ASUS U24E Review and Owners Lounge

[davidricardo86]

Thanks so much for the reply. That was really helpful.

Your opinion (even the problems that you listed) makes me want the u24e even more. I need a small laptop so I can work on it when travelling so I don't really need anything faster than the HD3000. The only thing that I might play is Diablo 3, which might actually run on medium without a problem (judging by Starcraft 2). I care a lot more about the CPU side of things because in my work I use CPU-intensive software and the dual-core i7 will be more than sufficient for that. This is will be my computer to take for meetings, conferences etc. Mind you, this will be a huge upgrade from my current 7 pound Core 2 Duo all-plastic HP.

I don't really care about stellar webcam performance as long as it's usable and even the problem with the VGA/HDMI that you listed won't be a problem for me because I will be using just one of the connectors when doing presentations. The SATA II limit is also not a problem because an SSD upgrade won't be imminent. In terms of the quad-core processors, I'd rather have a dual core for the reasons that you listed - that needs to be a portable laptop which runs cool and runs for as long as possible on battery. The touchpad won't bother me that much because I am thinking of getting the Microsoft Arc Touch mouse, which gets really small when travelling.

The only 2 things that I wish were better (from what you described) are the screen and the speakers. If this had a matte screen and decent speakers it would have been perfect for me despite the other issues.

My biggest concerns were the build quality, any heat problems and battery life. 5-6 hours of battery life and minimal flex especially of the screen sound good to me. From your response, I gather that the heat is minimal (I was researching the ASUS u36, which has heat problems). Does it stay cool even when running CPU intensive tasks?

I think I am on the way to becoming an u24e owner

Well it sounds like the u24e might be a good fit for you then. The webcam isn't the best but its usable of course. As for the display goes, I can't say how good or bad it is compared to other displays. I am not an expert at "rating" displays and where they stand in quality. Like most displays, it goes negative when viewed vertical as does horizontal angles. If you and someone next to you were watching a movie, i don't think that would be a problem. Colors are vibrant and blacks seem a bit grayish. I remember finding an ASUS EEEPC (11.6") that was available with a matte display (not sure if any better in quality). I wanted to try using that display in my u24e but never ended up doing the experiment. Regarding the speakers, they're like the webcam; usable but not spectacular. A comfortable set of headphones helps with that little issue.

I've heard of the u36 heat issues. The addition of a discrete gpu really does make things hotter especially for a laptop that thin. The cooling systems on thin laptops sometimes are skimpy and cheaply designed. Even under full load the heat coming out from the u24e's exhaust is hot but not scorching hot flames. I wish i had a max temp reading image but i cant seem to find one.

Your comments and analysis are very accurate and helpful. We all benefit from it.

1. I don't know how to describe the "Asus OEM Certifiicate". When you right click "Computer" and select "Property" (I'm still having the OEM OS), you will see the Asus logo under the windows logo, I guess it's called "certificate". If we install a fresh OS by ourselves, the Asus logo won't show up, don't know if it really matter? (sorry for my long and confusing description);

2. I purchased the Samsung 470 because you have it and other reviews give it reliable comment. And the price for 470 series is still very high even the product is discontinued, around $300 for 128G (retail version), much high then those SATA3 SSD, don't know why? I'm wondering if you have installed the Samsung SSD Magician, is it a necessary and helpful sofeware, is running "Performance Benchmark" reducing the life of SSD? I'm thinking getting a SATA3 SSD for my desktop. Do you recommond the Samsung 830 or any other brand?

Like you said "If the case were made entirely of aluminium then everything would be solid as a rock". Thanks again.

1. Oh okay, now I understand. I don't know how you would do that. But, to me it doesn't matter as long as my OS is operating fine. You could try posting this question in the "Windows OS Thread."

2. I am selling my old 470 128gb because I bought a 830 256gb. $300 is an insane price to pay considering the 256gb 830 can now be bought for $235-270.

I do install Samsung Magician, i find it useful. I wouldn't worry about writing too much to the SSD. It would take you a REALLY REALLY LONG TIME and A LOT of writing to kill the drive. Just use it and enjoy it. I recommend Samsung SSDs to anyone who asks me, they're very reliable and dropping in price every month.

[dasaki]

Battery lasts about three hours on normal use.

I did some cooling mod, even so, under heavy load at 25-30 deg celsius ambient it reaches peaks of 85 deg. I think the processor/system will always prevent rising above 85. Idle is about 44 deg.

