* Asus N61JQ Owners Lounge *

Thanks a lot Adamal for this. Now I'm confused. Earlier today I got replies from powernotebooks stating the dimensions as 18" x 8" x 15" and icicomputer as 16.5" x 15.5" x 4.7". Did you measure yours or read it off the shipment sheet?

Waqas and ally would you please confirm the dimensions of the shipping box?

Believe it or not this will make or break my decision to purchase!

Adamal, Thanks again and waiting for your review!

 

tbrocato, that cooler looks really nice but I really think you should go for one that blows air into the middle and bottom part as that's where the vents are.

The zalman nc2000 is perfect BUT I won't get that because I think it's way too expensive.

 

The NC2000 is very nice...I figured I would give this cooler master a shot. The price is not bad and it has a 140mm Fan. I can adjust the laptop higher up on the cooler...I think it will push enough air. I would like 2 do some test once I have everything set up VS. someone with a Zalman nc2000

 

It isn't a deal breaker but it concerns me since everyone else says that they got a 2 years warranty. It would be a pleasure if you lemme know what Asus says about the warranty.

 

Could you post a link to this backlit keyboard?

How could this work? Where would it get it's power from?

 

Well for me it kind of is a deal breaker... The warranty was part of the reason why I bought it. I will definitely post what I found out after calling Asus.

Ally who bought the X1 two days after made a thread here http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=454556 with what I'm assuming are specs copied from newegg. It clearly states 2 years, so it better be.

Ally any thoughts about this? I know you were also relying on the 2 years warranty when we were discussing heat issues.

 

Ok I have a silly question:

What would speed up Flash games more? Is it CPU intensive or does it use the video card?

I really like to play an online flash poker game and my studio XPS 13 with a Core 2 Duo and nVidia 9500GT (hybrid 9200 + 9400) becomes very sluggish when I play.

I ordered the N61JQ-x1 and now I'm wondering if it's going to be able to handle flash better.

 

You should not have any problems with this laptop running flash eheh!

 

they keyboard is from a g50.. they all use the same keyboard.. and there is a connector on the mobo for the lighted keyboard is the small conenctor to the right look at pic below

http://www.flickr.com/photos/47251414@N03/4333786154/

 

So it has a built in connector on the MOBO for a keyboard that is backlighted ? that is !!!

 

yes th mobo does. just have to get a different keyboard.. but I cant get my keyboard to lite up..

 

What exact Asus model keyboard can you use ? from G50...G51 ? Can you post a pic of the laptop with new backlit keyboard bro ?

 

That sucks! Why the heck didn't ASUS include a freaking backlit keyboard??? I would've paid more for that as I really don't want the G51.

How much more would it have cost? $20 $25? At least give us the option ASUS

 

Michelle, maybe it's disabled in the bios??? Or it needs a bios that can support the backlight. Future release perhaps?

 

THE KEYBOARD IS FROM G51 I dont see any options in the bios for it.. ..

this is where i bough it

http://cgi.ebay.com/NEW-ASUS-G51-G5...mQQptZPCA_Mice_Trackballs?hash=item3a56c04d81

 

Michellenlane can you post pic of your new backlight keyboard in the N61JQ!
thanks a lot.

 

You should try updating to the new bios released on 1/27 if you don't already have it. Maybe they added backlight support. I'm pretty sure you need bios support for it to work.

Maybe we can start a petition or something

 

He is saying the keyboard he installed is working...I would like 2 c a pic.

 

Does anybody know if this thing will run crysis? i just bought it and dont wanna open it until i know for sure so i can return it if need be

 

Yeah bro it can run Crysis....scores in 3dmark 06 have been 7900+

 

sweet thank ya kindly

 

As I understood it the keyboard works but the lights don't. Hopefully I'm wrong b/c I really want to buy it.

 

The Alienware laptops have lighted keyboards. Why not go for those? Especialyl since its so important and all.

 

I would pay $50 more for a backlit keyboard, please keep us posted if you have updated the bios

 

correct, they keyboard works.. But I cant get it to lite up

 

Why these manufacturers do not provide an option for such features with extra $ ???

 

someone link me to the bios on 1/27

 

This is the link for their drivers page:

drivers

Select your exact model and you will get a list of all available drivers and Bios.

 

Hey let me know what you find out, I have been wanting the notebook for awhile now and I know for a FACT that it said two year warranty on newegg. I ordered it at around 3 am and paid no attention to the specs and that they had changed it! To top it off they totally Fuc*@$ my order and it didn't ship and is now on hold even though they already charged me and all my info is correct. I would gladly take my business elsewhere after all this and get the two year warranty if possible.

