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TEST RESULTS
During testing the screens were adjusted to a suitable, equivalent brightness
level (7/16 for the UL30A, 11/16 for the Edge 13). Also note that the UL30A
was overclocked by 3% by default in the BIOS (5% maximum).
AC Power Draw
|
Test Results: System Power
|
|
Test State
|
UL30A
|
Edge 13
|
UL80Vt*
|
|
Sleep
|
1W
|
1W
|
1W
|
|
Idle
(screen off)
|
6W
|
8W
|
6W
|
|
Idle
(typ. brightness)
|
8W
(7/16)
|
11W
(11/16)
|
8W
(7/16)
|
|
Idle
(max. brightness)
|
11W
|
12W
|
|
|
CPU Load
|
23W
|
26W
|
34W
|
|
CPU + GPU
Load
|
26W
|
29W
|
37W
|
|
*UL80Vt's processor overclocked to 1.73GHz.
|
Running on AC power, the Edge 13 used about 2~3W more when idle and 3W more
on load than the UL30A. While the ThinkPad's display was fairly dim and its
brightness had to be set higher compared to the UL30A, this wasn't the cause
of the higher power draw as there was still a difference of 2W when both screens
were turned off. It is possible the extra hardware in the Edge 13, the WiMAX,
WWAN, and Bluetooth adapters were the root of the problem, though all the connectivity
options were disabled during testing.
According to CPU-Z, both machines idled with a core voltage of 0.875V, but
on load, the CPU on the UL30A only used 0.975V compared to 1.025V on the Edge
13. This alone could explain the difference in load power.
Video Playback
|
Test Results: Video Playback
|
|
Test State
|
UL30A
|
Edge 13
|
|
Avg.
CPU
|
System Power
|
Avg.
CPU
|
System Power
|
|
Rush Hour
(H.264 10mbps)
|
18%
|
14W
|
12%
|
14W
|
|
Coral Reef
(WMV 8mbps)
|
31%
|
16W
|
30%
|
16W
|
|
Spaceship
(x264 14mbps)
|
18%
|
16W
|
19%
|
17W
|
|
Crash
(x264 22mbps)
|
22%
|
16W
|
20%
|
17W
|
|
Iron Man
(Flash 2mbps)
|
22%
|
15W
|
25%
|
15W
|
During video playback, the power difference between the two systems dwindled
to 1W or less. As both laptops use Intel's integrated GMA 4500MHD, they were
perfectly capable of rendering high definition material with ease. Some may
write off notebooks without discrete graphics, but as along as playing games
isn't on the menu, the current incarnation from Intel is perfectly adequate.
As we found in our UL80Vt review, it's also
the more power efficient choice. The UL80Vt, which has the ability to switch
between GMA 4500MHD and GeForce G210M graphics, used much less energy using
the Intel integrated video.
Performance
|
Test Results: Benchmarks
|
|
Model
|
Gateway
EC1803h
|
ThinkPad
Edge 13
|
Asus
UL30A
|
Asus
UL80Vt†
|
|
CPU
|
C2S 1.4GHz
|
C2D 1.3GHz
|
C2D 1.33GHz
|
C2D 1.73GHz
|
|
RAM
|
3GB DDR2
|
4GB DDR3
|
4GB DDR3
|
4GB DDR3
|
|
Boot-up
|
0:53*
|
1:25
|
0:57
|
1:13
|
|
NOD32
|
11:14
|
11:30
|
11:05
|
8:46
|
|
WinRAR
|
5:38
|
5:35
|
5:27
|
3:35
|
|
iTunes
|
8:46
|
8:04
|
8:02
|
6:13
|
|
TMPGEnc
|
20:01
|
10:47
|
10:22
|
8:10
|
|
PCMark05
|
2214
|
3196
|
3452
|
3656
|
|
3DMark05
|
979
|
1516
|
1396
|
1393
|
|
3DMark06
|
603
|
907
|
822
|
823
|
|
*EC1803h running Vista 32, boot-up time taken with
Windows 7 32.
†UL80Vt running on integrated graphics (switchable).
|
Our timed benchmarks favored the UL30A slightly as by default it is overclocked
by 3%. The synthetics were a mixed bag with ThinkPad winning in 3DMark but losing
in PCMark. The UL80Vt overclocked to 1.73GHz was substantially faster, and larger
mainstream notebooks have 2GHz+ processors, so both the UL30A or Edge 13 are
lackluster in the speed department. Going with a CULV processor means sacrificing
performance for a thinner, lighter notebook with long battery life. Luckily
most of the tasks performed by the majority of users don't require a lot of
horsepower, so the difference may not be perceptible on a day-to-day basis.
The UL30A we received shipped with Vista and it had a boot time of 1:12 which
improved to 0:58 once we removed most of the nonessential pre-installed software.
On a clean Windows 7 install, it booted up one second faster. The Edge 13 booted
up in 1:25 and its time did not improve with software removal.
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