Gigabyte U2442 Line

On the G46VW, I wouldn't call 5.5 lbs and 0.86" thin or light. But the GTX 660M is a much better video card. Too bad on the 1366x768 screen

 

0.86" *IS* very thin for the components, it's nearly the same thickness as the U2442. Less than 1/2" wider, about 1" deeper, just a little heavier which makes sense considering the components (Full Ivy Quad, GTX 660m GDDR5, 69WHr battery). I dunno, just an alternative. Pricing likely to be similar. Just 1366x768, really Asus? Really?

 

.86 at the very thinnest part of the computer. the very front. The back with the vents is still about 1.5.

no where near portable as the u2442

 

Oops, specs aren't accurate, lol. It is 1.5" at thickest... nevermind.

 

Looked mildly interesting until the 1366x768 resolution popped up in the specs. What's the deal with premium laptops + crappy displays? I suppose it makes for good framerates when combined with the 660M, but still...

 

getting my u2442v tomorrow or the next and am super excited.

already set up to OC that "bbbbiiiiatch" with the bios mod.

Though reading the reviews i see the biggest problem is the washed out display.

Anyone have a color profile that they can post that will help with this?!

 

Nice! I should be gettin mine on Friday or Saturday but having to drive from Vancouver to the US border kinda screws it.
I also ended up ordering with Dynamism cause Superbiiz was having problems with my order due to a different billing and shipping address.

Cant wait to see how much better GW2 looks on the u2442V as compared to the 3820tg

 

Please let us know how GW2 runs on the U2442V, stock and (if possible) overclocked, along with in-game settings used.

I'm also moving from a 3820tg, and it has "issues" with GW2. Generally not a pleasant experience for me. Though I always play on a maxed out desktop anyhow, I'd like a portable option too.

Thanks!

 

Can you please post an honest review when you get it? I too am in Vancouver and am on ther fence about ordering one. Seems like Dynamism is the easiest to deal with with for us! Still not sure to wait for the U2442F??

 

I would say the biggest problem is the display's screen-door effect.

 

Eh? I don't even notice. I suppose you can see it if you really look for it when browsing or during general desktop use - but there's no chance of spotting it during gaming, photo editing, etc.

IMHO, biggest problem is still the fans. Damn things run constantly and spin up way too frequently. Dying for some manual fan control over here...

 

ha ill try to do my own little review but still
anyone have a good color profile?
trying to be prepared

 

Is that the V or N with the fan noise?

 

2442N in my case, although I believe 2442V owners have reported fans running fairly constantly as well. The fan thresholds and speeds need to be re-tuned somehow.

 

Can i just ask what HD Drives u guys added on besides the included SSD?

Not sure if i should go with a HD or SSD for the additional bay.

 

Just got my u2442V I am in love.

Will give a review soon! though does anyone have any tips for calibrating the screen or how to change the colors to give it a little more pop?!

read that people have used different color profiles or done some changes to the settings but not sure where/how i accomplish that.

HELP PLEASE

 

10 charss

ive moved my pre-review to the review section

 

I dropped in a 500GB Plextor M4 SSD as a second drive. Works like a charm, blazing fast and has oodles of space. I've redirected most MyDocs folders there and I install most games and other space-hogging stuff there. Never again will I carry spinning drives in a laptop!

 

Thanks Infocalypse.

Figured i'll just post this here as well,

Just got my U2442V.

1st response is : The color is not something i'm fond of. Its definitely a light pinkish champagne color. But it is light. Its about the same as the acer 380tg but i love the small power adapter.

But as some have mentioned, there is a slight buzzing sound. Its kinda getting to me. Its even more *noisy* that my old 3820tg. Its definitely the fan but its a weird sound. Almost like a sound that my old acer makes when its clogged up with dust.

I have already sent an email to Dynamism and waiting for a response. Apart from that, i am afraid it may have taken a drop or something cause the inner box that *hugs/holds* the actual notebook/laptop was already torn when i flipped the box open.

Btw, is the intel HD card supposed to switch to nvidia GT640m automatically?

 

I bet you'll warm up to the color. I wasn't terribly fond of it at first, but it has grown on me pretty quickly. I'll second your comments on the lightness of the laptop and the tiny-sized power adapter, both a definitely plusses.

My 2442N doesn't buzz, but the fans definitely make some noise and tend to oscillate, which is pretty annoying. Kinda thinking about going out and getting a new pair of fans, just to see if mine are bunk somehow. Poor QC on the fans wouldn't be unheard of. (or maybe the fans in these units could benefit from some oil?)

And yes, the 640M should kick in automatically when running games or other 3D-enabled apps. Diablo3 tested and approved!

Here's a question - anyone pulled that big dark "Gigabyte U2442" sticker (the one with all the specs) off the left side palm rest? I hate that thing (ugly!!!) but it seems to be on with some seriously industrial glue and I don't want to scratch or otherwise mess up the palmrest.

 

I see Gigabyte has finally updated the website to reflect the U2442F. I just wish that they would give the specs of the components...ie GT650....


