ASUS N71JQ Owners Lounge

I did not notice the graphic scores from before, but the CPU score went up when I updated the bios to v205 and I set the EASY ASUS OVER-CLOCK to Turbo 5%.

My ram score is high due to the 8GB DDR3-1333 ram.

 

I think judging an audio quality by built-in speakers is a big mistake... I hope the interferance noise isn't too noticeable on a headphones. If so, it would be a really big thumb down...

 

I have used headphones and didnt notice any interference, I have nothing plugged into the USB on that side. I only have a single USB plug used (goes to a full 7 port hub).

compared to the built in on my old dell these speakers blw them out of the water with volume, bass and quality. no tinny highs, they are slightly heavier on the midrange, but I don't mind at all, my music, games and the few movies I have tried, all sound good enough that I don't see a need for external speakers. I may invest in a good set of headphones for when the kids and wife are asleep, or if i am not watching TV while using the computer.

on an unrelated note, I upgraded my wireless card to the Intel 6200and found that to fully utilize the N band speeds(you get stuck at 54, max G speeds), your wireless router must support AES, which mine does't. anyone have a recommendation for a good dual band N router with AES supported at a decent price (under $150US). it's probably my only complaint about it.

 

Hey turbo have u tweaked ur GPU

 

HiYa Turbogear & Crew Here!

Yup, got my N71JQ-A1 earlier today, and just got home
from work, opened it up, and did the usual preparatios...
With a couple disappointments unfortunately:
1) Mine has 1066Mhz RAM, so I'll go ahead and replace it with
my 8GB of 1066mhz Samsung/SuperTalent RAM in a couple minutes
2) Mine came with no Restore DVD-ROM, so I'm screwed until the
nice people at Asus kick me back one...I ordered it just a couple
minutes ago via a PDF FAX form they sent me in an email...$30 plus shipping!
Yikes! Total with tax $37.93 in California...not too pleased about that, but what chance do I have to do custom installs without Cloning this install?
Slim to none...

I have an Intel 160GB X25-M G2 SSD and my favored Hitachi 7200RPM 16MB Cache 500GB SATA II HD sitting here, which will be sitting here until I get my System disk so I can do a custom install, minus all the bloatware and utilities...sigghhhhh.... :wub:

Other than that, the computer arrived in one piece, thanks to God for that! I had 3-Day UPS Saver shipping (only $7.23) instead of my favored 2nd-Day Air or Next Day Air, and I regretted doing that the moment I completed my web order at B&H Photo & Video...so after 5 days of agony, all is well, and I saved some shipping $$'s after all, Whew! :yes:

I am running Folding@Home on it right now, and will for a couple days to "break in the CPU and circuitry", and make certain that all is aok fine before I retire it to more mundane things. Speaking of that, Real Temp Beta 3.50 says that all Cores are engaged @ 1622Mhz, 100% CPU Load, and temps range from 71 to 68 degrees Celsius, nothing abnormal at all. So far, so good! :wink:

I am pleased at the quality of the build, it's just stellar without any capitulations to progress, or fast $$ on the Asus side, so it seems like they built me a good one this past month. I haven't gone into BIOS to see the build date yet, but I will...it's apparently very fresh, with the latest BIOS other than 205 that is, 204 installed.

Now about the new BIOS, it enables 100% throttle @ 105% correct? I can't seem to get this one to go up to 2.8Ghz in any conditions yet, even with FAHome's 100% throttle demands it doesn't go higher than 1622Mhz OEM box stock. I'd like to overclock this some! LOL!

When, pray tell, does it get up to 2.8Ghz, if ever? Am I just stuuupid for thinking it would do that under load, or what? Hah! :confused2:

I will get back at you all after I install my 8GB of RAM, and peek around at the insides of the machine a little...it does have the Atheros 9285 WiFi setup, so I may want to change that to the Intel 6200, with two antenna's already here and me not wanting to go 3-antennas and put in the Ultimate N-6300...I think that the 6200 will be fine for my purposes...streaming video and audio on my home network, an iTunes/AppleTV N-spec 2.4Ghz server setup.

That's the report here...I've got it!l It Rocks! All is well, and I'll cya later tonight after I have some dinner and can relax a little with the machine and play some games and things like that.

Oh, one last thing...I've got it on a Logitech N100 Cool Pad...that helps a bunch with temps! :rolleyes2:

 

Is it possible to overclock the gfx card slight? and or cpu? Without extra cooling? Something that is safe? if so please let me know..

BTW, mine only has 1 HDD bay cant put 2 in there !

I guess i will have to carry a external with me whereve i go!

Thought im looking at buying a 500gb OCZ SSD hrmmmm

 

Ah Hah! You got El Cheapo version of this laptop, the one with 1 HD Bay Filled, and no BluRay optical drive, right? Oh well, it's STILL a beastie, is it not?

I just LOVE this big thing, and it IS Big! I have not had a computer this large unless it was one that I personally constructed from parts and pieces, an OEM build, of which I own two Core i7 920-based CPU's like that right now. They run a bit faster than this baby does (4210Mhz 24/7 doing Folding@Home), and they have crazy things like hardware RAIDs and dual nVidia GTX 285's in SLI, but they don't hold a candle to this one's portability! This is KUHL! LOVE it! :wub:

I enclosed a screen shot of my new Baby Boy here, the Big Baby Boy as it is, showing him doing Folding@Home @ 100% CPU Load, @ 1700+Mhz on all 4 Cores, a neat trick for a laptop to be doing don't cha think? My WEI sucks right now, with the lousy Seagate HD's in place currently, but NOT for long! As soon as my installer DVD ROM shows up here I'll Pony Up the Intel X25-M G2 SSD, and the WEI for disk will all of a sudden be 7.8 points! :yes:

I love SSD's, too, don't ya'll? Newly discovered by yours truly, I can't see having a fast computer w/out an SSD now, they're just toooo KUHL! Faster than sin itself on the Bible, and twice as nice, a fast SSD is any grown man's constant companion, if he truly luvs his computers, that is. :smile:

As for OC'ing these bad puppies, I should think it's certainly OK to do just that! When this one is broken is a bit more, and I'm certain that all the kinks are out of the skin it's got, I'll be OC'ing this one a bunch too. They sure run cool enough to do it, have great cooling apparatus inside, fans and cavities up the ying-yang this has...I had a look inside tonight, just could not resist the notion to take it apart and check it out when I added the 8GB of RAM, and this is da kind laptop!

