ASUS U33Jc-A1 Bamboo series review
Pandas, East Asia, wood. Nope, "laptop" hasn't ever been on the list of words we typically associate with "bamboo," but ASUS sure has us willing to tack it on with the introduction of its U Bamboo Series. The company's newest 13-inch U33Jc is covered in one of the most durable and recyclable materials on earth, and its internals are made of equally strong parts. Sure, the laptop looks incredibly traditional, but the $999 machine actually packs an incredible amount of new technology, including a fresh Core i3 processor, NVIDIA Optimus enabled graphics, USB 3.0 and Intel's wireless display technology. It's truly one of the most impressive laptops we've heard about in the last few months, but a few gripes hold it back from being the killer laptop it could be. Intrigued? Bamboozled? Hit the break for our full review.
The U33Jc won't appeal to fans of glossy plastics or aluminum, but those that like the look of dark wood and chrome accents will find the laptop to be rather stunning. Actually, there's something about the smoky brown U33Jc that reminds us of a high end piece of furniture, and that's not necessarily a bad thing. While the smooth feeling dark wood only covers the lid and the palmrest, it seems to give the entire chassis a stronger feel than other ASUS systems we've reviewed.
However, while the rig has a really striking aesthetic, there's no denying that we wish it were slimmer and lighter. The 1.2-inch thick and 4.5-pound chassis is a lot like the ASUS U30Jc in terms of size, but doesn't have an optical drive. Seriously, we actually searched the system a few times for a drive – we just expected it would have one with its thicker base. We will admit, the entire system is quite a chunker compared to the Toshiba Portege R705, which we recently fell pretty hard for. The edges of the U33Jc are filled with two USB 2.0 ports, one USB 3.0 socket, an HDMI, VGA, Ethernet, microphone and headphone jack. A five-in-one card reader lives on the right side.
Like we said before, the U33Jc actually feels like one of the more solid laptops we've reviewed, save for its plastic chiclet keyboard. The matte keys just don't blend well with the rest of the brushed aluminum deck, and in comparison to the rest of the machine, they just feel cheap. Don't get us wrong -- the keys are comfortable and didn't require any adjustment on our part, though they do make a distinct 'clicky' sound. It's also the type of keyboard you'd expect to have a backlight option, but there's no inner glow hiding underneath the panel.
Conversely, the touchpad gets premium treatment, and ASUS has used a special in-mold decoration process along with a new integrated circuit with proper sensor capabilities to cover it in bamboo to match the rest of the palmrest. Sliding a finger over the smooth wood to navigate the desktop was a rather enjoyable experience, and the lovely-feeling texture of the pad makes up for the single mouse button. Oddly, it doesn't support multitouch gestures, but the right side did function as a scroll strip.
The U33Jc's 13.3-inch, 1,366 x 768-resolution display is bright, and streaming a 720p clip of Salt looked crisp. The display itself isn't overly glossy, but the shiny bezel surrounding it makes the glossiness a bit more pronounced. It's no surprise that we were not thrilled with the viewing angles – tilting the screen back made Angelina Jolie's eyes blend in with the rest of her face. At least horizontal viewing angles were better. Like the Eee PC 1015PE and 1018P, the U33Jc has a latch for covering the 2-megapixel webcam – hey, after hearing about those kids in the Lower Merion school district we'd be happy to see all laptops with this small, helpful privacy feature. The speaker strip along the top of the keyboard produced decently loud and full sound when watching some clips and listening to Pandora.
Internally, the U33Jc is a lot like the U30Jc, but instead of a 2.26GHz Intel Core i3-350M, it has a faster 2.4GHz Core i3-370M CPU. The benchmarks clearly show the improvement, but in our everyday use we couldn't really tell the difference between the U33Jc and some of the other Core i3-powered laptops we've reviewed in the last few weeks. The laptop definitely kept up with our day-to-day routine, including simultaneously running Firefox with over 10 tabs open, Microsoft Office, Skype, Trillian, Adobe Reader and TweetDeck. Our review unit came configured with 4GB of RAM and a 500GB hard drive. Those that may want to swap out the RAM or hard drive shouldn't have an issue doing so with the latch on the bottom of the chassis.
