Asus M50VM Montevina, NV 9600M GS Review

Yeah, what happens most of the time is that the laptop's cooling design has been engineered for that card so upgrading it could cause problems. It also has to be recognised by the BIOS

 

Well, I suppose that is true. However, I can't afford a desktop for gaming, I'm afraid. I really need something portable that I can take with me, as I'll be moving again for the 3rd time in 5-6 years to another place in about a year to go to a university. I couldn't possibly cope with moving two desktops and an ultra portable laptop. (I have a very "ancient" Dell Dimension 2600 from 2003. Runs fast, but it's very limited. Not ready to give it up yet, it's still going. I would have that, plus a gaming PC, plus a laptop. TOO MUCH!)

 

We would just have to wait. I think upgradeable laptops isn't far from being a reality since laptops have caught up with the desktop sales. It's not an "If" thing.. it's really a "WHEN" thing if you ask me =)

 

the f8's are about a pound lighter than the m50's. f8's are basically the size and weight of a small 15" notebook like the macbook pro. m50's are on the larger end of 15" notebooks.

 

I do understand that reptar, but for me, it's not that much of a difference. I tried out a 5 pound example of around the same dimensions as the laptops, and there was very little difference for me. The size isn't all that much of a difference. Either would be much better than that old 15.4" HP laptop... I swear that thing weighed closer to 8 pounds. Thing somewhat fell apart too.

I have tried a newer Sony laptop that was 15.4", but it might have been closer to the 6 pound mark than the Asus is. Wasn't too bad to manage walking around with a backpack on.

13" would just be even more convenient, but the only good 13" laptops cost well over my budget can afford.

 

what does that Asus Express Gate do, is it important?

 

Express Gate is just a washed down version of vista (or any operating system). It provides quick access if you don't want the hassle of loading vista up. I think it takes about less than 20 seconds to boot up the express gate completely. If you just want to browse the web, chat and simple stuff like that and you hate waiting vista to load up then this is for you. It doesn't improve battery life though.

 

I'm thinking of selling my current laptop and going for the B1. They'd probably perform pretty similar, but I want the sexy looks and HDMI port.

 

i think i'll go for this one too... anyway knows when it's getting release, looks to be a preorder on all sites

 

I know what you mean as well since I was debating between the f8sn and m50sv a month ago and size and weight were important factors. the f8sn was smaller, lighter, and had better battery life but with the same specs so i went with that. the f8sn barely fits on the swing out desks at school so not sure if the m50 would have created issues. it really depends on what you will be using it for and how much portability u need. i agree though that the weight difference isn't that big of a deal for me, but it depends on the person.

ya 13" would have been perfect, maybe next time.

 

dude if you're looking for a cheap and light laptop, then just get an eee PC. cheap and small. Only good thing that is good for is taking notes and basic tasks. With regards to gaming stick with a desk. I have a G1S right now, for my next system im prob going to do a custom desktop. 600 bucks for a desktop thats going to be better than a 2000$ lappy.

 

sorry read it incorrectly

i think he wants a powerful notebook that is portable

 

Hopefully you won't take too large of a hit doing that. I ordered the -A1 to replace my HP dv6500z, but that is a massive step up, so it's more than worth it to me.

 

I'm female. I know, there are no women on the internets... Meh.

I would get an EeePC, but the problem is that this laptop I need has to be a "Jack-of-all-trades" computer for me. I need it for both entertaining myself while waiting for classes and to also do practical work. Might get one in the future if I save up enough, but for now, it's somewhat impractical for me. (My Music collection is more than 10 GB anyway, and always growing) All of our computers are very old or impractical for any of the uses for which I need a computer.

 

will you be gaming?

one of the reasons why i went with the f8sn was cause when i'm done playing with it i could give it to my little sister lol

 

Yeah, I plan on gaming as well. Heh, I am keeping my options open, because I may want to play some of the newer games that are coming out, and I don't expect them to be played at a high setting, but good enough if I want to. (I have no interest in playing Crysis either. XD)

It might be somewhat older kinds of gaming, but not that old. (Ones that require a dedicated card for playing.)

 

if it's possible, it's best off to try to borrow a 15" notebook from a friend for a few days and see if it's portable enough. it sounds like ur'll be needing it as a desk top replacement. the m50's are great notebooks esp for their costs and asus' NA warranty.

 

I have used a 15" notebook. A Sony... something. I don't know. It's some 15.4" 6 pound or so notebook. It's not too bad. I could manage it walking around with a backpack for a school day, and I managed with an even HEAVIER HP Laptop that weighed like 7-8 pounds or something. it was way heavier than 6.5 pounds. I managed with that for about 3 months, then it died.

Nah, I don't need a desktop replacement, just a better computer than that Sony I have tried. I think anything I could afford at my level would be better. (That one was only about $850 MSRP if I am not mistaken.)

 

go for the m50vm, i don't think you can get a better notebook with those specs and warranty at that price.

