Asus N73JQ Owners' Lounge

Well, it's the nature of any fixed-pixel display technology....LCD, LED, plasma. It's really just a more sophisticated version of the scoreboards at older ballparks, the ones comprised of a grid of light bulbs.

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The "resolution" of the scoreboard is set by that grid of little bulbs....I'd guesstimate the one in this photo has about a 90 x 30 resolution (30 rows of 90 bulbs, which would be 2,700 light bulbs). No matter what needs to be displayed...the score, the team logo, etc....it has to be formed from that fixed grid of bulbs...those little "dots" of light.

The fixed-pixel LED display in our N73s uses a grid of 1600 x 900 dots...that's a total of 1.44 million pixels! They're more sophisticated than the scoreboard because they can light in just about any color and brightness level, but they're still arranged in a fixed grid. No matter what we want to display on our laptop screens.....our web browser, a Word document, a blu-ray movie, etc.....it has to be scaled by the video processor to fit on that grid of 1600 x 900 dots.

Wow...that's too bad. Wouldn't Newegg replace it, considering that it was defective on arrival?

 

Agree totally

Two bad body, I think NewEgg would replace it for no charge!!! One thing I learned with UPS (in US off course) wait for the shipping guy to give laptop to to you hand to hand!!!!! Well did not learn it on laptops, but on hard drives DOA 2 out of four!!!!

 

I don´t know about your UPS, but our handles stuff like trash sometimes. Broken furniture, signs of wet paper boxes...
Once I´ve ordered hand made shock absorbers for my car and they handed me a box, which looked like a frigggin hedgehog - 3 holes in the box with shock sticking out of them...

 

haha same here, all kind of parts for this baby

came scratched!!!!

Well good new is temps are going down, while my joy is definitely going up. Now I got it why this thing is above 40 degrees Celsius it is quad core and of course better GPU than f3sv I earlier mentioned, how stupid I was to warry about it!!!!!

 

RoadCrasher: nice beast there
I would like to buy this little devil soon:

A Renault Clio sport 2.0 litre, no turbo, no direct fuel injection... yet 203 horsepower, 0-60 in 6,9 seconds.

I drove one of these a month ago and it´s absolutely brilliant: cheat to buy, cheap to insure, good fuel economy, great hadling, very compact, you can´t find a negative review... just trouble free motoring
Not as powerfull as an R32 but brilliant in the bendy stuff.
YouTube - Renaultsport Clio 200 Cup v Ford Focus RS - autocar.co.uk

Renault RS division are insane these days. They´ve made a front wheel drive car that´s faster than a Porsche Boxter, Cayman and an BMW M3, ... Christ, faster than a Nissan skyline or a AMG Mercedes, all of which have 100 horsepower advantage at least!

PS: sory for the offtopic I´m totally into cars, since making a car show is my job

So the topic:
My temperatures also seemed to go down few weeks after usage, so it´s probably the compound thing.

 

WOW!!! well to bed they do not bring it to US. Oh yeah they do not even have Focus RS, the best car Ford has made since late 90s and they do not have it!!!!!!

haha we should get on some chat sometimes and talk about cars casue I am the same way

btw would like to drive one of those rear wheel drive clios.

 

newegg would probably replace for free but won't cover the shipping. a problem from most e-retailers. asus takes care of all cost.

unfortunately they don't handle this the way they do with their motherboards. i had one replaced after 3 years, asus sends you a replacement, you send the defective one back in the box, if they can't fix it you keep the one they sent. brilliant. no down time. although this is being sent to a repair centre only an hour away it may take 3 weeks.

 

What backup/imaging software do you use? I need to do that for me OS partition. I backup every time I change "important" files, but I've never imaged my system drive.

 

Windows has a very good utility for creating system images. Go to Windows Backup & Restore, where you'll find "Create a system image" as one of the options in the left column. The wizard walks you though it....it'll probably take about 20 minutes for a system drive that isn't also used for data storage.

I use the Windows program, as well as Acronis True Image. It's a full-featured imaging & backup program with more extensive options for scheduling various automatic backups, choosing how many versions to save, and so on.

