Gigabyte U2442N Review

That is quite a good score, even without the BIOS MOD.
A normal OC seems to be good enough for daily usage.

 

Still trying to decide on this one or the Sony. Availability is tough on this model (and the 2442V).

 

I should have mentioned that I updated the Nvidia driver to 306.23. Maybe this helps it reach P2133? And yeah, a normal OC is good enough for me. Personally, due to my zero experience of flashing BIOS, it just isn't worth risking bricking the machine over what might be less than a 10% improvement.

 

It's really not all that bad - all the work has been done for you by Amal77

Actually I have found that the mod works very elegantly together with optimus. You will not have a higher clock until you run the game client specified and thus there is no hit to battery, or extra noise to worry about. There is virtually nothing to lose, so forgive me for egging you on so hard

 

Hmm.

I'd consider it if there was a newer game I really wanted higher settings on, but the games I've been playing so far are either a few years old or not that demanding. I've been playing Black Mesa the last few days and have maxed it out except for water reflections which were left on 'reflect world'. I have it on 4xAA and 8xAF. Plays buttery for the most part. Some sections of the game stick for a second but I think that's due to the game itself being made by enthusiasts and it not being a 'proper game'.

 

may I ask what's the difference between the N and V ?

It's just that the V version will last longer from day to day use?

And can this laptop play something like dota 2 in high settings?

 

I am playinf dota 2 in max stting in a acer m5 (640 LE, i5) so you should be fine

 

V has an i7 ULV and runs cooler with battery lasting slightly longer; N has a regular i5. Other than that there's very little practical difference. Whether you get a hard drive or SSD probably makes a bigger difference in performance.

It should do well on high on the laptop screen. It might work on a larger 1080p screen, but you might have to throttle it down to medium. With the BIOS mod, it would almost certainly work at 1080p on high.

 

New BIOS firmware available (F0C). They added an option to turn off the nVidia GPU it seems.

Anyone noticed that (independant from the above firmware) the nVidia GPU seems to not being used when running on battery. I have all Windows 7 power energy settings on high speed. The nVidia control panel doesnt have an option to control Optimus. I observed this with Crysis 2. When it runs on battery FPS are very slow (not playable on 1600x900, DX11, HiRes textures and everything on Ultra). As soon as I connect it to A/C it's running smoothly, no lag, no low FPS.

Any idea if there's a way to get maximum speed while running on battery?


There's also a new version of the SmartManager (v3 2.3.8).
And a lot of driver updates you won't get from Gigabyte. I tested them all and they work perfectly.
- nVidia ForceWare graphics driver (notebook version with support for Optimus) 306.23 (WHQL certified)
- nVidia 3D Vision driver 306.23
- nVidia PhysX 9.12.0613

- Realtek Ethernet Controller Driver 7.61.612.2012
- Realtek High Definition Audio Driver 6.0.1.6662 (R2.70)
- Realtek USB 2.0 Card Reader 6.1.7600.30126

- a hard to find Intel driver package called "55982_win8_64_1528"
(I cant remember how I managed to get it, you won't find this on Intel's download site, it is the only package to include a very important Intel Display audio driver to get rid of the "no sound from speakers after hibernation" issue which I had myself, after googling I learnt this is a driver issue)
Even though the name suggests it would be for Windows 8 64 bit only, the ReadMe.txt says it's also for Windows 7 64 bit:
Microsoft Windows* 7 64
Microsoft Windows* 8 64
Driver Revision: 15.28.64.2792
July 9, 2012)

- Intel USB 3.0 eXtensible-Hostcontroller 1.0.5.235
(I found this very imporant, as the pre-installed version can cause the system to reboot and after that the USB 3.0 ports don't work because driver is corrupt, the new version works perfectly, I also read that Intel's Panther chipset is not working correctly on early driver versions)
- Intel Centrino Wireless-N 2230 15.2.0.19
- Intel PROSet/Wireless Software for Bluetooth Technology 2.2.0.0266

 

I emailed them and asked for the option to disable gpu

 

I emailed them as well but their English was not good and they didnt answer all questions. I will share their answers, just in case they might be helpful to others as well:
(annotations by me in brackets)

===
I cannot seem to disable the intergrated Intel HD 4000. The BIOS has only a very few options. Is it possible to unlock
more BIOS options?
Will Gigabyte add more options in further firmware updates?

answer: This is the current spec, customer recommendations, I would suggest that the relevant personnel
(answer abruptly ends)
===
Is the maximum RAM definitely 16GB (8GB x 2)? The manual says 8GB at max but on the internet people are
saying 16GB. What does the Gigabyte mainboard support?

