Asus N80Vn-GP011C: First Impressions/Review

Honestly, I haven't even transferred over/installed any of my software or files to this laptop yet, and haven't had a chance to game on it yet. However, I am completely satisfied with the construction quality, aesthetics, functionality, and utilities that came from Asus (though I've admittedly yet to play with ExpressGate). I'm very satisfied overall, and pending long-term performance, think that this laptop is great for what I wanted (a nice compromise between a powerful desktop replacement, and portability).

I am admittedly not a mega power gamer (though I do like to get my game on a good amount) nor am I relying on this computer for work or work applications (aside from respective Office suites), but I am a self-proclaimed power user. I'm pretty sure that by tomorrow (or whenever I get all my software/files/settings transferred) I will be in love with this laptop.

As far as comparing against the Sony Z-series, you're definitely paying twice as much for superior aesthetics and build quality for the exterior case, keyboard, and overall physical design, but getting less performance (I'm not 100% sure that "hybrid" SLI is worth it, compared to getting a more powerful discrete GPU). Also, the 13.1" 16:10 display and other features (like Hybrid SLI) are more geared towards portability and battery life. And the carbon fiber casings are true luxury features, because how often do you hear about plastic cases breaking and being the cause of system failure?

 

My own TM8104 also has had its problems. Sometimes the wireless just disappear when rebooted and I had to shut it down and let it cool so it would see it again when started. I'm sorry to hear that you couldn't game comfortably. When playing mine used to get very hot too but never at the point at locking on every game. I undervolted the cpu (a lot) and could even overclock a little the gpu with the thermal overhead that left the cpu. I have the service manual also if you want to give it a try to check and see if you find out what's wrong with your screen but pay attention as once I disassembled and assembled it and was left with two screws that I (still) don't know where they go (maybe just maybe this has something to do with my screen problems LOL).

About the side vent maybe with the Asus it's not such a deal because the low thermal envelope of the P cpu series (only 25W) but I avoided it if I could. Right now I'm using an Acer Aspire 5672WLMi for work and I hate the thing. It gets very warm on the palmrest and touch pad, and it has the vent on the right side. I've never been able to work comfortably with touch pads so I must use an external mouse. So with this laptop my solution was to put the mouse over a book or put something in front of the vent to change the direction of the hot air so it goes up and doesn't reach my hand.

Anyway good luck with your new lappy.

Cheers

 

Yer, i was looking at the 13" 's but they've nothing better than the Radeon 3470, which is nothing compared to my current Go 7700.
I look forward to the 13" comparison shots!

Sweet! I get really annoyed with the latch on my G1, its so stiff and on such an awkward angle.. not made to be open/closed alot i guess..
Good news on the wobble factor too!

Nice and solid + easy to open.. god i can't wait for the NZ specs to be announced!!
..supposedly it's retailing around RRP $3500 NZD (i could import the M80Vn-B1 for around $2700), so should be packing some pretty nice hardware.. blu-ray? P9500..? i can only dream..

Ty again for your help, and commitment to updating the thread, it's been a huge push for this lappy!

 

Comparison pics up, with my roommate's Macbook 13.3" and my Acer TM8104 15.4". It's really apparent the difference in brightness levels between the CCFL displays and the Asus's LED backlit. All displays in the pictures are at max brightness and on the same webpage (nytimes) for reference.

 

Thanks for your input on fan speed. Very appreciated. I have placed an order for one and can't wait to get it.

I could contribute some high-res macro shots if you want.

 

I like the sizes there, although it's about the same width as a 15", it's much better ratio i think.. looks nicer anyways
It's not too much bigger than the 13" either.. I think I can finally justify with myself getting the N80 thanks for the convincing zmatin

Shoot! The display is heaps brighter!! and i can see what you meant by the round edges.. those beautiful curves

Enjoy your new laptop man, will be joining you as a N80 owner in the coming weeks

 

Ok peeps.. This is a common problem with people not understanding how to use Notebookcheck...

You have to click the More Details option to get... well... more details under each benchmark. It looks like a MacBook Pro with a T9400 and a 512Mb DDR3 and a GeForce 9400M (some type of hybrid sli) scored 57 on Fear (max, max, 1024x768) the POS that scored the 27 was an HP dv5 with a P8400 and a 512MB DDR2 9600M GT (max, max, 1024x768).

Notebookcheck is an insanely helpful tool if you actually know how to use it and know what to (how to) look for the info.

It will... When I am mobile (as in, in my car) this obviously isnt a problem. But do to the way my desk is setup and how far I (dont) sit from the screen when it is on my desk this is a huge problem for me. I have a stack of 3x5 cards I put between my had and the vent.

but this is all subjective and easily remedied. All you have to do is pull your hand back about 8" and its out of the blast zone. However, this naturally forces my body back which in terns pushes me back form the laptop which translates into me being to far from the laptop. So i scoot in and the cycle repeats. I just use the 3x5 cards because its mo easier!

