ASUS U41JF Owner´s lounge

I guess there aint many who have bought this one yet and therefor there arent any threads for this yet. So I thought I could just start one.

I´ve just ordered me this one with a i5, 640gb HD and matte display.
Hard to find any reviews of this laptop. Only ones I could find was for the i3 versions.

Have anyone bought this one so they can give me their opinion?

Kay

 

Even though I'm waiting on mine to be delivered, I'll jump in.

I already have a backlit U80 keyboard to install when I get the machine in hand. Ordered the keyboard off Ebay Friday and it came today. The U41JF was ordered on 2/5 from Abe's of Maine and still isn't here.

I'll report back on the backlit mod after I try it.

My U41JF-A1 arrived today!

I can confirm that the U80 backlit keyboard available on Ebay does fit and work, at least as a normal keyboard. I bought a multimeter and now I have to learn how to use it and find a place on the board to power the backlight.

Hopefully I'll have something to report in the next few days.

 

will you lose your warranty when you change keyboard?

 

Definitely

Please share the details! I'm also willing to change my keyboard to the backlit one, but as I wasn't sure about the compatibility with U80 keyboard so I've waited for more information. Are you going to make "always on" backlit or do you have plans to make it switchable?

 

Has anyone tried to do a clean install with Windows 7 Home Premium X64 Retail CD and using the provided product key under the laptop?

 

You do have to take the metal backing plate off the U80 keyboard, but it's just several small screws. I actually like it better, since the keys are flat black versus the matte keys on the original. The matte ones always seem to wear quickly and start to look shiny in spots. I'll be happy if I can get the lights to stay on all the time, but if I can find a way to turn it on and off, all the better.

After playing around with the multimeter and getting a few sparks and shutdowns, I'm holding off on the backlight part until I know a little more what I'm doing. I don't mind taking risks, since I REALLY want the backlight to work, but blinding poking around doesn't seem to be the best route. If anyone has any ideas where to test, or even how, I'd be grateful. I literally have no idea what I'm doing.

 

Kroskal - where did you find one with a matte screen option?

Anyone - how does the "rocker" bar work for you? Most of the ones I have tried in stores are fairly stiff and the middle third is useless. They require you to be much more precise with your thumb than the older (and better) 2 button type.

 

Got my A1 yesterday and frankly it doesn't do it for me. Performance is not great. I was hoping for more based on reviews, but I'm not too pleased. Granted... I tried a Sandy Bridge Quad with 8B RAM on another laptop that I returned thanks to the SB issue. I thought gaming performance would be similar, but I was very wrong.

ASUS WILL NOT GIVE ME A RETURN.
ABE'S OF MAINE WILL NOT GIVE ME A RETURN.

You gotta love Abe's's return policy.. if you are not satisfied with the product, you can return before 30 days... of course if you actually try out the product, i.e. open the seal of the box... you are out of luck.

It's on eBay now.

 

I'm happy with the performance of mine. The 425M overlocks amazingly well. I've had it well over 435M speeds. That coupled with a generous oc on the i3 has me over 9000 on 3dmark06.

It is what it is, but the combination of performance, portability, and price are what sold me.

 

Does the backlit keyboard's extra thickness cause any issues in fitting the keyboard into the laptop?

Also, not sure if you extensively tested it with the stock keyboard, but how does the backlit keyboard compare to stock in terms of keyboard flex? That seemed to be a pretty consistent complaint among most reviewers. Any noticeable improvement on that end?

 

I'm not sure there is a difference in thickness. It seems exactly the same. I'd read about the difference, but I haven't noticed it. It fit like it was made for it.

Flex is about the same, though not a big deal. I only notice flex if I'm trying to make it flex. When I'm using it, I don't notice any. I imagine a little double sided tape under the keyboard would fix it, since the frame underneath seems solid. I'm going to wait until I figure out how to get the backlit part to work before I tape mine down.

 

Well, if I end up keeping it, I think OCing is in order! Would you mind sharing your technique?

 

It really couldn't be much easier on this laptop.

I was going to see if I could track down the PLL number so I could overclock the i3, but I noticed that the High Performance setting under Power4Gear automatically overclocks it from 2.53ghz to 2.9ghz. That's good enough for me. See attached pic for proof.

For the 425M, all you need is Nvidia System Tools, which you can get here - NVIDIA DRIVERS 6.06 The overclocking part should then be under Performance>Device Settings in the Nvidia Control Panel.

700mhz core and 900mhz memory should be attainable by anyone. I've been able to push it further, but of course YMMV.

