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Asus UL50VT-RBBBK05 – Affordable gaming notebook
Thumbs Up:
Thin and lightweight frame; good battery life; Nvidia switch-able graphics.
Thumbs Down:
Underpowered processor in its class and price range.
The Whiz Kid Speaks:
Asus UL50VT-RBBBK05 is powered by Intel Core 2 Duo SU7300 processor and Mobile Intel GS45 Express chipset of 3MB L2 cache. It has 4GB DDR3 SDRAM, 500GB hard disk drive of 5400 RPM and DVD±RW (±R DL) optical drive. The UL50VT has onboard Intel graphics chip and NVIDIA GeForce G210M GPU. This GPU has 512MB GDDR3 SDRAM and features ASUS GraphiX Boost technology.
Operating system is Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit. The pre-installed software includes Face Recognition software, drivers & utilities, and Adobe Reader 9.
Asus UL50VT-RBBBK05 has 15.6-inch TFT active matrix display of WXGA 1366×768 pixels. It has features of LED backlit and widescreen display. The UL50VT has 0.3-megapixel camera and inbuilt Altec Lansing speakers of SRS Premium Sound. The notebook has 5-in-1 card reader that supports Memory Stick Pro, xD Picture Card, SD Memory Card, MultiMediaCard and Memory Stick.
Asus UL50VT-RBBBK05 has network adapter and wireless antenna. Supported wired networking standards are Ethernet, Gigabit Ethernet and Fast Ethernet. In addition, the supported wireless networking standards are IEEE 802.11 b/g/n. The additional features are Security lock slot, inbuilt numeric keypad, Multi-touch technology, ASUS Turbo33 Technology, Hard drive password and System password.
The interfaces of Asus UL50VT-RBBBK05 are 1×Display / video – HDMI – 19 pin HDMI Type A, 1×Network – Ethernet 10Base-T/100Base-TX/1000Base-T – RJ-45, 3×Hi-Speed USB – 4 pin USB Type A, 1×Display / video – VGA – 15 pin HD D-Sub (HD-15), 1×Headphones – Output – Mini-phone stereo 3.5 mm and 1×Microphone – Input – Mini-phone 3.5 mm. The voltage required for the UL50VT is AC 120/230V.
Energy Star qualified Asus UL50VT-RBBBK05 has eight-cell lithium ion battery. Asus is providing one-year limited labors-and-parts warranty on its UL50VT.
Razzle Dazzle:
Asus UL50VT-RBBBK05 is 1-inch tall, 15.2 inches wide and 10.2 inches deep. It weights around 5.1 pounds and 5.9 pounds with AC adapter. The Asus UL50VT is clad in brushed black metal finish on lid. The UL50VT has thin lid and compact base, which resembles the design of Acer’s Timeline series. The Asus UL50VT looks like the UL30A-A1. The UL50VT feels delicate and plasticy after opening, and feels backpack-safe and sturdy when closed.
Inside Dope:
Asus UL50VT-RBBBK05 is a full-fledged laptop that has 15.6-inch LCD screen, Nvidia graphics card and CD/DVD burner, and it costs around $729. Asus also has low power consuming ULV (Ultra Low Voltage) Core 2 Duo processor, which is used for long battery life. The UL50VT has revamped design of the UL50AG-RBBBK05 and both of them have same cost. The main difference is that the new UL50VT is equipped with dedicated graphics Nvidia card. New Intel processors Core i5 and Core i3 are included in various similar priced laptops and they offer better performance than the Asus UL50VT. Asus also has a Core i3 laptop, U50F-RBBAG05 that has similar design without dedicated graphics card and costs only $649.
The dedicated gaming and graphics Nvidia card of Asus UL50VT-RBBBK05 can be turned on or off through software. But there, is a new technology round the corner from Nvidia which is newer and better. This notebook has a lower powered processor and for this, you get a thinner chassis, better battery life and graphics chip.
Most of the thin Netbooks and laptops model does not include optical drive. On the bright side, Asus UL50VT-RBBBK05 has optical drive and still keeps its thin looks. The UL50VT has Chiclets-keyboard like that of Mac Book. Its numeric pad is squeezed at the right side. Moreover, few keys look shrunk to provide the space for the pad.