 

I followed suit with a few other N73 owners and maxed out my RAM to 12GB, i realize that's much more RAM than i'll ever need or use but Win7 does seem a bit more responsive i.e. "snappier" though perhaps that's just wishful thinking on my part, i sold my oem RAM for $60 and had a 10% off newegg coupon so my net cost was only $75 so i feel it was a worthy upgrade, however i did notice the WEI didn't change at all (yes all 12GB are recognized) it remained at 7.4 after the upgrade, i never really thought those WEI numbers actually meant anything in a "real world" experience anyway but one would think doubling the RAM from 6GB to 12GB would move the scale from 7.4 closer to the 7.9 max.

 

The WEI memory subscore reflects the speed of the RAM in the system (memory operations per second)....the amount of RAM doesn't impact it at all.

 

Oh ok, thanks for the explanation, so another words one would have to overclock the RAM to see any increase in those WEI numbers? and vive versa if one installed 1066Mhz RAM those WEI numbers would fall?

 

Hmm.....never thought of overclocking an N73, but I'm not sure how that would affect the memory subscore. Slower memory should indeed lower the score, but I don't know how significant the difference would be.

 

Nor was i, i was just asking hypothetically, i realize i should of asked this in the hardware and/or OS forums but you obviously know your stuff so i prefered to ask in friendlier confines.....

on a side note i saw the unfortunate but all too common complaint of the N73's keyboard flex come up again...this link address's that issue albeit it's an eee but it's similar to the method i used Fix keyboard flex completely with double sided thermal tape (Page 1) / Hacks and Modifications / EeeUser Forum .

 

Damn, I just got BSOD (Blue screen of death) :-O CPU temp ok, happened while browsing in mozilla. Very strange...

 

Did it restart okay?

 

Yes, no problems at all after that. It´s also made dump file during the blue screen, whatever that is.

 

Do you know what was the code? 0x----------

 

Thanks Brody. Good stuff. I bought a version of Acronis a couple of years ago but never worked with it. Guess I'll be looking at it on my old laptop.

 

Do be careful, though....previous versions of Acronis TI are not compatible with Windows 7. I think people have had all sorts of problems when they try to use incompatible versions.

 

Thanks for the heads up, Brody!!! Guess I'll stick with the Windows program...easy breezy, my friend.

 

Is there any way to enable one-finger scrolling on an Elan touchpad? i find it very "clumsy" to use...i've found numerous tutorials online about enabling 'two-finger' scrolling on various other touchpads but absolutely nothing about enabling one-finger scrolling on an Elan.

 

I find it very clumsy as well, but I haven't found any other way to scroll besides using the on-screen scroll bar. At least not with the Elan software.

Unfortunately, this multi-touch approach to touchpad design seems to be the new normal...kind of like the way LEDs have virtually replaced LCD displays. When I tried out a new HP before deciding on the N73, it had Synaptic hardware but the control was essentially the same. They (both Elan and Synaptic) seem to have gone all in with multi-touch...to a ridiculous degree, IMO. If you actually enable all those two- and three-finger taps and swipes and zooms and rotates and whatnot, normal cursor-control....the stuff we actually need to do 99% of the time....becomes almost impossible without all sorts of accidental movements.

I had hoped to get more comfortable with this touchpad by now, but even after more than two months, I really don't like it. (I just mean its operational software...the hardware itself is very nice.) Synaptics' Gesture Suite includes a "liner scrolling" capability which establishes vertical and horizontal scroll zones along the left and bottom sides of the touchpad surface. I think that would be highly preferable, but I wasn't able to get full functionality from the Synaptics driver when I tried it. I may give it another shot.....

 

Talking about touchpads, I don't want to talk about mine.

I never know after hibernate if I'm going to have to reinstall the drivers again. I think my problem is a combination of hardware/software. When it works, it works very well, but when it isn't working, the symptoms are weird. Erratic sometimes; other times responds to lots of pressure.

Uninstall and reinstall the drivers, and it works fine again.

It doesn't get that cold in our house, but I still suspect some static electricity problems keep knocking out the calibration. The metal palm rest might not be helping the situation.

A real thorn in the side of an otherwise nice machine. Why the heck, on a high end machine, didn't they just use a freakin' Synaptics?

Does anybody else have Windows 7 Ultimate? Could there be a conflict with it? I didn't have the problem before installing it, but I only used W7 Home for a month or so.

 

I have installed ultimate 64 bit but have never hibernated mine since I have really nasty experience with hibernation, but I will try it when I get done with my HW.

