Asus N73JQ Owners' Lounge

Laptop is great but it is still half the speed of my desktop machine .....according to Cinebench anyway.

I am from everywhere Switzerland + UK these days.

 

lap_lap....if I recall correctly, you're not doing the clean install right away (after vacation, I presume). The laptop's out-of-box setup routine prompts you to activate Windows immediately. I know you want to use your Win Ultimate key later when you do the new installation, so be sure to NOT activate Windows until then.

 

Hmm let me check. I never activated it but strangely it is already activated. I assume from factory already?
The box was properly sealed by Asus tape/seal so I don't think it was opened by anyone before me.

I have re-installed and activated windows so many times in the past so I don't think it would be a problem? I will use win7 ulitmate OS cd and do a clean install. Then re-activate it. At worst I might have to do phone activation. It's strange though that it is already activated. I 100% did not activate it!

Edit- From MS-


If you have to activate Windows again on the same computer, you don't need to buy a new product key. For more information, see Activate Windows 7 on this computer.

 

Despite usually following the old rule, "If it isn't broke, don't fix it," just for fun, I updated my BIOS to v 207. Part of the reason for the update was that I saw several updates of the BIOS on Asus Support---not just one. I figured there must be a good reason for all of those updates, though there was no explanation or read-me files to say what the changes were for.

Nothing is wrong with the way my computer works now, but nothing was wrong before, that I noticed.

The only result I see is that, according to Core Temp, the average idle temperature of my Core #0 is up about 2 or 3 degrees C.

I haven't run any benchmarks or played games yet to see if there is a noticeable performance change...

 

lap lap can you give the Cinebench 11.5 results. CPU and OpenGL?

 

Hey Bullit I am at my parents house and they have very slow internet connection so downloading CB R11.5 would take ages. My dad even though he can easily afford just does not want to pay for anything more than the basic free slow adsl service he gets bundled with the phone line

I do have CB R10 64bit on my laptop though. I will re-run it for you now. CB R11.5 would have to wait till I get back home next year.

I had downloaded R10 before the holiday because I had found a site with lot of old and new CPU results using R10.

Anyone else with the laptop willing to run the few minute test can download it here- http://downloads.guru3d.com/CineBench-10-download-1708.html

Use the 64bit version and press "Run all tests" button. Then use the "to clipboard" button to post the results here


CINEBENCH R10
****************************************************

Tester :

Processor : Intel(R) Core(TM) i7 CPU Q 740 @ 1.73GHz
MHz :
Number of CPUs : 8
Operating System : WINDOWS 64 BIT 6.1.7600

Graphics Card : GeForce GT 425M/PCI/SSE2
Resolution : <fill this out>
Color Depth : <fill this out>

****************************************************

Rendering (Single CPU): 3254 CB-CPU
Rendering (Multiple CPU): 10468 CB-CPU

Multiprocessor Speedup: 3.22

Shading (OpenGL Standard) : 3161 CB-GFX


****************************************************

Maybe run burn in test for few hours to test everything thoroughly PassMark BurnInTest software - PC Reliability and Load Testing

I always run it for few hours (mostly overnight) to stress all components to make sure I don't have any lemon components.

 

Thanks lap lap i'll wait for Cinebench R11.5 because in R10 the OpenGL can be wrong. The score could be fake for cards that jumped frames.

Below is a link to various scores for comparison.

http://www.cbscores.com/index.php?sort=ogl&order=desc

 

I was curious so managed to download it while I was sleeping. So the result of CB 11.5-

OpenGL- 21fps
CPU- 3.10pts

 

I found this in depth review of the N73JQ online and thought it may be of interest... Review Asus N73JQ Notebook - Notebookcheck.net Reviews

 

Thanks. For comparison mine HD4530 in a DV7 does 8.5fps

 

I'm glad somebody criticized the keyboard. I hated settling for it, but so many otherwise excellent laptops are using this same garbage! So there!

I'm going to take Hatcher's suggestion and use the rubber strips--as soon as I can find them.

Hatcher, it would be a service to the forum if you took photos of your fix. Thank you!

On the other hand, my touchpad buttons are very quiet, and the pad itself is smooth.

 

So I´ve finaly got my hands on the X7B and it turns out that driver DVD says: Driver and utility: N73JQ/PRO7BJQ/X7BJQ
So these 3 are the same with some minor differencies in config.

