Asus F8VA Montevina Mobile Platform review

Sweden is the same (bag+mouse). And my F8 also has a XD-card reader in the device-manager.

 

Thanks for your replies ;-) thus far.

The blue seal was broken, because I asked for a display test + additional display warranty (in connection w/ the test).

From what I see, I could only assume that there could have been a bigger box in which my box has been.

How were your F8VAs boxed/packaged?

I only had one box in which there was one other box containing software + cables and the other box were actually just placeholders for the laptop.

cheers.

 

If the box that you got had the blue seal, then it had to be the original box. Here is how my laptops were packaged:

- big plain cardboard box, sealed with blue seal
- inside, a smaller fancy cardboard box, with a picture of the notebook on the cover. Inside this box are all the electronics.
- near this inner box, in a plastic bag, the carrying case.
- the mouse is inside the fancy box.

In conclusion, if the box you have has the seal (i.e., it's original) but is not large enough to fit the carrying case together with the rest of the items, then we can safely conclude that there were none present...

How about the warranty sticker?

 

Now don't tell me that the mouse (if you remember) was in the left part of the fancy box (the box is separated into 4 parts, left (long), middle (two parts) and the right part is divided.

When I opened it, the things in there weren't as they were supposed to be and I could not explain what was supposed to be in the left part, since I do NOT have anything that would fit in there (in the left part).

What warranty sticker are you talking about? I have a warranty card into which is placed a sticker. I bought the additional warranty anyways (going to receive it next week). Is there another sticker?

I mean, I can still write or call Asus - but I phoned and wrote them before (about another issue) and to my experience they don't know anything about their products.

thanks for all your replies so far, you're great ;-).

 

I do not remember the particular compartment of the box the mouse was in, but yeah, in one of those small cardboard compartments. There is one for battery, one for adapter, one for mouse, one for manuals etc.

I am talking about a warranty sticker on the bottom of the notebook. The one that contains the serial number, should also state the warranty period (24M or 12M). I'm worried because in some places, like the US, ASUS notebooks that come without the freebies (case, mouse), also come with shorter warranty.

Maybe someone at the store did snatch the mouse, but I doubt it, I mean, it's not like it's a high-end high-value mouse, it's just a normal one. It's more likely they forgot to replace it in the box after they did the checks/upgrades you requested.

Did the larger box have the space for the carrying case that I was mentioning in my post? Or did you receive just the fancy smaller box with pictures on it?

 

The warranty sticker on the bottom of the notebook says 24 months.

I only got one box (normal cardboard), which contained 2 placeholders for the laptop and a thinner box (also normal cardboard; w/o pictures on it) containing software + cables.

I just figure that the box I got could have been in another bigger box.

The people at the place where I bought it were not very competent. I ordered it online and picked it up at the store. The owner of the store guaranteed me a discount via phone, which they eventually did not want to give me. After bargaining, I got 20 Euro off.

However, now I assume that therefore they might have taken some of the additional stuff that came with it.

Don't most Asus laptops come with a laptop and a mouse (at least the F8 series ones come with it, right?)?

 

That's good about the warranty, it's the most important thing (bag and mouse add up to 60-70 EUR at most).

As I said, some laptops do and some don't -- I have seen both, although in 6 out of 7 cases that I know of, they did come with mouse and case. Therefore to my knowledge, in most cases, European ASUS notebooks should come with a case and mouse.

I suggest you check some online stores in your country, see if they mention case and mouse. Call and confirm if they don't mention it on the website. If you get confident enough that all F8s in your country come with bag and mouse, call the store where you got it from and demand to know what happened with the bag and mouse that was supposed to come with your notebook.

Yes, when there is a bag, that bag goes to the outside of the case that you describe, in a bigger box. I guess not all cases are nicely colored... I don't remember now if they were all colored, I know that the W7 ones were, and the M6 and V6 ones were cardboard but they had a picture.

 

A8 and F8 boxes are brown, with the asus logo in blue.(See attached photo). The mouse was in this box. The Case was in a larger box, together with this one.

 

I have the same box as is depicted in the thumbnail (yours) as you can see below. This box only contained the laptop and a smaller box with cables etc.

The box w/ logo came in a bigger box. However, this bigger box wraps tightly around this box with the logo. Nothing else could fit in there.

Could the right box have been in another bigger box?

 

No, I do not think so. Given your information, I am pretty sure that there was no bag coming with your notebook. Therefore, we can safely conclude that there was no mouse, either -- usually these things go hand in hand.