 

Yeah, that's what feeling I had. Personally, I know I won't need a 9600m GT, or else I'd seriously look at that newer Sager that I've been seeing, but I'm kinda picky with speakers. That HP had some iffy speakers, but they were located on the sides of the keyboard. The only thing I fear with the F8 series is the fact that the speakers are put in a very odd spot, and are probably not all that great.

I wonder if I'd almost be happier just settling with one of those Lenovos.... but I don't know if I would be or not. (I've been looking at the new Ideapads, but it might be too expensive.) I can't beat the Asus warranties without having to pay like, $100-300.

 

if you care about the screen brightness like I do, I wouldn't go with Lenovo, that screen on Asus is what interested me the most...

 

Asus screens are the best from what I can tell. I have only seen the C90 & G1S screens but they were perfect and very bright. I use my laptop for a few hours in my downtime (right now) at work. Then when I have to go use the desktop computers at the front desk & back office (Lenovo Monitors) they look incredibly dull and washed out. Takes me a good 20 minutes to adjust to them.

 

Screen brightness doesn't really matter to me. I have read that some Lenovos have really bright screens while others don't. I know they have Matte screens as well, but I know someone who does a lot of what I do on a Lenovo (might be an IBM one), but I don't know the specs on their Thinkpad. Besides, I usually keep my PSP's screen on the lowest setting it gives, simply because it eats battery and it hurts my eyes sometimes.

 

what you read about Lenovo screens is not true. I have 2 Lenovos and both have very dull screens, x61 is the most disgusting of all. They are of course work laptops, so I don't care much. There are new LED ones that offer higher nits but I haven't looked at those.

 

Yeah, I heard that about the new ones. Though, I've only seen one Lenovo in person, so I'm going off that, but I know that Lenovos are all different in their own ways.

I'm curious about the new LED ones, but personally, the screen isn't all that big of a deal. Heck, I'm still using an old Dell CRT for my ancient Dell Dimension sitting on the floor in my room. The computer I'm using right now has a nice screen, but it's an Apple, so that's to be expected. xD I find that I always have to dim computer screens, if I can. They hurt my eyes with the brightness. Even this Apple does, but it's dimmer than normal, too.

 

I ordered from GenTech, when do you guys expect them in stock for shipping?

 

Ken will tell you soon I am sure, he may even PM you. Just PM him actually and tell him your order #

 

the c90 and g1's use the wsga+ panels from cmo and are amazing from what i hear. but these are not the same as the m50vm's.

 

Yeah, well there was a model of the M50 that had the larger resolution screen and I think it was the same panel, I hope that it becomes available for the M50VM also.

 

Hey i just ordered the m50VM-A1 from gentech.
Customer service was amazing, she even told me to switch to ground shipping cus it would be faster and cheaper for me x).

The laptop is everything u can imagine. great battery life and awesome specs.


One thing i may have screwed up (my own fault) is i think i messed up my expressgate. I tried to dual-boot my laptop and i ran into a lot of errors (it works not though). Can anyone help me get expressgate working?
Heres what i have tried:

On the Asus beginning screen i enter the BIOS (press f2), changed my boot config to network, then harddrive and restarted. When it tries to boot up i get an error saying "PXE-E61:media test failure check cable". Any ideas? is this even how u access expressgate? (by changing boot config)

Does dual-booting mess up expressgate?

Thanks for any help

 

Not sure loaded. I have it on my desktop and its accessed directly from the motherboard before bios posts or before my bootloader is run (this is where I would get my dual boot screen if I had it on my current setup) So I think nothing you do to your HDD or your bootloader should change express gate.

Maybe in the bios options there is something you can do to bypass express gate or you corrupted it somehow.

For now change any settings back to stock, also did you say you changed your hard drive? That may have something to do with it as maybe there is a hidden partition where express gate is saved/loaded on the original drive and now the data is gone. But to my understanding the expressgate is stored in the memory of the motherboard and you dont even need a hard drive for it to work.

So that only leaves a bios option or corruption as an option I think. Express Gate is new stuff so we may find some problems here and there that need solutions, so keep cool for now and we can figure it out. If worst comes to worst atleast you know with Gentech that an exchange is hassle free for a new unit.

 

NEVERMIND lol.
i guess i should have read the user manual before posting =p.


Apparnetly theres a "Expressgate Key" u press instead of the Power button which activates Expressgate xD.

Now this laptop has just become perfect for me

 

RTFM LOL

Yeah its different with the laptops as it is with the desktop, its better in a way so you dont have to load the EG every time if you just want to go to windows. My desktop has to go thru it every time tho.

 

Another example of why it pays to read directions/instructions.

 

well, I am pretty excited about this laptop, I think more excited then for Sony FW that I initially preordered. Bright screen with WXGA+ resolution as well as Expressgate got me sold on this... but overall it was a better bang for my buck (minus BluRay). I figured that better graphics card worth more then a BluRay. Can't wait now!

 

After some digging around I found out that this panels is not the same as on previous model.

Model: CLAA154WP05/05A
Contrast: 600:1
Response time: 10 ms
Brightness: 200 nits!!!

