ASUS U41JF: Arrandale's Not Dead Yet
by Jarred Walton on March 28, 2011 7:35 PM ESTImpressions of the ASUS U41JF
There are several easy points of comparison for the U41JF: on the one hand we have the U3x series that we’ve already reviewed extensively; on the other, there’s the larger UL8x and N8x that we’ve also covered. Looking at the U30JC, the U41JF is just a slightly larger option with a significantly faster GPU. Even better, the pricing of the U41JF is competitive; the U30JC-B1 is now on clearance and can save you $140, but you get a slightly slower CPU, the old G 310M GPU, and a 320GB 5400RPM hard drive as part of the package. The UL80JT is pretty much pointless now, unless you’re willing to sacrifice quite a bit of CPU performance for only slightly better battery life (in some situations); besides, we’re not keen on the black glossy plastic used with the UL80JT. Finally, there’s the also outdated N82JV, which will shave off $80 and DX11 support, plus 36Wh of battery capacity. No, no, no… we don’t want any of those now! They were all reasonable a few months ago, but the U41JF supersedes all of them. Here’s why.
First, we like the silver aesthetic a lot more than the glossy black or funky dark brown. Okay, so only the top cover is actually aluminum (the palm rest is a faux brushed aluminum plastic), but fingerprints aren’t much of a concern either way. Somewhat surprisingly, the U41JF is also slightly lighter than both the U30JC and the N82JV. If you still like the idea of a smaller and lighter laptop and you’re willing to give up some performance, the next best alternative is going to be the new ASUS U31JG. The silver model starts at $800, so it’s only $20 less than the U41JF, and you lose some graphics performance and the DVDR in the switch. Still, you shave off about a pound of weight. If you don't mind another black laptop, you can go for the $700 version (with a 320GB 5400RPM hard drive).
The other reason the U41JF wins out over the older models comes down to component choices. G 310M isn’t even as fast as the new Sandy Bridge HD 3000 IGP, so that kills off all of the old U-series in our book. You can get better performance at a reasonable price with the i5-2410M in something like the Dell Inspiron 14R. The U41JF stays relevant by combining a large battery with a reasonably fast CPU and a decent midrange GPU, for only a small bump in price compared to the other options.
For the rest, the keyboard and touchpad are the same as what we’ve tested in many other ASUS laptops. There’s a bit of flex in the keyboard, and we wish ASUS would ditch the chrome rocker button on the touchpad, but otherwise they work well enough. For a 14” (or 13.3”) screen chassis, I’m personally quite happy with the layout ASUS uses, providing quick and easy access to all the keyboard shortcuts (i.e. Home/End/PgUp/PgDn) that I use on a regular basis.
Screen quality is still a sticking point, sadly, and the Altec Lansing speakers don’t sound any better than other midrange laptops I’ve used. There’s still glossy black plastic on the screen bezel (ugh!) and around the keyboard, which are certainly items that we’d like to see changed. I also wish the over/underclocking could happen without a sleep/resume cycle every time the bus speed changes, but it’s probably difficult to keep the RAM timings and everything else happy without it. (For reference, the RAM runs at DDR3-1224 CL9 when overclocked, versus DDR3-1066 CL7 at stock and DDR3-800 CL7 underclocked.)
Ultimately, though, I keep coming back to the price, features, and overall build quality. Not only is the U41JF about the cheapest price you can find for a 14”-screen (or smaller) laptop with GT 425M, but it also comes with the largest battery of the bunch, and ASUS’ Power4Gear utility is one of the best options for tweaking power profiles to eke out every last minute of mobility. As far as CPU performance goes, unless you’re moving up to quad-core Sandy Bridge, the 15% overclock goes a long way towards keeping Arrandale relevant. So let’s hit the benchmarks before we wrap things up.
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lexluthermiester - Tuesday, March 29, 2011 - link
As opposed to HP and AMD? Or was that sarcasm?ajp_anton - Monday, March 28, 2011 - link
Have you ever considered flipping that graph and make a simple "Watts (lower is better)" instead?sleepeeg3 - Monday, March 28, 2011 - link
Appreciate your comments on the LCD. I had an different Acer, which probably was not much different from the one in your graphs and tried to switch to the ASUS - horrible. While the Acer was no gem, the ASUS was almost intolerable. I ended up returning it, because of trackpad skipping and partly for the horrible LCD.That said, would I be willing to pay for an IPS panel in a cheap laptop that I am going to use and abuse? Especially one in an Acer with a chafing, integrated LCD power cable that is causing some of the LED backlights to fail, requiring replacement of the panel. Maybe $100 more if I knew it was an IPS, but it's not critical for something I do work on, when I can go home and type on the fantastic 26" IPS I am typing on now. It is amazing to sit behind someone with an Apple laptop and see their gorgeous screen, but on the other hand I know they paid $2000-3000 for that battery sucking, incompatible brick so it's alot easier to tolerate.
Bottom line though, it would be nice to have more choices and for there to be a clear standard for LCD display technology.
mschira - Tuesday, March 29, 2011 - link
save another 100g by ditching the DVD drive,give us a better (highres screen) - you have a buy.
So. Yea well.
M.
duploxxx - Tuesday, March 29, 2011 - link
While this is a nice update / upgrade if you want it is nothing more then stretching the life cycle of an EOL platform.By adding the GT425M, sure the performance is a better then the UM but the playback already shows what will happen with battery in real life not to mention any gaming on battery.
SB will clearly have the lead in poweroptimization for the CPU while still the need is there for a dGPU, the HD series are just not strong enough gaming wise.
Liano on the other hand will provide the gaming performance in the same 35W package.
Watch the P520+5650 real close that is the performance it will have but with a more optimised CPU, when AMD is able to get the idle power under controll of the whole package (mainly needed for idle and surfing), the platform will be a much more balanced solution, the right one for this kind of notebook offers.
Chris Peredun - Tuesday, March 29, 2011 - link
"DVD-RAM (Matshita UJ892AS)"Really? A DVD-RAM drive? Haven't seen one of those in years. ;)
Methinks you meant "DVDRW" instead.
JarredWalton - Tuesday, March 29, 2011 - link
DVD-RAM is another standard, and that's the way the drive chose to identify itself. Technically, every DVD-RAM capable drive is also able to support DVD+/-RW as well, but I suppose just keeping the model number in there is sufficient.Chris Peredun - Tuesday, March 29, 2011 - link
DVD-RAM isn't used very often these days, that's why I suggested the change to the more common "DVDRW" - but mea culpa, apparently this drive can in fact read *and* write to DVD-RAMs.geniekid - Tuesday, March 29, 2011 - link
I'm still using my UL80VT from 1.5 years ago. When I'm away from home, I still use it to play semi-old-school games like TF2 and Torchlight. The battery life is amazing if you mode down to integrated graphics and watch movies or surf the internet. If the U41JF is two refreshes away from the UL80VT and still offers the same battery life for about the same price (I bought my UL80VT for $850) with the ability to run modern games, I have no problem recommending it to anyone who's on the fence.Alexo - Tuesday, March 29, 2011 - link
Are there any (current or upcoming) laptops that combine a good screen with long battery life?I understand that the Tnikpad X220 is available with an IPS panel (although it has a rather small screen and no discrete graphics).
Are there other options?