answer: Verifying the compatibility issues, and follow-up will be updated official website
(this is supposed to be an answer, lol
anyway it does support a maximum of 2x8GB = 16GB, website was also updated about this
in order to get hibernation work with more than 8GB I found out by googling that you have to increase the hidden hibernation partition
I did so with MiniTool Partition Wizard
I also swapped the hidden recovery partition to the HDD to make room on the SSD, also changed the size of it as it only used 7,3 GB of 10GB)
==
And what is the exact name of the Gigabyte Mainboard? Is it simply called "U2442"?

answer: U 2 4 42 N/V/S
(no idea what S is, also the mainboard is simply called U2442, N/V/S are models but never heard about a S model)
===
I'd really love to have a working fan control software as the fans are always running and it would be nice to change
this behaviour as the system doesn't seem to really need cooling that much when it's not on full load. The fans seem
to always start running when the CPU cores are shortly speeded up to 2,9GHz.

no answer
===
Another nice idea would be a way to undervolt the CPU. With my MAC I made good experiences with undervolting,
not only does it reduce heat and makes cooling thus easier, it also improves the battery durability.
Unfortunately as I cannot program myself I have not found any programs for fan control, undervolting or to test
overclocking etc.

no answer
===
I saw the test at notebookcheck.com.
link ==> Review Gigabyte U2442N Notebook - Notebookcheck.net Reviews
There are 2 things that puzzle me.
In the Windows Performance Index the CPU (i3210M) is getting a 7.1 score and the RAM is getting a 7.4 score.
I have the same hardware, I checked the specs with CPU-Z etc., and my Windows 7 HP is set for performance
(reduced unnecessary services, energy set to maximum power).
I've run the WPI several times and it always gives my CPU "only" a 6.2 score (-0.9) and the RAM a 7.2 score (-0.2).
Updating all the drivers to their latest versions didn't change a thing, I still get the same result.
Are my CPU and RAM working correctly?

answer: Different laptop manufacturers have different test data, do not worry, it is recommended that if you want to open
high-performance operation the proposed close the smartcoolingg, and reboot.
(this was actually helpful as I didn't know that Gigabyte's "smart cooling" feature prevents the CPU and RAM from full power.
After that I got a 7.1 score for the CPU and 7.5 for the RAM.
It's also interesting to note that this software is able to control the fans this way, so a software for the fans should be possible somehow, I assume)
===
I've also noticed that there are many driver updates available that work fine but are not provided at your website
(even though they are 100% compatible). The versions on your website are not up to date.
(then I listed the driver updates)

answer: Because the operating time of the relationship, after another driver will be updated to the official website,even though
they are 100% compatible
Please do not worry that.
===
According to HWiNFO64 the LCD LED monitor is a LG Philips (LGD0362 / LG Display LP140WD2-TLD2).
Could you please provide a Windows 7 x64 driver and color profiles for it?


answer: We did not get this information from lg
(damn, can't find a driver or color profile, anyone know how to get?)
===
I would also like to see a manual how to replace/upgrade the internal HDD/SSD in the future.
Does Gigabyte offer a replacement for the battery and an option to replace the drives in the future. What would that
cost and can I send my notebook to the local facility in my town?

answer: Please contact the local service center

===
What about the missing Thunderbolt port? Can this be upgraded later?


answer: This is the specification can not be changed
===
And my last question: Why is the WLAN LED always on even though WLAN is disabled through SmartManager
(v3). I can see that the device which is for both WLAN and Bluetooth is not disabled in Windows device manager. Is
that the reason or is the LED buggy?


answer: Please try Fn+F2 Tto Control the LED switch, Or please re-install the driver, or have any questions, please sent to the
local service center

 

Hi everyone, I just got my Gigabyte U2442N yesterday. Upgraded to 16GB of RAM and a 1TB HDD with the 128GB SSD. I have to say, this is a phenomenal laptop specially for how thin it is. Simply awesome. I do have to say though, the 1600x900 ensures that all my latest games run maxxxxed out but the viewing angle is the worst viewing angle I have ever seen when the screen is black. Too much WLED bleeding. Now I really miss the stunning 1920x1080 rich black display on my VAIO EB but I'd rather have a screen that games can run on a native resolution. The lid is a little flimsy but only a little. Overall, this is an absolute powerhouse in an awesome body. Will be doing a review. Questions from prospective buyers welcome!

