ASUS G50VT-X1 with Nvidia 9800M Review and Initial Impression

Ahmed....9800 series mobile video card is DDR 3 ram not DDR 2.......

 

ops sorry you meant the RAM , system memory ahhaah my bad, that is DDR 2 lol sorry. one question I do have is this is the PM 45 mobile chipset...same one as gateway FX P7811.. and FX can use DDR3, wonder if this one can as well.... thoughts anyone?

 

Hey Howard, I was wondering if you could run 3dmark06 on 1280x800 resolution since almost all NBR reviews use that as the standard for 3dmark06 scores. That way, it'll be much easier to compare with other laptops

 

Never mind...

anyways dont forget to try to overclock IF YOU CAN!!!

if its possible to upgrade to DDR3 that would be cool!!

 

What is the laptop return policy at BestBuy? Do they charge a restocking fee? Is the keyboard issue enough of a defect to let you swap for a different model/brand?

 

Well, looking in the G50 Owners lounge on the first post, it is mentioned that updating to the beta bios fixes the keyboard missing keystrokes and lag problem right?

 

1) I will go home later and run it at 1280 x 800 WITH the machine overclocked, they call it the EXTREME TURBO mode.. lets see how that baby goes.

2) Bestbuy notebook return policy is 14 days. If opened there is a 15% restocking fee, but none if defective. Exchange is fine without restocking fee.

3) If keyboard lags, I will see if there is a new bios first. Cause this is a new motherboard, PM 45 chipset, newer one than other M50 and last G50 series, so I'm not sure about the bios , if you guys find anything plz let me know.

 

Guys i am interested in buying this laptop but whats the problem with a 1366 x 768 resolution i dont get it?

and also is the 2.26 to 2.53 jump in the G50vt- A1 version going to make a difference? should i wait for it ?

 

I don't see a problem with that screen resolution.
I see it as a benefit because with that res and the Geforce 9800m GS you will be able to play any game with the highest settings (except perhaps Crysis), at more than playable framerates. With higher resolutions the demand on the gpu increases greatly.

 

will it still look nice .. doesnt a lower resolution mean it'll be less clear?

 

Not really, i thought so at first but looking at it longer 1366 x 768 is really actually nice, text is good size and clear, no eye strain at all.

 

Not necesarily.
I have a 17in Samsung monitor with a native resolution of 1280x720 and it looks great for games. A 15.6in at 1366x768 should be sharp and look great for gaming and work.
I would personally rather have:
high settings/high framerates/relatively low resolution
than:
low settings/low framerates/high resolution

makes me think the screen is good...

 

The catch to all this is -

to get some good warranty on this machine you have to pay an additional 250$.


By then, when it comes out on newegg and such, it'll probably cost 1.5-1.6, which is how much you spent on best buy..

and you get faster machine...


this is what is holding me down... and contemplating.

 

If you don't care about the warranty, the bestbuy deal is as good as it gets.

 

Like i posted previously, if you have american express card, use it to buy this laptop. U get addl 1 year warranty, make that 2 years at no additional charge

 

thanks howard, sorry~


looks like i gotta pickup one of these suckers...


in oregon! no tax ftw.

 

no worry man, welcome to the club!!! let me know how your keyboard behaves will ya?

 

What about the sound? I read that you mentioned it "sounded" good but is there anything regarding this laptops ability to pass the sound externally to a secondary source like a Home Theater and hear it in 5.1 or 7.1?

The specs on the BB site mention this laptop to have a Azalia audio chip, any idea what it can do?

Im very interested in this but want to run it through my Home Theater and 52 LCD and was hoping not to have to buy an external usb soundcard like the Turtle Beach SRM if I didnt have to (just another thing hanging off the laptop)

 

If you are looking for a real bang for u buck take a look at this
http://www.xoticpc.com/sager-np5793-custom-sager-notebook-built-clevo-m570ruu-m571ruu-p-2276.html

 

Keyboard lag?

ok guys ,I just did some bookoo typing to check if i have keyboard lag issue due to same reason as M50 and previous G50 or there might be or is it some other reason. I concentrated on feeling the key stroke, pressure, timing and I even typed following a magazine article. After trying out for 10 minutes, preliminary investigation revealed that it should not be the bios/software issue.

I compared with a regular desktop keyboard and trying to remember my previous laptop keyboard, this keyboard layout, distance of palm rest and the firmness of the key is not quite the same as other I have used. This keyboard requires more firm and direct pressure than simply touch typing.

