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Intro, Specs, and Packaging

Here at PC Perspective, we have been reviewing a lot of netbooks recently: the Asus Eee 1201N, the Acer Ferrari One 200, and the MSI Wind U230-040. While these products are great for long battery life and light-duty work, but what if you wanted a system with a bit more processing power to handle all your computing needs while having good battery life?
 
Enter the Asus U30Jc, an NVIDIA Optimus powered slim profile 13.3" notebook featuring a Intel Core processor. With NVIDIA's Optimus, the Asus U30Jc should be able to achieve superior battery life by automatically switching between the on-die Intel graphics for regular tasks and the discrete NVIDIA GeForce 310M GPU for tasks requiring hardware acceleration. (Read our complete review of NVIDIA Optimus Technology if you haven't done so already).

With Optimus being the main draw, does the rest of the Asus U30Jc stand on its own, or is the notebook a one trick pony?

Specs


Notable is the 4GB of RAM and the optical drive which seems to be a dying breed on smaller notebooks these days. The webcam is only 0.3 MP which is sufficient for video conferencing.

Packaging


The packaging on the U30 is pretty sparse. Even though there is a optical drive, system restore discs are not included with the system which means you have to burn your own. This is a bit baffling since cheaper Asus netbooks have discs included and those units don't even have optical drives! I would have expected discs included with a product over valued over $800.

There is a cleaning cloth included with the U30, which is a good thing since the aluminum body attracts smudges and dirt easily.

Click here for the Detailed Review