Asus M50VM Montevina, NV 9600M GS Review

How is the subwoofer?

 

Yes I remember you, long time no see.

Yes the CPU is the only different between A1 and B1.

M50 does not have subwoofer, the M70 has it.

 

this has bluetooth right? could i use this with the laptop.
http://www.memoryexpress.com/Products/PID-MX21066(ME).aspx

 

Ah, okay thanks for clearing that up.

 

Yes it has bluetooth built-in and it'll work.

 

would i be able to use it while i play css?

 

I'm a little confused with the HDMI port. Can I plug in something like a PS3 and use the notebook as a screen? Or can I use the HDMI port to plug in a 50" HDTV? Or can I do both?

 

It's not a TV tuner so no, you cannot plug in something. It's made to plug it on an HDTV

 

Ken,
What is the exact model of the Atheros card that comes with the M50VM? All the reviews and whatnot say that it comes with an Intel card...but the pictures show it comes with an Atheros. Just trying to figure out if the Atheros card that comes with the M50VM is better than the Intel.

 

how does this compare to the sager np2096?
http://www.xoticpc.com/sager-np2096...compal-jhl90-order-p-2409.html?wconfigure=yes

 

First of all,
All of you make a great Asus forum, it was all you that helped me decide on my first laptop. Now im stuck in a rut, im torn between G1, G2 or the M70VM - B1. Which one will give me semi good to good battery life and give me good gaming, ie. World in Conflict? could anyone help me, ken your input is greatly appreciated. As well as, anyone and everyone.

 

First of all,
All of you make one great Asus forum. It was all of you that helped me make a decision on my first laptop. Now im stuck in a rut, im torn between the G1, G2, and the M70VM - B1. I'm looking for something that has good battery life and give me a good gaming experience. Any and all input is appreciated, especially yours Ken. Thanks again to all.

 

Sorry about the double post, computer freezed and didn't show up

 

It's the Atheros AR928X Wireless Network Adapter, it's also a N adapter, not sure which one is better since this is the first time I use Atheros card, but the performance should be the same.
The Intel wireless card was the plan but Intel found out the 4965 card has issues with the new PM45 chipset so Asus decided not to use it.

The new 9600M GS DDR2 performs about the same as the 8600M GT GDDR3 on G1S and G2S, but 9600M runs cooler, about 73*C max on GPU load.

both M70VM and M50VM will give you the same gaming performance and better battery life as you can see on the review.

8700M GT on G2SG and G70A with SLI are still the best gaming laptop on Asus, but they are big and expensive and you don't get good battery life on both notebooks.

both M70VM and M50VM will give you the same gaming performance, it's just if you preferred 17" or 15.4", but audio quality is much much better on M70VM.

I just finish the WIC game video, I am not really good at this game and it's only a demo but at least you can look how it runs on 9600M GS:



Note: driver version 175.80 does not work on WIC demo, I had to use version 175.97 in order to play.

 

Does the A1 run cooler than the B1?

 

no, don't notice any difference.

 

Heres a quote from techreport.com

"For users who purchase Centrino 2 laptops with discrete graphics processor, Intel offers an optional "switchable graphics" feature that lets you switch between integrated and discrete GPUs to save battery life."

Does the M50VM support this? If it does, then wow, it might explain the differences in the battery life with the M50VM and the M50SV

 

I think this feature depends if Asus has enabled it in the bios. Either way, the improved battery life can also be due to the more energy efficient CPU and GPU alone, as those are the 2 most power consuming components.

 

Well, it's one of Nvidia's new features on the G9x GF9 mobile, there's no reason for it to not have it I think so....

 

I was going to order it last night and it was out of stock.

Ken, do you know when the new stocks come in?

 

so by the sounds of it, you recommend the m70vm? oh and one other question, which one is better for gaming T9300 or the p8400? thanks for the help so far ken

 

On your video ken on world in confict, did you have DX10 running?

 

Since vista home premium 32 bit only sees three Gigs of ram, does it only use 3?

 

He does, look at the smoke. And it's the frame rates I'm getting at 1680x1050 with pretty much everything all the settings near maximum and all the effects on (with the same amount of actions as in this video) on DX9

 

I'm looking to buy my first laptop and very interested in this Asus M50VM. I was wondering if anyone could tell me if these laptops get hot really fast and if I could put it on my lap? And also how's the build quality on Asus laptops?

 

The GPU idles at 55C, so it's very cool.

 

Like JCMS, it run pretty cool and won't suffer from any overheating issues like many of the 8xxx series Nvidia GPUs do. The build quality is better than the average consumer notebook, but not as rugged as business line systems like the Asus V series or Lenovo T series.

 

how does this compare to the sager np2096?
http://www.xoticpc.com/sager-np2096...compal-jhl90-order-p-2409.html?wconfigure=yes

 

The NP2096 is a nice addition to Sager's line, however, it does lack some important features (at least for me) when compared to the M50 series. ie ESATA port, full number pad, and better speakers. The multimedia touchpad is cool, but I honestly don't use it much. However, the the Express Gate is something that's really neat and practical and only available with the new M50/70VM models. I don't think any of Sagers notebooks offers a similar feature.
Oh.. almost forgot about the 1gb of Vram in the Asus compared to the 512mb in the Sager, though the additional vram probably won't make much of a difference in gaming since they're both DDR2.

