A8Js - Owner's Lounge

Probably true. But there is currently not a better card than a 7700 for Type II while there are a lot of 6200/6600 Uniwills in the field.

That, and I don`t have a A8 to test and my funds are not exactly unlimited

 

Im using your site as a reference....

basically the only consumer for a mxm 2 card owns a uniwill 5500 class machine.

if the arima uses the same format its not for sale here in NA.

although any machine with a type 3 can use a type 2 correct?

But in total those owners are a real small group. uniwill sells way fewer than 1% of the total of notebooks with removeable gpus.

 

The Aopen also accepts Type II. Type III`s also accept Type II. Arima is strange... 6xxx notebooks do not seem to be accepting 7xxx cards. ECS has a Type II. MSI has a Type II. Quanta is Type II but compatibility remains questionable but apparantly not impossible with some 7600 cards.

But I know what you mean

 

I am thinking about purchasing an Asus A8Js and i was wondering how well it is built. I have read reviews and what not but am still uncertain. I want a very well built laptop for moving around. Can anyone elaborate on the build quality of the laptop?

 

This is discussed pretty elaborately in this thread. Read a few pages and you'll get a good idea.

Main issues are the light leakage/viewing angles on the AUO screens. But you might get lucky and get the better CMO screen.

Also, I read that the top scratches easily. Havent read any other major concerns from people about quality.

 

Although I am reading through this thread 66 pages is a lot. This is probably not a common question, but how do you all think about the quality of the bag that is provided with this notebook? Do all A8J's come with the same bag?

I'm still shopping around for a notebook, and saw pics of the bag, and it has a more casual look (which I like) as compared to the standard black, business looking bag. Do you guys who use the bag, ever feel the need to buy a targus bag?

 

its made by targus

 

Oh really? my bad. How about its quality? One guy's opinion on the 1st page is that it is mediocre.

 

it is mediocre. it works though lots of pockets and stuff.

 

The bag is ok. Not much padding, so I bought a sleeve for extra protection.

 

Where is the best place to look for sleeves?

 

I know this is a repetitive question but does this optical drive have lightscribe? I've seen it in the threads but there was never a definitive answer it seemed. I mean it came with the lightscribe icon on the desktop, but I do not see a logo on the drive. Guess I should have checked that before I bought 25 lightscribe discs to try out on it. In properties it is described as the HL-DT-ST DVDRAM GSA-T10N. Nero cover maker doesnt seem to recognize it as lightscribe and I don't know if I need to do some setup work or if I just dont have it.

Additionally, I wasn't too impressed with the bag that came with it. I had bought a notebook bag a while back to use as a work bag, I just took the separate sleeve out. It can hold a 15.4 but it fits the 14.1 nicely. Its from Brookstone and cost a bit but is a solid bag and it looks like it will protect the computer well.

 

The A8js does not have lightscribe, that Lightscribe icon is just bundled software that comes with most/all Asus laptop. Unfortunately this gives many users a false sense that it actually has Lightscribe.

 

This lightscribe is new to me and sounds pretty neat.

Do any Asus notebooks have lightscribe?

 

Thanks thats what I was guessing. Good thing the good old Sharpie still works on these lightscribe CDs...and I only bought 25 CD-Rs so its not that bad. I did want to play with it thoiugh.

 

Where is the best and most reliable place to buy an A8JS?

 

Ok, guys.. for those of you who's planning to upgrade to a faster HDD than the standard 5400 RPM drive, say hi to 15.000 RPM in a 2.5" formfactor:

http://www.trustedreviews.com/storage/news/2007/01/22/Seagate-Makes-Worlds-Fastest-2-5in-HDD/p1

 

I ordered two from milestonepc.com on Saturday. With the instant discount, free router, and great service, I don't think you can go wrong. To illustrate, I sent them an email late Friday night and when I got up in the morning I had a response. I replied and they got back to me within minutes. All of this happened on a Saturday and I was able to place my order. I wasn't expecting to hear back until today but my order has been processed, paid and it just might ship today (I hope)!

 

Did you guys updated the drivers of your 7700 with a 7 series new drivers or are you keeping the stock drivers that are best suited for games ??

 

Any reseller found here is highly looked upon. So you should have no problems.

We are offering the A8js with internal factory installed bluetooth, if you want that/or need it.

