ASUS UX30

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Review

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.

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