I hope I´ll get the backup burned soon and then get rid of the bloatware.
The wifi works but the switch is somewhat strange - it shows when the WIFI is disableb but not when enabled. The FN switch workes only sometimes. So I have some work cut out for the rest of today

BTW Someone said that he could not fit the laptop in the laptop compartment of the bag that came with it - no problem here. Only the reversal process of taking the laptop out of the bag is a bit tricky
The bag is a Targus brand and has logos of ASUS on it

 

The keyboard is probably my biggest complaint about this unit. Not just that it seems pretty flimsy and low-quality compared to the rest of the machine, but the layout is poor. If they had recouped even just 3/4" of that empty space on the left, they could have vastly improved the user-experience of typing on this thing.

A numeric keypad shouldn't just be squeezed in for the heck of it.....it should be assumed that people who choose a unit with that feature need it, and as much thought should be put into its usability as goes into the rest of the keyboard. Oh wait, I think that's exactly what Asus did here....

I'm surprised you say your touchpad buttons are quiet. Mine are fairly stiff and have a loud click. The touchpad, in fact, is my second biggest complaint. While it's still better than all the others I looked at, and as you say, it's very smooth, I am in fact still having a hard time getting used to it. But I suspect the issue has more to do with the Elan software than the physical component, so I think I may experiment with alternate drivers.

 

Unfortunately i don't have a digital camera, if you remove your hdd cover and take a look at the rubber(ish) strips attached to the underside of the cover that's the exact same thickness and density you need for the keyboard "fix".

I hear the G73 chiclet style keyboard is a direct fit and offers more rigidity though i have yet to confirm this for myself so that's a possible remedy as well.

 

Guys, who has a TV tuner in their N73?
I can´t find any software to use the damn tuner. Driver is installed but I don´t know any free software.
The winamp TV plugin I had on desktop with AVER TV card doesn´t work.
Should I use the AVER MEDIA?

 

The U.S. models don't have a tuner. It wouldn't be much use here, since the cable systems use pretty effective access controls (i.e., you need their tuner boxes or CableCards to access anything worth watching). I believe Windows Media Center has some basic TV/DVR functions.

 

Thanks, Media center works, although it´s a bit anti-customizable in terms of fine tuning the frequency etc. but it´ll do for now.

 

Hi everyone,
First of all Happy Holiydays!!!
I just sign up because i finaly managed to get this beautiful machine. I want to thank for all the advices in this thread.
But I have a question. Is there on the web any disassemby guide for this notebook? Thanks again

 

Welcome! I have not seen any disassembly guide or instructions beyond the basic directions for accessing the HDD/WLAN/RAM compartment. I too would like to see one, so I'll be watching and hoping someone posts something like that. Is there a particular upgrade you want to do that requires more complete disassembly?

 

2Cary Ader
How memory works on your N73JQ: dual-channel or triple-cannel mode?
What program or game uses all from 12 Gb of memory?

 

Dual channel, and nothing that I use needs it all. However, in the past, RAM has always pushed me to upgrade faster than I wanted, so this time I just maxed out early, rather than look for the RAM in five years, should I be lucky enough to still be running this baby.

A few big photos, some vid editing, and running multiple instances of Windows Virutal PC push me up to near 4GB. For now, I'm seriously over RAM'd!

Hatcher, I just want a little more firmness, so your fix sounds good.

Brody, you are exactly right about the numeric keypad, but I'm geting used to it.

Yeah, I'm lucky with the touchpad buttons, I guess, because people take the "quiet" very seriously at the libraries I go to. Mine started out quiet and got more quiet after a few weeks. I hardly used a mouse at all for about a month, so maybe use will make yours quieter too?

I've been doing a lot of typing and...Well, I'm getting used to the keyboard too. I'm really looking forward to using this in my web design class and for network simulations in another class.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

 

well... right now a second HDD, evantually some ram... did you find something?

 

Hi, it´s me again
So I´ve tested the CUDA hack on Adobe Premiere CS5 on my X7B (=N73) and it works (how to do it? Hacking Adobe Premiere CS5 to enable more nVidia CUDA cards | KRAMA i.news - blog.krama.tv ).
When using the adobe effects that are supported by CUDA, you can add even 8 effects to one layer and still be able to view the video smoothly without having to render.
But when you use 3rd party plugins or ones that don´t have cuda support, there´s no benefint.
So for mne, it´s evry fast until I get to color correction in Magic bullet.

BTW, what are your CPU temperatures?
I can´t get below 49-50°C (in high performance mode) and I´ve already managed to get 81°C when rendering a 30 second video. That´s a bit of a shame really, since I´ve hoped to stay under 70...

