Asus M50VM Montevina, NV 9600M GS Review

i was just wondering one thing, does GenTech ship to Canada?

 

Yes, the CPT1465 LCD screen is in fact 200cd/m2. Other specs are... 600:1 contrast ratio and a response time of 10ms which are pretty much the standard for notebook screens.

Depends on what programs you will be using. If it's just daily office apps and surfing online, then you can't really tell the difference.

All drivers are already installed. Just turn the notebook on, run the MS security updates, install a good antivirus/antispyware software and you're good to go.

Vista is already pre-installed

I'll leave this question for Ken

Yes they do!!

 

When I talked to Ken he said that stocks come in once a week, next one is this Thursday

 

Awesome, as far as vista is concerned, I actually miswrote. I wanted to ask whether it was easy to install XP on this thing, not vista? My understanding is that you can have both installed on the machine after partitioning the hard drive, correct? Thx.

 

btw, does anyone actually have M50VM already?

 

Yup, all the drivers for XP have already been found and tested by Ken, so it shouldn't be a problem. Only driver that's missing is the infrared receiver.

Wish I could say yes, but I'm eyeing on the G50VM-A1 for now

 

Oh, I forgot, I'm going to be doing a great deal of computer programming, not just word processing and the like...I should be more concerned with the speed of the CPU and not the GPU, correct?

 

There are a few questions that I hope some of you can answer before I decide to buy from GenTech. I'm from Canada and:

1. When I got to the payment page, I wanted to pay by VISA, but beside VISA in parantheses it stated USA Issued Credit Cards Only. I'm from Canada, so my VISA is Canadian Issued. Will this still work?

2. The cheapest shipping option for me was "UPS Canada Standard". I'm just wondering how long this would take to reach me in Toronto? All the other options were atleast another $100.

 

Well, I guess that also depends on what type of programming you do too.
But unless you're not going to be writing programs for Blizzard or EA as a software engineer, then the CPU would be more important.

Why don't you try give them a call? Gentech's number is (800) 990-7945.

 

I ordered my m50vm from gentech on july 15th, and received it on july 17th! Ken was SUPER helpful...give him a call with questions, I'm sure he'd be more than happy to answer them! I actually preordered through xotic pc initially, but their customer service was always rude. Therefore, I canceled my xotic order and immediately ordered through gentech as referred by a friend. I couldn't be happier with the m50vm-b1 =) good stuff!

 

Can you tell us your impressions of the screen? is it bright enough indoors when sitting next to a window on a sunny day?

 

When using my laptop next to a window with direct sunlight, the screen manages to stay quite clear, without any glare problems. The brightness on the screen is not compromised in any way and remains to provide solid viewing. Enjoy!

 

This is how it looks next to the door at beautiful sunny Southern California:

 

Thanks Ken!

Looks good to me, but I didn't get what you meant, is this outdoors or just next to a sliding door window?

 

I just ordered an M50vm-b1. It's got pretty much everything I could imagine even wanting on a laptop, except for 1 thing: blu-ray. Is it possible to upgrade the drive to brd, possibly using the drive from the m50sv-b1?

 

if you ordered from gentech it was on the the options, although very expensive $360 or so.... I would be curious too if it would be possible to order one separately at some point

 

Interesting, the surface on the M50 certainly is pretty bright (the glossy screen), but I do see the darkening of the screen a bit at an angle. Well, that would be good for me, as it could make it harder for people to see what you are doing on the laptop. =D xD

 

Does the m50vm come with a disc that can install 64bit?

 

No its a OEM 32bit, you would have to install your own 64bit.

I think there is a very advanced way to "rip" your key off a OEM copy and that key will work on a 64bit install, but its also from what I hear not supposed too....

I know it makes sense to use 64bit with 4gb of ram, but I guess for some reason they decided against it.

 

The picture was took indoor with the door open.

 

Yeah I know it comes OEM with 32bit. I'm asking if it comes with the discs to install your own 64 bit.

 

And he answered your question as much as he could on this forum.

Google it if you must, but I doubt this site will give you a more detailed answer.

 

No.

You can purchase it separately.

 

Ok thanks a lot.

 

Thats why I had OEM in all caps.

OEM only comes in one flavor or the other only retail vista ultimate comes with both disks, and retail anything comes with a key & right to buy a 64bit disk for like $10.

 

Ken,
Thank you for your work on the XP drivers. A couple of questions:

1) Can you discuss any difference or comparsion between the new M50vm screen and the older M50sv screen? Which one do you like better, and why? Is one easier to see in daylight? Better clarity? Less bleed? Inquiring minds want to know. A subjective answer is just fine.

2) Have you had any history of running older games under the 9500/9600 video cards? The reason I am asking is that some old games (Like Thief 1 and I think 2) required earlier drivers for my 7900 video card. This would be running under XP.