Both keyboard and touchpad has matte surface that gives a soft feel. It is little prone towards oily stains and smudges. Asus UL50VT-RBBBK05 has comfortable and responsive multi-touch touchpad. A rocket-type chrome shaped button-bar sits beneath the touchpad.
Asus UL50VT-RBBBK05 has two chromed power buttons – one located on top left side and other at right side of the keyboard. The two power buttons are creating confusion. In fact, one power button launches the Windows 7 and other launches the ExpressGate Splatshop environment.
This ExpressGate is quickly booting mini-operating system that has inbuilt essential programs, email and Web browser. It will offer fast boot for basic and quick tasks without waiting to start Windows 7. However, the regular users are using Hibernate/Sleep modes for fast start ups so they might not require the ExpressGate. Still, some casual and new users will take benefit of this new quick-launch operating system button. If the Windows 7 is already booted in, then ExpressGate button will work as a switch for power-saving modes. If you switch from integrated graphics to dedicated graphics, then it will take few seconds and sometime the screen will flicker.
Asus UL50VT-RBBBK05 has 15.6-inch glossy (15:9) LED display of 1366×768 pixels resolution. However, this resolution is low end for 16 inches and larger laptops. The display screen is not so good to beat the quality of large screen notebooks that we had reviewed earlier. The stereo speakers are located on the bottom of the UL50VT. The speakers provided loud and clear sound while testing.
Asus UL50VT-RBBBK05 has VGA port, HDMI port, CD/DVD optical drive, USB ports, IEEE 802.11n Wi-Fi, 500GB hard drive and 4GB RAM. However, the UL50VT has Intel SU7300 Core 2 Duo 1.3GHz ULV processor, which provides half of the speed of other mainstream Core 2 Duos. As a result, the performance of UL50VT is affected. It even did not meet the standards of other Core 2 Duo laptops. The Asus UL50VT did not perform well while working on Apple iTunes and Adobe Photoshop. Whereas, HP Pavilion dv7-3165dx, Toshiba Satellite A505-S6025, and Dell Inspiron i1564-6980CRD performed much better.
It was a standard to use low power-consuming processors for large battery life in the last year, but the new Core i3 processor has changed the situation. Asus is providing the Core i3 processor in its U50F-RBBAG05 for only $649. However, the company has not included this processor in the UL50VT, which is a strange thing.
Asus UL50VT-RBBBK05 has only advantages in the aspects of gaming and battery life. The UL50VT has 512MB Nvidia GeForce G210M and it can switch between onboard Intel graphics card and Nvidia GPU with a single press of button located at the right side of keyboard. The onboard Intel graphics chip is power conserving and Nvidia GPU helps to extend battery life. This feature converts the UL50VT in hybrid laptop.
Nvidia had recently announced to launch Optimus Technology to enable the auto-switching of graphics for making the process smoother. If you want to wait for Optimus Technology Nvidia models, then you have to wait. The UL50VT offers Asus Turbo 33 over-clocking mechanism on CPU, but its result still does not match the same feature on Core i3 processor.
Asus UL50VT-RBBBK05 is a gaming laptop and is capable of playing most mainstream games. We tried to play Unreal Tournament III for testing on it and the game ran at 33.5fps. The annual power consumption cost of the Asus UL50VT is $4.81, which is very less as compared to that of HP Pavilion dv4-2165dx, Dell Studio s15z-2249CPN and Toshiba Satellite A505-S6025.
Asus UL50VT-RBBBK05 has eight-cell lithium ion battery that has a life of 4 hours 44 minutes of video playback. The battery life will be decreased on turning on the Nvidia GeForce GPU.
Asus is providing one-year labors-and-part warranty with its UL50VT-RBBBK05. The email and Web support is also available. There is also a toll-free number available in weekdays between 7:30 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. PST.
Nitty Gritty:
Asus UL50VT-RBBBK05 has switch-able Nvidia graphics GPU and thin design. Still, it sacrifices performance for large battery life. You can look for another laptop with fast Core i3 processor in the same price range. Still, if you do not mind the low performance then you can buy the new Asus UL50VT.
