ASUS U Series Bamboo Collection Owners Thread (U33JC/U43JC/U53JC)

I can't imagine a BIOS update affecting a high pitched whine.

The first thing is to find out what's causing it. A fan in your notebook or what?

 

Ooh. Good thing you ordered early Case1!

 

As I said earlier, I have reasons to believe that the high pitched sound comes from something related to the soundboard. As I am experiencing the same sounds while I have my ear buds plugged on the laptop...

 

okay. I just recently got my asus u43jc. I just looked at the task manager. granted I'm installing starcraft 2 atm but I'm running at about 86 proccesses with the installer taking up to 30-70% of the CPU. Is that many processes normal?

 

It can happen. I have a Thinkpad x61 and there was a bios update fix and also a disabling speedstep technology. Well known issue if you google it. I hope that's not an issue on the U33JC.

Currently still torn between the U33JC, Thinkpad X201, Alienware M11x or waiting for the Macbook Air refresh.

I really like the Nipple on the thinkpads and never want to use a trackpad again, i wish more makers had this.

 

Yes! Sooo glad. I can remember the night I pre-ordered like it was yesterday. I was so excited that the UL30JT and U35Jc became available after almost 7 months of waiting, and then upon inspecting other newly available Asus models, the bamboo clad U33 caught my eye. Are the extra features worth the price? A bit of dialogue with you (Quatro) and my mind was made up after a couple short hours. I would get my pre-order in ASAP and if anything came out in the next couple weeks (since the ETA was mid-late July), I would simply cancel my order. Well, nothing else has stolen my heart, 71 days later, and I finally only have a few more days to wait.

Hmmm, I really wish I could help you, but this is a little out of my league. My woman's HP that I've been using for over a year had a very noisy headphone jack. When I did a clean install going from Vista to Win7, it got rid of all the annoying interference, leaving only the usual hiss you get from most cheaper sound hardware.

You may want to try a clean install. If that isn't an option, and it is really noticeable and annoying, get ahold of Asus or Amazon and try and get it replaces or repaired. I know you must be happy to have a new notebook, but if it is really noticeable it is worth getting it taken care of. This is one of my biggest fears, that I finally get my U33 and it has a problem. Ahhrrrggg. I don't even want to think about it. (knocks on wood)

That is a lot of processes to have running. I have about a dozen webpages open and I think they all show up as separate processes and I only have 83 running. I will be doing a clean install when I get mine, but you may want to check out the Asus Utility and Bloatware guide. There are certainly processes you don't need running in the background constantly. You just have to decide whether you want to just not allow them to startup or if you want to uninstall them. I would say around 60 processes running would be a good target, but I'm sure some people get significantly fewer.

I don't know about the Thinkpad, but I see the M11x being in a slightly different class. If you want to game, the M11x is the hands down winner. If you have a nice PC that can handle games, then I'd go with the Asus or Lenovo. I think the M11x is visually kind of an atrocity, and it is only an 11 incher.

I only took a brief look, but the X201 doesn't have discrete graphics if I'm not mistaken. The build quality and the nipple kind of put the X201 in a different league as well. Does Lenovo have a patent on that nipple?

My initial and overly simplistic analysis says if gaming is important, get the M11x. If build quality is the most important, get the X201. If you want a mix of decent build quality and graphics along with arguably the best looks, get the Asus. There are other Asus models that may appeal to you as well (UL30JT, U35JC, U30JC).

 

How come they are arriving tomorrow in the US and at the end of the month in the UK? Are these the i3 models and not the i5 models maybe?
Good to have Justin@XoticPC and others in this forum, it makes all this much easier and predictable, even with the problems ASUS is having with these models...

 

If the U33JC is taking until the end of the month to appear, then the Samsung QX310 is a very real alternative...

 

Yes, the US models have the i3-370m. Perhaps the i5 is slowing things up a bit for yous.

I would also like to thank Justin for giving us an update. Makes me feel even better about maybe having a unit in my hands by the weekend. Can't believe we are only looking at about 50 units at the moment.
I'm sure some of us remember the shortages the UL30VT had. Weeks went by before there were new units available after the first shipment, and they were few and far between...

 

And what's even more frustrating, we never had *any* UL30VT in the UK, so I've been waiting for quite a while to have a 13.3 inch Asus with discrete graphics card...

