* Asus N61JQ Owners Lounge *

1) The N61JQ comes with a 90 W adapter. I wouldn't worry about power throttling issues; I can't explain why the XPS has them.

2) It seems durable to me. I haven't tried flexing it.

3) The laptop is brand new, so currently the drivers are being updated very rapidly. I don't have prior experience with ASUS to say if this will continue. It can be a bit of a pain to find the newest drivers on the site, but they are there.

4) HP's are notorious for their poor heat dissipation. The ASUS doesn't seem to have this problem.

5) Where are you seeing that the i7 runs hot? The limited temp testing I did showed temps significantly below the throttling temperature (Prime95 stress test).

 

Just got my N61 earlier this afternoon. It's pretty fantastic so far, I don't mind the screen resolution and man is it a lot sleeker than my old laptop. I recorded some of the Battlefield BC2 single player to see how that would run. Sorry for the video quality, don't have any more disks for the camcorder so I used the digital camera. Fraps FPS in the top left.

<param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/HeuTJoQsnfU&hl=en_US&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/HeuTJoQsnfU&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width='480' height="385"></embed></object>

In-game settings:


Edit: I'll also be doing Starcraft II and Modern Warfare 2. If anyone wants to see some other games played, you can pick from my Steam games list here: http://steamcommunity.com/id/mean2u/games

 

Hey gang,

I'm probably going to be ordering a N61JQ-A1 within the next few days, but I have a quick concern before I pull the trigger:

1) In terms of accessories will a Laptop Cooler Pad be required if I plan on using the Laptop for gaming? I recall seeing a couple of posts on the subject earlier on in the tread but now I can't seem to find them.

Thanks in advance!

 

A laptop cooler will not help. I bought a Zalman to use with mine, but it only cools the CPU by 2 degrees. When you get the laptop, you'll notice that the bottom doesn't get hot at all. The cooler only helps by slightly increasing the air flow through the tiny vents on the bottom. Just make sure you use the laptop on a flat surface, and you'll be fine.

 

Thanks for the advice, I'll use the money I was allotting for one and spend it on express shipping

 

I'll second Stevedoggs opinion on not needing a laptop cooler. I bought a different cooler than stevedogg but it also does not seem to make much of a difference on this unit. Maybe some others have had better results. The cool thing about this thing though is the location of the fans. You actually don't have to have it on a flat surface, The fans are up front in a slightly indented area.So even with it on your lap the fans stay unobstructed.

 

Most of the heat is ejected through the vent on the left side (which gets fairly warm, but this hasn't bothered me yet). My old Dell used to practically burn my lap when I ran Civilization IV, while I haven't noticed anything like this on my N61JQ-A1.

I will admit I haven't had any 8 hour gaming sessions with this laptop (midterms...).

One thing I've noticed: The temps in the cores will run up to about 80C while gaming. When I minimize the game, however, the temps drop below 70C in maybe 5 seconds and will be down to 'web-surfing temps' of a bit under 60C in less than a minute. I don't know how this compares to other laptops, but it seems like it has a reasonably efficient cooling system.

 

Thanks for that! Those fps's at those settings really make me think about picking that up.

 

Hey, i sent a compilation of the answers for the FAQ, I hope it helps! its a great idea for the first page.


Now, before I go and buy the laptop, just a few more questions,
There is a TV that I want to connect the asus to, at parents house, to show them some programs. This particular TV only has:
the regular red/white/yellow inputs,
green/blue/red/white inputs
S video input
and coaxial.

Q1 -I want to buy the appropriate cable by the time my lap arrives, what do you recommend for an analog TV? do you know of any VGA to coaxial? or to Svideo or red/white/yellow?


Q2- Do you know if the n61jq graphics card has a TV out function?
I ask because this VGA to Svideo cable ( http://www.amazon.com/CablesToBuy-P...1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1267666684&sr=8-1) says "It will work with laptops and desktops with VGA cards that has TV-Out function capability through the VGA connector" any advice as to what does this means?

 

A couple of extra questions, now that you are talking about the cooler:
what did you guys get as accessories for your N61jq? for example,

1 - what kind of bag and sleeves do you recommend? should I order a sleeve for 16"laptop? 15.4''? will it fit?

2 - Any other accessories? extra battery? bigger battery? mouse? custom covers?

 

Is that the internal speakers I am hearing? They sound pretty good, even over youtube quality video.

How else does everyone rate the speaker sound on this laptop?

 

No problem! I was worried at first when I first started it and it defaulted the settings to medium@1024x768, but man, it sure did pretty well. I saw something about leaked beta drivers for ATI Mobility GPUs and I'm pretty sure that would bump up the FPS too. Besides that, it's a pretty good game and if you like shooting guns, this is for you.

