Pros & Cons
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- Amazing battery life.
- Metallic design is sleek.
- Software switching utility works well.
- Switching graphics technology with Nvidia and Intel chipsets.
- Comes standard with huge battery.
- Internal optical drive included.
- 4GB of DDR3 memory.
- Two-year global warranty.
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- Mouse buttons could use an overhaul.
ASUS UL80Vt-A1 Specs
| 3-D BENCHMARK TESTS - 3DMark06 - Native – 0X/4X: | 3141 |
| 3-D BENCHMARK TESTS - 3DMark06 - Native – 0X/4X: | 3141 |
| Battery Type: | 84 Whr (Watt hours) |
| Graphics Card: | Nvidia GeForce G210M |
| Graphics Memory: | 512 |
| MobileMark 2007 – Standard Battery Productivity Load (hrs:min): | 10:10 |
| MobileMark 2007 – Standard Battery Productivity Load (hrs:min): | 10:10 |
| MobileMark 2007- Performance score: | 163 |
| Networking Options: | 802.11n |
| Operating System: | Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium |
| PCMark Vantage: | 3698 |
| Primary Optical Drive: | External |
| Processor Name: | Intel Core 2 Duo SU7300 |
| Processor Speed: | 1.3 GHz |
| RAM: | 4 GB |
| Rotation Speed: | 5400 rpm |
| Screen Size: | 14.1 inches |
| Screen Type: | Widescreen |
| Storage Capacity (as Tested): | 320 GB |
| Tech Support: | 2 years parts and labor |
| Type: | General Purpose |
| Type: | Media |
| Type: | Value |
| Weight: | 4.7 lb |
When laptops equipped with consumer ultra low-voltage (CULV) processors first came on the market, they tended to be minimalist in design—much like the first netbooks—and focused on having a sleek form factor more than anything else. Like netbooks, these laptops eventually evolved into larger, more capable systems. Indeed, the first CULV laptops were razor thin, like the
Design
Demand for the use of metals in laptop design is booming, and understandably so. They're both easier to mold and more luxurious-looking than plastics. It's a trend we're seeing more of these days, particularly in laptops like the
At 14 inches, the UL80Vt's widescreen is a good balance between portability and screen real estate. At these prices, don't expect advanced screen technologies; it gives you average brightness levels and viewing angles and a plain 1,366-by-768 resolution—the same resolution found on its 13-inch counterpart, UL30A-A1. Most Asus laptops are also moving toward a tiled keyboard, instead of a traditional one where the keys are interconnected. With the UL80VT's keyboard, all the keys are raised and isolated from one another. The touchpad has built-in multitouch gestures that are useful when scrolling and panning through Web pages. The mouse buttons, meanwhile, were hard to press and can use some fine tuning.
Features
As we mentioned before, the UL80Vt-A1 has one feature that is missing from the Asus UL30A-A1 and Acer AS3810T: It comes with the built-in dual-layer DVD drive. In fact, most 14-inch laptops, including the
Performance
A 1.3-GHz Intel Core 2 Duo SU7300 CULV processor is at the heart of the UL80Vt-A1. It's the same dual-core processor found in other CULV laptops like the Dell Inspiron 14z (review coming soon) and Asus UL30A-A1. It won't outperform a standard voltage processor, though, like the Intel Core 2 Duo T6600 found in the HP dv4-1543sb. But whatever ground the UL80VT loses in performance, it gains back in energy efficiency (more on that later). That said, its video encoding and PCMark Vantage scores fell behind that of the HP dv4-1543sb by a margin of 19 percent and 7 percent, respectively. It did, however, beat out other CULV laptops like the Acer AS4810TZ-4120 and Asus UL30A-A1 in speed tests such as video encoding, Cinebench R10 (a processor- and memory-intensive test), and PCMark Vantage.
The UL80Vt-A1 has another trick in its performance arsenal. Unlike its CULV counterparts, it uses switching graphics technology. In other words, you have the choice of running a discrete graphics option (in this case, the Nvidia GeForce G210M) for 3D-intensive tasks or conserve battery life by opting for an integrated one (the Intel GMA 4500MHD). Switching to the Intel chipset takes place automatically once it's off the AC adapter; plug it back into an outlet and the UL80Vt-A1 switches back to the Nvidia chipset. You can manually change these setting via Asus's Power4Gear Hybrid utility, a preinstalled software component. So for instance, if you would prefer that the laptop runs on the Nvidia chipset while on battery reserve, you can select the "High Performance" setting in this utility. Likewise, the "Battery Savings" option will default to Intel's integrated chipset.
In terms of 3D performance, the UL80Vt-A1 did extremely well. So well, in fact, that its 3DMark06 scores surpassed those of the MacBook Pro 13-inch, which also runs on an Nvidia chipset. I would give Nvidia props for improving high definition playback as well, but both the Intel and Nvidia chipsets played back various 1080p video clips, at high bit rates and in full screen, perfectly fine. With 3D intensive games like Crysis and World in Conflict, I would recommend playing them at low resolutions and cranking down on the special effects.
Battery life is phenomenal. It's aided by switching to the Intel graphics chipset, but even more important is the size of its battery. The UL80Vt-A1 comes with a huge 84Wh battery—the same one found in the Asus UL30A-A1. In comparison, the batteries found in the Acer AS4810TZ-4120 (63WH), Dell Inspiron 14z (60WH), and MacBook Pro 13-inch (58WH) are considerably smaller. Thus, the UL80VT-A1 yielded a MobileMark 2007 score of 10 hours 10 minutes, which was quite an impressive feat. Because Nvidia chipsets are more power hungry, battery life on the Nvidia graphics card wouldn't have been as impressive.
For a limited time (until December 15, 2009 or "while supplies last") Amazon.com is offering a $100 gift card when you purchase the Asus UL80Vt-A1 through its Website. Even without this promotion, the Asus UL80Vt-A1 is an incredible bargain. It comes with switchable graphics for 3D enthusiasts, a built-in optical drive for legacy users, and over 10 hours of battery life. All this earns it our new Editors' Choice for CULV laptops. For those who don't need the extra 3D horsepower and would rather minimize the bulk for travel. The Asus UL30A-A1 and Acer Aspire Timeline AS4810TZ-4120, which focus more on battery life and portability than performance, are better bets. And they're cheaper, too.
BENCHMARK TEST RESULTS: Check out the test scores for the
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Final Thoughts
ASUS UL80Vt-A1
The CULV-equipped Asus UL80Vt-A1 laptop is loaded with lovable features, including switching graphics technology, a huge battery, and a metallic design.