Article about laptop+gaming+terbaik+2009

Asus UL30A-A1 – fast processor, amazing battery life

Sum and Substance:

Thumbs Up:

Great battery life, slim design, inexpensive

Thumbs Down:

The keyboard isn’t comfortable for typing.

The Whiz Kid Speaks:

Asus UL30A-A1 is powered by Intel Core 2 Duo SU7300 / 1300 MHz, a dual core processor, data bus speed is 800 MHz, chipset type is Mobile Intel GS45 Express. L2 cache is of 2 MB, the memory included is 4 GB DDR3 SD RAM of 1066 MHz, memory is not expandable.

For storage, the included memory is 500 GB of 5400 rpm. The 5 in 1 card reader supports the following cards Memory Stick Pro, xD-Picture Card, SD Memory Card, MultiMediaCard, Memory Stick. 13.3 inches display has a resolution of 1366×768 pixels. Features for the display include Zero Bright Dot, LED-backlit, Color Shine, Glare.

Bundled graphics card is Intel GMA 4500MHD Dynamic Video Memory Technology 5.0. The notebook has Altec Lansing speakers. Above the display there is a 0.3 megapixel Webcam. Interfaces include 1 x Display / video – HDMI – 19 pin HDMI Type A, 1 x Network – Ethernet 10Base-T/100Base-TX – RJ-45, 3 x Hi-Speed USB – 4 pin USB Type A, 1 x Headphones – Output – Mini-phone stereo 3.5 mm, 1 x Microphone – Input – Mini-phone 3.5 mm.

The eight cell battery has a battery life of ten hours. Bundled software on the notebook includes Microsoft Office (60 days trial), SUS Data Security Manager, ASUS Wireless Console, Drivers & Utilities, ASUS Screen Saver, ASUS Live Update, ASUS Live Update, ASUS SmartLogon, ASUS Net4Switch, ASUS NB Probe +, ASUS MultiFrame, Virtual Camera, ASUSDVD 6-in-1, ASUS WinFlash, ASUS Splendid. This notebook comes with a two year warranty.

Razzle Dazzle:

The chassis of the Asus UL30A-A1 is solid but has a plastic feel. We didn’t mind the plastic exteriors too much because they didn’t us the typical cheap feel. Hygiene freaks are not much fan of glossy surfaces and they will balk at this notebooks finger print attracting screen. The back is covered with aluminum which gives a Mac book like feel.

Inside Dope:

Laptop manufacturers are going for a low voltage CPU and dropping the optical drive which in turn gives you a big battery life. Asus UL30A-A1 belongs to that category of computers. We were pleased with what this device had to offer, previous notebooks in this category either compromised on value for money, build quality or performance.

This Asus UL30A-A1 has a 13 inch display and the weight justifies the thin-and-light tag. It has a sturdy frame, the processor inside is Core 2 Duo CULV chip as compared to single-core Core 2 Solo CULVs on such notebooks. We would recommend you to go for this notebook owing to the cheap price and good performance.

We have reviewed laptops in this category before, the ones worth mentioning are MSI X340 and Lenovo IdeaPad U350. Compared to those two, the Asus UL30A-A1 performed much better. Talking about its closest competitor, we think Asus UL30A-A1 and Acer Aspire Timeline 3810T had better or equal performance, the battery life is better and the cost is less than $100 as compared to the 3810T. You won’t be disappointed with this notebook, it will do everything that you expect from a thin-and-light and it is also way cheaper than Dell Adamo and MacBook Air.

The keyboard of the Asus UL30A-A1 is not good for typing but this is not unexpected in such thin and lights. Above the keyboard of the Asus UL30A-A1, there are two silver buttons. One is the power key and the other is a pre-boot Express Gate quick-start environment button which gives you a photo viewer, online gaming portal, music player and Web browser. You’d be amused to know that many users don’t even know what the quick boot button is for on their notebooks. When the notebook is booted in Vista, the quick OS button can be used as power mode selector button. You can also access these presets in control panel. You won’t be using these power buttons on this notebook because of the amazing battery life.

The touch pad on the Asus UL30A-A1 has multitouch capability and scrolling through the pages was good. The rocker button too is good but we prefer two separate buttons for the mouse.

The 13.3 inch display of the Asus UL30A-A1 is glossy and has a resolution of 1366×768 pixels which is standard for notebooks of this size. The display is colorful and bright. Icons and text popped, videos were great. Speakers, tucked in the bottom front end, had decent performance.

When it comes to connectivity options, you won’t have a lot to complain on the Asus UL30A-A1. The only thing that is missing is an ExpressCard slot. The ports are easily and comfortably laid out on the laptops sides. For storing your data, you get a 500 GB hard drive and there is 4 gigs of RAM. Remember, there is no optical drive. This notebook has a Core 2 Duo CULV processor as opposed to the slower single core chips on such thin-and-lights. The solo processors that we usually see are very slow so this fast chip was a welcome change. The fast processor showed its quality in our speed tests too. Tasks such as Web browsing, office work, e-mail and HD video streaming were easy on the Asus UL30A-A1. If you are not into heavy multimedia editing or gaming, we will recommend this notebook as a standard replacement for Core 2 Duo laptop. You will get Windows 7 preinstalled in this notebook.

When tested for battery, the Asus UL30A-A1 gave us 6 hours and 41 minutes in our video playback battery drain test. The laptop runs of eight cell battery. This is far less than the manufacturer’s claim of twelve hours but the tested battery life was impressive for such a thin and light notebook. You can spend an entire day in your office without a plug. We would also like to mention here that our battery tests are quite challenging, you can get better battery life with moderate use.

Asus UL30A-A1 comes with a two year global warranty and one year accidental warranty from the manufacturer. Web support and E-mail are also there and you can visit the manufacturer’s Website for other support related resources. Toll free number is also included.