M50Sv: Review & Owners' Lounge

where is that on the driver disk?

 

I'm not sure what you mean by calibrate the battery.

 

If I remember correctly, it should be in the Audio folder

This should help.

 

Cool chicko thanks.

 

Hi,

First off, I live in Australia and I am looking at buying a new laptop in the very near future. I currently have an Acer Aspire 5100 that has caused me grief over the couple of months (it is in repairs for the 3rd time in 2 months!!!). I am very disgusted at Acer's service. Long story.

I was set on buying a Dell XPS M1530 as a friend has one and it seems like a good machine, until another friend recommended the Asus M50sv to me. He also told me that Asus are one of the most reliable laptop manufacturers in terms of quality and service. True? That's what I'm looking for after my saga with my crappy Acer. A good quality laptop that will LAST!

After reading through most of this thread and the review at the start, I must say that this laptop is growing on me. It looks great and has some nice specs for its price here which I can get for around $1656 with the RAM upgraded to 3gb from the stock. With the XPS being a couple hundred or more dollars (and only with a 256mb graphics card as standard) for the same specs, I am seriously considering the M50sv-A1. Is this a very underrated laptop? Because I have not seen anyone with it, but it seems such an awesome laptop.

I will be using it for general use(at home and at University) not necessarily for high performance games, but mainly for 2D and 3D graphic rendering programs for my course such as AutoCAD, Sketchup and Revit which really need a good amount of RAM and graphics. So these specs really appeal to me.

So is this laptop the way to go? Any Aussies here who have purchased it?

 

Well believe me, with either the Dell or this Asus you will be very happy.

I upgraded myself from an Acer too. A travelmate 4402. God that was an awful laptop compared to this one... It had so many overheating issues, and very crappy build quality.

For the uses you mention I believe it will be more than enough. the video card is very powerful. As long as you don't do anything super heavy on it you wont have problems with the programs you mentioned. I worked with AutoCad, ProEngineer, Unigraphics etc even a little Inventor and this was with my old Acer with an Ati X700 64MB card and AMD Turion 1.6ghz. I am pretty sure you will be fine.

But what can I say? The Asus M50sv has great build quality, excellent specs and lenghty warranty all for a very affordable price. I heavily recommend this machine to anyone looking for an affordable powerful computer.

 

Yes, Asus is relatively underrated due to the lack of advertising. However, it is one of the best ODM (Original Design Manufacturers) that not only make laptops for other companies (such as Sony, Dell, Apple etc), but have also recently entered the consumer notebook market where they directly sell notebooks to the end consumer.
As for places to buy in Australia, the only place I know is P4Laptops. I believe Bunsie (another NBR member from Aussie) purchased from that site too.

 

You'd be better off using Avira AntiVir Personal instead of AVG. AntiVir has consistently tested better than AVG, is easy on resources, and doesn't inject itself into your browser like the latest version of AVG does.

 

Christos,

This laptop is awesome man. It has many great things. It is easy, light, quiet and Fast. I did a lot of research on very many laptops, I wanted something that will last me a while, something I can squeeze the juice out of. I upgraded to 4GBs and a 64bit Vista and put in a 7200RPM hardrive. This badboy is running like river water.

Think about this, ASUS has much more money left over after Dell has advertised that they can invest in their products. Like Emporium said ASUS MAKES computers for Dell, Mac and Sony. It has made computer parts for YEARS. It is completely reliable and cutting edge. You will get your bang for your buck on this bad boy. I also hear that the Customer Service is good too.
Another Key selling point for this laptop is the Warranty. How much will dell charge you for a 2 year warranty? ASUS has it in the bundle for free my friend.

To me it was a no brainer.

Good luck.

 

Nothing happens when I click on the icon for it. any ideas?

 

Go to my computer and click explore on your optical drive. You should be able to open the Audio folder and then double click on the 'SETUP' file.
Btw, are you using Vista or XP?

 

I'm using Vista. That worked. I was going into the Vista folder in the audio folder and trying to install it from there XD and now that I have this installed it also fixes the other problem that I was having, the microphone input volume was set too low.

