S96J Owners Lounge!!!

heh heh....did anyone get their chkmail LED to work?

thanx

 

New here (obviously). Ordered my S96J from gentechpc last week and it is not suppose to ship until early next week. I ordered the laptop itself, the wireless card and the DVD/RW optical drive from gentech. I ordered 2GB of OCZ memory, an 80GB 5400 RPM hard drive, and a 1.8Ghz processor from newegg. I have a lot of experience with pc building/laptop repair, so I wanted to do these things myself. I'm at about $1300 so far.

Only regret I have is not getting a 7200 RPM drive. At the time I was just too worried about heat. I can always upgrade later.

Should have this thing together by the end of next week. I'll let you all know what I think at that point.

Kirk

 

Yeah, Ken told alot of us preorder people that he will be shipping out units by Mon or Tuesday of this upcoming week.

I payed (before tax) 1216.00 and then CA tax kicked in and went around 1316.00(eh whatever).

 

Hi SaferSephiroth

Thank you for your response. I feel more comfortable now after reading your post and talking to some of my friends. All i have to do now is wait

The waiting game is painful.

 

They are both due to arrive at about the same time, but my bet is that the Z96J will show up first by a few days.

 

A picture of my baby

 

What a great example of what you can do with the LCD Panel on VBI laptops!

 

I am really torn between the S96J and the Z96J i am a gamer and I like the Higher res and the bluetooth but i am also looking for a good price and the merom is interesting as well. Does the Z96J have the ability to go Core 2 Duo.
I was also wondering If the S96J is available right now or is it on backorder.

 

Both the Z and S 96J are currently on back order, but we expect to see them both shipping by the week of July 17th...the Z may be here a few days sooner.

They are both Merom and Vista ready.

 

evesham.com, a uk reseller, actually sells the s96j. it is called something different though. and it seems to be pretty expensive. also, take note that if you purchase from the states, getting warranty repairs will be a horrible ordeal.

 

Oh thats great Donald, I really wanna see the difference cause i see on some sites the logo on the labtop is different o nthe Z96J, but on others theres no logo.

 

Yeah that evesham computer is expensive - I think it would probably be cheaper to buy from a US web site and pay the VAT - but thanks for finding it! Please let me know if anyone finds anything similar, or thinks of some clever way to commit tax evasion..

 

Hey guys,
I posted a review. You can search for s96j Review.

 

I would like tell you all my story of S96J misfortune and ask some advice.

First, I purchased mine from mwave.com for several reasons, but mostly because they had the best price, and I just wasn't willing to wait. When I got it, I assembled it, and I thought all was well. Just so you know, I got the S96J, T2500, WiFi card, and DVD-RW drive from MWave, and I ordered a Hitachi 80GB 7200 RPM hard drive, and 2x1GB GSkill 667MHz RAM from NewEgg.

So, I got windows installed and all the drivers and whatnot, and then got down to business. I installed all the games I ususally play. CS:S, CoD2, BF2 . . . . This is where I noticed the screen. Everyone has been saying this is an awesome screen. I have had several laptops, I currently use a Gateway 7508GX. When I started playing, I noticed that everything dark was very grainy/blotchy/liney. Also, there was quite a bit of light leakage. It really looked like everything was in 16bit color instead of 32bit color. I found I could see the problem best with a gray or dark blue background. Well, I just decided to try and get used to it. Also, to be noted was that the screws to the DVD drive were missing. Then, every couple times I would boot it up, it would say the clock was wrong, F1 to continue . . . .

Ok, time to do something. I called MWave tech support. They were fairly nice, but they wanted me to send the whole laptop in, including the ram and hd, which I didn't even buy from them. Ok, I did it. I called them after a week, to check the status, and they hadn't even looked at it yet. Then, I called back a couple days later. The tech had it on his bench, but he was out to lunch, and no one knew the status. When I finally talked to the tech, he said that he had the laptop on for the past 24 hours, and had yet to see the problem. This isn't something that happens after the machine being on for a long time. In fact, the two major problems tend to show up more after the machine has been off for a long time. He said he would probably just swap out the shell(S96J). Ok, that sounds perfect. He said he would ship it out within the next day or so.

So, the next afternoon, I called, to see if it had shipped, and if they had a tracking number. The tech who was working on it had the day off. Grrr . . . I got it back over a week after that. I was without my new precious baby for about 3 weeks. Then, I got it back, and the screen was about the same, maybe less light leakage, but I am not sure. but the grainyness/blotchyness/lineyness was exactly the same. It bugs me, but oh well, I can deal with it. Now here is the straw that broke the camel's(my) back, I just realized it only shows 1GB ram. They better not have left out one of my sticks of ram. I opened it up, both sticks are there, but neither are seated properly. Oh, they better not have killed one of my sticks of ram. So, I seat them properly and turn it back on. Still just 1GB. So, I pull one of the sticks, and turn it on. It wouldn't POST. So, I switch it to the other slot. It worked. I put the other stick in that slot, and it worked too. They didn't kill my ram, just the slot.