 

Ok then. Thanks a lot for all your help (everyone ;-) ).

Does anyone of you have the IR-Remote control that fits into the express card slot? Do you know where you can buy these separately? (I could not find anything at amazon or other shops.)

 

Regarding the ASUS ASUS F8VA-4S011C
I just found out about this notebook since I have my doubts about buying one with an nvidia card due to all the recent rumours.

The screen size is not a problem, I will just use the hdmi connection to connect it to my 24" LG monitor, plus the smaller size of this notebook should make it easier for travel.

Questions questions questions.

1)I know nothing about build quality of ASUS notebooks. How good is it, compared say to Toshiba or other known brands?

2)Can anyone please share the dimensions and weight of the notebook with the battery?

3)Max supported resolution when connected to an external monitor?

4)Since it's not a very powerful machine (of course it is for a 14" one), any real benefit going to 64bit Vista from the installed 32bit?

5)Noise under full load? GPU temps? Heat in general under full load? I had/have an old Presario (2002) and even with clean fans that thing was one noise little....even my desktop PC doesn't make that much noise.

6) How easy is it to open compartments for cleaning and/or replacement of HDD/RAM, if needed.

7) Is it possible to back up Vista to a disc(s) and erase any possible hidden partition where the OS is? (at least that is my guess)

8) How is customer support of ASUS, at least in Europe?

9) Any benchmarks of games? Crysis don't mean much to me since it is a ......to run under any machine. CoD4 looks slow to that video and I am a bit worried. (thanks for the video though!)

10)Has anyone tested the esata connection for speed?

11)If I wanted to install a 64bit Vista (which it looks like I would have to buy ) would I have problems with drivers/hardware?

12)How good are the viewing angles? Do you have to be at a very specific angle towards the screen to get accurate colours and if you move a little to the sides or height the colours go all...funky?

13) Is the sound output through the headphones satisfactory? Say compared to a desktop on-board HD solution by Realtek? Can it provide enough "power" for a good pair of headphones? I have a AKG K271studio.

14)Does ASUS usualy update their drivers or stays with the original ones for the whole run of the notebook? I am not talking about GPU since I guess there are other ways to deal with that.

Eh, that's it.

 

Wow this is a tough one. Let's see if I make it to the end...

1)I know nothing about build quality of ASUS notebooks. How good is it, compared say to Toshiba or other known brands?

I don't really know about recent notebooks, it also depends on the model. For the F8, it's a budget machine so don't expect stellar quality, but the F8 series as a whole has a pretty good track record (i.e., no recurring problems, major complaints, or build problems).

2)Can anyone please share the dimensions and weight of the notebook with the battery?

You should find that on asus.com. Check the Info BoothFAQ for a procedure on getting detailed information about a notebook.

3)Max supported resolution when connected to an external monitor?

IDK.

4)Since it's not a very powerful machine (of course it is for a 14" one), any real benefit going to 64bit Vista from the installed 32bit?

4GB of RAM fully usable. Other than that, I don't know.

5)Noise under full load? GPU temps? Heat in general under full load? I had/have an old Presario (2002) and even with clean fans that thing was one noise little....even my desktop PC doesn't make that much noise.

IDK, F8 users should say this.

6) How easy is it to open compartments for cleaning and/or replacement of HDD/RAM, if needed.

HDD and RAM replacement should be easy. I don't know about cleaning, for most models it's easy (e.g., V6) but for some it can be very difficult, requiring almost complete disassembly (e.g., M6, W7). Again, a user should say.

7) Is it possible to back up Vista to a disc(s) and erase any possible hidden partition where the OS is? (at least that is my guess)

You can backup using a 3rd party tool, but should not be necessary. The computer also comes with optical recovery media (a DVD) which together with the driver disk has an identical function to the recovery partition. The latter has the advantage that it produces a much faster recovery, though.

8) How is customer support of ASUS, at least in Europe?

Depends on the country, and we don't have too much information to give reliable assessments. Check the Info Booth, and from there my thread on "ASUS Problems".

9) Any benchmarks of games? Crysis don't mean much to me since it is a ......to run under any machine. CoD4 looks slow to that video and I am a bit worried. (thanks for the video though!)

IDK

10)Has anyone tested the esata connection for speed?

People say that it is equivalent to the internal SATA HDD transfer speed. I don't have eSATA so can't confirm, but I trust the people who said it.

