The Asus UL20A is a 12.1 inch laptop that offers many of the advantages of a full sized notebook in package that's not much larger than a typical netbook. It's small, light, and gets good battery life compared to many larger laptops, but it offers significantly faster performance, better graphics, and a larger, higher resolution display than most netbooks.
The UL20A is the cheapest and smallest member of the new Asus UL line of netbooks. I recently reviewed the 13 inch UL30A, which has a larger screen, a higher capacity battery, more RAM, and a larger hard drive than the UL20A. The UL30A also has Bluetooth, and an HDMI output, both of which are missing on the smaller model. But the Asus UL20A sells for about $200 less than its bigger sibling. Are those features worth an extra $200? Probably. But if you're looking for something smaller and lighter with a price tag near the upper range of the typical netbook, the UL20A is certainly worth considering.
The model featured in this review has a 12.1 inch, 1366 x 768 pixel display, a dual core 1.3GHz Intel Core 2 Duo SU7300 CPU, integrated Intel GMA 4500MHD graphics, 2GB of RAM, a 250GB hard drive, and 802.11b/g/n WiFi.
You can pick up the Asus UL20A from Amazon for $581
Design
The notebook measures 11.6″ x 8.3″ x 1″. While that's small by notebook standards, it's pretty large for a netbook. But that extra inch or two around the sides means there's room for a 12.1 inch screen, a roomy keyboard, and a decent keyboard.
The computer is black and gray, or what some people might call silver. The lid has a brushed aluminum feel to it, but the rest of the case appears to be made of plastic. The chassis has a nice solid feel overall.
Along the sides you'll find 3 USB ports, a VGA port, Ethernet jack, and a flash card reader that can handle SDHC and Memory Stick formats. There are also mic and headphone jacks, but no HDMI output even though the laptop is capable of handling HD video.
The speakers are located near the front of the notebook underneath the palm rest area. On the bottom there's a single large access panel secured by three screws. Once you remove them you can access the RAM and 2.5″ hard drive. The Asus UL20A ships with a single 2GB RAM stick, but it can support up to 4GB. Fortunately there's an empty slot so upgrading the RAM should be easy.
The battery doesn't quite sit flush with the base of the unit, but it doesn't stuck out very far either. Because of this, the laptop is a little thicker near the back than the front and this provides a little tilt to the keyboard.
Display
The notebook features a 12.1 inch, 1366 x 768 glossy display. Although the screen is glossy and will reflect some light, it's not nearly as glare-inducing as some other screens I've used. Still, the Asus UL20A might not be the best choice if you're looking for a laptop that you will regularly use outdoors.
The screen is sharp, but not too sharp. I've seen some 10 inch laptops with 1366 x 768 pixel displays and my eyes hurt just thinking about the dot pitch on those models. During the week that I tested the Asus UL20A I never found myself squinting or moving my face closer to the display in order to read text. And if you do think the screen is too sharp, you can always tweak your settings to adjust the DPI, something which Windows 7 makes easier to do than ever — just type "display" into the Windows start menu, and change the setting from Smaller to Medium.
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