Now here is my dilema:
Do I send it back again for replacement?
Do I ask for a refund and order it from someone else?
Do I wait for the Z96J hoping for a better screen (I would love the bluetooth, but I don't really care about the resolution.)?

So . . . Those of you who have an S96J(especially those who got theirs from Mwave), what do you think? How is your screen? Try setting it to a dark blue or gray background, can you see what I am talking about?

Thanks,
DunkTank

 

dunktank, i didn't purchase from mwave but i have not seen many people complain about their screens. In fact, you're the first one to have major problems with it i think.

I hope everything works out for you. Do we need to keep a tab on mwave now? Perhaps you should create a seperate thread with title "S96Js purchased from mwave" or similar.

 

what video drivers are you using? i have heard about the acer 8204 having problems with a "noisy" screen, and someone was able to fix the problem by updating the video drivers....

 

while i patiently wait for the next shipment of the S96J or Z96J(i honestly don't care), i decided i should do even more research, i asked around and came up with a few questions for the honorable S96J owners and suppliers. please correct me if i am wrong and much appreciated.

i noticed most owners complains about the temperature and how warm it gets on the right side. where is the heat coming from? the graphic card or the hd itself?
i understand that the seagate is a bit quieter and cost a wee bit more, does it also release alot of heat as well? will the hitachi or fujitsu release less heat although it creates more noise.
let say playing half life 2 or even oblivion for over 30 minutes, how hot will it get?
finally, where is the best place to be informed when the shipment has arrived? my best bet is here.
thank you for your help, and thx dunktank for the headsup on the mwave supplier.
cheers,

ahdont

 

The HDD is on the left side, the GPU is on the right. HDD is fairly cool.
I have a Seagate HDD, i've never seen it get above 50C (acc. to NHC)

Before i recieved my notebook, i called my reseller just before the notebook was originally scheduled to be shipped. I was informed that there was a slight delay, and sure enough they sent the shipping info a day later than originally predicted.

 

I was using the latest Omegas, but I just installed Vista Beta 2, and I am now using the ATI Vista Driver from their site.

Also, I have plugged it into my desktop's LCD, and it doesn't show the problem. It only shows on the built-in LCD.

On the plastic cover of the LCD was a sticker that said:
AS LCDAU15.4"WXGA GLARE (A+)
[BARCODE]
LTF1C6409290046

Anyone have any idea what that means?

 

I got mine from Mwave too, and I'm not very happy with my screen. Do you think they put a non-standard one on? I'm not seeing lines, but I was in World of Warcraft and looking around then up at the sky and clouds were all... powdery. I switched my desktop to (none) for desktop picture, and the blue seems speckled / powdery. It seems to be the video card, though, (I'm not certain about this) because if I look at a vid that's not full screen, the sides are a nice pure black.

I'm going to rebuild it and only use intel drivers this time (I'd installed Omega, then tried to switch - it didn't go away), because I didn't notice it the first few days, but it's one of those little annoyances that I'm going to have a hard time ignoring.

Does anyone else see texturized colors?

Krista

 

I got my notebook form NXIC.com, and I havn't noticed any problems with my screen. It is very nice looking in my opinion, it just takes some getting used to a glossy screen, as there is some glare.

 

Thanks for the responses. Namadoor, can you try setting your background to a solid dark blue or grey, and see if you notice anything?

Krista, good to know that I am not alone in this. I was beginning to think that I was crazy and that was the way the screen was supposed to look.

 

I know exactly what you mean, I see it on my S96J, but only on certain colors, and depending on viewing angles. I've seen similar things on other LCD screens, so I figured it was just something with the glossy screen. It doesn't bother me at least.

 

Waha, did you get yours from MWave?

 

Yeah. But what dealer you get them from doesn't matter, MWave doesn't put together them. The panel that's on mine is the same that's been on several of the S96Js being reviewed by people on the forums, and they haven't had a single complaint. So basically, unless MWave got a bad shipment I doubt there is anything wrong with them. I love my screen.

 

Maybe others just aren't noticing it. Another word for what krista is seeing would be graininess I believe and I mostly notice it in DVDs and I also think it's a driver issue. Hopefully the release of the Z96J will bring us more frequent driver updates.

 

I too think that maybe people just don't notice it, but it drives me crazy. I don't think it is a driver issue, though, because when I plug it into another monitor, there is no "grainyness."

 

quick question, what is the 'empty slot' inbetween the VGA port and the phone-line in?

 

That's where the %$#@! DVI port should have been.

 

That is where the port replicator goes on the Z96J.

