Asus N80Vn-GP011C: First Impressions/Review

well because it's bluetooth, you have to go for the N80Vn-GP011C as the A1 and X1 model lack the bluetooth ability.
Although, when i was looking around i found that if you get a custom A1 from Xoticpc they come with the Bluetooth thing. (emailed the sales team and they confirmed it for me, though i would double check that.. people say anything, although the bluetooth functionality is listed..)


all this talk of the N80 is making me restles.. lol.. i'll be at the bank in the morning, then it can start on it's journey to me

small question for the N80 owners.. does it have a wireless switch on it like the M50?
I'm just curious.. i'll check the photos..
[edit] nope.. not according to what i can see anyways..

for those wanting some more photos:
http://www.excaliberpc.com/Products/ImageGallery.aspx?id=589020&index=5

 

sorry, but the N80 is not a option for me anymore after a review

the display is bad (almost standard for Asus), therefore the good price.

180cd/m² average and bad contrast = no for me

 

EAPOCS: What review did you find for N80? thx.

anyone: How much difference between Asus N80 and F8VA. Obvious diffs are the screen resolution and graphics card, otherwise it looks like mostly design materials. thx.

 

It is a german review.

I don't know if there are differences between the the one for the US-market.

Cause 180cd/m² just can't be a screen with led......te figure is just too low.

 

The models in Europe sometimes (often?) have different screens than the ones in the US. So if the screen in the EU is bad, this doesn't mean much for the US buyers...

Also:
Added to Info Booth and to the Reviews & Owner Lounges Index. Thanks!
E.B.E.

 

this would make me really angry......what do they think by making this decision?

 

They think differentiated configuration and pricing according to market. Which basically means getting the most money out of every separate market, which leads to getting the most money out of the global market as a whole.

At least in theory.

Not only screen can be different, but also the CPU, HDDs, etc. Sometimes it's better in the US, and sometimes it's better in the EU, and sometimes it's better in Hong Kong . So there is no reason to bash ASUS in general (although you may definitely object to what they're doing to one model in particular).

 

i have no problem with cpu, hdds, cause usually the will offer different configurations.

but the screen is a no-go.
http://www.notebookjournal.de/tests/test_asus_n80vn_4so19c-749/4

and so far Asus has offered only bad-ok screens for the EU-market.

 

Wow, I just bought an Acer 4530 from BJS Wholesale as a "test run" for this Asus.

Wow - what garbage! (the Acer I mean). The screen is awful, the key-to-response ratio is hideous and the touchpad is just so unwieldy (I'm used to a ThinkPad).

Even the ergonoics are bad.

Question are - Is the Asus that much better in terms of keyboard and touchpad and screen.

...I may be taking last minute advantage of the Lenovo sale tonight, but thought I'd ask here first about the ASUS

 

TomNJ, is there a connection between Acer and Asus. Does Asus make Acer?

I am very intereested in responses to this, as I've been comparing build quality of Asus with both Dell and Lenovo. Have pretty much ruled out Dell, and was leaning against Lenovo, mostly due to lots of (seems like) reports of poor customer service. However, at least according to zdnet.com, Lenovos still rate pretty high. Some feel that Lenovo has declined in overall build quality over last few years, but nothing seems conclusive on this.

I am cosidering the T400, X200, and/or U330 to compare with N80 or similar. thx.

 

Acer is a different company.

 

the model listed on that site is not the N80Vn- GP011C

 

My brother works for a retail store which,among other things, deals with laptop computers. FACT: Acer is their most returned brand of product due to failure and breakages. You are comparing a company to asus. Asus, and most other brands for that matter, will always look good compared to Acer.

If you're going to compare Asus, use Sony (though they are very expensive, you get great build quality+robustness), Toshiba (very good quality laptops, specialising in the performance area), Hp (aim their excellent service and products toward the general market), Dell (quality products with international custom options via their websites) or IBM (thinkpad, and lenovo i think.. don't quote me on that!) (quality, robust, but not exactly the most stylish).

