Review: Asus UL30

The Asus UL30 is a CULV based notebook. It is thin and light, offers solid overall performance and comes at an affordable price. CULV based notebooks are known for offering better performance than netbooks; they are also cheaper than traditional ultraportables. Specifications Operating System: Windows Vista Home Premium (32-bit) RAM: up to 8GB Storage: 500GB spinning at 5,400 rpm Display: 13.3 inches Build and Design The machine weighs less than 1 inch in thickness and weighs 4 pounds. It is sleek and maintains a slim profile. Build quality is good; the design looks neat and elegant. Keyboard and touchpad The Asus UL30 has a full-size keyboard. The keys provide decent tactile feedback. You will be able to achieve your normal typing speed without much effort. The touchpad supports the two-finger scroll multitouch feature. It does not come with distinct left and right buttons, but that is unlikely to be an issue. Sensitivity is good, but buttons are a bit stiff. Performance The Asus UL30 has enough power inside its chassis to handle most tasks around the house. It is also good at multi-tasking. You can open more than 3 programs simultaneously. High-end gaming is still out of question. Battery life At around 10 hours, the battery life is pretty good for a machine of this size. Actually it lasts longer than most ultraportable notebooks in the market. Ports and Slots Port selection is satisfactory. There are 3 USB 2.0 ports, HDMI, VGA, Ethernet, 5-in-1 card reader and 0.3 mp webcam. There is no optical drive. Pros Thin and light Elegant design Great battery life Solid performance Comfortable keyboard Cons Glossy display Average graphics performance --