Official Asus U30JC Owner's Lounge and Review Thread

[Chanda Bear]

Hello!
I just got my u30JC and already have a question/problem. I can't find witch grafic card is being used, how to switch among them and so on. I can't find anything about nvidia card, only in device manager there are 2 cards. Tried new drivers for nvidia optimus - nothing. Can someone help me?

Well, you can change what programs uses which card in the Nvidia properties in the notification area. There should be a tab somewhere in there (I actually don't have one of these laptops, I had to return my UL80JT the day after I bought it, so this is all from memory!).

Also, this utility is the one that tells you when the Nvidia GPU is being used. It was only recently released for public use.

[BlackAndChrome]

Hello!
I just got my u30JC and already have a question/problem. I can't find witch grafic card is being used, how to switch among them and so on. I can't find anything about nvidia card, only in device manager there are 2 cards. Tried new drivers for nvidia optimus - nothing. Can someone help me?

Go to Control Panel>Appearance>Nvidia

Global should be set to integrated. On the next tab you can select a program (you may need to "add" it by finding the EXE in your c: drive) then you can manually select the graphics card.

If it does not give you an option to select which graphics is used (only gives 3d options) then flash your bios to the latest version. I had trouble with this but it only happened after a clean install.

[BlackAndChrome]

Alright so I contacted Asus with my problems with hibernation. That was about 2 weeks ago and I never got any reply... I called them today, a relatively short called ended with me explaining that since I have updated my Bios and used both the original install of windows and a fresh install that this means my problem is hardware and not software. I've even used 2 hard drives. They said that they would look into it and email me back today. They emailed me back with what solution? Contact Microsoft because its a software issue . I am typically very relaxed when it comes to teaching technical support but I am about 24 hours from becoming technical supports worst nightmare.

So I replied to this email further explaining why there is not a chance in hell that I have a software issue. Also explaining that I WILL be taking a fully functioning laptop with me to college on the 18th (They would have had a full month had they replied to my email) or I will not be buying another Asus product ever. I'm yet to explain to them that I work for an Asus retailer and also have the ability to reduce Asus sales much further then my own personal use, but I would prefer not to resort to that. At this point I am still entertaining the possibility for a positive outcome. Keeping the fingers crossed.

-B&C

[abaddon4180]

Decided I should post a review of the new B1 version and I guess this is the best place to do it

Asus U30JC-B1 Specifications:

Intel Core i3-370M
Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit
13.3-inch glossy LED-backlit 16:9 display (1366 x 768)
Intel GMA HD integrated with NVIDIA Optimus (GeForce 310M w/ 512MB DDR3)
4GB DDR3 1066MHz (2GB x 2)
320GB 5400 RPM hard drive
Intel Wi-Fi Link 1000BGN Wi-Fi, Atheros AR8131 Gigabit LAN
8-cell 15V 5600mAh 84WHr Battery, 19V 65W AC Adapter
Limited Two-year Global Warranty with one-year accidental coverage
13.12" x 9.52" x 0.8"-1.2" (W x D x H)
4.8 pounds
$869

Build and Design

Everything that has been said about the previous versions, the A1 and A2B, applies here as well. It is a little thicker and heavier than the average thin and light, almost as large as the smaller mainstream notebooks, but that size and weight increase allows for a very well constructed machine as well as the inclusion of an optical drive. Every part of the notebook exhibits excellent build quality. There is no flex on the palmrests or around the keyboard and very minimal flex on the bottom of the notebook right under the optical drive. Even the screen, which measures about half a centimeter thick, requires significant pressure to twist and bend. Overall the build quality of the notebook is what one would expect from a premium laptop but still not as good as a high end business orientated machine and slightly behind by HP dv6.

The design of the notebook will be very pleasing to minimalists or users looking to bring the notebook to work. The lid cover and palmrests are a gunmetal gray color, not shiny silver like the UL line, and resists scratches as well as fingerprints with ease. I am a huge fan of the brushed silver look on notebooks so it is very pleasing to me.

Even the bottom of the notebook is understated and looks good. There are two small access panels for the RAM and hard drive, two battery locks, and no vents. The lack of vents make using the notebook on any surface safe as you do not have to worry about blocking any air intake off.

Screen and Speakers

I would rate everything about the panel on the U30JC as slightly above average. Brightness levels are very good at the mid levels but the maximum and minimum levels are both not as bright as previous notebooks I have used. Just like most screens on newer notebooks the viewing angles are adequate. Horizontally they are actually quite good, I don't notice a difference in color until about 40-50 degrees and even past that it is only the dark colors that suffer. Text is readable at even extreme horizontal angles. Vertical viewing angles are bad, however. If you stand up or move the screen slightly forward the colors fade so much that you have a hard time reading what is on the screen. Just like all non-business orientated notebooks the screen is glossy but it isn't so glossy that you cannot use it in a well lit room.