But that is just my personal pasture when using the lappy. Just know that if your hand does get in the blast area it is significantly uncomfortable.

Not to high-jack the review, but I would like to elaborate on this. I have the F8. The N80 is just an upgraded version. Based off what I’v seen i have no reason to believe the N80 is anything else other then an upgraded F8.

I thought at first my F8 was quite. Apparently it isn’t. In a average room with average ambient noise levels, the F8 appears whisper quit. However, in a sterile environment it is extremely noticeable how load the fan is and. The clicking on the keyboard caused my girlfriend to grr me in the middle of the night, mumble something incoherent about why they cant make silent keyboards, rolled over and buried her head under the pillows. I fired up my F8 in a meeting, thinking it was going to be quite, and I almost sh!t myself it was so load. Talk about embarrassing… But the noise level seemed completely fine when it runs during the day in a room full of ambient noise. And that little BIOS chime that sounds? Ya that thing is load as F|_|CK! It will shatter the silence in a board room like a woman’s scream.

well if my math is right, and it probably isnt, that is like $1400 USD. I could mail you one for $950 USD lol.

 

I think I am going to keep my vaio Z, and sell N80Vn-GP011C.

I have not got it yet, but I i will receive it tomorrow.

Anybody wants to buy N80Vn-GP011C BRAND NEW UNOPENED from me please PM me.

 

Like I said, I personally don't find the fan noise a problem (as of yet, of course). I rarely find myself in a sterile sound environment, and the startup sound can be disabled via the BIOS.

You have to take Customs and Import Duties into account for international ordering, hence the higher price.

 

Yer ~$1400 USD, but the $969 one has the crappy (T5800) processor (N80Vn-A1).. I was quoting a price from xoticpc for the M80Vn-B1 (intel P8600) which included the shipping and customs fees..
but thanks for the offer anyway i guess..
the plugs would be different too, ie. i would need to buy a different adapter for it.. (we have 3-prong circlular AC plugs.. /.\ they look kinda like that, cept the dot is a verticle line..) plus the hassle of dealing with overseas support if there were any issues..
I'd rather just buy one from here or Australia.. much easier

and on top of all that, we'll potentially be getting better stock parts (like the bluray and tv adapter etc..) so i'll just wait.. i've been told to give it 2-4 weeks by an online NZ retailer..

 

Just curious, how did you determine the battery life and what conditions/tasks were performed?

 

Seems like imtriggerhappy might have a good deal for you, if you don't want to wait for the NZ versions. AFAIK Asus warranty is international, so that shouldn't be an issue. And the prong for the adapter is on the detachable cord part (not the adapter section itself), so that's very easily remedied/replaced. Just saying .

emporiumboutique - The 3 hour run-down was 20% brightness, Battery Saving mode (throttled CPU) and consisted of various internet/word processing use, flash video, and downloading large files over wifi. I also installed various software and games via Steam.

 

That $950 model (A1 I guess?) does *NOT* have an LED backlight, right? Newegg doesn't list it as LED, only that more expensive $1150 model.

 

http://www.excaliberpc.com/589019/asus-n80vn-a1-14.1-notebook.html

On excaliberpc it says it's LED for A1.

By the way, I sent out three emails to excaliberPC about returning the laptop unopened they have not replied :-(

Anyway if anyone wants to buy N80Vn-GP011C from me please PM me.

 

Just keep in mind... I just exported a 14" laptop, 8lbs totally shipping weight to the Ukraine USPS Global Express Mail for $50 USD.

To the best of my limited understanding, you cant, as of now, get them with OUT the LED.

Not that you would want to... But I'm holding out for the 1440x900 version if ever there will be one.

 

It's been stated that only the WXGA displays are LED backlit (meaning 1280x800). Any higher resolution screens will be CCFL backlit.

 

All N series equipped with a WXGA screens are LED (at least for now). So, the N80Nv-A1 does have a LED panel.

 

zmatin-

Take your cheap *** down to walmart, buy a $3 screwdriver, and pop that inspection plate off! I will paypal you money if I have to! I HAVE to see what is under there. You are KILLING me! lol

 

Haha at this point, I'm just not doing it to see you get all worked up and in a tizzy! I still don't get how you think that you can eyeball it out and swap non-MXM GPUs. I just don't want to see you brick two perfectly good laptops!

 

Well the GPU pops right out of the F8. No adhesive. No nothing. Just some thermal past. I'm hoping, HOPING that Asus used the same GPU form factor with the 9650M GT.

At this point I have no real compelling reason to believe that they don’t share the same PCB form factor.