The Core i3 processor and integrated graphics is fine for basic HD playback, but the U33Jc's NVIDIA GeForce 310M GPU with 1GB of VRAM gives the system some real graphics muscle. Thanks to NVIDIA's Optimus technology, the GPU automatically kicked in when we fired up Batman: Arkham Asylum, and within minutes we were throwing punches at 28fps. Similarly, when we queued up a 1080p clip, the 310M card automatically turned on. While most of the graphics switching is completely automatic, NVIDIA's control panel does allow for manually turning on and off the GPU. NVIDIA's newest Verde driver, which displays the status of the GPU, didn't come preloaded -- we're told it will be compatible with the U33Jc within the next month.
Update: We noticed that the 3DMark06 scores on the U33Jc was lower than that on the U30Jc despite having more VRAM. Both LAPTOP Magazine and PCMag report in its reviews that the GPU on the U33Jc is actually underclocked (from 625 MHz to 606 Mhz) and that ASUS is using slower memory in this version.
We happen to like Optimus a lot because it alleviates the need to have to think about turning on and off the GPU, but we also like it for it's battery life benefits. The 310M card remained powered down when we ran our standard definition video rundown test, and in turn the U33Jc's 84Wh eight-cell battery lasted for 5 hours and 10 minutes with brightness set to 65 percent. That's an hour longer than the U30Jc and Toshiba's Portege R705, but not quite as long as ASUS' predicted eight hours. With the GPU on it ran a loop of HD videos for 3.5 hours. Still, both of those numbers are on the extreme end -- when we used the laptop to write this review, listen to music and intermittently watch some YouTube clips, we didn't have to plug in for about six hours. That's some decent runtime for this category.
NVIDIA said it was possible, and the U33Jc is a testament that a laptop with a discrete GPU can be coupled with Intel's WiDi or Wireless Display Technology. However, the GPU must be switched off for the wireless display feature to function, so there was no NVIDIA graphics power when streaming video from the U33Jc to our 40-inch HDTV. Also, don't forget that you've got to have a $99 Netgear Push2TV box to get the whole WiDi thing going. While you still can't stream full 1080p video, the technology is pretty awesome, and we enjoyed watching an episode of Mad Men on the big screen rather than on the 13.3-inch screen. There's still about a three second delay, so it's just not going to cut it for gaming or real productivity.
We can't put this any other way: it sucks that when you boot the U33Jc for the first time you're greeted by a desktop that looks like that. So many ASUS utilities and other miscellaneous software is preloaded on the U33Jc that we don't know where to start. Some of it -- like the shortcut to eBay's website -- is totally useless and should be deleted ASAP, however other things like Kindle for PC and Times Reader may save some the step of having to download the apps at a later date. You can also boot ASUS's ExpressGate Cloud instant-on OS by hitting the button above the keyboard. Like we found on the new Eee PCs, the new interface is attractive, yet seems slower than the previous version.
The U33Jc may be on the bamboo list now, but it's much more than a bamboo laptop. The wood certainly makes you feel like you're buying a unique device, but the draw of the machine for most will be its superior blend of graphics, performance and battery life. We still have to knock the U33Jc for its lack of an optical drive, the cheap feeling keyboard quality, and it's thicker chassis -- if you're in the market for a really light 13-inch machine we have to recommend Toshiba's $899 Portege R705 -- however, for $999 the ASUS U33Jc is a incredibly strong choice, just like the material that covers it.
Look and feel

However, while the rig has a really striking aesthetic, there's no denying that we wish it were slimmer and lighter. The 1.2-inch thick and 4.5-pound chassis is a lot like the ASUS U30Jc in terms of size, but doesn't have an optical drive. Seriously, we actually searched the system a few times for a drive – we just expected it would have one with its thicker base. We will admit, the entire system is quite a chunker compared to the Toshiba Portege R705, which we recently fell pretty hard for. The edges of the U33Jc are filled with two USB 2.0 ports, one USB 3.0 socket, an HDMI, VGA, Ethernet, microphone and headphone jack. A five-in-one card reader lives on the right side.
Keyboard, touchpad and screen

Conversely, the touchpad gets premium treatment, and ASUS has used a special in-mold decoration process along with a new integrated circuit with proper sensor capabilities to cover it in bamboo to match the rest of the palmrest. Sliding a finger over the smooth wood to navigate the desktop was a rather enjoyable experience, and the lovely-feeling texture of the pad makes up for the single mouse button. Oddly, it doesn't support multitouch gestures, but the right side did function as a scroll strip.
