ASUS U30Jc: Refining Thin and Light Performance



Over the past year or so, we've been watching the evolution of ASUS' U-series (and UL-series) of ultraportable laptops. The first generation ULxxVt models were highly promising, coupling switchable graphics with overclockable CULV processors in order to provide a good blend of battery life and performance. The ULxxVf models took things a step further by using NVIDIA's Optimus Technology to provide seamless switching between IGP and GPU workloads, all while keeping the same basic CULV platform. While CULV was fine last year, the recent onslaught of Arrandale i3 and i5 CPUs makes them look slow and outdated. Enter the ASUS U30Jc.



With the U30Jc, ASUS gives CPU performance a significant boost by moving to a Core i3-350M processor. There's no Turbo Boost on tap with Core i3, but the CPU runs at 2.26GHz and has other enhancements like Hyper-Threading that push performance significantly higher than CULV (and Core 2 Duo in general). Perhaps more importantly, ASUS has definitely invested some effort into making the U30Jc more aesthetically pleasing, with a brushed aluminum exterior that really pleases. GPU performance and the LCD are the only chinks in the armor, but for the $900 price tag, this is one of the better buys on the market.



http://www.anandtech.com/show/3730/a...ht-performance