The U36S is a new mini laptop from Asus and was quietly released in a couple of European countries a couple of weeks ago. It’s basically the same build and design we had on the U36J, but packing some more serious hardware, namely the Intel Sandy Bridge platform.
The 13.3 inch laptop is pretty slim, although not quite light, but it’s a price you’ll have to pay if you want to enjoy a Sandy Bridge processor and the fire power that comes with it.
In comparison with the Asus Eee Pad Transformer 10 inch tablet, the U36S is about 3 times thicker, which is very convenient for a laptop, I might say. The laptop has a magnesium finish on the lid, which is light, resistant and quite appealing to the eye; the same textured and sombre looking finish is to be found around the keyboard and on the palm rests.
Ports wise, there are USB 2.0 ports, audio jack, VGA slot, HDMI, card reader and a USB 3.0 port as well. The full size keyboard is made from plastic, but the keys have a rubber like finish which makes them a little less noisy that standard keys on most laptops. The track pad has a rugged finish which is useful for smooth control, while the two mouse buttons are clearly separated, albeit a little noisy for my taste.
About three times thicker than a tablet. Not quite bad.
The 1366 x 768 screen has a glossy finish and the bezel around it has a similar finish, so this won’t be the top choice if you’re intending to spend a lot of time outside. Hardware wise, the U36S we’ve got comes with a low power Core i5 CPU, running at 2.7 GHZ, 6 GB of RAM and a 640 GB hard disk drive, this being one of the configurations you can opt for when buying this 13.3 inch laptop. The 6 cell battery is said to run for about 4-5 hours in normal use.
Video preview is just after the break, check it out for more info about the Asus U36S, which should be available in a bunch of European countries by now. As for pricing, it’s hard to pinpoint an exact tag, considering the fact that you can customize it in terms of CPU, RAM and HDD, but the top configuration should not exceed $1.000 when the laptop will finally make its way to the American market. The review will follow soon here on the website, so check back in the next couple of days.
Update: Here’s the review for the Asus U36SD / U36S, check it out for more details.
When will we get the review? I’ve preorder this and really want to see the benchmarks and thoughts on the new hardware update as far as the performance and actual battery life is concerned!
working on it right now
Hi Mike,
Do you have anything on the Asus Pro36SD that you share. Thks…RM.
Hi Mike, base on your expertise., comparing Nvidia’s N12P GV with 1G DDR3 VRam and Geforce GT520M with 1G DDR3 VRam. Which is a better GPU. Pls advise. Thks…RM
Hi Mike, Could you please help. Next week I will be receiving a Asus Pro36SD notebook with an Intel i7-2620M
processor, Nvidia’s N12P GV with 1G DDR3 VRam n Intel GMA HD. Earlier this week
the vendor cheated and given me a Asus U36SD claiming with is a Intel i7-2620M processor
(but it’s a LGA1155 socket instead of a PPGA988/FCBGA1023), Nvidia’s Geforce
GT520M with 1G DDR3 VRam n Intel HD Graphic 3000. Would like to know whether is
Nvidia’s N12P GV or Geforce GT520M, a better GPU. Please advise…thks…RM
RM, i haven’t seen that chip in action so far but it seems that the NV12P has an nvidia quadro vs 4200m chip, which based on tests available online is only slightly 2-5% better than the gt 520m in terms of scores. still, my memory tells me quadro cards should offer improved speed when editing video content, if that’s something you’re interested in.
also, other sources say that the 4200M chip is similar to the 520M, just that it is optimized for business use, whatever that might mean. also, some version will offer slightly higher clock speed than the standard 520m, while others offer the exact same ones. see this link for more details on this: http://www.notebookcheck.net/Lenovo-ThinkPad-T420-4180W1J.57080.0.html
bottom part, both are pretty much the same and are low-power graphic chips that will handle some gaming, just don’t expect too much
and offtopic, once you get your device, if you wouldn’t mind, could you tell us if the core i7 U36 overheats? the core i5 version i tested does this and I wonder if the same thing happens on the core i7 model…
Hi Mike, I could not find Nvidia’s N12P GV on the list. Please advise…thanks.
Hmm, that’s wird, I’ve posted an updated comment and it’s not here. sry for that.
Anyway, I was saying that i haven’t seen that chip in action so far but it seems that the NV12P has an nvidia quadro vs 4200m chip, which based on tests available online is only slightly 2-5% better than the gt 520m in terms of scores. still, my memory tells me quadro cards should offer improved speed when editing video content, if that’s something you’re interested in.
also, other sources say that the 4200M chip is similar to the 520M, just that it is optimized for business use, whatever that might mean. also, some version will offer slightly higher clock speed than the standard 520m, while others offer the exact same ones. see this link for more details on this: http://www.notebookcheck.net/Lenovo-ThinkPad-T420-4180W1J.57080.0.html
bottom part, both are pretty much the same and are low-power graphic chips that will handle some gaming, just don’t expect too much
review is coming and you’ll find details on temperatures