. The mouse button is a single bar and you click on the far right or far left to right click or left click. Ths mouse button is VERY STIFF and awkward to use, especailly for Click and drag functions like to highlight text or drag something across the desk top. To click and drag I have to use two hands, one to hold the mouse button down and one to drag. If I could change ONE thing about the computer, it would be to split the mouse button (bar, in this case) in two and make it much less stiff. I avoid using the mouse button by single- or double-tapping on the mousepad, which is VERY responsive, but you still have to use the mouse button to click and drag and that has not loosened up much, if at all, over a month's use.
2. The mousepad is dimpled, but still a shiny and slippery surface. Although it allows vertical and horizontal scrolling and multiple gestures on the pad, it gets greasy feeling and then the pad does not work well at times.

After a couple months of looking around, I finally settled on the UL80VT. Was aware of some of the faults people were having (build quality, resolution, touch pad), but it seemed sporadic. I received my UL80 yesterday.

Goods: The build seems fine, I do not have any of the creaking noises others have reported, the battery is nice and tight with no free play, the screen is tremendous (at least compared to my old laptop), but there is some flicker when switching between the graphics modes. Not a problem, and expected.

Bad: The touch pad is truly terrible. Following the initial start-up and installation routine, it literally took me over 30 minutes to get as far as the control panel using the touch pad to get the driver uninstalled, so the generic driver over the internet would load, as others have recommended. Every time I touched the touch pad it would go into select mode. It kept initiating programs, dragging screens, or the mouse pointer would randomly jump a short space. Even turning off the "tap" option in the Elan drivers did not help when I finally made it that far. Several times I could not get the pointer to move at all, with any finger (clean hands). After finally getting the generic PS2 mouse driver installed, similar problems remained. I finally went to the Asus website and re-installed the Elan driver, and this time I was able to get the "tap" option deselected. I also turned off the palm rest sensitivity which also helped. The touch pad still is very dicey to use and I have tried several settings of sensitivity, but at least it doesn't select something every time I use it. It still completely ignores a request sometimes.

Everything else so far on the unit is solid, but I travel a lot and cannot live without a trustworthy touch pad. I've ordered an additional mouse, but will often need just the touch pad. Will try another day or so to get this working, but not happy at all currently.

Jan 30 2010 Update: No luck, have tried all the recommendations on the ASUS Support site. Lots of others have complained about this. Found other ASUS models at Staples with very nice touch pads, so it must be unique to this model; this UL80VT is going back.