ASUS UL80Jt-A1

This brushed aluminum machine balances good graphics performance Sony VGP-BPS8 Battery with long battery life.

Last fall, ASUS released Dell Studio 17 Battery the UL80Vt, a 14-inch notebook that paired an ultra-low voltage processor with switchable graphics; in addition to 9 hours of battery life, users could also get some gaming in, too. The new UL80Jt-A1 ($869 as configured) still has switchable graphics, but now it comes with Nvidia's Optimus technology, which does the switching for you. ASUS also swapped the ultra-low voltage processor for an Intel Core i3 CPU, which delivers more power at the expense of battery life. Still, it's hard to Dell Studio 1737 Battery argue with over 6 hours of endurance, making this brushed aluminum machine a solid choice for multimedia mavens.

Editor's note: Portions of this review were taken from the review Dell Studio 1535 Battery of the ASUS UL80Vt.

Design
The UL80Jt-A1 is all black, with an attractive brushed metal lid. Inside, the tastefully-appointed deck Sony VGP-BPS9 Battery is also made of metal. The deck is glossy plastic, while the bottom is matte plastic. This uniformity of color and design gives the system a sleek yet understated look, but tends to pick up fingerprints. In many ways, this notebook looks similar to the Samsung Q430-11, except the Samsung has a silver deck.

At 4.8 pounds and 13.5 x 9.6 x 1.1 inches, the UL80Jt-A1 Sony VGP-BPS9A/B Battery is the same size and weight as the UL80Jv, which is to say it's not the thinnest and lightest 14-inch notebook on the block. However, it's nearly identical in weight and size to the Gateway ID49C, and 0.2 pounds lighter than the Samsung Q430-11. The overall feel is sturdy but this 14-inch laptop is still fairly portable.

Keyboard and Touchpad
The UL80Jt-A1's island style keyboard is spacious, and has its keys in all the proper positions, even if the right Shift key is a tad undersized. This notebook Sony VGP-BPS9/B Battery was certainly more comfortable to type on than the U33Jc, and we were up to our usual pecking speed in no time. However, compared to the Samsung Q430-11, this machine's layout exhibited more flex.

With a dotted surface that sits flush with and blends into the wrist rest, the UL80Jt-A1 touchpad certainly VGP-BPS9/S looks futuristic. Navigating around the desktop was pretty smooth. Too bad the single chrome mouse button felt stiff. We prefer too distinct buttons.

Ports and Webcam
The UL80Jt-A1 has all the ports you'd expect from a Dell GD761 Battery modern consumer notebook, including VGA, audio in/out, HDMI, Ethernet, and three USB connections. A 5-in-1 memory card reader is included for getting pictures or video off of your camera.

The 0.3-megapixel webcam provided smooth and fairly good quality video. Over Skype, a caller could make out the stripes on our shirt, although there toshiba PA3534U-1BRS Battery was a little motion blur when we moved around.

Display and Sound
The 14.0-inch, 1366 x 768 glossy display on the UL80Jt-A1 provided bright, sharp dell Latitude E5400 Battery images in our testing. While watching a DVD of Dark City and a 720p video stream of Fringe from Fox.com, playback was smooth, and colors were true with minimal noise and no pixelation. However, viewing angles leave something to be desired. At 45 degrees off center horizontally, color clarity is good enough when looking at the desktop, but when watching video, colors started to reverse and wash out, to say nothing of the reflections.

Sound quality from the front-mounted speakers was quite loud both Dell Laptop Battery when watching videos and listening to music. While listening to Alicia Keys' "If I Ain't Got You" on Pandora, the piano riff at the beginning came through mostly clear, but bass notes got a little lost and muddy when she started singing, and there was slight distortion in the higher tones when playing the song at full volume. Bass was completely lacking when playing Iron Maiden's "Run to the Hills," and the song came through tinny. For a 14-inch system, the UL80's speakers good battery are above average, but the Toshiba Satellite M645's speakers are superior.