ASUS UL30A-X5 Thin and Light 13.3-Inch Black Laptop
- 1.3GHz Intel SU7300 Core 2 Duo Processor
- 4GB of DDR3 RAM, 2 slots, 4GB Max
- 500GB SATA Hard Drive (5400 RPM)
- 13.3″ HD LED LCD Display, Intel GMA 4500MHD, Wi-Fi 802.11 bgn, 0.3M Webcam
- Windows 7 Home Premium Operating System (64 bit)
Product Description
Weighing less than 4lbs and measuring less than an inch thin, the new ASUS UL30A-X5 is a harmonious blend of form and function. Powered by an Intel Core 2 Duo ultra-low voltage processor, 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 SRS Premium Sound. 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 1 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.Amazon.com Product Description
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ASUS UL30A-X5 Thin and Light 13.3-Inch Black Laptop
I had to return this good-looking ASUS UL30A-X5 without trying its many promising features. The smooth Amazon return procedure gains a star on this review. Upon inspection, it lacked any kind of an optical drive, DVD or CD. One expects this situation in a netbook, but not in a notebook. The irony is that a recovery disk was included!
True, this was my mistake for not investigating more thoroughly before purchase, so I allow another star. The posted technical specs did not list the type of optical drive, but they also did not warn that it was omitted entirely (common with netbooks). Hooking an external DVD or CD drive to this unit would defeat the portability aspect entirely. But since it is obvious that this machine has really good specifications otherwise, and promises extremely long battery life, it deserves another star for a total of three.
Since none of the reviews I read mentioned the lack of a DVD or CD drive, I am posting the review, even though I did not actually use the UL30A-X5, since it may be helpful to others researching their choices more thoroughly than I did. For those seeking a netbook with muscle, this might be an excellent choice. For those wanting a notebook complete with optical drive, perhaps look elsewhere.
Rating: 3 / 5
While running internet browsers (IE or FireFox or Chrome), if you have more than a few tabs opened – CPU is always close to 100%. It is very annoying and slow – have not been able to fix that. I remember reading a review on internet that mentioned same problem but unfortunately, I thought that newer model (which I had) will have that obvious flaw fixed. Before I realized the issue, 30 day return period was over and now I’m stuck with this $700 super slow internet surfing machine.
Wish ASUS provide a fix for the problem.
Rating: 1 / 5
I own 5 notebook/netbooks ranging from [...] to [...] and the Asus was a disappointment. This is the 2nd Asus I had returned in the past 6 months; UL30a and Ul50AG. The build quality seems cheap, everyone is always telling me how great the Asus computers are but I have yet to be satisfied by the build quality.
The battery life was great but everything else was average at best. I know the price point was the factor and I can’t compare this to my Vaio TZ but my Gateway Netbook LT3103 has a better quality and it was only [...]
Appearance
The metal top is nice but its a finger print magnet, its worse than the shiny cheap plastic they used on the inside.
The frame around the screen is cheap and the plastic scratches easily, it has some kind of blue specs embedded in the paint. The seams on top of the screen is cheap and uneven with rough edges.
The large HDD is nice but makes clicking noises every now and then.
The screen is bright but the vertical and horizontal viewing is horrible, the colors get washed out and becomes useless at certain angles.
Mouse pad is average, not one of the better features on the UL30a.
Wireless card never dropped any connections but the signal level is poor. My 5 year old laptop gets better range than the Atheros card inside the UL30a.
The camera is a joke, my BlackBerry has a better camera.
PROS:
Battery life 8hrs with screen on 100% Wifi on , spread sheets and firfox with multiple tabs open.
Big hard drive 500GB
Very light and portable
Warranty, 1 Year of accidental Damage
Win 7
CONS:
Fingerprint magnet
Cheap plastic around screen and palm rest area
Loud Hard drive
Flex on the keyboard
ASUS bloatware
Camera
Build quality
If you need a notebook with great battery life, than this may be the notebook, I have not seen anything with this screen size get any where near this.
If you get erpriannoyed buy fingnts and cheap plastic, avoid this unit. I wish they would have made this a little more solid.
The guts of the computer is average.
So, if you need a bigger screen with a “Little” more speed than a netbook and great battery life this will do perfect.
If you get bothered by cheap parts and build avoid this.
Rating: 3 / 5
This laptop is decent but after the laptop runs for a time the hard drive begins making a clicking noise and then the system crashes. Considering this laptop lacks a DVD drive, I think ASUS could spring for the system backup DVDs.
Rating: 1 / 5
Likes: Speed, display, weight, performance, battery life. Dislikes: No DVD player/burner, smudges on the black case, sometimes noisy hard-drive. Overall: Just OK.
Rating: 3 / 5