A6J(a/c/m) Owner's Lounge

hello everyone,

h'ok, so i started thread about a8j's (which is praised by many users on that forum) bigger brother: a6j; i got my a6jm (with go7600 512mb dedicated memory) about three weeks ago but i haven't played with it too much as i was busy;

h'anyway, my first impression: altough the design is not exactly the best i've seen the actual notebook looks MUCH better live than on any picture i found on the internet; it's much more slim and compact; however the overall impression would benefit a lot if the laptop was black and not gray as it is; i would also prefer the possibility to open the lid using just one hand and not two; the top side of the lid could be more stiff as you can press it down too easily in my opinion - it's not soft but it just could be more sturdy;

the pcmcia slot is quite awkwardly designed; at first i wasn't sure if i'll be able to put in my audigy2 zs pcmcia into it because the part of that card that is outside of the slot is quite thick and the case of the laptop around that area is designed in weird way; so i thought there won't be enough space to put the card all the way into the slot (sorry for confusion caused by my description); it turned out to be ok but it's still weird; what is more, if you put something to pcmcia slot it makes a little difficult to use memory card reader;

other thing that i noticed is screen quality; from what i heard lcd panels in asus laptops, for instance those from a6 series, are very good; i cannot say no to that, but as this is my first laptop ever my impression is that it's kind of average when you speak about viewing angles; it's not just an issue with that particular model or with asus only, i guess it goes that way with every laptop; or maybe i'm just too used to crt monitors and desktop lcd panels that i was using so far (their quality is undoubtly better);

lmb and rmb under the touchpad are a little too stiff; you have to press it hard to click; i'd prefer it to be a little bit softer (not much of an issue since most of the time i use cordless mouse); on the other hand i love the scroll area on right side, well done asus;

hard drive originally installed in my unit was seagate momentus 4200 rpm (100gb); it's too slow for my needs and i'm about to replace it with 7200 rpm drive (hitachi or seagate); also dvd drive is rather mediocre, afair it's lg drive and i've never trusted them too much; i didn't try to burn anything yet but i had problems with reading few quite scratched disks; if i would use dvd drive more often i would think of replacement;

also i was a bit dissapointed when i faced problems with installation of windows 2003 which i used to deal with and was very happy with; actually i installed it without problems but i couldn't find all drivers that would work in that system; so for now i'm stuck with that crappy xp pro but i haven't said the last word yet... (;

the heat issue for that model was mentioned quite a few times on that forum; from my experience, when you put the laptop on your laps and start playing some games after a while it gets rather warm; nothing you cannot live with but still; i removed battery from mine (there's always a powers socket around me) and use coolermaster's notepal r9 all the time so it's just fine for me;

as you see i focused on cons of a6jm rather than pros because there's majority of the latter; i cannot think of better laptop you can get (in "my part of the world" (; ) for that amount of money even if you exclude free bag (not high-end, usefull nonetheless) or mouse (decent logitech oem mouse with asus logo on it) and take all the cons mentioned into consideration; those are just my loose thoughts about a6jm; not much of a review though, i might do one if i have some free time; in the mean time if you like i could post some test results (3d mark's and all that sh*t) that my friend run on my laptop for me (i didn't even have time to do it myself (; );

i'll be happy to see you posting your comments and thoughts about your a6j's;

greetings

 

I have the A6Jc and i really like my laptop.

The screen is definately not the best but its not the worst ive seen either. After setting digital vibrance to low the colours are vivd and everything on screen is very sharp.

Heat is definately an issue with the laptop however. After leaving it on for a while 3-4hrs the right hand side of the keyboard gets quite warm. The laptop generally gives out a lot of heat after a while but it can really be felt on the right hand side. Its not HOT but very warm and not uncomfortable, i still use it when it gets that hot. The hard drive is located there and thats whats causes the heat and ive checked the temps when the laptop has been hot - consistent at 54-56C. The CPU is on the left hand side of the keybaird and although it gets to 65-67C when the HD is hot, it doesnt feel hot. Its strange, the LHS of the keyboard only gets a bit warm with a 65C CPU beneath it whereas the RHS feels very hot with a 56C HD beneath it.

Thats my only complaint, but apart from that this is one awsome laptop.