If you compare the GPU in the F8 to a standard MXM GPU it appears the die is on the “wrong” side of the PC board. Clearly, from what I have seen, Asus is using a proprietary design for their GPU’s. I’m hoping that design carries over into the N80.

My heart is futher lifted when I see the Best Buy one has a 9600M GT in it… Clearly they made it somewhat friendly to put what they want… Hey, after all, maybe Best Buy could have just as easily used old Radeon 3650 stock. Lol

Now, at the BIOS lvl the lappys may drop me the middle finger. There is no way to tell how thats going to go. But if they look identical from a mechanical aspect I am going to do it.

 

I don't know how the GPU swapping works, but I thought nvidia and ati GPU need different bridge chip to interface it?

 

Alright, alright... there's some pics for you at the end of the slideshow for you to drool over pico1180. Satisfied?

 

yer, in terms of wait-time, importing would be best, but i don't mind the wait.. plus exams start next week, so i'll be studying.. don't need a new lappy to distract me
Also the chance of getting an upper-spec'ed model has got me sitting on it.

Thanks for the offers, but i'll stick with my local peeps

 

I LOVE YOU!

 

No prob - hope this puts some demons to rest for you, though I'm pretty sure it'll give birth to more, haha!

 

btw. i love your photo hosting. it isnt blocked from my work computer. photobucket is. props to you... google photo hosting?? hmm...

 

Picasa - it's the best. Get familiar.

 

which right now i cant get to my own freaking picture to compare to yours. but recalling from memory they look identical. i will need my pic for a closer comparison though.

 

I'm very interested to hear about anyone who has successfully gotten XP working on this model. It looks wonderful, but the lack of drivers for XP has me a little scared. (For me, Vista is absolutely NOT an option!)

Do you think it's reasonable to expect that ASUS may provide XP drivers in the future for this model? I know that the F8sp, for example, does have XP drivers...

 

Just based on the pictures I took, they look fairly similar, but that's to my untrained eye. I'll open her back up in the morning and see if I can get you some more detailed shots.

Actually, they do look like very similar pin configurations, but I can't zoom in close enough on your pics to tell. It looks like there's 10-15 pins, then a notch, and then the main stretch of however many pins. If you click on the slideshow I have up, you can directly download the full resolution pics that I took to count.

 

Oh! Kinda like photo bucket, but with much better/clearer privacy settings?

lol

hey, if you cant hack on your slef who can you hack on...

but ya... i count 12, a brake, then a row of too many to count. is that what you have?

what about the bios? i have v02.59 American Megatrends.

 

I'm in the process of installing XP on mine right now. I didn't get it until 7PM last night so didn't have much time to work on it (GF was getting jealous of the new toy).

 

Yay Snapple37 - How do you like it so far?


pico1180 - Here's all the info I could pull from PC Wizard for details on the BIOS.
-------------------
Manufacturer : American Megatrends Inc.
Version : 206
Date : 10/23/2008 (mm/dd/yyyy)
Address : 0x0 on 1024 KB
Copyright : (C)2006 American Megatrends, Inc
Motherboard ID : 64-0100-000001-00101111-102308-Cantiga-N80VC206
DMI Version : 2.5

 

Hey snapple, if you are successful to install win XP, can you please post up the drivers, thanks. i am going to place my order today with newegg.

 

This soooo reminds me of my old W3J I think I might be picking one up!

 

I just realized, GPU-Z claims that 9650GT only has TWO ROPS?!? Oh, but it doesn't know what that hardware is, so nevermind (wish there was a REAL GPU counterpart to CPU-Z )

Oh wow, thanks guys! Geez...$900 that's pretty tempting. It would still run games "okay" I guess, and Fold okay. I'd normally gladly spend more for the faster CPU ($250 more I guess it would be), but since I'm kind of scared to get an Asus to begin with, that might make it a bit more palatable. Should still run Blu Ray movies okay, I hope.

 

Great job so far Zmatin! Really appreciate you posting your detailed experience and pics here.

Right now I'm curious about a few things before I make the plunge:
1) How is the contrast ratio on that monitor so far. Mainly, are the blacks really black or just kinda gray. How is the horizontal viewing angle?
2) During intensive use (demanding gaming or benchmarking) how hot does the wrist area get?
3) Also, just curious all around about the gaming performance! The talk about ddr3 9600m gt vs. ddr2 9650m gt is driving me nuts.

Thanks in advance!

 

These just use DDR2 right? That's...the worst thing there seems to be about them, and even then, for the price...!

I hope these would hold up okay for Folding.

 

I'm having some issues installing XP, I'm getting a BSOD. I'm guessing it's an issue with SATA drivers, so I'm working on slipstreaming Intel drivers into my XP image.

I'll keep you posted on the progress. I have 3DMark/Fallout 3 benchmarks on Vista, and will post a comparison to XP's performance hopefully today... if I can't get it done today, I won't have time until next Wednesday (traveling without the laptop).