 

The score at notebook check is interesting, I got processor 6.2, ram 7.2, graphics 5.9, gaming 6.4, primary hard disk 7.2 so my score is 5.9. I love the fact that you can update your own drivers on the gigabyte unlike the other big players in the laptop arena where you are bundled with so much crapware and have to wait years to get a driver released 2 years ago. yay!

 

Their U.S. costumer service is braindead IMO. I would LOVE a color profile.

 

Thanks so much for your initial feedback, ravenperch. Where did you happen to order from? I'm looking for another reseller other than Amazon right now...

 

Amazon are too expensive, I'm actually in the UK and theres a retailer here called laptopsdirect.co.uk and I got it for £849 which comes to $1367 (USD). This is the cheapest I can see anywhere, even on Google Shopping. You may want to try best buy or newegg or the specialist tech retail outlets in the US.

 

Oh, thanks for pointing that out, I thought amazon were the only ones selling it in the UK.

I'm still keeping my eye on this laptop, but not yet willing to fork over the cash for one!

Screen is the main thing still putting me off.

 

The screen on the sony is pretty crappy too...

For me, the main thing (other than US availability) is a test between the N and V models showing thermals during overclocked GPU use. From what I've read here and in a few other places, the V handles the temperature better on overclocks due to the cooler processor. I want to make sure before I were to spend the extra on the V because there aren't really any other noticeable differences that I can see.

 

you're mixing up glossy display with quality display...

Glossy display surfaces are generally used to make a poor TN panel look somewhat better. If you have a high quality display panel like IPS or LPS, it will look great regardless of reflective or anti-reflective surface. A reflective display surface can look nicer in the dark, but seriously stress your eyes when there's light, caused by reflections from all sorts of things, and usually a glossy display is impossible to use outdoors.


The Gigabyte's one serious downfall is the poor screen: black value (1.47 cd/m²) and contrast (161:1) are poor, and no amount of adjusting will really fix that. sRGB color space coverage is also poor. The screen really needs to go, I'd pay Gigabyte $150 for an option for a decent non-glossy screen.


This is for the Gigabyte's display:
Maximum: 252 cd/m²
Average: 232.6 cd/m²
Brightness Distribution: 83 %
Center on Battery: 209 cd/m²
Black: 1.47 cd/m²
Contrast: 161:1
Review Gigabyte U2442N Notebook - Notebookcheck.net Reviews

Now look at a better quality display's specs (still only a TN panel - Thinkpad X1 Carbon, also 14"):

Maximal: 309 cd/m²
Average: 281.8 cd/m²
Illumination: 83 %
Brightness Battery: 293 cd/m²
Black Value: 0.43 cd/m²
Contrast: 681:1


In every other area, I don't think there's a better Ultrabook than the u2442n, certainly nothing that gives you both SSD and HDD, both upgradeable.
I do miss a 3G option though, since I travel far and for long periods, and I hate carrying dongles for that.

I'm trying to check laptop replacement display vendors if there's a possibility for users to upgrade the display themselves

 

Hi I contacted a retailer in the UK of display screens and thay stated that they only have the 1600x900 resolution one which is made by LG Display. This one costs £65.

 

well, 1600x900 is good if you want to play games, as it places less load on your GPU than 1080p.

But, the more critical question is, what the quality of the display is.

Even among TN screens, which are generally the bottom of the barrel compared to IPS, LPS, MVA type screens, there are significant differences in quality.

Like the TN screens in Alienware Laptops, they are not better because they have a reflective surface, they are better because the panel itself is of higher quality, offering a larger color gamut, a better black value and hence better contrast. Some TN screens are even capable of half way decent vertical viewing angles.

The one thing you can't fix by replacing the panel is illumination, since that gets taken care of by LED's in the display lid.


If I do decide to buy this, I'll probably try another screen, cause its not that much money for a fair chance to make a huge improvement to this Ultrabook, as its screen has even worse values than the generally poor screens Acer uses.


Would you have a link for this UK screen seller?

 

Hi, new member here, i brought the U2442N after reading the reviews on here, having seen the spec this model seems ideal for me.

I paid for the 750gig and 128 SDD version, i kept everything as standard for the time being.

I mainly wanted something that was high powered, high resolution, portable and able to play EVE (my game of choice), so far its been perfect, however i would echo what others have said about fan noise and poor speaker sound.

The screen i find perfect (although i did find one dead pixel this morning which has disappointed me.

Anyways vistited a friend this morning who has the latest Mac book air 13" so took some photos for comparison if anyone's interested









oh one other thing shame about the bulky power supply - wish they had done something a little more apple like

 

Nice pictures, thanks for sharing.