You can always try new drivers, most people update the drivers as soon as they find out new drivers exist. (usually people post here when new ATI Catalyst Drivers are available)

 

that is scsi server format. not for notebooks. It needs ac power

 

Small question,
I've installed a linux distro on my laptop, Mandriva 2007. And sound seems ok at startup (I get the little music when kde starts) but then sound is down and no microphone either
Anyone an idea of where to look?
Thanks

 

quick question to milestonepc, what is the difference between A8Js-4S023P with factory installed bluetooth and A8Js-4S024P(which has bluetooth). Is it only the harddisk 100gb vs 120gb.

What is meant by factory installed bluetooth. Is it an assembly made by you or is it shipped from Asus with bluetooth. I am afraid it is you who is making assembly of bluetooth may void Asus warranty.

Thanks in advance..

 

We have special A8js units from Asus that came with a bluetooth module factory installed, meaning you don't loose warranty, you get to keep the Asus Global warranty.

But generally yes, if a reseller were to take an A8js and put in a bluetooth module it would void the warranty.

 

How so? I have proof of otherwise. Have you heard of people that bought the modded version from us or bought the module and used my video to install it that were declined warranty? I dont think so. Are you telling me that there is a tech in asus that looks for a bluetooth module in these units? Even if there was one he would not think anything of it. WOrst case scenario the laptop is returned without bluetooth which is the same scenario for the factory bluetooth version. There is a chance if repaired it may be returned without bluetooth. I ve seen it happen on other models with the bt-183 module

 

Correct me if I am wrong, but technically I believe that the warranty would indeed be voided. ASUS could make a valid case for that.
However, in practice as you mentioned, they certainly may not notice or they may simply overlook the mod and provide warranty services.

 

In practice there is a warranty seal. The seal is not broken with this mod. In practice they should not sell a a8j bluetooth module and should not provide a means for attaching the module if this voided the warranty. Seeing how non of this is practical the theory is "this is how it came". In practice there is no way one can say that these modules were not there to begin with because their own website advertised at one, or evet now, that the module is present. So in practice if you are the only person in whole world to develop a way of installing the bt module and spilicing the cable to make it work (it does not the way it comes from asus) you probably know what you are talking about while everyone else, who claimed that installing a bt module in the a8j requires gutting the whole thing and is too time consuming probably should not make assumptions about the practice which they did not know/belive is even possible. With that said i am still the only person on the planet last i checked that has the modules and the cables that actually work and the only person that can get it done in under a minute. So take my word for what i say.

 

Okay. Thanks for the clarification:
So the warranty is only voided if a warranty seal is broken, and since the bt mod does not require breaking any seal, the warranty should not be voided.

 

Just do a Google Search for "Asus A8JS-4S024P"

It has the 120gb hard drive and bluetooth. There are several places you can get it from and it's not very expensive. That is the version I was going to get before buying the a8jp from Newegg.

 

In theory yes!

 

Hi guys,
After reading all 69 pages I now have a severe headache..but all your inputs are very much valuable in my determination to purchase this unit. There are just a few questions that I personally would like to know:

1) Earphone buzzing situation, is there a confirmed solution? A poster said muting the CD volume didn't help

2) If I uninstall InstantFun before I attempt to press that button, will that button stop causing trouble?

3) Is there anything wrong with any of the latest official Asus A8Js drivers (as of Jan. 26)?

4) Should I use the Asus' latest video card driver, or use the latest LaptopVideo2Go "9744" driver?

5) Has anyone used Microsoft Bootvis and had success with speeding up bootup time?

6) Has anyone used TuneXP and had sucess with it?

7) Is the program Speedfan supported and suggested for A8Js?

8) Does the program Everest Home (no longer supported) work with A8Js?

Thx in advance for your comments.

 

Since NewEgg doesn't look like they'll get a new supply of the A8JP anytime soon, the A8JS looks like one of the best notebooks at it's price. A few quick questions.

A1. I really like the DVI output and the size. Is there another Asus laptop with comparable features and price (<$1500) that I should be looking at?

A2. Is the A8JR with Ati X2300 a step up from the A8JS or is it simply another model in the lineup? Several posts in the A8JR thread made reference to the fact that the X2300 may not be better than the X1700 found in the A8JP, which is less powerful than the A8JS.

A3. How does Asus upgrade their PC model lineup? For example, if they came out with a better A8JS, would they simply upgrade the components in the A8JS or would it actually give it another model #?

 

The Asus F3JP from newegg is going for the same price as the A8JP was, but comes with a slightly lower res screen and of course its a 15.4" notebook. On the upside the F3JP comes with the same CPU and GPU, uses a 1dimm 1GB stick instead of x2 1dimm 512MB sticks so you can upgrade without wasting any ram. Plus the F3JP's build quality is supposed to be better than the A8JP's (I have heard that he hinges are not as fragile)

 

1. I don't think so. At 14" the A8JS is pretty stacked, your only other consideration would be the W3J which doesnt have the same power or goodies but has better looks and build quality.

