M50Sv: Review & Owners' Lounge

It doesn't really show any kind of bleeding that's noticeable even when it's showing a complete black screen. I've only seen it when I sat too high and the viewing angle was inadequate.

 

My keyboard keys are starting to rub off on the screen... Will Asus cover this under their warranty?

 

Yes it's under warranty, call their toll-free number and they'll just send you a new keyboard and you can keep the old one, they don't need it back.

 

You misunderstood me, the keys are scratching the screens. I am developing etched out squares on my screen.

 

Sorry, I have seen quite a few on S96J and Z96J, usually I can just wipe it clean.

 

Have you been pressing down really hard on the screen cover or place books and other stuff on top of your laptop? The top of the keys are actually flush with the palm rest. The LCD panel is also recessed from the screen bezel as well. There shouldn't really be any contact between the screen. It's quite had for me to visualize how the keys can scratch the screen.

 

So how long have you owned the notebook, and about how many times have you closed it?

 

is it bad to leave the battery in the laptop with the ac-adapter plugged in?

 

I leave my Laptop on ALOT. Is that bad? I close the cover most of the time.. but while I download something it can be like 12 hours ON. The battery inside. Should I take the battery out?

 

Nope. It's fine.

Same here. It's fine. I leave it on 24/7 (with the battery in) and unless I'm installing updates which requires a restart, I just leave my M50 on. Maybe once in a blue moon I would shut down my notebook, but again, I rarely do that.

 

Hi I recently decided to revert to windows XP on my M50SV, everything is working fine, the only problem is the audio. I installed the driver and everything but, I only hear audio when I play a movie (i use VLC), play a game, mp3's, on the other hand I don't hear any audio when I stream clips from the internet, no sound on skype either. Also when I access the Sound and Audio devices from the contol panel it tells me that i don't have any Audio devices..

Any help is greatly appreciated, Thanks!

 

Do you have SP3 on XP? if you do then you'll need to download kb835221 hotfix:

http://files.filefront.com/kb835221exe/;9494950;/fileinfo.html

 

nope i'm with sp2..

 

check device manager to see if the driver is install properly.

 

Hi guys. I am thinking of buying this laptop but I got 2 questions.
Do I have a chance of getting one without any of these problems? keyboard flex/screen flex/grainy screen/dead pixels/keyboard missing strokes. From what I've read everyone seems to just accept the minor flaws.

Also, if the battery life is so bad wouldnt that mean I'd be paying more for electricity? Would it still be a good "bang for your buck" then?
Thanks.

 

hi.. i'm planning to buy a headphone.. Sennheiser HD555..
my problem is...
can this laptop soundcard handle the headphone?
i mean, like, will the sennheiser headphone sound good?
coz i heard from my friends that the sound will not be that good.. just like another crappy headphone because of the soundcard.
is that true?

for example, if this laptop can handle (maximally) on an iPod earphone.. hahaha what a low standard..
will the sound of the sennheiser HD 555 be the same with the iPod earphone because of the audio card?
or there will be improvement due to better headphone?

thanks

 

I don't have none of the problems you mentioned... If you have any of those problems, just exchange or return it.

 

Not true, the only thing that won't be able to handle the Sennheiser's is your ears.

 

i see, so the sound quality will not be affected with the onboard sound card ? bottlenecked
no need to buy another sound card?

 

You're very welcome. I think you will be pleased with your purchase. These forums are great to help iron out any wrinkles that you might encounter.

However with that said, I've decided that Justin at XoticPC did a wonderful job for me in installing Vista 64 and making certain that everything came to me perfect.

 

I have a pair of Sennheiser HD515's and you can certainly notice the difference between them and iPod earphones. Because I live in a small house, I use my headphones more than I use my Logitech X-530s, sounds better that way too.

 

thanks for the reply..
and have you tested the HD515 on iPod?
it supposed to sound better than it is on laptop, isn't it?

but is it worth to buy a Senn HD 5** for listening music and gaming on laptop?
or should i go something lower ?

 

It sounds a hell of a lot better on the laptop than it does an iPod.

And I can't really recommend headphone. I went from a $25 pair of Sony earbuds to the Sennheisers, all I can say is the sound quality is much better. I picked the 515's because they have a wider range, but the bass is better on other, cheaper Sennheisers. I listen to a lot of female vocals/opera, so high range was a must for me.

