Asus M50 Questions

Hey all, I'm a new kid here.. hahaha..
as my first post.. i would like to ask some questions about the Asus M50...

I notice there's a little different about the M50 i saw around the internet.. and those in my country... Here's the spec here:

Processor : Intel® Core™ 2 Duo T9300 (2.5GHz
Chipset :Mobile Intel 965 PM Express Chipset
OS : Genuine Windows Vista™ Home Premium
Memory : 2GB + 1GB DDR II 667 up to 4GB (2 SODIMMs)
Hard Drive : 300GB SATA (4200rpm)
Optical Drive : DVD±RW
Display : 15.4" WXGA Colorshine
Graphic : Nvidia® GeForce® Go 9500M GS share 512MB

overall I like the total package and with the price of around $1,600 I think it's a good deal..

Okay.. here's the problem.. The 4,200 rpm Hard drive. It's kind of annoys me.. so I think I'm gonna replace it with a 120 gb Hitachi 7k200 7,200 rpm hard drive. Do you guys it's worth it?

And another thing, If i DO replace it. It means I will be left with no OS. Am i right?
After I an OS into the new HDD, will it cause problem to the notebook? I will install the utility after it tho
Just now something just pops out into my mind.. Will the fingerprint security will still work?
I mean, like, the login page is gonna be different right? Because in an "usual" Vista, they doesn't have the fingerprint stuff on the login page. Or it (the fingerprint software or whatever) will eventually "attached" itself to the OS after I install the drivers and utilities?

I think that's all for now.. thanks guys..

and sorry for my bad english, i rarely use it here. lolz~

 

The 4200rpm HD will be a bottleneck depening on what you do, so replacing it is a good idea.


As for the OS, all you need to do is install the new Hard Drive, then pop in the restore CD and let it run(make sure you can boot from the optical drive via BIOs though).

 

Definetely. 7200 VS 5400 rpms's not that much of a difference. But 7200 VS 4200 is a big difference. get the better faster drive.

 

okay, so i should replace the HDD...
and install the OS and driver + utilities to the new HDD right? and everything will work just as good the deafult one?
like the fingerprint and all...

btw what's restore CD? hahaa

 

Yeap. When you buy the laptop, it'll include 3-4 CDs, one being the restore CD which contains Vista, one containing all the drivers, one containing random programs from ASUS(like a media player, etc.) and a Nero disc.

 

ooh i see..
so after i upgrade the HDD
i'll just have to instal the restore CD and the drivers
then everythings gonna be as good as new?

hahaha thanks man.. it's gonna be my first notebook after all, so i kinda lost without any help.. ^^

 

Yeap, pretty much! Which is why a restore CD/DVD is so useful compared to a retail OS.

Pretty much all you need to do is bootup with the DVD/CD in the optical drive and let it install itself. All you need to do is press enter a few times and insert the driver CD when prompt.

 

okay mate,,
thanks a lot for the help..
my confusion ended here... for now.
lolz~

 

Unless You're buying your M50 from BestBuy. . . They only included the OS, Nero, and Vista / restore disk with my package. :/ Emailed Asus about it- they said the LTs they sell BestBuy don't come with the whole Software suite including PowerDirector or DVD playing software (ASUSDVD?) BestBuy still advertises it like they do, though.

This may or may not be important to you, but it was to me since Window's latest MP doesn't support Blu-Ray, and I bought this machine hoping to use it for that.
Great machine altogether, had it about a week.

So, if you do buy from BestBuy, complain to them, and give ASUS' tech support a call for the disks. They were nice enough to put them in the mail for me

ASUS US
1-888-678-3688 + 1-510-739-3777 ext. 5110

You may be stuck on a dial tone for a while, but be patient. You're calling to Asia

-Charlie

 

So after a few hours trying different software, I still couldn't figure out my blu-ray disc problems. I figured the M50sv-x2 had the blu-ray drive, but it doesn't. It's based closer to a A1. The B1 has a slower processor, but the blu-ray drive built-in. Asus Tech Support didn't have a clue what I was talking about when I referred to the X2 model, though they were helpful. They said it was probably a off-variant only sold to bestbuy. BestBuy, however didn't package the software that was supposed to come with that model (though they advertised it did on their site), and couldn't get it for me, so a return was in order. They didn't charge me the restocking fee since I was trying for days with them to get the software. I went ahead and ordered the correct laptop from Newegg and it should be arriving tomorrow. I'll post about the blu-ray then, since I couldn't find anyone testing it online.

Sorry about any confusion,

-Charlie