What a load of technology this packs! WOW! Plenty of room to do all kinds of Mods if you were that sort of a laptop owner, yessir! I think these are good for a constant 2.5Ghz or so, with the cooling in place they have...I'm just going to spend the next couple of days figuring out *how* to do just that!

The ATI graphics is no slouch either, especially after you install the latest 10.3 updated Catalyst CP and Drivers, like INSANE graphics this thing has! I was playing Call of Duty: World@War for about an hour tonight, and I was getting consistent 40-65FPS in battle scenes, firefights, and rocket-launchers going berserk...like what a change from a little Asus UL30VT-X1! This thing ROCKS! :GEEK:

Thanks go out to my dear friend Mr. tallan, who is off on vacation right now so he probably won't read this for a couple days, for egging me on to buy one of these guys. As he said, "It'll be perfect for your graphics, movies, games and what-not"...or something to that effect, and he was right as rain!

Answer me one thing though, why does CPU-Z call this thing a 'Core i5' on the top line of its graphics, then Specifications are "Intel Core i7 CPU" in the next sentence in the display...whassup with that? I don't really care about it, it's just strange!

I love this laptop to death! It's purrrfect, no dead pixels, no problems, none at all even with the crappy factory installation of Windows 7/drivers et al...just the usual things like the trackpad turn-off doesn't function, typical, yah? I will find other software "anomalies" as I go about getting to know this thing, but still, for a factory install it's not too bad really!

Enough out of me tonight, you guys have lots better things to do than read my gibberish on a lead-acid high I am, after getting this in today's UPS shipment! People, you're really missing out on one of the great bargains in computer-Land if you don't have an Asus Core i7-equipped N71JQ-A1, with the BluRay optical drive and all the ATI toys and fun!! :rolleyes2:

This is just toooo good of a bargain @ $1300 and change (I paid $1322 for this one), I mean it's sinful what we Americans can have for our toys, work, and pleasures! I have a friend, dear friend Down Under in Melbourne, and he just about had a Heart Attack (!!) when I told him the specs on this for $1300 or so...he's convinced that Down Under this thing would cost $4K Australian! I don't think quite that much, but we have it all here guys and gals, getting such a machine as this for such cheap $$$'s! cRAZY! :laugh:

I'll be back at ya'll later on, after I conjure up a meaningful post about this guy a little later on, this is just pure Giddiness and Laughter right now! Hah-Hah! :wink: This is the best deal on Planet Earth right now, and I'm lovin' it!

Thank The Lord For the Asus Gods! :yes: :yes:

 

Hi budgey,

No, I have not tweak the GPU. It is running at default settings.

I am using Catalyst 10.3 driver.

 

turbo my friend, WHERE did that new BIOS v.205 come from, anyway?

From Asus, yah? I am afraid to flash it until it becomes "official" and gets posted...at this point. I am comfy @ v.204 like yours was when new. The only thing I am after at this point is some overclocking aids, and I have no idea where to start, but start I will after I finish this post.

That file can't even be opened to use WinFlash on it, at least the one I got couldn't...you only had the choice to run it or not...

Thanks for the new BIOS, but no thanks, as yet...

 

As I mentioned in the other post it is not yet official.
Some member at the N61JQ lounge posted it.

I thought the new notebooks like yours will come with the new bios, but it does not seem to be the case.

You can keep the stock bios. I hope in the near future ASUS will release the new one officially.

The only different I have seen so far is that the new bios allows you to do up to 5% overclocking.

 

Yup, the *only* things that have changed in the new notebooks, (same BIOS as yours. v.204) that are apparently built last month...ie March, 2010... is that we have lost the 1333Mhz SODIMMs, and the Recovery DVD ROM with Windows OS is now an Asus Store "option" for $30US plus shipping....does NOT come with the laptop 'kit' anymore.

I have a couple clean, clear instances of Windows Home Premium from a
Family 3-User Pack that I scored for $119US when they were available in October, 2009, but it's an "Upgrade"-only 3-User pack, so I cannot use that instance of Windows on this laptop. The install of that 3-User Family Pack leaves a "paper trail" that the Windows checker can detect, so it's not like I could use that on the laptop, then use the COA/Windows ID from the bottom of the laptop and be legal...doesn't work like that...unfortunately.

I was between a rock and a hard place with getting the genuine Windows installer from Asus for this laptop, and for $30 it's worth it to me to have-- that solves my issues 100% with having an installer disk for the laptop that's legitimate. Wish I could have done it another way, but alas not to be this time...

 

download MSI afterburner http://event.msi.com/vga/afterburner/download.htm
then to bypass the limits set by the program
1. Go to installed directory of MSI Afterburner, default: C:\Program file\MSI Afterburner
2. Use notepad to edit “MSIAfterburner.cfg”
3. Change the parameter of “EnableUnofficialOverclocking” from “0” to “1”.
you may have to change to admin rights to save the file
Ive done numerous testing and came up with best clocks of
775mhz for core clock
995mhz for memory clock
you can use http://www.techpowerup.com/downloads/1128/AMD_GPU_Clock_Tool_v0.9.8.html
to test for stability.
when testing for stability you need to let it go for awhile and have no errors

 

As far as I know, what you will get from ASUS is not an installation disk but rather a recovery disk.