11)If I wanted to install a 64bit Vista (which it looks like I would have to buy ) would I have problems with drivers/hardware?

Nope, supposedly all the drivers on the drivers CD work in 64, as well.

12)How good are the viewing angles? Do you have to be at a very specific angle towards the screen to get accurate colours and if you move a little to the sides or height the colours go all...funky?

IDK, mentioned in the review maybe?

13) Is the sound output through the headphones satisfactory? Say compared to a desktop on-board HD solution by Realtek? Can it provide enough "power" for a good pair of headphones? I have a AKG K271studio.

Headphones, depends on the headphones and on your requirements, I guess. But the sound quality on new integrated audio is pretty good.

14)Does ASUS usualy update their drivers or stays with the original ones for the whole run of the notebook? I am not talking about GPU since I guess there are other ways to deal with that.

As every other manufacturer, they don't update drivers too much. Once the notebook is EOL (and in 2008 the lifetime of a model is maybe half a year?) they don't update at all, typically.

Phew! I did it

 

In no particular order, the stuff I can answer:

Vertical viewing angles for 14" WXGA+ are pretty bad, no matter which screen you get. The AUO is the worst.

Max resolution it can output is 1920x1200.

Dissasembly is quite easy. The HDD and Wifi card share one compartment, the RAM, CPU and GPU share another one. Nothing is hidden beneath the keyboard. Cleaning is decntly easy, but I haven't done a proper one in a while, so I can't quite remember.

Build is slightly above that of consumer laptops like the HP DV2500/2700.

My F8 is pretty loud and I can't use any tools to control the fans. But I have an older version, with a hotter CPU.

Dimensions and weight with battery is on the Asus site.
34 x 24.4 x 3.72 cm (W x D x H)
2.6 kg, (with 6 cell battery)

 

Thank you guys.

 

I would have to agree with this. The technology behind is TFT so viewing beyond the horizontal 150 degrees would degrade the image brightness and quality. However, I don't find it a huge drawback as most users stare at it straight on. The only thing that bothers me is the vertical which fabarati stated, but this isn't just an ASUS problem as it plagues all makers of screens of this size.

On my version, it's still loud. However it's not an annoying fan noise, but a low wind like noise. It's barely noticeable even in a quiet room.

 

So you mean all ~15 inch models suffer with horrible screens?

 

Nah, all 14" models with a wxga+ resolution suffer from this. Many are also grainy (mine is).

 

I have just purchased an F8VA in Australia and I am loving it... But ExpressGate/Splashtop is not the correct resolution! It says in the config panel that it is running at 1440 x 900 but it is not displaying in widescreen...

This makes all the fonts look funny and the internet is stupid! Every image is stretched!

Is this happening for other people? Is there a way to fix it?

I am using the latest version of Splashtop from ASUS (0.7.7.0).

 

I can't seem to find anything about my problem described anywhere else... is there another F8VA user that can comment on whether this is isolated to my laptop or if it is happening in theirs also?

This is a massive issue!

To me it looks as though the 1440 x 900 resolution in the config panel is actually making it change to 1152 x 864 and the 1280 x 800 appears to be 1024 x 768.

It has that blurry look like it is not the native resolution also...

It is only happening in the ExpressGate/Splashtop OS... not in Vista...

Anyone?

 

You will need to contact http://www.splashtop.com/ for support, I don't have it on my system, so this is very new software.

 

I really don't know anything about ExpressGate/Splashtop, but you mention you have the latest version. Can you replace it somehow with another version, even if older? Maybe that will fix the problem.

 

Excellent suggestion... The same thing was wrong on the version I had installed from the manufacturer as the update I did... but I will try rolling it back it an even earlier version...

I will let you know how it goes.

I am still curious to hear from another F8VA user to see if they are experiencing the same problem...

 

The software I originally had appears to be the first build for the F8VA and the updated version I installed is the only one available for this laptop. I tried a few other versions (unsupported) but they only had 1280 x 800 and were still giving me a stretched display.


I am pretty sure of my previously stated observation now also...

"To me it looks as though the 1440 x 900 resolution in the config panel is actually making it change to 1152 x 864 and the 1280 x 800 appears to be 1024 x 768."

But I have also noticed the first splash screen when you boot up ExpressGate is a lower resolution - but in the correct aspect ratio. This is confusing.

I am yet to hear anything from ASUS, but it is a weekend...

 

In that case it's, most likely, either some kind of incompatibility between Express Gate/Splashtop and the particular hardware (GPU) of the F8V, or a bug in the F8V release of Express Gate.