The U33Jc's 13.3-inch, 1,366 x 768-resolution display is bright, and streaming a 720p clip of Salt looked crisp. The display itself isn't overly glossy, but the shiny bezel surrounding it makes the glossiness a bit more pronounced. It's no surprise that we were not thrilled with the viewing angles – tilting the screen back made Angelina Jolie's eyes blend in with the rest of her face. At least horizontal viewing angles were better. Like the Eee PC 1015PE and 1018P, the U33Jc has a latch for covering the 2-megapixel webcam – hey, after hearing about those kids in the Lower Merion school district we'd be happy to see all laptops with this small, helpful privacy feature. The speaker strip along the top of the keyboard produced decently loud and full sound when watching some clips and listening to Pandora.
Performance, graphics and battery life

The Core i3 processor and integrated graphics is fine for basic HD playback, but the U33Jc's NVIDIA GeForce 310M GPU with 1GB of VRAM gives the system some real graphics muscle. Thanks to NVIDIA's Optimus technology, the GPU automatically kicked in when we fired up Batman: Arkham Asylum, and within minutes we were throwing punches at 28fps. Similarly, when we queued up a 1080p clip, the 310M card automatically turned on. While most of the graphics switching is completely automatic, NVIDIA's control panel does allow for manually turning on and off the GPU. NVIDIA's newest Verde driver, which displays the status of the GPU, didn't come preloaded -- we're told it will be compatible with the U33Jc within the next month.
Update: We noticed that the 3DMark06 scores on the U33Jc was lower than that on the U30Jc despite having more VRAM. Both LAPTOP Magazine and PCMag report in its reviews that the GPU on the U33Jc is actually underclocked (from 625 MHz to 606 Mhz) and that ASUS is using slower memory in this version.
| PCMarkVantage | 3DMark06 |
Battery Life | |
| ASUS U33Jc (Core i3-370M, NVIDIA 310M) | 5574 | 1860/3403 | 5:10 |
| ASUS U30Jc (Core i3-350M, NVIDIA 310M) | 4841 | 1739/3686 | 4:10 |
| Toshiba Portege R705 (Intel Core i3-350M) | 5024 | 1759 | 4:25 |
| Acer TimelineX 4820T (Intel Core i3-350M) | 4926 | 1724 | 5:04 |
| Dell Vostro V13 (Intel Core 2 Duo SU7300) | 2687 | 556 | 2:39 |
| ASUS UL50Vf (Core 2 Duo SU7300) | 3724 | 827/3438 | 6:10 |
We happen to like Optimus a lot because it alleviates the need to have to think about turning on and off the GPU, but we also like it for it's battery life benefits. The 310M card remained powered down when we ran our standard definition video rundown test, and in turn the U33Jc's 84Wh eight-cell battery lasted for 5 hours and 10 minutes with brightness set to 65 percent. That's an hour longer than the U30Jc and Toshiba's Portege R705, but not quite as long as ASUS' predicted eight hours. With the GPU on it ran a loop of HD videos for 3.5 hours. Still, both of those numbers are on the extreme end -- when we used the laptop to write this review, listen to music and intermittently watch some YouTube clips, we didn't have to plug in for about six hours. That's some decent runtime for this category.
Wireless Display Technology performance
NVIDIA said it was possible, and the U33Jc is a testament that a laptop with a discrete GPU can be coupled with Intel's WiDi or Wireless Display Technology. However, the GPU must be switched off for the wireless display feature to function, so there was no NVIDIA graphics power when streaming video from the U33Jc to our 40-inch HDTV. Also, don't forget that you've got to have a $99 Netgear Push2TV box to get the whole WiDi thing going. While you still can't stream full 1080p video, the technology is pretty awesome, and we enjoyed watching an episode of Mad Men on the big screen rather than on the 13.3-inch screen. There's still about a three second delay, so it's just not going to cut it for gaming or real productivity.
Software

Wrap-up






























What happens if a wooden laptop overheats?
@habes: Technically, bamboo is a type of grass.
@habes
thats means you will be on fire : )
@Squalor
then you get high?
@Squalor It all burns anyway.
@habes
The temperature of combustion of wood and grass is significantly higher than you'll ever have to worry about a CPU reaching. The battery with its reactive chemicals is a much bigger concern.
@pankomputerek Good laptop for jungle survivor!
