2014 Asus N550JK -DS71T quick mini review and opinion so far

Can you upload some pics, please?

 

It is interesting if it would void a warranty to take off the screen, open the frame and access the panel screws. When I press the bleeding corner slightly, it disappears. I believe there is a screw in that corner and thightening it a little bit would solve my problem.

 

I was quoting Charleston's comments on this on Amazon. He has made numerous comments like this where people have had problems with their monitors on this computer. Search the 1 star ratings and comments and you will be able to locate him quickly and contact him directly.

 

I'm looking for a laptop as a graduation gift for myself. I'm considering this as an option along with HP ENVY 15t

More of it here in my post: http://forum.notebookreview.com/wha...uation-gift-newbie-alert-help-hp-vs-asus.html

They more or less have the same specs. I'm not techy so I may miss on differences of either.
Many here also compared each other but it's as if it's not clear. Some still prefers envy and some the n550jk. I really need some expert opinions. Thank You!

 

I have a friend who owns the hp envy 17 with touchscreen and I own the n550jk without. The one thing I can day about his machine is that I hate the touchpad. It is quite finicky for me while the Asus is very smooth. I'm not sure about the hp but the Asus has a dual fan setup and decent heat sinks for gaming.

 

Well, I can highly recommend asus n550jk, but also I noticed few drawbacks : touchpad buttons are strange - I stopped using them and use finger actions instead. It's okay now. Second thing that may be a little annoying is constant fan sound. Its pretty silent and you won't hear it if you play some music. But when you are in quiete environment you will definitely notice it. When I play gta4 on high settings it gets pretty laud. Charger is also kinda bulky and that might not appeal for everyone. On the other hand - it doesn't heat up, only stays warm. About the speed - programs load slowly because of HDD. My 8 year old vostro 1000 sometimes loads faster than this PC with HDD And for me, the main drawback is lightbleed and service refused to do anything about it, because according to them 'this screen is meant for information, not for quality'. I might try another service in Amsterdam. Also, I don't know if it is a good or a bad thing, but all sockets are very tight. Sometimes it feels that I will crack something inside I heard people with broken audio jacks. Overall, very pleasant experience with this laptop. Keyboard is really intuitive. I enjoy the sound system. Exterior gives pleasant feeling.

So from me - go with Asus. If you have an option to have the screen checked for extra price - do it. Good luck.

Edit: about loud fan - I just noticed my prefered graphics processor was set to NVIDIA, now I set it to intel graphics. I guess thats why it was always spinning loudly.

 

I installed Ubuntu alongside with windows 8.1. Its really fast and works nice. Have never used ubuntu though. I really like touchpad driver, it is clearly more responsive than in windows. Scrolling is just like on macbook. I always had trouble when using touchpad on windows 8.1. I wonder if it would be possible to somehow make it work like this on windows 8.1.

 

I purchased an 8GB Kingston sodimm from Amazon, Kingston said it was the correct ram and tested for the N550JK, I installed it then realized my touchscreen no longer worked and device manager keep flashing showing some USB errors. Amazon sent another sodimm out, only difference was revision numbers and the first had the black ram chips on it branded as Kingston while the second Kingston chip had the black ram chips labeled as the same brand as my stock 8GB SK Hynix. I put it in and it worked fine, I closed the screen for standby (option where it resumes fast with the ASUS feature) and then I opened it today and no touchscreen again!

Well I tried both Kingston chips, nothing, then I went back to the stock 8GB sodimm and still no Touchscreen!

EDIT* closed screen and it was working, but now cant get it to work no matter what screen position but that means cable or plug I guess.

 

Hey, I have some problems with sound on this laptop. When I play music and skype with someone, too much sound transfers through skype and I can barely hear the music. Don't know how that works.

Another problem is when I turn on the computer and sound is turned off, I have to increase it to 16 to make it audible and only then it starts working in lower sound levels. I mean, I can't hear anything when sound level <16 , then when I reach 16 and lower it it works fine. Its just a minor thing.

 

Hi guys! Been following this thread since the beginning because I wanted to buy this model, but I stopped reading it a couple of months ago since I figured the new GPUs (950m and 960m) are just around the corner and this laptop will probaly get a refresh soon.

The thing is, yesterday it was $880 on Amazon, so I chose to save a couple of bucks even if it meant having an older model and bought it. However, I'm a little scared about the numerous problems people seem to report in the reviews at Amazon and this same forum thread. I'm aware that the screen problem is easy to fix (like someone helpfully explained a couple of posts up), but what worries me the most is the headphone jack issue.