 

My temps were 39 - 41 C when I had the original BIOS; now, with verion 207, they are 41 - 43 C (for Core #0). Putting coasters under the back feet seems to consistently drop the temps by 1 - 2 deg C.

Back to keyboards...I'm thinking of trying the N71's chiclet, which is apparently the same as the G73, but with no transluscence for backlighting. And $20 less. Wonder if it will work? Asus Store seems to be partly down on Christmas Day...

 

No, I haven't seen a complete disassembly guide, if that's what you mean. But that isn't required for those basic upgrades you mention, since those components are easily accessible just by removing the keyboard and back panel cover. Many of us have done those upgrades (I've added a drive, replaced my RAM and WLAN card, and added an antenna) and they're very easy.

It would really only be for something like a processor upgrade (or maybe the video card if it fails and isn't soldered in) that you would have to disassemble down to the motherboard. For my part, I will eventually want to open it up once in awhile to give it a thorough cleaning.

Interesting..... Can you post a link sometime to show exactly which one you mean. I might be willing to give it a try if it's not ridiculously expensive. Aside from physically fitting the space, the next big hurdle would be the cable. As I'm sure you've noticed, manufacturers tend to design the cable length for an exact fit to the connector. If that's in a different location on the G73/N71, we'd be out of luck. If it's the same, though, I'd love to try it out.

BTW, MERRY CHRISTMAS everybody!

PS: If anybody is looking for a backup/imaging program for more multiple machines, Acronis is offering a killer "family pack" deal through today....3 licenses for $60. (I have no vested interest....I just use the program and really like it.)

 

10 degree difference?! what software do you use to measure temperature?

Even when watching TV via mediacenter, it´s constantly at 73, now that´s not OK! (on max performance settings, on max battery 61)

 

You might see others with the same temps I'm reporting, if you go back through the thread.

I'm using Core Temp 0.99.8. The only time I get up near 80 deg C is when I'm playing Battlefield: Bad Company 2, and that is one notch down from max settings at full native resolution (1600 x 900). (I prefer fluid over perfect detail---and this machine runs the game great!)

What are your ambient temps? Mine are around 20 deg C.

Not sure about how re-applying thermal paste to your CPU affects the warranty...Better ask Asus. If for some reason you DO decide to apply your own thermal paste, could you please post pics of the disassembly process?

BrodyBoy, the keyboard I'm looking at is on the US Asus Store site here: http://us.estore.asus.com/index.php?l=product_detail&p=326

 

I´m using the same software.
OK, so the max temperature is the same as other N73s, since rendering is the most processor hungry process in existence.

Yep, 20 here as well.

To be honest, I´ve changed the thermal paste quite a few times on a desktop and twice on a laptop and IMO there´s no benefit in that after all.

Maybe the temperature has more to do with the fact that this piece was the one in the shop, turned on for about, well I don´t really know how long, could be weeks. So there might be some dust or something else in the vent system.
But I´m not quite shure. Hope this won´t be a serious problem. I had to ditch my previous laptop due to overheating

 

My normal temps are similar to Cary's (~39-43), and it does seem that running constantly at 73 seems a bit high. Does the fan run pretty aggressively at that temp? It should be kicking out a lot of hot air from the left side running at 73, so if it's not, I'd suspect a problem with the fan/cooling system. Fortunately, that would qualify for warranty service.

I agree about the thermal paste, BTW...makes very little if any difference. Now, if there isn't a good thermal "seal" between the CPU and heatsink, that will cause problems, but it's a warranty issue and I'd just as soon let them fix or replace it than try to dismantle the unit (without a disassembly guide) and fix it myself.

 

Now I´m running Mozilla, winamp and bittorent, set to battery max life, everything as down as possible and temperature is 50 degrees... I never got under 50 except peaking

Temperatures around 70 were present when the mediacenter was on, watching tv thru the tuner.

The fan runs very quietly. Runs all the time. It starts to raise the speed around 56-60 i guess, haven´t had the time to test it really.
Even then the gradation is very even and barely noticable.
The speed difference between the high and low speed is I guess, only about 200 rpm.

I´ve tried to render the same project and the temperature was around 75 constantly while rendering. Peaked at 78
Maybe the compound needs to be baked or what

Can someone reccomend a stress/burn-in test? I found Prime 95, is that any good?

Meanwhile, I´ve discovered another problem, like gio26:

Same problem here
I´ve read the whole thread and unfortunately noone had a solution

Thanks guys, I appreciate all your help and advice.