The first time you started your notebook, I think it would have offered you to create a recovery media (4 DVDs).
As far as I know this recovery media should be similar to the recovery disk that you ordered from ASUS.

If you would like to have a clean install of Windows 7 Home Premium, you can read here:
http://directedge.us/node/24

The guide is for Vista but works in a similar way for Windows 7.

 

Thanks for the guide.
I will try it if I get some spare time over the weekend.

 

This is a response to the screed of rexrzer727

He tells me not to come here and express my views (I guess he/she hasn't encountered the concept of free speech despite being from the USA but thats not uncommon) and that I do not understand computers and that my opinions are hogwash and various other insulting statements.

For a start its of little use that specialized programs can stress a particular CPU or not, what matters is how it performs for you in your everyday apps.

I had already stated that the Watcom compiler perhaps wasn't multi-threaded enough so I don't understand rexrzer727 telling me about multi-threading and that I have posted "ludricrous" statements and that I should go back to square 1.

Further there is no linear relationship between number of cores and performance even Intel admits that quite simply a 4 core machine will not do twice the work of a 2 core machine with most real world apps (there is no magic), therefore I humbly submit that my critic re-educate him/her self rather than berate me.

On the basis of my tests I have determined that I quite possibly have wasted money because my particular app does not benefit from the 4 cores, I suppose thats why buying i3 or i5 machines makes more cost effective buy decisions for most folk. However I will perhaps try the Intel compiler and perhaps Open Watcom will parallize their software in the coming months. In terms of games performance is often quoted in terms of FPS not cpu usage so its unclear what is the limiting factor. I expect in almost all cases it would be the graphics card rather than the cpu, so in this case I expect best performance might be obtained by forgoing expense on the cpu and directing it towards the gpu. But perhaps logic doen't always win out to Bragging Rights.

I had perhaps naively hoped that there would be some other development that would attempt to parallize existing code (This is not as outlandish as it seems as the TransMeta cpu would translate x86 instructions on the fly into its native VLIW (Very Long Instruction Word), indeed there was some talk of that but I expect it won't happen because most software companies will see this as an upgrade path to get new sales especially since even more numerous core machines are being promulgated down the turnpike. This is also evidenced by new tools in Win studio 2010 to help code and debug multi-cored programs.

In closing I might add: rexrzer727 keep your luck for yourself as by the evidence of your own posting you need it more than I.

P.S. enjoy running your PRIME95 I am sure its a very useful wizard app.

 

Just to add on to the above, the laptop never came with a Win7 install disk, just a driver disk, and you really do not even need that. Just get a copy of DriverGenius and make your own driver disk if you do not have one.

For Win7 all you really need is the COA on the bottom of the laptop. Then either get a trial version of Win7 from the MS website or just d/l it from your favorite bitTorrent site.

If you turn on MS Update instead of Windows update all of the drivers will get updated as MS gets them.

Also; I have been fallowing the N61JQ lounge and someone over their bricked their laptop while updating the BIOS, so be carfull with that.

Dave

 

Yes, flashing bios always involves some risk.
That is why when I posted here the link from N61JQ lounge for the N71JQ v205 bios, I gave a warning.

 

If you say so, then what about this?

youtube.com/watch?v=gHPcbmv1ii0

 

@ rexrzer727 and @jackoByte

Please keep it calm and don't turn this forum into a battlefield. :confused2:
I think all of us here are free to express our opinion but please don't start attacking each other or calling each other bad words.

Please keep the forum technical and not turn it into political arena.

 

as you may know, the ati 10.4 preview drivers are out for our cards to fix the battlefield bc2 slow map loading problem... but, im having trouble installing it =/ the installer runs but fails to install the display driver.. anyone else having this problem?

 

OK I've watched it but what exactly is it supposed to prove?

Has there been a linear improvement in GTA performance vs a 2 core and how would that be measured?

I don't see why I am the bad boy here.

 

Boy, do I agree with that! :yes:

My apologies to Mr. jackobyte (sp?) and this Forum for any 'tirades' on my part about anyone's particular understanding, or lack of understanding, of this laptop. It's certainly open for scrutiny... and an owner's opinion, be it good or bad, is a part of the Forum just like all of our lavish praise and thanks for just having it, and for Asus from making the N71JQ-A1. :smile:

I happen to think it kicks arse over any C2Duo's output, and I can prove that by its command of Folding@Home, which many of you may or may not be familiar with. I contract with Stanford University and do folding of emulated synthesized proteins that help with research into diseases like Alzheimers, Parkinsons, the terrible and deadly cancers and other cell-degenerating diseases like aerobic bacteria that are medication resistant. All of those *bad things* are inherently "protein folding gone bad" cases, whereby cells are taken over and either destroyed or changed into deadly things, or the organisms themselves consume our flesh and just kill us slow or fast, depends on the disease, but nonetheless it certainly results in pain, suffering, and at the worst death.

So Vijay Pande's Folding@Home program @ Stanford is a world-wide program that utilizes donor computers to remotely "fold" emulated proteins on our computers, from as you can imagine, their whole state to a zero entity state (0-100%), emulating their 'life process' such as it is, and the results are compiled by the host computers, then sent back to Stanford University via the internent, and another protein is then downloaded and the process begins anew...so it's a never-ending sort of situation, and my personal computers in my photography studio and home both do the Folding program 24/7, be it a PC or Mac, they all contribute to the FAH program.

Why am I telling all of you about this? Well it certainly is off-topic, but still, this is a good thing for people to consider doing with their computers if they can "afford" or are "willing" to leave them run 24/7 at 100% CPU load as we all do who are earnestly in the program, and contribute to the good cause of their medical research into all the various diseases and conditions that afflict mankind. I'm still at work right now, leaving a bit late tonight catching up on "next week" early so to speak, but I'll give the URL's for the Stanford FAHome program web site so if people are interested then can at least read about the program, what it does, who is involved in it, and how it works.

http://folding.stanford.edu/

http://folding.extremeoverclocking.com/user_summary.php?s=&u=113464

The 1st URL is for the Stanford web site dedicated to Folding@Home, and the 2nd URL is my personal Folding statistics @ extremeoverclocking.com, showing my daily, monthly, and other statistics related to my Folding efforts, the point total such as it is...the more points you get, the more proteins you've folded et al. We have Teams that compete against one another all over the world, and my small team is composed of mostly Mac computers and Mac people, but I do both PC and Macs, so am the Team's No.1 contributor at this time.

