N81V: Review & Owners' Lounge

have spent the last 3 hours looking for this 'security protect manager' which supposedly controls the fingerprint reader with no avail.
its not on cd, not on internet.
the fingerprint driver has downloaded some sort fo software but i cant find it...
damn. can anyone shed some light?

any now the computer refuses to install vista service pack 2. Im calling it a night.

ASUS why do you do this to me?

 

hello,

have you checked the asus support website?

under http://support.asus.com

select the N81VP then navigate to Others, the first one is the fingerprint driver.

 

yea i got the driver downloaded....but how do I how do I use it??? there is no software to control it and use it for log-ins.

 

i downloaded it and inside the zip file its a setup file?

sorry, that's all i can help. I don't own a N81VP.

 

ahh thanks for your help anyways. once you use the setup file, it installs the driver. windows reconizes the driver but ther eis no software to control it.

 

does anyone use the fingerprint reader on this thing?

 

Soulbreaker360 -

this is what i downloaded;
ADSM_VT_32_64_090114

i tried the fingerprint for about 30mins and then gave up - and uninstalled it.
the swiping didn't work well for me.
for the time that it took to swipe, it was much easier to just key in the password.

 

really? discouraging....whats the link to that file?

 

ADSM = ASUS Data Security Manager Utility .... should be under the utilities tab on the drivers page ....

 

oh yea. I had this utility. then I UNINSTALLED IT for its worthless nature.
you cant use it to log into the computer with it, only things like websites i believe....unless im wrong and someone wants to correct me?

I cant believe we havent figured out how to log into this computer with a finger swipe.....

 

the fingerprint driver provides the driver for the hardware,
while the ADSM is the software that allows for security logons.

I can't remember if it allowed for windows logons - you'd have to try it yourself. My experience was that it took more than 10 or 20 swipes. Perhaps it was the dryness or the inconsistent speed in swiping - i just didn't have the patience after 3 attempts.

 

I figure out the fingerprint thing on my laptop.

first install and download ADSM and startlogon.

ADSM will have a taskbar icon after installation
-right click and select options (turn on at logon)
-then one of the options is also to setup the fingerprint
-you need 5 positive scans, but if you fail a few times in a row, it will stop working and you will need to close the scanning window and reopen it
***i did this 30times, but once it is set up, the logon is very fast
***the scanner isn't the greatest so it takes a while

After this setup is done, the next time you logon you should see it. If you don't, restart and try again.

IF it fails to show up on logon, you need to activate smartlogon which is the facial detection software. enter your password and add a few pictures of yourself to the smartlogon software.
-restart
-your smartlogon will be present with your fingerprint next time

after a few logons and you find that fingerprinting is working and don't want smartlogon, you can uninstall smartlogon and the fingerprint will still show up at the start of logon next time

 

WOOT!!! YOU ARE MY SAVIOR!!!!
follow these instructions and it works!!!! WOOT!!! +REP!!!!

 

My n81 finally came in today and its fn-ctrl keys are not swapped! I bought the VP-D1 model from gentech and im confused about how asus choses which laptop to get the upgrade???

Still, laptop is looking nice so far, and luckily im used to it from having my old asus f8sv

 

GOBMONSTER

can you tell me if you find that your fan is loud (audioable when not gaming)? or if you find the bottom of your laptop warm when doing basic computer stuff?

thanks

 

I'll tell you in a bit. I somehow managed to enter the wrong password twice on the initial setup and i cant figure how to log in

 

just insert the recovery cd, or just reformat and install a new OS

 

Okay, ive officially made it through my first day with this laptop and coming from the f8sv, this is a nice upgrade

First i must say that they are pretty much the same size, both having 14 inch screens but the wide screen on the n81 is easily adaptable. The main thing to notice between the laptops is raw power. Going up .6ghz in processing and about an entire class and a half in graphics is what takes this experience over the top.

The speakers provide a deeper richer tone, but i wish they were louder. The battery life seems good so far, im getting honest clock out if it (2hours and 30 minutes is what i got just surfing the we with about 70% brightness). Im used to the fan being on the right side so the air didnt bother me.

ABOUT THE HEAT/FAN:
This laptop seems to get warm and thats about it. It doesnt get as hot as my old one, but seems to maintain a constant temp thats warm. Theres not much to describe hear except the cooling on this laptop is perfectly acceptable IMO. The fan is super quiet and i only remember hearing it mid game (and feeling it too).