 

Has anyone found a lightweight aftermarket power supply for this yet?

 

Targus makes a 90W-supporting laptop charger.
Has a very slim profile, no thick cables, and charges another miniUSB/ipod on the side.

My acer 3820tg has seen over 3 years of use with it thus far - no issues at all, I have yet to try it with U2442N however.

 

Has anyone raid 0'ed the mSATA ssd with their own SSD? Is it possible?

 

ACBEL 9009 works
It's pretty cheap if you're in US

 

I cant remember the exact retailer I found but I remember I got them by google searching the panel's info:
LG Philips [Unknown Model: LGD0362] ---------------------------------------

[General information]
Monitor Name: LG Philips [Unknown Model: LGD0362]
Monitor Name (Manuf): LG Display LP140WD2-TLD2
Serial Number: Unknown
Date Of Manufacture: Week: 0, Year: 2011
Monitor Hardware ID: Monitor\LGD0362
Max. Vertical Size: 17 cm
Max. Horizontal Size: 31 cm
[Advanced parameters]
Input Signal: Digital
Gamma Factor: 2.20
[DPMS Modes]
Standby: Not Supported
Suspend: Not Supported
Active Off: Not Supported
Standard Colour Space: Not Supported
Preferred Timing Mode: Supported
Default GTF Supported: Not Supported
DFP 1.x Compatible: No
[Supported Video Modes]
1600 x 900 309 x 174 mm, Pixel Clock 107.80 MHz

This system makes a killing on games! This would be the best ultrabook if it were not for the crappy screen. This is still the best system I have ever bought.
I made some gameplays:

 

dynamism has listed a u2442 model with gt650m! So gonna wait for this model to be available

 

Dynamism - Gigabyte U2442

link for the lazy

Gigabyte U2442
Gigabyte U2442 [U2442F-CF2]
$1239.00

14" HD+ 1600x900 backlight
Intel Core i7-3517U 1.9GHz
128GB SSD
8GB DDR3
NV GeForce 650M
Windows 8

Estimated Ship Time: Late November

 

This processor has a cenebench score of 8400. The i5 3210 has close to 9000. Given that the 5-10 fps difference between the 640m and 650m, this may seem interesting. Its dirt easy to overclock the 640m within the nvidia control panel to a higher core clock than the 650m. Hence I really dont see the point of waiting till november to get an inferior model. Unless the led panel is a completely different one.

 

MEDAL OF HONOR WARFIGHTER GAMEPLAY U2442N

 

Can anyone give me the model of the stock mSATA ssd? is it a crucial m4?

 

Dammet, how do you delete posts? AnywayI dont really know why but some models have the crucial

 

I got a liteon ssd. It does 500mbps read and 400mbps write approx

 

So the GT 640m comes with GDDR5 then right? Can you post GPU-z screenshot please?

 

The current GT 640M on a U2442N/U2442V comes with DDR3.

Last time when I did a BIOS MOD for the U2442, There's an extra VBIOS that I didn't touched, which I'm assuming it is the GT650M VBIOS.
From what I can remember, looking at the VBIOS, there's a high chance that the new U2442F will be a GT650M DDR3.

I might be wrong on this, so don't hold on to my words.

 

Thanks. What size power adapter? 65W? 90W? With the 640m and i7 ULV likely a 65W is all that's necessary. Is the size of the power brick relatively small?

I love my Clevo W110ER with similar specs, well with a full quad core, lol. But I've been waiting on something like this for a while. I guess I feel like it would be somewhat of a backwards trade considering the ULV dual core and 640m instead of quad core and 650m, but they're both DDR3 GPU's. But I do like having a larger screen and resolution, backlit keyboard, and being thinner and lighter is a bonus. Cost is a little more than I'd hoped though, was hoping for < $1000.

 

The current U2442V & U2442N comes with a 90W power adapter.
I doubt they will change it for the U2442F.
The adapter are not so small, and also not that big, from the review I've seen.
Maybe owner of the U2442 here can comment.

Coming from a Sager NP8150-S1 with i7-2630QM CPU to an i7-3520M(Vaio S13P), I actually don't feel that much of a difference for my daily task and work.
The i7-3517U are not so weak too, they are almost as fast as the i5-3210M, due to the high turbo boost.
I sometimes limit(to decrease more heat) my i7-3520M to a base clock of the i5-3210M, and still won't notice that much of a difference.
But in gaming, some of the games I've played, I sometimes can feel the not so smoothness of a dual core CPU.