The process itself that a computer does is very intensive, and stresses the computer 24/7 @ 100% CPU Load exclusive of memory load, ie it's just CPU-intensive, but the computer involved can also be used normally while it folds, it turns out, because only "excess CPU cycles" are used during a protein's folding run. Even my work computer that I am typing on is Folding right now, and yet I am able to use it normally, no compromising at all really going on during the day, because the CPU cycles shift from Folding to my work anytime I need those cycles while I am doing my work here.

The point is having a computer online doing Folding@Home is a good break-in procedure for any new computer also, and that's why I am using the program with the new N71JQ-A1 right now at my home, as it will surely show any problems or weaknesses in the computer's build, CPU, circuit boards and motherboard, to have it online doing Folding for a couple days. I hope it passes muster! That is why I am doing it, you know? I have 30 days to decide to keep or return this new laptop, and I intend to make certain that it is 100% aok fine in that time, the sooner the better...and doing the Stanford FAHome program is the best way I know how to do such a thing.

I see no reason to leave the computer on PRIME95 or LinX 0.6.4 24/7, which would be an unnecessarily brutal regimen to put a computer through, but FAHome is plenty good at doing what I am after, and that is to see if the CPU and boards, and circuits are good in my particular N71JQ-A1-- in a couple days I'll know the answer to that question. Lighting up all 8 Cores @ 100% load is an awfully good test to be doing, and that is exactly what I am doing with FAHome right now and my new laptop, so that's the deal and I hope it's clear as a bell now about my new laptop and FAHome.

If anyone has any questions about FAHome in general, I can be reached via PM here easily, as I think that's a more appropriate way to do such a thing, as we are after all supposed to be about the N71JQ-A1, not programs such as Folding@Home and Stanford University.

I do appreciate your input, Turbogear, about the DVD-ROM that I will be receiving from Asus, but it *is* a full Windows Installer DVD-ROM, I have been assured by both Asus Tech Support and the Asus Store themselves, or I would NOT have ordered it. I have made the 4 "Recovery DVD's" that you are speaking about, but that is not what I want for this laptop, now or in the future when I want to change out HD's or do custom installs, whatever.

I'm not going to go through all the hoops and jumps with downloading Windows from a Torrent site, or a try-out copy from Microsoft, I am getting what I want directly from Asus, and anybody who is buying this computer now or in the future can do the same if they wish... IT IS A FULL INSTALLER DVD-ROM with Windows OS on it, to compliment the Driver and Utility DVD-ROM that Asus supplied me with!

I must move on with my work now, but I wanted to clear up those 3 things right away, once I read today's posts, ie Folding, "bantering and name calling and arguing" here vs. conducting business as usual, and about the installer DVD ROM I am getting from Asus for $37.73.

Have a nice evening, and I'll get back to you all a bit later after I drive home and have some dinner, and relax a little...

 

Hello everybody. Yet another one of the many potential new owners of the N71JQ (A-1, not the X-1). The only concern I'm not having is about the keyboard. I tried one out in the store today, where it was sitting next to the G73. I gotta say, the keyboards look identical, size-wise. Does anyone know if that keyboard (LED-backlit) would be plug & play with the N71? Has anyone even thought to try it or whether it's a matter of different connector types or separate leads for the LEDs?

I read earlier in the threads where someone was going to "craft" an LED keyboard... and then never saw anything about it again. I'm not crazy about chiclet keyboards to begin with, but at least if it's backlit, that'll help in finalizing my decision.

The fact that it has USB 3.0 and eSATA, and the huge price difference, makes it a near-slam dunk over the G73; as I'm not *as* hung up on the screen resolution differences once I saw them side-by-side.

(And if anyone's wondering, I don't want to add a USB-driven lamp or reading light or anything shining down on the keys so I can see them - my neighbor already suggested that. Fail.)

Thanks!

 

Let's hope it is a full installation disk and not a recovery disk.
Please tell us when you get it.

As for me, I don't need it.
I am a member of Microsoft Technet Plus so I have access to all the microsoft Windows versions.

 

+1, I agree completely; you should be given Mod status just for saying this correctly. flame wars are so boring to fish through when you are trying to solve a real problem.

This Forum is realy good so far, let's keep it that way.

Dave

 

Yes, Turbogear Mr. Moderator in waiting, it is a full DVD ROM with the Windows OS on it, just like what I got with my UL30VT-X1...in fact, it has the same part number as that disk I found out late last night...and therefore I canceled my order completely. Asus had not yet shipped it FedEx Ground, it turns out, was going to be shipped on Monday, so I FAXED Asus Store again, and got an email confirming that my order was hereby canceled, and my VISA card has already been refunded $37.93...so that, is that! :wink:

Now that being said, I thought, "Hmmmm, if the part numbers are the same, then why won't it work for my new N71JQ-A1 also?" So late last night, about 2AM, I made a strong pot of Java (coffee), and set to removing my two 320GB Seagate HD's, and installing my Intel X25-M 160GB SSD, and the favored Hitachi 500GB 7200RPM 2.5" 16MB Cache HD for my 2nd HD in the new beastie...I finished *most* of the exercise by about 4:30AM today, got up about Noon after some much deserved sleep, and have just finished the job. I just installed iTunes and blessed the computer for Home Sharing, so it can download and share music from my iTunes/AppleTV "N"-Spec network, installed my necessary printer drivers for the 3 printers here in my studio, and voila! Done Deal, it's all Clean Installed and purrrfect now!