As a result, I have been missing key strokes and letters. This keyboard requires more pressure and travel distance is ever so slightly farther than other laptop and keyboard I have been used to. Right now I am typing on this G50 and I type slower with more firm and direct pressure. Problem has not been alleviated, but I am making fewer and fewer mistakes. For the moment, I think it may just be a GETTING USED TO IT kind of problem.

I am hoping this firmness means that this keyboard is more rugged and sturdy built to withstand abuse that will arise from gaming. I'm still typing with less and less mistakes though I am still making it. Will keep typing more and post tonight.

Howard

 

Howard,

Is there anyway you can verify the Hard Drive speed? BB has conflicting information regarding the Hard Drive. On the Overview tab it says it is 7200 but on the specs tab it states 5400. Can you confirm which it really is?

 

I'm wondering the same thing.

 

hmmm i would love to, how do i verify it? just looked at box and documentation, there are no indicator on the hard drive speed, and I'm a bit reluctant to open up the computer (void warranty?) especially this is a pretty new model and i want to test it for stability....

Just took a nap, left it on.. quiet as whisper.......loving it.

 

just use device manager to find your drive model and google it

 

Could you tell us some details concerning battery life?

 

Under device manager only this comeup

st9230421as

googled i with no result. There were no make/model listed, just the above letter and number.

 

its the Seagate Momentus 7200.3 ST9320421AS

 

Very nice! glad that random number was able to help

 

Howard, I have an amex card. Did you say then will double your warranty? How is that.

 

Gotta love AMEX
https://www212.americanexpress.com/...e_allccsg_shareddetails&type=intbenefitdetail

 

I did extensive research on the policy of amex card before applying for one. pretty much all of amex card double he warranty of your gadget. Computers, TV, Cell phones, all of them. But they dont go beyound addtional 2 or 3 years I think, but I researched and my friend used it. If you use amex card to buy a computer/laptop that has 1 year warranty, they extend it by 1 more year. You get 2 years warranty for no additional charge. If you buy an elctronic 300 and under, you get lost/theft and damage protection first.....90 days I believe. Just so you have a real life example, read this link.

http://digg.com/hardware/American_Express_Extended_Warranty_Protection_Buys_You_A_New_Laptop

I buy all my computer with Amex, I Even make purchase for all my relative with my amex and they give me cash, while I accrue points

 

Im glad I have had my amex card for a while now. I just wish I found about this sooner. Time to buy more stuff lol.

 

playing call of duty 4 single player section of ALL GHILLIED UP

is the part with lots of tall tree and grass where it would tax the video card on presenting fine details. at max resolution 1366 x 768, this game supports it and the detail is absolutely stunning. I have owned HP DV5T with 9600M GT and played same scenario before. 9800 card totally trahsed 9600 beyond comparison. I do not have FPS yet, but I can tell you that this video card will go as fast as your wrist can go and then some. As far as my eyes can tell, 9800M card on this laptop at least has the same FPS if not the same as a desktop gaming machine with ATI 4850 on 1680 x 1050 resolution. IT IS THAT FAST AND FLUID!

 

:O

7200 RPM 320 GB HD
9800M

all in 15" and for less than $1300...

nice, but I'm not really digging the gamer look...

 

man can I cant wait to order this. Cant wait for the pre order.

 

Debating between this and the Sager 5793... For about 1450 or so, u get blu-ray, a 9800 gts, fingerprint scanner, a much better resolution (1680x1050, upgradeable to 1900x1200) on a 17" screen, bluetooth capability, and a T8100 cpu upgradeable to T9300. Rest are about the same (4 gigs ram, 320gig hd).

 

i dont know if 15.6'' laptop is big enough for hard core gamers.
even keyboards on 17" s are a little small than i liking, eg' dell xps m1730, gateay p7811fx. keyboard and screen size on a 15.6" is not the most comfortable to get used to.
i rather think this 15.6 asus is better suited for beginer or casual gamers.
if ur intent to play games for long stretches, 17" is a better choice.

 

I'm just still experiencing his strange phenomenom . It is not keyboard lag, keystroke and letters does not have adelay, but sometimes some key, letters are simply nto registering. I can type over 100 word per minutewith no or minmal mistake, all the mistakes you se inthis post is due to this strange.....key stroke not being registered. If i typeslow and press really hard hen its beter ,but I do not want to reak my finger just from typing daily... its very strange.............