 

Asus is known to be the manufacturer for parts and/or systems for other makers. Thought that might be the argument...

 

Guys,

Yes, I'm completely aware Acer is a different company. I bought it to get an idea of "context" of a wide screen, glossy, 14.1 machine as I'm coming off of a ThinkPad T42.

So, from what I'm reading, the Asus is in a much higher league, but with questionable display quality?

Funny the mention of the T400. Seriously considering the T500 myself.

Actually, right now my big three are:
N80VN-B1
G50VT-A2
Lenovo T500

Very different I know, but I have very specific reasons as to why I like each machine.

N80VN= cheap and portabe with good power and overall game potential
G50Vt = ultimate in mobile gaming and movies (built in blue ray! great graphics card, glossy screen which I'm NOT a fan of...)
T500 = the best "balance" of everything (matte screen, heavy protection, games capable, not too 'tacky', love the tracking stick)

 

Hey guys i have some questions about the RAM of the n80. Which is the max DDR3 ram that I can upgrade it??? It is difficult to change the RAM in this laptop?? Which brands of RAM do you recommend??? What Kind of RAM it use??

 

P.D. The n80 it looks really cool in this page http://www.notebookjournal.de/tests/...n_4so19c-749/4 , but is another model as I know. The GP011C colors differs from the model of the webpage????

 

Well, after MUCH ado I just bought the G50VT-A2 from Xoticpc. Wish me luck

 

It takes DDR2, not 3. According to Crucial's site it supports a max of 2GB per slot-so there's no upgrade possible. It may actually take more than that though.

4GB is fine for most people right now though (and of course doesn't require buying a new OS).

Personally I always recommend Crucial for a variety of reasons (not least of which is that it just works).

 

There is a dedicated button to turn off bluetooth and wifi. It's in with the Expressgate button and Display and Power profile hotkeys, along the bottom right edge of the display.

 

What do you mean Wolfpup with "It takes DDR2, not 3", This laptop has Centrino 2 right, so it should support DDR3 RAM or am I wrong???

@ zmatin
Can you tell me why in your WEI appear 288 GB as your total hard disk instead of 320 GB??? Dude where are those 32 gigs!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Hidden recovery partition and space lost to partitioning/formatting. I'm not ultra concerned about it. I have two 320gb externals that hold all the data I don't need access to all the time and for backup.

And the laptop is definitely DDR2, not DDR3. Check out benchmarks.

 

I know that this laptop comes with 4 GB DDR2 but as I know the new centrino 2 platform make posible to upgraded to DDR3... I want to know if it can be upgraded to 8 GB DDR3

 

Sweet! they'll let me take it on the plane! ty!

 

Thanks! I was wondering about that too and just assumed it didn't have it.

Nope, absolutely not. It's not really an "upgrade" though. You have to clock DDR3 faster than it's clocked in laptops before you see a performance advantage, from what I've read. Basically a wash between the clock speeds and timings offered right now, other than DDR2 is a bit cheaper.

 

I'm sorry, I've probably asked this before, but you can reinstall Windows more or less fresh on this thing from the restore disc onto a new hard drive, right? I plan on picking up a Seagate 7200RPM drive with it.

Hopefully this thing's included OS disc is similar to Dell's. I'm running out of excuses not to buy this...other than Blu Ray, but that I can add...

 

I am very torn right now between the N80Vn-GP011C and the F8Va-B1, and am wondering if anyone has any thoughts. The specific issues I'm considering include:

Screen Resolution: F8Va has higher resolution. I'm not sure how much of a difference 1440 makes over 1200, but some people seem to think 1440 is really great. My eyes are pretty bad - I wear strong glasses - so I wonder if I should stay away from the higher resolution?

Camera Swivel: I don't see this get a lot of comments, but the swiveling camera on the F8Va seems like it might come in really handy for recording lectures. I'm a student, and I would probably make use of this feature.

