N56vz review and owners lounge - Techno Art

No rattling sound here. Its totally quiet even then shaken.

 

..never heard of that. If you're going to mirror the uefi/gtp partition that is already there on the disk over on the new one, then you're going to have trouble of some sort no matter what disk you're installing.

But you can buy any ssd and be sure it's going to work at as high speed as it can, at least.

 

I am still waiting till the NB is available in middle Europe. I really want to know what happened that no shop offers the S4016 version with a specific date. Anyone knows more about it?

 

This is going to sound rather silly, but has anyone purchased a back-up battery for the N56vz? I can't seem find one for this model. Probably going to be picking up the RB71 model this week.

 

..see a lot of the previous versions of the n-series in stock. And very strange (high) prices on the new one. Might have something to do with that.

 

I'm stuck between this and the Sony S15, but I'm leaning towards the Asus. I read through your review and I was just curious about a couple things. You mention that the screen is put on slightly funny. Is it that bad, or is it rather minor. And overall is the build quality good, or are there other issues?

Also, you mention with the speakers off and low brightness you can get about 5 hours. Have you tried this and been able to do it? Battery is one of the only drawbacks to this laptop, though it seems 4 hours is around standard nowadays for battery life...

 

No, it's the same as most laptops. But the n56 doesn't have a full glass/plastic layer on top of the screen, so it's not going to be able to take a beating. The frame is perfectly smooth, and so on, it's not that. I'm just pointing out that there is a gap around the bezel, and it will collect dust. Bezel is also made of plastic. I thought that was worth noting, because the rest of the laptop is very tight. I.e., it's going to work to throw it around a bit, no worries about keeping it in a backpack. But you can't stab something in the screen without causing damage. And there's no "just wipe the grease-marks off by scraping with a nail", etc.

Battery is difficult to test, since the actual effect-draw on the i7 basically goes from 14-60w or something like that. And on the first patch, they had apparently locked the processor to 2.1Ghz, so the software control didn't actually work.. So on the second bios, the regulation worked again, and now I get 4 hours while typing, wifi on, some browsing, no flash, etc. Playing video via hdmi, turning the screen off, and I have 3.5-4h or better. Idling it, the effect draw drops down to 13-14w with wifi on. Which isn't bad, but it could obviously be better. Not in the least because the ram is set to 1.5v at constantly high timing, and so on.. But generally the problem is that the capacity of the battery is lower than it could be.

But just so it's been said - again - the battery life isn't bad compared to other laptops. On the same performance level it's actually pretty good. Which.. I think still sucks, because it means it's not really portable after all. It also actually is possible to fit these laptops with better battery packs that would approach 6-7hours. But for some reason, no one wants to produce lithium-polymer batteries for the "budget tops" just yet.

That's where the Vaio tops are very good. You can get an i5 config that scales down really far, and it has a lithium polymer cell rated at, I don't know, twice the work-hours as the battery in the n56? So you will get a lot out of that as just a typewriter (although you won't get 14 hours on the battery). And the 640LE editions can be overclocked to get 650m level performance. And they'd still idle normally for office-use and getting the image on a second screen. So it is possible to squeeze more life out of it, and force it to work well.

The problem with it, I think, is that you have to force it to actually work well. There's a small range of things that work really well. But to actually get that "good enough" performance out of it for games and 3d contexts, or the drivers to work with the rest of their setups painlessly, it's just not worth it, to me at least. Simply because if you buy a smaller notebook, you have something for the same tasks, for a fraction of the price. When you overclock it and use it for games, it's running hot, and you need to plug it in anyway.

So if you wanted to use it for the heavier tasks, you run into a different set of problems, because those larger laptops aren't designed for it even though they're larger. Sony just have this.. problem getting their software to match the hardware they have with their pcs and phones, simple as that. So on that larger type of notebook, that's where something like the n56vz or n46 works better. Basically in that class of laptops, for that desktop replacement use, it's extremely compact and silent.

But of course you do get a very sleek and thin notebook with the vaio. But I'd really recommend you go and have a look at it, and try it out, before buying. It's got some quirks that you might like, but it's not guaranteed. At least make sure you get one of the new upcoming i5 versions with lower tdp if you buy new, though. Or else pick up a sandy bridge version (with the 640le) for cheap, and then customise it later with your own parts.

