ASUS UL80Vt and G51J: Going for the Gold
by Jarred Walton on December 15, 2009 1:30 AM EST- Posted in
- Laptops
Closing Thoughts
We've already discussed our thoughts on the UL80Vt and G51J - you can read the details on pages two and three. Both are great laptops, and while we didn't give either the coveted Gold award they are closer than we've come in quite some time. For those that are wondering, anything earning a Bronze Editors' Choice is (at least in my mind) a 90% score; Silver means 93%, and Gold means 95% or higher. Basically, Gold awards are reserved for unequivocal recommendations, and we do have a few minor complaints with both of these laptops, mostly oriented around the LCDs.
The LCD situation continues to disappoint, and not just from ASUS. In browsing through laptops at the local Best Buy, Costco, Wal-Mart, and Target stores, we found exactly one laptop - out of more than 100 - where the LCD was clearly higher than a 500:1 contrast ratio. What's worse, most laptop manufacturers source LCDs from all of the major panel manufacturers (AU Optronics, Chi Mei, LG Philips, Samsung, and Seiko Epson/Sony), and it's not uncommon to have a single laptop using panels from two or three vendors. If you are truly concerned with LCD quality, you may need to shop locally or purchase a higher-end laptop (i.e. Dell Studio XPS) where they only use one LCD brand… and you can expect to pay quite a bit extra!
Besides LCDs, let's talk for a moment about a few other irritations we've noticed over the past year. One big complaint we have is that every Windows Vista and Win7 laptop we have tested has difficulty "remembering" the detailed power settings we configure. We've seen this on every laptop (unless it was an XP based netbook), some more frequently than others, but Win7 and Vista have a penchant for restoring many of the "default" power options on a regular basis. Specifically, the systems will restore HDD/LCD/system timeouts, prompt for password on resume, and a few other settings.
Maybe I'm more OCD than the average Joe, but when I tell a laptop not to enter sleep mode EVER (unless I press the sleep button on the keyboard), I'd like that setting to stick. This can be particularly frustrating when it happens during testing and you realize that the battery drain test is now invalidated because the system went to sleep. It's also annoying when your LCD turns off while you're watching a movie with friends.
Software like ASUS' Power4Gear might be partly to blame, but we've experienced the same issues without custom power utilities. Windows XP never changed our power settings "automagically", and we wish Vista and Win7 would stop mucking with areas where we modified the default configuration. Until we can prove otherwise, we're going to go off the assumption that this is a Microsoft issue; the fact that it was present in Vista and continues to occur in Win7 doesn't make us feel it will be fixed any time soon.
Outside of complaints, we've got a few interesting items due for release in the very near future - around CES 2010. Intel has the next generation Atom platform (Pine Trial with Pineview CPU) ready for liftoff, and they're likewise getting set to release Arrandale. The power requirements of current mobile i7 CPUs are clearly not fit for anything targeting longer run times, and we're hopeful that Arrandale will improve the situation. Looking at what you can get out of current CULV designs sets the target we want to see mobile i7 eventually reach, but we're doubtful any of the currently planned Arrandale parts are going to come anywhere near matching the 10W TDP of CULV processors.
Arrandale and Pineview also have something else in common: they integrate a GPU into the CPU package. That means things like NVIDIA's GeForce 9400M chipset are no longer an option, which is unfortunate considering the part is about four times as fast as current Intel GMA 4500MHD designs. However, the UL80Vt shows one real solution to the problem: if you need faster graphics, you can get a hybrid GPU setup. It's not necessarily ideal (especially if you're Apple), but on Windows 7 the switch between IGP and dGPU is quick and relatively painless - about a 5 second delay.
Right now, the ASUS UL80Vt is the high water mark for a do-everything laptop: office, gaming, and mobility are all handled with aplomb. If you don't need the Turbo33 overclocking for a performance boost and you're not interested in gaming, you can find dual-core CULV laptops (Celeron SU2300) for as little as $400, complete with Windows 7 Home Premium and 2GB RAM. We are very curious to see if Intel can beat such laptops with Pine Trail; right now it looks like Intel's only serious competition in terms of mobility is Intel. AMD has some lower power 45nm CPUs (the Athlon and Turion "II" models) now shipping but we're still trying to get one for review. We haven't seen anyone claim more than 6 hours of battery life with such a design, though, which means we expect closer to 4 hours in Internet surfing. As long as the price is right, such designs remain a viable alternative.
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tpurves - Tuesday, December 15, 2009 - link
14" monitor and only 768 vertical pixels? what the hell is up with that?my WXGA 12" laptop has 800 vertical pixels and would still be usable with even slightly higher DPI if it was possible.
