Asus M50vn semi-review

Specs sheet shamelessly copied from other Notebookreviews, I seem to have misplaced my camera and my phone has a louse VGA so I’ll be cheap and refer to other m50 notebooks in terms of images.

This isn't official or anything, and I realize it might be a bit crappy, so please ask for any clarifications you want ^^.

Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo P8600 / 2.4 GHz(800MHz FSB)
GPU: nVidia GeForce 9650m GT 1GB DDR2(Not sure why they bothered with 1 gb rather then 256/512 GDDR3 instead..)
Memort : 4GB(2x2) DDR2 800MHz
Display: 15.4" WXGA+ (1440 x 900) glossy
Hard drive: 500GB 5400rpm(two 250GV partitions, you can easily merge them)
Ports & slots: 4x USB 2.0, HDMI, eSATA, IEEE 1394, Express card, 8 in 1 media card reader, VGA, microphone-in, headphone-out, Ethernet(Same as other m50’s)
Wireless: Intel 802.11a/g/n
Battery: 6 Cell 4800mAh(Specs says 5200 mAh, need to bother seller about that)
Other features: Bluetooth 2.1 EDR
Dimensions: 14.2" x 10.5" x 1.6"(same case as other m50’s), about 3kg.
Warranty: Asus 2-year limited global hardware warranty + 1-year battery warranty.
Nothing about the 1 year accidental damage warrenty..?
OS: Windows Vista 32-bit

What's in the Box?
Laptop, ASUS M50VN AS016C
1x 6 cell battery (+11.1V, 4800mAh)
1x 90 watts power adapter
1x Carrying case
1x External small optical mouse
1x Micro-fiber cleaning cloth
1x Set of drivers, recovery DVD and Powerlink dvd software
1x Telephone cable
1x Cable tie
1x User manual and Quick installation guide
1x Warranty card
Okay, I’ll be shameless and admit the image from Notebokreview m50sv review, but the laptop case and package is excactly the same!



Build and Design
I’ll be honest here, the computer looks plastic-y and feels like it when you touch it, however if you pick it up on one end, it simply doesn’t flex, so the case is more solid then what you’d think.
The case top is very reflexive, in fact the whole laptop is in general.
The touchpad is seated a little to the left, of general size but very responsive and accurate, I really prefer using a dedicated mouse for laptops however.
The touchpad also has a media feature, where you can use it as a control panel for video watching, it even has a volume rocker.

Screen
The screen is of generally high quality, it is a 1440x900 glossy screen, and the image quality is very clear(and can become VERY bright), no hint of grain and has nice contrast.
Viewing angels side-to-side are good, you can easily sit two-three people side by side and watch the screen, vertically is okay downwards, however it becomes more unclear watching top-side down(over the included 1,3mpixel camera), and you’ll have to bend the screen a little.
The screen notably has a very good ambient light sensor, that I leave on at all times since it always seem to select very appropriate light levels, this helps offset the strong reflections coming from the glossy screen, and makes it much more comfortable to watch in both bright and low light…
A point of criticism is the battery savings ambition light, which is more dark then I’d like(I use entertainment setting at least all the time anyway)
Reflections aside, the glossiness really make movies and games colours stand out on the screen.
The screen has little flex, and no hinges (Something I miss a little) but the screen won’t open accidentally since the opening mechanism is tight, but is overall solid.

Speakers
The speakers are better than most laptops I have seen(err.. heard) and have very clear sound, however they are still somewhat tinny and lack bass compared to external speakers.

Input and Output Ports
The laptop is similar to other m50 laptops.

Left side:
1 8-in-1 SD card slot.
1 HDMI-out
1 E-SATA
1 Firewire1394
A blocked antenne port(!?)
1 USB 2.0
One large air Intake/outtake
1 VGA-Out(near the corner)

Back:
Power port
Ethernet Port
Phone Port
A blocked Antenna port(!?)
Battery

Right side:
Mic-Port
Audio Jack port
S/pdif Audio jack port?
3 USB 2.0 ports(2 near the front, one behind the..)
Optical Drive

IMAGES TO BE ADDED

The wireless connection is good, and simply transferring a file wirelessly got me up to 60mbps, and I suspect it may even be the router limiting me at this point.

Processor and Performance
The 2,4 GHz p8600 is part of the 45nm line of Intel, and provides enough performance for any task I can imagine using it for, and this is enough to support any current games.

Benchmarks
wPrime took 34,877 seconds the on the 32M test.
superPI took 21,764 seconds at 19 alterations of 1M.
HD Tune gave some curiously semi-erratic results, yet not low:



I was unable to pick 1280x1024 for some reason, but 1024x768 can easily be compared other places:


Vista Experience:


GAMING BENCHMARKS TO BE ADDED(Mass effect, Fallout 3, RA3)

Heat and Noise
The laptop’s fan can be heard if you try when using it normally, however, it does not “peak” as roughly as many laptops when doing high performance stuff, and the sound is very much bearable when pushing the performance of the laptop in games and so on.
It is pretty cool, and sits comfortably on your lap even when doing intensive work, keyboard does not get very heated.

I tried fireing up GPU Caps Viewer, a free program for monitoring the GPU temperature etc, and fired up some built in software to push the GPU as much as possible.

