New 14 inch G-Series Notebook

Yeah, recovery didn't work. This efi Microsoft code in bios crap is a major pain and, unfortunately I don't have a win8 home iso... Only pro, so a clean install isn't easy either. Maybe I'll go win7 instead.

 

I might go with the y400 just for the simple fact i can add another 650m graphics for sli.

 

There's no switchable graphics on the Y400 though. It's the main thing along with Thunderbolt keeping me on the G46vw train.

 

Yes but people getting 4 to 5 hours battery life. Honestly i cant wait that long for a g46 with thunderbolt i need laptop now. Just hopefully i don't regret it later.

 

Well I finally managed to transfer the original HD to the SSD with the Samsung utility and the machine is very fast now. I'm also getting battery estimates around 6 hours doing office stuff...also got Ubuntu 12.10 (secure remix edition which works with EFI) installed and running. Most everything works except the brightness function keys (interestingly the keyboard light level does work?).

Now I just need an i7

 

Doubt it. It'll be around $1,100-1,200 that's for sure unless you buy the ssd and ram upgrade from them too lol.

The key to saving money here is to get the 900p screen as mandatory and get the ram or ssd afterwards for a lot cheaper.


Don't get me wrong the Y400 is a beast of a laptop even if it's only 720p and no optimus for around $700-800 with a single gt 650m ddr5.

 

Good deal, glad you got it working. I was away from the boards yesterday, sorry I couldn't offer some input... but yeah it took me a while to work through the Windows 8 no media problem and efi issues a couple months back as well when I was upgrading... I was never able to find a regular windows 8 iso to use, finally just installed 8 Pro using an upgrade I had purchased for my previous machine.

The SSD's really do dramatically improve the feel of the g46 over that stock slow HDD!

Curious, you running Ubuntu 64 alongside Windows 8? I've played a bit with it but didn't get optimus/intel igp/NVidia gpu all playing along properly together. Have you had any luck in that area? I'd like to setup a dual boot but that's the reason I haven't yet.

 

Yes, I have it all playing nicely together. I'll find the link to how I got bumblebee working in a bit. The trick to efi is to use Ubuntu 12.10 "secure remix 64" then use the included app "bootfix" to fix the efi booting making sure to purge grub when fixing.

More shortly.

 

Here is how to fix bumblebee (optimus, aka optirun in linux):
How to fix Bumblebee In Ubuntu 12.10 - Ive Got A Virus

Also on bootfix you have to go into advanced options to tell it to purge grub before reinstalling. I actually did the full install of ubuntu 12.10 secure remix and then couldn't boot into either windows or ubuntu so I booted into secure remix again (try ubuntu), ran boot fix with the grub purge and now I'm freely booting to either OS from grub.

In linux the brightness keys aren't working (though keybard backlight brightness is curiously) and the right touchpad button doesn't work, but right tapping the trackpad surface does do a right mouse click and two finger scrolling works fine. I'm sure these little things I'll find fixes for (I know there's a grub boot option to keymap brightness keys) but I haven't had time to chase those yet.

Once you get bumblebee fixed use mesa-utils (sudo apt-get install mesa-utils) and then compare "glxspheres" vs "optirun glxspheres" - massive increase in performance.

I haven't gamed in linux on this yet and I know Steam is going to be a whole other hurdle (it only likes 32-bit right now from what I'm seeing). I rarely game in linux, however, (that's what windows is for) so it's not a huge priority to get steam working just yet.

Hope that helps.

 

Forgot one thing:
Linux-Secure-Remix / Home / Home

Link to secure remix iso...

 

Great info, thanks for taking the time to share in your last couple of posts... look forward to getting it setup when I have a little free time. Thanks for the tip on bumblebee, that's what I was missing.

 

One other item popped up today - anytime windows looks at the partition tables (let's say I shrink my win8 partition) it will trash boot-repairs changes and you'll have to redo the boot-repair. Not a huge deal unless you don't happen to have a USB of the linux secure remix handy

 

Good to know, I'll keep the usb stick in the bag just in case I'm on the road and mess something up ha.

Got Ubuntu installed and dual booting with Windows 8, thanks for the tip again about the secure remix. Did just install Steam as well, it actually was totally painless and updated to include the needed i386 files automatically through the terminal... they must have updated the installer to work better with 64 bit.

Next task for the weekend is to setup Bumblebee and pursue a few more tweaks.

 

I had no issues using the steam you can "buy" (for free) through Ubuntu 1. I didn't try primus yet but running "optirun steam" gets the 660m going without a hitch

 

G46 with HD+ (1600x900) screen and 750GB 7200RPM HDD + 8GB SSD is now available at NCIX (Canada & US): ASUS G46VW-DS51-CA Intel Core i5 3230M 8GB 750GB+8GBSSD 14.1IN HD+ GTX660M Windows 8 64Bit Notebook

 

How do you know it's 1600x900? Never heard of that website, either.

 

NCIX is a legit site. My friend bought some stuff from there before. The only thing about that link is it only says HD+ in the title but it doesn't have specs anywhere on the page or at least I couldn't find it.

 

Now the proud owner of a "Cheap" Asus 46VW $893.97 inc Tax very happy bunny

Regards.

ThewifegonnakillmeC.

