M50Sv: Review & Owners' Lounge

The sound should be the same on both models, it's just the drive that's different

so would you say you it was a significant difference in volume after playing with the controls?

I was also looking at the new toshiba satellite a305 which looks very nice in comparison to the asus

 

Yes, it is a significant volume difference. At first I was thinking perhaps a 30% increase. But then I moved the volume slider down to what I perceived was the unmodified volume level and the slider said 50%.

Now I don't know if with the Visa volume slider 100% is twice as loud as 50%, but that would seem logical. If so, then the volume is twice as loud.

I don't have any db test equiptment. Perhaps some of you guys who do could try these 2 modifications and see what type of percentage change you see. I've tried this with streaming text voices only--no movies, no music. Although I will try both later today.

 

Don't need UAA driver because the new realtec driver has UAA integrated, the sound doesn't work after you install the driver but you do need to go device manager and under system devices you'll see a yellow exclamation next to "PCI Device", just right click on it and then click update driver and the sound will work.

 

Hey Ken do you have any feedback on the loudness of the speakers, upping the volume in the control panel and the dial on the laptop itself?

 

A speaker volume update. I am finding a similar increase in volume with CD play. I'm listening to the original Godspell right now and have the volume at 60%. For this musical I switched it to jazz from bass without any diminishment of volume. I was very impressed by how the speakers separated out the L & R sides for some of the songs.

Anyone who gets one of these M50s should definitely plan to go into the control panel and make some changes to the speaker settings. Great improvement in volume and quality of the sound.

 

Thanks, that's just another plus for this laptop,
I think this weekend i'm going to go check out the new toshiba satellites, and also check out the screens on the asus models that the store has on display
it's gonna be a touch decision, one of the satellite models is 15.4 and holds 2 hard drives

 

I really can't wait until I have enough money to get the M50Sv-A1. Ah ah. With the end of holidays, I won't be able to work. :'( So no more rapid increases in personal funds.

For a tech community, the positive replies to the M50Sv outweigh the negatives, which is odd but a good sign!

And deadmanwins, do you think your 7200RPM HDD helps the M50 be considerably faster, compared to a 5400RPM HDD?

 

Ahhhh, 40% there....not quite half-way, but getting closer.

I chose the 7200rpm hdd. But, as I've read more, it probably wasn't worth the additional price. You can look at Tom's Hardware:

http://www23.tomshardware.com/storage25.html

to get an idea of how 7200rpm drives compare to 5400rpm drives.

 

It's not very loud like your car stereo system but sound quality is very good.

 

Whats this, a 5400rpm HDD comes first in the benchmark ranks? Samsung SpinPoint M6. Sounds sweet.

OH, my funds haven't been taxed yet. And in my signature I'm listing the most that I could be taxed. So hopefully I will be taxed less than that and yeah, have more funds..

 

@ Bunsie - a higher density 5400rpm hard drive can perform similar or even even better than a low density 7200rpm (at least the 250gb 5400rpm out performs the 160gb 7200rpm HDD in the HD Tune benchmark).
As for the disadvantages, any laptop will have their short coming, including the M50Sv-A1. However, you are right about the advantages outweighing the negatives, but this may differ from person to person. e.g. if someone puts battery life as their #1 priority, then the M50Sv-A1 would be out of the question.

 

Very true, 7200rpm drives only perform better with it's same capacity drives, a larger capacity 5400rpm drivers can perform equal or better than small capacity 7200rpm drives, that's because larger capacity drives is more efficient it reads more data per rpm than smaller drives.

 

Thanks guys, good to know these things!
So the 250GB 5400RPM in the M50Sv will perform good then! (Well good for me)
Excellent.

 

Possibly thinking of buying the B-1 version for use as an entertainment system with DVR capabilities. Anyone have any advice on doing this or is it a bad idea with this type of system? Need a laptop, a blu-ray drive and a dvr...sooo I was hoping to wrap it all up into one nice little package. Thinking of waiting on the m70 version but neither know when they will be out or what they will be costing. Also looking at the dell 1730, and the toshiba satellite a305.....so many decisions and my search for the ultimate laptop is driving me nutso!

 

Chasman856: I know what you mean. Took me FOREVER to find the best laptop suited for me. (I needed a business machine for heavy video conferencing, but suitable for gaming while I was away at tradeshows etc etc) I had actually toyed about buying 2 M50's for myself, one a1 (business/games), and one b1 (home theater brain system). In the end, i bought only the a1, but i expect to buy the b1 (or it's equivalent) in the next 6 months.