 

Keep my fingers crossed that I am in the first shipment of GentechPC. I ordered my U33JC end of July which is kind of late in comparison to you

 

Well, I just unhooked my WiDi adapter from the TV and have uninstalled the drivers and software from the computer. Simply put: it is junk.

When I try to stream a video using WiDi as a secondary display, the video lags and skips frequently while the audio drops out entirely for lengthy periods of time. The bandwidth simply isn't there to stream fullscreen video and audio. Coupled with WiDi's ~1 second input lag, I am now completely uncertain what this can be used for.

It's a good idea with terrible implementation. A gimmick at best.

 

For those of you who have ordered from amazon, were you able to get the netgear and gift card with the u33 order?

 

Thanks for the update, Justin. Is there an ETA as well for the U43JC?

 

Has anybody heard if GentechPC or XoticPC got a delivery of U33JCs today? Otherwise let's hope for tomorrow...

 

Wow, that is very disappointing. Since we really haven't heard much first hand experience with streaming video to a secondary display, this doesn't sound too promising.

Assuming Intel is going to continue to support WiDi, the next WiDi adapter they bring out better utilize 802.11n. Then Intel would really have a great product. Full 1080P, surround sound, instant video feedback, etc. Hope current hardware is compatible.

I can't remember anyone posting that they received both with the U33Jc, only the WiDi adapter. I believe only the U43Jc (maybe U53Jc too) models were eligible for both. I just expiremented with Amazon and I couldn't get the $150 gift card to deduct like it does with the U43. Your results may vary.

I was curious, but I figured I could wait another day. It isn't like I am getting it tomorrow anyway. Maybe tomorrow I'll contact Ken, but I can probably wait till Friday. If anyone else hears something though, post post post.

 

Ummm for those of you who ordered their u43jc-x1 from amazon, are you also getting around 80 proccesses and a average CPU usage of around 50%?

edit: Also, what temperatures are you getting for your cores and GPU? This is for when nothing is open or you are doing some thing small.

Double edit: Just went on battery save mode instead of high performance mode and paused my virus scan. Nice to see Speedfan showing my 4 cores to be at ~30C. Oddly enough though my GPU is at a solid 63C still. Anyone know how to see which GPU is active and switch it manually?

 

50% average CPU usage doing what? That is very high. If you mean 50% usage while idle, you definitely have something wrong, some program(s) eating up resources. I am on an inferior HP machine and I currently have 86 processes open and CPU usage is between 6%-11%.

Nvidia released drivers that added a utility that tells you which GPU is currently in use. You should already have some kind of Nvidia software to manage the GPU and switch it manually. If not, it is certainly available in the new driveres. I'm sure Quatro could give you better details as he has first hand experience with Optimus.

Anyway, check this link for driver updates:
Notebook Drivers
And this article has a video that you may find useful.
The NVIDIA Blog - Take a Look: New Optimus Interface

 

Simply Asus have updated their U33JC page... it's now expected 11th October!

 

I feel sorry for you guys in UK. I still hope that the States get a delivery today. The last confirmed ETA was 09/09 that's today. Let's hope.

 

I'm getting one. Confirmed.

I preordered July 9th.

Can't wait. It'll probably take 5 days to get here in Baltimore from California though.

 

I got an e-mail yesterday evening from Gentech, saying that "we will deposit your check today, ETA ship date: 9/17/10." So, I guess that means they got the U33jc's in and will be shipping them after performing the modifications, etc., that people like me requested. The wait may soon be over!

 

It's really easy now.

1) Be sure your BIOS is the latest. Those with the U33Jc's cousin, the U35/45Jc, found the latest nVidia driver 258.96 caused Windows to continually freeze on bootup (!) A BIOS update to the lastest for them fixed this.
2) Install 258.96
3) Install NVIDIA System Tools (for extra features added to NCP like overclocking)
4) In NVIDIA Control Panel, under "View" in the Menu, be sure all three items at the bottom of the list are ticked.
5) Now you'll have an NVIDIA icon in the bottom right taskbar area. (Looks like an odd greenish GPU-shaped square icon. Sort of ugly!) Click on it and a GPU activity box will pop up in the upper left side.

