Either a laptop or not

       Progress does not stand still and recently, productivity growth proportional to a decrease in the size of devices has become more and more noticeable. A good example is the ASUS UL20A , the first representative of the new line of compact laptops.

    Review ASUS UL20A Notebook

       At first, it might even seem that inside there is simply nowhere to place a serious filling and all this is nothing more than a purebred netbook. But ... but tell me that I did not intrigue you;)

    In this article , people who care about our bright future were most interested .

       Notebook ASUS UL20A manufacturer positions itself as the youngest model of the UL-series of ultra-portable devices.
       Letter U”In the name of the model says that Intel’s ULV processor is used inside,“ L ”- that the laptop case cover is made of aluminum with a fine grinding texture. “ 2 ” means the diagonal of the device is 12 inches.

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       This new product is based on Intel® Centrino® 2 processor technology . Intel ULV (Ultra Low Voltage) processors are one of the most promising developments, featuring very low power consumption. Without going into intimate technical details, these letters are often the key to sufficient performance for most tasks and long battery life.

       The heart of the model that I got for the test is a dual-core processorIntel Core 2 Duo SU7300 with a standard clock speed of 1.30 GHz (800 MHz bus frequency, 3 MB cache). However, reconnaissance in combat showed that this figure could easily be increased programmatically to 1650 MHz, if necessary.

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       The Intel GS45 chipset contains an integrated GMA 4500MHD video system(with support for DirectX 10 and high-definition hardware video processing), carries 3 GB of RAM onboard (two slots are inserted in two slots - 2048 and 1024 MB). User data is stored on a 250GB hard drive.

    More technical information is in the following table:

    Specifications of the laptop ASUS UL20A

       The package bundle is the most standard - the laptop itself, a network adapter, a couple of instructions (for ExpressGate, for example) and three disks - with drivers, a rescue copy of Windows and something for burning discs. In general, everything that is useful in a device without a drive :) The network adapter is the same in size as on a netbook.

       What is pleasant - ASUS decided to keep up with the times and now Windows 7 will be installed on most devices. In this case, Windows 7 Home Premium was supplied.

    Appearance


       The laptop is very small - you can easily put it in the palm of your hand and not be afraid that on one side it will suddenly outweigh. Slim and compact.

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    As I said above, the necessary mechanical strength of this thin “book” is provided by its brushed aluminum “cover”, it is also the cover.

       I will not list the connectors, I can only say that there is a very small distance between the USB ports on the left. There is a ventilation hole on the same side - only with active work (for example, when watching a movie) does something warm come from there. The card reader pleasantly pleased with its omnivorousness (except CF).

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       On the reverse side, behind one oblong cover, there is a hard drive and a RAM compartment - you can change it yourself without losing a guarantee.

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       The lid leans back about 135 degrees - a fairly large angle. In the open "book" of the shortcomings can be noted only a glossy frame around the screen. The part of the case under the keyboard is also glossy, but thanks to the unusual texture, fingerprints on it are completely invisible.

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       The multi-touch widescreen touchpad does not have a embossed frame, but it has a tactilely pleasant surface, consisting of many pressed “dots”. The only chrome button below the touchpad is pressed softly, but it takes some effort to press it.
       The digital block on the keyboard did not fit, but what got into it will pleasantly please its owner. Separated keys with rounded corners have a small stroke, albeit very noisy with active printing. Native to the heart letters, as well as Fn-functions, are painted in blue, while Latin ones are white as snow.

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    Features of work


       The power buttons are spaced on opposite sides (let me remind you that there are two of them - one includes ExpressGate - an operating system built into the motherboard that loads in 6-8 seconds; the second performs normal power-up) of the device.

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    After starting the device, noise is completely inaudible, except for the hard drive. Not exactly sure, but maybe it can be muted by assigning parameter AAM minimum value). LEDs are bright enough, but they do not blind in the dark.
       With a small load (work with text, surfing), the laptop does not heat up. If you turn on some movie (multi-gigabyte mkv went without problems) - after a while the left side of the keyboard heats up slightly.