I have a friend who bought a home theater brain pc (i dont' know what they are actually called) he uses media center and it is truly awsome. He instantly puts up music and slideshows onto his massive samsung tv via HDMI of our whole group of friends at parties and stuff. The one downfall is that he can't pick it up and take it with him. I thought this b1 comp could store alllll your music, pics, videos (with external drive for the bigger movies connected via firewire) and then when you go away to the cabin in the summer, or wherever, you simply take this laptop (and you business one?!) with you, and you have your entire media system in one comp.

Anyway, if you get the b1, and use it for the home theater system, post a review of how it operates and how your system is setup that would be awsome. Cheers, Ryan. have fun buying, I dealt with Ken at Gentech he was superb.

 

Thanks for this note. I'll do it with mine when it arrives.
Ryan.

 

I bought this computer about a month ago and I love it. First things is first SCRATCH Vista (I am sure most of you feel the same way).

I am using Windows XP Professional with no BSODs

I also use:

AutoCAD 2008
Adobe CS3 with an eSata scratch drive (Illustator, Photoshop, Premier, and Indesign)
ArcGIS Desktop (ArcInfo)
BioShock (full res runs fine, but sometimes when the computer comes out of sleep mode and I play bioshock, the FPS are horrible... maybe the 9500 low power function... I will have to look into it, but it has only happened twice..)

Anyway this laptop is a perfect balance of power and portability not to mention all the nice extras... bluetooth, ALS (saves my eye on those long nights), mouse pad links, etc.

I am not sure if anyone mentioned it but all the software and some drivers needed for windows xp can be found at the asus website using the search function while in the download area.

Thanks to GENTECH for linking the other drivers! I found the ITE infared driver on Asus' website... I think, I know I have it installed and it works, though I never use it...

This was a big improvement over my last laptop -- Asus Z81sp (for anyone who knows that laptop you will probably have a private chuckle heh)

 

Hey Ryan--

Control Panel>Appearance and Personalization>Additional Options(at far left of screen)>Realtek HD Audio Manager>Sound Effects....Check Loudness Equalization & Choose "Live," "Bass," or "Jazz" in the Equalizer.

I'm very pleased with the results.

 

Does anyone know when the M50Sv-A1 was released? Thanks.

 

hi,

first of all, sorry for my english, i'm french.

So, i'm verry intersting of this M50 but....

I live in France (paris) and now, our big reatailer named "fnac", sell a specific M50 call : ASUS X57SA-AS015C ( http://micro-informatique.fnac.com/a2250889/Ordinateur-portable-Ordinateur-portable-ASUS-X57SA-AS015C-15-4-TFT-Blu-Ray?Mn=-1&Ra=-5000&To=0&Nu=8&Fr=0)

For me is the perfec one. 2.5ghz, 4gb, BR, 320 hdd.

(i don't want the m50-B1)

From 28 april to 12 may, i will in holydays to San francisco. So i would like to know, if i can find this laptop in SF?

thanks a lot

 

According to Engadget, the M70 is being launched

ASUS lets loose terabyte-packin' M70 laptop

by Donald Melanson, posted Apr 11th 2008 at 2:58PM
We got our hands on ASUS's beefy M70 laptop way back at CES earlier this year, but it looks like the company has just now gotten around to letting the monster loose on the general populace. In case you missed it, this one packs up to one terabyte of storage (in the form of two 500GB drives), along with a 17-inch WUXGA display, your choice of Core 2 Duo processors up to a T9300, ATI Mobile Radeon HD3650 or HD3470 graphics, and an optional Blu-ray drive, among other expectedly top-end features. To make sure no one else but you gets to toy around with all that, ASUS has also seen fit to include not one but two security measures, including the usual fingerprint scanner and ASUS's trademark SmartLogon face-scanning technology. No word on a price, but we're guessing that's a detail best kept on a need to know basis.

 

Thanks for the update on the M70 Mr. Pants. Is anyone interested in it? I'm not a 17" guy myself, I would have one but I wouldn't get one..

 

This has been a great thread, thanks to everyone who contributed.

A question about ventialtion: I dont use a laptop on a table, I use it shock-horror, on my lap , or resting on the bed beside me, for the 'DVD in bed experience'. This means that vents on the bottom can be somewhat blocked.