Nice been waiting for this review. Thanks Joanna.
@fais
As soon as I read "Intrigued? Bamboozled?" I knew it was Ms. Stern. I love her reviews and accompanying corny jokes; informative and funny :)
I feel like Asus has better laptops in different price ranges.
@FlyingAero Cool, thanks for the suggestions.
@FlyingAero Agreed! My $399 Asus 1201T is amazing. 12" 1336x768 screen, 1.6 GHz Athlon Neo, Radeon HD 3200 graphics and 2 GB of RAM. The battery is only 4 hours, though it's the best laptop for the price if you can find an OS somewhere else, though that's where the buddy with the MSDN subscription comes in.
Make that a 14" and give it a multi touch touchpad and I'm sold.
Out of all of the Asus laptops, I still can't find one that's right for me :(
@garionw If I recall correctly, there is a 14 inch version: the U43Jc. I might be wrong, though. I dunno about the multitouch on that one, either.
*Keep away from children and pandas
meh! this is disappointing. and why does it cost so much? im gonna get the toshiba r705 as you suggested!
@dark star The graphics and the new Core i3 are probably to blame for the higher price. I'm sure it will come down to $899 soon...
@dark star Discreet graphics card, Optimus, better performance overall, etc.
@dark star You're right, this laptop is overpriced, the TimelineX-AS4820T has a 2.4 GHz Intel Core i5-450M dual-core processor, 500 GB SATA hard drive has a 9-cell battery which lasts 11.5 hours and costs $250 less than this ASUS model. I think I'll pass this time ASUS.
@gabrielhernandez And integrated graphics. Not that the 310 is a screamer, but its substantially better than integrated only.
I'd get it in an instant.
@pavlindrom
but for impulse buying, you need money.
I hope the day comes soon when PC manufacturers give you the option for a bloat-free load. I'm imagining a startup screen where you have two options the first time you power on your machine. It would have plenty of warnings like "For advanced users only! Warning: you will not get to use all of the awesome shitware we want to shove down your throat!" or something like that. Average Joe will just go with it anyway but those of us who know better will get a clean OS with full driver functionality without having to wipe and reinstall. HP started doing this years ago with their business class machines because they knew that the majority of the buyers were just reimaging them anyway, which is why I buy exclusively HP business class laptops.
@franktronic
The bloatware isn't there because they think people want it. It's there because the people pushing the various software want it and pay the manufacturers to put it there. What they should do is offer maybe a $100 more expensive, bloatware free version of their product.
@franktronic
Sony gives you the option online
@franktronic
Sony has this option as well called fresh start. When I got my Vaio Z, I opted for freshstart (had to buy Win7 Pro instead of Win7 Home Premium) and all the software it came with was Vaio Control Center (understandable because it was the connection to the switchable graphics, ambient light sensor, and cd drive (which can be turned off/on)), ArcSoft Camera Software (not intrusive, but why, should have only included drivers) and fingerprint reading software (for the finger print reader).
I don't know what more would I have gotten if I didn't opt in. Most likely trails for Norton, MS Office...
@KillaChaos Very cool. Now that you mention it, I remember having to reformat someone's VAIO at work and having that option.
@FatDrunkAndStupid I get it, it's there because it makes money. Still, it seems like manufacturers could work out a deal with the vendors where the default setting is to get all that shit installed but have an "expert" mode with an option to say no. The vast majority of users would end up sticking with the extra software and everyone would be happy.
No multi touch..... O... M.... G.... I can't belive this. I was looking forward to this A LOT. If it had keyboard backlight and multi touch I would have loved to own it. I mean come on! How hard is it? And the new Air didnt appear in the last mac refresh. DAMN IT. If I use ubuntu on it, there will be multitouch, but optimus will not work. Not ideal.
I'm really happy about the lack of Optical disc drive though. I never use it on a lappy. And if I need it once in a blue moon, I can just use daemon, or share the desktop's drive over the network.
@Kuzma
http://www.engadget.com/2010/03/19/synaptics-driver-enables-multitouch-gestures-on-older-trackpads/
@DefPoet I think it may have something to do with the bamboo coating to be honest. Let me find out...
Imagine sitting there with this on your lap & you browsing your stuff & suddenly it bursts like those previous dell laptops & boom, You'd be like: OMG: P*NIS on FIRE, P*NIS. Ahh, good failblog video!