Yep, and only at around 80% volume if I recall! I forgot about turning my music off before recording so the next video should be a bit cleaner audio-wise.

 

Steve, how do you exactly do that ?
I have a valid XP Pro license. Where can I enter it?

 

Yeah.... I would love to do this!

 

I have Pro, so I haven't actually done this, but here is a link.

 

Ok, I'm going to slightly retract this statement. I was curious about this and bought a http://www.p3international.com/products/special/P4400/P4400-CE.html power sensor. Here are some power usage numbers (all numbers are approximate, since the reading jumps around +/- a few watts:

Just the Windows desktop, max screen brightness, bluetooth (mouse) and wifi on, no apps running besides virus scan, etc.: 25 W

Prime95 in-place large FFT (max heat & power): 78 W

Furmark stability test (xtreme burning off, displacement mapping off, post fx on, windowed, no MSAA): 70 W

Prime95 and Furmark running at the same time: 115 W! This is almost 30% more power than the 90 W adapter is rated to supply, risking damage to the adapter (or a possible fire). Prime95 + Furmark is not by any means a "real world" scenario, so I still think the 90 W adapter is sufficient, but I suppose it wouldn't hurt to buy a 120 W if you are going to push your hardware to the limits.

 

All AC Adapters have an engineered "overhead" well above their stated rating. Therefore it is best to stay with the manufacturer's provided AC Adapter.

 

There is no harm in using a higher-rated adapter (obviously it supplies power on demand). On the other hand, long periods running significantly above the maximum rating is not smart, no matter how well-engineered the adapter. Average Joe: keep the stock adapter. Gamer transcoding videos in the background: think about upgrading.

 

Hey guys, just a quick question.

What if i bought a new, factory sealed X1 from someone who ordered it online?
How would the warranty work? Do i need his receipt (proof of purchase) so i can register it for warranty? I haven't had any problems with previous Notebooks so i never had to call in for warranty.

 

The accidental damage warranty (ADW) card inside the box requests a copy of the sales receipt. They also want to know the purchase date and the reseller for registration.

Steve

 

Lounge Owners,
I just finished updating the first page. Check it out and see what you think.
This was an attempt to cut down on duplicate posts. And it wouldn't hurt if it helped generate more sales for our reseller friends. Then maybe we will get more Owners in here to contribute to our Lounge.
Thank's and Rep's to Lounge members LordDavon and testador for helping with this.

 

Did you do your test multiple times? 2 degrees seems ridiculously miniscule. I suggest he look at this thread for further comparison: http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=235021

 

I have tested it a couple times. I think it depends on the design of the laptop. The heat dissipation on this laptop is almost entirely convection. During the stress test, the bottom doesn't even really get hot. The cooler would work best on a laptop that transfers significant heat by conduction through the bottom. For this laptop, it only helps by forcing more air through the inlet slots on the bottom of the laptop which have very small cross sections. It's no surprise that it doesn't help much. Now if you somehow built a forced-air induction system (Ram Air for your laptop ), it might work better. Maybe some foam barriers around the holes on the Zalman to force the air into laptop base. Right now, my cooler only really helps keep my hand cool as I use the touchpad

 

To learn more about XP mode under Windows 7 you can visit this Microsoft webpage:
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/virtual-pc/download.aspx

 

Good news to guys that ordered X1 from newegg. I called Asus and Newegg and both confirmed that if I bought it from newegg and have receipt to prove it my warranty will be for two years.

As for my BSOD , I still have it so I got an RMA, after updating drivers and suck if it does not work, I will RMA.

 

Thanks for the link Turbo.

Anyway, does Asus have N61 series with Arrandale yet ?
My niece loves my X1, and she wants to buy one for herself, if possible with Arrandale inside for graphic switching (I prefer, so I can switch my X1 to hers..... )
I thought someone here mentioned about a similar N61 model with Arrandale i5, but I couldn't find anything on the net. Will Arrandale cause a substantial price hike ? If yes, or most probably yes, I might just settle on another N61JQ-A1 for her now..... rather than waiting uselessly for something I find hard to justify.

Side note:
I just realized my X1 from Amazon is equipped with 1333Mhz DDR3, which is cool.

 

Ok Greg, when is ASUS sending us a check! HA! ;-)

 

Everything looks great man. Good work.

One problem IMO though, the link for Bloatware at the end of the document has a black line going across the entire length of the page.

 

I have to admit Allyw123 (Greg), it does look really good!

 

Great job on the FAQ.

I think you should also add a "Where should I not Buy from?" question since if you buy from Best Buy, Best Buy Canada, Micro Center, and The Source by Circuit City in Canada you do not get the 1 year ADW.

 

intel stress tests hit 86C peak for cpu here.