As the NBR review of the A1 already said, the speakers are not very good. Even at the highest levels they sound tiny and muffled. I would definitely recommend a good pair of headphones for audiophiles buying this notebook.

Keyboard and Touchpad

The keyboard is a chiclet style, which I do not like personally, but the size is good enough for me to get over it. I am a rather large guy and the keyboard is very large with lots of space between the keys, enough so my big fingers do not make many mistakes. The keys themselves, however, feel mushy but I think that is the way they are supposed to feel. The keyboard itself has almost no flex in most areas, it feels like you are pushing down right onto metal if you try at some parts, and the parts that do have flex aren't really a major problem. When using the keyboard you will not feel any flex when you are typing, you can only find it when you push down hard purposely.

In comparison to the keyboard the touchpad is relatively small but it works well enough. It supports two finger scroll and three finger right click, the only two multitouch gestures that I have ever used, and both work very well so I can't complain. The surface feels a little strange when first used, like rubbing your finger on a chalkboard, but once it accumulates the natural oil from your fingers in is fine.

Ports and Features

Read the NBR review of the A1, the B1 has the same ports and placement

ASUS U30JC-A1 with NVIDIA Optimus Review

Performance and Benchmarks

If anyone has anything specific that they want me to run then let me know but otherwise you could just refer to the NBR review with the i3-350M. The i3-370M is hardly better than it and not quite on the level of the i5-430M so that should give a pretty good indication.

Heat and Noise

The case of the notebook stays surprisingly cool even under heavy load. Even when stressing it the palmrests stays very cool and the underside did as well, with the exception of right under the exhaust vent. The temperatures around the keyboard were the same, cool on the right side but slightly warmer on the left above the vent. Internal temps stayed under 80C under heavy load for both the CPU and GPU and the idle/normal use temps were in the low to mid 40s. I was surprised at how much noise the U30 produces, however. When idling it is actually slightly louder than my dv6z using a 7200 RPM and AMD quad core. Under load that noise does not increase all that much, however.

Battery life

The NBR reviewer of the A1 said he got over 8 hours with continuous wifi surfing and the screen at 75% but I can't get close to that. I am getting slightly over 6 hours with the same settings and almost 7 under lighter use, same screen brightness and wifi still on but less flash intensive surfing. It is still amazing for a full powered Core i processor to get that kind of life but I am somewhat disappointed.

Conclusion

For a while now I have been looking for a thin and light with good graphics performance, great battery life, and good build quality and the U30JC meets all of these requirements. The inclusion of an optical drive is a plus for me as well but those looking for a true thin and light may want to look elsewhere.

Pros:

• Very good battery life
• High build quality
• Good performance for its class
• Cool to the touch
• Optical drive

Cons:

• Heavier than most notebooks in its class
• Slightly loud

[MasterEvilAce]

Hey, can someone else go to windows command prompt and type
powercfg -energy

It generates an energy usage report (for seeing what may negatively impact battery life)

I get a bunch of these errors
"ACPI _PSD Object Failed Validation"

Wondering if there's something I need to install or change to get the error to go away, or if it's a problem with Asus' drivers themselves...

Any ideas?

[JoeyStorm]

Hey guys, I recently got my U30JC-A1 and love it.

I was just wondering if the Optimus graphics switching technology is automatic? Like if I run a game, will it switch from the onboard to the 310M?

Or would I have to do it manually in some cases?

The reason I ask is so that I can test how high I can run certain settings for some games.

Thanks in advance!

[chris2k5]

Hey guys, I recently got my U30JC-A1 and love it.

I was just wondering if the Optimus graphics switching technology is automatic? Like if I run a game, will it switch from the onboard to the 310M?

Or would I have to do it manually in some cases?

The reason I ask is so that I can test how high I can run certain settings for some games.

Thanks in advance!

Anything requiring better graphics performance will trigger the 310M on. It is automatic out of the box. If you want to manually set it, there should be instructions on how to do so all over the thread.

[sebkg]

I received my U30JC-B2 just a few days ago and so far am very happy with it. Had to get rid of a lot of bloatware to begin with but things seem to be running well now. I got a 3dmark06 score of 3733 and am also running Starcraft II on it. I chose to run it on low graphics settings (slightly customised) because I can't stand the occasional drop in framerate I get on medium settings.

[kgw]

I am enjoying my U30JC-A2B, but realize I did not pay attention to the ability to get wireless broadband. . .No express card slot! Unless there is an adapter to use the memory card slot

How much slower are the usb alternatives?

[gustavovon]

Hi guys,

After much searching, I believe this to be the model that i want (accept comparisons with the toshiba M645-S4050, Best Buy) is now doubt over the model specifically. U30Jc-B1, U30Jc-A1, U30JC-A2B? What advantages and disadvantages of each one? It's worth the $ 100 more for the A2B? I am very undecided, the more I look the more I am in doubt ...