Asus N550JV - user review and owners lounge

Sounds great Yeah I'm really sensitive to matte screens (sent back the matte Vaio Pro because of the grain/sparkle) as well but I want to use it outdoors, and will have it with me most of the time. Seems like a great all-round somewhat portable computer (if you don't mind the extra weight) with somewhat decent battery life.

 

Does the subwoofer need Realtek drivers? Doesn't seem to be pumping after I uninstalled Realtek.

 

How does it work to have the N550JV in your lap? Is it comfortable and stable/does it feel to heavy after a while?

 

Had to return mine due to the Intel 6300 card with third antenna not wanting to make a link above 300. Previous Sager with 6300 card worked fine, linked at 450. The Asus would bounce between 300-360 if I stood next to the router, so I thought either it didn't get the third antenna or it was disconnected. However, just heard from the vendor, and he says that they've been able to recreate the problem. They've tried multiple units and they all do it, even with the third antenna outside the laptop.

Has anyone here got one of these with an n450 card, and are you able to make a 450 link?

 

That's really odd, you could try 3 third party antennas installed.

 

I don't have it, it's back with the vendor.

He's now saying that it doesn't even make a 300 mbps link in his shop with three antennas, it only does 250 mbps with either 2 or 3 antennas connected.

So I'm not sure what to think. Poor antenna routing on the part of Asus? I'd like to get a second opinion if someone here has this model working with an n450 router.

 

It could be, metallic casings do have this problem.

 

Thanks for the advice. I just emailed the vendor and asked him to try disconnecting the Asus antennas and dangling 3 third party antennas outside the case.

 

That would be the best way to be sure it's not physical, if that does not work then it's a firmware issue of some kind.

 

My guess is yes.

Heavy like...? At 2.7kg, this is not a heavy unit. It does get hot in the upper middle part under load.

 

Asus Alaska N550JV

 

I just got this laptop yesterday and was seeing how it played LoL. I started playing and then touched the upper part of the keyboard area (where it says Audio by Bang etc.) and realized it was fricking hot. Went into HWinFO and my CPU core temps were at 95-96 Celsius. Is this considered normal? My CPUs were all at 3.29GHz. I read in this thread that the CPU throttles down to 800MHz, but it seems mine did not do that (also I have a feeling I was playing with the HD Graphics card instead of the GeForce one). Should I be concerned? 96 is almost at boiling point

EDIT: One more thing...when plugged in, my CPU's are at 3.22GHz (according to Task Manager) even if my CPU utilization is 3-4%. As soon as I unplug my laptop, it drops down to 770MHz. Why is Turbo staying on all the time when not needed...?

 

Turbo can be on if something keeps it there, like a Power plan.

I never saw one in here that can do 95 and keep clocks so high.

 

Maybe you're one of the lucky ones where Asus didn't put their throttle temp limits.

 

I took a look inside BIOS ver 205 and ver 203 and both have the same maximum allowed temp for CPU before throttling: 95C. Maximum package temp for Haswell is 100C. If anyone wants to take a peek inside the BIOS, you can use the utility mentioned in this thread.

While i played LOL i did not notice anything unusual, maximum temp was 83C.

When plugged in the CPU will tend to run at higher clocks, this is intended behavior. It will stay at 2.4Ghz and easily go up the 3.2Ghz if there is any load on the system. If you want to force the CPU into lower frequencies while idle, use Throttlestop. The new beta works with Haswell. (just make sure you don't tick the Nvidia GPU in the Options area, in my experience it started to activate the nvidia card every couple of seconds)

 

oh cool we can play with the bios, i'll dig into that.

So fans runs at 75% above 55°C and at 100% above 71°C. Fans are already maxed out lol ???

Well, we can always put fans at 100% before 71°C to slow down temps rising i guess. I'll put 60°C lolilol

 

Hey Guys, Need some help here. This week TigerDirect has put the N550JV-DB72T on special for $999.99 View attachment 100808 View attachment 100809

Since I have Tigerdirect stores in FL. I wanted to purchase from Adorama or Xotic as recommended.