 

If you don't slipstream, then you'll have to change your SATA settings to compatible mode in your bios.

 

I think I needed to do both, the slipstream didn't work and I found the compatibility mode also. I'm almost done installing, hopefully drivers won't give me too many problems....

 

Can't you just hit F6 during setup and install the drivers off of disc? Or...actually that might be hard because you'd have to FIND the drivers, and XP's setup only sees floppy drives I guess (?)

 

This is my quick summary. Just got my laptop 4-5 hours ago. Been optimizing it. It is most of what I expected. Glossy, with the fingerprint trapping finish.

The keyboard exhibits a bit of flex which I can deal with after some time. I use to have a T42 so the keyboard for that exhibits no flex whatsoever. Another design constrain is the location of the fan. I am right handed and the vent is on that side as well so I could feel some hot air blowing when I move around that area with my mouse.

I also feel that it is missing the dedicated volume control. There are hot keys for it but I feel that they should have take over the dedicated button for the splendid and etc.

Now to the pros. After deleting and tweaking some of the options this computer run pretty fast on Vista. This is my first computer with vista but I feel that it is faster and more responsive than XP no doubt due to the awesome specs.

For the price (below $1k after cashback) I feel that it is pretty good. It is not perfect but I was expecting it.

FYI, I was contemplating between the T500, W500 and XPS 1530 before buying this. None of those laptop could be had for the price of this configuration.

 

I agree with everything you observed in your review (aside from the XP installation - I'm great with how smooth Vista is on this system, as you saw), and sorry for not accurately reporting the keyboard flex that you asked about in the beginning. I'm fairly adaptable and I've picked up on this new keyboard (compared to my old Acer's) and actually like it better than the one I was used to. I feel like it's almost a bit cushioned because I can type quite heavily/emphatically sometimes and it reduces the beating on my fingertips.

Most of all I liked your way of stating that, simply put, for the price nothing else comes close to this laptop's specs. There were a few things that I would have ideally liked to have, but when faced with the prospect of sacrificing performance for some of these features, I leaned towards a high performance to price ratio.

I guess I never detailed my search specs for when I was laptop shopping, but here they are (so people can understand why I like this laptop as much as my reviews say).

Price: ~$1000, a little under preferably
(The $200 live.com rebate was the clincher for me)
Screen: 13.3"-14.1" - Resolution not terribly important.
(Had WSXGA+ resolution on last laptop, and wasn't going to miss the small print, and though I loved the real estate, I wanted a more portable notebook)
Processor: Intel C2D P7xxx/P8xxx 2.0GHZ minimum
(For power consumption and performance)
HDD: Anything 250gb and up / 5400 RPM not a prob.
RAM: 3gb+ DDR2/DDR3
GPU: Nvidia 9300m/9400m/9600m w/256 DDR3 or 512 DDR2
(Have had an ATI card that has been nothing but trouble before this, and was ready for a change)
Other: 4xUSB2 ports, E-Sata, HDMI, 802.11 BGN, BT, Card reader, DVD burner, Webcam, Fingerprint Scanner, LAN

Only thing I would have really loved to have had was a back-lit keyboard, but that was the one thing I was willing to let go because I am a solid touch-typist. And I felt like the LED-backlit display was more than a fair trade.

 

Have you or has anyone put the reference desktop drivers on there without incident? (No overheating issues or anything?)

ie forced them to install?

 

You don't have to be sorry man. It's pretty subjective. I'm typing on it and it feels better now it is slanted on my notebook cooler.

Performance wise I'm pretty happy. I could spend another $300-400 more on a laptop which could remedy some of the cons (i.e. slight keyboard flex, dedicated volume buttons) and it would still not be the perfect laptop. I rather save that and be really happy with this.

I'll probably install Spore in a day or two. That's the only game I have currently. The GPU would probably be overkill for that though. =O

And I do love the LED display. It is BRIGHT. I couldn't believe how crappy my other external screens look compared to this. It is like seeing the light... literally. However do you have any idea why they put a sticker below the laptop and the box saying that the screen on the laptop has mercury in it?

AFAIK LED is better than CCFL because it is mercury free. Odd..

 

Probably just a generic sticker job / precaution to cover liability. I had a quick round of TF2 and it looked *great*, though obviously not pushing any barriers. I'm holding off on buying FO3 until the weekend proper.

 

I have XP successfully running on mine now. Been kind of busy so I've been working on it on and off, but have some differences in benchmarks also. I'll probably post a summary later tonight.

 

well done,

interested to see how you did it and how it compares..

 

Yes, eagerly awaiting your update on how you got XP working!

Also, I realize it's a lot to ask, but do you have any way of letting us know whether you were able to get firewire working in XP as well?