It causes my current laptop to run a bit warm (Samsung X20) but no real problems. It appears the M50SV has good heat management, but what if the venting is partially ineffective. Plus Im guessing the laptop runs a lot hotter when the graphics card is working hard, which I wont really be pushing too much.

 

I really suggest against using it on a bed. Besides overheating and overstressing the fans, it can also pull all kind of stuff in the ventilation system, which is not good. Won't a small table near the bed do it? That's what I use...

On the lap, it's fine as long as you take (some) care to keep the vent intakes free (may be difficult depending on how they are located).

 

How flexible are the media controls? Do they work with most media players, or are they tied to Asus' own player/WMP? I use WMP but mainly VLC and Quicktime, it would kind of defeat the object if they were application specific.

 

I think there are solutions to making ASUS media keys work with other applications. But I'm not sure, nor can I give the links now. Search perhaps?

 

You might be interested to know that in the UK (perhaps other markets) the models are specified a little differently.

We have the M50SV-AS027C, which appears to be the same as the M50SV-A1 except for using the T7500

And also the M50SV-AS030G, which appears to be the same as the M50SV-A1 except for having 4GB

Also the first comes with Vista Home Premium while the later comes with Ultimate.

There may be other subtle differences but I cant find any.

 

I've only used the multi-media touchpad with dvds, cds, and windows media player--it's worked fine with those.

 

Ok, BuNsiE, maybe you should save up a few more pennies. Looks like you folks down under are getting a version of the M50Sv that has blu-ray and a more powerful processor, the T9500 2.6GHz:

http://www.trademe.co.nz/Computers/Laptops/Laptops/Other/auction-149140516.htm

I also see that it has 1280MB TurboCache listed with the GPU....I don't think we have that.

This is the machine I would have bought if it had been available to U.S.

 

Very nice review Ken. Much appreciated.

 

I don't see a price?!

Nice find btw haha, how did you come across it?

Looks like my required funds went up too deadmanwins, I'm buying from Australia now since the Customs fees and everything from US would have the price go past the average here in Australia for the M50Sv.

Do you think this one would be under $2000?

 

Hi BuNsiE--

If you scroll to the bottom of the link you'll find some Q&A's.

It looks to me they want around $2300, but I don't know which currency they're discussing.

As to how I found it....Every few days I do a Google search of new listings (in English) for the M50Sv. I'm wanting to see what the professional reviewers are saying about it.

So far, I've only come across a few reviews--from England and Australia.

I like the M50Sv a lot. But, I'm always interested in the opinions of those who know more than I.

 

Well, screw that man I'm pushing my intended budget as is currently! >.<
Ah I hate working in the banana's, its painful haha, but I guess I will have to work a 4-5 more saturdays. THOUGH if my Dad suddenly decides, "Hey my son might need some help buying this laptop!", then BAM thats a few hundred dollars out of my way.

 

Hello everybody I am French and I quickly read all your topic but I need help ! I have a question about Vista to XP...

I have M50SV-AS010 model ! It is possible to install xp ??? please

Thanks

 

nicely priced but i saw this is "made in china" unlike the G1 and V1 made in taiwan. Although there is also the quality for made in china units but the "workmanship" is much better for those units made in taiwan.

 

If blu-ray is not of value to you, then this model won't interest you much. Although the 9500 processor may be marginally faster, it is not worth the additional price.

 

I recently just bought the M50Sv-A1 notebook. This week I found the M50Sa on newegg http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834220306

This notebook seems to be much better with the same CPU.

-a resolution of 1680 x 1050 compared to my 1440x900
-ati mobility 3650 with 1024mb vram 55nm chipset, opposed to the m50sv's nvidia 9500m gs 512mb ram and 65nm chipset gpu. I hear it runs faster and cooler with more ram.
- a 500gb hdd compared to the m50sv's 250gb hdd
-4gb ddr2 667Mhz Ram to M50sv's 3gb ddr2 667Mhz ram

These are the only differences I can tell between the two.

I was wondering if anybody knows the battery life of th M50sa and how it compares to the M50sv. I got the m50sv for 1,359(free shipping) and the m50sa is $1,549.99 +$16.65 shipping.

it seems like the extra $200 is worth it for all the extras. Does anybody have any comments on the newer ati M50sa?

 

Please don't double/triple post. I will delete the other posts, and leave this one (people will answer here).

Thank you.

Edit: heheh, warning about DP and then I doubleposted myself. Way to go! Network connection problems, sorry...