I called Adorama yesterday seeing that they matched Mircocenter's $999 price two weeks ago I figured it would not be an issue to match TigerDirect's price as well. Adorama did not get back to me so I had to recall them today. In the time from me calling Monday to today Tigerdirect sold out online and only has a few in select stores. Adorama said they were not going to match the price.

XoticPC said they only match internet prices and since Tigerdirect was sold out online they would not match it. They went on to say that Tigerdirect cannot give the Asus accidental warranty if they selll the laptop under $1000......Tigerdirect says otherwise.

Gentechpc.com said they were B/O so I didnt even ask them to match a price.

I really want to get the laptop this week and I have been waiting to get it for $999. Does anyone know of someone at a retailer willing to match the $999 price? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Update: BJ's had the laptop on sale for $999.99 and Adorama was willing to match their price! Great news! I cannot wait to get it in.

 

Generally, if the store with the lower price is sold out, no one will price match to it. You *might* get lucky at some point, but any luck with things like this is few and far in between. You're better off just waiting right now

 

Haven't seen any discussion of the matter, so I thought I'd ask (considering grabbing one of these):

Any issues running Linux on this machine? Both in terms of driver support and installation. I've seen a Windows 8 machines that present difficulties installing while keeping the special partitions the laptop manufacturers love to stick on intact. (I'd like to dual boot Windows 8 and preferably Fedora or Mint.)

Also, does anyone have experience yet with putting a HD caddy in the optical bay? I'd like to find one that has a bezel piece that fits the aesthetic as much as possible. And, especially as I plan to swap out the slow 1TB for an SSD I'd rather stick it in place of the optical drive and use an external optical drive rather than vice-versa.

Finally, just to confirm, no models ship with a 24GB mSSD, do they? I haven't seen anyone actually confirm that it does even though many sites list it as doing so. (If I could stick a larger mSSD on to use as a separate drive I might just do that for my operating systems and leave the optical drive intact.)

Thanks!

 

I just replaced my stock HD with a Seagate 7200k hybrid drive. This was a big mistake. It puts out so much heat that it completely alters the cooling dynamics of the laptop. Now it is hot on top, really hot on the bottom, it is really too much to be on your lap at all. Going to pull it out and send it back to Amazon I guess and just go with an SSD.

Unfortunately it does not come with an mSSD, there is no slot for one.

 

I recently got the matte non touch screen model. I just noticed than whenever I put pressure on the edge of the screen, it seems that the screen depresses and slightly separates from the bezel. This is particularly noticeable on the right, left and top sides of the screen. I tried putting some pressure on the corners but it seems solid and it sits flush on the bezel. Is this normal? This is my first non mac laptop. So I'm not very much familiar on the build quality of other brands particularly Asus. So I just want to know if this is the case with all n550jv-db71 models? I tried looking with other laptop models but it screen seems flush with the bezel even i put pressure to it.

 

How much is a little? The build quality on these generally seems pretty good. My only gripe is that the bottom of the case definitely has some flex when pressure is applied to the middle area (also the box for mine came with a hole in it, which is sort of concerning given it goes down to the unit's level).

 

That flex is normal. Try pressing harder, you'll see the case gives in just a little bit and then resists firmly. The only weak point in the bottom case is the part next to the optical drive, since the metal case has a hole in it to fit the drive. However this is countered by the steel bracket mounted over the optical drive.

For a consumer laptop this unit is solid.

I guess what you're describing can be normal for matte screens since the plastic bezel is not glued to the display, but i have the N550JV with a matte screen and the bezel does not separate from the screen under light pressure.

I could fit a needle head between the screen and the bezel, but it seems to me this has little to do with build quality.

 

I hate the "fingers" on the bottom. The top is rather good with them.

 

who cares about fingerprints on the bottom. Speaking of the bottom, i was thinking it was only made of plastic before cutting it with a dremel but no, it's also made of aluminium.