Battery: I haven't found side by side comparison, but my sense is that the N80Vn-GP011C has better battery life? If so, that's a major plus for me, since I'd like to not carry around the adapter most days.

Processor: The processor is faster in the N80 (p8600) vs F8 (p8400), but I doubt this would make a lot of real world difference.

If anyone has experience with both computers, I'd love to hear about it. Specifically, I'm wondering if there are any differences that I can't pick up in a side-by-side stats comparison, e.g. if the keyboard "feels better" on one of the laptops, if the construction feels sturdier, etc. Thanks!

 

Screen Res: I have horrible eyes too and yeah, a higher resolution on a smaller screen means that letters and icons are very small so it puts a greater strain on your eyes. I've found that the 1440 is only good on a 15.4" screen while a 1280 is great with a 14"

Camera Swivel: Unless you sit in the front of the class, I don't know how useful this would be. Recording a whole lecture would take up a bunch of HDD space. You can shrink it later but still... The audio might be troublesome too depending on how far away from the prof.

 

Less than 24 hours before I get mine, can't wait. Hope I'm back home in time for delivery otherwise I can't pick it up until another day or so. Is there bloatware to uninstall? Any tips on things I should do off the bat? It's my first laptop.
I bought Crysis on sale at Gamestop this weekend so I hope I won't be disappointed on how it runs. Left 4 dead ordered at Amazon but estimated delivery date is end of december Sorry I'll stop rambling now.

 

This is true. Even though the chipset on these new computers would support DDR3, there are no slots for it, so DDR 3 is a negative.

See Info Booth, question #14. Be aware that sometimes, for new computers, that method does not work.

See my Vista optimization thread (link in sig) for bloatware.

In that case, I would definitely recommend the lower resolution.

 

@ zmatin
Do you test and compare the battery life in office/surfing condition and gaming??? How much time do you get???

P.D. The n50 it suppouse to last like 4 hours, I guess thiss should last longer because of the smaller screen.

 

Who has the n80Vn-GP011C or X1 (besides zmatin) that can post more pictures of it, please!!! ty

 

Sorry, what's the info booth? And I thought these Asus systems shipped with an OS CD?

 

Hey guys Do you think that Grand Theft Auto IV will run on this laptop??? At least on Medium Settings??? Who want to try???

 

Recommended specs are:

* OS: Windows XP SP2
* Processor: Dual core processor (Intel
Pentium D or better)

* RAM: 2GB
* Hard Drive: 18GB free hard disk space
* Video Card: 512MB Direct3D 10 compatible video card or Direct3D 9 card compatible with Shader
* Drive: DVD-ROM dual-layer drive

i would say it'll run pretty well, considering F3 runs like a charm at near-hi settings

 

Hey iddy I saw in wikipedia that the minimum requirements were:
* OS: Windows XP SP2
* Processor: Core 2 Duo 1.8 GHz (Core 2 Quad 2.4 GHz recommended)
* RAM: 2GB (2.5 GB recommended)
* Hard Drive: 18GB free hard disk space
* Video Card: 512MB Direct3D 10 compatible video card or Direct3D 9 card compatible with Shader
* Drive: DVD-ROM dual-layer drive

I am a bit concern about the processor... is near to the minimum requirements.

 

It's fairly far above them. Remember it's a bit faster at the same clock speed than Conroe based Core 2s too, plus the 600Mhz faster clock speed.

 

Just picked mine up from Fedex office. Charging now; I'm assuming I should let it charge fully before first use. I'll give impressions tomorrow. Can't give pics though because my digital camera is broken.

 

Mmmm.... me like that lid.

 

GTA4 will struggle on high or even mid-high settings on this laptop. The Quadcore is recommended as GTA4 is full of hardware physics and other very CPU-intensive effects, so your dual core won't be as effective. Its minimum GPU is the 7900GT and recommended is the 3870. And those are desktop cards.

 

lol, thats pretty intensive. aa 9700GT on laptop minimum

 

I ordered one yesterday and will be installing Vista x64 once it arrives. I'll give an update afterwards on how the install goes.

