Asus M50VM Owners Lounge

Lets get this owners Lounge going, i just ordered mine from Gentech, I was going to get a XPS 1530 but was hesitant about the defective gpus and then i came across this laptop and it has everything i wanted in the XPS 1530 including the new Centrino 2 chipset and is cheaper, looks nice, no need to wait on dell to build and ship it and no need to worry about getting a defective GPU. I plan to use a copy of Vista64 Ultimate i have and probably dual boot with Ubuntu at some point.

i will keep the thread updated


Review http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=273404
GenTech order page with lots of nice pictures http://1toppc.com/Merchant2/merchant.mv?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=M50VM-B1&Category_Code=
Video review+ look under the hood http://ynot2k.com/btotech.com/m50vm/m50vm-b1.wmv
Asus M50Sv-A1 User Review with pictures, this model is exactly the same looking at the M50VM which is basically an upgraded version with Centrino2 and 9600gs http://www.notebookreview.com/default.asp?newsID=4365

M50VM-A1:
MSRP: $1299
15.4" 1440X900 WXGA+
Chipset: Intel PM45 Montevina Mobile Platform
Southbridge: ICH9-M SATA Controller
GPU: GeForce 9600M GS 1GB VRAM DDR2
CPU P8400 2.26 Ghz 3MB 1066 FSB
4GB DDR2 800MHz
320GB 5400RPM SATA
Express Gate Technology
Aheros AR928X Wireless Network Adapter
DVDRW Super Multi
1.3MB Swivel webcam
Fingerprint Scanner

M50VM-B1:
MSRP: $1449
15.4" 1440X900 WXGA+
Chipset: Intel PM45 Montevina Mobile Platform
Southbridge: ICH9-M SATA Controller
GPU: GeForce 9600M GS 1GB VRAM DDR2
CPU T9400 2.53 Ghz 6MB 1066 FSB
4GB DDR2 800MHz
320GB 5400RPM SATA
Express Gate Technology
Aheros AR928X Wireless Network Adapter
DVDRW Super Multi
1.3MB Swivel webcam
Fingerprint Scanner

 

I was thinking about starting a thread like that long time ago, but was lazy...

Anyway, did anyone else noticed that touchpad media button cover is bulging or moves around a little like it wasn't glued to the touchpad?

 

Checking in

 

as soon as i actually receive it, i will be the proud owner of an m50vm-a1

 

I was thinking of turning the review into an owner lounge, but it didn't seem to catch on Let's see if this thread does.

 

seems like alot of people here just ordered it, so next week sometime things should heat up in here

 

Mine comes tomorrow. Can't wait.

 

Mine should be shipping today, just waiting for the tracking number from Gentech!

I have the M1530 on order, actually got the call today with the tracking number be decided it wasn't worth keep due to the 84/86 Nvidia chip problems. Dell CSR asked me again today if i was willing to take the $100 credit they offered when I asked to cancel two night ago!

 

People who got laptop and happy with it rarely come back. So where the owners are?

 

I am also waiting for feedback from people who has received it already.

I don't know when they will start to ship it out in Germany.
Most of the online shops still say that the availability in the market is still over two weeks.

I wrote email to ASUS support and also to one of the shops, but so far no reply concerning the availability.
You people in USA are really lucky. You usually have the products released before us.

 

im now offically own a asus m50vm-b1 for $1320 Can. plus gst 5% tax it came today while i was at my cousins house thou i can't use it till i get home friday night but the first thing to go is VISTA

 

this is brand new hardware, Vista64 would work great you know right?

 

maybe but some programs i use for my servers aren't compatiple

 

Mine comes Monday, can't wait. A1 by the way.

 

i got lucky with mine i was on a 270 people waiting list and got 12th on it so i feel bad for the other people on the list thou i did by it from the people and congrets on the a1

 

God Of Death, tell us about it!!!!

 

mine just shipped from GenTech, should be here friday, monday at the latest

 

I'm a happy M50VM-A1 owner. It arrived just today, and I just started using it. Ask me any questions!

There are so many great things about it. The high res screen (1440x900), the e-SATA port, the HDMI port and I'll soon tell you about the battery life. I wish it would have included the 9-cell battery, though.

Almost no bloatware installed, except the annoying and useless Norton Internet Security. I just removed it with Norton Removal tool.

 

How is the screen? How does it run throught http://www.lagom.nl/lcd-test/viewing_angle.php ? I went to store and Mac Book Pro' screen failed miserable at this test.

 

I just got it yesterday. It has terrible viewing angles from the top. And there's a ton of backlight bleeding. Despite all this I'm pretty happy with it. Also the missing keystroke bug is still in this model. I'm gonna try to fix it later.

Edit: I just calibrated it with Spyder2 and boy what a difference it makes.

Before:


After:


Yeah my camera is weird

 

Can someone use HWmonitor and show use some temps of the machine idling and under load?

 

Received the tracking number but no info is showing up yet. I figure from California to FL, I'll be waiting about a week.

I stopped by Best Buy after work to pick up something and messed with the G50 and got my Asus fix for a few days!

update: UPS shows Monday as the est delivery date!

 

This is what I have while idle. I have done no oc'ing or uv'ing, no cooling pad.
My laptop has been on for several hours with just doing web browsing. There is space around the vent, but only about 4 inches from a wall.

 

Wow, that looks pretty good. Thanks.

 

spherific, does it still bleed after calibrating?
main thing keeping me from buying at this point is questionable screen quality. im pretty sensitive to backlight bleeding.. can't stand it.