Just wanted to ask: how many of you have had their headphone jacks broken? I understand it is impossible to fix for yourself because it would pratically mean changing the motherboard. My real issue is that I don't live in the US so I don't have any access to Amazon or Asus warranty.

Thanks in advance, just looking for any kind of information that helps me calm my anxiousness.

 

Well mine was working until I sent it to Asus for a lithe board replacement. Now it's broken and they are paying to ship it back. As long as its working when you buy it it should be fine.

 

Thanks for the info. I guess what I really want to ask is:

Is there actually anyone who's had the laptop for several months and whose headphone jack still works flawlessly?

 

Same problem, no sound untill i increase volume.

 

That f'ing thing... the more time goes by, the more I'm convinced I made a terrible mistake buying this computer. My headphone jack is rubbish too. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. It's a rather high-end laptop, yet it's put together like an Acer from 6 years ago...

Issues all along. Small ones, but annoying. Keyboard is very inaccurate, missing some of the letters I'm typing, the headphone jack problem, unusable touchpad, finishing flaws, a rather 'ambiguous' sound quality... I should've gone with Acer, at least I'd know that the flaws there are what I've paid for...

I will be sending mine to the service center under the warranty regarding that headphone jack... but I'll wait another few months to see if anything else goes to hell.

I'm never getting an ASUS again.

 

+1. ASUS has done some blunders in finishing. But still, you cannot beat them with the price and quality they're offering.

Touchpad is extremely crap. Must gotta agree that because it's really sticky and stiff which makes finger tired after short time usage.

About Missing keystrokes problem, It is simply caused by ASUS poorly coded software "ASUS Smart gestures" which never disables the touchpad either when you're typing or you turn it totally off from software. What is does is it simply disables cursor movements hence missing keystrokes are sure to result when you get contact with touchpad while typing.
If you remove that software and install the generic drivers from their website then you won't see issues with keyboard again.

Audio system in this notebook seams EXTREMELY capable but unfortunately, all is throttled and ruined by crap software optimization.

Webcam is really unusable, lowest quality I could see. Dunno why they can't put a capable 1080p webcams in 1000$ notebook while that module costs no more than 50$.

Keyboard light-bleeding is really horrible. back-lit is only useable when you're exactly at the angle of 90 degree from the keyboard and for worse, the back-lit is unevenly spread over the keyboard making some keys brighter and some dimmer.

Numpad lock indicator led is also missing which is quite annoyance at times especially for frequent numpad users.

Battery timing is 3.5 hours at best on the ASUS power saving profile, wifi and lowest screen brightness while doing only web browsing and watching few youtube videos via headphones.

I don't know how they can claim 5 hours... maybe keeping the laptop on the BIOS setup screen and then counting the backup time?

Overall, the weakest side of ASUS is software optimization. Their all provided software's and drivers are really slow and poorly optimized which results in decreased performance of notebook in every possible way.

 

Soooo any thoughts about the refresh model(N550JX) Nvidia GTX950m with i7-4720HQ? I've been waiting for a refresh ever since someone brought the topic up and I hope issues from the JK should've been solved since I'm considering this.

 

If ASUS N550JK is selling below 900$ then I would say get N550JK and a SSD for the price you're gonna spend extra on N550JX. Only difference I could see in N550JK and N550JX is CPU and GPU frequency.
Nvidia 850m vs Nvidia 950 is just like nvidia 650m vs nvidia 750m at best.
Overall performance gain of N550JX will be around ~5-10% over N550JK. Rest is your choice. Pros and Cons of ASUS N550J* Series I have posted above if you wanna know then...

 

Does anyone know how to remove the keys on the keyboard for cleaning?

 

Even though I have the black version, I'm pretty sure the keyboard is the same. The keys are attached to the keyboard via scissor-switch mechanisms.
Unfortunately I still don't have a keyboard protector when an incident happened -- I frustratingly sneezed a good amount of hot chocolate onto the keyboard so I wanted to clean it properly by removing the keys. XD

1. Prepare 2pcs of toothpicks or any slender tools that will fit between the gaps around the keys and the keyboard area.
2. Poke the lower part of the key on each side then move around a bit until the locks are released
3. Once the bottom is done, proceed with the upper part of the keys
4. Some mechanisms are arranged sideways (mostly the numpad keys) so you need to tinker them a bit differently.

* See attached pictures for reference on how to approach each key
* Be very careful as the locks can be very fragile. Use minimum pressure as possible. Don't force it!

Good luck!