 

Alright guys, I'm buying this thing on the 15th. But i'm confused on which one to buy. The one with the ati 3650 or the 9500. Please HELP...and will it take 800mhz ram cause i got the OCZ ddr2 4gb 800mhz collecting dust...tia

 

That's great!

If you're concerned with gaming performance, stick with the 9500m GS GPU.
The 800mhz ram will work, but the notebook will only register it as 667mhz.

 

Yea thats what i was starting to think...is it upgradeable

 

you'd think the 1gb vram would be better but it looks like its the same.

 

Is what upgradeable?

I know the GPU isn't and you can't make it use RAM at 800 MHz either.

 

well the ram easily overclocks to 800mhz that comes with this laptop lol, and i would go with the hd3650 in this notebook, here is my vista score in this laptop with the hd3650, this gpu performs better in higher resolutions from what ive tested, but both are about the same, each having stronger and weaker points

 

I thought i would ask this in here than start a new thread. I installed linux mint on the d partition since i messed up vista and i wanted to play with it before i ran vista recovery. well i ran vista recovery and told to it restore the entire drive back to two partitions. when it finished and restarted, grub bootloader pops up and give me an error. I think what happen was linux mint install grub onto the recovery partition, so vista recovery wasn't deleting it. So i cant get vista back until i remove grub from the recovery partition, assuming that where its at, But what my question is. How can i do that with out completely wiping the recovery partition? I would rather not lose it, even tho i do have the dvd.

 

Linux Mint FTW!!! The simplest thing to do is to install Vista and then Mint. I've always done it that way. If I install Vista after Mint, I use a Vista boot manager:

http://www2.arnes.si/~fkomar/xosl.org/home.html

PS-are you using Elyssa?

 

Yea it was Mint 5(Elyssa) i don't like mint much, I like the standard ubuntu layout alot better. I was just trying it out. But i can't get vista back until i remove grub.

 

did you overclock the proc,memory, and vga?
how do you overclock the ram?
all i can do is setFSB for the proc, and rivatuner for the vga.

 

by overclocking your cpu, it automatically overclocks the ram, for a guide on the vga OC, i made a little workaround for it
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=258569

check cpu-z to see what you ram frequency is, and multiply what cpu-z says by 2 to see what speed your ram is..so mine says 400mhz...which means its running at 800 right now

 

Hi guys! New to the forum! Anyways I just picked up my M50sv-a1 a week ago and its great! One thing though, does anybody have a problem with their webcam? Whats happening is that I will be using MSN or even life frame and it will suddenly stop for no reason at all, I have done everything from reinstalling the driver, clean install of Vista 32 and 64. Its still persistent, I get maybe a few minutes at most... Its driving me crazy! Any help would be appreciated! Thanks!

 

I just ordered my asus m50sv-a1 also but had a quick question. I plan to buy a 22 inch lcd for home and plug this baby into that monitor. I want to have a bigger screen at home but was wondering would i be able to have my 22inch lcd running at 1680 x 1050 when this laptop is 1440 x 900 resolution ( not sure how it works when using a dual monitor display that is capable of a higher resolution. ). ( also is this possible? to plug a 22 inch lcd to this laptop? )

Any help would be great, thanks!

 

okay, so memory is currently running on 361mhz.. is your fsb:dram ratio is 3:5 too?
btw what's your temp? my proc won't go more than 2.9Ghz.

 

Yeah you'll be able to. The 1440x900 is the pixel limit for the laptop's monitor. The graphic card itself can run at much higher resolutions.

 

GUYS!! I NEED HELP!!

I have o use a special software for my Work. The software maker doesnt have a VIST 64bit version out. Is there a possible way to modify the program and make it work? ...

If not.. I'm thinking I might have to buy Windows XP professional 32bit.
Will this recognize my 4GB of ram?
Emporium, did you lose any thing from switching to XP? i feel like i'm losing an arm. I really liked Vista..
Am I still going to be able to use all the functions that vista allows me to? what do I lose? what do I gain?