 

im also an aussie and looking at the same laptop, but from Umart Brisbane, its about $10-20 cheaper.

only a few things i want to know before getting it or a diferent one, the touchpad isn't like the M51sn i believe from my previous post, but the only thing that is not sealing the deal for me atm is the backlight bleed from the screen.
can someone take a few pics of the screen while playing COD4 and watching a movie please?
thanks.

 

wow, thanks for the 'it sounds a hell of a lot better on the laptop than it does an iPod' statement. it makes me sure to buy the HD555 one.. hahhas. thanks man.

i listen to a lot of hip hop and pop stuffs and also watching movies, so i prefer the bass headphone ones. the one on top of my list is HD485, but it doesn't available in indonesia. phew~~

 

OK I got it!

First impression were how super quiet it was.

Screen is decent, slightly grainy, but over all good.

Now... I have a problem!

Ive just put in a DVD, and it wont play, it thinks its a blank disc, but its not! Ive tried a selection of home burnt and commercial dvd-roms and its the same.

However when I scan the drive with my virus program, its checking the files that I know are on the disc!

Have I disabled something I shouldnt have???

EDIT: Apparently theres an issue with Nero that can turn off Autoplay at registry level, found and solved

(slightly) interesting to note that the Keyboard on the UK models is a bit different. We dont have that awkward half height Enter key, but a half size left shift key instead. Key labeling is also subtly different.

 

Was going to answer that "I use Power DVD to decode the .vob DVD movies and it's CLPV function for wide screens." but I see you solved it already.

I'm running a new M50Sv through its paces too, excellent notebook.

 

Hey, just to make sure, that 512MB VRAM on the 9500 is dedicated right? I guess VRAM by definition has to be, but just making sure.

 

Hi guys. Just ordered an Asus M50SV-A1 from xoticpc and I can't wait for it to arrive! Judging by this thread it seems to have been a very good buy and I'm excited. Just one question though, how hard would it be to later go back and replace the screen with a WSXGA+ native res screen? If it's even possible that is.

 

Definately not, DirectX has standardized sound cards. Even the cheapest sound card is more than enough for the human ear.

 

What do you mean by the screen being grainy? Usually notebook manufacturers have at least two LCD suppliers... maybe some have this issue and some don't for this reason. I for one don't have this issue.

 

Yes, it's dedicated.

 

Its hard to put into words without overstating it. Its just perceptible on flat areas of light colour, a very very fine grain to the screen, almost like a slight glittery effect if that makes any sense. If there are 2 types of screen Im sure there are a few owners of this kind on this thread, who can probably say it better than I can.

 

Major Problem Please Help!

I just received my replacement M50Sv, and it has one of the same problems that the last one did!

Can you owners of this notebook verify if you have this same issue or not.

The problem is that when I plug in headphones, it does not auto detect them and change the audio output source to headphones, and even if I go into the audio driver/interface, there is no way to change it to headphones, and it apparently thinks none are connected.

This problem seriously effects me when I try to play CSS with headphones, because CSS won't let me select headphones either, which I think is due to the notebook problem.

I've tried four different drivers, one from Microsoft, one from Realtek, and two from Asus, and none of them correct the problem. I've been in contact with Asus support about this problem.

If I can't get this issue resolved quickly, I may have to return this notebook for a refund, and go with some other brand I suppose. I hate this, because other than this problem the notebook is perfect, I don't want to have to give it up, bit I will if this is corrected quickly.

If you don't understand what I mean here, please just ask me, and I'll try and explain it better.

I don't know if the problem is hardware, driver, or some incompatibility of something with CSS.

So please test yours and let me know. And if you have CSS, all the better.

Thanks


UPDATE:
Asus tech support just emailed me an updated audio driver, and not it seems that it is auto sensing my headphones when I plug them in, which is great, but CSS is not allowing me to change the audio output to headphones, which makes them unusable. Also I can't change my microphone output settings, it stays on full volume. So if any of you have CSS installed, please let me know if you are or aren't having these problems with CSS on your M50Sv.

Thanks!

 

Thanks!
And also how are you finding the battery life? It's supposing like only 2 hours right? Wouldn't that be pretty inconvenient?

 

Battery life is horrible, but what can you expect in a performance notebook?

