14 DAY TRIAL // Earlier this year, ASUS, one of the world's leading vendors of hardware components and portable computer systems, officially took the wraps off its CULV-based U-series laptops, providing users with a higher-performance alternative to the ultraportable netbooks. The new systems are based on Intel's increasingly popular CULV platform, which has been combined with a sleek and ultra-thin design to appeal to the general public. One of those laptops was the 13.3-inch UX30, designed to provide users with the portability of a netbook, but with increased performance. On that note, it looks like the ultraportable has been put through its paces, offering us some details on its performance and features.
The fellows over at netbook live were lucky enough to land a sample of the aforementioned laptop, featuring a 1.3GHz SU2700 processor, combined with Intel's already famous GMA X4500MHD graphics chip. The system was also equipped with 2GB or RAM, a 3-cell battery pack and a Windows Vista operating system – all in all, pretty much what you'd expect from a CULV-based laptop.
According to their review, the machine is pretty decent in terms of performance, being capable of providing end users with support for playing HD movies on both its display and an external monitor, via an HDMI port. In addition, the system also managed to impress in the portability segment, as it boasts a weight of only 3.5lb.
However, when it comes to the battery life, this ultraportable PC is only good for about 4 hours and 30 minutes, which isn't exactly honorable for a system that runs on a single-core processor. There are also some questions regarding the glossy display, which makes things a bit difficult when trying to use the laptop outdoors. Overall, we are still to see what the price of ASUS’ 13.3-inch CULV system is, which could give us a better picture of where this laptops fits.