 

Hey David--

Just using this reply to thank you for the very nice review you did of the M50Sv-A1. I especially appreciate you addressing the screen. I thought my screen looked clear, bright, and non-grainey....but with some people trashing the AUO monitors, I appreciate your assessment.

One question....you seemed to state that you didn't notice any flex on the numeric keypad. I have definite flex on the right side at the numbers 3, 6, 9. If other M50's don't have that tendency, I'll have to keep an eye on mine to make sure that it doesn't get any worse.

Thanks again for the excellent review.

 

what???? a new one??? hahaha... technology... always faster than lightning...

 

hey, do anybody know where to buy laptop screen protector??? for this m50sv-a1??? and keyboard protector too if it exist?? thanks..

 

Not to hijack this thread, but you may want to direct your attention to another thread: Asus M50SA-AK002C hands-on experience Radeon HD3650 inside!

 

Update:

Bluetooth driver for XP, thanks to Konohasaint:

http://dlsvr03.asus.com/pub/ASUS/nb/W7S/Bluetooth_XP32_Vista32_070912.zip


Touchpad driver for XP, just use the vista driver from the original drivers disk so the multimedia functions on touchpad will work, if download touchpad drivers for XP from other models the multimedia functions will not work under XP.

 

I purchased an ASUS M50SV-AS016G a week ago, unfortunately this latop has the worst screen of any laptop I've had, it has the AU02277 1440x900 panel which is not only grainy but has backlight bleed on the bottom, so if you watch a video or dark picture the bottom is washed out, not much good for a portable entertainment centre. I should have googled more, as I subsequenly found this is a known problem with this panel, though I didn't realise they fitted them in this model. Its a pity since the rest of the laptop is quite good. I tried several times to to get ASUS support to replace this under warranty but according to them its not a fault as the problem is a feature of this type of display, when I offered to pay to have the screen replaced they said it would cost $760, for which of course I could buy a 24" desktop screen or another cheaper laptop. I had not dealt with ASUS support before, now that I have, I don't think I'll be buying anything from ASUS again.

 

Hi pneddy, yes, I too have the same screen, but it is not grainy compared to any other screens I have had. In terms of the light bleeding from the bottom, yes, my M50Sv-A1 does have some, but the angle of your screen GREATLY affects the amount of bleeding. The vertical viewing angles are not the best, however, there is a "sweet spot" where bleeding is kept at a minimum and isn't too noticeable. Horizontal viewing angles are great and don't suffer from any bleeding from the side of the screen. Personally, I find the screen tilted at 110-120 degrees will have the best viewing angle and very minimal bleeding from the bottom. Also, keep in mind that the AUO screen that is used in the M50Sv uses a 300nits lcd screen (a lot brighter than your average screen brightness of 200nits). It is definitely a plus feature for people working outdoors or in a high lighting environment.

 

I've been having some problem with the DVD multi drive. Perhaps someone could help me with this.

I've recently converted my system to XP from Vista and every time I insert a disc to install a program, (e.g. Photoshop, the kind that would autoload an install program) my computer would freeze up. It doesn't do this with CD-Rs that has data in it.

Is this something to do with the driver? I know that on the Asus driver disc, there's a folder for CD-Rom there. I didn't install anything on there, but should I?

Thanks.

 

Which is better the the M50SA-AK023C or the M50SV-A1?

 

What I suggest is to disable AutoPlay for the optical drive, as well as all removable drives. Then, start setup programs manually. For the procedure, see my XP Guide.

It's not a very hot idea to have autoplay enabled anyway, besides the annoyance for instance some viruses rely on that to get into the computer.

 

Yes, I would install the driver for the optical drive. Let us know if you got it working

The M50SA-AK023C comes with a 500gb 5400rpm hard drive, ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3650 w/ 1gb DDR2 memory GPU, and 4gb of ram for $1500 + $16.65 shipping on newegg

The M50Sv-A1 comes with a 320gb 5400rpm hard rive, nVidia 9500m GS 512mb DDR2 GPU, and 3gb of ram for $1359 w/ free shipping @ gentech.

In terms of gaming performance, they are about equal (the 9500m GS might be slightly better). But in the AK023C version you get a larger hard drive and 1gb more ram. Unless you do some crazy multi-tasking, you'll never fully use 4gb of memory. The extra $150 or so, I think will be a nice upgrade for those who like to keep a collection of movies and music on their laptops. But IMO, the A1 should be more than enough for the average laptop user.

 

Do you know which manufacturer driver I should install? There are Teac, Toshiba and another one that I forgot the name.