 

And just to make sure I'm not going crazy or biased, I compared my Saitek gaming keyboard side by side with the G50 keyboard, same exact size and key size as well. I'm now typing on the Saitek gaming keyboard with faster speed and I'm not making any mistake, not that I can tell or as frequent as the laptop keyboard, What do you guys think? Also This laptop is exhibiting a strange problem. I have downloaded, install and configured all updates from windows update, but everytime I start and shut down the computer or restart it goes into this CONFIGURING UPDATE cycle, endless, does it everytime. I'm really bummped out.... and up to now, still no mistake in typing I can see!!!

 

Disabling the touchpad and uninstalling the synaptics touchpad in windows should solve the keyboard lag problem

 

Thanks man... i know you always respond fast and look out for me, but one thing... I love using the touch pad, take it out and move it around. touch pad is really convenient. If I have to disable it in order to type an email/essay without error, you think i should seek other alternative than try to deal with it while paid full price for it?

 

Howard,

Keyboard thing seems a little sucky, hopefully Emp's suggestion will solve the problem. I can't get enough of this thread as the ASUS is on my short list. I have a boxed 7811FX with 12 days left to return while I decide which the FX or G50VT suites me better.

One still open issue for me is the ability of either of the laptops to provide my Home Theater with a decent multi-channel signal. The FX just says HD 2 channel (whimpy) while the G50 mentions some audio chip. Does the G50VT manual mention anything about the sound options? Is there any sound outputs on the machine (excluding headphone jack), like an S/PDIF? Just curious....

Thanks

 

You should still be able to use the touchpad even after disabling it.

 

Just opened the sound property and checked, AZALIA chip is just an upgraded integrated audio, it is just a higher end realtek high definition audio. I checked , the only option is still 2 channel audio, no option to have 4 or 5 speaker. I have owned gateway FX 6860, same output, the only difference from the laptop speaker asus is much cleaner and crisp audio.

EMP, disabled trackpad , and did typing, still lag and mistakes all over the page, I think im gonna take this one back see what they say.

 

Here's what I found from Clodus

So my solution is as follows:
1. Disable touchpad in Bios
2. Boot windows, then uninstall synaptics touchpad in windows completely
3. Reboot, run CCleaner to ensure all the synaptics registry junk is eliminated (just to be triple sure)
4. Reboot again, this time going into the Bios, then enable the touchpad
5. Save settings, run windows.
6. When Windows starts, it should have automatically found a default windows PS2 driver for the touchpad.
7. There we go, no more keyboard lag!

See if that works out.

 

Thanks for checking I guess the only way Im going to get that multichannel sound of out one of these laptops is to use an external USB soundcard like the Turtle Beach SRM. It seems pretty impressive but its darn ugly (looks like an old pager).

 

EMP thx for the post and researching for me, i really am grateful. Only thing I'm still thinking about is if i should do all that and try to fix it, and if still not work, take it back to bestbuy, where the geek squad might figure out something was tampered with and deny return or assess restocking fee.

Or should I keep it the way it is, no disable or uninstall and just take it back and type something in front of them to show them the problem and either get a different machine (exchange) or get something else? meaning keep everything original, make my case in front of them with everything in tact..? warhammer, any suggestions?

 

Hey man, found this, should support your 5.1 surround sound while not have an ugly usb dongle sound card....

http://us.creative.com/products/product.asp?category=209&subcategory=669&product=16642

 

Unfortunately you happen to be the preverbal guinea pig. Looking at the various "gamer" type laptops I don't think any have gone without a glitch or few. The reviews are starting to appear on the BB website and oddly enough none have mentioned the keyboard problems you are having. Either they have not been paying close attention, or it could be an indication it might just not be a chronic problem with all the VT's and a quick exchange could solve your problem.

If that doesn't solve the problem and you want to walk away from this version then I have to say the FX at the clearance price is hard to beat, that was up until this ASUS model. I know some folks like the Sager's as well but even the few extra hundred bucks is more than I wantto spend right now.

 

I honestly doubt a new system will solve the problem. The keyboard lag has been quite a notorious issue in the recent M50 and G50 series notebooks. I've tried to find possible solutions before, and while it worked for some, others didn't have the same luck. AFAIK, it's a software issue, not hardware. I personally don't think Best Buy would deny a return since you're basically only uninstalling a driver which can always be installed again.
Though you could try and exchange it and if the same keyboard lag occurs, then you can try the steps I mentioned earlier.