PS: can someone tell me, why does it install the mouse (that came with the laptop, and is branded as Asus) every friggin time I boot up?...

 

Could the temps have anything to do with your CUDA hack? Be sure!

If not...

Ok, here's a longshot for the temps: Check your Power4Gear and the Windows 7 advanced power settings. Make sure that, somehow, the processor isn't set to stay running at a high percentage all the time. In other words, make sure that your minimum processor state is allowed to go to 0% in all power profiles, plugged in or on battery.

Also, proper application of good thermal paste makes a huge difference. This is a documented fact, not just on forums, but in assembly guides and technical manuals. Do NOT overlook its importance. Plus I've seen it do wonders myself on older desktops that had dried and spotty paste removed and replaced with new compound. Even on the best of assembly lines, sometimes the paste just "misses." In fact, thermal paste is one of the critical components of proper cooling.

As for the mouse, did you completely uninstall AND delete the drivers for the Asus mouse? Is the problem that you want the generic Windows drivers to run the mouse? Or you simply don't want any mouse?

Good luck with your thermal issue.

As for the popping, I think you might try completely removing and deleting the RealTek drivers, then re-installing the latest version. Asus support does have an upgrade for those. Then you should do the same for the nVidia drivers (I'm using the ones from nVidia's site).

Better yet, are you willing to do a clean install of Windows first? If so, don't use any of the drivers that came on the drivers disk, just download everything updated and fresh from Asus.

If that doesn't work, and you have the default settings in the latest BIOS, then you have to deal with Asus support--unless you can return to your retailer.

I'm sorry if there is nothing original in these suggestions, but the popping must be either driver related or hardware, and if it is hardware, it sounds like somebody put the wrong kind of relay switch or something into the headphone output assembly when your laptop was put together.

Again about the temps: I wouldn't keep a laptop that was consistently 20 - 30 deg C higher than normal. Just be sure you are using good Core Temp type software and that nothing is set wrong in the power profiles. A clean install of Windows 7 may also make the problem disappear, but I doubt it, if you are using good temp measuring software. And if it is "just" a badly calibrated temp sensor, it is still a warranty/return issue.

And double check that CUDA hack!

 

I´m sure What the CUDA hack does, is enabling the nvidia graphic cards hardware acceleration (that are not oficcially supported by nvidia - only the Quattros are) in Adobe premiere and it´s only used when premiere is running.

All profiles set to 5 percent by default, except the High performance. I´ve changed it to 0 with no effect on the temperature.

I agree that the application is important. However, the type of paste doesn´t.
A funny story:
When I was making my silent PC desktop, I bougth a Scythe catana cooler which is 9cm wide and makes very little noise with high air flow.
I´ve put the paste on CPU, installed the cooler, run the bios, checked temperature... 88°C :-O
So I´ve deattached the cooler and I was in for a shock - Heatsink was so high of the processor, that the compound has barely touched the heatsink! Fortunately, some grinding was all it needed an it workes like a charm now. That´s a shame that someone sells sh*t like this... although it´s a very good cooling fan.

Mouse problem solved - I´ve put the cable to USB/e-sata combo port and that´s shut the windows up

Thank you

Nvidia drivers updated forom their site, Realtek reinstalled with new ones, no effect. It´s probably a design flaw. But I´m about to buy external soundcard since I need something with symetrical output for studio monitors. So it doesn´t bother me much although it´s quite annoying. I bet most of you have the same problem but haven´t discovered it yet.

BTW How do I get to bios? It´s not the DEL button like I was used to

It´s really hard to determine propper temperature of a laptop, but since all of you have 10° less in the same situation as me, something is not ok probably, or it may be within the limit, we can´t really tell for sure.

I could be anything. In best case, it´s some parasitic bloatware I haven´t identified. I was thinking about the win reinstall but I don´t have the install CD, nor any activation key so I´m left with what I have installed now.
Or it´s just dust in the vent.

Thanks again

 

Yes...that was my point too. And that, if it happens to be applied improperly in your particular unit, I'd leave it to Asus or your retailer to take care of it.

For some strange reason, it's F2. (I thought Asus and their BIOS source always use DEL.....)

 

Read this thread by chance after repasting came up here.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/asu...titys-thoughts-repasting-read-here-first.html

 

Interesting read, but it does just kind of seem like one guy's take to me. Maybe valid, maybe not, for the G73.