The installer disk, it seems, is 100% generic for all Asus notebooks, the difference being the various Driver and Utilities the different notebooks have to install for full functionality with all the special parts and pieces they respectively have, but that's about it! Isn't that fantastic news! I am so jazzed by this discovery that I could shout "I Love You Asus" 100 Times! Hah-Hah!

I have my perfect, xlnt working Clean Install, with only the Asus programs and utilities that *I wanted* to have installed in the mix now, and this laptop runs like the proverbial wind with the SSD in place of the awful Seagate HD's! Yecchh! I am not a fan of Seagate HD's, in fact one of mine was causing the notebook to vibrate a bit, its spindle must have been out of kilter is my guess...so no more of that. I've enclosed a copy of my Windows WEI now for Hoots, so now my low score is graphics @ 6.7 WEI Points. :yes:

I also installed my own copy of CyberLink Hi-Definition Suite, which includes support for BluRay Disks, movies, and also burning BluRay with the correct optical drive (like my desktops have LG burners, and my Sony notebook has an Optiarc notebook writer/reader/burner also), in anticipation of possibly changing out the drive for a new Optiarc like the Sony has. The Hi-Def Suite also has a killer movie playing program, which is very superior to the Asus bundled software for our notebooks, so that is installed for grins!

All in all I am tickled Pink and Blue about things right about now! COOL NEWS about the installer DVD ROMs for Asus notebooks, yah? It's nice to know that the same part number was going to be shipped to me, which I caught when checking status on my order at the 'Asus Store Website' last night, late...I have a thing for memorizing numerical sequences, and it struck me right away when I saw the part number that I already had it sitting in my DVD stack for notebooks, and I was right when checked!

I have been using the notebook for FAHome also, and it's passed muster there, completing one A3 Work Unit in just about 9 hours time, with all 8 Cores (4 Cores and 4 HyperThreaded Cores) going 100% all day, without incidents. It's interesting to note that my CPU cycles between 1596mhz, up to 1670Mhz, then back to 1640Mhz, then up to 1740Mhz, and back and forth like that @ 100% throttle Load, so I'm getting my full measure out of the CPU it seems, for good cause and it's running about 70-75-degrees Celsius throughout the day, depending on the ambient temps here (it's been warm today...mid-80's F).

That's my report for the day, and a Happy Report it is! :GEEK:

Thank you Asus Gods, for making this beautiful $1322 computer for me to buy, I am totally, 100% satisfied with it after completing its "make over" last night, and today. I have even warmed up to the dark brown and black combination, which I was *not* sure I'd like for the long haul, but it's aok fine with me... :laugh:

I hope everybody had a nice Saturday and weekend, and that the
Asus Gods are shining on your computers too, I know mine is blessed triple now!

These are fantastic machines, and full of surprises, good ones it turns out...I am sooo glad I sprung for this rather than hassle with a G73 or the smaller N61 lineup...this is purrrfect, and twice as nice! :rolleyes2:

 

One last note from me for the day, about the new machine...the battery will *not* last an hour @ 100% Load on battery, doing FAHome, listening to iTunes music, web surfing, and just generally opening a bunch of windows and applications the whole time. BT/WiFi both "On"... It was *not* a power conserving run by any means, simply wanted to see how the battery would hold up under 100% Load, with other apps open and music playing...57 minutes and 35 seconds before the laptop Hibernated @ 5% battery reserve left.

It was fully charged, and according to EmBatPower utility, my battery utility of choice, and the battery has a design capacity of 48,750mWh, or 4400MAH, while my particular battery will charge up to 47,532mWh, roughly 99% of true capacity (which is good! for a new battery), confirmed by Everest Ultimate also. So it's a mighty small battery for such a big boy laptop, to say the least!

That's all folks, just a battery draining footnote, other than that it's performing 100% aok fine, just needs to be kept on its leash (power cord) to function 100%...and it was throttling down to 930Mhz during that battery run also-- I could not adjust anything to make it stay @ 1600Mhz+/- 100Mhz, as it does on AC power, going from 1596Mhz to 1740Mhz, and various Mhz in between those two numbers @ 100% Load doing FAHome.

Next time I'll try to eeek out every last minute doing severe battery saving measures, including turning off Wireless and BT, doing no net surfing, just using MS Word and iTunes perhaps to see how that goes on battery.

 

I have this disk also it came with my N71JQ.
This disk is what we technically call a recovery disk.
It is usually generic disk which contains an image of the operating system and could be applied to a large set of notebooks from a manifacturer. It is not the same as an original Windows installation disk.

It is usually accompanied with a driver disk which is applied after recovering the system.

 

Wow; another big right on for ASUS;

I just checked the Drivers disk that came with the lappy and it is a full Win7 install disk, customized for ASUS Laptops. It looks like you can edit the file list text file to choose which drivers and or apps you want to install.

I already had a retail copy of Win7, but this version allows you to simplify the install process.

If anyone cares to know the retail version and the trial version are one and the same, the only difference is the COA or CD key.

On a totally different note; I made a point to stash the orignal HDs, because if you ever have to send the laptop in for warranty service, it is best to send it in it's orignal configuration. This insures you do not have any personal data/work on the HDs as well.

I too am very glad that I did my research and bought the N71JQ-A1 over the other options out their.

Right on ASUS

Dave

 

Turbogear, we are talking the same language, just saying it differently...

In no way did I mean to say that Asus provides us with a Windows Installer DVD which can be used on *OTHER MACHINES* than Asus notebooks, so if that was the impression of my previous posts, I want to clarify that right now...