Um.. sorry about the rant.. It's just that you shouldn't buy the n56vz for a tiny net-top or a typewriter. Arguably, the s15 isn't really that either, and you would get a much better typewriter with the 13.3inch tops instead. Since they're so much smaller, and actually are scaled well to the hardware you get. And then hacking the bios becomes enticing all of a sudden, since you can get this tiny thing to perform really well. Without sacrificing the mobility. Which you really do on the s15, for very little extra in return..

 

No thanks, it was very helpful. I do actually intend on doing some light gaming on my machine (skyrim and ARMA II probably the most) and dual boot Linux on it for my classwork; primarily coding or CAD type work (circuit diagrams, not rendering).

I just hate lugging around power bricks if i have to go the the library for a day, but it seems the Sony gets around the same battery life either way. And quite frankly, it seems like most laptops get around 4-5 hours. I am really leaning Asus.

I do know the Sony has a bad screen. I've read conflicting things about the Asus. Do you think the screen is fine as it (someone said grainy I think) or is it worth an upgrade on xotic or gentech?

 

Please i need help. I inserted in the CDROM space the new caddy with HDD into but now i'm not able to completely pull it out of chassis. The caddy stop, blocked, at middle run while i try to extract it.

 

Don't use force?

But if you go for the 13.3 inch version, 1600x900 resolution, you get more battery life again when typing. Also, actually thin, very light..

Don't really know. The screen on my laptop is pretty good. I have none of the backlight issues people talk about, it's got good viewing angles sideways and upwards. Better than most screens I've seen, really. Seems like a good screen without being the most expensive you can get. Might be worth switching if the view-angles are even higher on the alternative screen, but I don't know.

 

I am interested in possibly upgrading the hard drive to SSD down the road on this like it appears many of you have. I've never replaced a hardrive before in a laptop (only ram); is there anything specific I need to worry about with the asus n56, as in will I have to muck around with the BIOS? Or will there be any power consumption issues that would fry other parts of the board? I know ssd's were built to use less power, and the rb71 comes with the standard 750gm 7200rpm.

If there is a better place on the forums to ask this question, please feel free to redirect. Thanks!

Battery Update: Just heard back from Asus eStore customer service. They currently have no batteries in stock nor do they have an expected arrival time. Nipsen, where were you even able to locate the new ones?

 

..hm? ..oh. Sorry, I was just saying in the review that I expect the model of the n56 battery to be cheaper than most, since it's pretty standard. If they decided to make a slot-in battery plate in li-polymer for the next version, that would be great, though

There's nothing particular to worry about that specifically has to do with an ssd. The only thing you'll run into is that you need to shrink your partition of a newly recovered drive, so a partition recovery will fit on the new ssd. But if you just install a new disc, then all you need to do is: insert dvd with windows, hit esc at startup, continue.

Other than that, take a look at the guide in the signature. There are a lot of other Windows install guides around here as well, so you should do a search. But in general, there are two things you need to look out for: you can't copy your existing win-boot over on the new drive. That doesn't work, since you're changing hardware, and all of that. It's going to give you trouble anyway. So don't do that. At best you could shrink your existing partition, reset the install from the recovery partition, and then copy the reset drive over to the new one with a ghosting application of some sort. Or you could make your own slipstream from a windows-install -- that might be easier and faster, to be honest.

And then second, you should unregister your windows copy before deleting your windows install. Then register the key again once you're done. Guides always forget that.

 

True, but I guess if push comes to shove, I'd rather have a bit better performance than battery life. 4-5 v. 3-4 for the S15 (6-7 with slice) is no big deal. I'll just lug the power around.

One last question and sorry. Is there a speaker crackling issue or is that only the N76?

 

Thanks nipsen. I definitely have a bit of research to do before I attempt

 

..if you change disk some day, maybe you can write a log about how it went? What you ran into, the problems you didn't know about (and that some of us don't notice, etc.). That would be interesting for a lot of different people, I think

Agree with that. And if you don't want to sacrifice the screen size, and want a comfortable keyboard, and so on, then the 13.3 inch version becomes less interesting as well.

I was going to buy either an s15 or an s13 as well. Honestly what made me change my mind was the cooling. I was thinking that if I had a larger notebook, then I'd get heat issues, warm keyboard during load, and so on. And you don't get that on the n56. That's really the most successful part about it. That the hardware fits together for the use it's intended for.

The crackling. There isn't crackling as such. There's a mechanical switch-noise when the speakers power down. That happens when there are no programs active that keep the sound-component busy.

And what happens when you boot up a new computer is... that the default windows sound-profile has a small "click" noise on every button, every double-click, and any link you hit. So what you hear then is the tiny click, and then the electronic "tap-tap" noise as the speakers turn off.