GIGABYTE - Notebook / Slate & Device - U2442F

 

U2442V Mini Review

Packaging=10/10
-This thing comes in a sleek box with a goodies, including a nice leather case.

Portability=10/10
-For a computer with these specs its light as hell and thing as hell, it feels good in the hands and would make a minor difference to a backpacks weight it seems. Also the new power brick is tiny, so very easy to get it from here to there.

Build quality= 9/10
-Very strong build all around, just one point down for me because of the little bit of light that shines through the bottom corner of the screen frame

Keyboard and trackpad=9/10
-Everyone complained about keyboard flex, but gigabyte must of heard your cries because the model I received you have to put way to much force down onto the keyboard to make it flex just a bit. So you dont notice any flex at all and the feel is a little bit different then most, but now that im used to it I feel I can actually type better on my U2442. Trackpad works great, you get use to the texture and it does what it needs to do.

Screen=6/10
-The colors are just very washed out, especially pinks, reds. and yellows. Its not a game changer for me, but wish i could fix that. The screen it self looks pretty good if you dont account for the colors(wish i had a better color profile). and for the "screen door effect" youll only notice it on high brightness in like a word document.

Battery Life=9/10
-With smart cooling on and power saver at 50% brightness I surfed the web and did word documents for 5 hours and 42 minutes until I was at 1%. Funny thing is everyone said use battery bar for more accurate times, but battery bar gave me the exact opposite.

Microphone, speakers, webcam=7/10
-Speakers are very basic sounding, but they can be loud with adjustment and get the job done, The microphone works just fine no real complaint here, and the webcam works alright, nothing like a macbook clarity but hey it gets the job done.

Fans/Cooling=10/10
-With smart cooling on and doing just normal activities I will not hear the fans and my computer will be on my lap without being hot. When running games and smart cooling off the fans will be pushing and yes I can hear them but thats good because they are keeping my cpu and gpu cool giving me the power to overclock them. This laptop hasnt gotten hot yet.

Cpu performance with i7=10/10
-Every task ive done seems to run streamlessly with no hick up, the processor seems to run plenty fast.

Gpu performance 640m=10/10
-Right now I used the bios mod and have an overclock of 1000/1050, my max temps are around 67c and im running my games at ultra setting at 900p. I couldnt be more happy that this little machine will bust out that performance.

The little things= 10/10
No bloatware, tons of ports, fast ssd with like 5 second boot up and option to add second hard drive, etc etc.

Overall I give this computer a =9/10 I am very happy with the machine and maybe somehow ill be able to find a better screen for it down the line.

-Only real problem so far is when I use the brightness keys on the computer they are not in sync with the systems brightness bar so from 10 to 100 brightness its all the same then once i hit 100 the bar stops moving but if i click the brightness up it will finally start going up, if anyone knows a fix please let me know.

-If there was something i didnt touch base on let me know as well thanks!

 

Does anyone know if it will come with a thunderbolt port as well?

 

I checked with Dynamism and no. it will not come with thunderbolt.

 

Originally Posted by Gwypaas Does anyone know if it will come with a thunderbolt port as well?


No it does not. I wrote to Gigabyte support twice now, and they have indicated no Thunderbolt, however in both responses regarding the 650 M they have said it is DDR5.......???

Wait and see I guess. It's driving me nuts, because I am about ready to pull the triggers on the 2442V.........But the bump in performance is holding me back, along with waiting to see if they get any of the other bugs out of the way......

 

Hmmn... comparing with all the reviews, seems like i may have received a lemon. My fan is rather loud and its almost constantly on despite no load what so ever.
Lets see what Dynamism have to say and if i did receive a lemon, im wondering if they will allow me to pay more and just get the U2442F instead.

 

Btw, i have tried Guild Wars 2 on the U2442V and its partly because of this that i think i may have received a lemon.

My screen would flicker/freeze and then just go full of artifacts. Gets kinda irritating cause i'll be in a the middle of a dungeon and then i would have to hard restart the entire notebook.

So yeah. Anyone else having the same problem with playing guild wars 2 on this machine?

 

Just got my U2442N last Thursday. I love the machine, but I can't figure out how to make games use the 640M when the laptop is only on battery. I've tried overriding per program graphics via the Nvidia Control Panel with no luck. I read somewhere about the Smart Manager software playing with Windows power profiles, but can't seem to get to the bottom of it.

If anyone knows how to make/force the 640M to be used while on battery, I'd really appreciate it.

Note: While using the AC power, games do in fact use the 640M.

Thanks,
Ryan

 

i just ordered this one: Amazon.com: Western Digital WD Scorpio Black 750 GB SATA 3 GB/s 7200 RPM 16 MB Cache Internal Bulk/OEM 2.5-Inch Mobile Hard Drive: Electronics

 

all stickers off - no problems.

 

Can anyone provide the screen manufacturer and Serial Number for the specific screen? I'm looking into alternatives and I'd like to know what the stock model is.