Done!

Though, I still use that NVIDA Test Tool gadget thingy ... cause I just like it! :wink:

 

Damn it. I haven't got any confirmation email from GentechPC. If I am not in the first shipment I will be really angry.

 

Me too! Grrrrrr

 

Hello everyone I was wondering if it is possible to replace my DVD-RW drive with a hard drive. If that is indeed possible could someone point me in the right direction of where I would gain more information as to how this is done?

Thanks!

 

I ordered August 1 (could have sworn I ordered earlier, but receipts don't lie), and I haven't received a confirmation either. I'm not so much angry as disappointed, but I didn't really expect to be in the first shipment. /glass half-empty

I still don't need it, but I'm fully into "I want my new gadget(toy), and I want it now."

 

I ordered on the 24th of July.....I wouldn't be mad if Gentech gets an order next week but if Asus is as unreliable like before my patience is soon over....don't want to wait till middle of September then end of September then beginning of October....sorry the other laptop the UL30JT that I was interested in is not available either....
Don't want to buy the U33JC when it is already outdated...

 

GODDARNIT!
I was fine waiting till the end of September but this is starting to get on my freaking nerves!
They better not push the date back any further, I ordered 3 weeks ago, was told by my site that it was a preorder and the item would be delivered in 14 days, it's been longer than that and now we have at least another month.

 

Hi Quatro, my NVIDIA control panel only has two items so I'm guessing that it's old? For BIOS, I'm not seeing anything on the ASUS site for BIOS updates. Just the some BIOS utilities so I'm guessing I"m ok on BIOS then. Or is it that I"m not doing this right?

Also, I've just noticed an odd clicking noise from my laptop when I play games. Oddly enough, it sounds like it's around the touchpad? What do you guys think?

Edit: So I've assumed that my BIOS is up to date and tried to install the NVIDIA 258.96. However, when it gets to the installshield it tells me there are no drivers that match my hardware?

 

Got my tracking! WOOT!

It will be mine next Wednesday!!!

 

I am so happy for you. Looks like I won't get one from Gentech for now. Sucks.
Not their fault I know but after I waited so long I was really sure that I get one with the first delivery but who knows how many Asus shipped: 5? LOL

 

I'm having this same problem. I'd really like to get my optimus updated. It says "The NVIDIA Setup program could not locate any drivers that are compatible with your current hardware. Setup will now exit."

 

I got this from XoticPC...

"The U33 models are just now arriving. We will be going through our incoming stock when they arrive next week and will be contacting those who will be receiving one from this shipment.

Thanks,

Joseph"

 

Hi, I'm really excited to receive my U43JC-X1 tomorrow! One problem: I leave for vacation on Tuesday and would really like to get an extra battery for it. But that means I need to order it tonight or early tomorrow to receive it on time! What exact type of battery should I be looking for? Thanks!

 

ExcaliberPC has now an ETA of October 20th for the U33JC. Still waiting for a feedback from Ken at Gentech when the next delivery will arrive their shop.

 

I'm sorry to hear that. Although if it makes you feel any better, I didn't get any sort of tracking today either.

I may not get any tracking though. My unit is shipping directly from the Asus warehouse in Cali instead of it going through GenTech and then to me. It wouldn't be out of the question for it to arrive tomorrow if Asus got them in on the 8th. It is only going from L.A. to Vegas.

I think I'm due a little luck. Sorry for the rest of yous though.

Justin from XoticPC I believe said they are expecting 50 units. Probably similar numbers for GenTech and maybe others. Not many!!! I sure hope Asus plans on selling more than a couple hundred in the first month.

Wonder what global demand is for these bamboo models and the other U/UL series.

 

really weird issue with my U43, my hard drive partitions are all messed up. Data writes to the OS (C: ) partition and not the Data (D: ) partition. The OS partition filled up when I was loading my music onto the laptop. I emailed Asus and got no response. 48 hours later, no response. Annoying. Anyone have a way for me to fix this, it seems like it should be simple. No concerns about data loss, already made my recovery discs. Thanks!

 

It appears the problem is the user not the laptop. Either load music to the data partition or have the music folder directed there. By default, Windows defaults everything to the OS partition.

 

That is strange that the C: drive filled up so fast. Usually the C: drive is used for all your files and and D: is for backup, at least in my experience.