So unless you keep the sound profile, and then pause and unpause your mp3s all the time (with the extremely accessible media-keys they've placed on the arrow-keys for some uncomprehensible reason), you're not going to think about this as a problem. Instead it's a neat feature, since the speakers draw a ridiculous amount of power for laptop speakers.

There's no mechanical switch-off sound like this when using the headphone jack, hdmi, etc. It's just the internal speakers that physically turn off once there's no activity on the sound-component.

 

Hey!

I'm either getting a Thinkpad T430 or the N56VZ. Where I live, the N56 is actually about $350 cheaper than the T430, but I have a question:

Will the N56VZ survive being lugged around in a backpack 5 days a week?

Build quality is extremely important to me, as I am looking for a laptop that I can use both for work and play. I of course am not planning on doing any heavy gaymen, but will definitely watch movies, play some indie gaymes etc. The N56VZ seems perfect for entertainment and ASUS generally has good build quality - I can also live with the weight and size of this machine. On the other hand the Thinkpad is perfect for work, has an okay-ish processor and a HD+ screen with bad viewing angles... arrghh

 

..the n56 is pretty much the opposite kind of laptop as the t430 though. t430 has long battery life, hd4000 only graphics, etc., the new inwardly curved chiclet keys lenovo uses, hinges and top that will probably survive more than the rest of the laptop - it's a solid office-computer, and it's an excellent laptop for that use.

But since you don't have a good dedicated card, you're going to struggle a bit with external displays, and there's no gaming on that computer in general. Sword and Sworcery will actually struggle a bit on the intel graphics in a high resolution, for example. Shaders even in Amanita games will have to be disabled a bit. You won't run Psychonauts in 1920x1080 on intel either. FSAA filters make the framerate choppy. And you should know that the effect-draw when using the intel graphics at full burn is actually pretty high for an onboard card.

You would also get better battery life and less heat with the APU versions of the same/comparative model (the t430 actually gets hot - feels a bit like the first EeePCs on the larger intel sets - will get warm in the chassis, and the keys when you push it). So that's something to think about for "minimal gaming". That you can get systems that have better performance, with less heat (never mind better compatibility towards dx9-11 games..). But I'm not sure if Lenovo still run their ideapads with AMD.. But if one of the new trinity setups should come with that setup, that's a really good alternative (that would be able to handle light gaming, or constant load for conversion of media, server duty, constant compilation/simulation runs, etc).

So, sure, the n56 obviously is a very good notebook, but only seen from the point of view where you want as much grunt into the laptop as possible, without that affecting the heat and the size. That's where it's successful. But not as a pure office-computer - then there are better alternatives.

The backpack thing. I don't worry about throwing my n56 around a bit, even though it's new and it was expensive and so on. I'm a little nervous about the blu-ray drive, because the tray isn't stuck solidly into the chassis. So if you grip it on the side, it moves a bit. That's not a good thing, even though it isn't a problem or a weakness in the chassis, obviously. But other than that, the entire laptop is solid, and can take a beating. Specially when closed. Lid, edges, hinges - no problem keeping this in a backpack. Nothing that sticks out and gets stuck, either ports or design. No lid that slides. Corners are round, it's pretty slim, the lid is close to the body when closed, that sort of thing. No buttons on the sides - they even hid the memory card reader under the front, so it won't stick out. Compact. That's the second thing I really like about it (after the cooling system).

 

Thanks, that's a great answer! It seems the only drawback is the battery life - which should expected on laptops like these. I think I'm gonna go with the Asus.

 

Picked it up this morning. If I do end up switching drives I will definitely keep a log to share. It will probably be awhile though, unfortunately.

 

Does anybody have any photos (or links to photos) of the insides?

Reading through this thread, I got the impression that there is an msata interface. Is there "room" for an msata drive? If so, is it easy to get to?

 

Just made a fresh Win7 installation. Which Asus Utilities should i install among the 25 listed here ASUSTeK Computer Inc. -Support- Drivers and Download N56VZ ?

Also, installation of Intel Rapid Storage Technology driver fails. I double click on Pnpinst64 and nothing happens. After 2-3 minutes an error pop up appears. I installed an SSD, by the way.

thanks a lot

 

I usually carry it like 6 at 8 times a week(considering go back and forth) while in walk and in trains, cars and subway. Until now it's still perfect, no scratchs, no nothing. But you need to consider that i carry it with my old asus g1s backpack which is(in my opinion) excelent.