 

It has a DDR2 9600M GT. The GS has a 500mhz core clock (is it 500 in the M50?) while the GT has a 600mhz. It's about the same as 8600M GT GDDR3 VS 8700M GT.

Those 2 cards can only use 256MB so it's irrevelant, only marketing. But I'm starting to wonder why they didn't put GDDR3. I mean, I doubt 1GB DDR2 is much cheaper than 256MB of GDDR3

 

i configured both laptops (m50vm-b1) to basically the same settings and the sager end up at 1845. the only differences were it had the 9600m gt with 512 mb, 9 cell battery 3 year warranty and 64 bitvista. i think thats all thats different. it doesnt really justify the different prices so the asus is a better buy?

 

It depends on how much you value the 9600M GT. The GS can probably be OCed to it.

But you can configure a M860 with a Radeon 3870 for ~$1600 so.....

 

im looking at the f8va b1 and it has the Radeon 3870. how does that video card match up with this one

 

The radeon 3870 will eat the 9600M GS as an afternoon snack but the f8 has a 3650, which is slower than this 9600M GS

 

which laptop has the 3870?

 

Sorry, my mistake Yes, the GT will outperform the GS, but not sure by how much. Why Asus didn't put in GDDR3 vram (maybe because of heat issues, or even issues with nvidia?) beats the heck outta me

Actually, the F8VA-B1 has the ATI HD3650 GPU which is slightly weaker than the 9500M GS.

As of right now, the 3870 isn't used in any notebooks. It has the power somewhere between the 8800M GTX and 8800M GTS, so I'm guess even if Asus will offer it in the future, it would probably be in a 17" notebook.

EDIT: forgot to mention that the Sager NP8660 (15") has the 3870 for pre-order, but then again, it's price range is in another league and if you configure it similar to the M50VM-B1, it's about $2000

 

Thank you for the review, it was added to the Info Booth sticky.

 

i think il stick with the asus. any games this baby cant handle? ..... (silence)
thats what i thought

 

Hi EBE! Haven't see you for a while.. nice to have you back Thanks for adding this to the info booth.

Lol~ given the specs and features, you really can't get a nicer system for the price. This machine will surely run any game, but it'll also depend on the user's preferences. ie 1680x1050 with high details probably won't cut it for Crysis, but a modest 1280X720 with medium-high settings will be great (as shown in the in-game video review). Also keep in mind that Crysis' graphical requirements are out of the ordinary and excessive - I don't think there's any other game currently in the market that has such high graphical demand.

 

lol thx for the response. truth betold i dont think iv ever played a game at high settings or higher than 1024 x whatever. so that doesnt matter as long as itl play the game. il buy this after i get back from spain

 

I can't decide if I should wait for the Toshiba Qosmio F55-Q502 to come out or buy the M50Vm-B1 because they are both $1399, except that the 9700M GTS absolutely massacres the 9600M GS. I need to decide by the beginning of August, so if the Toshiba notebook doesn't come out by then, I'll go with the Asus.

 

oh no. now i have another dilemma!!!!! damn you toshiba with telling me this right now. guys im sorry but if i can get the toshiba with a good warranty :'(

 

Yeah, but it seems that Toshiba is a little over 8 pounds at 15.4". No thanks. I could barely handle a 15.4" 7 pound+ HP that I had to lug around a while back. (Sure, you get a nice class 1 card, but WOW that's heavy.)

I'm not entirely sure about Toshiba quality though, but I'm sure I would definitely have to pay tax if I tried to order that one. @_@

 

thats the thing with me im not taking it to classes or anything so if i carry around its not going to be much. i was really pumped for asus but this sucker seems pretty good

 

Well, just be sure to do your research on that Qosmio line to check for quality. That's all I have to say. I know a few people whom have told me that they love their Asus laptops, and I personally need a lighter one for carrying around with me at college (I'm tall, but thin.) (Also, I don't need a Class 1 card, I have very little interest in the games being released on computers now a days.)

Also, who knows when that Toshiba's going to be available too, but you probably have time to wait, I only have a couple weeks until I have to make my purchase.

 

That toshiba is over 8 pounds? Damn that's a lot. My C90S is 6.8

 

I'm not sure how much it weighs because Amazon says it's 6.37 lbs:

http://www.amazon.com/Toshiba-Qosmio-F55-Q502-Processor-Premium/dp/B001C3L6GG/ref=pd_sbs_pc_1

 

Just google search: Toshiba Qosmio F55-Q502

Toward the middle there is an explore.toshiba.com link, click on it and it'll give you the specs and the weight of the thing.

Yeah, that's definitely not going to happen. I like that it has a sub woofer, but that's a little too heavy.

 

And it says 8.1lbs here

http://www.amazon.com/Toshiba-Qosmi...1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1216512811&sr=8-1

 

dont worry folks this laptop will help you beef up. 8 pounds at a time
EDIT: those are 2 different models the first is the basic one and the second is the more suped up one