Chart:
http://www.cptt.com.tw/index.php?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=54

Previous (non montevina) model used AUO screen with 330 nits of brightness. Please tell me that model is incorrect? I really hoped this was the right notebook. I need a notebook with a screen bright enough to be used outdoors

 

I dont know, somebody has to test and confirm. My quick research shows that to be correct, but I wont know how to judge the screen until I see it in person, specs are not everything.

 

So are most of you ordering for GenTech? Xotic has it for a little cheaper, but they don't seem to be including that 8GB SSD. GenTech's customer service seems to be good based on what I've read in this thread. How about Xotic?

I'd lean towards the 40 some odd dollars cheaper as I don't really think I have much use for the expresscard. Thoughts?

 

I was originally going to go with Xotic, but apparently you can only use one discount code. So if you want to get the free shipping promotion, you're out of luck if you also want the 3% cash discount (which you can also get at GenTech). And if you want to bundle with an extra battery, it's about $20 more at Xotic.

 

Actually, xoticpc's price reflects the the 3% cash discount which gentechpc also offers (just that it's not mentioned on the product page). So, they are actually both the same in prices.
I'd personally go with Gentech simply because Ken has been so helpful on the forum and it's my gut instinct that tells me they are more knowledgeable and experienced with Asus than Xotic. I rarely see xotic offer help on the Asus forum and though, that doesn't discredit xotic, I feel gentech is much more approachable.

 

Hmm I only pretty much deal with Gentech. I have nothing against the other guys as they are also reputable resellers but Ken has done so much good for me and given me customer service so far beyond the norm that he made a life long customer out of me. I just noticed that there prices were MUCH cheaper than neweggs and that they have free shipping.

 

I am just about ready to pull the trigger on this awesome laptop, but does any one know if gentech has a student discount and if it is equal to or better than the one offered by Xoticpc? BTW I actually got it to be cheaper at GenTech compared to Xoticpc with same specs.

 

I am pretty impressed with customer service Ken provides from Gentech so far, so I wouldn't hesitate to order. He even promised to provide some comparison pictures of the screen outdoors and next to standard LCD. That's what I call outstanding customer service!

 

Thanks for the quick input. I've been impressed with the amount of posts from Ken that I have seen here too, which I'm sure would be huge if I were to have any issues.

 

Yup, and if you ask newegg to do that, they'll just laugh at you

 

Ken,

How's the battery life for the M50v-A1 with the 9 Cell battery... That's my only concern right now...

Also is there any way to upgrade the Accidental Damage Warranty to 2 or 3 years?

I am trying to buy everything in about 1400 to 1500 dollars or so.

Supposedly Sony Vaio FW (P8400: http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage...Id=abcat0502003&type=product&id=1213046783513 ) with the extended battery gives about 5.5 hours of battery and 3 years damage and accidental repair is for 1500 dollars after talking with the Sony Salesperson.

But I would like to buy from you as I've been bugging you so much. I am just hoping it'll be close to 5.5 or better yet 6 hours hours???

 

oh, so it was your review that made me change my mind from FW to M50VM! Once I read your comment "Folks, put your shades on..." I placed an order for a new model... only to find out later that it does NOT use the same AUO 330 cd/m2 screen which now got me worried that it will not be as bright as the one you reviewed. My only hope is that rating or model is incorrect... How come they don't use the same bright screen in the newer model?

 

Guilty as charged Well, there has been many complaints about the AUO screen. Although it's bright, some said the light bleed in the M50Sv was horrible and slightly grainy. I admit that there is some light bleed from the bottom, but probably not as significant as some have mentioned. Maybe that's the reason Asus decided to go with a different manufacturer, but who knows!

The M50VM comes with 1 year accidental damage protection, 2 year global warranty + 30 day zero bright dot guarantee for your screen. The only warranty option Asus offers is adding an additional year to the 2 year global warranty, making it 3 years total. I don't think there's an option to extend the accidental warranty. From the battery tests Ken did, it seems like the M50VM-A1 should get about 4 hours and 15-30min with a 9-cell battery.

 

well even that new manufacturer has a panel that's WXGA+ that's 300 cd/m2 why did they pick the one that's 200 cd/m2. Anyway, I am really hoping that Ken or maybe someone else can post some pictures like you comparing to standard LCD or actually comment on the brightness in the new model.

 

Hey all, I'm fairly new at this forum but I've been reading the 30 some pages on this thread concerning the M50vm A1 and B1...pretty damn impressive I have to say. I had been researching the M50sv series, only to find out that it was no longer. I cant complain though since the M50vm's came out.

A few questions:

1 - I'm a graduate student and will be doing a lot of scientific computing on my laptop? My understanding is that the only difference between the A1 and B1 series is CPU speed and cache. Is it really worth the 150 bux difference?

2 - Do all vista drivers come installed with the laptop? How much work does one have to do to get this thing up and running out of the box?

3 - Is it a breeze to install Vista on this thing?

4 - Ken, are new stocks for the B1 in?

Thanks.