The installer DVD ROM I am referring to is this part number here:

PN: 15G356396040 (N3439) Recovery Disk $30. 00 Plus Shipping

The "(N3439)" is the qualifying nomenclature for the N71JQ-A1 notebook variation of the disk at the time of ORDERING the disk...it does NOT appear on the disk itself anywhere, it's strictly the Asus Store's internal part number for qualifying a notebook for the disk. However, the 15G35xxx number is written on my "Recovery Disk" that came with my UL30VT-X1 notebook also, along with a couple other sequential numbers that apparently identify the disk's variation in terms of the languages that are on it, ie "English, French, Spanish, Chinese Tradition, Chinese Simplified"...et al.

I think if you look at your "Recovery Disk" you'll find that exact, same number! That disk is apparently good for the entire Asus notebook lineup that runs 64-bit Windows Home Premium anyway, but for the EEE PC series, I would venture a guess, and you can in fact "Recover" or install the operating system on *ANY* Asus notebook with this DVD disk! After that, it's up to the person doing the installing to use their respective "Driver and Utility" disk to finish off any installation, in order to make their notebook fully functional, with the various hardware configurations on many notebooks.

You cannot use the DVD to install the OS on any other type of notebook, because just for grins I popped it into my Acer notebook, and started the install process, and BAM! "Hardware Not Supported" was the message, along with others too numerous to list, as it simply will not even begin to function in another brand of notebook.

A Windows Installer disk is another story altogether, it goes without saying, and I in no way wanted to imply that we are getting a full-on Windows Installer disk to be used anywhere we like to use such things...so that's out of the cobwebs now, and I hope that it's clear what I meant to write in my previous posts. Turbogear and I agree 100% on this subject, it's simply that I was saying it in a confusing manner with respect to his interpretation of my post, so I hope that it's 100% clear now...:yes:

Right On Dave, also! I see we think similarly with respect to the HD's that came with the notebook, since we are using SSD's and a different 2ndary HD ...Yes, I too have "stored for safe keeping" my OEM Seagate ST952xxx 320GB boot HD, the drive on the "left side" of the notebook HD compartment with respect to the notebook being turned over completely, HD compartment at the top of the notebook for orientation (right side of the notebook, *not* turned over). I pray to the Asus Gods that I never have to send in my notebook for service, but I am prepared in case I do have to, by doing that.

I am using the 2ndary HD for storage in an external eSATA/FireWire/USB 2.0 HD enclosure though, as I see no harm in using it since I paid for it, by gosh! So thank you again, Asus, for including a spare HD in the N71JQ-A1 bundle that I will put to good use! What an amazing package this notebook really is! I have been using it instead of my desktop PC today for various things, including doing my Sunday email and periodical reading while still in bed in the AM, trying out the WiFi range in my home, which I find a little lacking with the Atheros 9285xx "B/G" WiFi adapter in place.

I was getting just 2 bars in our room, which is the farthest point in the house away from the routers (twins, I use a piggyback double-router setup with some 14-various computers in the house, and in my studio both, and the system puts out 2.4Ghz and 5Ghz signals), which I don't find to be acceptable.

That seems to be the *only* weak point in the hardware furnished, so I'm going to change out that PCI-Express 1/2-height network adapter very soon...I haven't decided which way to go yet. I see that some of you are using the N-6200 Intel WiFi setup, but I am looking at the Ultimate N-6300 WiFi adapter with equal "envy" presently. I'll have to tear the notebook apart and install a 3rd antenna to run the N-6300, vs only needing 2 antennas for the N-6200 adapter, but I am well aware of the BIG advantages of the N-6300 so that's a tempting item, very tempting! :smile:

I'm still in the notebook's "break-in" period, running FAHome on it 24/7 for an update there, and things could not be going better. The temps are staying below 75-degrees, even in the heat of the day w/out Air Conditioning (c. 82-degrees F today), and the notebook is finishing A3 WU's in about 11-12 hours. I thought it was 9 hours, but I miscalculated...that is 2.66Ghz Core i7 920 territory, not possible for a little Core i7 720QM @ 1.6-1.7Ghz to be doing the A3 WU's in 9 hours or less.

For comparison my Core i7 920-desktops, which are overclocked with exotic air cooling systems in them @ 4.2Ghz, do the same WU's in about 5 hours! So the little 720QM CPU IS getting quite a workout, and all has been good up to now, no issues at all, especially after the nice, new Clean Install, getting rid of all the Asus crapolaware and extra utilities that burden these nice machines from the factory installations.

I've got a GOOD machine, Asus built this one right! Even running FAHome 24/7 I've been able to use it normally for mundane web surfing, word processing, even played a BluRay movie yesterday with FAHome running and it never stumbled or lost a frame--Jet Li's "Black Mask" Gung-Fu movie just played purrrfect!! So I am 110% JAZZED with this baby, it's a winnah!

Asus is apparently able to build machines just as reliable, and potent (emphasis here) as a MacBook Pro by Apple, which was the alternative notebook I considered (the NEW model with an i7 CPU in it for c. $3500 similarly equipped) before I pulled the trigger on this N71JQ-A1.

So THANKS Asus! It may not be an all-alloy bodied MacBook Pro, but it performs on par with one, costs 40% as much (!!), has BluRay, eSATA, USB 3.0 which I cannot buy a Mac notebook with, and best of all? I can play a TON of PC games that you cannot even get on a Mac/Apple platform, I've got 512MB more VRAM, and 1 year of accidental damage/accident protection that no Mac/Apple product could even dream of having at any price...ie it's JUST NOT AVAILABLE!

I think I've said it all, so all you fellow N71JQ-A1 owners... you thank your lucky stars you've got what you've got...and ENJOY IT!

 

Well, usually you don't need to send in the notebook including the Hard disk at least it is like this here in Germany.

I have done 4 RMAs with different ASUS notebooks and each time I sent the NB without any Hard disk. ASUS so far never complained about it.

 

Yes, it could not be used with any other brand.
The ASUS disk reads some data from the bios to check if you have an ASUS system in order to use the recovery disk.