 

Wow, So when did you buy yours? What does it say on your laptop and or shipping box, 1 year or 2?

 

What? When did you purchase yours, And what does it say on your laptop or shipping box 1 year or 2?

 

Thanks for all the owner's who contributed and shared informations on this laptop, your work was much appreciated. It was very helpful in my decision to purchase this laptop, so I should be receiving my N61Q soon.

Very nice job on the first page allyw123.

 

Heh. I love causing trouble:

"Dear Valued Customer,

Thank you for contacting ASUS Customer Service.


Sir, it has 2-year global warranty and 1-year accidental damage warranty(ADW).


For more information feel free to refer to our self-help pages by clicking the links below:

Troubleshooting - http://support.asus.com/troubleshooting/troubleshooting.aspx?SLanguage=en-us

FAQ - http://support.asus.com/faq/faq.aspx?SLanguage=en-us

Live Support ? http://asuswiki.asus.com/usaSupport/index.php?title=Main_Page


If you continue to experience issues in the future, please do not hesitate to contact us.

Best Regards,
JC
ASUS Customer Service

If you have any suggestions or feedback about our technical support service, please e-mail to [email protected]. We will then arrange for a specialist to work with you regarding your issue. Your suggestions and feedback are appreciated and allow us to provide better service.


---------- Original Message ----------
From : XXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Sent : 2010-2-27 3:08:50
To : "[email protected]"
Subject : <TSD> Notebook N61Jq

[CASEID=XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX]

Apply date : 2/27/2010 12:50:06 AM
[Contact Information]
*Name : Solomon
*Email Address :XXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Phone Number : XXXXXXXXXXXXX
City : XXXXXXXX
*Country : United States

[Product Information]
*Product Type : Notebook
*Product Model : N61Jq
*Product S/N : XXXXXXXXXXXX
Place of Purchase : Newegg.com
*Date of Purchase : 2010/2/8

*Operating System : Windows 7 64bit

[Problem Description]
I am confused. Your info page on the N61JQ states that they all come with a 2 year global warranty. When I purchased one from Newegg (which also stated 2YR warranty), it arrived with 12M on the box. I called to confirm with your Customer Service department and they also saud 12M from the date of purchase.

The ASUS Warranty page states that ALL ASUS (non-barebones) Notebooks come with a 2YR warranty. Is this false advertising?"

 

I purchased this laptop a few days ago, and my initial impressions are very good. I particularily like the SRS premium sound, as my previous laptop did not have anything like this. I wouldn't call myself an audiophile by any means, but I enjoy listening to music a lot. The glossy screen will take some getting used to, as my previous laptop had a matte screen. For movies and so forth though it looks quite nice. The keyboard is nice too; I'm typing this post at my normal quick pace and there's nothing "impeding" my keystrokes.

I also did the "Crysis test", playing at 1366x768 resolution on high settings. I enabled "high performance" mode when I did this. I should have loaded up FRAPS or some other frame-rate monitor, but I didn't. In any case, gameplay appeared smooth to me. I also installed Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars, and though it isn't widescreen (nor a very new game), it played very smoothly on the highest settings.

I played around with the power plans some, and I thought it was kind of weird that the desktop background changes to a white one on Power4Gear battery-saving mode. Anyhow, I'm putting that down as a Windows 7 "feature". However, I "fixed" this by loading up my own background and making a custom theme, so when I change battery options now it does not change the look. By the way, I have not tested battery life, but my assumption is that this laptop will get 2-3 hours on battery-saving mode.

Overall my initial impressions of this laptop's performance are quite positive. This laptop is a hundred times better than my former Windows Vista laptop. I initially thought about buying a 14" laptop, but I believe having the 16" is better for the things I want to do, namely photo-editing and gaming. I was almost ready to buy one with a Core 2 Duo processor, but I didn't want to buy something that was already "last-generation", so I'm happy with the Core i7.

 

Wow! That's great; you got it when it was still $999 correct? I wonder if that applies to Amazon purchases too. The X1 is still $999 with free shipping and no tax on Amazon (in stock). With a 2 year warranty, that is probably a sweeter deal than the A1 for $1066 ($67 for 180 GB more hard drive space is not a very sweet deal IMO).

 

the A1 i got has DDR3-1333 RAM while X1 seems to have DDR3-1066.

 

My A1 came with 1066 RAM. The performance difference should be negligible and wouldn't warrant the price increase anyway.

 

Hey Allyw, the first page is looking good! I-m glad I could help let me know if we can do more.
As a new prospective buyer, i believe it is a great way to get info in a single place, now that we have 150+ pages.