Edit:
Tried it. Nothing happens!!!! Uninstall Elan software completely (including folders in Program Files) restart computer delete driver assigned to it, to do that go to device manager find touch pad and right click on it PROPPERTIES>DRIVER>DRIVER DETAILS. Delete all the files listed in there and restart you computer.

 

Very well said, i couldn't agree more....i think the basic cursor maneuvers (the ones most often used) have been overlooked at the expense of all the fancy "bells and whistles" that are least often used.

 

I'm pretty much the novice but am really interested in this model but for the complaints I've read about the keyboard flex. I know nothing of ribbon cables so I have to ask if laying the ribbon cable flat and reassembling the keyboard was a no-brainer or takes some knowledge. If it's a no-brainer I'll probably order this one.

Thanks

 

Removing and reinstalling the keyboard is very easy....it has to be since you need to pull the keyboard every time you want to access the bottom panel. It doesn't require any tech knowledge, or even any tools, to remove the keyboard.

The ribbon cable isn't really the issue....it's that the keyboard itself is very thin (some might say "flimsy" ) and doesn't feel like it lies flatly against the chassis. So there's sort of a mushiness. The best resolution is to add a thin backing, like thin rubber strips, that gives the keyboard more solid contact with the chassis.

 

I'm obviously biased having forked over $1,300 myself for one of these machines but i wouldn't let the keyboard "flex" issue deter you from buying this notebook, my only serious complaint is it's not true high def 1920x1080 but one knows that before purchase, all in all i'm quite pleased with my N73jq.

 

tottaly agree!!!!! Keyboard is little annoying but you can get used to it.

 

I've got a question I can't seem to find an answer to.

I live in a very cold area (Illinois) of the US. I'll probably receive my N73JQ around the first week of February...and it'll STILL be cold. Knowing me, I'll be the proverbial "kid at Christmas" and want to get at my new "toy" ASAP! However, with it being aboard a typical delivery truck it will undoubtedly be as cold as...well, you know.

My question is: How long do you think I should let the shipping box sit to warm up so as to not produce and condensation and should I sit the box anywhere specific to allow it to warm up as slow as possible?

I'm thinking that at least a 24-hour warm up would be OK. Any ideas?

 

The N73 is not well-insulated inside the box...it's just suspended by a couple chunks of styrofoam.....so it will indeed be cold if it's been in a truck all day.

I would take it out of the box and just let it sit at room temp until it doesn't feel cold anymore on any of its surfaces. You could install the battery and plug it in to get it charged up while you're waiting.

 

Thanks Brody. I really like your fast replies!

I won't be using the battery probably ever because I'm confined to bed 24/7 so I don't have any need for portability. I have a battery backup / surge suppressor as my main power supply plus there's an automated generator supplying power to the house in case of an outage. So, I'm covered!

I can't wait to use my N73JQ.

 

I'll bet you're really excited to get your hands on it!

BTW, I'm speedy because I almost always have an email program open and I get a pop-up notice whenver there are posts here.

 

Thank you, BrodyBoy, hatcher and RoadCrasher I appreciate your responses.

I've tried to read and sort through all the back and forth in this thread but have another question or two if I may:

I've seen mention of the Blue Screen of Death, touchpad issues and having to reload drivers after the machine hibernates. Are these all issues with the N73JQ in its original state or have these issues come about as a result of all the modifications you may have made? (I've noticed a propensity to make major hardware and software changes among those of you who know what you are doing).

I'm really looking for a good machine that isn't going to make me very sorry I've blown my budget six months or a year from now.

Thanks again

 

Ah, that's a good question. With the problems you mentioned, I think all of them were, in fact, on machines where there had been at least a fresh OS installation, if not hardware upgrades as well. But then, most of us here seem to do that...so it'd be hard to conclude that there's a correlation.

Don't get the wrong idea that the N73 is plagued with issues. As I recall, there's only been one BSOD (which are almost always software-related anyway), and I think only Cary has reported a problem with his touchpad drivers after waking his laptop from hibernation. I don't know what caused either of those problems, but they both are isolated incidences so far.

As to the touchpad and keyboard, the "issues" are really about design and implementation....there's no actual flaw or failure going on. Many have complained about the slightly mushy feeling of the keyboard due to the way it contacts against the chassis. That's fixable. Some of us have complained a little about the keyboard layout....it could be better, but it's not awful, by any means. With the touchpad, the complaints are almost exclusively about the software....the hardware itself is actually a very nice design with with good sensitivity and responsiveness. But touchpad manufacturers are now using "multi-touch" control software, and some of us are having a hard time getting used to it.