 

Install Intel Chipset drivers, Rapid Storage, Management Interface, GPU Intel and NVIDIA drivers, Audio, WiFi and Card Reader - look for them at station-drivers.com

 

Wow, my 16GB RAM replacement hasn't arrived but I installed a 256GB Samsung 830 SSD and a clean Windows install and this thing is amazing. Incredibly speedy and while I'm sure mostly attributable to the new drive, a clean install can't have hurt. Display is great, solid body, nice keyboard and tremendous components for the price.

 

I want to buy this laptop but won't be purchasing a SSD for another month or two, is the performance on the 5400RPM drive acceptable with a clean install?

 

It'll get the job done. I say go ahead and order it. Make sure to do a clean install like you said though.

 

Does anybody know where I can find a guide to replace the optical drive with a hdd?

 

Thanks, I ordered it, tempted to move the 120gb ssd I have in my desktop to this and then getting a new one for the laptop when I have the money next month or the month after. What do you think ?

 

The Hitachi HDD included is totally workable until you're able to go for the SSD you're comfortable with. Reinstalling everything is a bit of a pain and I wouldn't want to do it any more ofter than needed. Good luck.

 

Does anybody know if it is easy to remove the dvd drive and insert a hdd?

 

Hi everyone, I'm going to buy a laptop and the N56 is one of those that seem to be right for me.
I wanted a laptop that allows me to dual boot windows and linux though, and I'm a little worried that I'll have problems under linux, especially for the graphic card drivers.
Does anyone have experience with this computer and linux? Are there problems with the Nvidia Optimus technology?

Any advice would be welcome, thanks everyone.

 

@satanico: it's not difficult, but you need a caddy that fits. No problems with speed/bios issues, detection, that kind of thing.

@acard87: depends on your distro, but it's not much more complicated than installing the proprietary nvidia drivers, and then compiling bumblebee, then using "optirun" to execute something on the nvidia card. Suse has bumblebee/nvidia drivers in the repository, officially supported in the commercial version, for example. It's supposed to function more automagically now, but I haven't looked into it yet, so I don't know how well it works.

edit: problem with linux is that you lose all the fn-keys, and the keyboard backlight doesn't work. Will probably stay that way until someone figures out a way to port the wmi-module somehow. There is some work being done with this, though, for the different asus versions with wmi-keys.. so if you're interested and have spare time, I'm sure they'd appreciate more test-data, input code data, that kind of thing.

..first of all - anyone know what the program is?

 

Nipsen - Thanks for this fantastic review!

It actually was the deciding factor for me to buy the laptop a week ago and it just arrived today!

Will hopefully post more once I've got my hands on it and run it through its paces.

In a nutshell though, after having it for the best part of 2 months (or more?), would you say you're still as satisfied as you were originally? Any quips/quibbles that have developed/been noticed since (other than the ones you've already mentioned)?

Thanks again!

 

Does the tick-tick sound of the speakers shutting down happen when you're watching one youtube video after the other? You know, the common "watch video, pause, load another one after a couple seconds" sort of thing.

Also, do the speakers shut down even when you're plugged in on power?

 

^yes. If you pause a flash-component, it's going to free up the sound-component, and it'll crackle down in a couple of seconds. Video players sometimes do the same. Spotify doesn't. It's going to be subjective, and depend on your use, whether this is going to annoy you.

There is a registry setting for only letting the sound-component time out while on battery, though. I just haven't bothered with it.

..strangely enough, no. I'm still pissed about the lack of customisation for the fn-keys. Asus could have done that easily, or documented the functions for us. And the wmi-model they use for the keys means it doesn't work very easily in linux. And it's the ram expansions that won't work, since Asus learned how to tweak bios from Microsoft or something. They could obviously fix all of those things very easily, but they don't. ..I mean, and they still haven't patched the bios on the earlier n-models to allow sata3. You basically have to change the bios yourself, and then risk bricking the entire thing, with no easy way to reset the cmos. And they won't help you find better settings, period. So I'm stuck with a pair of ram-sticks that won't work in the n56, although they do work perfectly fine on a different laptop.

Not really having any other issues than that.

 

Has any considered a flat black stealth modification from xoticpc on this laptop?

 

Thanks for the quick response! Is there any chance you could find that registry setting for me mate? I looked around a bit and couldn't find anything.

 

http://forum.notebookreview.com/har...k-sound-popping-high-pitched-tone-squeal.html

..let me know if it works.

