M50vm-A1, Seriously considering it

Hey guys, I'm shopping for a new laptop for college this coming school year (I leave Sep. 20th) and am considering the M50Vm-A1. My price limit is around $1400, I don't really want to spend much more than that. I'm a power user, I game casually and definitely appreciate a well built case as well. I was planning on an XPS M1530, but due to the lack of the centrino 2 platform and some little details that the studio series has over it, I probably won't be getting that unless the new version is released very soon. I'd consider a studio series if they had good coupon codes for it, but they don't yet.

My main concerns are the battery life (I will definitely be getting a 9 cell battery with this if I get it), but I figure if I can get 4 hours out of it I should be ok...can anyone confirm this? (on battery saving mode)

Also, I'm running Logitech Z-5500's on an optical input right now, I saw on some diagrams that there is an SPDIF out on the A1, but is this indeed an optical out? It would be a plus not to have to buy that X-Fi card as well.

Any owners, if you could just give me your overall impression and if you'd recommend me to get it I'd appreciate it as well.

I'm considering getting it from xotic pc, does anybody have experience with them? If so, how was it?

Thanks in advance for any help.

 

I get 2 hours doing general browsing in Entertainment Mode out of 6 cell battery, so you might get close to 4 hours out of 9 cell.

It has optical out you just need 3.5 toslink adapter for it

Don't know about xoticpc, I got mine from gentech and I highly recommend it.

This is an awesome notebook especially you'll be surprised how cool and quiet it is.

 

You can get 3 hours out of the 6 cell if you really configure it and try. Of course, not if you're watching movies, etc.
With the 9 cell you should get 4-5 hours.

Specs:
1 x Headphone-out jack (S/PDIF)

I bought mine from GenTechPC and received it in 3 days.


Awesome notebook. I haven't had any of that keyboard lag problem if that's also holding you back. Nice and sturdy; I'd recommend this.

 

Thanks a lot for the quick responses guys.

I figure that when I really need the battery life I'll have it on very minimal settings, because the situation I'll be in only really mandates taking notes (wifi off) so that's just word processing and not much else.

I was looking at GenTech, but I live in California so that means sales tax

Klas, what kind of optical output is it? I'm assuming it's stereo only; or does it have surround output (dolby or DTS would be )?

Does the media touch pad work well? Can it be configured to work with iTunes?

Any dead pixel problems?

Any other things I should know?

 

It works with iTunes by default. I just tried it. Basically works with everything that has a play and stop.

No dead pixels yet. Only had it for 2 weeks.

Yea. I had to pay $130 or so sales tax... I'm in Northern California.

 

Have you had or heard of any of the missing keystroke problems on the M50VM?

Any other problems at all?

 

I would be curious to know how you can get 3 hours out of 6 cell when browsing?

I don't know more details about optical output other then it's 3.5 toslink optical. I would assume it's the same as regular optical.

 

If you look up to my first post:

"Awesome notebook. I haven't had any of that keyboard lag problem if that's also holding you back. Nice and sturdy; I'd recommend this. "

No other problems. I formatted it with Vista Ultimate 64 bit. The drivers installed nicely except touchpad. I had to use Safe Mode for that. But that's no biggie.

I haven't tried to run it for 3 hours straight.. That's just what the time in the tray says. :S I don't think it's accurate then?

 

ah you have A1 version which is 25W, that explains it

 

Well I guess my main worry now involves the keyboard issues, because I have heard that people with the VM still have them, how often this actually occurs on the VM I don't know, but I can't really decide if it's worth it to have to deal with that, I am leaning towards yes though.


Anybody know if there is a runthrough on a clean vista/drivers install? I plan on doing that if I purchase this laptop.

 

All you need to do is to insert the recovery disk and let it run the process automatically. Once that's done you can install the drivers from the drivers disk that's included with the notebook without any of the utilities except for the ATK related software.

 

To clarify, see ASUS Info Booth_FAQ, question #14.

There is an extra step of refusing to insert the drivers DVD that emp.b. did not mention.