 

Well, I can still see them

Both top and bottom are aluminium.

 

C_man> Did you manage to make usb 3 work on Win7 ?

i think i will fall for a 128 go pro samsung, the HDD is the only thing that makes noise on this lap. When the HDD goes to sleep, i can barely hear the fans.

Anybody has an idea on how i could clone W8 from a 1TB HDD to a 128 Go ssd ???? Seems tricky.

I was thinking about cloning only only the the first partitions (aka efi boot/hidden repair/C : système) .Easus and windows don't even show the same number of partitions lol. What a mess.

 

You could shrink the C NTFS partition down in size (potentially removing files that aren't related to installed programs or the OS). You should be able to do that to the extent that all of the partitions would easily fit into 128GB.

 

You could also go for a 250GB Evo Samsung at nearly the same price. In light workloads they are similar performers and you get 2x capacity. I got the 256GB Pro myself, but my disk usage scenario is anything but light while working. Still, i might have chosen an Evo if it was in stock at purchase time.

The HDD that came with my N550JV was also very heavy. It is a 750GB 7200rpm unit from Hitachi, and it is considerably heavier than the WD units I'm used to. I probably made the laptop 100grams lighter just by replacing the HDD.

[Edit: corrected benchmark link]

 

Guess i will have to play with cloning softwares. I'd prefer to do a fresh install of Windows 8 but it's a pain to find an iso that will recognize the encrypted key in the bios.

I've consireded the Evo 250GB. I'm still hesitating. I've been pretty disappointed by the basic 250GB 840 i've tried. Felt a little laggy i don't know.

My HDD is only 5400 rpm. Pretty noisy when rotating, a bit like a 7200 rpm.

 

The main thing is to run a recent kernel and put acpi_osi="" in the kernel command line in grub. This will fix the backlight brightness and function keys. You may also have to manually load the asus-nb-wmi module in /etc/modules-load.d.

Also, to get Optimus/Bumblebee working, you will need to revert a ACPI commit in the kernel 3.8, see these links for more info -

https://github.com/Bumblebee-Project/bbswitch/issues/65
https://bugzilla.kernel.org/show_bug.cgi?id=60561
https://github.com/Bumblebee-Project/Bumblebee/issues/446

The patch fixing this issue has been accepted in Linus' tree so will make it into the next kernel release hopefully.

I've made some kernel RPMS for Fedora 19 that reverted the commit and almost everything works fine. The only thing I haven't had time to work out is the subwoofer, but in reality I'll never use it as it's a hassle to carry it around with the notebook, and on my desk it connects to the amp and speakers anyway.

 

Great info - thanks! Exactly the type of response I was hoping for.

Any issues for you in dual-booting Fedora and Windows 8?

 

Anyone had WiFi speed troubles with this laptop? My old laptop sitting right next to this ASUS one is getting 15mbps download and this ASUS is getting just about 5mbps (via speedtest.net)--and the WiFi card in the old laptop is almost 6 years old.

Is there some way I can improve my WiFi performance without swapping WiFi cards? I was going to swap them earlier when I heard this card has terrible power consumption, but just browsing the web is only taking up about 11-12 mW which gives me a decent 4+ (almost 5) hour battery life.

 

I've installed Opensuse 12.3 on mine. So far I ran into a few problems:

1. WiFi card that came with the laptop is based on Broadcom 4253 chipset, for which there is no linux driver support yet. I don't know if Asus started using different wifi cards in the new batch of laptops (I think they used to use Atheros). I'm going to replace my wifi card with a more common one.

2. Coming out of suspend or hibernation the laptop screen doesn't turn on. I hope this is just a matter of tweaking resume scripts.

3. UEFI bios is a pain. Opensuse created it's own /boot/efi partition, which is good. The bad part is that BIOS seems to pick randomly which boot loader to use Win8 or Suse. I guess the solution would be to delete win8 /boot/efi partition, but I don't know if win8 would overwrite opensuse boot loader next time it updates.