 

It didn't do perfect, but at least isn't that bad. In the color pictures, mostly in the purple and red, I could easily notice brightness and sightly color diferences. It's good enough for me anyways.

 

Mine should be coming tomorrow, I can't wait.

 

I've been a proud owner of the B1 model for a week. It might have been a little expensive for my budget, but it's definitely a lot of power for the money.

So far, everything has been smooth sailing, but I'm curious about the transmission method of the SPDIF output. I've already tried using a mono miniplug-RCA cable to connect via coaxial, but it didn't work. Does that mean it's a mini-toslink optical connection?

 

I don't know the technical names for these things because I've never used digital out, but I think what you need is one of these:
http://www.turtlebeach.com/products/amigo/whatdoiget.aspx

top-right.

 

Yeah it still bleeds. I can't notice it at all unless it's a black screen.

Anyone know what the button right next to the left of Altec Lansing does? It looks like a circle with a thunderbolt going through the top. Also how do you use ExpressGate and the multimedia touchpad? I can't find any documentation on it.

 

So i just got this badboy and got it networked with my xp machine. I transferred a HD movie from my computer to the laptop. The movie is in 720p and is .mkv formot. The whole time it plays the cpu is at 70% or more... by comparison it stays at around 15% on my desktop.

I use VLC and its nearly unplayable, wmp plays it fine, but the cpu stays really high.

I'm using the k-lite codec pack.

Shouldn't the work be offloaded more to the vid card? I really cant see why there is such high cpu usage in light of the 9600gs.

 

From left to right: power4gear (lets you select different power schemes), disable/enable touchpad, screen toggle, Express Gate splashtop (turn off notebook first before use)

 

I am not sure about the playback of .mkv files on NVIDIA cards, but it seems that you do not have a proper codec that can use the DXVA (DirectX Vidoe acceleration).

I have this experience with the HD satellite TV on my computer with ATI HD2600 card.
In the beginning the CPU usage was over 50% with BCC-HD, but later I changed my DVB-player codec and now the CPU usage is 4% when watching BCC-HD.
The codec I am using currently is Cyberlink 7 mpeg decoder, which support DXVA.
I am not sure how the NVIDIA works, but for ATI I have to have ATI CCC (catalyst control center) installed. I think the ATI AVIVO which is part of CCC is needed for DXVA to work.

I hope you do not need NVIDIA Pure Video decoder, becuase it is not free like the ATI AVIVO.

I will have to wait until I get my M50VM before I can experiment with HD content on an Nvidia cards.

 

On my m50 sv-a1 the GPU goes up about 7-8 degrees when I'm watching a DVD, and the proc is around 5-10%, so the GPU must do something...

Edit: I just played a MKV file (720p) and the proc was at about 20% and the GPU went up 6 degrees... (I use the k-lite codec pack)

 

So one of the online shops told me that they will have the M50VM-AK014C ready by Tuesday next week.

Can somebody here advice me if I should pay extra 149€ for extended 3-years guarantee?

ASUS here in Europe does not offer 30 days pixel failure gaurantee.
Do you this it is worth to take this guarantee extra from the seller?

 

I was in the accessories forums and read a thread on a bluetooth media remote Link that looks like it should work with the M50VM. I currently have an older PC connected to my home theater that I use as a music server but I would love to have the room back in my credenza and just use the laptop when needed.

Does anyone have any thoughts/experiences with this or something similar?

 

Did you need to adjust any settings to get the codec pack to use the video card instead of the cpu?

 

Hey all, I need a cooling pad for this laptop that is silent. Any suggestions on which work best, fan position wise?

 

something wrong with your notebook if you think you need a cooling pad. It's pretty cool for me during intensive cpu tasks. I haven't tried gaming though...

 

Oh. Yea it is cool. It idles at around 34 C and 50 C on Orthos. Video card reaches 70 C on 3DMark06 though. Idles arund 50 C. Ambient is 79 F.

But I wanted to crunch with the laptop for World Community Grid. The cooling is for safe measures.

 

ic... I would say there is no need for a cooling pad for this one. i previously owned Acer 5920G which was a lot hotter and it was on 24x7 doing cpu intensive tasks in a closed cabinet and no issues.

 

I noticed on ASUS download center that there is already a bios update v205 available; released on 21-07.

 

Just updating: my M50Vm just arrived and I'm typing on it right now. Doesn't seems to have any keyboard issues at all (yay). Going to try undervolting it later but I'm kinda of a noob at it so I'll be sure to read the guide thoroughly before going through with it.

 

Just got my B1 today, typing on it now

 

The cooler the better.

Enjoy the laptops you two. I haven't experienced any keyboard lag yet.
Anyone going to try out the BIOS update. I'll pass on this one unless there's a good reason.

 

Same, I think.

Has anyone else tried the update?

 

Anyone know what the Change HDD Master Password does under HAad Disk Security Settings?

Is it used to set a password for the HDD or what?
Cause on Password Check you can set it to Always ask for password upon boot up. What's the HDD password for?

 

It is a firmware password that protectsthe HDD. If you plan to use it be very careful, it is extremely difficult or impossible to reset if you forget it.

 

Protect how? As in if someone takes the HDD out and uses it on another computer to read the data? It's not encryption though.

Edit: And if I use the boot password is the Windows one still needed? It asks for the password before actually booting the HDD. But then.. that doesn't stop someone from taking the drive out and running it somewhere else. Windows password is useless in that case.. only encryption would help.

 

no... sorry... it just did it by itself...