 

Hey, as you can see in my signature, i own a A6Ja. I just wanted you to know that if you do not like the rmb/lmb as i do, you can set up the Synapsis touch area. So you can set the 4 Edges to different funtions, like, top right edge to rmb. And you can enable "tip" that, if you tip, acts like you are clicking the lmb, also you can enable double-tip. The touchpad drag'n'drop feature is also very nice, in fact, i dont use the rmb and lmb.

 

hello,

relachs: yeah, thanks, i was actually aware of that possibility as i went through synaptics control applet; but i still find touchpad a poor equivalent of the mouse and try to use the latter as much as i can; on the other hand the higher than average stiffness of touchpad buttons can be actually a good thing as you won't press them accidentally which could be frustrating;

thanks for your posts guys and once again i'd like to encourage all a6j's series owners to post their thoughts and comments; i'm sure there's more of us out there (;

greetings,

 

Hi, I have the A6Ja. Im generally ok with it, I can live with the heat, crappy touchpad buttons, etc. I however am not satisfied with its built-in speakers. I have a set of separate speakers but its not all the time that its cable-reachable. So, I have no choice but go for the built-in.

As per my observation, the sound produces a lot of 'echoes'. Its not 'solid'. When I watch a movie, its like you are in a concert hall, where the sound is directed everywhere. Its quite hard to describe it. Ive disabled the microphone, disabled all the settings/plugins in Win Media Player, but I still cant get the desired result. Is the A6J really like this? Im just wondering whether other owners have found a 'tweak' or solution to this issue. Or could my unit be defective? Thanks.

 

I dont think your a6j is broken, then mine would be broken too

I think they are really awful.

One more think is that if you use the Webcam microfone, the person you talk to minds his own voice because the mic also records the sound the speakers release. Sometimes it feels strange, you don't have any cables around, except the ones from your headset in order other people can understand what you are saying, how does that look like? Of course there are bluetooth headsets, but that's just curious if you have to buy extra hardware although the feature that this extra device has is built-in, but doesn't work as it should do.

 

I got that feeling too. I mean I wouldn't mind a little echo or distortion if the volume level would have been a little higher. Sometimes it's impossible to watch a movie because it's just to quiet. My "solution" if you can call it that way is headphones, however it's kind of 'singleplayer' if you know what I mean - you cannot really watch a movie with your friends using headphones, so I guess the only thing you could do about it is go for a set of external speakers.

Greetings,

 

I think the best u can do with the built-in speakers is open the Realtek HD Sound Effect Manager in your control panel and set the equaliser to "Rock". The most "solid", IMHO.

Anyways, I don't think the speakers are any worse than most laptops, so guess we just gotta live with it for now.

 

Even my mobile phone has better speakers (not the ear-ones).

 

Lol, I had the same thoughts about mine!

 

Whew!!! I thought it was only me who have the same impression about the A6J's audio speakers. I guess I have to live with it.

But Im still happy about my A6Ja's over-all performance. May I ask, what bags did you buy for your A6Js? The bag that came with the laptop is the cheapo kind & Im finding a replacement for it.

 

As in my signature - Pakuma Akara K3. It's actually a backpack and a darn good one. Bag that came with notebook is in fact a little cheap looking but if you take into consideration that it was added for free it's still very good bag.

Nonetheless, I don't like the idea of laptop messenger bags so I went for a backpack.

Greetings.

 

I need a bag too. Haven't bought one with the notebook.

As the A6J is that solid, do you think just putting it into my eastpak is ok?

I think the suggested bag is too expensive for me

 

you can put it in your eastpak, no problem, just make sure it wears some kind of sleeve (; as sturdy as a6j is, you don't want it scratched, do you... ? (

and didn't you get that 'designed by asus' messanger bag... ? i got one shipped with my a6jm... as i mentioned, it's not exactly the best bag you can get but it should do its job well enough;

greetings,

 

The Asus bag is merely functional imho... like, the bare minimum.

I went for a not-too-expensive (just like the A6J itself ) Express Bagpack from MobileEdge, about US$59. Quite solid, numerous compartments, pleasing to (my) eyes. Just note that it's rather young/casual, so not for say, executives. http://www.mobileedge.com/items.asp?cid=3&scid=3&pid=48

I checked it out at the stores before buying, so u might wanna do the same to see if u like it too.

 

are you sure we're talking about the same bag... ? the one that came with my laptop doesn't look like the one i saw in few reviews ( http://tinyurl.com/o5dgp); mine looks more like this one http://tinyurl.com/lgssm and I find it quite ok (for a free bag ofcourse); it has paded section for laptop and few other pockets inside; built quality is also nice;

greetings

 

Man, your bag is nice! No wonder you're happy.

Mine's the crappy one, unfortunately. Lol. Where did u get ur lappy?

 

Honestly, that ( smiley is annoying

I tried out putting the notebook in my eastpak but yea, its not safe because theres no buffer, not a really good solution. I think i will visit a local store and find out what they can offer, i don't want to run around with a giant backpack like i was going camping .

 

it's not that nice, but it's better than let's say... paper bag you get in supermarket i don't use it to carry my asus, i prefer backpack; i bought my laptop in poland from one of asus resellers, while i was on my vacation; although their customer service wasn't exactly the best (they forgot to put second ram stick and messed up my order a bit) it was way cheaper than in ireland where i live;

lol i find that stupid little gifs ( etc.) even more annoying, it's just a matter of acquired taste i guess (;

well, eastpak plus a decent sleeve sounds like a good option to me; and yes, sometimes i find my akara k3 a little too big, as you said i look like i'm going camping, but good thing about its size is the fact that i actually CAN go camping with that backpack (; tried that once or twice

greetings,

 

Well mine's better than the supermarket one too, but...

Looks like I was still shortchanged. Asus discriminates!

Oh and lastly, u smile too much

 

Have anyone had succeed with getting WPA(2) to work on Ubuntu? When i tried yesterday, i had to reinstall ubuntu.

 

i'm using a dicota backpack for my a6ja

 

Hi,I just bought A6JA,Its bigger than other but i like it.Can i upgrade a Core 2 Duo merom cpu in it? Mine has Duo Core 1.66 and i thought why not upgrade at least 2gig cpu.Heard that merom T7200 has 4mb l2 cache and its 64-bit...is it possible to upgrade in A6JA? Otherwise i would better trade the notebook for newer ASUS with core 2 duo.Any advice is appreciated.Thanks!

 

yes it is possible to upgrade A6JA to merom cpu.. you need to download the latest BIOS from the asus website before you change the cpu..

 

the original thread is closed:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=72229

can the mod reopen and merge this thread? I know our laptop is old but i would like to hear again from some a6j owners

anyway, my a6ja still working Ok... asus replaced the LCD and keyboard on last month of 2 years warranty hehe.. so far at 2.5years of use, still working ok..

any owners upgraded their cpu to core2 duo?
i also have the bios 217, is it really slow or just me?

 

Done. The thread had been automatically closed due to being so old. Not sure there still are many owners around, though...

In any case, I have added this lounge to the Info Booth and to the Reviews and Owner's Lounges index.

 

thanks E.B.E
I think i'm the only A6J owner left here hehe..

 

Well if you have any questions, ask them, I'm sure some of us can extend our experience with other models to this one.

If it makes you feel better, I did buy an A6F once (3 years+ ago I think), for a friend of a friend of mine. Haven't seen it since, nor heard of it -- which is a good sign, since it must mean that it works well!

 

oh no you arent, me has got one as well. what i was after, and how i came across the forum, is how to update the drivers for the video card in the darn thing. manufacturer site says that asus are the ones to see about this and the asus site does not give support for this any more.
any assistance appreciated

 

Do you have an nVidia card? Apparently recently nVidia have released mobile GPU drivers, so you could just use those.

If you have ATI, you could use the mobility modder (google).

 

yes, asus doesn't release video card drivers for ATI
usually i use the omega drivers..

i did try the mobility modder as mentioned by EBE and i'm now running the latest version from ati...

 

Have had mine a couple of years, did all the upgrades that has been available over the years. I´ve been very happy with it.

I´ve been using it as a HTPC the last year, working fine, nice and quiet.

Looking to buy the new w90vp. The a6ja doesn´t like Crysis

 

now using this a6ja for 3 years.. still solid machine, almost running 24/7 most of the time..

one problem i encountered is the CPU reaching 70C degrees on idle even with laptop cooler, i opened the cpu fan and removed the dirt.. now back to 55C idle and 70C max full load

 

Good, dirt accumulates in the fan over time and has to be removed.

Make sure you also clean the dust bunnies that gather between the fan and the radiator (through which the fan pushes out the air). If you removed the fan most likely you got to that area, though.

 

yes that's what i did, i removed the accumulated dust between the radiator and fan which is causing a blocked airflow,

i noticed this too much overheating when i am playing full HD movies and the cpu temp reaching almost 90C even with 100% cpu fan speed using speedfan.