4. I'm still trying to get Optimus to work.

Eugene

 

My fan is always able to be heard, there's a constant noise that never ever stops, plugged in or unplugged doesn't matter.
Is it normal? I thought i hadn't have this noise right after purchase with BIOS 204 but as the FPS in Guild Wars 2 were hopping up and down with the same conditions i thought to upgrade the whole software and BIOS to 205.
It's slightly annoying, is there any way to flash the 204 again? Both WinFlash and EasyFlash(in BIOS) tell me that the BIOS to be flashed is older than the current one so i would need to change the date of 204 to one after 205 which i don't want to do yet if it's avoidable.

Thanks.

Edit: Ah, starting WinFlash with parameter /nodate enables the "Flash" button for older BIOS than the current aswell. That one problem(flashing old BIOS) is gone then but i'd still like to know if the constant noise normal

Edit2: Hmm, with 204 it's the same, I've either overheard it or it's the software, i don't know.

Edit3: Is there a possibility to reduce the Idle Fan RPM %? Trip Point 1 and 0 don't seem to be helpful for this, the CPU is at 33-37°C and TP 1 is activated at 55°C.
But does it mean from x(0 for example) to 55°C the Fan RPM goes up until 75%? Such as 33°C / 55°C = 0.6 and 0.6 * 0.75(% RPM) = 0.45(% RPM) which would mean at 33°C the fan runs at 45% of the max. RPM? Reducing the 75 to 50 for example should reduce the idle fan RPM to 30% then shouldn't it?

 

Great News! BJ's Wholesale club has the N550JV-DB72T on sale through 9/12/13. Adorama just matched the $999.99 price from them for me! Very exciting! I cannot wait to get it in.
ASUS N550JV-DB72T Laptop, 3.4GHz Intel Core i7-4700HQ Haswell Processor - BJ's Wholesale Club

 

You have a ssd or hdd ? Cause on my 550JV the Hdd noise is twice as loud as the fans idling. The fans are really quiet. You sure it's not the hdd rotating ?

As for changing the % fan speeds via AMIBCP, i guess the only way to really know what they stand for is to try by yourself

 

I was wondering about amibcp too, since this notebook has TONS of hidden options, still I'm afraid to flash the modded bios. I am interested in disabling the cpu turbo boost and hyperthreading. My old toshiba bios was better in that regard. Is there anyway to do that without modding the bios?

Now, another question: has anybody had loud pops when shutting down the pc?

 

Yes Kallogan, i'm sure, i hear both but the HDD sounds different and is in fact as you said much louder.
It's not that the noise is annoyingly loud but it just never stops, it's a constant stream of air flowing up the display. If i hold my hand in front of the display i can feel a cool flow.
Guess i'll see if i try to change the BIOS, now that i know that i can flash "old" functioning ones without problems

 

to disable cpu turbo, you just have to put 99% max cpu usage in Windows power settings. As for hyperthreading, i don't know, i think it's only bios related.

I read an amibcp tutorial, and you can make hidden bios options to appear in the bios such as hyperthreading and all by switching access to "user"...but not sure if it worth the risk...

>Morv : afaic i don't even feel a stream of air, or just barely, the fans seem to turn real slow. When the hdd goes to sleep sometimes, the lap becomes almost completely silent. I wouldn't bother flashing the bios for that. That said, maybe your fans are louder or turning faster than mine, i don't know.

 

Yeah under windows that works, but under linux it needs more work. With amibcp I can create the modified bios but I don't think it is worth the risk too (I just want a little better battery life, I still need to swap the wifi card since I've got the power hungry atheros one).

Btw without the realtek drivers is it possible to use the subwoofer? Since its impossible to listen to music through the headphone output on this thing with the realtek drivers. Coming from an samsung np870z5e this notebook feels cheap, but image retention is way worse than a noisy headphone jack and a punny battery life.

