N61JQ-A1 Owners thread

I actually have this laptop now, I guess it needs a home to discuss various tweaks etc.

I picked it up from http://www.icicomputer.com
They are located locally here in Richmond. A nice small computer shop that has been around forever.

Some info can be found here:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showpost.php?p=5804443&postcount=114

 

I've been dying to find out..what is the actual colour of the back of the screen: brown or purple?
Also, have you tried any serious gaming with the gpu? I wonder how hot it gets after +-2 hours of intense cod4/cod mw2 gaming.

 

@kud0s- finally! the N61JQ-A1 thead is here at the owner's lounge. You could probably be the first ever owner of the machine.

Cheers!

 

He has bought from ICIComputers where is has written that it has brown color and price is $1138

http://www.icicomputer.com/product.asp?pf_id=N61JQ-A1

 

Its dark brown. Actually, I like the back of the screen look. Was never a fan of the G series (till the newest releases)

Downloaded Crisys and it seemed to do fine, gameplay was smooth on whatever settings were already set. Didn't know the FPS shortcut for the game but it was fluid for me. Exhaust seemed to warm up alot when i was playing but so does my PC. Rest of it feels fairly cool to the touch after playing.


330AM I am crashin I will try to answer more questions if you have em tomorrow, Gnight

 

Wow. Thanks for all the info. Battery life info would be awesome, so would your opinion on the screen quality.

EDIT: It would also be cool to see your Windows 7 system rating.

 

I am assuming exhaust comes out the back of laptop and fan sucks air from the underneath?

 

it is on the left side i belive the air vent is.

 

Aye ok the left side. I am going to order the laptop either today or tomorrow from powernotebooks.com.

I am going to purchase this also....what yall think:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834997727

 

i am thinking of ordering the same notebook from newegg or xoticpc because they could put as5 or something better and not viod the warranty

 

yah...I looked at xoticpc but Donald from powernotebooks.com was very helpful with all my questions. I am going to get him 2 add the IC Diamond paste to cpu / gpu.

 

to be honest, the underside of the laptop is not hot at all. The exhaust vent on left seems to get rid of alot of the heat efficiently.

One update that I did do was to run Crysis demo on my TV@1920 resolution. It got between 10-20FPS on max settings, but I was surprised it was that low. It seemed very fluid. Mind you I was using the trackpad and notebook keyboard to try to play (not fun). So my test was not a very good representation of proper gameplay. I found it next to impossible to play a FPS on a notebook track pad

As I type right now, the notebook is not blowing any warm air. In fact the air coming from the vent feels cooler than room tempurature.

 

what does it get on the 1366x768 in gaming? i would image to run 3dmark or 3dmark vantage to see what the score is of the cpu/gpu is at 1366x768 do you have any other games you could test?

 

if you guys are planning on purchasing it. go with amazon. no tax for most and free ship. might take longer though as they are sold out.

http://www.amazon.com/N61JQ-X1-16-Inch-Versatile-Entertainment-Laptop/dp/B00352LQZS (this one has 320gb hd)

http://www.amazon.com/N61JQ-A1-16-I...ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=pc&qid=1264886093&sr=1-1

 

Crysis is odd because it feels playable at lower FPS. I think it has to do with motion blur, but I'm not sure. Anyway, that's great info. I'll bet it performs as well as my 8800GT desktop for MW2... kind depressing when I consider how much time I spent tweaking it.

Thanks again for all the info you've provided.

Here's one for the experts... the memory score seem really low. I get 7.2 for my memory score (though I'm running the Windows 7 beta) and I use DDR2 800 (in a desktop). Could throttling be an issue?

 

I am working on throttling, downloading 3dmark (big slow download no luck on 2.3mb/sec wifi download for this file) and got throttlestop and winprime ready to go. Will post screens after.

 

Thanks Kudos for doing all this. I am waiting to find the answer to possible throttling issues. For the price of the laptop I do not think you can find a better deal gaming wise for what kind of numbers it puts up. I am wondering how much a difference having a Directx 11 card will be for games coming out soon?

 

Thanks for the review!

Any notes on battery life?

 

IMHO, DX11 is kind of a gimmick. From product demos it seems better able to deal with volumetric smoke and stuff, but game developers always find a way to support older hardware. The advantages will probably be minimal and not seen for another 4-5 years... when all our hardware is outdated anyway.

I could be wrong, though... just my (mildly off-topic) thoughts.

BTW, I'd suggest spending the $50ish extra and getting it from a vendor (rather than Amazon) that will customize the thermal compound. Even if it runs nice and cool without custom compound, having it means more potential for overclocking (or longer-lasting hardware if you're a good little boy).