 

Thanks elaitio, by the way, regarding step 2 and 3, by 'moving around a bit' do you mean I should slowly 'prise' off the lower half of the key before moving on to the upper half?

 

yeah try prying the "bottom" part sideways then the "upper" part should come out a bit easier.. you'll get it by looking at how the locks behind the keys and the scissor-mechanism aligns on the picture.

TIP: the function keys are, for me, the easiest to pop out. you may start there to see for yourself how the keys are attached to the keyboard.

 

Hi All,

I just got an N550JK. I really like the screen and build quality.

I also just upgraded the HDD to a 1TB SSD, and the memory to 16GB. This thing flies!

<EDIT> I just noticed a trapped piece of dust/debris in the upper left corner of the screen. I just reversed my computer 'surgery' and will exchange it at Best Buy when they open this morning.

 

Trapped how exactly?

 

Don't know how - - just that it happened.

Anyways just noticed my replacement has a dead pixel and it is being repaired under warranty.

 

I got my unit with the replaced LCD screen, and I have zero dead and zero stuck pixels!

Asus rocks!

 

Not a bad turn around either, enjoy.

 

So I have following problems with my laptop:
backlight bleeding on almost all corners. its pretty serious.
1 whitespot on LCD (which is pretty annoying also).
closing screen does not always suspend laptop because one hinge is not alligned properly. I have to twist screen a bit, so it closes then.
touchpad became a bit loose and makes a clicking sound anywhere I click.

Asus service in Lithuania refused to replace it, but then I had only lightbleeding problem.
I am in Amsterdam now, do you think my problems are serious enough for repair?

 

The hinges having issues will only get worse.

 

If the issues are bothering you, bring it in for service. I don't know by what you mean by bright spot (stuck pixel or a bright area?). Stuck/dead pixels are only fixed within the first 30 days of ownership.

The worst thing they can tell you is that it isn't covered, so I would try in your shoes.

 

It will be a bright area, they can happen.

 

Windows 10: intel 4600 graphics not supported? any comments/work around guys?

Edit:
It seems okay now. No more error message.

 

Hi, I am having a very strange problem.

The backspace key presses automatically after random interval of time.
I have ran several antivirus scans (using Rescue CD) and even has ran Malwarebytes and Avast deep + boot time scan.
All of them couldn't find any viruses.

I even tried to re-install the windows but the problem persist.
Any idea what can be wrong? (seems to be hardware fault?)

 

Try blowing compressed air around the backspace key. If this doesn't work, it sounds like your keyboard needs fixing/replacing.

 

Cleaning the backspace key with brush after removing it doesn't help.
Does I it literally needs an air blower? (because currently I do not have air blower).

 

Can anyone please show me how to replace the keyboard on this laptop?

 

Hey guys, I'm wondering if there is any fix with the missing keystrokes besides disabling the touchpad in the bios? I use my touchpad from time to time. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks

 

Yes there is another solution to this problem.
Uninstall ASUS smart gestures and install the following driver (Select your current OS before downloading drivers):
http://support.asus.com/Download.aspx?SLanguage=en&m=Touchpad&os=30

 

thanks! I will try using my laptop for a day and see if it indeed gets better.
edit:
I've noticed that if you choose the Asus n550jk's drivers, some of them are outdated compared to the generic one. In this case, do you think it is better to download the generic updated versions or should I stick with what Asus has provided for the n550jk? There is an updated atk package which isn't listed if you specifically choose the n550jk model, I will also try installing that one and see if that will help.

 

Try these ones (which I am currently using): http://www.mediafire.com/download/3xbmjbvuf67zhsv/Elan_touchpad_11.7.8.5.exe

 

This one you linked doesn't work for me, however the other one did, and it seemed to have helped the missing keystroke issue. Thank you !

 

Hi everyone,
My most fear regarding this laptop has finally came true.
All of the sudden my laptop isn't recognizing any headphone plugged into 3.5mm jack.
I believe same as it happened with others, that it is due to broken headphone port.

I literally used my headphone port very politely and very RARELY yet it happened!!!
This without a doubt seems to be a major serious flaw in ASUS engineering!

I have ran out of warranty period, is there anything I can do to fix it apart from using external usb 3.5mm jack or usb headphones?

I personally cannot believe with such poor quality of ASUS.

 

Yes find a replacement jack with the same dimentions and solder it on yourself or at a repair shop.

 

How can I find a replacement jack with exact dimensions?

 

Just gauging interest since this thread doesn't seem to be very well organized. Is there much interest in a BIOS mod for this laptop?