Still I love the keyboard feel on this notebook, albeit the keyboard layout is a little weird (arrow keys).

Edit: Looks like the bios has the charger type set to 90W, but I don't see a 120W option, only 65W, 75W and 90W.

 

I would check the settings on the wifi adapter on the Asus. Even an 802.11g router can sustain a 15 mpbs internet speed. You would need to be connecting at 802.11b rates to see your internet throughput capped at 5 mbps.

Regarding my original question on the 300 vs 450 link rates... am I really the only person participating in this thread with an n450 card and router?

 

Hm well, you can't flash a modified BIOS file, WinFlash says "Invalid BIOS file".
There is another tool that worked with the N56VZ called fpt included in a so called Flash Toolkit but i'll keep my hands off this now, i don't want to ruin my new notebook.

 

Uh my Asus had fans off for... like a day without me actually knowing (other than the fact that the aluminum top was always hot). I then noticed that it throttled and hit high 90s, so I popped the panel off again and found the fans completely stopped. What? I then restarted the PC, and only after like 20 seconds of logging in did the fans start up again. First time this has happened. Not sure if it's related to sleeping the PC a lot or the older BIOS.
203 BIOS... now I might reconsider going to the 204 or 205 again.

 

So I've been eyeing this laptop for some time... but I saw the Q501LA at Bestbuy and scooped it up because I thought it was a really great deal.

The Q501LA is pretty similar to the N550VJ but it has an I5 instead of an I7 and lacks an optical drive (among other things). Check it out here: Asus 15.6" TouchScreen Laptop 6GB Memory 750GB Hard Drive Q501LA-BBI5T03 - Best Buy

I like the laptop a lot thus far, however, there is a slight issue with the track pad so I will be exchanging it for a new one. Now I am thinking should I just return this laptop altogether and just go ahead and get the N550JV like I originally planned.

My primary use will be business applications and working with databases and datawarehouses. I also do a lot of the general stuff like surf, stream HD video, etc.

So my question is would it be better to upgrade to the N550JV considering its not that much more expensive than the Q501LA or will it just be overkill for my needs? Also, I plan on upgrading whichever laptop I get with an SSD. Please let me know what you guys think.

 

The Q501LA is really beautiful, nice design, but something bothers me on this picture :

http://pisces.bbystatic.com/image2/...37121_ba.jpg;canvasHeight=500;canvasWidth=500

From where the heck it takes its fresh air ??? Is it silent ???

The N550JV seems a little overkill for ur needs, it's not as thin also. But it's more future proof in some ways.

You may lose some battery life also since the Q501 has ulv cpu and no dGpu. But not that much. How is the battery life on the Q501 ?

 

Your current laptop should have clearly superior battery life, and it is also 500 grams lighter. The n550jv packs a lot more "horsepower", but that power means a heavier, thicker unit, with relatively poor battery life.

 

yeah the asus 550jv might feel cheap compared to the Q501 in a design point of view, especially the bottom plate. I would stick with Q501 considering his needs.

As for battery life, not only the Q501 shoud consume less but it also has a bigger battery of 66Wh (vs 59Wh for the
N550jv).

http://i.imgur.com/MAGnhZs.jpg

Afaic i love the new lenovo U330, but wth, is that a new trend not to put any vents for airflow in thin and light laptops with Haswell ulv cpus ????

http://s2.static69.com/ordinateur/images/produits/screenshots/LENOVO-IDEAPAD-U330-GRIS-05.jpg

 

talking about the battery, how good or bad is it on the n550jv??

 

I'd say about average - not as good as an ultrabook but not as bad as a dedicated gaming machine. On this forum people have been reporting 3-5 hours. To get closer to 5, though, a number of people have swapped out the stock wireless for a better one for notable decrease in power consumption. 3.5hrs - 4hrs seems to be most common for general use otherwise - maybe bump it up to 4hrs - 4.5hrs if you upgrade the wireless. (Also assuming other power settings being optimized on the system.)