Very innovative notebook
I got to use this laptop for a few days and it's brought me dangerously close to buying one for myself. If you are looking for a thin-and-light notebook with great battery life and a little gaming life under the hood this is (in my opinion) the best choice on the market today. What sets this notebook apart is two things:

1. At the push of a button you can switch from a low power Intel 4500HD graphics processor to a higher power NVidia G210M with 512MB DDR3 RAM (this defaults on when plugged in and defaults off when unplugged).
2. At the push of a button you can enable the "Turbo 33" mode which uses a mix of hardware (such as overclocking the cpu) and software to boost performance by up to 33%. I ran some basic benchmarks and it seemed to work pretty well.

CPU - The 1.3GHz Intel SU7300 Core 2 Duo Processor 3MB Cache 800MHz FSB is a great fit. Some of the thin-and-lights in this class ship with either a Core Solo (i.e. single core) or Celeron CPU. I tend to avoid both because the single core CPUs tend to choke on all the Internet Security software you need these days and the Celerons come with cut-down cache and now power saving modes.

RAM - The included 4GB of DDR3 is just the right amount to really start taking advantage of a 64 bit O.S. I also like that Asus used DDR3 which uses less power than DDR2.

HDD - It comes with a 500GB hard disk drive which is more than most users need today. The 5400RPM speed is slower than the 7200RPM drive you will find on some models but I prefer the reliability and power savings that come with a 5400RPM drive.

DISPLAY - The 13.3 inch widescreen is glossy and reasonably bright. Outdoor use will suffer from some glare but the backlit screen helps. I found the vertical viewing angles are a little tight but it wasn't a big deal.

GRAPHICS - As mentioned above it switches between a low power Intel 4500HD graphics chip on the motherboard (fine for most non-gaming tasks) and a more power hungry NVidia G210M that will actually let you do a some 3D gaming (though newer games will still run best at reduced settings). This simple and clever innovation really sets Asus apart. Oh and either chipset can do 1080P HD video.

Battery - It's rare to get a battery this good in a notebook this thin: 8 cell 5600mAh. I couldn't get the claimed 12 hours of battery life but I got very close (doing a normal mix of MS Office tasks and web browsing I got just shy of 11 hours). Even doing very compute intensive tasks like gaming or playing back video I went over 6 hours. Most notebooks can't run Word that long.

Touchpad - At first I hated the touchpad but as I got used to it I really liked it. It two-finger scrolling and three-finger right click which may trip you up at first but after a few days you won't want to go back.

It comes with most of the usual stuff: HDMI port (for an external monitor or compatible TV), Ethernet port, wireless b/g/n, 3 USB ports, headphone jack, microphone jack, and a vga (for an external monitor). It does lack any kind of optical drive, so no playing CDs or DVDs without an external drive. For this you would need the ASUS UL80Vt-A1 14-Inch Thin and Light Black Laptop. It's a "thin-and-light" which as you would guess means it is thin (1") and light (3.75lbs). I also found it to be very quiet. It comes with a facial recognition feature that allows you to login without a password but this was disabled by our IT department so I wasn't able to try it out.

I see a lot of notebooks and I've generally been impressed with the build quality of Asus notebooks. The build on this model looks great and it's helped by the sleek and simple design: no fancy little bits that fall off in a year. In my opinion this is the thin-and-light to have if you need great battery life but don't want to give up all the fun. If you don't do any 3D gaming you don't need the Nvidia chipset and you probably should save a little money on a notebook without it such as the nearly identical ASUS UL30A-A2 Thin and Light 13-3-Inch Silver Laptop. Otherwise this is a great choice for a student or business traveler who likes to do a little gaming.

Sweet machine, very impressed
I was trying to decide whether I wanted an iPad or a netbook, but neither really fit the bill. I'm a photographer and I need to have a machine that's fast enough for photography, but something light enough to carry. I never use DVDs to install anything anymore and I need a lot of battery life. This machine is the best choice for me.