I just got the machine a few days ago, and I've modded my BIOS to do the following:

• Overclock 850M to 1306/1190 (scores similarly to a 960M on 3DMark11: http://www.3dmark.com/3dm11/10133330)
• Update Intel GOP driver to latest version
• Update CPU Microcode to latest version
• Unlock significantly more options in BIOS menu, including enabling CPPC (which is disabled for some reason, you can find the drivers under the N550JX drivers), LakeTiny, Unlocked CPU multipliers (haven't tested)

 

Great job!

1. How stable is the overclocked GPU especially regarding its power usage and temperatures under load?
2. Are there any significant improvement in CPU performance in doing daily tasks?

 

GPU seems pretty stable. Took for a ~30 minute gaming session.
I'm not seeing any significant improvements in the CPU performance other than the slight gains from the 3.6 GHz overclock I added with Intel XTU.

 

Sounds good, Can we also have your modded BIOS?

 

I'm not sure if I can just attach it here, or you need to modify your own. I believe there are OEM specific keys and whatnot stored in your BIOS image. The process is relatively straightforward though.

You can upgrade your Management Engine Firmware without having to touch the BIOS. It's independent of the rest of the guide here.
To Update Management Engine Firmware see this thread ( http://www.win-raid.com/t596f39-Intel-Management-Engine-Drivers-Firmware-amp-System-Tools.html). You're looking for version 9.0.x.x (1.5 MB).

To start:

1. Create a bootable DOS USB (I used Rufus https://rufus.akeo.ie/ to do this)
2. Set your BIOS options to Secure Boot Disabled, CSM Enabled, USB Legacy Support Enabled.
3. Boot into your USB drive
4. Use AFUDOS (https://www.wimsbios.com/amiflasher.jsp) to backup your BIOS from DOS.
   1. The command should be AFUDOS BACKUP.ROM /O

To Overclock the GPU:

1. Download the edited vBIOS files (https://mega.nz/#!DNkVlBpK!tWXM_2HlCeF2BaesAFrtSGoXFFiPhrSzMKrbAh3_JE4) edit them using Kepler Bios Tweaker (http://www.overclock.net/t/1452223/...7-added-tdp-unlock-gtx-780ti-780-titan-gtx770) and set both vBIOSes to whatever overclock you're looking for by setting the entries in the first tab, and then sliding the Boost Table (entry 54 is the default Boost Clock target); the included vBIOSes are set to 1306.5. You can also change the memory clock on the first page.
2. Edit your backed up BIOS it using MMTool (https://mega.co.nz/#!ZcMQnK7Y!uophY-bMXmUIPcY6Rl-SP_LDVHvdgX9wrHzgfc7yD7A), and replace your vBIOS Option ROM (first linked OROM), and your UEFI vBIOS (C5D7EAAD-B218-482C-A909-E3B8CDB00E94) with the edited ones your created in the last step.

To Update Microcode, RAID drivers, PXE drivers, GOP drivers, simply use UEFI BIOS Updater ( http://www.win-raid.com/t154f16-Tool-Guide-News-quot-UEFI-BIOS-Updater-quot-UBU.html). It's very simple to use and will walk you through all the options available.

To Unlock More BIOS Options:

1. Download AMIBCP (I'm not sure where to find an updated version, but here's the one I used https://www.sendspace.com/file/owfsdf)
2. Open your BIOS
3. Under Setup Configuration > > Advanced, you'll see a list of options. Anything that you want to show up in your BIOS, go ahead and set Access/Use to USER. It is unnecessary to do this for further sub-menus. You can see what is under each submenu from the folders on the left.

Once you've finished applying any/all of the above mods, you need to reflash your BIOS. You can do this using AFUDOS, or AFUWIN.
To flash using AFUDOS, boot into your DOS USB again, and use the command AFUDOS [BIOS NAME].ROM /B /P /N

You can find the general guide here: http://www.win-raid.com/t18f16-Guide-Manual-AMI-UEFI-BIOS-Modding.html.

 

So my laptop stopped showing my hard drive as boot option in the bios, so I choose Restore defaults in the BIOS and saved. After save, the screen went black and there is no image.
The computer starts, keyboard lights up, status LEDs are on, hard-drive is spinning, but the screen is turned off. I've tried external monitor, also no image.
I tried removing the battery, disconnecting the CMOS battery, nothing.

Can somebody help me?

 

I've observed that AMIBCP also shows option of "Power brick size" and its value is set to 90W, while the power brick that asus provides has capacity of 120W.

I was wondering that if changing Power brick size value to 120W will have any impact on the performance of laptop?