 

Let's hope it is a bug... I will keep you posted about any replies I get from ASUS about this issue.

I am still trying to find out if it is isolated to my machine or if anyone else is experiencing it.

If you have an F8VA boot into the ExpressGate OS and look at a photo... if the faces are stretched you have got the same problem as I do... Please can someone else check this out for me.

 

I wonder if installing vista 64bit would increase this laptops graphic performance considering the 1GB of vram can't be fully used by the OS considering it has 4gb of system memory.

 

Hi everyone,ive been looking on this F8 on newegg for a while, im just wondering if its a good deal?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834220337

and is anyone here having problem with its cooling? how high will it heat up to under normal work, and full load/gaming?

appreciate the info very much!!

 

I was looking at it too but I just ordered the M51ta.. Hopefully it will be a decent performer. I really like the F8's looks better though.. but the $999 price tag on the M51 was too sweet.

 

im swaying between these 2 too....i might just go with M51 but i do like the 14inches better...if f8 has no problem with cooling then i'l throw the extra 200 while bleeding...

 

Win XP Installation

I would like to keep the recovery partition, however which one is it?

I see the following:

unpartitioned space 1MB

F: Partition 1 (inactive (os/2-start-man 10000MB) 3339MB unused

C: Partition 2 (VistaOS)

unpartitioned space 1MB

D: Partition 3 (Data)


Now, I assume that the inactive partition is the recovery partition. Right?

1. But why is it so big? I mean, there is 3GB of unused space.

2. Why do I have " unpartitioned space 1MB" twice there and why is it there in general?

3. I want to install Win XP - how should I best proceed if I want to get at least 2 primary partitions?

4. If I just want to be able to install Vista at a later point in time (although I doubt I will), I can basically format everything except for " F: Partition 1 (inactive (os/2-start-man 10000MB) 3339MB unused". Right?

 

1&4. Ok. The F: partition 1 should be where the recovery partition resides, do not format it if you intend to keep the recovery partition. The only reason why it says "unpartition spaced / unused" is because that partition is Linux based and Windows is unable to identify it which means the 3GB unused may be incorrectly interpreted.

2. The 1MB partitions are required to create extended or logical partitions. That's just how the partition table is.

3. It depends on how many partitions you would like, normally I create 2 partitions. An operating system partition around 20 - 40 GB and the rest for storage. Some people like 3-4 partitions, honestly the amount of partitions won't directly affect performance that much (well maybe a little to do with access times and defragmentation).

4. Your system should also come with an recovery disc, so actually you have an option to format that partition if you like. However keeping the partition information may be a better idea since you would want the F9 feature on boot up, it's up to you.

 

Thanks for your answer.

F9 Boot up Feature? Do you mean Splashtop/Express Gate?

Should I not be able to use that even with Win XP as long as I install it?

I assumed that with a Recovery Disk (Win Vista), I could only install Vista if I keep the recovery partition - as it is not a full vista installation disk (or am I wrong?).


Regarding the 1MB unused - I have never seen that on any of the hdds I have in my desktops.

 

Well F9 boots into the recovery partition, if you format it, it removes that function obviously. I don't have Splashtop/Express Gate so I don't know what button to press (I assume the media center button instead of power? no idea). I assume it's the replacement for the AudioDJ thing, sort of the same idea as HP's Quickplay?

You should be able to to continue using Expres gate with or without XP as it's probably it's own OS/program, I think the ExpressGate may also be stored in the same recovery partition which is actually larger than mine (mine is about 8-9GB). So actually you may kill ExpressGate/Splashtop if you format the recovery partition, but this again is guess and it may be stored somewhere else?

As for the 1MB, if you create primary partitions, then the 1MB empty partitions won't appear. It only happens when you have logical or extended partitions, which Windows Storage Management panel doesn't quite indicate very clearly. If you were to load it up into Paragon or Acronis, then it'll make a bit more sense.

 

Ok. One more issue: How can I disable the Asus boot screen with the annoying sound?

Is there a Bios option?

Thanks so much.

 

Yes, hit F2 when booting up to get into the BIOS. There should be a "Disable POST sound" and "Speaker Volume" somewhere in the menus, don' use the Disable Boot Sound as that would mute/disable sound completely. So either turn down the volume to 0 or 1(which is very quiet and that's what I set mine as).

 

And can I also disable the Asus Logo popping up?