 

Sadly, I do not have any real games to use. I could try America's Army, but I am not the biggest gamer in the world. I never even tried Crysis till last night

I will try Crysis on the notebook native resolution and snag the FPS after I try to deal with throttling issues.

I just hope someone else can step up and help me out I am having people over for Strikeforce Miami and I can't put that much time into this today

 

I agree bro...once the throttling issue is not there...I am going to order one from powernotebooks.com...and get him to add the Diamond thermal Compound.

 

Why's the memory(RAM) rating so low? I'm using an hp dv6t quad edition with ddr3 as well, but my rating is 7.3. It can't be that big of a difference in memory...

 

I checked out the benchmarks from XOTICPC and his memory test had same numbers. I wonder what kind of numbers the 1333mhz ram would put up?

 

DX11 does have immediate benefits. For one, it allows for much better multi-thread utilization, and second, it allows you to use DirectCompute which means that games and other programs can utilize the shaders for calculations much more readily

 

Good 2 know bro...thanks.

 

7977 3DMARK06 Score

 

so it comes with ddr3 1333? i thought it came with 1066. thats what it says on newegg specs http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834220696&Tpk=asus n61jq

 

Newegg has the X1 and the guy told me the X models are custom configured. Perhaps that is another difference between the newegg version and regular A1 retail version.

Only speculating. My model is 100% stock from manufacturer.

 

Still dont really get how to test for throttling. I have 3dmark06 , but win prime doesn't want to open it seems.

 

Battery also seems to be approx 2hrs - 1hr remaining at 46% after a bit of crysis on high performance mode. This is also the first I have run on the battery.

 

The lower RAM rating could be for DDR3@1066. Had it have DDR3@1333 it would have got higher number.

And hope the laptop does not have a touch sensitive multimedia touch buttons on the top of the keyboard panel. But XoticPC is showing this feature in their product info page.

After watching and waiting for this laptop now I'm confused as more and more other brand laptops with similar configurations are offering competitive price and even FULL HD screens, especially Dell Studio XPS 1647 ($999)

 

the 999$ dell studio xps only has core i5 and an inferior video card

 

That really doesn't make much sense since I have DDR2800 and got a way higher score (7.2). It could just be Windows 7 being stupid. I'm probably going to one of these next week, I'll post stuff from Passmark, some gaming benchmarks, and look into throttling.

Honestly, I doubt anyone's going to find anything better for the price anytime soon. Even with any flaws it has, it's still a pretty killer deal.

@Kud0s, thanks for all the info. Battery info is especially helpful.

 

The actual name is either Brushed copper or Bronzed Copper I think.

 

Well, doesnt even xotic pc boil down to 1066$ with IC Dimaond compound after the 3% off? Why would anyone want amazon?

 

Well I guess it matters to me more because I reside in CA. 9% tax and the recycling fee would add just about 100 to the price.

EDIT: Oh no tax or recycling fees for xotic pc. My bad then. Ignore this post

 

Does anyone have any more thoughts on the low Ram rating? I have an X1 on order and it should be the same.
Do you think its worth upgrading to 1333?
Lets all cross our fingers on the throttling.

 

I ordered mine from eBay for $995 after cashback and eBay bucks. It should be here on Thursday and I will also be doing a comprehensive review of the computer. Stay tuned!

 

hey kudos, i was concerned about the profile of this laptop. could you please measure the length, width, and thinness of the laptop (i.e. from the very left of the laptop to the very right, from the rear to the front, and then just the thickness).

appreciate it

 

15 1/8 x 10 1/2 x 1 3/4

 

is the laptop worth the $1k? and do you like the feel of it?

 

I like it yeah, good for what I wanted it for, feels very solid. Doesn't feel cheap at all.

 

Do you think I could expect 3 hours on battery saving mode with light web browsing?

 

kud0s- what about throttling investigation progress?

 

Run Crysis with power lead plugged in. Check fps, then pause game. Remove power lead and run again and check fps. Does it get slower or jerky?

Here is a video to show you what I mean!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CoLw-DkEqnQ

 

what makes you think throttling wouldnt happen on battery for asus? that no-throttling-on-battery might be only dell specific thing

he needs throttle stop log during gameplay, thats only way to be sure afaik

 

Yes some throttling information would be nice! Thanks for all your help Kudos..

If throttling is present....would you guys not purchase the laptop? What can throttling damage?

 

i second that query. Someone with past dell experience on throttling please answer this.