I personally find it very hard to believe that Asus, whose notebooks are ranked very high on reliability, uses such a poor quality thermal paste that it "dries out" in 1-3 months. Over the past 25 yrs or so, I've built, re-built or upgraded dozens of computers. This very often involves CPU installation or re-installation. I have see only one computer where the paste appeared to have literally dried out. It was a P4 desktop that was about 8 yrs old and had sat idle for nearly a year. The owner said it had started to have so many random shutdowns that it became unusable....a classic overheating symptom.

Computers shut down when they overheat. They overheat when their cooling system (including the thermal paste) can't adequately dissipate heat away from the CPU. I just don't think that Asus notebooks would be so reliable if there were such an obvious weak link in their cooling apparatus.

All that said, the main reason I'd advise deekaysk to let the warranty handle it is that there is currently no good N73 disassembly guide that I know of. It's very easy to mess something up if you don't know exactly how to take a notebook apart. When there are clear instructions available, it's pretty easy and probably worth checking given the temps he's seeing. But without instructions, he could very well cause damage and forego any warranty recourse if it's not something he can easily repair himself.

 

The G73Jh has been plagued by bad thermal paste, you just need to browse around the Gaming Notebook section to verify that. The new models aren't so bad, but there is the occasional complaint. It will definitely void your warranty if you have to break warranty seals to repaste. Usually blowing out the vent and fan area with compressed area fixes high temps.

 

In keeping with the current topic about temps i thought i'd pass this along... i noticed my N73JQ was running a little warmer than what i'm used to, averging 45c @idle so i bought this cooling pad on newegg Newegg.com - Rosewill 15.4"~17" Notebook Cooler Model RNA-7000W it lowered my core temps from an average of 45c to 39c, it's solid aluminum and acts as a huge heat sink drawing heat from your notebook, you can touch it and feels as though you just removed it from your refrigerator, it also matches the color of our N73JQ's and fits its dimensions like a glove, the fans are extremely quiet and hardly audible even in a quiet room, i don't recommed it if you're looking for mobility but if your N73JQ is a desktop replacement it's a nice addition and elevates the keyboard to a more user friendly typing angle.

 

You mention something I've wondered about: do you know where the warranty seals tend to be on Asus notebooks? Are they literally stickers you must tear to access or remove certain components? So far, I've only accessed the basic user-changeable components, so I haven't yet run into them yet.

 

The warranty seals are generally on a heatsink/heatpipe screw and on a mid-chassis screw that would expose the motherboard, on units that come apart from the top through the keyboard (instead of from an access panel on the bottom). They're very small yellow stickers with red text. They are different from the usual warranty void sticker because they have no foil, they're regular paper stickers.

 

Thanks! With a two-year warranty at stake, I figure I'd better know when I'm crossing that line.

 

Hm, what should I say, running idle at 52...
The only time I´m getting 43 it´s when I start the computer. Then it starts to go up gradually

EDIT: actually, the temperature seems to get lower every time I start the computer. Now it´s only about 49

 

Can anyone tell me if this laptop has a backlit keyboard?

 

No, it doesn't.

 

Hello Cary Ader,
I can read in your message#37 that you have changed 2megs with a Corsair 4megs for a total of 8megs. In the message #45 you have then 12megs.
Why did you upgrade? no compatibility between the memories?
Can you give the Corsair 4megs referenties?
My N73JQ have memories from Elpida 2x2megs 204 PINS?
How many Pins have the Corsair?
Greetings from Belgium

 

Selamat, I'm sure Cary will tell you about the specific memory he bought and why, but to address a broader point:

The N73 only takes 204-pin DDR3 SO-DIMMs. Any other memory format would not fit or work in this laptop. The variables are capacity (1,2, or 4Gb modules) and speed (1066 or 1333). Depending on its local configuration, the N73 seems to ship with either 2x2Gb or 3x2Gb DDR3 1333 modules.

 

Hi Cary. Thanks so much for your response. I got my N73JQ from Costco a few weeks ago and I think it's great. I'll go into a lot more detail soon as I compare the N71JQ to the N73JQ. I think I'm even going to do make a video to show the real differences.

One of the huge differences in the LED screen. The N73JQ is so much better. It doesn't give you that horrible strobe effect that you get on the N71JQ.

B&H Photo & Video is solid. I have dealt with them many time over the years and spent over $15,000 on camera and lens equipment. Easy customer service. Had to return some stuff in the past and had no problems. Great company that I always go to first when looking to buy gear.