 

Tesla, Sorry I could not get back to you sooner. I have been digging into the warranty B.S! (post on this next). The box I have is the origional Asus factory box. Whenever I order from newegg they just send me everything in the origional box on larger items. So I will give you the dimensions of this box but you should contact who you are buying this from to see if they will put it in an additional box. The box is 15.25" high x 16.5" wide x 4.5" deep.
Good luck!

 

So here's the skinny, I am DONE with Newegg and their crap, plus I want my TWO year warranty and will pay the $65 difference by getting the n61jq-a1 instead of the x1. So now who do I go with??? Xotic-pc, who seems to have nice website and good ratings on BBB and other agencies or Gentech or Powernotebooks or who else do you guys reccomend. Just FYI, I am gonna buy the unit stock and not add any extras. I just want a GOOD, REPUTABLE company that will provide great CS and be arround to honor any warranty if needed. I'm gonna throw all my damn eggs out in the street tonight!!! Arrggh!

 

The shipping box I received was 18 x 16 x 4.5 (L x W x H in inches).

 

Yes Xismo I have some thoughts. Like this is Fu....g Bull ..it!!! You are correct I copied and pasted the specs. from New(full of Sh..!)egg. When I pasted them that is how they came out.
Basically I think we are screwed on the 2 year warranty. I called ASUS and in talking to them I don't fault them. On the N61JQ line they only offer a 1 year warranty. What a coincidene that they choose an i7 to only offer a 1 year warranty. I guess I will be getting a cooling pad after all.
I think I have seen this warranty bait and switch from newegg on another thread. Here is what I'm going to do. Newegg offers an extended warranty and they will either give it to me for free or refund me for the cost of it.
Asus told me that they would honor any resellers extended warranty.

 

Glad to see somebody is finally getting pissed about this. I sent you a pm Ally, read it when you get a chance. So I called both newegg and asus. Newegg said they will get back to me and the manager I spoke with in asus said there's nothing they can do. So we'll see what newegg says.
I just f***in can't believe they can do this kind of stuff. I basically paid a price for something they took value from, after I gave them my money. It's like if they sent me 1gb of ram instead of 4 and they would change it after. Ridiculous.

And here's something even better. On Asus's website ( http://asuswiki.asus.com/usaSupport/index.php?title=Notebook_Warranty_Information) it says that since 2002 ALL of their notebooks will carry 2 years warranty! When I told it to the manager she kept apologizing and said, they will correct the misleading information. F****n great! Two companies made a mistake and I'm supposed to pay for it. Like it's a big deal for them to give me the extended warranty for free.

 

Very Sad !
These companies are greedy and want only MONEY and once you paid your hard earning money, you will be a robot with remote on their hand

 

So now that they have changed the warranty on the X1 and have added the A1 to their website(newegg) it says the A1 has a two year warranty, Is this correct? Or just another misprint? if you zoom in on the pic of it you can make out a TWO year warranty sticker on the box. I just have a BAD BAD taste in my mouth from all the BS I have had to put up with just in trying to order the X! today not to mention the crap about switching the warranty! What to do???

 

This is a formal apology from me for any misleading imformation I have provided on this thread in regards to the warranty on the N61Jq line.
In talking to Asus they claim that the warranty on the N61JQ line is 1 year.
I guess the lesson learned here is trust but verify. And if you are buying from newegg get it in fricking writing!

 

When you say N61JQ line that includes the A1??? Just wondering because like I said NE still shows it has two year and a pic of the box has two year stuck on it????(N61JQ-A1) When I called Asus earlier the lady said that it was not dependant on the model but the SN of the unit itself.

 

I have the N61JQ-A1 purchased through Powernotebooks.com and on the box it states that I have a 2 year global warranty and a 1 year accidental damage warranty. It was also on my receipt.

If new egg had 2 year warranty when you purchase the notebook and that was a key deciding factor I'm pretty newegg either has an obligation to honor the 2 year warranty or they need to cancel the sale in full. It's been a long time since I had my business law class but I'm pretty sure a contract is a contract. Changing the text after the sale is complete is a big no no in contract law. Obviously consult a lawyer because my profession is the furthest from it.

 

I wouldn't go by what someone on the phone told you or me. And I sure wouldn't trust anything on Neweggs web site! If it has not shipped get your money back. Or at least get it in writing ( whatever that's worth!).
If you can get your money back you know all the good resellers talked about in these threads. I only went with newegg because they had it first and I could not wait. Big Mistake!
NewBuyerbewareegg!

 

Thank's Adamal.