I don't think the N73 has any "known issues," i.e., hardware failures that have started to occur with regularity or software/firmware conflicts known to cause recurrent problems. It's actually a really great laptop. We just like to nitpick every little thing.....because there aren't any big things to whine about!

 

Thank you very much, BrodyBoy. I think that really answers my concern. I suspect the only modifications I'm likely to make will be adding a bit of RAM (because I really hate watching a computer "think"). If all of you picky folks are happy with the machine I would imagine I will be too. I appreciate all the information you folks have shared.

If I have any other questions I'll be back. This seems like a pretty friendly and informative forum. I sure appreciate that

 

WOW... cold neighbor I am in Iowa, I received mine January 9th, it was very cold I let it sit for 4-5 hours (could not wait more ) the plastics were warm to touch but aluminum was still little cold. I currently carry it with me everywhere (including when I take bus to school), have not hitched on me yet, goes on right away no matter if battery or power.

@outhier I agree with @BrodyBoy, no hw issues except keyboard (layout and flexibility, these are not failures) rest are "coincidences". Blue screen of death could be software as brody said, so you really have nothing to worry there.

 

Hey neighbor! 4 - 5 hours huh? SWEEEEEET!

I got an SSD drive as my main drive to get up and running fast and using my current HP as a guinea pig for programs I want.

Here's to our N73JQ's!!!!

ps. Sorry for the double post, guys.

 

Hey guys since I installed fresh Windows 7 I got a software issue. Before I reinstalled Windows, mute button does not shut down the sound when I press it during boot , and it used to do that when I had stock system . What am I missing?

 

I'm not sure what you mean about the MUTE button behavior during boot. Are you saying that it works normally otherwise?

 

Well, had a bit embarrassing moment today left my speakers all the way up before I turned off computer and got it ready for school. I got to the library set down and turned on the computer all the sudden Windows sound comes out of my computer. Well before windows started I pressed MUTE button, but it does not function anymore outside of windows environment. It used to work when the boot screen comes on press MUTE button and windows sound will not sound.

 

After the fresh OS installation, did you install the Asus ATK utility?

 

Yes downloaded one of the Asus website.

 

I'm going to do a clean install of Window 7 with an OEM (I've used OEM's before so I know how they work).

I don't plan on using the driver disk that will be included with my laptop (those things are hardly up-to-date), but I'm looking at the drivers/utilities page on ASUS support.

So, do I go ahead and and download the drivers/utilities I'll need or should I just let "Windows update" handle finding them?

 

You need to determine which ones you want, then download and install each one from Asus. Windows Update wouldn't find most of them.

 

Thanks Brody.

This is probably a dumb question ...The driver disk will have their names so I'll know which ones to look at won't it?

 

Yes, the driver disc has them. There's a handy program on there called "eDriver" that's basically a front-end for all the Asus utilities and bloatware. It makes it very easy to go down the list and selectively install only those you want.

 

Hi guys,

I´m just wondering, have you got any reliable alternative to the power4gear profile manager? It´s not teribly good. The uhardware button on the left only works from time to time, sometimes it doesn´t want to change profiles, id doesn´t allow for more complex processor management etc.

I´ve never seen a decent one from any of the laptop manufactuers (best so far was the Acer, and even that was only OK, worst one was Toshiba - a flash based application, what a "great idea", control hardware with Adobe flash, that was really designed for multimedia and web...).

But there´s the Notebook hardware control which is fantastic!
You can specify the voltage of processor according to selected power profile, also CPU ratio (where possible), HDD speed, temperature warnings,...
Tweaking the CPU voltage (undervolting to a relialable voltage), gave me 10 degrees less operating temperatures and 30 minutes more battery life.

Unfortunately, by now, it only supports the 32 bit systems. Author is currently working on the 64 bit version (last 32 bit update is from December 2010, so it´s a live project, I hope).

So I was searching for something new. This is what I´ve found:
Batt Cursor
Battery bar
Aerofoil
Anyone any idea?
Even tips for windows built in power management would be great since I´ve only used the on in XP (my last laptop was 6 years old)

THX



BTW: about the BSOD - it only happened to me, once. And everything looks like it was cause by hyberntaig/putting PC to sleep furiously for a week without turning it off

 

Watched BlueRay movie on this thing last night, WOW blown away.