A8JP Owners Lounge

I just got my laptop - I didn't verify my screen model but I love it. It does have the "graininess" that others talk about, but from my experience, most WUXGA's do have that because of the coating they use on the screen - even my i9300 has it.

As for the touchpad - the buttons are crappy and that's because of the uni-button design. Blame Mac for this one, but if you catch the edges of the buttons, they seem fine. I personally just use my tap settings.

 

Hey guys i was wondering if you could help.

I got this laptop a few weeks ago and its been working just great, however recently i started hearing a buzzing coming from the vent. It's more like a vibration/rattle thats on for a second off for a second. This problem was not noticeable in the early weeks of ownership which is why im finding its appearance so worrying. Anyone experiencing similar problems?

 

Hey guys. Everyone here has pretty much answered every question I wanted to ask before I've asked it, but I do have one that I can't seem to find an answer to.

The low battery life is not a problem or concern for me, since my destinations always end up by an outlet, and I don't need to compute on the fly. However, I would like to pick up an extra power cord so I don't have to crawl under my desk everytime I want to unplug it. Where can I find one other than ordering directly from Asus? $100 for a repacement cord just doesn't sit well with me. Will one compatible with the A8Js work? Is there an aftermarket manufacturer that carries a compatible A8JP power cable? I've looked all over the net and they seem to be about as common as an x1700 driver...

 

You could have a faulty or failing fan bearing. I don't have a long history with notebook fans, but normal case fans and I go way back and sometimes this is the reason for extra noise. Have you noticed a decrease in fan speed or an increase in temperature? All three problems could be attributed to a bad bearing: noise temp and speed.

Or you could just have a rattle. Adds personality

 

I'm assuming you're talking about the 3-prong power cable, not the AC adapter. You can
pick one up from Monoprice for a couple bucks.

 

Hi all, this is my first post, and of course, I already have a question in mind...

I just got my A8Jp from Newegg last week, a fresh installation of WinXP Pro was done, no problem..

Here's what I was wondering, which auto/air/wall-outlet power adapter could I get for this brand new lappy? I can't seem to find one with 19V, 90W capable anywhere.. and yeah, i've tried Ebay..

I hope you guys could help, thanks in advance.
cheers

 

I was actually referring to the AC adapter. I have enough 3 prong power cables to fashion a crude net and go fishing with.

 

I had the same question. It looks like the F3JP is also in the same boat, with no AC adaptor support. Any input on this would be awesome. From what I understand they can be ordered from Asus but are about 100 bucks...

 

I got my A8Jp last week and it has been running well after I partitioned using my Windows XP Pro disk, and then cleaned installed using the recovery disk. However, I can't seem to install catalyst 7.2, it states that my video card is not supported. Anyone else have this problem? Could someone help me figure this out. Also, has anyone noticed how grainy DVDs look on this laptop. I'm not talking about the low level of graininess people have been complaining about, it is truly looking pixelated compare to my old Vaio which is 5 years old. Any help would be appreciated.

Also a warning, don't use rubbing alcohol to clean off the residue from the laptop stickers, it will swirl your laptop paint. I messed up the paint badly, but buffed most of it out using my car's detailing spray.

 

I used the drivers that came on the disc as it also says a missing .inf file for the X1700. But someone seems to manage to get 7.2 working here.

I don't notice any graininess while watching DVD though.

Lol thanks for the advice on the rubbing alcohol. Luckily i'm using plain wet cloth.

 

Hi,

Can anyone tell me what their drive configuration is in the BIOS? (press F2 during boot)
On my A8JP, the HDD is primary master and the DVD is secondary slave.

I'm asking because I'm getting daily BSoDs for "kernel_data_inpage_error" on atapi.sys.

I Ran MS memory diags and Seagate seatools long test with no errors found.
I found a bug in the MS knowledgebase that has a similar error when the HDD is slave w/ no master (like my DVD) and am hoping I found the cause as the DVD misconfiguration.

I'm also getting horrible DVD rip speeds and suspect this is the cause of that too.
(PIO, no DMA)

Thanks for any help,
Jay

 

GREAT NEWS A8JP OWNERS!!

http://support.asus.com/download/download.aspx?SLanguage=en-us

vista support is offiicially out! enjoy

 

Hi all. Bought one of these Laptops about 2 weeks ago.

One problem i have, is when i turn it on, i have to keep adjusting the scroll sensitivity and speed of the touchpad. For some reason it does not keep these setting stored.

Does anyone know how i can get around this?

Thanks guys!

 

Hi, I have the same problem so I doubt it's a hardware failure.

Synaptics website says it's due to a device driver for a different pointing device interfering with the settings, but the only other device I plugged in was the Asus mouse.
http://www.synaptics.com/support/troubleshooting.cfm#p10

I'll post back here if I figure it out.

-Jay

 

I think you can fix it by uninstalling the software called "setpoint". I don't own an A8jp but I did see somebody mention this somewhere else.
Ok, I have question, if anybody recently brought this laptop from newegg, how is the screen? Is there a leakage at the bottom/ sparkles? Is it a CMO or AUO? Thanks guys

 

Hi, I had the same problem initially when I got the laptop but after formatting and installing drivers from disc that issue seemed to resolve itself and now it doesn't reset anymore. Sorry that's not more specific

 

- That was driving me nuts too. The SetPoint software is what is screwing up your settings. I uninstalled it since it's a Logitech application and it didn't do anything special for the included mouse. After I uninstalled it, the Windows settings stayed.

 

I just bought an A8Jp! It's on sale now for $1250 on Newegg and I bought it with a Combo of Crucial 1GB ram.. Cost me $1328 shipped total.

 

Did you only buy one stick of 1 gb ram? If you want another stick it will be 75 more.

Also, there is no longer a free upgrade to Vista, that expired March 15th.

 

Oddly some drivers are missing at Asustek support page, such as the VGA drivers for Vista and Vista64. As For Vista64 all drivers and software seems to be ALL missing. Weird.

 

No i believe it states for example
Version V6.64.1.4 2007/03/15 update
OS Vista 32bit
Description ASUS ATKOSD2 UTILITY <-------this looks to be the 64bit version
ASUS ATKOSD2 UTILITY for Vista 32bit
File Size 8.44 (MBytes)

 

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=107425

 

Yea, only one stick so I will be running 1.5 gigs of RAM, which is adequate for Vista (NEver went over maybe 1.3 gb usage when I ran Vista on a loaded XPS m1210).

I don't mind the Vista upgrade... I get Vista Business for free from school.

 

I've had my A8JP for a little over a week now. It's a great laptop and all, has a lot of running processes and takes little while to boot. I haven't done a clean install yet so that's probably why, and I was wondering if that really helps a lot?

Also just the other day, it crashed when running on battery power, the screen went off but the power lights stayed on, I pressed the power button to turn it off, then tried to turn it back on, and I heard the asus startup sound, but nothing on the screen and a beeping coming from the HDD compartment vent on the bottom.

However, once I plugged it in and tried to boot, it booted up just fine, it seems only to be a problem with the battery.

If it's already booted and I unplug the power cord from it, the screen goes dark or some weird pattern. It was a greenish color with lines across it once.

Could anyone help me out? Thanks

 

greenish color with lines across it? that doesnt sound to good. when u unplug the power cord it should go into battery mode, screen darkens, power saving settings change, etc.

you could format and do a clean install but it sounds more like some kind of hardware issues. what happens when u try to boot up from battery power? you may want to consider returning it and exchanging for a new one while you still can before it becomes too late. that is really unacceptable

 

It used to go to battery mode, but then just the other day it stopped, now it just goes to a black screen.

When I try to boot up with the battery, nothing appears on the screen, but it still makes the sound it makes when the asus screen pops up, and there's a beeping from the bottom vent where the HDD is.

The thing is it works perfectly fine when plugged in.

 

My A8Jp doesn't have Bluetooth Devices in control panel, it instead has Bluetooth Local COM. Anyone know how to pair the laptop to a treo in order to use activesync? I can transfer files fine, but I can't figure out how to sync. Also, does anyone know why there are so many COM ports open on this laptop by default. I see up to 21 COM ports open when I use Bluetooth Local COM. Thanks.

 

It sounds like you most likely have a bad battery, but there is a slight chance it may be a mainboard issue also. Contact Asus.

---

Here's my question:

I recently reinstalled Vista. My a8jp is now scoring about a 3300 in 3dmark '05 when it should be getting about a thousand higher, and games in general aren't running as well as they used to before the reinstall. This is using the drivers from windows update. If I use ATI or Asus's drivers it is even slower. My previous (somewhat buggy) upgrade-install of Vista was running 3d apps just fine.

Any suggestions?

 

To be honest I would rather use XP Pro for gaming and high demanding tasks since we have already seen many comparisons showing that Vista is not good for gaming and demanding tasks right now.

We are still waiting for Vista drivers to be optimized for all types of usages like XP is.

However, Vista is very nice, its new interface and features, these will be good for regular users who don't game or do anything too demanding.

From what I have read, it can take up to 6 months before we see Vista becoming fully optimized.

 

I'm amazed at how many issues people are having with this notebook... it is making me very wary about my purchase decision.

 

Remember that people talk a lot more about things that are not working correctly rather than things that are working correctly. The vast majority of owners are happy and therefore not posting here. Other forums aren't too different.

 

I would agree but the A8jp is a select case. It is only available online (Newegg, especially), there AREN'T that many people with it (as opposed to Dells and HPs etc), and most people who bought the A8jp probably came here & other forums discussing it before purchasing it.

Just very disappointing that it seems to be a very defective notebook... perhaps a batch bad motherboards, batteries, or power supplies.

 

temperatures stay a relatively consistent 46C. Recently, when the lappy is just idling for a long enough spell the rattle starts. Also, if i game for a little bit the noise starts up much faster then it would otherwise, which has led me to belive its a gpu issue. Could their possibly be something trapped in the gpu's onboard fan thats causing the unpleasant rattle?

 

There is no onboard GPU fan, its not like a desktop card. The system fan does all the work basically, as the heatpipes from the CPU & GPU both run to the fan outlet and end as a heatsink.

 

Take off the bottom panel (ram+CPU area) on the computer and examine the fan. See if there is something inside the blades, and try tightening the screws holding the fan down. I had a desktop fan rattle once and it was due to loose screws.

---------

My question: Does anyone know if the newer bios changed the fan settings?

 

Long time lurker, first time poster...

I almost got a Dell e1505 with the $400 off coupon. Actually, I had bought one, and it was being configured, when I read about this laptop and cancelled my order. I'm glad I did.

Just got my A8JP in the mail from newegg today (newegg rocks, as usual). First thing I did was install 2 GB of RAM. It's pretty quick, even with the ASUS bloatware standard install.

I feel like I knew a lot about this laptop from reading these boards and other reviews, so I kind of have a jumpstart on what to expect. Here are my impressions...

Pros:
1) First and foremost, I haven't found anything that approaches the package of this laptop for the money. Got this from newegg for $1248. Tons and tons of built-ins. A similarly configured laptop (Core 2 Duo 2 Ghz, 1 GB RAM, 120 GB HD, X1700 Vid, wireless a/b/g, bluetooth, webcam, 1440x900 screen, 2 yr warranty) from anywhere else is at least $1600, usually $1800-2000.

2) Got it in 4 days from newegg, instead of 3 weeks from Dell.

3) Size: These specs, for this money, in a 14" screen, is pretty rare.

Cons:
1) Touchpad and buttons stink, as everyone says. I use the included (free) wired USB mouse, which works great.

2) I have a CMO screen version. Screen brightness is actually decent. I don't notice grainyness/sparkliness, although that is supposedly subjective. What little speckles I do notice I only notice on super-close inspection, and it doesn't bother me. The vertical viewing angle is OK, not great. I've seen better, I've seen worse. It beats the crap out of my 3 yr old laptop, at any rate.

3) Right-sided vent is a pain, slightly.

4) Sturdiness - it's OK, but not the most solid laptop I've ever encountered.

5) Bloatware is bad. I'm going to install fresh copy of Win XP once I get a new DVD.

6) Wasted 1 GB of RAM to install 2 GB of RAM.

7) I don't notice the Fn/Ctrl switch, but my old laptop was similarly configured.

Conclusions:
I listed more cons, which is deceptive. The cons are relatively minor. The screen is better than I expected from most online reviews. The specs, the price, the overall feel, is great. I'm very happy, at this early stage. I'll keep you all updated as I reformat/repartition/experiment.

Thanks to you all for you postings, advice, etc. I feel I've benefited.

 

I was a lurker for couple of months in this forum too. Guess what my first laptop I purchased? Bingo. A8JP. Did a lot of research, a lot of reading, lurking around threads with anything related to A8JP. I never regret buying this machine. The specs for a good price, that is what attracted me. I know I'm a first time user on laptop but the screen didn't bother me at all. Same with touchpad but I use mouse for faster movement and production. Overall, I'm very happy.

BUT, the only thing that is pissing me off is the Vista Upgrade thing. It is still not approved. Other than that, I am one happy man.

 

Question - has anyone tried overclocking their X1700, and if so - what have you found stable?

 

I got my A8JP a week ago. I got my Vista Express Upgrade approved within 5 days, which I guess is quicker than most. Like most, I plugged in 2GB of ram before ever starting it.

I uninstalled as much bloatware as I could, converted to NTFS, and merged the partitions. I then defragged the sucker, changed the color settings, turned off the horrible touchpad, and installed all updates available.

Well, I think I'll be formatting and installing a copy of XP Pro. I don't really have a need for WMC. This is a fantastic laptop (for the price and overall quality). Any cons I have are extremely minor. The speakers are atrocious but the sound is fantastic with headphones or external speakers. I'm not a power user, so the fact that this thing has power way beyond my expectations means to me that I'll get a good 3-4 years out of it, which is the bottom line for me.

I still don't understand why whoever designed this decided to have the cpu fan blowing right out to the side where the majority of people use their mouse, but it's a small inconvenience. I'm very, very pleased with my purchase. I may just have to retire my desktop.

 

HAHA WOW !

I did the same exact thing with my A8JP when I first got it too!!

Cool! Lets be friends. lol im jk ^^

 

Just ordered mine
Won't get another 1GB till I switch to Vista in 5-6 months. Should be here Thursday.

 

Received the A8JP few days ago. First thing I did was install the two 1gig sticks of crucial ram I purchased with the laptop. Booted up once to see, what all was available and what the default image looked like also went out to http://support.asus.com and downloaded the bios update. I created a folder on the C:\ called Bios and saved the updated bios there. Next I rebooted and got into the awflash utility by pushing F4 repeatedly until I was dropped into the utility. I was able to update the bios by choosing the flash bios option, and choosing my image from the C:\Bios that I had saved earlier. It updated without a hitch. Next I ran a quick erase with dban to clean the drive to all 0's. Running a normal windows format will not clear the entire drive. If you decide to use dban as well make sure you grab the 1.06 version as 1.07 will take way too long to run. (32hrs vs 2hrs) You can get it at http://downloads.sourceforge.net/dban/dban-1.0.6_i386.iso?modtime=1122250920&big_mirror=0 I popped in the restore cd and chose to install on one partition. Who needs more than one? First the restore ghosts the windows MC to the drive, then it runs through applying the basic windows patches. Finally it asks to insert the drivers disk. At this point I followed others instructions and when it asked for the drivers disk, I took the DVD out and pushed the power button to turn off the laptop. I then powered the laptop back on and let it boot into windows and set up my default info. I then popped in the drivers disk and browsed to the readme.txt file which explains what everyone of the drives does. This was invaluable to me in setting up the computer in a lean and mean configuration. I went into the Device Manager to make sure all my devices drivers were installed and everything looked good. Last but not least I ran the Windows Updates and installed avast and some of my other personal software. I also converted to NTFS, because it is a more secure filesystem. To do this go to a dos prompt and type convert /? it will tell you everything you need to know. Cheers hope your laptop runs as smooth as mine does.

 

Why isn't the a8jp listed on the asus website? I can't find anything on it aside from downloads. A search doesn't even come up with anything.
JJ

 

Check out post #1 on page #1 of this thread.

 

Reading through the forums I saw people having problems shutting off their touchpad. There is an option available in the bios, <F2> on startup, under the Advanced tab, called Touchpad if you disable the touchpad, you will need a mouse to point and click, but that should disable your touchpad.

 

Pressing FN+F9 will work too, but only if there is no external mouse (sic)

 

Looking for a Bluetooth enabled wireless mouse that works with out any sort of dongle.
I finally found the Targus AMB03US. Can anyone else comment on a good Bluetooth enabled mouse that will work with out a dongle for our A8JP?

 

I'm using a logitech v270 right now.

 

Would using a program, like ati tools or rage tweak, to underclock the gpu increase battery life?
JJ

 

I suspect my graphic card got problem. How to check my graphic card? I always get automatic restart or freeze.