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       Of the non-standard on the keyboard, we can note the new combinations of Fn + C (changing the monitor's color mode via ASUS Splendid utility) and Fn + M (launching the camera application, ASUS LifeFrame), which are also in a good habit, as well as relatively new, but undoubtedly pleasant function - launch through the “Fn + Arrow” multimedia shell. Although the remote control is not included, the application of such a bonus can be found unambiguously. The combination of “Fn + Space” changes the mode of operation of the laptop (from office to entertainment), thereby allowing you to achieve those megahertz.

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       On the desktop is a detailed manual for this particular laptop model, and not help for some abstract model. It will be useful for beginners - it has everything you need.

       In addition to the instructions, two new pre-installed programs were also discovered - ASUS MultiFrame and ASUS ControlDeck .
       After launching, the first one adds a small icon to the open windows on the right, clicking on which, in the drop-down menu, select the place where to place the window. A choice of 9 seats on two desktops. Not the most convenient virtual desktop manager, however, there is progress.

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       The second innovation is just a beautiful shell for changing some system parameters - volume, brightness, color scheme of the screen, applications in startup , etc.

    Speed ​​measurements


       The modest size of the device all the time caused some kind of netbook associations. Probably, it was from there that the idea was born to compare performance with what I already undertook. These are three netbooks ( ASUS EeePC 1005HAG , 1000HE and T91 touchscreen ), VX5 Lamborghini fashion laptop and ASUS Ares gaming computer .

    SuperPi 1.5 (an arithmetic test that calculates the Pi number to the millionth decimal place).
    The laptop took exactly a minute to complete this task .

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    CPU Free Benchmark 2.2 is another arithmetic test. The faster it goes, the better .

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       On the default settings in3DMark05 scored 1396 points, in 3DMark06 - 790 . It should be borne in mind that the operating system Windows 7 was installed on this laptop. By the way, the performance index in it was 3.4 (out of a possible 7.9). Could be 4.1 - if there was a more productive graphics card.

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       The Hitachi HTS545025B9A hard drive (250GB, 5400 revolutions) in the HDTune Pro 3.50 test achieved the following successes:

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       Operating time depends on which battery is included. There are three to choose from - 2200 mAh (3 cells, 24 W ∙ h - with such a laptop it weighs 1.3 kg), 4400 mAh (6 cells, 48 ​​W ∙ h) and 5600 mAh (9 cells, 62 W ∙ h - weight will be 1.5 kg). Accordingly, the manufacturer promises a working time of 2.5, 5 and 6.5 hours.
       For tests, I took the "adult" model with a 5600mAh battery . Turning off all the energy-saving chips, I took up the Battery Eater Pro 2.70 test . Officially, the test is not friendly with Windows 7 and did not produce a beautiful graphics at the end - the exact battery life was found out by the logs. The laptop worked properly from 03:21 to 09:28, i.e. honest 6+ hours. With the included communication modules, this time will be somewhat less, however, in 6 hours you can do a lot of things.

    Love does not love?


    Pros
    - Modest size, light weight;
    - Build quality, partially aluminum body;
    - Long time silent operation from one battery charge;
    - A bright screen and a comfortable keyboard with divided keys;
    - Sufficient performance for most tasks;
    - Preset media center functions;
    - Price (from 21 000r).

    Cons
    - Glossy frame around the screen;
    - A sufficiently elastic touchpad button;
    - The keyboard is quite loud and without backlight;
    - No internal drive.

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    Total


       I definitely like the new UL-series of devices - cool aluminum is better than plastic in any of its manifestations. And I'm almost sure that we will return to this series, but now we need to summarize some of its beginning.

       In my opinion, a good start has been made - there are no significant minuses, as such. Most of all, the lack of a drive can upset, but it is very rarely installed in such compact cases . So you have to put up with this, but with other minuses, IMHO, it is quite possible to live.
       But there were much more positive aspects - an affordable price, sufficient for most typical tasks (it is necessary to render in a hospital), productivity and other “greenhouse conditions” that will help make everyday handling of the piece of iron more comfortable. What is important - the laptop does not even remotely look like a cheap Chinese toy - it is in its own way a stylish and sophisticated device.
       So if you are looking for a stylish compact assistant, but are afraid of single-core netbooks, you can safely record this model in your shopping list.

    imageFeel free to join the ranks of the company's fans;)
    And on Twitter you can always ask any intimate question or find out about upcoming reviews.

    Good luck!

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