What is the point of carrying around the extra pounds and inches of a 14" screen if you have fewer useful pixels if you are not doing at least better than wxga.
I already think wxga at 13" (like on macbooks) is a waste of space.
A 14" should be at least 1440x900 (or the HD aspect-ratio equivalent) or what's the point of hauling that much computer and screen around?
iamezza - Wednesday, December 16, 2009 - link
One business I installed a new PC at a while back complained they couldn't read the new 19" screen. Once I showed them how to change the resolution they changed the res to 800x600.iamezza - Wednesday, December 16, 2009 - link
One business I installed a new PC at a while back complained they couldn't read the new 19" screen. Once I showed them how to change the resolution they changed the res to 800x600.JarredWalton - Tuesday, December 15, 2009 - link
Ah, youth... ;-)Do you know how many 40+ people I've had COMPLAIN to me when I set a laptop to the native resolution? There are competing views on LCD resolutions. Older users with less than perfect eyesight prefer larger pixels, in which case the 1366x768 14" LCD is a good compromise. Younger enthusiasts often prefer crazy pixel pitch like 1600x900 in a 14" LCD.
Heck, I did some work for a dentist building PCs and gave the receptionists 22" 1680x1050 displays. Guess what they run them at: 1280x800! Ugh.... Anything higher than that and they complain that it's too hard to read.
For reference:
1366x768 14" is .227 pixel pitch
1280x1024 14" is .217 pitch
1440x900 at 14" is .209
1600x900 at 14" is .194
Personally, I'm good to about .200 pixel pitch, but older folks will often want more like a .250 pitch. On desktops, 1920x1200 on a 27" LCD is fine (.300), on a 24" it's "okay" (.270), and native resolution on 30" requires me to use magnification or set a higher DPI in windows (.252).
Of course, I'd also be happier with 16:10 aspect ratio displays on laptops instead of 16:9 (or possibly even 4:3, though that's debatable). First, though, give me a contrast ratio that doesn't suck.
fabarati - Tuesday, December 15, 2009 - link
1440x900 is quite nice on a 14" screen. I'd even like a higher resolution.But the displays used on old Asus 14" laptops (I've had a A8Js and i presently use a F8Sa) leave a lot to be desired. Though you should know that, as you tested the A8Js a few years back.
On the other hand, you do get used to it. It's only when you see better displays (like my brothers SR Macbook pro or our old FSC Amilo 1437g - not to speak of the very nice S-IPS displays at my summer job) that you feel dissapointed.
pkkevin - Tuesday, December 15, 2009 - link
I second that, I remember my dad always adjusting his native 1360*768 13.3 inch laptop to a resolution of 800X600... it is all distorted and blurry to me, but he like it that way just so he can see clearly.Great review by the way, Great informations.
darwinosx - Tuesday, December 15, 2009 - link
What a hunk of plastic junk. The current laptop i7 is a joke as is the cheap plasticky Asus. Editors choice? You have got to be kidding me.The0ne - Tuesday, December 15, 2009 - link
I really have to say that most of you speaking about quality have little to no clue what you're actually referring to or talking about. I've worked in various engineering discipline to know that most of the "opinions" of this subject matter is in fact a personal one.At least do some research and/or go out and TOUCH the materials before making such comments. There's Walmart and Best Buy almost everywhere so it shouldn't be too difficult.
Yes, I realize that ingrained perceptions are very difficult to overcome but man, so people are just dense.
JarredWalton - Tuesday, December 15, 2009 - link
Which of course is posted by a Mac fanboy. Thanks, darwinOSX for being so open to other options.Would I prefer a nicer aluminum body? Sure I would! But that would also increase costs substantially. I would rather have a better LCD first, then a better construction. At that point we're looking at $1000, just like the aluminum MacBook, but it would still have substantially faster graphics and better battery life when you want it. Anyway, that's why the UL80Vt is a Silver and not a Gold.
As it stands, I have looked at dozens of laptops during the past year and these are both far better than competing models (i.e. similar pricing). We've praised MacBooks plenty, and they still have a place for anyone buying a laptop. If you don't want to run OS X, though, Apple has little to offer. "DUAL BOOT! And get 30% less battery life under Windows because we don't think anyone should even consider something other than OS X!" Thanks but no thanks.
darwinosx - Tuesday, December 15, 2009 - link
I'll take the MacBook in a heartbeat over this. I've seen the aluminum MacBook at $1049 at MacConnection and the plastic Macbook at $849. No contest over this cheapo Asus.