My guess is that by default, whatever program you use to import your music automatically puts that music in a folder in the C: drive. You could change that in the programs settings.

C: drive is usually the default for program installation as well. I don't know an automatic way to have these things default to your D: drive instead.

If my U33 has a partition like this, I will be reformatting the disc when I do a clean install.

 

this is my 5th windows computer, and I have never had to direct a folder to a particular location. Why would any computer have the O/S drive be the C: drive and the data drive be the D: drive? When I pull data onto the desktop from a USB drive, it fills up the C: drive. Are you telling me I have to choose every time I download from the internet, from a flash drive, etc. to go into the D: drive instead? what is the point of that?

 

I reinstalled from the recovery discs and the result is the same. How can I change this?

 

Update for UK
Hi guys,
I emailed symplyasus. They had told me that the U33JC would arrive last week or by today. Guess what? wrong again. They wrote to me giving me no further info. However, if you check their website, ETA is now Oct 11th . This is just ridiculous. Having been borrowing a laptop for the last few months, my time is up. I'll have to give in. Best of luck to you guys!

 

I am with you on this one
just got this machine
and the mouse buttons
really ruin it for me-
I'm used to using the mouse buttons to scroll, highlight, etc, as in an optical mouse.
impossible to use these buttons
for anything.

 

I'm mainly a Linux user so I don't remember the exact names of the things you need to click in Windows 7, but you want to do something along these lines:

1) Move any data that is important to you from the D: drive to the C: drive. You will lose anything that's on the D: drive.
2) Open the Disk Management window. Online I read you can do this by clicking Start->Run, then telling it to run "diskmgmt.msc" (without quotes). If this doesn't work you can find it in the control panel. In Windows XP you got to it through Administrative Tools->Computer Management->Storage->Disk Manager.
3) Once you have the Disk Manager open, you should see a listing of the partitions on your disk. Note that besides C: and D: you'll probably see one or more other partitions that hold things like system restore information. You probably don't want to mess with those. I'm assuming here that D: comes just to the right of C: on the partition list. If it doesn't, then these instructions won't work. If D: comes to the immediate right of C:, Right click the D: drive partition and tell it to "Delete Partition".
4) Once D: has been deleted you should see your C: drive is taking up some space on the disk, and there is empty space to the right of it. Right click on C: and choose to "Extend Volume". In the wizard that pops up, give it the rest of the disk that was freed by the deletion of D:.

If these steps don't work I'm sure you can find more information online.

One reason not to do this: When I install a new OS I usually partition my disk like this on purpose. If you have your data on a separate partition as your operating system it makes it very simple to do backups. It also makes it so that you can wipe the OS partition and reinstall the OS without having to wipe your data.

 

The reason the buttons probably don't bother me so much (I'm talking about the U43F at Best Buy) is that I own an Acer Aspire One D150 netbook which has a tiny trackpad with tiny buttons and the stiffest click action I've ever seen. I use this often, and find that the U43F is much less stiff. I use two hands when working a laptop trackpad so that probably helps as well.

 

The OS is on C and your data is on D so that you can easily reformat/reinstall your OS if necessary without nuking your data at the same time. If you don't like it, repartition the drive or change where the user directories are stored. Neither is hard at all.

 

Just checked the site I bought it off and the ETA has also been changed from the 25/09 to 11/10 Why oh why the delay for the UK?? And why so few in the 1st US batch?? The wait continues, but at least I will be able to get your guys opinions on how you like yours once they arrive.

 

When you download stuff on the internet to the default downloads folder, it goes to the download folder on the OS drive. When you rip music to the default music folder, it goes to the music folder on the OS drive. Windows default this since most people have one partition, but you have two.

However, you can route the default "location" somewhere else. Make folders on the data drive. Look for Downloads, Music, etc folders in your OS/User/Name or wherever you see those folders... right click, and change to the new location. Now, whenever you put stuff, it will default to the data drive. In some of your programs, you should set the default location there too.

If you can't handle two paritions... Delete the second partiton and just make the OS parition bigger in the disk management.

Either way, its a Windows thing.

 

Good news. GentechPC shows the U33JC as in stock. Mine will be shipped on Monday
Happy ordering!