2014 Asus N550JK -DS71T quick mini review and opinion so far

We don't have any video reviews on the display yet for the Y50 and me being a Lenovo Y500 user, the TN panel on mine is pretty nice, but not terrible. I'm a gamer so I tend to ignore the screen quality when playing on high frame rates. I would rather go for performance with a decent screen than go on a vibrant screen with minimum game settings.

 

Is there any way to check that windows 8.1 from mentioned thread is the right file? Dont want to download something that is corrupted or changed in any way.

And btw, just received my N550JK non touch, matte version, and it is really awesome. Display is fantastic, speakers and not nearly as bad as some people describe them. It play nice, even without the attached woofer. Its got bluray drive and in the box i also found portable asus mouse. For now, everything is better than i expected.

 

I have not seen that issue as of yet myself.

Unless was DDR5 version of the 850M, from what I have read, it really wouldn't matter much having the 4GB version. Or would it?

 

@eBandit

I was just defending that a [4GB] GTX 850M DDR3 really does exist as an option for N550JKs

Which brings me back to my previous question (from previous page) as to why a "NVIDIA GeForce 845" was displayed together with "NVIDIA GeForce GTX 850M [ASUS]".. based on HWiNFO System Summary?

 

Hey guys, I have a beginner question concerning RAM. I'm looking to order my N550jk through xotic PC so I can get it with a 250gb evo and IC diamond. The ram options show a 12g that is "dual channel" comprised of a 4gb and a 8gb stick. I feel like I read somewhere that mixing ram sizes is a good way to have a bad time. Can someone tell me if this is a viable upgrade from single stick 8gb? It's only $25 more so money is not a problem. Thank you so much!

 

Why does it say 845M under the GTX 850M? I see the same thing.

Edit* Before I seen your post I had went back to make this post and ask that question. I see the same thing on mine. Am a bit confused. Unless both the GTX 850M and the 845M both fall under GM107M so the hwinfo app doesn't know which it is?



Update, It also shows via HWinfo that the 845M is video chip-set and the GTX850M as video card.
I have, N550JK-DS71T

 

@eBandit

Please provide your exact N550JK model number so that people with the right knowledge can factor it in.

Hope someone could shed some light regarding this soon ☺

 

What is the exact model number of your N550JK that came with the Blu-ray drive and non-touch matte screen, and where (in the world) are you located? I've seen models available in Canada or Philippines or other places with the BD combo drive, but I haven't found any US retailer selling a configuration with BD unless it's a place like Xotic that is putting the BD drive in themselves. And I don't think I've seen any version of the N550JK offered without a touch screen.

 

I am located in Slovenia (Europe) and I bought it from Germany (Europe). Exact model number: ASUS N550JK-CN042H

 

Added it, (hadn't before cause I have the model this thread was started about, but guess other models are being brought up now as well).
Nice laptop though, cant wait to get a large SSD, upgrade to 16GB ram and have the keyboard back-light changed to Blue

Anyone know how hard it is to remove the keyboard so I can mail it off to get the back-light color changed? Can it be done without removing any warranty stickers? I wish the keyboard could be found cheap so I could just buy a spare and mail it out and set this one aside afterwards.

 

Oooh so it also exists in other models. I wonder if this is the case with all N550JK -or- an error in HWiNFO -or- an ASUS thing.

Yeah, for me this became the unofficial thread for N550JKs (all models) ..sorry OP

 

Diagnostic applications don't always display correct data.

 

Thanks. Wish they'd offer something other than the DS71T here in the US.

 

Not only that, but it looks like shopping choices for the lone US model are dwindling as well. It's currently out of stock at newegg ($1060), B&H ($1049), & Adorama ($1049).. From what I can tell it's only really available at amazon ($1099), xoticpc ($1199), and gentechpc ($1199) I believe. If anyone knows of any other reliable online retailers that have it available, I'd be curious to know.

 

Hey!

I got my n550jk-cn126h yesterday. This one comes with i7 4700HQ, 8GB DDR3 1600mhz, GTX850M 4GB DDR3, 15,6" FHD IPS LED non-touch matte panel, DVD/RW SuperMulti DoubleLayer (without bluray), 1TB Hitachi HDD 7200rpm. The price was 320.000 hungarian forints (approx. 1030€ .