 

Sorry...I keep asking this but I haven't really gotten an answer (or at least one I understand).

Can you use the OS CD it comes with to reinstall the OS on a fresh hard drive?

 

Yes you can use the restore disc on ANY drive that fits in the computer

 

Awesome! Thank you! (I plan on replacing the drive with one of my own, then reinstalling the included copy of Vista, since I don't have Vista yet.)

Hmm...I'm REALLY running out of excuses not to order this. Dang, how about a sale Newegg?

 

How about a $200 live cashback and if you are one of the lucky ones an Ebay $100 instant discount net price $859 for N80Vn-GP011C from like
Ken at Gentech on Ebay store

 

haha, thats exactly what I did. Got mine for $859 at excalibur pc

Got it in today actually.

My initial thoughts:
-Really not liking the touchpad. It feels somewhat "inconsistent." It is hard to explain but basically, it seems like sometimes it will move across the screen farther than the same exact move a few moments later. It is really bizarre but could be my imagination.
-It feels fairly tight and sturdy.
-Keyboard feels pretty good. Typing is perfect, but if I tap on the laptop itself, it feels as if the keys will vibrate. Chalk it up to me being picky.
-The design is kind of weird. I thought it was a brushed metallic when I ordered it. No biggie
-Starts up fast. Even with bloatware still on it, it feels just as quick as my 2.66gz core 2 duo desktop.
-Seems like it has excellent battery life, 3+ hours according to the status indicator
-The laptop is nice and light. That was the main reason why I went with it over a 15" screen.
-Speakers actually dont sound that bad. They get loud too (for a laptop). Definitely blows away my old gateway laptop's speakers out of the water. however a dedicated set of speakers+sub will blow these away.
-(edit.. almost forgot) I dont see what people are freaking out about the resolution. It seems fine (initially). 1280x800 is fine for a screen this size.

I didnt go nuts with the laptop yet. I turned it on a couple of times, each time started up quickly. Played with the internets and such. My only gripe is that it has stupid Norton installed. I'll have to remove that along with tons of other bloatware programs. Like I said it is a very quick machine. Also the internet seems extremely quick on it, quicker than my desktop I mentioned earlier (both are on wireless connections) and the n80 was pulling speeds up to 800kbs downloading, where as the most I've seen out of my desktop is around 500kbs. Its something I need to look into. There are still a lot of things I need to play with it, so I'll post my thoughts when I do. Like I said these are my initial thoughts and can change over time as I use the machine more. My biggest disappointment is in the touchpad but most of the time I will be using the mouse. However, if I'm traveling I'll most likely be stuck with the touchpad. Also another thing to think about is that the more I use it, the more I get used to it and/or break it in. I remember reading on here that it has a stiffer touchpad or something.

 

@redfred18t:
nice, good to see someone else is happy with the N80, 100% of people so far (if memory serves me right..)
makes me feel much better about my descision especially when it's another brownie point for excaliberpc too

the touchpad on my current asus took some wearing in, so im not concerned about it.. well maybe a little..

 

Yeah it could be the issue, just needs some time to break in.

 

I've briefly tried my new N80vn. This is my first notebook.

Plus:
-LED screen is nice
-Keyboard was easy transition; not cramped and keys are easy to press and not to much noise when typing
-GPU is a plus: just tried crysis, though only on medium settings: smooth!
-I like the overall design of the notebook

Negative:
-Buttons for touch pad will easily get fingerprints: very minor issue in my opinion
-Norton messages are annoying; definitely need to get rid of it. Already bought a different antivirus
-Touchpad as already mentioned not smooth. Changed settings to increase sensitivity and this helped somewhat
-Wish office was installed but is only a trial version.


Still need to fully discharge battery to see what it's like. Seems average from initial testing but was not paying attention to the time really. Also I think bootup time will hopefully improve when I uninstall some stuff. I'll update later.