I'll probably get around to putting OCZ Freeze on the CPU and GPU. It really dropped the temps on my N81VP and I'd imagine it would do likewise on this machine, though temps haven't been a major problem.

On edit - The 2.9ghz is the Super Hybrid Engine overclocking kicking in. It's on by default, but can be disabled in the BIOS. It's giving me benchmark scores above all mobile i5s, so I'm happy.

 

It's 3am and I have a working backlit keyboard!

I need to get some sleep, but I wanted to report success. Most of what I needed to know was on the UL30 backlit keyboard mod thread.

I've attached two pics.

One shows where I attached the + and - wires. In that pic, the - wire is already connected and a circle and arrow point to where I soldered the + wire. I tied it in with a USB port.

The other pic is the keyboard lit up. Bad picture, but I'm tired and need sleep.

 

Can someone who has the notebook provide a review of the laptop. I am also very interested in the build quality. I envy the guys from the timlinex lounge where they even have video with benchmark results, etc. I am torn between the ASUS U41Jf-A1 and the Acer AS4820TG-6847. I am more in favor of the asus as i think it has better build quality but i am not basing it on facts just brand bias. Also, the warranty on the asus seems much better.

 

I've had mine for a week now, so I'll try to share my experiences.

I, too, was torn between the TimelineX and this one, especially when the TimelineX was on sale a while back. I just couldn't bring myself to buy an Acer. I'm sure the TimelineX is a fine machine, but I've worked on too many piece of junk Acers to ever want to own one.

I'm not sure how build quality compares to the TimelineX. I've never seen one in person. The U41JF is, I believe structurally sound. People talk about screen flex if you open from the edges, but I wouldn't open any laptop screen from anywhere but the center, so I don't see a problem here. There is flex on the keyboard, but from the videos I've seen of the TimelineX, it's about the same. With either of them, I'm sure a little double-sided tape under the keyboard will fix it, if it annoys you.

My previous laptop was an Asus N81VP. That thing is a tank. It's also a pound heavier. Given this is considerably lighter, I see no problem with the build quality. I have no fears that it's going to fall apart. If you're the type that throws a laptop in a backpack with other junk or just carries it around as is all day, this may not be the best choice. Under those circumstances, the TimelineX probably isn't the best, either.

As far as video, what do you want to see?

Performance wise, if there are any particular benchmarks you want to see run, let me know. With the built in Super Hybrid Engine overclocking the CPU to 2.9ghz and a mild overclock on the 425M to 700 core and 900 memory, I get 8954 on 3dMark06 at default settings. My 425M will overclock well beyond that, but I feel comfortable with those settings for day to day use.

With Asus' Super Hybrid Engine clocking the CPU at 2.9Ghz, I get a 3010 Passmark score. Amazingly enough, according to Passmark, that's the equivalent of a Q6600 and higher than an i7 620M.

Metro 2033, probably THE most demanding game available, runs very well at the "Normal" setting under DirectX 10. I haven't run any benches with it yet to get exact numbers.

A note about all this "overclocking": With the CPU at 2.9Ghz and the 425M overclocked, I ran Prime95(CPU) and Furmark(GPU) at the same time for over an hour with no problems. Temps were in acceptable ranges. In my experience, nothing stresses components like running those two together.

 

vic3,

Thank you, thank you! Any info you post is useful!

As far as video review, I think it would be nice if we have similar like the one in this thread made by Pepperboyx:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/acer/499204-acer-aspire-timelinex-4820tg-owners-lounge.html

He is doing a lot of stuff and the review is kind of slow, but a more consize, to the point video for the U41JF would help a lot pf people. So things like:

1) Build quality aspect
- how the screen is attached to the base (is it flimsy); acer has some concerns about the hindges..
- is it easy to crack/break around wrist area
- how sturdy is the keyboard if used for gaming -- pressing on the same keys over time
- does anyone know who the manufactureer of the screen is; dead pixels?

2) Heat - CPUID monitor
- temperatures - in idle
- temperatures - Run a Tourture Test with prime95 for a good period

3) Video
- how easy it is to switch between intel and nvidia
- when you try to plug in external monitor/HDTV does it get confusing; is it a pain to setup every time (acer users seem to have bit of an issue there. I have had also bad experience with ATI software)
- 3DMark test (with no overclocking)
- etc.

4) Any game tests and FPS
- Counter Strike Source
- Modern Warfare 2
- will the fps drop significantly if the laptop is hooked up to a monitor/HDTV?


I am also not asking you to do a video review, but if someone can it will be a huge benefit for the U41JF lounge

 

Let me try to answer these parts, for now.