The temperature of the GPU always stabilized at ~60C and never exceeded 65 even during high loads, possibility for overclocking here!

Battery
The laptop was not made for long battery life, and the 6-cell 4800 mAh battery managed to squeeze out 2hr 21min on entertainment mode regular use before dying, you can probably push it longer if you use low settings and office work.
The options provided for saving battery life and default actions for buttons and closing the lid is commendable.

Suggestions
Well, I haven’t had the laptop for very long, the performance seems good although I miss having GDDR3 ram, which I think would improve graphics performance some.
You won’t get much better without investing in a mobile nvidia 8800 or 9800 card though, but the HD4000 series are shipping to laptops, and we might see them be sold before the end of the year(unlikely though), and may perform better, who knows?

If you want a desktop replacing machine that is not designed for portability, but rather for newer games, you're probably better off with one of the new 9800m gs ASUS laptops.

If you are a a student, looking for a laptop for school work, this is not what I reccomend.

If you want a balanced laptop, with a good price-to-performance ratio, you can use to bring to school, and still be able to play newer games games with, this may be what you're looking for.

I am very satisfied with the laptop however, and I think you would be too, companies such as Zepto sell computers that are like this, but at a far higher price!

 

Did you try hooking up an external monitor>?

 

Nice review

although a laptop that glossy would do my head in haha, the ammount of finger rpint marks and small scratches on it and glare e.t.c

 

Thanks, nice review! Could you try running it in the "Windows experience bechmark" also?

 

Vista Experience added.

As for hooking up an external monitor, I'll try as soon as an oppertunity arrives(kind of removed from the civilized world right now, and I'll need an hdmi to DVI to the one at home)

 

If you really want to try, you could Right-click desktop->personalization->display settings->advanced settings->Monitor-> and uncheck "Hide modes that this monitor cannot display" which may possibly allow you to use 1280X1024 athough some of it will be cut off the edge of the screen..

 

Interestingly, it won't let me touch the option (Greyed out)

 

I guess, maybe it's for the better... :GEEK: :yes:

 

I added 1440x900 though, it's basically the same number of pixels.

 

Nice pic.. i can see my xbox in the background too Lol~

 

Added to Info Booth & to the Reviews and Owner Lounges Index. Thanks!

 

Do you have the games benchmarks yet?

Thanks.

 

Anyone experienced high pitched sound from his M50VN? It comes from main
laptop fun and is very unpleasant for working in silent environment. Generally fun is not that loud but produces this unpleasant high frequency sound.

 

Can't say that I have; could be something stuck in your fan?

Under heavy load I can hear the fans churning fresh air, but it's nothing unusual.

Try contacting ASUS and hear if they've had reports of anything similar.

 

No, nothing stuck there i think. It seems that i have sensitive hearing, but also find on some other forums people having similar observations about this tiny high frequency sound with their M50's. Only 3-4 minutes after first start (when laptop is totally cold) only light "humming" is heard, but quickly after this anoying high pitch sound appears. I observed Everest measuring rpm's (around 100 rpm after powering on from totally cold) and measuring dissapeard when this sound happend-obviously when laptop started kicking fan at full speed. After that it's present regardless there is no heavy load or work in windows. It seems that only hope is asus support and possible future bios updates with better thermal managment.
Laptop is cool, fan not loud generally but his high pitched noise stays unfortunately.

 

Which bios version is in yours ?

 

207, 11-08-2008

 

What driver are you guys using with this?

 

Which driver for what?

 

Does this notebook come with Centrino2 technology?

 

The sticker(that I haven't removed since I know the glue will be hell to clean off) says that it does.

 

The larger stickers come off pretty easily usually, and I'd recommend removing them to avoid them getting ugly later on.

The smaller ones are a pain, CPU, Windows etc. (very strong adhesive)

 

I got all the stickers off, even the intel ones fingernails and alcohol. I'm really enjoying this laptop the screen is the only hting that i'm not excited about on it (used a lg flatron L2000C for the last 5 years so its normal). And I always use it and external monitor.

 

I've got the M50VN and its working great for me, besides some vista issues, but also this high pitched noise sounding as is it comes from within the hdd. Anyone have a solution? Great laptop.
I removed the stickers right away. The goo left by the glue I removed silply with some acetone. No probs there [-:

 

So far I am pleased too; although I am running a sister model, the X57Vn (Can't find much info about it anywhere). Identical stats to the M50Vn, it seems. I have left all the stickers, at least for now.

I have not noticed any annoying fan sounds but then I am not sitting in a quiet environment; I have one water pump (fish tank) going at all times in the room where I am mostly in; usually it also has the TV, two other computers and my cooling pad going too...

 

just got this model but with a bigger 1680 screen and 4gb ddr2 800..planning to swap the harddrive with a faster 72000rpm. so far, i am quiet impressed. the build quality is very good and no flexing on the keyboards.

 

I just finished installing Windows XP an a friend's brand new M50Vn (took some time to find all the drivers) and am noticing a high pitched noise from the fan too. Actually when the fan gains some speed the high pitched noise is gone.

 

Is the noise coming from the fan, or from the CPU? Search for "Core Duo CPU whine" for some info about the latter problem.