@davidricardo86

2. I am selling my old 470 128gb because I bought a 830 256gb. $300 is an insane price to pay considering the 256gb 830 can now be bought for $235-270.

Isn't the 830 Sata 3? Does it work with the u24e?

[davidricardo86]

@davidricardo86



Isn't the 830 Sata 3? Does it work with the u24e?

Yes the 830 is SATAIII (6Gb/s). I don't know if it works with the u24e because I bought the 830 after I had already sold the u24e. If I still had it, I would've tested to make sure it works/doesn't work.

I am using the 830 in my Lenovo ThinkPad Edge E425 and it operates at full speed. I'm also using the 470 in my E425's SATAII CD/DVD caddie.

[dasaki]

Yes the 830 is SATAIII (6Gb/s). I don't know if it works with the u24e because I bought the 830 after I had already sold the u24e. If I still had it, I would've tested to make sure it works/doesn't work.

I am using the 830 in my Lenovo ThinkPad Edge E425 and it operates at full speed. I'm also using the 470 in my E425's SATAII CD/DVD caddie.

Thanx for the clarification!

[Cableman]

Well it sounds like the u24e might be a good fit for you then. The webcam isn't the best but its usable of course. As for the display goes, I can't say how good or bad it is compared to other displays. I am not an expert at "rating" displays and where they stand in quality. Like most displays, it goes negative when viewed vertical as does horizontal angles. If you and someone next to you were watching a movie, i don't think that would be a problem. Colors are vibrant and blacks seem a bit grayish. I remember finding an ASUS EEEPC (11.6") that was available with a matte display (not sure if any better in quality). I wanted to try using that display in my u24e but never ended up doing the experiment. Regarding the speakers, they're like the webcam; usable but not spectacular. A comfortable set of headphones helps with that little issue.

I've heard of the u36 heat issues. The addition of a discrete gpu really does make things hotter especially for a laptop that thin. The cooling systems on thin laptops sometimes are skimpy and cheaply designed. Even under full load the heat coming out from the u24e's exhaust is hot but not scorching hot flames. I wish i had a max temp reading image but i cant seem to find one.

Thanks for your input. I am pretty much ready to get the u24e, but wanted to ask if there are any other similar options - similar size, decent build quality and battery life, no overheating issues, good CPU...I asked in the "Which laptop I should buy" section, but the only other option seems to be the Lenovo x220, and to be honest I like the u24e better. Do you know of anything similar to the u24e?

[ALLurGroceries]

I would go for the U24E if it costs less and CPU power is more of your priority.

The X220 has a better screen with the IPS (Premium HD) option, and I prefer the keyboard (both the layout and feel) to the chicklet on the U24E, although the U24E keyboard is very good as I noted in the review. The X220 webcam is far superior, it has a fluid framerate where the U24E is laggy. The main weak point of the X220 is the buttonless touchpad ("clickpad"). Besides that they are both great systems, and the U24E is a great, solid machine.

The X220 is heavily discounted right now, especially via B&N Gold. It offers you an mSATA slot (although there may be cheaper variants without msata) and the option of an IPS display, but is a bit chunkier (11.6" vs 12.5"). It has a 54mm ExpressCard slot so you can add expansion cards (like firewire or esata, usb3, external graphics card dock, etc). Also the HDD bay is 7mm (most drives are 9.5 or 12.5mm) and the BIOS is whitelisted; if you wanted to switch the wifi card to a non-IBM one you would need a de-whitelisted BIOS (I run one on my X220).

I have owned both systems. I sold the U24E and kept my X220 ultimately because the mSATA+HDD combo is hard to beat, I prefer the thinkpad keyboard, the IPS screen is easier to read, expandability via expresscard and 4 battery options (I get 21 hours with the 9 cell + 6 cell slice).

Here are some pics of them side by side (X220 has a 9 cell battery in the pics, the 6 cell battery option sits flush):

[Cableman]

I would go for the U24E if it costs less and CPU power is more of your priority.

The X220 has a better screen with the IPS (Premium HD) option, and I prefer the keyboard (both the layout and feel) to the chicklet on the U24E, although the U24E keyboard is very good as I noted in the review. The X220 webcam is far superior, it has a fluid framerate where the U24E is laggy. The main weak point of the X220 is the buttonless touchpad ("clickpad"). Besides that they are both great systems, and the U24E is a great, solid machine.