Pros:
Battery life: On full power, 4 hrs. On normal use, 9 hours. On power saving, about 11+ hrs. UNBELIEVABLE!
Graphics card: I need a video card that can support Photoshop CS4/5 and Lightroom 3. I don't play games, but I figure 512MB of RAM would be good for that.
Keyboard: absolutely love the chicklet keyboard. It has Home/End keys which are important to me and don't exist on HPs similar line.
LED Monitor: unbelievably clear. Still nice to have an HDMI port to output to my 23" monitor, too, but great for on the road.
Weight: This thing is ~4 lbs. No need to carry the cord, since the battery life is awesome.
Quickboot: It has a nice quickboot option that allows you to boot to a lightweight browser and skype experience. Neat, but Win7 boots so fast, I'm not sure I need it.
Turbo mode/overclocking: Very nice option, not entirely sure I'll use it, but still, very nice.
500GB Drive: They partition the drive so drive0 is ~120GB and drive1 is ~340GB. The rest is used for the reinstall partition.

Cons:
Facial recognition login: I like the idea, but the camera resolution is too low for it to work well. They'd have done better by not doing it at all.
Touchpad: It's nice. It does the 2-finger tap to double-click and 3-finger tap to right click, but it's slightly inaccurate and I have to get used to it. I like using a mouse anyways.
Turbo-mode: you have to reboot to switch to turbo mode. Just doesn't seem worth it.
Bloatware: DON'T INSTALL CRAPPY SOFTWARE I WON'T USE ON MY MACHINE!!!

I have several machines, and this one is definitely my new favorite!

This laptop is the BOMB!!! (In a good way)
I am told I over analyze purchases and must say I have been watching laptops for a couple of years. My goals were lightweight and portable but not so small I could not read the screen and LONG battery time. After all it is a portable! I tried a 15.6 but what a moose! A 14" seemed just right but the chassis was bigger and heavier. I was afraid of a 13.3 but then it dawned on me that is was the same resolution as the 14 and only .7" smaller, not a full inch. I went from store to store lining a 14's up next to a 13.3's and I really could not tell the difference! Listen my fellow middle agers,I have exceptionally poor eyesight so if it worked for me it will for you! (no offense to my eye Surgeon, Dr. Barry Lee, he did a great job with what I gave him to work with!).

I have a powerful desktop so I did not need a desktop replacement class Laptop. I also can't stand a slow poke so a netbook was out and so was a celeron. The T6600 CPUS are the sweet spot for price and value and they are plenty snappy but they are power hungry (compared to the SU's). The SU7300 was just the ticket. Yes, I got the TURBO 33 VT version but I don't think that matters at all. I wanted it for bragging rights only. Same goes for the separate GPU, I want to hedge my bets in case I do some vector art editing. I am NOT a gamer.

I wrestled with the lack of a DVD drive but hey you can download ANYTHING, DVD drives are really on the way out, don't sweat it!It's worth the size and weight savings. The keyboard is REALLY GREAT, I am not a touch typist and the keys have nice spacing and definition. (I would have paid BIG money for a back lit keyboard but that just narrows the field TOO MUCH. Touchpad is fine also but I live with my Logitech NANO V450 mouse anyway.

The battery life is the real deal and that sold me on this unit. I am coming up on 4 hrs with wifi, bright screen, remote desktop, iTunes, 2 browsers and only down 25% on the battery. Seriously! I charge it and leave without the power cord. I really wanted the silver cover after seeing a black one in person it really showed finger prints. Silver is GREAT!

Another thing I like about the VT version is a little bit faster DRAM and Bus, I don't believe anyone could tell a difference but it makes me feel like I have the latest and greatest and am hedging my bets regarding being outdated sooner then later. If you need to save a few dollars, don't worry about it!

There are no compromises here and if you don't know ASUS, they have been around FOREVER and have been an OEM supplier since, like FOREVER! Don't get hung up on the big name companies, it means nothing! The ONLY complaint is the lack of documentation. I got NOTHING to help me figure out the VT features like discrete graphics switching or the Turbo boost (That's the over clocking feature. It steps the CPU up 33% This is VERY unnecessary, I can not come close to pushing this thing in standard mode.) I suspect most will never adjust these features anyway but HEY ASUS, are you listening? Send me a manual, pdf is fine! If its on here somewhere then you made it too hard to find! :)

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ASUS UL30Vt-A1 Thin and Light 13.3-Inch Silver Laptop (12 Hours of Battery Life) at of 2010-09-07 Product prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on [amazon.com or endless.com, as applicable] at the time of purchase will apply to the purchase of this product.

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