I had been using it for 5 hours yesterday, particularly configuring the windows (got the 8.1 version already installed) and watch some 1080p movies. After this usage the notebook was cold enough not to hold it on my bare legs. Actually it was really silent, i could only hear a little voice during installing processes (i think it was the HDD).

The battery was enough for 3 hours at power saving enviroment with 75% brightness (at factory options), but i recognized some laggardness when i opened My Computer, or emptying the Bin (that disappeared when i plugged in the charger). The frame of the laptop is really good, for me it'll be suitable for carrying. Its enough thin for an almost-ultrabook style with this kind of interior. Towards the IPS panel is just breathtaking beautiful (after a 6 years old 17" lcd monitor ). The booting from switched-off status took approx. 12-4 seconds, that impressed me (without SSD).

I didn't stress, nor played with any kind of games, so at the moment i couldn't say anything how it's performing during heavy use.

I welcome any kind of requests (try or test benchmarks, stress-tests etc.), so feel free to ask. I can take pictures also.

 

Yeah I am also waiting for it go on stock on B&H, Newegg or Adorama to get it for around $1050. The Amazon price is fine for me but they dont accept paypal funds which I needed to use up.

XoticPC and GentechPC prices were a little overpriced imo considering its a $150 premium for just the stock build. I did find the pricematch policy on XoticPC to be a farce since they dont really price match anybody and only probably other vendors like GentechPCs which really may not be a possibility considering both their prices and upgrade options seem to be an exact match.

Another option is this vendor which seem to have in stock for $1100 with decent priced upgrade options and seem to have good ratings on amazon.

ASUS N550JK-DS71T 15.6" Full HD Nvidia GeForce GTX-850M Touchscreen Notebook | Computer Upgrade King

 

The only problem I can see with Computer Upgrade King is that they don't appear to be an authorized reseller, so when you buy from them, you're essentially the second owner, as far as the manufacturer is concerned. Here's what their site says about manufacturer warranties:

 

I stumbled upon CUK too, but am definitely weary of buying from them since as already mentioned, they're not an authorized reseller.

Also, I was on the newegg app earlier and searched for the N550JK and on the product page it actually said "discontinued." Would Asus pull the plug on a model they just released so soon? Or I wonder if newegg has just decided not to carry it anymore? Interesting...

 

I'd like to see your take of 100% CPU load with Prime95 and simultaneous 100% GPU load with Furmark, and clockspeeds and temperatures of CPU and GPU during this stress test taken with HWinfo or similar application.
Also it would be nice to hear your thoughts about fan noise during this kind of stress test.

 

As of the moment, N550JK page is missing on ASUS website ..so yeah maybe they're discontinuing it to direct the buyers on the soon to be released G550JK
I hope my assumption is wrong since I'm planning on purchasing an N550JK anytime soon. The N550JK page is still available in other ASUS sites, like in my country, but I want to see it globally (global availability ~ more awareness/owners ~ stronger continuous support).

 

Wishful thinking on my part, but I hope they are pulling the N550JK to slap either an 860M in there, or at least change the 850M over to GDDR5 video RAM.

 

The N550JK page has been coming and going on the Asus site. Sometimes I can get there, sometimes it doesn't exist. I have no idea why they would be doing that, since the G550JK page seems to always be there even though it's not even available yet. Weird.

 

I think this won't happen unfortunately...

Inviato dal mio SM-N9005

 

Got mine at Amazon when price dropped to 1049 for a short while. HIDevolution Asus N550JK-DB71T i7 2GB NVIDIA GTX 850M 15.6" Touchscreen They charge a little more but you can get choice of keyboard back-light color there. Also get ROG logo on back and choice of light color there as well (for a fee on light colors). This is who I spoke with about sending mine to for keyboard color swap on the back light. ASUS said it doesnt void my warranty to change the back light color either.

If ASUS did that, they would be swapping mine out. But the G550JK should have had GDDR5 though.