The X220 is heavily discounted right now, especially via B&N Gold. It offers you an mSATA slot (although there may be cheaper variants without msata) and the option of an IPS display, but is a bit chunkier (11.6" vs 12.5"). It has a 54mm ExpressCard slot so you can add expansion cards (like firewire or esata, usb3, external graphics card dock, etc). Also the HDD bay is 7mm (most drives are 9.5 or 12.5mm) and the BIOS is whitelisted; if you wanted to switch the wifi card to a non-IBM one you would need a de-whitelisted BIOS (I run one on my X220).

I have owned both systems. I sold the U24E and kept my X220 ultimately because the mSATA+HDD combo is hard to beat, I prefer the thinkpad keyboard, the IPS screen is easier to read, expandability via expresscard and 4 battery options (I get 21 hours with the 9 cell + 6 cell slice).

Here are some pics of them side by side (X220 has a 9 cell battery in the pics, the 6 cell battery option sits flush):

Thanks a lot for the reply and for your original review. It seems to be quite hard to find any reviews of the U24E and yours was the one that swayed me towards it.

For me the biggest plus of the X220 is the display, since I don't think I would be using the mSATA option and I actually prefer chiclet keyboards. What is your opinion of the display in the U24E, from your original review I am under the impression that it is not particularly good? A few people mentioned that it is vibrant, is the problem more with the viewing angles?

Having owned both the X220 and the U24E, how would you compare their build quality? I think for me the build quality is probably the biggest priority. The U24E seems to be quite solid. Any heat problems are also a big thing for me (being an owner of an HP that heats up quite a lot, which causes a lot of longevity issues). If the U24E is well made and stays cool, I think I would disregard any problems such as a crappy webcam and lack of mSATA due to the better price and faster CPU.

I feel like a faster CPU can help me use the system a lot longer and since I won't really be playing games and my work is 100% CPU based, I think the i7 in the U24E would be a good fit (especially for the price).

The battery life of your X220 sounds really tempting, but if I could get 5-6 hours from the U24E (as per your review) than that would probably be sufficient. Another question - are the speakers really as crappy as others have mentioned here?

I have to also say that the U24E looks really nice on your pictures

Guys, thanks a lot for your input, your opinions are greatly appreciated!

[ALLurGroceries]

The build quality of the X220 feels less solid than the U24E, mostly due to the lid construction and moderate flex on the palmrest above the expresscard slot. The U24E has only a tiny amount of flex, and that is under what I consider extreme pressure only. In normal use, my unit had absolutely no keyboard or chassis flex. I would consider the U24E nearly on par with the B series notebooks from ASUS which are somewhat ruggedized. There are various mass-production defects I have heard about regarding the X220, but luckily I got a unit with none of them. They both have sturdy hinges and a solid feel, although the U24E really feels "rock solid". As I mentioned in the review, taking it apart confirmed that ASUS got it right with the chassis materials. If you look at my profile you can see the ASUS systems I have owned, and the U24E is at the top of that heap for build quality.

The keyboard on the U24E is simply awesome (compared to others in the same form factor class and chicklet type). I also really like the touchpad surface, although the windows drivers aren't very responsive as far as multitouch and gestures are concerned.

In terms of the screen, I feel that color reproduction on the U24E is not great, and it has a very overdriven feeling response, which is ironic for such a small panel. Viewing angles aren't bad horizontally, but vertically there is a small sweet spot. There is a small but noticeable "screen door" effect, which is viewable mostly on bright, solid backgrounds. Keep in mind I am not a photo editor or graphic designer, so mine is not an expert opinion.

The backlight is brighter on the X220 IPS by a significant margin.

Still, the U24E screen is passable, and as I think I said in the review, it's not offensive. The colors aren't really off in one direction or another (reds on the X220 IPS are bad), but its default color temperature may be a tad cool if I remember correctly.

I got a consistent 5+ hours in Linux, which is what I ran on my machine once I was done with the review. So 5-6 hours in windows is definitely possible depending on your usage.

The difference in speakers is basically nil; they are each tinny and the volume levels are about the same -- not great.

I haven't had heat problems with either system, they are both relatively well cooled even when pushed.

[Cableman]

Thanks for all the info. That answered all my questions. I don't need any more convincing that the U24E is the laptop for me You guys are awesome!

[ALLurGroceries]

I forgot to mention the max CPU temp I recorded was 62C (this was in a relatively dry environment and probably around 20C ambient): ASUS U24E Review and Owners Lounge

That measurement is with prime95 on in-place. The package temp would probably be a bit higher with prime95 + furmark burn (for a scenario with simultaneous max CPU and iGPU usage).