2. No, From what I understand the Go7700 is a better/faster card than the X2300, but the X2300 might have DX10.

3. Not sure, but I think they would give it another model #.

 

1) Personally, I do not find the buzzing noticeable during normal use; certainly not something that should detract somebody from choosing this unit. I have not invested any time into finding a solution because it is such a minor issue.

6) I installed it and did a few things as recommended somewhere else in this forum. What do you consider "success"?

 

I suspect the hinges are the exact same part

 

I suppose you might be right but this is a slightly larger notebook which might require different parts and I have never heard about an F3 owner complaining about them.

 

I'm officially an A8Js owner now too.

Overall, I'm pretty happy with this machine. I will confirm though, I have the AUO panel and the viewing angles are really bad compared to other notebooks. There seems to be a very, very narrow sweet spot for the angle of the screen. If I don't have it in the perfect position, either the stuff at the bottom of the screen looks poor, or the stuff at the top of the screen looks poor. Kind of annoying. Also, I have some light leakage at the bottom of the screen, but not too bad. I find the viewing angles more problematic than the light leakage.

I suspect that someday I will replace the panel with something from another manufacturer. An LG panel has been suggested in a couple of posts... seems that the 14.1-inch wxga+ resolution panels are a bit pricey though... hopefully they'll be more reasonably-priced by the time I decide to upgrade.


One question though... hopefully someone knows...
I don't hear any sound with any kind of streaming music or videos off the web. I hear sound from applications and media files stored on the computer itself but not from anything streamed over the web... weird. Any ideas???

Darren

 

Wat software are u using for the streaming stuff? is it quicktime? windows media player? real player? youtube style flash streaming?

 

Oops, turns out I had some codec issues. I removed the codec package I was using and all is fixed now... I can hear everything I'm supposed to

 

Can anyone out there answer a DVI output question for me? Does the Nvidia 7700 Go have any options to compensate for the overscan in HDTVs? I want to be able to hook the laptop up to my 720p HDTV, but it has an overscan of about 3-4% on each side.

I know I can use Powerstrip, but I was wondering if the Nvidia had options built in.

 

Looks like there's a new bios available at asus site. I haven't tried it yet though.

 

Regarding the issue a few people have mentioned with the touchpad speed resetting or being too slow, I was experiencing this as well and after considerable frustration and rsearching I managed to figure it out. Check out this short thread:
http://forumz.tomshardware.com/ce/Pointer-speed-resets-reboot-ftopict51839.html

It's basically just a startup process that needs to be zapped. For the record, I switched over to Vista a while ago and haven't noticed any similar issues in it.

 

We have strayed from the screen discussions here, I am one user who has a large interest in getting my A8Js outfitted with the CMO screen.

Do we have any recourse with Asus? If sent back over a warranty issue, may we request the CMO screen be installed? Has anyone looked deeper into this or are we all just accepting the screen we have and replacing it by buying a new LCD from a third party and installing ourselves?

 

yeps, that would be a good idea to know since i too have a AUO panel. its hard to see the sweep spot.

anyways, also in regards to the g7700, what drivers is everyone using? i think im on v8602

 

I'm getting ready to contact Asus warranty service about my screen so I'll let you know what I find out. I just got my A8Js last week and the screen is really bad. If it's angled forward to give clear images at the top of the screen, the light leakage at the bottom is so bad that the color is all washed out on the Start button, taskbar and another inch above. If i tip it back far enough to overcome the light leak, the top of the screen is very dark and difficult to read text or see images clearly. If I angle it somewhere in the middle for an even balance of dark on top and washed out color on the bottom, the web cam only captures my face from the nose up. And forget about trying to edit images in Photoshop; that was a nightmare when I tried it.

I actually bought two A8Js notebooks; one for me and one for my wife. Hers is better than mine but its still not great. We haven't decided whether to send hers in too or not.

Stay tuned...

 

Good move, I just received my a8js and from my experience, it is the worst screen i have ever had. I'll also contact asus regarding the screen. i cant accept it.

 

someone here bought an LG-Philips panel fot the a8js.... I asked him how much better is it, but i didn't get a reply from him. =(

 

Can I ask where you bought it? And the model number?

I think we can figure out where the bad screens are coming from and possibly see if the AUO/CMO screens are linked to a specific model number.

 

Asus Notebook A8Js-4S023P with Bluetooth from Milestonepc.com.