Ive played two games so far on this thing. Crysis (not warhead), and it struggles a bit on highest settings. It runs like water on medium, not even a hickup. On high, its normal to what im used to, and on very high, its just under bearable (mind you, this is still a laptop and desktop still struggle with crysis1 lol). I also played the less demanding Prototype. It ran smoothly for the most part with everything maxed out (including AA).

Tomorrow im going to load up my production software and push this processor to its max, im hoping im pleased with the results!

 

Thanks for the update!!!

For the ctrl and FN key, has anyone tried switching keyboards with the n81vg? or any other compatiable asus model?

 

keyboard (Ctrl/Fn instead of Fn/Ctrl) -

keyboard model - 04GNCB1KUS14

Used to see it at the EStore but seems to be gone.

on Ebay, this particular keyboard can be found with the following search phrase "Asus W3 keyboard"

The listing will typically show up as
"Compatible Asus W3 W3J A8 A8J F8 A8 Z99"

Go thru the listings and verify the placement of the keys by looking at the product pics.

I bought this
http://cgi.ebay.ca/Brand-New-Keyboard-for-ASUS-W3-W3J-A8-A8J-F8-Z99_W0QQitemZ270402002145QQcmdZViewItemQQptZPCA_Mice_Trackballs?hash=item3ef5371ce1&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14

The packaging wasn't stiff enough - it arrived slightly bent in the middle.
Take your pick!

 

Newbie here...
I just purchased this model and should receive it in a few days. It comes with a free upgrade to Windows 7 but it doesn't ship out until late October. Should I upgrade to Vista 64-bit immediately then do the Win7 upgrade in October or should I just leave the Vista 32-bit and upgrade to Win7 64-bit in October? What would you do and why? Thanks!

 

the free upgrade is to only 32bit windows 7, so stay with 32bit vista for now.

Has anyone looked into Arctic Silver 5 or any thermal cooling gel / paste for the n81vp model?

 

I just got my N81vp-D1 today. I am planning on reformatting, and putting Linux on, with Vista in a virtual Box. Is there anything installed on the HD (besides express gate) that I can't get back from the recovery discs that are sent with the laptop?

 

you can get all the software off the asus support website. don't worry

 

Has anyone installed the new n81vp bios from 206 to 208?
What is the difference?

Also, anyone use Arctic Silver?

Or any modded ATI graphics driver?
*I want to find a more effiencent way of using ATI powerplay, because it drains my battery like crazy

Thanks

 

I just received mine on Friday via Amazon and (thankfully) I have Ctrl-Fn keys!

 

Just got mine recently (N81VP-C1) and it comes with proper Ctrl-Fn keys. And I can say that the build is more solid (less flex on the areas around the keyboard and touchpad) than the relatively new Lenovo Thinkpads at college.

Very pleased with the hardware. Vista is a different story - already it sometimes refuses to sleep....

 

Did anyone have luck with the mouse that came with their N81? I've tried it on a few different surfaces, and it doesn't seem to track well at all.

 

I got mine last monday but have been too busy to mess with it. I tried the mouse - seems to work OK but it's not going to see much use from me.

Pro's - fast, good build quality, lots of USB ports, HDMI works great (my other laptop has to be plugged in a few times before my tv picks up the sound) Also, the case is advertised as being gray in all the pictures and it is actually black so that's a plus. (even thought it lacks on quality)

Cons-I don't like the 32bit OS and they do a separate data partition that im not that hot on. It had a lot of preloaded software - light scribe came pre installed and I was excited for a second but realized that they just throw all kinds of software on this with out regard to the components installed.

I don't have a 64bit OS so I am thinking of getting vista 64 and then upgrading my win7 when it comes out or maybe just going right to win7 and when I get my copy just updating the key...Any thoughts? Once I reformat I will update all my drivers and put up some numbers. Also any other input on maximizing this lappy would be great.

BTW, sofar I ran wow (private servers FTW) and Oblivion. Looks great!

 

I am about to purchase the N81vp, and I'm wondering about where you get the graphics drivers? Im probably going to be wiping and installing Windows 7, and I know its a hassle to get up to date graphics drivers for my Asus Z71V

Thanks

 

for graphics drivers of N81Vp, amd.com;

platform Win7, 64bit
http://support.amd.com/us/gpudownload/windows/Pages/radeonmob_win7-64.aspx

 

Hi all,
I'm planning to buy N81 and I have a question to its owners. Is it possible to use hardware virtualization (Intel VT) on this notebook? I will need to run a virtual machine from time to time. I know that P8400/P8600 cpu's (which I consider) support VT, but some vendors (e.g. Sony) disable it in BIOS and there's no way to enable it. I'd like to know if ASUS does the same thing?