You are definetly right, it makes the life easier when installing the operating system. It gives you the operating system back in the original state that you had when you bought the machine.
Besides, it includes a special Windows license key and a certificate file. This key is not the same as the one on the sticker at the bottom of the notebook.
This key along with the certificate and the ASUS bios leads to auto activation. Which means each time you reinstall it, you don't have to activate it again online.

In any case, I am not using the original ASUS operating system at all.
I have Win7 Ultimate 64bit installed on it from my Technet Plus Account.

 

rexrzer727,

I have to agree with everything you and others have said, this machine is a monster. The one thing is that the Atheros AR9285 is an N card. I am using it with a Buffalo Nfinity WHR-HP-G300N which i also purchased from B&H (Great retailer, honest reliable and good products.) and get connection speeds of 150 Mbps and great signal strenth. Have run speed tests from many different servers and some results come back up to 25Mbps through my comcast connection. I have had not one dropped connection or lag that i have noticed with the Atheros card.

Also to agree with you all again Asus did this one right and for a great price!

 

rexrzer727,

You may want to look at the little bit of paperwork that came with your lappy. Mine came with a card to send in and get a second year of ACD insurance. You have to send it in with in 60 days.

Another nice perk from ASUS

Dave

 

Just a comment to jackoByte, Its been about 20 years since I last used the Watcom compiler, but if its like any of the other compilers I currently use then it should have an option to allow you to specify how many threads it can use. It then sends each file it compiles to a different one of those threads.
I think devstudio does it automatically (although I may have set an option in the past that I forgot about). codewarrior there's an option you can set in the ide and the command line for the gnu makefile is -T

its usually recommended to specify twice the number of cores you have, so on my present 4 core desktop I have -T8 which makes a massive difference with all 4 cores being maxed out.

anyway I should hopefully get my N71JQ-TY013V today. I have waited over a month for it as everywhere over here has been out of stock until just now.. so should be interesting to see if 8 or 16 threads work best

 

I am replacing the Atheros card, which Everest Ultimate identifies as an "Atheros B/G" card not because it's NOT an "N" card, but because it's just not as robust or intricate, and efficient a card as the new Intel N-6200 and N-6300 PCI-Express 1/2-height WiFi cards are. Let me explain a little about the Intel cards vs what the Atheros card will do, or shall I say "can do." :wink:

The N-6200 and N-6300 (which requires 3 antennas, not 2 like we have installed in the N71 notebook) both achieve very high KB/sec transmission speeds vs the Atheros card, or most other cards in general, even the Intel 1000BGN card doesn't come close to their output.

The N-6200 is capable of 300KB/sec transmission both IN and OUT at the same time, ie simultaneously, which is impossible with other cards. The N-6300 takes it one step farther, its ability is up to 450KB/sec transmission on both 2.4Ghz and 5Ghz channels AT THE SAME TIME, in and outbound both, which is unique amongst WiFi cards at this time. :yes:

The software that is available for each card is called "My WiFi" and allows users to set up hardware-based WiFi on these WiFi cards, also, another unique feature set of both of those cards. It is not mandatory to use the software with the cards, but in using it you can activate many interesting features of the cards. Also, the cost is relatively inexpensive, for both right now.

One of the members here, BabyHemi, was selling the N-6300 cards for $37US with free shipping in the USA, last time I checked, an incredible deal, and he may still have the cards available...I haven't bought one yet, but I'd like to later this week when I get a certain check (!). I've seen retail N-6200 cards for $49 at Amazon.com and other places, so the investment is very little in these WiFi cards...the only true difficulty being needing the 3rd antenna in the N-6300 WiFi card for complete 450KB/sec performance. That is going to involve an almost complete disassembly to reach the necessary install points, namely the LCD display frame area via the hinge areas.

Opting for the N-6200 means you don't have to go through any of that, and can simply use the existing two antennas (2) and just plug it in after installing the right driver, of course! That's the whole story as I know it, and I of course can be corrected...my wife does it all the time! :smile:

I tried that route already DaveSwan, and AFAIK there's but one year (1) of ADW insurance available on the laptop N71 and others. I have checked with our NBR Reviewer at Large "David" about this alleged 2nd year of coverage, and he says "Nope, just 1 year of ADW with any Asus laptop that qualifies" for the coverage.

I sent in both my card, and the special email with the Confirmation Number for the ADW which you get when you apply online for the coverage, a copy of my retail invoice for proof of purchase, which I've done, and I also included a quick and easy MS Word letter to Asus, asking them formally about the alleged "2nd year" of coverage of the laptops, especially our N71 laptops, and we'll see what they have to say about it.

I am not counting on the 2nd year by any means, but if it turns out to be reality I'll be the 1st one to publicize it here, and in the ADW Forum as well. I've done my part as far as asking about it, this much I am certain of, and we'll see what happens after they get my card, and letter, and/or if they respond at all about the whole deal.

Of course nothing is going to change regarding coverage also, it's still one claim per notebook in either 1st or 2nd year of coverage (alleged), so remember that at all times, it goes without saying!

I think it's just amazing that they offer it at all, which basically means that any Asus notebook that qualifies for the program would be replaced even after a seriously STUUUUPID accident, like it falling out of your car on the freeway for instance, your kid pouring lemonade all over it, dropping it down concrete stairs at the airport, things like that...so that's a big crazy gamble that Asus is taking with this program as it stands now-- potentially they could be out $$Millions$$ if loads of people claim ADW on their laptops at some point during the 1st, or alleged 2nd years! :rolleyes2:

I think it's a great selling tool, and they must assume that no sane person is going to try and deliberately destroy their notebook just to test the waters so to speak, I would think...Kudos to Asus for even offering the crazy ADW insurance!

As far as my notebook and its break-in FAHome testing has been going, it's done its 5th and 6th A3 Work Units today, so it's getting right @ 2 per day done, and the temps at night are in the high 60's and low 70's C, and during the heat of the day (been in the 70's and low 80's F here in California) it gets up to 73-75-degrees in all 8 Cores (4 Cores, and 4 Hyperthreaded Theoretical Cores that FAHome uses), so it's coming along just fine.

