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5 Comments on “ASUS UL30A-A2 Thin and Light 13-3-Inch Silver Laptop – 12 Hours of Battery Life”

1. 
   1 The Critic said at 10:54 pm on August 5th, 2010:

   Overall, this computer is lovely but it fails miserably despite the four processing modes. I am shocked and infuriated that this model rated so well! It can’t handle viewing streaming video – even the computer review videos about the machine. I viewed less than a minute worth of marginal and high-quality video before promptly deciding it is getting returned.

   Using the Windows 7 performance evaluation application, this machine scores the following on a scale of 1.0 (worst) to 7.9 (best):

   Processor (calculations per second): 4.1
   
   Memory (memory operations per second): 4.8
   
   Graphics (desktop performance for Windows Aero): 3.9
   
   Gaming graphics (3D business and gaming graphics performance): 3.4
   
   Primary hard disk (disk data transfer rate): 5.9

   UUUUUUUUUUUUUUUGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHH!!!!! This machine is an insult to consumers and should have never made it on the market. The distance between keys is annoyingly huge for small hands, the touchpad is centered which is very annoying for right-handed use because it detects my stretched palm while reaching for a third of the keys on the board, I can only use one program at a time with any reasonably ok response time, and it is a complete understatement to say that this machine is a fingerprint magnet – its one giant smudge screen. The box on the power cord gets ridiculously hot.

   The positives: It’s pretty, light-weight, stays cool, and has a super long battery life that in no way, shape, or form should convince you that you should pay more than $100 for this machine.

   Supposedly Asus makes computers that might last longer than some others, but now I’m completely aggravated that it won’t just die within its first year so that I can get a refund.
   Rating: 2 / 5

2. 
   2 Laptop Dreamer said at 11:38 pm on August 5th, 2010:

   (UPDATE 11/17/09) WIFI does not work!!!!!!! I called Asus Tech Support two times with zero resolution or even a call back. Finally, I looked into the matter and found a common WIFI (Atheros card) problem with other Asus reviewers too. It’s documented on the discussion posts for both the UL30A-A2 and UL30A-X5 on Amazon. One of the ASUS discussion boards talk about buying an external antenna to boost the wifi card’s range. I am really disappointed with my experience because I researched and waited 1 month for Windows 7 only to buy a lemon that has issues with internet connectivity. Which is a deal breaker for a laptop. So I will return my laptop tomorrow.

   ORIGINAL POST:

   I read each of the reviews on Amazon.com and based my decision to buy the ASUS UL30A-A2 because of the positive feedback I read from users. However, I have no idea what these other users are smoking because there are a few major issues with the laptop.

   Pros:
   
   * Decent price for the specs
   
   * Size and form

   Cons:
   
   * Touchpad is almost unusable. I have to tap and pull 2-3 times for the mouse to respond. The whole point of having a laptop is so you do not need to connect an external mouse to it so you can use it on your “LAP”!!!
   
   * The multi-touch gesture is nice marketing but half of the time, it doesn’t recognize when I use two or three fingers. Lame.
   
   * Wifi had problems keeping a connection (I have another computer connected to the Wifi Hub and no problem with my Lenovo)
   
   * When I called customer support from Asus, I got a rude and unhelpful response. He basically told me to contact my ISP to see if they can fix the problem. Excuse me? Um, the last time I checked, my other PCs are having no issues with internet.
   Rating: 2 / 5

3. 
   3 Clint said at 2:21 am on August 6th, 2010:

   As usual, when something seems too good to be true, it is. I purchased this notebook about 30 days ago when comparing it to the MacBook Air and Dell Amado. Boy did I make the wrong call. Of course, the notebook is perfect so long as you don’t need more than 10 feet of range for a wi-fi connection. You will see bars, but no connection beyong this point. It is amazing to me that so many have this complaint, yet when you call ASUS (I have twice), they tell you it is a router problem. Really, a problem with every router in the US?? On the upside, it’s a very stylish, light and user friendly notebook with a great optional ASUS drive that fires up in 8 seconds. As I said, if you don’t need wi-fi access or will always be close to a wireless access point, it is a great laptop. For the rest of us, given the terrible customer service, pay the extra $400 and get a Dell or Apple.
   Rating: 1 / 5

4. 
   4 Melisa said at 2:34 am on August 6th, 2010:

   I received the laptop today ! this is good for my nephew w/c is in college especially this is his first time having laptop.hopefully he will enjoy this!. the packaging is good but the only problems i got is the damn USPS they left the package in my drive way it could have raining that day or somebody could have just pick up my package i have to call them chewed their butt off !!! i am still upset!!
   Rating: 5 / 5

5. 
   5 arnaud lacour said at 5:13 am on August 6th, 2010:

   I have just received this laptop a couple of hours ago, so these are my first impressions:
   
   – keyboard: I almost did not buy this laptop because of other reviewers comments on an allegedly lame keyboard and almost unusable track-pad. I decided to give it a shot anyway. I’m glad. The keyboard (I’m typing on it right now) is in fact quite a bit nicer than most laptops I have had, and I’ve gone through 10 laptops in 2009, this one’s my second for 2010, the other one being a brand new macbookpro 15″ purchased in January to give some context)
   
   When it comes to laptop typing, I’m particularly picky. This keyboard is solid, well put together, full size almost and MOST IMPORTANTLY, it has a dedicated page up / page down set of keys which do not require the Fn+arrow gymnastics some of the other brands put us through. This, my friends, is a keyboard that has been developed by someone who knew (s)he would have to use it. And it shows.
   
   The chiclet thing is ok, we all got used to it since apple big push for it, so that’s nothing out of the ordinary.

   – track-pad: the other thing that held me back was the track-pad. Granted it isn’t the best in the land but I have no idea what the other reviewers found in there that they actually found to be almost a deal breaker. I will say that it’s slightly to sensitive, so it will click sometimes when the cursor is “on the way” to an icon. You may start applications inadvertently. hmmm, ok but it still will let me use the laptop when I’m on the plane and I don’t have room for an external mouse. And I’ll use a mouse (microsoft arc, best thing out there) when real estates allows.
   
   the gestures work remarkably well. As some other commenters said, nothing close to apple’s though.

   – quality: some people have said this unit to be creaky. They’re right. It’s not worse than my toshiba R600-S4212 which sells for $2,500 right now. So I don’t consider this to be terrible. It compares very well with my Vaio Z series which we bought for $1,800, so not bad in that regard.

   – hd: this is the scary part in my opinion. As I said, I JUST got the unit, and when I pick up the laptop while it’s loaded (I’m a developer, I often have code building in the background while I’m surfing the web for documentation) and that’s SCARY. it sounds like the drive head is touching the platter or something. That is truly my worst concern. I have looked at the bottom of the unit and there is a door for the hard drive, which is a 2.5″ so I may be able to take the wacky drive out and replace it with an after market ssd for my own peace of mind when I’m traveling.

   – screen: as good as anything, I think this is really one of the strong point of this little guy. it’s clear, contrast is good, vertical angle is a little funny: you get a much better quality if you open the screen all the way. For people used to only have the screen propped at 90 degrees, it may be something to adjust to. Horizontal angle is good, which is a bummer in my case, I’ll have to buy a privacy film because the person next to me on the plane would have no problem reading on my screen.

   - webcam: never mind. It’s a joke. That’s all I have to say about that. It’s still nice that they put it in.

   – battery life: can’t comment, I haven’t the unit long enough to say anything about that. I will say that the a2 comes with the longer-lasting 5600mAh 8-cell battery 84Wh. Same battery as in the ul50.

   – weight: hmmm, I would say it is surprisingly heavy for its size in all honesty. It’s almost like it’s make of lead and enriched uranium. And don’t blame it on the battery. It’s still ok, but definitely waaaaay heavier than the toshiba r600. it’s also less than a third of the price, so, you do get what you pay for.

   I will edit this as I go if experience tells me otherwise..

   –EDIT. Monday, March 1st 2010.
   
   carrying the laptop from my office (downstairs) to my bedroom (upstairs), the hd make loud noises like the heads were hitting the surface and caused the laptop to cease functioning altogether.
   
   I would strongly recommend anyone buying this little laptop to include a 2.5″ SSD in the purchase to make it truly usable. This HD is just non functional for a laptop. Maybe I have a bad unit but if so, it does speak to some other reviewers concerns about overall quality. I’m fortunate enough to have a macbookpro I could fall back to in order to remain functional for work this morning but this is a major issue. I’m debating whether to RMA the unit.
   Rating: 5 / 5

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