 

Congrats! Welcome to the club. Post what you think of the machine.

 

Will do still installing games and updates

 

I went the other way with my specs in the sig. Maybe do a comparison when i get my system?

 

That's an excellent idea as it seems it's the big two when people are looking in this range.

 

I wonder if Ted at HIDevolution will offer screen replacements cause i would gladly pay to replace my panel..

Might have to call and ask he said they would but I wonder if they will tear the screens off the new G46's

 

The only issue would be if the cable included supported a higher res panel too.

 

Ted is offering this service. He quoted me and I'm going to buy after I read a review or two of the new panel.

 

So this HIDE screen will be awesome or what?? same 900p res or better and difference in picture quality from ASUS's 900P or is this screen from ASUS?? Thanks!

 

hey guys, havn't posted for a while but anyways i'm here to share a software "fancycache" that a friend over at ROG told me to use and here are the results



it might not make much of a different on daily usage but it does make everything so much faster

 

14 inch laptop with gt 650m sli? :O For real? Too bad I hate the brand name.

 

Yes, it has a module connector that lets you replace the ODD bay for the 2nd GPU.

 

So any word on the 900p display and its quality?

 

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That is a stonking deal, congrats on that! I've tried going back to a regular HDD and it annoys me massively lol.

 

My fan seems exponentially louder than it was a few days ago. Perhaps leaving it on sleep mode over an 8 hour car ride will do that?

Not sure...

 

Yeah my local best buy has one open box for $770+tax. I really want thunderbolt though for an eGPU down the road... unless someone can convince me otherwise?

I was poking through the ROG forums and found two points of interest:

1) Best Buy has a monopoly on USA retailers for the G46VW until the next version is released (presumably a processor bump or something... Haswell perhaps?), which should be up in another couple months.

2) The 900p screen is comparable to the N140FGE-L31 (search on eBay for similar compatible models) and is dirt cheap pricewise, dunno about gamut/viewing angles/etc.

 

Crucial M4 256gb mSATA ordered

 

Hi,

I'm very interested in buying an Asus G46VW however my only issue with this product is the fact that the screen isn't Full HD. So I was wondering if any of you knew if Asus is planning on releasing a Full HD version of the G46VW in the near future ?

Thanks !

 

900p is the best you'll get right now. It's an eDP display so if you're crafty you may be able to replace it at a later date.

No 14" 1080p panel exists: inch LCD Panel List (18756 models) - Panelook.com[]=14.0

 

Glad to see some G46's around here getting some upgrades! Mine's been running great, no complaints at all. Still not sure on my thoughts on the 900p screen. If it's a great looking high image quality screen I'd be tempted to upgrade, but if it's just a resolution bump I'm not overly interested. With a decent calibration the 768p looks acceptable and game performance wise is the sweet spot IMHO for the 660m.... everything I throw at it runs fantastic, which I know is seriously helped by the native resolution.

As far as Thunderbolt/eGPU being a factor, it never really was important personally simply because for a mobile on the go laptop when the 660m no longer performs acceptably in a couple years I'll be ready to sell and upgrade to a new machine anyway, and don't want to be tethered to an external GPU or monitor to game. If that's the case I'd just pick up a more powerful 15-17".

Portability for the power it packs still impresses, and tons of battery life to boot :thumbsup: I throw this puppy in a padded sleeve and away I go!

 

It's funny, it looks like it was going to have thunderbolt looking at the motherboard but they decided not to.

External options from AMD and Nvidia are not there yet though anyway.

 

So when will Xotic be getting these?

 

10characters

 

Well successfully installed the M4 256gb mSATA, however in the process now running windows 7 lol so off a hunting for drivers l go, amazingly fast now, stock HDD set up as storage.

Thanks goes to JwPwns and be77solo for your vids/guides and inspiration.

Regards.

C.

 

you are more than welcome Ceuotc =) that's a nice msata now it's time to protect it! lol I'm experimenting "fancycatche" as ram catche disk to protect my ssd and I would like more people to use it so i know how to fully use it

 

Just a quick one for you JwPwns where you able to identify the "Other devices - Universal Serial Bus (USB) Controller"? everything works great and now drivers appear to be missing.

Code 28

Having look on the website l must admit defeat lol

Regards.

C.

 

Went and took a look at one at my local best buy today. Gotta say. It really is impressive. Also, I believe the 750GB HDD is 7200RPM now instead of 5400RPM.

The resolution is a tad low, but the screen is small enough that the res doesn't bother me too much.

 

Try installing the chipset drivers for that.

 

Cheers Meaker already tried that lol, now trying to install Windows 8 which has not quite gone to plan lol does not allow me to verify the product key meh.

Have now resorted to upgrading to Windows 8 Pro with a spare key l have to see if that works

Argh back to windows 7 lol.

 

I saw a Open box G46 at local Bbuy for $750( So ~820 with tax) . Not sure if I need a second laptop lol.

 

There's said to be an option for 1600x900 which if there is I'm sold on this laptop. Will it be available in the US by summer though?

 

hey did you install the Intel USB 3.0 extensible host controller driver? I believe thats the one that's missing for everybody, i had the 3 driver that was missing and was able to identify them all by checking the hardware IDS and searched on this website that i could not remember... google hardware IDS driver indentify or something it should be first 3