Build quality -

The hinges are very sturdy. No wobble in the screen at all.

The trackpad/wrist area is also sturdy. I don't feel any problems there. Short of taking a hammer to it, I can't imagine it cracking/breaking.

I've modded my machine with a lighted keyboard, so I can't comment much on the stock keyboard. The frame underneath the keyboard is sturdy. Others can comment more on the keyboard, but I don't see a problem with durability.

I know nothing about the screen other than mine is bright and has no dead/stuck pixels. (Asus has a 30 day zero dead/bright pixel policy.)

Heat -

(See attached pictures)

Idle seems to be below 40c. Max temp after 45 minutes of Prime95 torture test was 78c. These were done on a wood desk with a room temp of 21c and the CPU at default factory settings. (By default, the Super Hybrid Engine is on which is why CPU-Z shows 2.9Ghz)

Video -

Switching between the Intel and Nvidia chips has been totally seamless for me. Works perfect.

I've watched several movies on my 50" Panasonic plasma TV with this hooked up via HDMI with no problems.

3DMark06 at stock settings and original drivers -
7520.0 3DMarks
SM2.0 Score 3053.0
HDR/SM3.0 Score 2941.0
CPU Score 3072.0

If I get some time in the next few days, I'll try to get to the rest of it and maybe make a video.

 

Has anyone tried to play modern warfare 2 or Black Ops on it yet? I am curious to see if it handles those games well, also on what resolution/settings. I will definitely be hooking it up to a monitor..

 

Please post a video review!

Also, how well does U41JF handle 1080p vids?

 

I'm thinking of getting the u41jf since everyone who has one seems to love it to death, but does anyone know how it handles Ubuntu?

 

It should run fine, but as you may know, there is http://forum.notebookreview.com/lin...e/473915-no-support-nvidia-optimus-linux.html. That means that you will need to either switch it to integrated graphics only in the bios (if there is the option) or use a hack like acpi_call to power down the discrete card.

 

Ah thank you

 

I've been trying Black Ops on my U41JF and was surprised to find that it handled the game in high detail pretty well. Running on resolution 1366x768 and using "automatic" detail settings and Anti-aliasing at x2.

I'm not quite sure what detail level the automatic setting chose most of the time but it looked better than what I got chosing "medium detail" manually. While choosing "High detail" manually I did, however notice some performance issues.

Another disappointing issue occured after playing on "Automatic" detail settings for approximately an hour. The game froze and I had to do a reboot. I think this was due to the cpu/gpu overheathing since the outbound air was very high temperature. The cooling fan runs really loud while playing at these settings too.

Anyway. I'm mostly glad the U41JF could deliver that good graphics and will try not to put that kind of pressure on the heating with long gaming sessions on that level of detail.

 

Does anyone know which drivers we use for the wireless? Asus support site is listing 4 different drivers for the wireless. It should be Azurewave version however there's two of them.

 

Hey, I was away for a while. How is your keyboard now? No complaints? By the way, which keyboard did you buy from ebay? Is there any difference between keyboard for 30$ and one for 50$?

 

Well, just took the dive and bought one today. Should arrive by Wednesday. I'll post my impressions soon after. Main uses will be:

• Tethering to a Nikon D7000 for studio and on-location work
• Editing photos while traveling
• Travel entertainment (movies, games, internet)
• Substitute for desktop for non-gaming tasks (desktop heats up the room in summer; laptop processor is OC'able to similar processor performance)

I was waiting till next paycheck, but this seems to be a pretty popular model, selling out in a few places with lower pricing within the past few days. I've also noticed pricing is on the rise on some sites like Amazon. They had it for around $815 last week with free Prime shipping, and now it's $865 + S/H. Wish I would've bought it back then. Got it from B&H for $855 w/ 2 day shipping. Can't wait, either way.

 

Just got mine yesterday. A few quick impressions from a couple hours of use:

• Keyboard flex: mine is a bit bouncy in the upper right. There's movement throughout the rest of the keyboard, but nothing noticeable as I'm typing, even the upper right.
  
• Speed: this thing is quick! Coming from my C2Q 2.4GHz Q6600 desktop, I don't notice any lag in task processing. I'll have more info when I install Photoshop.
  
• HDD: it's kinda slow. Messed around in L4D2 a bit last night, and it took a while to load. Then again, I'm coming from a WD Raptor drive on my desktop. I'll be tossing in a Momentus XT soon.
  
• Graphics: awesome! L4D2 with max settings, 8x AA, and 8x AF, and no stuttering, even with a bunch of zombies on screen and random particle effects. That's pretty much the most demanding game I play these days, so I'm happy.
  