 

Thanks! I'll get back to you in a few days. I still haven't gotten my hands on a N56VZ yet. I'm looking at the option of getting one with a 7200 RPM HD, though I don't know how great that idea is. And possibly with a DVD burner since I will take it out for a caddy SSD instead.

 

Can anyone tell me if all n56 is supposed to have illuminated logo on the bag. I got a switch, do to a defect in the first i ordered. Now logo is not illuminated anymore. Same model. The one with 750gb 7200rpm disk. So I went to a store where they resently got the one with 750gb 5400rpm disk, not illuminated either!
Both with bios ver. 204. Can it be somthing in the BIOS?

I was told that the latter was not supposed to be illuminated, because it was a cheaper model. But i think that's just a cheap answar, it is cheaper, because the hdd is cheaper, i guess!!!

 

Hey, got the same problem with the not glowing logo and I sent mine back for a new one as I had another problem with the HD (sometimes bluescreens).

But I had the model with 1TB HD... and this is the more expensive model. So their answer is pretty cheap

Btw: Where did you order your NB?

 

Denmark

Is yours the expensive one, or the other way around. The other way around right?

Expensive or not, I don't know why they would put out the light, its the design of the machine, it's in every review and promotion!!!

Asus N56 Series - YouTube

I believe its just some lame excuse from some Asus guy, to cover up another flaw in their produktion line. I have become pretty tired of unpacking N56vz's a long time ago, to bad there is no better alternative, when you both want specs and comfort!!!

 

Hey everyone, this is my first time on this forum. I'm trying to decide between this laptop, and the samsung series 7 15.6, the one with the 640m. I'm really leaning toward the asus right now because the reviews are all so good (and the FHD screen). But since I'm going to college, a lighter laptop would be great too... What do you guys think about the weight of the laptop, is it annoying to carry around?

Thanks a lot for your help!

 

Not if you get one without flaws
It's brilliant design, and the power and comfort is all worth it ;-)
But if you are not going to use the power, it is a bit overkill. I managed to bring the old m51sn allong, this one is a bit more slim, it fits better in your bag. The screen and keyboard I belive is way better than the samsung. But it is not a small machine, but i belive it is just ok to call it a laptop

But be aware of the flaws, they are able to turn something beutifull into a total disaster. Imagine a couple of bad keys amongst very good keys. Gives a terrible feeling each time you hit them!!!
And they have a bad habit, not not fit the touchpad with a just slightly satisfying precision. I have actually seen speciments where you are able make a soft click on the entire surface, even all to the edge... So it should be possible.

 

Is a standard 2.7 Kg laptop. If you mind weight and you don't need 3D power, then go for ultrabooks

 

You can return it for a new one if you get flaws though right? That is also something I have to look into, where to buy from which has good customer support.

And yeah the thing is I might b gaming a bit, and using the graphics card a lot, so I do need the 3d power... Just trying to find a laptop with the best balance of power and portability.

 

In europe there' a 30 days zero pixel warranty, plus 1 year kasko (50 euro in case of intervention), 2 years general warranty 48hours pickup & return. If you have a problem you have to contact directly Asus support, not the seller, it's a faster procedure/process. There's a convenience in contacting the seller only for the initial week after you buy it beause in that case you can ask for a return if you are not satisfied (In Italy this time is 15 days from buy date)

 

Then this is the one ;-)

If you have the possibility to buy it in a store, that's the way to go with this model. I've seen more describe some of these issues in here as well, so I don't think it's just in denmark we get the lazy ones...
Sending forth and back just takes to much time, especially with the defect rate I have seen.(I have now had 8 in my hands from 3 different retailers, that needed returning plus the ones in in stock, that they would'nt bother checking, at one specific retailer!)
Some do not know what to expect, and because they order from the net, they won't bother sending it back, waiting for approval, and miss precious gaming time amongst other stuff!!!

I'm not pleased with Asus at the moment!

All of Europe? Link, phone, please

 

@elmer_f: Omg, you had 8 defect N56V devices already? Wow, I really don't hope I get another bad device then...

Did you also return your current one (with the defect logo)?

 

I believe that I got them all, right
No. I don't think asus is able to do any better at present, maybe in the future. I have the one with no loge-light, but a good keyboard and the left 2/3 of the touchpad working just fine. A graphiccard that is ok, goes below 25fps in MW3 now and then, though I can't remember the first one was ever below 30-40fps. So i guess that is as good as it gets. It's not at cheap machine though!!!