Wasney's Blog

For the last several weeks I have been thinking about getting a new computer, mainly for school. I have been using a old Emachine for the last year, ever since my Compaq Presario died (motherboard short). It was between a custom desktop, a Asus U50 laptop designed more more the desk and gaming, and the Asus U81. As you can tell from the title of the post I went with the U81. The main reason I chose this laptop was battery life, and portability.

Bestbuy quotes around 7 hours of battery life. I was skeptic at first, since most companies are about 0.5-1 hours off on their estimated. And I was right, at first. Using Windows Vista Premium I was getting about 5 hours with battery saver on in Power4Gear. With is off it was about 2 and a half. Not bad, since the laptop is going to be used mainly between classes (1-2 hours) or at home, and can be plugged in either way.

That all changed when I installed Windows 7 Pro. I was able to get it through my school (SVSU, MI) for free. I guess it is included in my tuition or something. After a hour or two of dicking around, getting drivers and programs installed, Windows 7 estimated a whopping 7.8 hours in power save mode (using Power4Gear), and 4.3 hours in performance mode. Truthfully, those numbers are a little off, by about 30 minutes. But still…

Expect a bunch more information to follow soon about the Asus U81. A review is in the works, and I am going to try out Ubuntu 9.04 as well. Not to mention a review on Windows 7!

Quick Spec Sheet, quoted off BestBuy.com:

• Processor
• Intel® Core™2 Duo
• Processor Speed
  2.1GHz
• Display Type
  Widescreen LED-backlit LCD (1366 x 768)
• Screen Size (Measured Diagonally)
  14″
• System Bus
  800MHz
• Cache Memory
  2MB on die Level 2
• System Memory (RAM)
  4GB
• Type of Memory (RAM)
  PC2-6400 DDR2
• Hard Drive Type
  Serial ATA (5400 rpm)
• Computer Hard Drive Size
  320GB
• Optical Drive
  Double-layer DVD±RW/CD-RW
• Graphics
  Intel® Graphics Media Accelerator 4500MHD
• Video Memory
  Shared
• MPEG
• Yes
• Built-in Webcam
  Yes
• Networking
• Built-in 10/100 Mbps Ethernet (RJ-45 connector)
• Wireless Networking
  Wireless-B+G+N
• Additional Audio/Video Connectors
• 1 HDMI
• Audio
  Azalia audio chip
• Speakers
  Built-in stereo
• USB 2.0 Ports
• 3
• Laptop Weight
  Ultraportable (5.5 lbs. or less)
• Battery Life
  Up to 7 hours and 18 minutes
• Battery Life Range
  More than 7 hours
• Pointing Device
  Touchpad
• HDMI Output
  Yes
• Operating System Platform
• Windows
• Operating System
  Windows Vista Home Premium 64-bit with SP1
• Included Software
  Power 4 Gear Extreme, Adobe Acrobat Reader 8, Power2Go and more

Images and Spec sheet borrowed from BestBuy.com