Please tell me that we can modify the software and make this program work!

HELP ME!!!

 

When you re-install Vista, it will overwrite the MBR and reset everything.

 

You can't modify the software and make the program work... unless you're one of the Microsoft Vista programmers...
I'm not exactly sure what you mean by "losing anything from switching to XP".
Do you mean the differences between XP and Vista? You will lose the pretty interface, Aero, windows search, sidebar, automated defrag, defender, etc. But you will gain speed with XP.
The easiest way for you to do is backup all your data, format your hard drive and install/slipstream XP. All the XP drivers are listed on pg 77 of this thread. The only thing that I still can't get it to work is the infrared receiver. Someone posted that driver here, but both Ken (from gentech) and I still can't get it working and the device manager shows that windows can't initialize the hardware, hence can't be used.
As for ram, XP 32bit only recognizes 3-3.5gb when 4gb is installed. I strongly do NOT suggest you install XP 64bit due to driver issues with that particular OS.

 

Thats what i thought to, but the recovery dvd wasn't overwriting it. I i got it fixed tho, i had to find the vista 32-bit recovery cd online and go into the recovery console part of the installer.

 

Has anyone tried this Driver Magician Lite for saving drivers, so re-installing new software, like jumping from home premium to ultimate....does it work or is there something better.

 

any bsods /bugcode_usb errors ? was having a whole mess of problems with the first unit of this noteboook i got like that myself, all starting with the webcam.

try reinstalling the web cam device/ drivers/ lifecam. failing that you might get stuck doing what i had to- exchange it for another unit of the same notebook. seems these m50's are rock solid stable when made properly, but if they ship with even small issues you will never be rid of them without replacing the unit.
(and never let anyone goof with the rotating camera, every idiot and child nearby wants to rotate it the wrong way >< )

luckily those small issues always make themselves obvious right out of the box, instead of creeping up on you months later..

 

Hey guys I had a problem with a e sata drive hook up and was wondering if you guys can help.
I bought an hitachi travelstar 200gb 7200 rpm when i bought the asus so i could upgrade it eventually.
I bought an azio usb 2.0 + e sata enclosure to put it in to copy everything, and i got everything set up except when i plug it in either by USB or e sata, it doesn't recognize the drive. I can see it on the remove hardware safely page, but does not show up as a drive in "my computer"
This is the link for the enclosure:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817106099
The manufacturer claims in a reply to someone saying it doesn't work with vista that it's fully compatible and to make sure the OS is up to date.
I have service pack 1 installed, so i dont know what else i would need.
ANyone got any ideas?

 

and usb drives are recognized properly and accessible correct?

hmm thats an odd one- does it show up in storage devices under start>settings>control panel>administrative tools>computer management>storage>disk management ? if not then there's something a bit more serious going on. if it does show up the check drive letter assignment and partitioning/filesystem.

(notes: drive 0 is your notebooks hdd, cdrom 0 is its inbuilt optical drive, any additional drives are either virtual cd/dvd such as from alcohol or daemon tools, or an external drive added. so a ~200gb basic drive 1 would likely be your external if one shows up.)

 

hey, i'm just curious...
what's the cause of failing on orthos test?
is it because lack of cpu voltage?
or is because the voltage is too high that the temp will go too high?
or what else?

thx~

 

hmmm, the only time I failed an orthos test was when I was undervolting and had the voltage too low which made the processor unstable.

 

hi,

does anyone have test the hdmi output on a fullhd tv? What's the max resolution (1920x1080@60 or less)?

And, did someone buy the -b1 and try to read a blue ray disk on tv?

thank you.

 

I used mine with my 46" Sharp 1080p LCD with no problem. The Blu-ray version should not be any different (I didn't get the B! since I already have PS3). The only thing that I have heard that you'll have to watch out for on the B1 is that if you want to update to newer video drivers from other source (like Laptopvideo2go). Make sure you get the signed WHQL version or you might have problem with HDCP on Blu-ray playback.

 

This has been great info...maybe you guys can help me make a decision.