Take a look at the Pictures of both models side by side and you will see it.

 

hey everyone,

I've had this grainy/noisy screen problem too. I've purchased my computer from CanadaSys and they barely saw it when I brought it back to show them. I do a lot of work with photoshop and I need the colours to be accurate and consistant so this problem is particularly annoying for me. The problem only occurs on the LCD screen and not on any external displays. When I bought my computer in they showed me a W2J model Asus with the same screen and it also had the same problem. Is Asus using low-end LCD displays because it really doesn't seem like something they would do.

If anyone else has this problem please post so that we can all find out if it's just a bug in some screens or if it's universal accross the line.

Just to clarify, the problem is a varying of lighter and darker pixels that's highly noticable in certain shades of grey. It's as if the bit depth for just the grey levels had been reduced significantly. The noise is also very noticable with moving images (since it remains static)

I've also tried a variety of drivers including the 3rd party Omega ones and nothing works. Even when I boot into Knoppix I get the same problem. It's definitely something that software just can't fix.

 

this is interesting, i also require to do some photoshop and 3d works with my laptop. i wonder if the S96J and Z96J are the same LCD other than the resolutions difference.

ahdont

 

They are totally different LCD screens.

Remember the S96J is part of the Verified by Intel (VBI) program that builds down to a price point. The Z96J is built to ASUS standards, not Intel's.

 

Well put, Donald. BTW, can I please have my Z96J already?

 

It's really bothering me too. I might see if I can soften the image... it's almost like it's overly sharpened. Maybe that'll help blend things in. But a solid color should be solid!

*sigh*.

Well, it's still decent, and it shouldn't be too hard to change out the LCD at some point in the future if it drives me up the wall.

Krista

 

anyone know of any resellers that actually ahve the s96j in stock?? (or at least will have them in a few days?)

 

MilestonePC posted this info on S96 dates earlier today. Global shortage of units.... latest ETA is late July.

 

That's very interesting.

 

whats the model number of the affected notebook screens( might be a batch problem)? I will see if my notebook has this problem aswell.

 

This is a very good news, at least i don't have to wait endlessly for a new laptop. plus i don't have to stare at my old toshiba A20 which just sits on the shelve and serve as an extra light source.

ahdont

 

I was judt thinking, the S96J hard drives are SATA, so you'll need to load external drivers during the WXP setup, correct? I don't have my own S96J yet, so I have to ask here first

 

External drivers for what?

If you are asking is there something special with external drivers for the SATA hard drives the answer is no. Just be sure you are using a legal copy of Windows XP with SP2 and load away.

All of the drivers for your video, audio, LAN, wireless etc will be on the CD that comes with it. Just be sure to load the Intel chipset driver first, and then load the rest from top to bottom in order.

 

Well, I sent my S96J back to MWave. I decided either third time's the charm, or three strikes and your out. I decided not to let them repair it, I just want it replaced. I do love the laptop, and I think I can get used to the screen, plus, maybe the next one will be better. They match shipping, so I was going to send it back 2nd day, but their ETA is the 17th, so, what is the point. Oh well, the waiting starts again.

 

Ok, thank you! I guess I wasn't informed correctly .

 

i have had the same grainy screen problem with my s96j, i noticed it after changing my drivers to the omega drivers. the noise seems to be the most apparent on black and is very noticable during moving images. changing my brightness on ati tray tools to -1 helped the noise on black but its still very noticable in movies and games. *sigh*

 

Hi guys! Now I know, that I dont have a warranty service in Europe with this model of Asus. So is there any bad experience with Asus s96j? Do I need that warranty? Will there be problems with repalcing keyboard (because od size if there are differences between european keyboards)?
Pls, give me an advice

 

Could someone post a picture which will show the grainy screen problem? I have never noticed this on my S96j and want to see if I can see problem.

 

It would be really hard to see on a picture, I think. At least, on mine. Sometimes it's hard to see when you're staring intently at a color But you're looking for a speckling pattern of slightly lighter color... if it were 2 or 3 times worse it would be like a photoshop effect that has given the canvas texture.

Set your desktop picture to 'none' and see if you think the blue looks slightly textured. It really shouldn't. Or, if you have WoW, login and look up at the sky and check out the clouds. They are fluffy and soft on my desktop... powdery on my laptop.

Krista

 

I'll take a picture when I get home tomorrow night. I'm sure I can capture it.

It's easy to see though. Just preview the Windows XP screensaver and you'll see speckles of gray all over it if you have the problem.

 

To clarify my post: If possble I would like to have an actual picture that shows grainy on your machine. Not a picture of your computer with grainy picture. My plan was download pic and look at on my S96j to see if I have the same problem. I have looked at thousands of pictures and watched many DVDs on my S96j with no issues.

While the screen on the S96j is not the best notebook screen I have ever seen, it is definately above average.