• Sound: the only thing I'm disappointed in. Not the quality of the sound itself, the positioning of the speakers. The left one comes out of the left, but the right one comes out of the... center? I can adjust the balance to recenter the sound, but it's kind of odd the way it works. It also loses panning noises by dropping the left speaker sound that much. I'll be digging around inside while installing the backlit keyboard, so I'll see what's going on there. Most of the time, I'll be using headphones or HDMI-out sound, so it's not a deal killer for me, but it may be for some.

Just need to find a slim hard case for it and I'll be in business.

 

A few days ago Nvidia released the new Verde graphic driver version 276.67. Works great on my U41JF. The most important thing for me is that it solved the problem with PS CS5 graphic acceleration!

 

I installed those drivers this weekend. Funny thing is, now I can't complete a test on 3DMark Vantage. It always hangs the program. Never had any issues with PS with the previous driver (forgot the # -__-), and no issues with the new driver.

 

Does the U41 have the high pitched whine that last years i3 and i5 laptops had? There were a lot of complaints in the forums about it. I am wondering if the newest i3 and i5's still have it?

 

Mine doesn't have (i5 460m)

 

Neither does mine (i3 380M).

 

I have been seriously considering the U41 for awhile. However, I can't take myself away from the simply amazing build quality of the Samsung QX410. The sheer amount of aluminum those Koreans put on that little machine is enough for me to take a step back and forget about that 425M in the U41.

So, question. The only thing hold me back from the U41 is its build quality. For anyone's that handled a Macbook Pro (or even the Samsung that I'm referring to), how is the physical feel of the U41?

Specifically:
-keyboard flex?
-how much "plastic" is on the U41 that will feel cheap and flex about
-sturdy?
-Any glossy plastic on it? (keyboard areas, etc.)
-Quality of the underside? Any signs of weakness?

***Can I upgrade RAM on this laptop by myself (is there a cover on the underside of the laptop?)

 

You can definitely add ram by yourself on the U41jf. The Samsung is beautiful. Battery life is a bit less than the U41jf and the GPU is WAY slower than the easily overclockable GT425 in the U41jf. If I were on the fence and in no hurry I'd wait and see what the U41sv/sn machines bring. Specs are impressive with sandybridge i3 and i5 and a GT540M GPU. If they don't heat throttle or anything goofy like that, they'll be pretty awesome little machines.

Other 14" machines to look at would be the Sony CA which can get a 1600x900 screen upgrade. Price range is similar to the Asus but the 6630 GPU is nowhere near as strong as the upcoming GT540M will be. It's kind of between the Asus and the Samsung in performance in a nice looking but mostly plastic package.

The Acer 4820TG/4830TG machines have a lot of metal on them too. The 4820TG is the closest direct competitor to the U41jf but it's pretty much disappeared to make room for the 4830TG which has better specs but a thermal throttling issue that means it's actually slower once it warms up. If Acer fixes the problem with a BIOS update great, until then, it's better to wait and see.

 

hi
i bought u41JF A1 (i5 480m)
on my laptop label written "illuminated chelcit keyboard"
are there backlit keyboard in my laptop?
how can i active backlit keyboard?

 

Anyone install a 2nd HDD on one of these? Looking to toss one in mine for video editing and a backup.

 

I recently sold my U41JF for a U41SV. and since there's not a lot of users who own the SV. I decided to post here. And transferred everything over from the JF. including my backlit.

Here's a picture of them both back to back : D

 

Does anyone know if a 12.5mm hard drive will fit in the U41JF? I want to upgrade the hdd to a higher capacity (preferably 1TB) but not sure if the ones I'm looking at will be suitable.

 

I actually want to do this mod.... but am from scandinavia....anyone know of a place I could find one ? with scandinavian letters ?

Alright...google was my friend this time also.... did manage to find one, but for a horror price of 100 euros thiiink I might have to find some other solution...

http://www.asusparts.eu/product_info.php?cPath=67674_76961_142653_142831_142848&products_id=37132

is this even the right one ?

 

The sizing is correct, but the 2 key that is different I'm not sure if the laptop will recognize it. or if your original keyboard is the same, then it'll work for sure.

 

Well it's the same button to button with the exception of the additional icons on buttons "A" "F3" and "F4" but the price....in all honesty I dont see it being worth a 100 euros...there are other things I'd rather buy than this then... *sigh* SO CLOSE!!! but oh so far T_T

 

wasn't those two key I was referring. : P I was talking about the bigger enter button and it moves a key from beside the enter button to where the Z button is.

can't always have everything lol =___=