I bought a 15.4 Macbook Pro (tired of antivirus programs bogging down)
2.5GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
2GB memory
250GB hard drive1
Double-layer SuperDrive
NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GT with 512MB

I love how fast it boots and comes out of hibernation, LED screen, solid design.
I dislike the mac version of office. My iPhone synced better with Outlook than Entourage.

I started looking at the Dell M1530. But it only has 256 MB video memory...then I came across this great thread.

1) It looks like the M50SV-A1 specs pretty close to the Macbook. Do you agree that with like operating systems they should perform the same? Any advantages or disadvantages to either?

2) I love the mac weight and form factor...but I can cut a pound out of my laptop case to get the Asus number keypad? How do they fit that in? anyone having issues with the size?

3) This may just be the operating system...but I'd love to keep the same boot times & recovery times from hibernation that the Mac has? any comparisons on what you're seeing with yours in XP. Hibernation on the Mac closes down in less than 10 seconds and recovers in about 4 seconds. Boot up is about 30 seconds.

4) My gaming consists mainly of Bioshock, Command & Conquer...been meaning to try Crysis. Would like to stay with Vista Ultimate (so I can fax). But its mainly a work PC that I use to game while I'm on the road.

Just looking for general advise...stick with Mac (Boot camp XP to play games)? switch to asus and finds ways to keep it quick as Microsoft adds more and more updates.

 

The M50 seems to be a decent price/performance machine. I have also considered the XPS and the 8600GT from Sager.
I have asked advice from a few users regarding this future purchase, and would like to express my many thanks to Justin from Xotic, Ken form GentechPc, Donald form Powernotebooks and HaloGod2007.

 

FYI, the Dell m1530 uses the 8600m GT 256mb GDDR3 GPU while the Asus M50Sv-A1 uses the 9500m GS 512mb DDR2 GPU. To put it in layman terms, GDDR3 memory provides better performance. However, because the 9500m GS card is a die shrink (basically smaller), it is more efficient. So in terms of performance, the graphic cards between the 2 are similar. The 8600m GT w/ GDDR3 is about 5% faster than the 9500m GS DDR2 in benchmarks.

So to answer your questions....

1. MBP is lighter, but more prone to dents if dropped. Screen on the MBP is slightly better. M50Sv screen is very bright too, but battery life falls short though (2 hours). There's just so many differences to list, and having both the MBP and M50Sv, they both are excellent notebooks and have their own unique features.

2. Numberpad is great. no disadvantages with that. I use it on a daily basis without any problems

3. Impossible, unless you don't install antivirus, disable firewall, and any other startup programs OR install a SSD hard drive. Like you said, it's an OS issue. OSX is simply faster.

4. Gaming will always work best with a PC.

 

Thanks for the advice. if the number pad is a big deal I guess I can get USB. Good point on the video memory. I upgraded my video card on my home desktop from DDR2 to GDDR3 and it was a huge improvement. I think I'll stick with the Mac & 512 of GDDR3. I'll force myself to love the mac version of office. Now, off to get started on bootcamp.

 

Im getting Vista not genuine error on my laptop and i just received it today, it asks for activation giving me options to enter new key/buy new key/contact asus help but i dont know what key it is. Any solutions? Thanks

 

The key should be on the bottom of your notebook.

 

Happened to me twice, just call the 1800 to reactivate it. I got this error even after I activated it one time.

 

I tested the HDMI, and it runs at 1900x1080 at 60 Hz.

 

Just build a desktop if you want to game. No notebook will give you the performance that you require for full out gaming, and nothing matches a nice big screen. Plus you'll need to upgrade your video card every year or so, lol.

 

I have had a few BSOD's but not related to usb errors, they were from trying to get in to Nvidia Ntune settings. I did have this one thing pop up the other day after a reboot, Vista 64 was trying to install an unknown device and it was not my webcam. It was something to do with ACPI IRQ Holder... Anyone know what the hell that is???

 

dont use ntune to overclock your ram or cpu/gpu, use the guide i gave for the cpu and ram and rivatuner or something for the card, ntune will bsod many systems