In terms of portability, going from a clevo W110ER to a U2442, you probably won't notice much on the size of the laptop, but you will definitely notice the thickness.
Here are the size I got from notebookcheck :

W110ER : 37 x 287 x 207
U2442: 21 x 339 x 233

Translate to :
-The U2442 is 18% more in width
-The U2442 is 12% more in depth
-The W110ER is 43% more in height or thickness

While the U2442 can provide you with a viewing of 14" compared to an 11.6".

 

The U2442 is basically a 14" in a 15" shell. That way, they can make it thinner and still have all the components (like the dual fans). There is a noticeable bezel on the screen for example. The power adapter is not really small, not really large... pretty average for a laptop.

 

@Amal77 - Thanks. Yeah I did a comparison too at sizeasy.com

@Evaders99 -

I wouldn't say it's a 14" in a 15" shell because it's most definitely smaller than any 15" notebook that I'm aware of, even compared with the Macbook Pro 15":.

Macbook Pro 15: 14.13x9.73x0.71 inches
Gigabyte U2442: 13.35x9.17x0.83 inches

The bezel looks thicker on top and bottom, mainly to accommodate the slightly deeper chassis.

Here's comparison:

http://sizeasy.com/page/size_comparison/35651-MBP-15-vs-U2442-vs-W110ER

 

Lol. That's way more informative just by showing images of the comparison.

Didn't think of that. Thanks for sharing.

 

Computer Parts, PC Components, Laptop Computers, Computer Accessories, Networking, Electronics, and more! - SuperBiiz.com

u2442n for $1019.44
u2442v for $1130.54

use code UPD8PC for $15 off your order.

:thumbsup:

 

Thanks! I'm quite tempted, but I already have my W110ER. But this is so much more elegant. I just can't stand the 11.6" screen, that's why I gave up my M11x R1 eventually because of the screen even though I really liked everything about it. I need at least 13" and 1366x768 is just not enough room to do anything productive, at least not multitasking. 14" is a little bigger than I'd care for, but it's also quite light. Ah what the hell, you only live once right?

 

If you want something a lil bitty bit smaller, then you can go with a Vaio S13.

You can get an S13 for around USD879.99 (not inclusive of discount and tax).

Specs are :
3rd gen Intel® Core™ i5-3210M processor (2.50GHz / 3.10GHz with Turbo Boost)
NVIDIA® GeForce® GT 640M LE (1GB) hybrid graphics with Intel® Wireless Display technology
Windows 8 64-bit
Microsoft® Office 2010 trial version
No Fresh Start
Imagination Studio™ VAIO® Edition software
13.3" LED backlit display (1600 x 900)
4GB (4GB fixed onboard + 1 open slot) DDR3-1333Mhz
CD/DVD player / burner
Internal lithium polymer battery (4400mAh)
Kaspersky® Internet Security (30-day trial)
Black
500GB (7200rpm) hard drive

The GT 640M LE are very OCable just like the GT 640M.

 

Just installed Windows 8 on my Gigabyte. The installation from within Windows 7 failed twice so I had to burn ISO and do it from boot. Most of the Gigabyte Windows 8 drivers posted on the website do not work and you need to use Windows 7 drivers instead. Its really fun and the new explorer is functional, runs smooth on the U2442N. Unfortunately, I'll have to keep annoying Gigabyte to get the drivers worked on, especially the Smart Manger. I can't turn on my backlight anymore in Windows 8.

 

Thanks. Yeah I looked at those, but it's really as big as the U2442 and doesn't offer ULV CPU. I guess battery life is pretty dismal in comparison?

Here's size comparison:

 

Like I said, it is just a lil bitty bit smaller.

Yeah, It doesn't offer a ULV CPU.
But it does comes with a DDR3L(1.28v compared to 1.5v). Though I'm not sure if it helps.

Looking at the Notebookcheck review, the Vaio S13 does offer a good battery life, moreover have the options to double up the battery life with a sheet battery.

Here's a comparison on the battery life (Notebookcheck) :



The U2442N comes with a 44Wh battery, while the Vaio S13 comes with a 49Wh battery.

Source :
Review Gigabyte U2442N Notebook - Notebookcheck.net Reviews
Test Sony Vaio SV-S13A1Z9E/S Notebook - Notebookcheck.com Tests

Though I'm not really sure how the U2442V battery life performs with the ULV CPU.
Maybe Owners of the U2442V can share here?

But then again, the U2442F will come with a GT 650M! No need BIOS MOD or OC! :thumbsup: