A8jm owner's Lounge

my hinge has gotten loose and i dont want to take it apart myself...i can't ask asus to tighten this for me can i? Its only been what? 4 months...

 

i'm curious how to pop open the hinge considering its so firmly attached and the disassembly pdf doesnt seem to be of much help

 

Just curious - what version of ForceWare are people using with their a8jm? Are you downloading the drivers from laptopvideo2go?

 

well its ur programs then....mine doesnt blink once a second either when idling....even when downloading (bittorrent) and surfing the net it barely blinks that much.

 

Has anyone tried the InstantFun application?

I downloaded the application from the A8Js section of the Asus site, and installed it on my A8Jm.

It is a windows program that works with the InstantOn/InstantFun is activated. It acts as a launcher to start it's preferred music player (windows media), DVD player (AsusDVD/PowerDVD) as a top window.

I uninstalled it pretty quickly. Hopefully Asus will continue to develop it and put out a new version soon.

 

How much of a difference in time does the battery take to charge when the laptop is off?

 

Charging while off is usually 2 - 2.5 hours.... if on.. then maybe 4 hours or more... never actually timed it...but that's what it says in the instruction manual...

 

Hmm okay, I read that in the manual too. But it feels like I could have my battery fully charged in under 3 hours while on. I'll time it when I have the chance.

 

it really depends on what you're doing in terms of charging. Ill notice the voltage intake flux quite a bit while charging on, as charging on only diverts excess power to the battery. So i mean, if your LCD is 50% vs. 100% that alone will change things up (wireless card, usb ports, blah, blurb, cheese, brocolli, steamer, phone, you know, the regular stuff we all carry around)

cheers.

 

^^^ Ahh, that makes sense, thanks. I should spend less time here, the work is piling up!

 

HAhaah.. yeah.. this forum kinda keeps pulling you back in doesn't it

 

vBulletin is out to steal our soul. : D

 

do u guys think if i call Asus i can ask them to tighten my hinges cos im really scared they are gonna crack. I was checking my friends year old fujitsu and his hinges are still tight as ever, whereas my few months old A8J is already loose

 

zyd: Don't think it can hurt... or maybe even just call up Danny (forget if you got it from Milestone or not) and ask ?

 

yeah I got it from Danny...yeah I think i'll give him a call

 

Woohoo.. 1000th post.. just thought I'd post in this thread with other A8J owners

 

you beast! i have to send mine in for repairs. is the richmond hill place a repair center?

 

wat do u need fixed? ur pink webcam ?

I sent an email to danny asking about hinge tightening...out of town for the weekend so lets see. I can't afford to have my laptop gone for a couple of days to Asus to tighten the hinges...unless they can assure me they'll do it while i wait or something

 

YES! my pink webcam....i can spare it on the long weekend. Can i actually bring it to them, and have them fix it on the spot?!

cause fedex? well they didnt come

 

I hate fedex.. bad experience with them....

Is there an ASUS repair centre in Richmond Hill?

 

ASUS NOTEBOOK SUPPORT, 9033 Leslie St. suite #17, Richmond Hill, Ontario L4B 4K3

i suppose?

 

tightening the hinge really isn't that hard. I was afraid of breaking the plastic hinge cover but it doesn't seem like it'll break easily. Just pop them off and you clearly see the screw that you should tighten. You can get the whole process done in less than 5 min w/ one small phillips screwdriver

 

Has anyone been to that service place in Richmond Hill? How is it? Is it big? How any employees?

I was going to go up there the other day to get a North American power chord for my purchased-in-Asian-wrong-socket-type A8J, but I ended up just getting an adaptor from Pacific Mall.

And does that place have a phone number? I looked everywhere.

 

When I got my A8jm from MilestonePC (Dufferin) the guy gave me a small sheet with the richmond hill service centre info. I can't remember where I put it! I'll see if it turns up.

 

but considering asus "awesome build quality" i shudn't be worrying about a loose hinge after 4 months should i?

 

a8jm isn't as "awesome" as it was hyped up in this forum though. w3j maybe, but i'd consider a8jm just "good".
beats most hp/dells out there though

 

danielsjang, where and how are you inserting the screwddriver? i cant seem to pry open the hinge cover

 

You guys want to make it the a8j owners thread or do you think there should be a a8js owners thread?

 

Has anyone had their DVD drive eject outta nowhere? Happened to me a couple of times in the past week or two.

 

no~ lol. ive NEVER seen that before.

 

I think we should instead just rename this tread to A8 owner's lounge instead of creating a new thread, since most of the issues will be similar...

Umm.. not really... maybe some software you installed is doing this?

 

I called Asus yesterday they gave me the same address as Gusto 9033 leslie st or something along those lines regarding loose hinges. The guy on the fone said they would take care of it...i'll see if i can get them to do something about the slight keyboard flex as well.

Something off topic: im in class rt now and i see another person infront of me with the asus a8j i really didnt expect to find another person in comp sci in the same class as me with the a8j but more the merrier

 

Just got back home from the Asus service center took them 5 minutes the guy tightened the hinges for me...its good as new and he told me to go back whenever they become loose again and they'll take care of it

 

Its not built as well as I thought I was when I first got it.

Its not as cheap as some, but not far above it either.

Bear in mind its soo much cheaper than a simular Lenovo 14in, and has Soooo much more power and is lighter.

If you wan't good build get a Lenovo...

The hinges are disapointing tho'

 

Yeah but asus took care of it so lets see how long they last now, I was sort of dissapointed with a8j build quality myself after hearing about the "legendary" asus build quality, and my friend's sony definitely is built better. However, i recently was using a fujitsu and I can def say the A8J is much better, and acers, hps and gateways dont come close.

What differentiates teh a8j is the amount of power packed into the 14" case and for ppl who dont know care abt the video card, the built in webcam always makes them go "oooh" hehe

 

DONE : ). Ive changed it.

 

i dont see it :S

 

I think you need a mod to change the official thread title... even if you change the first post, it'll only change the title of that first post...

 

Ya you can adopt the a8ja and a8jf people too.

Make a large a8j family.

a8jp also.

I mean, those are ati or integrated graphics though. the a8js and a8jm are closely related and the others are cousins.

 

hey,

ive just got my new a8jm laptop as darrick adviced me to buy it, and i am really happy with it. I just have few questions

1. why when i go to system information it tells me i have 2048mb physical memory, when i am sure its 1gb as its said on the sticker and on dxdiag, just wondering lol, it surprised me

2. i was concerned about the ac adapter jack into the laptop, i see its really well made so it doesnt break out, but i am still concerned because i wasted my older laptop cause its ac adpater jack just broke off... so i couldnt use the laptop anymore

3. the screen is pretty cool and stuff.......but i kinda prefer the old technology more i dunno, like my old laptop is a northgate g732 (pretty rare laptop) aka winbook j4, and its screen compared to the a8jm is 10 times more clear,... i dunno what to say

4. when u close the screen (when i close the laptop), does the laptop go in hibernation or what??? lol, cause it restart working after like 5 mins you closed the screen. so know i have to click hibernation before closing the laptop and stuff, is there a way u can puyt the hibernation to go automaticly when u close the laptop

5. how long do u think this laptop will last... for games and for the laptop itself...my guess were that the laptop will start playing games wiht medium to low settings for games coming out in 1 to 2 years, would play the game with really low settings for game coming out in 3 years, and wont play any games for game in 4years. And it will be junk in 5-6 years... what u think

6. i payed the laptop 1600$usd (and it was a little more than my budget actually, had to cut in other stuff... and i am starting regretting it :S:S:S
thats why i wish the laptop will last long for me, thats a reason why i buy this top line laptop (its not even available in quebec, canada)
I wanted to know if you think thats a great price...1600$usd for that laptop.

7. why does everybody is like: WTF u payed 1600$ for an UNKNOWN laptop brand, u could of have one of the best TOSHIBA for that price??
lol whats wrong with everybody, no one know asus :S??!!!!

aigh', will think of other question and ill add them later
peace

 

Ok, My hinges are Loose again!!!! WTF?

Only two weeks after I spent a good 2 hours carefully getting' them tightened up. This really pisses me off. If you check my other posts in this thread you will hear me commenting on how once you take the screen back you notice that its only one screw holding the screen on even tho' there are two holes for fixing screws and only one being used. (come on ASUS are you too tight to put 2 screws in this thing) perhaps some ruber washers to reduce vibration might be good too.

Now, I dunno why it went loose soo fast. I do use it allot (take it out every other day) and use it at home every day shutting the lid around 3 times. I also use it on the lounge atleast everyother day and adjust the screen angles during those sessions.

But enough is enough, even my ****y old HP had loose hinges but it took 'em 6mths to get loose (not one month) and even at its most loose not as loose as this.

Sheeesh

 

doesn't look that bad to me....

is your screen resolution the native resolution? (1280 x 800) Otherwise it might look blurry. I very happy w/ my screen; quite crsip. Only gripe is the vertical viewing angle. Maybe you're commenting on the glossyness of the a8jm screen?

go to control panel > power > advanced tab. you'll see it there

agreed

maybe overpriced by a very little bit, buying it today, but i bought mine for $1550 (w/o bluetooth) about 3 months ago. i'd say it's fair

i got the same rxn, too. ASUS doesn't seem to be too big on selling their brand internationally (or in the US at least) where thinkpad, dell, hp and such have a stronger holding. If every laptop brand focused international sales as much as they did their domestic sales, we'd all be quite happy (think of all the samsungs and LGs laptops... ooohh)

 

samsung lg and asus as well all have us market exclusion contracts with dell. asus just expired completely this year.

This is why we dont see these computers, dell has bought out their us market share and sells them as lattitudes occasionally. In samsung and lg case it is a lcd contract as dell is their biggest customer.

not because they dont want american dollars.

 

thanks danielsjang!!

I have another question for my a8jm,
Each time I am on the battery and wait 1-2 mins without touching thr keyboard or the mouse, the lcd just shut off. The same thing happens if the laptop is on the ac adapter but is intouch for like 20 min. The problem is that when i want to go back to my laptop... the lcd wont turn back on. I tried pressing every single key, i tried the fn+lcd to turn on/off the lcd...it just stay shut off. The laptop is still working i can like hear music and stuff but the lcd is just off. So I went in the power4gear and figure out thats the laptop turn off the video out when its idle, so i removed that option and stuff.
So i was wondering do some1 know how to turn back on the screen when you come back to work on your laptop?

and i still need to know why whne i go to system information it tells me i have 2gb total physical memory??? i am supposed to have 1gb as its said on dxdiag

 

Anyways:

I guess the best thing to do is just pop up the RAM compartment and physically see how much mem you have.

 

Hey everybody, first time poster long time reader

I am about to buy the A8Jm model tomorrow (most likely) and I have been reading random pages in this lounge. I just wanted to ask those of you who have owned this bad boy for a while now, hows it holding up?

- Still a proud A8Jm owner? resenting it a bit?
- How about about the body? Taking more damage than it should? I read about some hinge problems for physical wear and touchpad difficulties.
- Any updated reviews from early owner to lately? I read Darricks (and i must say it was superb) but any newer ones?
- How about the components? HDD failures? GPU frying? Screen cracking? Mobo exploding ?

Any comment would be appreciated

 

Hey, some of my answers:
- Still proud ... no resentment
- I have one minor scratch on the lid, not really visible ... hinges on mine still holding up, though some people's have loosened and required tightening.... touchpad, I'm really used to it by now... just like using any other touchpad
- Not sure about other reviews, but some A8Js reviews should be coming up...
- No failures up to now (knock on wood) and hopefully none ever

U sure you don't wanna get the A8Js for about 100 bucks more?

 

My answers:
- I'm happy with the laptop. The negatives the laptop aren't nearly enough to make me regret
-I have a few scratches (4-5), got a slightly think one on the left edge. However, I usually throw my laptop in my backpack slot (held by a strap) and move to my next lecture quickly.The hinges haven't seemed to loosen since I bought it, although it has always slightly wobbled. The touchpad isn't my favorite, especially when my hands are moist, but I use my mouse the majority of the time.
- All the hardware is in tact.

 

My answers:
- Absolutely happy while it doesn't get as many looks as the new hp's and a similarly speced toshiba was much cheaper
- I have 1 scratch which took place yesterday :$ when i took out my keyboard and put it in properly to make it nicer im loving typing on this now even more than b4
- Got hinges tightened by asus but now they are starting to get loose again.
- The touchpad takes getting used to but i love it ppl find it hard to use initially but i luv how smooth it is as opposed to the grainy texture of other touchpads

 

I'm kinda wishing it was a little lighter. The only reason you'd get a laptop w/ such great video card (as the a8jm does) is if you're planning on playing games. I don't play much game but I bought this anyway because I might in the future, but now it's clear i won't be gaming for a while...so i kinda wish i went w/ a thinkpad (or maybe apple?)
The build quality is lower than what I expected (hinge, easily scratched cover, cheap-feeling keyboard, low vertical viewing angle etc) and the battery life is shorter than what I wanted and its a bit heavier, but it'll play games well and the screen is crisp. It does look nice, too