ASUS UX30

We’ve been lusting after the new breed of thin and light CULV laptops ever since we saw the gorgeous MSI X320 at this year’s CES and now models are starting to arrive in earnest. We’ll have a review of the Advent Altro for you next week, but first up is the ASUS UX30.

CULV laptops are based on Intel’s Consumer Ultra Low Voltage (geddit?) processors and these offer energy efficiency approaching that of the Intel Atom, but better performance. The ASUS UX30 uses Intel’s SU9400 processor and while this has a lower clock speed than the 1.6GHz Intel Atom used in many netbooks, it is a Core 2 Duo chip — which means it’s also dual-core.

ASUS has pulled some pretty stylish laptops out of the hat in the past and the UX30 is a bit of a looker, too. If you’ve ever fondled a MacBook Air in an Apple Store, then the design will be very familiar. Both laptops are more or less the same size and while the UX30 lacks the same impressively tapered case, it’s still only 20mm thick. It is a little heavier at 1.39kg, but this is still a very light laptop for its size.

The UX30’s lid looks like (and no doubt is) brushed aluminium with a black anodised finish, but we erred in our hands-on review when we described the underside as being metal. We’re now pretty sure it’s plastic, but it has a tough matte finish that, together with lack of the unsightly bulges that blight most laptops, makes the UX30 look very sleek indeed.

This streamlined shape isn’t without its compromises, though. There are no easy access panels on the ASUS UX30’s underside for memory or the hard disk, nor is there an internal optical drive. These aren’t particular problems, but the fixed internal battery may be a deterrent for some. The usual complaint with such an arrangement is that you can’t carry a second battery around for prolonged battery life, but surely the whole point of a laptop like this is that it lets you travel light — without a big battery stuffed in a pocket, in other words. 

Apple gets away with fixed internal batteries in its MacBooks because their battery life is greatly improved — the removal of the need for a user-friendly sealed cell and safe battery connectors means there more room for a bigger battery. Sadly, the ASUS UX30 doesn’t quite compare and a heavy use battery life of just over two hours is adequate, rather than impressive. A light use score of just under four hours is better, but this still leaves you looking at around three hours of typical use with Wi-Fi enabled — not great.

One thing that hasn’t been sacrificed for the sake of sleekness is ports and the ASUS UX30 has a good selection. Two USB ports and a headphone socket sit behind a flap on the right of the case, while Ethernet, HDMI, mini DisplayPort and a third USB port are hidden away on the right.

Lift the lid and the UX30 looks just as lovely inside as out. A combination of shiny and matte black plastic contrasts nicely around the keyboard and wrist rest, while the screen has a glossy top layer that extends right to the edge of the lid. This top layer is flexible plastic rather than rigid glass (as on the unibody MacBook Pros with their similar screens) and on our model, the middle was stuck the display beneath it when we removed it from the box, creating an unsightly distortion. The two layers parted after a couple of days and left no lasting damage, but it does suggest that the lid isn’t quite rigid enough to keep the screen completely protected in transit.

The screen has a 13.3in diagonal with a resolution of 1366 x 768. It’s LED-backlit and commendably bright, but the viewing angles aren’t terribly wide and off-centre clarity isn’t helped by the screen’s highly reflective finish.

The ASUS UX30’s low-profile Scrabble tile keyboard is has a standard layout and is comfortable to use, even if the keys are a mite smaller than you might expect. There are no separate keys for media playback or other extraneous laptop functions (these are doubled-up on other keys), but there is a button that switches between the various ASUS Super Hybrid Engine power modes. The large, multi-touch trackpad works well too, but it’s made from the same shiny black plastic as the rest of the wrist rest and tends to stick to your fingertip if it’s even slightly damp.

Although it only runs at 1.4GHz, the Intel Core 2 Duo SU9400 processor inside the ASUS UX30 is still a sterling performer and, being dual-core, is much more able to handle multiple applications. Despite the lower clock speed, it’s about twice as fast as the Intel Atom N270 used in many netbooks in raw performance terms and while that makes the UX30 suitable for a much wider range of applications, the integrated Intel GMA 4500MHD graphics rule out 3D gaming.

All in all, the ASUS UX30 is a good-looking and well-made ultraportable with enough performance to keep most people happy. Sadly, at £999, it won’t be luring many people away a netbook, but it does offer a slightly cheaper alternative to other lightweight ultra-portables. That said, the Apple MacBook Air it so closely resembles only costs £150 more and has a better processor and graphics combo.