ASUS gave me this link: https://www.asus.com/Notebooks_Ultrabooks/N550JK/

Questions:

1.) Any programs to force the GTX850M to work? I even tried to set in NVIDIA control panel for passmark to use the 850 and on some tests it did but on the DirectX 11 test it used the HD4600 instead. hate for any games I might play at some point to not get the 850.

2.) edit, Was wondering about putting a G550JK keyboard into my N550JK but some of the keys are different. Guess just have to change my back-light color.

 

Can you elaborate and provide some evidence to your claim. Thanks

 

Is there a posibility to enable legacy boot on N550JK? I cant seem to find it. I would like to upgrade firmware for M500 SSD, but i cannot create uefi bootable USB/DVD.

 

evidence is go to ASUS website look at the G550JK and you will see some keys labeled differently. fn keys and maybe some reg keys too, I forget which ones, but I compared a close up of the keyboard on their site while looking at my keys.

*Further inspection, not sure if the pictures they have are a US model??? I hope there is a US version G550JK that has the same keyboard layout as the N550JK, cause that would be awesome, I would buy a replacement keyboard as soon as I confirmed that and the plug as being the same.

 

Nvm just found out: disable secure boot and enable csm.

 

Oh you meant that it has an AZERTY rather than the 'normal' QWERTY layout in the pictures. At first I thought you were hesitating because it has a totally different key spacing/construction or something. I'm pretty sure that it'll also have a QWERTY layout so it's all good.

 

What's the non-gaming battery life on one of these? I'm stuck between this one and the upcoming y50, and hoping that the 850m over clocked will yield similar results to the 860m.

 

Yes, and it also has other keys off like ( ) in different spots, has the "&" where the N550 has "!" etc. not sure if all of that will be messed up when typing or work out. But if ends up being the same then I will go for that over having my back-light color changed. Have to see and find out when and where can order a keyboard at plus I assume the plug will be the same.

 

No way would Asus release a laptop in the US with common characters like (, ), &, and ! in different places. You must be seeing a picture of the keyboard from another region where that layout is normal, but you can bet that when it is released in the US, it will have a standard QWERTY layout. Now whether the other keys like arrows, num pad, del/end, etc. are the same as the N550JK, I can't say that for sure, but I would suspect the entire layout would be identical.

Edit: I just looked at the pic you're talking about and that is definitely for a different region and there is NO WAY the US version will have that layout.

 

Thought looked weird. I hope its all the same as mine and same plug so I can try to locate the keyboard and swap them. I have seen the N550JK keyboard for sale as just keyboard and also as with the top cover/palm rests as a unit. if it is all the same, not sure if I would want the keyboard or just get the entire top case piece as well if it looks like will fit.

 

I have to say, I'm very excited to be getting thus laptop in the next couple weeks. I'll probably stick with the 1 terabyte drive for a while, then add an ssd down the road.

Considering I'm coming from a mid 2009 MBPro, this should be a huge upgrade!

 

I ran Furmark alone for a few minutes and then prime95 in-place large FFT kicked in. GPU and CPU load didnt go below, 98/99%... Max temp for GPU was 84 while for the CPU, one core was pretty high at 96 max. Noise is pretty normal for this kind of load, nothing too much, i mean ofcourse you hear it, because fans are working hard, but ive seen a lot noisier laptops. This one is pretty silent, specially when idle or light tasks.

 

Those are not bad temperatures (not great either) when compared to for example the MSI GE series, could you give it a try with turbo boost disabled?

 

Hello guys, I wanted to ask maybe someone knows does all N550JK come with IPS display? I'm talking particularly about N550JK-CN015H model, because it says it is Full HD, but there is no IPS though. On other products on the same site if it has IPS display they state that. But somehow I assumed that all N550JK models have IPS, don't they? Do someone can confirm this for me? Is it IPS or not? because this is what im looking the most, thank you in advance!

Tomas

 

Does anyone know where to get the N550JK-DS71T in Canada? All the models I'm finding are the DS71 with 12 GB of ram, and the terabyte of hard drive space, but no touchscreen. Unfortunately Amazon doesn't ship to Canada for "regulatory reasons".

 

XOTIC PC | ASUS N550JK-DS71T Touch - Custom 15.6" ASUS Notebook

email them for a shipping quote.