 

in bios, you can enable VT on the N81. I've always wondered what that option was. But now I know.

 

Has anyone here got a N81Vg here? Most of the commends in this thread are for N81Vp-C1/D1 with the ati cards, and the mention of the powerplay being not fully functional being the cause of the 2.5 hour power saving batt life begs me to ask this question:

Does the nvidia version have the same batt life?

 

Under power saving options... The Nvidia has a bit better battery life... I'd say about 3.5 hours.

 

Hi, just picked up a lovely N81-VG from CCL UK, loving it so far, nice and brisk with excellent screen and graphics..... However I am unable to add any feedback on your battery life issue.

 

Thanks for the feedback Imaspin17!
Witham -- np I can wait a week

 

Hi! I am considering either an N81-VG or VP -- leaning towards the VG as I prefer a cooler running, quieter notebook and will only be doing very casual gaming (I have another notebook with a better graphics card and much larger screen already - this is mostly for everyday surfing and some video work). A 14" screen gives me the portability I need for this.

However, for the video and photo work I will be doing, the display is very important, especially black levels, color, contrast and viewing angles. I've seen several comments on how bright the screen is. I have a Toshiba that has a very nice, very bright screen. Too bright. It is very difficult to adjust for proper black levels. Fine for normal stuff, terrible for some games (like space games where you have a lot of black background and stars).

There have been several comments about terrible viewing angles (the other bright screen suffered from this as well) -- that has me hesitating and I'm almost ready to cross the N81 off due to this.

Any comments? I am especially concerned about vertical viewing angles. (It gets to be a real pain having to constantly adjust the screen as you work and move around.)

Thanks for your help!

 

I don't know about this particular notebook, but vertical viewing angles are rather invariably poor on ASUS notebooks (and maybe all consumer notebooks in general...)

 

Yes, in general they're not too good. But some are worse (my acer and toshiba) and some are better (my HP dv9700). But even within those brands, it varies quite a bit. I don't understand why manufacturers don't put more emphasis on it as I've heard lots of people complain about it.

Problem is, it's very hard to know how good or bad if you're buying something online and sight unseen. But I've heard it's pretty bad for the ASUS line, in general, and that's too bad, because they look like good machines overall.

 

Quick question for the owners, how fully featured is the synaptics touchpad on this beast?

Can it:
3 fingers = right click?
pinch zoom?
rotate?
2 finger scroll?
2 finger fast auto scroll?


The manual only mentions 1-finger tapping + dragging and 1-finger scrolling.

 

ok ive had this notebook for a month now and everything seems fast except for the hard drive<< it takes a while to shut down>>>>anyone else notice?

 

Can't answer the touchpad question.

About the slow shutdown, I recommend:

- minimizing the number of running applications and tweaking the OS (see for instance the Asus Bloatware Guide and/or my Vista Optimization Guide, both linked from the ASUS Info Booth)
- using Hibernation (suspend-to-disk) instead of shutdown. I only restart the notebook about once a week -- but I have it powered off 1-3 times a day, using hibernation)

 

Hi guys,

I bought my ASUS N81 today in Hong Kong

Its the N81VG

Spec is

2x BluRay
T9550
500GB HD 5400R
2x 2G Ram

is there a higher spec version out there?

i paid $11500 which is $1000HKD off retail in HK. $1484USD (7.75 spot)

charging for 10hrs now. very excited.

 

Ya i only have a few applications and i do hibernate but still this hard drive is just SLOW. whenever the computer slows down I see it working and Im pretty sure its the bottleneck.

 

Actually I have noticed shutdown is incredibly quick compared to other laptops I have used/owned, of course it improves immensely if you do the necessary housekeeping straight out of the box so to speak

 

Hello, I am interested in this model, do you think it could handle all day gaming?
I play eveonline atm, house temps range 80's to 60'f by season.
I like g51 g71..(GTX260)but im afraid they will put out to much heat..dont want to add heat to my room...
TX

 

has anyone tried swapping the old cpu with a P9700??

 

Have you tried doing a clean format to remove the bloatwares(if any)?
That what I did with my thinkpad and the bootup and shutdown time taken improved significantly.

 

I put a T9400 in mine.