 

I had the toughest time choosing between them, but in the end I grabbed the M51. The weight is only about 1/2 pound more and I am sure the performance is probably just about even.

Not to mention the Radeon GPU is better optimized on the Puma Platform. (At least judging my the WEI)

I still wish I could have both because the F8 looks so sleek and it has the nice power button on the hinge, but the 1440x900 res probably looks grainy on the 14 inch screen and crisp on the 15 inch.

 

yes, but why would you want to do that?

 

well, that was wrongly phrased. How can I do that? ;-)

I do not like it and would like to see the system tests.

 

Yes. You can disable it.

Go into BIOS (F2) and then go to the Boot menu>Boot configuration > Quiet Boot choose Disabled.

Megatrends should come up now instead of the ASUS logo, if you turned down the volume, you won't hear the chime either

NOTE: I went to check Bios and the above message was edited to the proper menu settings.

 

Well team,

I guess I will find out if my ExpressGate issue is isolated or not as I have just heard back from ASUS in regards to another issue... A single key on the keyboard is not sitting properly due to a broken bracket... and they consider that to be DOA and I have to return the laptop for a replacement... Policy dictates that they cannot just send me a new key or keyboard to fix it.

It is so frustrating that I didn't notice the broken key before I migrated all my software and settings! Now I have to start over! Next time I will test every single key before doing any transfer.

Lesson learnt

So I will get back to you in a week in regards to my screen resolution issue (presumably ASUS technical support will get back to me also).

Thanks all.

 

That's a rather silly policy. I'd have a new keyboard anyday (maybe I'd even buy one for 20 bucks) rather than migrate/reinstall things again and waste a day or two with that...

 

I am using Win XP on the F8VA.

After following the installation and modification guide from http://www.driverheaven.net/modtool.php I restarted Win XP and got the following error:

Page_Fault_In_Nonpaged_Area

stop 0x00000050 (0xF000EEF3, 0x00000008, 0xF000EEF3, 0x00000002)

I Googled the error, however, this particular one does not seem to exist.

Did anyone get the ATI Driver to work?


After installing .net and the MSXML 6.0, I extracted the setup files and cancelled the installation.

Then I launched the mobility modder and modified the files as described.

Then I run the setup file in the respective folder.

I know it says in step 6: "In Vista" - yet what I am supposed to do in XP if not run the setup.exe ??????

I tried the 8.7..._65997 and the ..._65993 drivers yet I always get a BSOD.


Has anyone got ATI drivers on the F8va (WIN XP) working?

 

Eventually I found and used the 8.6 Catalyst version ( driverheaven).

This one works.


Say, is it normal that there are fewer devices in XP (in the device manager) than shown here:

http://www.gentechpc.com/Asus/F8VA/F8Va-Devicemanger-XP.jpg

??

The Atheros928x... does not show up in mine. And I have one unknown network controller and one unknown device for which the drivers from Ken are not accepted.

One of these two might be the IR port. However, what is the other one? And why do I not see the atheros? I right clicked on the atheros drivers and chose install - but nothing happened.


Edit: The network adapter is not the IR port - that was the other unknown device (I just installed a nonworking driver for it).

 

Hey guys, i have the F8Va-B1, but i have no idea how to use express gate, also the computer came with this connector (it is a single orange female, with a what looks like a male S-Video, buts its not S-video) but i don't really know what it is used for, i think it might be for a tv tuner, or the S/PDIF jack, if anyone has any insight to any of these it would be a great help

 

here is a pic of the connector sorry for the blurryness

 

That's a RCA/Composite Video cable to S-Video adapter. That also came with my F8Sn. Pretty Useless cable IMHO.

 

Above the keyboard there are several hardware buttons... From memory, one changes the 'Splendid' screen setting, another the power/battery modes etc... the one on the far right is the ExpressGate button. When your computer is off press it and in a few seconds you will be in the Splashtop/ExpressGate Operating System.

I would love to know if the aspect ratios are correct for you (have a look at a photo and see if the faces are stretched so they look fat) as the one I just returned had this problem.

Hope that helps.

 

I now installed Splashtop on XP and you are right, the photos do look stretched. Although I must say it depends on the picture - on some it is difficult to determine, whereas on others you clearly see it.

I bought my F8va in August 2008 and used the Splashtop / ExpressGate version that came with it.


Win XP
Can you tell me what "network adapter" driver I am missing?

As mentioned, I do not see the Atheros driver (I just right clicked on it and said install, yet also tried to update via the device manager)