 

Have you had a chance to review the screen on one of these yet?

I'm in Vancouver as well, and looking to order.

The other thing I'm wondering about is what are the customs charges I can expect on this laptop? Any idea?

 

Does anyone know when the windows 8 versions will be available in the UK - N, V or F?

I've held off this long, willing to wait a few weeks more.

 

Can someone please post how to overclock this machine?
I have U2442V....
MSI afterburner only lets me to OC upto 135MHz.... I want more...
how do I get modded vbios,,?

 

Hey Miggles,

With regards to the screen, i must say it does look rather washed out. even compared to my old acer 3820tg. But performance wise its been great. I would agree with what Hayden14 has posted in his review.

But the one thing that still gets to me is the damn fans. They keep turning on and off every 30 seconds to a minute even with no load (just browsing the internet). (im using the U2442V btw).
I also currently reside in Vancouver. Im not sure what customs would be like but i got mine by shipping it to a receiving address in Blaine and drove down there to pick it up.

No questions asked by the customs guard. But if you do ship it to Vancouver from the US, be prepared to at least pay 80-100 dollars in custom fees (my own estimate so could be more could be less).

 

Unless I'm mistaken, Gigabyte posted a new 2442N (and presumably V, too) BIOS release and a new version of SmartManager a couple days ago.

GIGABYTE - Notebook / Slate & Device - U2442N

Might be too much to hope they've improved the fan behavior but I'll check it out tonight, unless someone else can get to it first.

 

This fan issue is the only thing that has stopped me from buying the N or the V

 

Go here!
http://forum.notebookreview.com/other-manufacturers/681789-gigabyte-u2442n-review.html

Under the first review at the bottom of the post should be the links to the overclock bios.

the 1000mhz is broken, so heres the direct to that https://rapidshare.com/files/2333962...WS_1000MHz.zip

 

I don't know about the 3820tg - I've got two machines for comparison: my 2007 Dell XPS m1330 and a 2010 15" MBP. I'm guessing compared to either of those it's going to look pretty rubbish and that might be a problem.

I once ordered some stuff from Woot and had it shipped to a receiver in Point Roberts. Coming back from there they did ask questions and I wound up paying for the lot. I guess if you go to Blaine (and beyond) there are so many other things you could be doing that they'll let you through easier.

Seems someone posted about a new bios since your post - has that helped your fans at all?

I can't find anything comparable to this machine shy of another MBP and I really just don't want to go there.

 

I have upgraded my U2442V to windows 8.
So far I'm very satisfied with its new system as the touch pad software supports quite a bit of things for windows 8.

However, I'm having this one problem.
The wireless adapter doesn't automatically turn on when I start up my laptop.
Sometimes it takes a little time before it turns on automatically
Sometimes it doesn't turn on ever so I have to turn it on manually.

There are also times where wifi light below the touch pad is turned on but on smart manager it isn't turned on.
Wifi doesn't work when this happens.

My windows is up to date. My bios, smartmanager, all drivers are all up to date.

Is anyone having same problem with me?

Fan problem doesn't seem to disappear with the new bios as well.
I think i'm getting used to it tho... lol

 

I posted in the other thread, but in my experience, the new BIOS (v2) does wonders for the screen quality. Mine shipped with the newest version, and I didn't even realize how bad the old one looked until I downgraded to overclock.

I've had the machine for about a week now, and so far nothing has fixed the fan problem. It's not really a big deal for me, (my apt normally has more ambient noise than the fans) but they almost never turn off, even when the notebook is quite cool.

 

Can anyone confirm the NIC used in the 2442s? Realtek or Intel.
Also is the wifi on a mPCIe card to change out and if so which one ships inside?

 

What do you exactly mean with the better screen quality? Colors?

 

i've had my u2442n for about 3-weeks now and it shipped with the updated F203 bios.

the first thing i did when it arrived was wiped the ssd clean and installed linux mint 13.

my fan rarely turns on and the machine generates very little heat. i only noticed ANY heat when i added a 750gb hdd for storage. the screen has always been wonderful.

 

Well TBH I didn't keep it on the outdated BIOS for more than several minutes, and I obviously didn't get a side by side comparison. That said the new BIOS screen just looks better in every way. I'm not a huge screen guy, so I'm probably not the best person to ask, but there was definitely a brightness bug with the old BIOS that was fixed. IMHO I would hold the u2442 screen up there with my old MacBook, plus it's matte, which is only a bonus.

Idk why I'm the only one on these forums who noticed such a huge difference in the two BIOS versions.

 

Can anyone take a photo of the older bios then flash up to the newer one and take a photo to compare the two?

 

Another version of BIOS came out on the 16th

does anyone know what it is about?

 

Does it come with a changelog?

 

Does everyone have a problem with the fans turning on unnecessarily or is this just certain cases?

 

Just got my U2242V today.

It's great. The fan however is super annoying and loud. Sometimes it turns on for 1/2 second and then back off. Maybe I'll get used to it... Is it possible to replace these fans?

Thanks.