High performance gaming and impressive battery life; these two things rarely appear in the same sentence, let alone the same machine. In the past, gaming performance came with huge drops in battery life. When buying a laptop from a company such as Alienware that you can customize pretty much every feature, the battery life depended inversely with the quality of graphics card you were willing to buy. With having two graphics cards, Asus may have hit a sweet spot with the ability for high end gaming and having the option of extended battery life. Yet at $899, the U30 is only $100 than the Macbook. Is the ASUS U30JC
worth the price? Specs:
Intel i3-350m (2.2g GHz)
NVIDIA 310M with 512 VRAM and Optimus technology
13.3 Inch HD (1366 x 768) LED display
.3 MP webcam
DVD burner
4 GB RAM
Wireless N
1.2 inches thick
4.8 Pounds
Outside
The front cover is made out of an aluminum alloy. It looks shiny, sort of industrial looking; it has a completely different finish than the aluminum Macbook Pro. It is thicker than the both the Macbook Pro and the Macbook, by about .2 inches and .07 inches respectively. Comparing the Ausus to the Macs may seem like comparing apples to oranges, but priced at $899 with a ten-hour battery, it has some very similar features to the Macbook. And the aluminum casing is fairly similar to the Macbook Pro, but everything below the keyboard and the bottom is made out of plastic. The bottom of the U30 has two access panels that give pretty easy access to the RAM and graphics card slots, so upgrading should be snap in the future. The battery is very small considering how much power it holds; I’m very impressed.
On the front there is a simple card slot that supports memory stick pro and secure digital cards. I love that these slots have effectively become standard on every laptop. The slots tend to be built right into the motherboard, so they’re typically much faster than even the high-end card readers from Lexar and Scandisk; it also means I don’t have to lug around my memory card reader when I’m just bringing my compact camera. The two biggest compact camera makers are Canon and Sony, and ASUS made both their memory cards/sticks compatible with the U30; a very good call. On the left end of the front side, sits the wireless kill-switch; no matter what wireless settings you are using, all wireless signals would be shut off. One thing that is odd is that ASUS decided to not include Bluetooth. Personally, I don’t use any Bluetooth devices. This would be a small problem if you want to use a wireless keyboard, mouse, or wireless transfer files to someone close in proximity without Wi-Fi. USB Bluetooth adapters are so cheap these days though, but it would have been nice to not have anything sticking out. It has the same color as the speakers it sits in, I even missed it the first time I was looking over the computer.
The speakers are the biggest disappointment by far on this machine. ASUS tried something that I have not seen on a laptop before; putting the speakers on the outside facing you. This had potential, maybe being able to play music with the top closed, having bigger speakers that would otherwise cramp the keyboard, etc. Instead, the speakers sound incredibly trebly, to the point where everything sounds like it was made from a crappy recording. If it is placed on a desk or table the speakers have adequate volume, but because of their placement, if used on a lap or any cushioned surfaced such as a bed, the speakers become muffled. Plugging in headphones or speakers a window comes up asking if it is headphones or speakers being plugged in. This is an awesome idea; I just wished the speakers worked as well as the software. Then again I have not heard a single complaint from anyone else online who has used this model. For all I know, there is a weird setting somewhere deep in menus, or something is broken inside the case.
ASUS kept the ports simple; there really is not anything extra. It has the usual slew of three usb ports, audio in and out, VGA, and HDMI; yet no eSata or express card slot. On the other hand, ASUS decided to include a DVD burner, which is pretty unique for this class of laptops. This does come at a consequence of weight for it weighs 4.8 pounds, which is a lot for a 13-inch laptop. I am being picky here though; you won’t notice the extra weight in a backpack.
Inside
Open, the ASUS U30JC is a very good-looking machine. The black border of the display and chiclet keyboard is a nice contrast to the brushed aluminum. I really like the chiclet keyboards, so this is a big plus for me. I like chiclet keyboards because I’m less likely to hit the wrong key because of the space between keys, but that is my personal opinion. The trackpad is also something I am impressed with. It is more responsive than many of PC trackpads that I have used. Two finger scrolling usually works, but not always. ASUS combined the right and left click into one long button; obviously it detects which side you push. This gives the keyboard Mac-like look; very simple and streamlined. Asus put in a lot of shortcut keys that use the function key: overriding the graphics card, battery settings, play and pause, screen settings, etc. This makes getting to certain settings much easier than going the long way through menus in the control panel.
For a 13 inch laptop, 4.8 pounds is far from the lightest weight in its class. The Sony Y class weighs in about 3 pounds with the same size screen for example. What sets the U30 apart is the built in optical drive, and its raw power. While the Sony Y class is lighter, it has no built in DVD burner, multiple graphics cards, full voltage i3 CPU, or a battery that lasts up to 10 hours. With these features, the U30 should be able to handle pretty much any game you can buy. To keep frame rates up though, dial the detail settings down a few notches. Turning down the details will not be noticeable at all unless you plan on using a large external monitor via HDMI; even then the differences would only be detectable comparing the differences side by side.
Recommendation
At $899, it is only $100 less than the Macbook. Which has comparable battery life and features for the most part except a much less powerful CPU. It really comes down whether or not you want a PC or a Mac. If you want a PC than you should keep reading.
As powerful as the U30 is, it is a compromise. Compromise does not mean something isn’t good. The word compromise has such a negative connotation for it usually means you don’t get what you want. That is not what I meant at all. The U30 has high-end gaming performance with the ability to have super long battery life, it is just at the expense of some weight. There are more powerful gaming machines with larger screens for similar prices, as are there smaller machines with marginally better battery life for less money. If you want great battery life in a compact laptop that has great gaming performance when you want it, this is the computer for you.
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