 

Ok here is my first benchmark. I hooked the laptop to my external monitor, so this uses the default resolution which is higher than the laptops display. This way you can compare it to other notebooks.



This is a quick review as I'm still loading all my crap on the laptop and filling with small issues.

The resolution: surprisingly not bothering me as much as I thought it would. I'm going to give it a grade of good enough.

The display: looks really good. Might be a tad too bright and colors seem a little washed out from certain angles.

The temperature: This thing runs very cool. I'm speaking about the laptop surfaces. This is a laptop you could actually put in your lap. The highest cpu temps I've obtained so far is 75c. On idle the cores are around 50c. I did opt to add IC thermal paste to both the cpu and gpu (thank you powernotebooks.com).

The keyboard: I love it. Some people are complaining of flex but compare to most consumer laptops out there I say it's pretty good. This one gets a grade of "better than expected". I can see myself using this as a full time keyboard instead of my external.

I had some issues with the wireless at first. I opted for the intel 5100. It turned out to be a problem in my router and updating it to the latest firmware fixed it. Wireless is working very well.

Express Gate: This is a fun little feature, on the web in less than 5 seconds. It is on this laptop and the wireless works with it. That's a nice feature to have on a machine that sucks the juice.

Battery life: Haven't drained the battery yet but it looks like a little over 2 hours.

I ran the counter strike source test on a 1680 x 1050 with everything cranked. I received a FPS of 116-117. Obviously it will be higher on the default laptop display.

The laptop speakers: The best I've ever owned, sounds really good with some minor setting modifications.

One issue has come up that I am trying to figure out. I've had the machine lock up on me 6 times today, while loading crap on. So far it does not look to be a hardware problem. It might have something to do with some power saving feature turning some piece of hardware off. I really don't have much info at this time to go on so I'll keep you posted.

 

Alright so I got a few tips and some complaints:


First, the tips:

1. Download IObit's GameBooster program
2. Get a cooling pad
3. Drain the battery fully when you first use the laptop after a full charge. Then, charge the battery to full again and let it drain. Do this 3 times. This basically "breaks in" the battery and makes sure that all of it is being charged and drained, not just some of it.

For the complaints:
The Atheros/Azurewave wireless SUCKS. Well, its actually pretty good but it doesn't connect to 802.11a routers, which my apartment complex uses. I am ordering an intel 5100 wireless module to replace my atheros.

I also can't seem to find a keyboard protector for this laptop - I HATE greasy keys. DO any of you guys know where to get one?

Thanks.

Oh and 3DMark06 gave me a bench of 7997 without GameBooster.

 

about the warranties - aren't they from ASUS? what does newegg have to do with it? my laptop says 2 yr warranty everywhere, so it better be a 2 yr warranty!

 

I think it's little more complicated then that. Basically from what I got from it is this. Before I purchased my X1 I called Asus regarding usb 3.0 as it wasn't written anywhere that X1 actually has it. On neweggs site it only said 3 usb ports. But what they told me is that they don't even have the X1 model as an actual model just like on their website it only lists A1. And apparently the X1 is just something resellers like requested. Now what I think is going on here, is that resellers like newegg or amazon have this particular model requested say with a smaller hd. But what they also do is that they adjust the warranty. So in fact you're not buying anything cheaper because the extended warranty is worth $150 or so.

This is just a theory but I worked at pc components store as a technician and I know that the same thing would happen there. HDD have 3 years manufacturer warranty but when you buy it from the store you only get one year. If the drive fails within that year you bring it back and they give you a new one. And then have it replaced by the manufacturer. Since most ppl are dumb they just buy a new one if the drive fails after the first year. Way to make some more money.

 

Sounds like some good first impressions Adamal. I just ordered mine earlier today. Can't wait to get it!

 

Just checked my sticker and it says 12 months for warranty... If newegg doesn't give me 1 more year of warranty I'm just going to return it and get the A1 instead. Waqas yours is A1 right? I'm pretty sure those have 2 years. The only problem now is that newegg.ca doesn't sell it. Hopefully they will start selling it soon. I live in canada so I can't buy from newegg.com

 

can someone please confirm N61JQ-A1 warranty status? 2 years or 1?

 

Technically it should be 2 years, but I'll let A1 owners speak up as I can't confirm it. I'd actually like to know the answer myself. Please A1 owners check your stickers....

 

I have not gotten my laptop yet...but I did order it from powernotebooks.com and on my invoice it says 2 year warranty / 1 year accident warranty. This is an A1 laptop also. Maybe Donald can shed some light on this for us. I will shoot him a PM