I have to use it for work the rest of the week, as my UL30VT-X1 still has not been returned from it RMA adventure up to Asus Headquarters for the USA in Fremont, CA, so my MiltiGiant 20" notebook case will be getting a workout until I get the 13.3" notebook returned.

The notebook has proven itself to be xlnt thus far, and I have not a complaint in the world about it to speak of, other than I'd like a lighted keyboard at some point, but what the hey...I'm a touch typist and it really doesn't matter with me anyway, one way or the other.

 

I come from a desktop environment, this is my first laptop, and I am having a very hard time adjusting to the N71 keyboard. One of my original "requirements" when looking for a laptop was a backlit keyboard. I don't work in the dark, I just thought it would be cool. I don't regret not having a backlit keyboard, but of all things, I miss the bumps on the 5, F and H keys; I end up placing my hands wrong and type "yjod" instead of "this". I don't know if a backlight would help.

 

So far the backlit keyboards don't work on this machine, but some users in the N61JQ Lounge are trying to mode them to work.

If they are successful, we could start here a similar project.

 

I am having a problem with my mouse. I purchased the Microsoft Bluetooth Notebook Mouse, but I continually have to uninstall and install the device (at least once a day). The mouse freezes up, quits working. It is not batteries; I uninstall then reinstall the device, and it works again. It is an irritant I don't know how to scratch.

I did not keep the receipt for the mouse, or I would return it and try another. I hesitate to put out another $50.00 if the problem is the bluetooth within the computer, but if anyone else has had this problem and resolved it with a new mouse, I'm willing to so.

I appreciate any help.

Lynne

 

Interesting; In my case the extra year of ADW was part of the registration card, so yours was obviously packaged differently. It may be that this was only offered for a limited time or by location some how. I don't think it is a big deal, because when I eBayed my 6 yr. old Laptop to get this one, it was in like new condition. I am thinken you take good care of your H/W too. I bought my N71JQ-A! from J&R.com in NY and I noticed someone in the Amazon.com feed back got the extra year of ADW also. I bought my lappy about 2 weeks before you did. I think the 2 yrs of H/W warranty is way more important, that is why I went for the A! over the X!. Also the ADW can only be used once.

Please report back on your experience with ASUS warranty service on your other machine. This kind of feedback is very valuable to all of us. I had to send my MSI netbook in for warranty service and I was shocked at how well it went. Sent the thing in on Monday and got it back with the proper fix on Thursday of the same week. Of course I live about 20 mins. from their service center.

Glad things are working out for you

Dave

 

Whaaaaaat? Mine has the locators, (a little bar low on the F and J keys). I too would be lost without that. Check yours again, and if you really don't have them then contact ASUS to see if they can ship you a new keyboard. It is not that hard to swap them out.

Good luck

Dave

 

Man, that is a drag. My advice is look for your reciept, if you cannot find it you should be able to exchange it for a different one at your place of purchase. You cannot get your money back without a reciept.

Go to Amazon.com and or Newegg.com and read the feed back on the BT mice, there seems to be a big variation between one brand or model and another. I personally suspect there is an issue with Win7 power management and BT devices.

I went with a Logitech anywhere wireless USB mouse and I really like it. The only problem is that it kills one of your USB ports. I would love to find a mini PCIe card for this.

Good luck with it

Dave

 

Hi there,
I searched for so long to find a laptop to my liking and FINALLY came upon the Asus N71Jq-A which I want very badly to purchase but found it does NOT have the RJ11 Modem for dialup service which I have to have for at home here.

I did some research and found some USB Modems but my question is:
Will I get a dialup connection to the Internet the same as if the laptop came with the built in modem?

Before I order that laptop, I want to be sure I will be able to get on the Internet.

Thanks to all who can rest assure me.

 

GUYS i got bit of a SERIOUS problem

I ended up doing a format and clean install thinking it will fix my problem but no go?

Here it is, when u turn bluetooth on by sliding the thing over, it says WLAN ON on the screen then it says BLUETOOTH OFF all the time?

Now it seems there is a driver that is not installing properly which is shown in the picture below. Can someone please help me fix this please? So it says BLUETOOTH on the screen and have the correct driver please? I got win7bit all drivers installed and windows updates installed.

http://img682.imageshack.us/img682/322/10105934.png

 

Check in the device manager to see if Bluetooth device BT-270 is installed correctly.
Have you also installed Wireless Console 3?
As far as I know ASUS always recommends it.

If you have Wireless Console 3 installed. Check that bluetooth is enabled through Wireless Console Tray tool.

Press on the tray icon. A Wireless Console tool will appear showing "WLAN" and "Bluetooth" icons and then Press the Bluetooth icon on the tool to enable bluetooth radio.

 

Done all that, I've not installed wireless 3 before and it worked?

But I just need the driver for the peripheral it seems
everything else is installed fine apart from that driver

 

I just tried connecting my HTC Diamond 2 with bluetooth to the N71JQ.
Windows 7 Ultimate 64bit auto downloaded and installed a driver for it.

Maybe you need to install the driver of your peripheral manually.

 

It's just for my iPhone it worked Before?
Only yesterday I started to get the Bluetooth peripheral device driver?

Seems I can't download it anywhere..

 

Sorry I cannot help you much on that. I never had an iPhone.
I am a long term Windows mobile user. HTC Diamond 2 in the fourth device. In last 5 years.

 

I would buy the usb modem first and test it with your current desktop/laptop. usb devices work the same on most if not all Windows PCs. Make sure that the device specs say it is compatible with Win7 and you should be fine.

Also: go to Newegg.com, Amazn.com or bustbuy.com and read user feedback to see which USB modem works best.

My 2 cents

Dave