 

Does anyone have a dock for this laptop?

 

I think you'll have to just buy one of the generic ones from Targus or maybe Kensington if they make one, or some other.

 

oouw.. i see..
thanks for the info.
now, i will definitely buy the headphones. lolz

 

can someone please post a picture of the screen while playing a movie and COD4 so i can see how much backlight bleed there is.
im basically sold on this laptop other than the screen and battery life.

 

How about other programs besides CSS? can you listen musics with media player using headphones?

I don't think you need to select headphone or microphone through CSS, all it does is when you plug in the headset it should automatically takes over the built in speaker and microphone.

 

If you have a good enough set of speakers/headphones, upgrading your sound card from the Intel onboard can really make a difference. Plus, you know, you get the whole 5.1 thing.

 

5.1 is possible from integrated sound nowadays, but only using digital (SPDIF) output.

 

This was posted in another thread by emporiumboutique and I have to say, I skipped the first solution and went straight to the second one and it solved all my problems with missing keystrokes, I definitely recommend this!

 

That's the problem I have. When I select headphones in CSS, it will not apply the setting, it just stays on speakers, which sounds absolutely horrible through headphones. Also It will not apply my microphone transmit volume setting, which causes my voice to be distorted to everyone.

Yes I can listen to headphones with WMP.

Maybe this is a Vista issue, but I have all of the patches installed. Maybe it's a DX10 issue, but I just don't know.

Someone on another forum suggested that I check my CSS config file to verify that it is not set to read only, but I don't know exactly where this file is located and what it is called.

What I did find is a config folder, and when I check properties for my config folder, it says that Read-only (Only applies to files in this folder). But when I deselect this box and click apply, the just revert back to this Read-only state.

 

I get a little over two hours, but I knew I would when I got the laptop. I haven't been in any situations where I need it for more then that without being near and outlet, and if I do find myself needing more time I just might have to invest in a 9 cell battery.

 

Hi guys!
Lot of time is past from my last visit.
And sorry again for my poor english.
So, the asus m50sv-ap025c arrived to me yet in april, and I'm quite happy for this choice.... but i've to ask you something...
What drivers Have I to Install? Now I've the 174.60 installed cause someone said to me those are the best for the 9500m... (but in fact they are modded driver!!)

The second matter is that: I CAN'T PLAY BIOSHOCK IN A REALLY DECENT CONFIGURATION! I think it's unbelievable: because the ASUS G2s menages to run bioshock under vista with all the settings on MAX and a huge resolution! And on my Asus m50sv-ap025c the game sux!!!
The fps are (if i'm lucky) around 20 with everything on high and the resolution of 1280x800... (which is the max resolution possible for my screen)... Can someone explain why this game really sux on my notebook?
It's unplayable!!!
Considering that with the asus gs2 the game works in the best way and that it has a slower Cpu!! and an older Gpu!! (which in fact is exactly the same, but a lot worse - 8600m GT vs 9500m GS)...
So what??


440

 

Bad News for M50Sv Owners!

I've noticed since I got my M50Sv that the hard drive frequently makes a sound like a ping pong ball dropping on a soft covered table or something. Well I was concerned about it and did a little research, and here's what I found out.

It turns out that the sound is caused by what is being considered a flaw in the firmware on the Seagate ST9250827AS drive itself. This "flaw" causes the drive to park the head too often and repeatedly. The drive is engineered to withstand up to 600,000 head parks. Some anticipate that under constant usage this drive may fail in as soon as 8 months of usage.

I've contacted Asus support, and the only thing they said that they could do about it is replace it with the exact same model, which of course will have this same issue.

I like this notebook so much however, that I'm not willing to return it over this issue. So I have purchased an even better and bigger hard drive to replace the current one, and will use the currant one in an external eSATA case just for playing around with.

Here's a link to what Linux users are doing about this problem.
http://seethisnowreadthis.com/2008/05/19/how-to-install-ubuntu-804-hardy-heron-on-the-asus-m50sv-a1/

 

This sucks! Asus should step up and offer to replace the drives (and it should be at seagate's expense, let them take the old ones, upgrade the firmware and sell them as refurbished...)!

 

I totally agree with you on everything you've said here. I just dropped over $250 on a new drive and external case. Got a better and bigger drive now though.