 

Hi everyone, I have little request to N550JK owners,
I wanted to know that how good is the quality of webcam on this particular model and is it improved over N550JV model or its the same?
Camera samples would be appreciated to help judging the quality of webcam.
Thanks.

 

Thanks for the info. Seems like there might have been some throttling (RealTemp has ThermalStatus "LOG" for 2 cores while 2 have "OK").

 

Yes two of your cores are backing down after going too high, this is normal for such a stress test.

 

It would probably be better with repasting, but im not doing that until warranty expires . But still it is pretty good, im not going to get those max temps with gaming unless it is really hot ambient temperature. I will do another test without turbo boost, but no time atm.

 

Anyone have this issue or know if it means much:

I open the screen to wake from sleep and there have been 2-3 times that after I login the screen color tints a second then back when I am on the desktop.

Also on HWinfo It shows the RAM and operating in Single Channel Mode, so if I add another 8GB stick, will it operate in Dual Channel Mode and what kind of overall performance would I get out of that?

 

For those who ordered Asus N550JK -DS71T from AMAZON:
Does the package include a laptop carrying box or just the laptop box alone? Thanks!

*If you could also give me an info on the packaging dimension, that will help me compute for the freight delivery fee

only the shipping weight is indicated here - Amazon.com: ASUS N550JK-DS71T 15.6-Inch Touchscreen Laptop: Computers & Accessories

 

Just laptop box that it comes in (has handle on the cardboard box), but not a laptop sleeve, case or other you would need one of those separate. Package dimensions can vary because I had amazon once put another item in the same box as a pc box was and use a BIG box (way too big). On this PC alone if they use the same size box as they put my PC cardboard box in, mine was approx: 19 3/8" x 13 1/4" x 6 1/4".

But have received other computers in different size boxes even when they sent me the JV model I had, it was same size box but the shipping box wasn't same as the JK was sent in. I have (some for other people) ordered 4 computers from Amazon this year so far and none of them were in the same size boxes even though they all would have fit in a single size box.

The box the PC comes in is: 17 1/2" x 12 5/8" x 5 1/4" It can vary I little, mine has been opened, if tightly packed and sealed it could maybe be 1/8" or so smaller in 2 of the dimensions.

Why do you need to compute this fee, If you are buying from them then they will show the fee when ordering it?

 

Thanks for the detailed info :thumbsup:. I can't post any questions on Amazon since (if ever) this will be my first time buying there. (yes, I was required to buy something first before I can comment or ask questions)

I'm living in another country so it'll be cheaper and more convenient for me to use a freight forwarding company that delivers products from USA to my country (Amazon -> freight forwarder in US -> my country). Plus, this company will handle everything (even the customs dept in my country). All i have to do is buy online and wait for it at home.

The fee varies depending on the actual or "volume" weight of the packaging (whichever is higher) -- EX: if actual packaging weight is 1lb, they will only charge $10. but if it is in a 10x10x10" packaging, it becomes (LxWxH/166 = 6lbs) $60.

And since the product is a Laptop and will be shipped overseas, Amazon might put it in a more secure packaging = bigger packaging = costs more

Btw, i'm doing my own computation so i'd know how to compare it with our locally available CN017H model.

I'm a very indecisive person (will finalize this Friday) My options so far are:
DS71T (~ $1225) - includes delivery fee thanks to your info
- Silver Chassis
- Touchscreen
- AC wireless
- a tad cheaper

CN017H (~ $1265)
- Black Chassis (like Q550LF)
- 4GB in GPU
- Blu-Ray ROM
- with carrying laptop bag
- additional local/store warranty

 

Where are you seeing the N017H model for sale? In the US or elsewhere?

 

^Philippines

I'm sorry it's CN017H. Some Asian countries doesn't offer normal silver N550JK. They do offer models with black chassis (Q550LF) with N550JK specs and innards (dual fan). It's a legit N550JK regardless of the looks.. trust me I've done enough research.

 

I would actually much prefer the black chassis of the Q550LF (which I owned for ~30 days before returning it). If they put the guts of the US N550JK into that black chassis, I'd be much more inclined to buy.