I recommend everyone to look at that post and check the info, if you have any changes to post a message indicating the question and corrections.
Also, if you have questions that you would like added, and have not been replied to you could indicate it in a post, for example, I would like to ask

Q1 -I want to buy the appropriate cable by the time my lap arrives, what do you recommend for an analog TV? do you know of any VGA to coaxial? or to Svideo or red/white/yellow?
Q2- Do you know if the n61jq graphics card has a TV out function?
Q3 - what kind of bag and sleeves do you recommend? should I order a sleeve for 16"laptop? 15.4''? will it fit?

and then we see if we can add the number of answers all of us together

 

A1 - You can buy any VGA to RCA (Red, Yellow, White) male cable
A2 - There is no TV out function, I believe if you connect to your TV it will
think it's a generic monitor, but I could be wrong.
A3 - 15.4" is too small for the NJ61Q to fit in to, your definitely going to need
a 16" sleeve. I haven't bought one yet but I have been thinking about
ordering this one from Amazon.

 

Went down Currys and Comet today to check out some 16" laptops to see if I liked the resolution. I think I can handle it, good news is that Asuslaptops UK have it in stock, and only about an hour and half train journey from me!

So gonna go up there tmoz and check it out in person. If I like it I may finally be a proud owner of an N61JQ! Watch this space!

 

regarding Laptop to analog TV :

Smoked Out, thanks for your reply,

the reason I was wondering about "TV out" is because I received some info about a cable. this VGA to Svideo cable ( http://www.amazon.com/CablesToBuy-Pe...7666684&sr=8-1) says "It will work with laptops and desktops with VGA cards that has TV-Out function capability through the VGA connector" and I'm nor even sure what that TVout function means...

in any case, the TV I want to use is quite old, it has the regular red/white/yellow inputs,green/blue/red/white inputs, S video input and coaxial.

Cables are not expensive, but there are many external laptop-to-TV adapters as well, such as this ( http://www.amazon.com/PC-To-TV-Vide...3?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1267748394&sr=8-3)


so, does anybody know when is an adapter necessary and when is just a cable good enough?

and in any case, It seems that VGA to RCA is a better choice than VGA to SVideo, right?

 

Kind of a silly question, but isn't it true you need to reapply thermal grease after after awhile because it begins to get "crusty" ? When I order my A1, I'm probably going to go with IC diamond, but I've heard that it will start to dry out after time. I'm just wondering if I will need to reapply it after continual use. Any thoughts?

 

I was under the impression that S-Video was better than RCA

http://www.ehow.com/facts_5682064_s_video-vs_-rca-composite-cable.html

 

Yes, Superjojo is right, S-Video is better than RCA. But, to be honest Testador, you probably will not be happy with the results, even after you get this to work. The people that are happily using their TV's all have hi def TV's with good resolution. Your old TV will likely be awefully grainy etc. At least, that has been my experience. It could be worth trying with a cheap cable from monoprice. But don't expect much out of a low res TV.

 

I am not sure if they really looked up my S/N or just gave me a standard response. Either way, even if it doesn't really apply to my notebook, I got it in writing. HA!

I think everyone should take what I wrote and submit it online (vip.asus.com) and see if they get the same response. Maybe we can all start a little trouble.

It would be nice if Greg (Allyw123) could get the same response. After all the "no"s he got before.

 

Unlike your underpants you have no reason to change old crusty thermal grease. The crusty look is a natural effect of its chemical makeup. Once it is heated, thermal grease will return to the peanut butter consistency it had when it was fresh from the tube. Remember, the CPU is the most delicate part of your computer, any placebo benefits from re-applying thermal paste are far outweighed by your chance of damaging the CPU in the process or simply voiding your warranty.

I DO recommend cleaning out the dust bunnies in your notebook cooling fan every 6 months ~ 1 year. They tend to get too big to fit through any of the vent holes. Canned air will just blow them somewhere else inside the computer case, leaving room for more to build up. They need to be plucked out with a pair of tweezers. Open the case, shine a flashlight on the fan and make sure to check all the corners inside the fan case.

 

Advertise a 2 year Warranty then change it to 1 year after you have sold some. Then when customers call to complain tell them they never advertised a 2 year warranty. Then raise the price and when sales go down start advertising a 2 year Warranty to juice sales. Then when origional customers call to complain......wait for it......wait for it...... Presto Fricking Changeo! wait for it.....wait for it.....
Change it back to a 1 year Warranty!!!

Screw Newegg! They are dead to me!

 

I know it would be great to bring the temps down with a cooler. But I have a different cooler and I'm just not seeing it. I think stevedogg's analyisis is spot on. The bottom of this thing does not get hot, and youv'e got all that hot air venting out the side. Blowing some room temperature air onto the bottom of this thing just does not accomplish much. If someone else is getting good results with a cooler on an N61 please let us know.