I guess it's time for me to change my 5 year old ASUS laptop and give a spin for this one. ASUS sure makes quality products. My old laptop still runs as smooth as the first day, the only problem is that the battery is completly dead and I get about 5 minutes of autonomy ^_^
Beautiful machine. The concept seems really silly but I'm convinced by the results.
May I just comment.
>1366 x 768
WHEN WILL IT END.
Completely sick of this resolution, the minimum these days should be like 1600 x 900 or something.
@Bearpowers the noobage masses dont care...unfortunately.
@Bearpowers I'm with you. My biggest complaint is the proliferation of the wide screen format in general. We could argue all day about who's watching movies on their laptop and who isn't but I don't, my girlfriend doesn't, none of my siblings do, my mom doesn't, my (fellow IT industry) coworkers don't...
The 16:9 aspect ratio has no benefit except for watching movies and I use my laptop for everything but. I'm still desperately clinging to my ViewSonic VP2130b at work and my HP nc4200 laptop for home use.
Thanks Joanna. I personally think the keyboard looks equally stunning and blends just fine. I do not think the glossy screen blends well though. I don't understand the logic behind this design decision.
The no optical drive makes me hestitate a bit. I think -at half price- the ASUS Eee PC 1215N sounds like a better choice...
1.8 dual core processor
ION 2
NVIDIA OPTIMUS
Chiclet keyboard
Matte under keyboard
less than $500
Privacy webcam toggle
Coming August 2010
photos: http://gadgetmix.com/netbook/eeepc-1215n-pics/
@TareG
Atom = AIDS
@DefPoet
Also, AIDS = Sex
So, by transitive property:
Atom = Sex
i only wish this unit had backlit keyboard...
sticking w/my adamo for a while longer
@bob e I was just about to say I wish it had a backlit keyboard with the adamo font. I would be all over this thing if it had those. This is still a gorgeous laptop though. I'm jealous of your adamo, I live in canada and they are still rediculously priced here, but they are hands down the most beautiful laptop I've ever seen.
@bob e
I just noticed.. the keyboard is integrated into the top case.. I wonder how much more sturdy this makes it compared to most Asus laptops where the keyboard is only held on with 1/2 dozen clips and (sometimes) some double-sided tape..
Why does it seem like average laptops are going UP in price again, rather than the opposite?
Nice review Joanna, I have to ask, what is that Super Hybrid Engine, you can see it on picture 5. Or is it just nVidia Optimus, that can be enabled/disabled?
I know people go green these days but what the hell does an (Super) Hybrid Engine do on a laptop, it's not even regular but Super?
@Ceyran It's a power management program on ASUS laptops. Does wonders over the default settings.
The new vaio Z will play CODMW2 on high
and plays sc2 great :)
If not anything else, the aesthetics on this are amazing. The chrome bits are a bit of a turn-off for me, but I've always loved that muted dark brown color scheme.
this look nice, but i can't have one. my panda is gonna chew this thing up...
anyone notice the bullshit weight listed in engadget's review?
Asus U30:
4.8lbs with 8-cell battery
Asus U33:
3.74lbs with 8-cell battery
NOT 4.5 pounds, engadget.
the thickness is the same, but this machine is over a pound lighter than the old U30. they made good use of the loss of the optical drive. i don't know about you, but i don't put my head down on my desk looking sideways and complain how thick my laptop is all day. nor are my fingers unable to open farther than 1.2" to grab an object at the very back to carry around. the thickness obviously cannot be changed because of the massive battery in the back, as well as the heatsink which is doing a good job of cooling the machine, both UNLIKE the toshiba which has a far smaller battery, gets very hot, but is lighter and thinner. the front could have been made even thinner than it already is (.8"), but then this thing would have the most awkward, steep-sloped wedge design ever. if you don't care about USB 3.0 or Intel WiDi or bamboo, you can get the U35 with the same specs for $819, cheaper than the toshiba. as far as the keyboard, you complain about the matte against brushed aluminum.. what, do you want them to be glossy? jesus... last time i checked the 13" macbook pro engadget likes to jizz over makes distinct "clicky" sounds when you use their black "plastic chiclet" keyboard too. optical drive? if you want it, the U30 is there. who uses them anymore? carry a laptop that's a pound heavier, if you want it.
@azntech
So much Engadget hate, and you even managed to work an Apple reference in there too. Feel better?