As for this computer, it comes already with a 1-year accidental damage warranty and a 2-year regular warranty so you can get that anywhere. I just checked and B&H has it for $1,299. I bought mine at Costco for the same $1,299 price. If you are worried about B&H, then buy it online from Costco.

I get about the same results as you. I'm lucky to get over one hour of battery use of the N73. Same as on the N71. Kind of sucks if you have a fly anywhere. The battery will be dead before you board the plane.

Windsong. I agree. You are talking about the color temperature. The first time I saw my photography on an LED display I was bothered. Color are much cooler on LED displays as compared to LCD displays. You can easily warm up the tone by using the nVidia color controls that come standard with the laptop.

I experienced the same thing that Brody did. I wanted to to find an LCD laptop but all the new ones I saw came with the LED screens. The one good thing about the N73JQ is the LED doesn't have the horrible flicker of other LED screens.

Did you end up doing the update? I want to do the nVidia update but I've installed a 2nd operating system so I can dual boot and it works perfectly. Updating the drivers may mess up my other install.

If you did update all your drivers, did you have any problems with your Win7 installed programs?

 

can anyone tell me the hardware ID of the LCD display for the N73jq? (HD+ version), I'm curious to know if it is the same of my g73jh, le me know please! Thanks in advance!

 

Hi John,

It's an LED display and not an LCD display. Mine comes up under device manager Monitors as Generic PnP Monitor. Hardware ID is MONITOR\SEC544B

Hope that helps.

 

Mine too, and I see from my nVidia console that it is identified as a Seiko/Epson.

Selamat, regarding memory, I had no conflicts when I installed the first Corsair module with the original Adata modules.

The model number is: CMSO4GX3M1A1333C9
And they are described as: Single 4GB DDR3 Laptop Memory Module - 1333MHz Unbuffered CL 9 SODIMM Memory 9-9-9-24 1.5V

They have 204 pins.

Why so much RAM? Well, sometimes when I go to Genghis Grill, I pay the extra $3.00 for the bottomless bowl, even though I know I usually am stuffed after the first bowl.

Ummm...future proofing? Ummm...bragging rights? Ummm...fearing the RAM will cost more or be hard to get in a couple of years? Ummm...I could have spent the extra money elsewhere. I'm sure the 8 GB would have been enough. But, if it ever is useful, I'll feel less like a glutton.

But at least readers here who might acutally NEED over 8GB will know that somebody has led the way and proven that the system recognizes all freaking 12GB!

In other news, I had touchpad troubles. I think there was some conflict in Windows 7 Ultimate when the Admin account loaded; my alternate user account had no trouble with the touchpad.

By trouble I mean sporadic loss of control, where the cursor simply wouldn't respond without lots of repeated rubbing of the touchpad.

Simply uninstalling, deleting, and reinstalling the Elan drivers didn't fix the problem. I could see that, even though I had deleted the drivers, when I reinstalled, my settings had been retained.

So I uninstalled and deleted again, then used Regedit to find and delete all references to Elan. (CCcleaner did not help at all.)

That did the trick, and now the touchpad works fine.

BTW, I did try the generic Synaptics, and they have the same problem as the generic Microsoft touchpad drivers: No way to disable tapping, which I have never liked. (Tapping just seems dangerous, especially if you play poker online and you "tap" the pad while passing over BET rather than FOLD! Or you have AA and you fold preflop rather than bet! )

 

I've had 12Gb in mine for awhile as well.....memory is so cheap now that it's a pretty minor upgrade, so I threw it in with one of my Newegg orders a few weeks ago. I think all 12Gb were less than $150.

I tried the Synaptic driver, too, and just couldn't get full functionality out of it. It recognized the Elan hardware and disabled many of its own options. The ones that remained worked just fine, but overall, it left the touchpad somewhat hobbled. (Cary, if you were able to get it to fully function, let me know how. I might want to try it again.....)

Cary, what do you mean by enable/disable "tapping?" Literally, the tap and double-tap functions for "select?" I'm still struggling a bit to get used to this touchpad/button setup, but I think I'd be really frustrated if I had to always use the hard button to select...it's still kind of stiff and a little awkward to use.

What I'd really, really, REALLY like is a way to enable scroll zones on the touchpad. That's what I liked best in my previous Synaptic touchpads and I find all this two-finger & three-finger tapping and two-finger scrolling, etc., somewhat cumbersome in use. I still get a lot of unwanted scrolling, for example, because I didn't tap to release. I keep assuming it's just a matter of all the commands/movements becoming second-nature to me....but I'm not there yet.