3) It appears aside from the IR issue, everything is working well under XP. Any other issues/problems you know about running XP? I am looking at getting this laptop, but it must be able to run XP.

Thank you for your time, it is appreciated.

fred

 

I really don't understand why there is this big debate about getting 64bit disks. 32 bit keys work fine for 64 bit activations, if Microsoft didn't want you to do this they wouldn't have made it possible. All you are buying when you buy a copy of windows is the license (which is identified by the key), the disks have no value. Microsoft will not send 64bit disks to people with OEM vista since the OEM is expected to support the software. When you buy retail, Microsoft takes on the task of supporting it, thus will send you a disk. They only charge you for a disk for S&H and the cost of the disk. Threads like this one ( http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=144783) talk about switching and downloading disk isos online, so I'm pretty sure it fine to talk about it here.

With that derail over, is there a driver list for 64 bit vista floating around?

 

The keys are still universal and the one on the back of your laptop hasn't been activated so you can activate it under 64bits.

 

Hi Fred,

1: To be honest with you I can't tell the difference, they all look the same to me.

2: I have not yet try older games, if there is demo version then I'll try it sometimes in the future.

It maybe needs older driver at the time, but maybe all the latest driver already fix the problem but I am not 100% sure since I never try it.


3: No issues under XP so far, runs very smooth and benchmark get better score.

Ken

 

Newegg has an X1 model that is $100 cheaper than the A1, it appears that the only difference is 70gb less HD space, does anybody know if there are any other differences?

 

I'm pretty sure the screen is only a 1280x800, not the normal 1440x900.
That plus the hd downgrade makes the 60$ difference(1259 is the price for the -a1 really)

 

Yup. I saw it this morning. GenTech has the A1 for only $60 more. The XI has a lower resolution and 250 GB HDD space. I'd stick with the A1; it's worth it for the resolution and the space.

 

And the customer support from a place other than newegg.

 

Ken, would it be possible for you to throw together a list of Vista 64 drivers and utilities? As far as I can tell, Asus doesn't even have this model on their website yet (although they do have the SV).

 

Yea, I think I'm going to get an A1, just wanted to cover all the bases though.

 

Don't have to, all new Asus Drivers DVD has both Vista 32/64 bit drivers and utilities, so you can just use the Driers DVD to install everything, just insert the drivers DVD and check the drivers and utilities you want to install, click start and walk away, all installation are automated.

 

well, is it possible that one screen on older model is rated 300 nits and another one on new one is 200 nits, but both look the same?

 

Well I am just not that sensitive, I am the kind of person who cares more about resolution, I am the person who preferred lower resolution because my eye sights aren't so good, as long as it's not 1680x1050 then I am fine with it, it's just my personal opinion.

 

has anyone installed NHC (notebook hardware control) on this laptop? it is possible to read the instant power drain from the battery?

@owners: could you make some sisoftware sandra XII sp2c tests? cpu & ram?

 

Well, if you check AUO's and Chunghwa's website, it will tell you the detail specs of the screens. AUO currently only makes 1 notebook screen at the 1440x900 resolution in a 15.4" form and it's rated at 330nitts, however, I'm beginning to suspect it may be a printing error since the screen in the M50SV-A1 (AUO), is a TFT and the website lists it as WLED. The screen is however, still quite bright - at least it's slightly brighter than the C90S as I recall and quite a bit brighter than the W7S screen. I've already contact AUO and asked them for a full spec sheet for the screen in the SV model. Hopefully they will respond and help confirm the true specs.
As for the Chunghwa, they make 3 versions of the 15.4" 1440x900 screens. All of which are identical except for brightness - 200, 250 and 300nits. From the screen model number Ken listed in his review, the one that's in the M50VM model is the 200nits version.

 

Gentech has better customer support than Newegg? I've never ordered from them, and Newegg has always been excellent when I've needed help with something I've bought from them.

 

Well the thing with GenTech is that they're pretty much an ASUS dealer meaning they are going to be far more knowledgeable on ASUS laptops than pretty much any other reseller. I'm going to order my M50Vm from them based on this criteria.

 

The 200 nits shouldn't be a problem right? I've never bought a laptop before.. So I don't want it to become a bad thing when I get it. I normally run my LCD monitors pretty dark.

LCD itself is set at 40% Contrast, 45% Brightness. And they're both 25% on my video card. I have to turn the contrast up in games so I can see better in the dark corners, etc.

 

Does the M51 series battery work with the M50 series at all?

 

No it won't fit, M51 uses the same battery as the F3 series.

 

Well broke down and ordered one from GenTech.

I hope the monitor is okay in the sunlight.

 

Does gentecpc have m50 batteries?
http://1toppc.com/Merchant2/merchant.mv?Screen=SRCH
Search doesn't look too promising.

 

There's an option of buying an extra battery (9 cell) on purchase. Let me check on singles.

Edit: Saw a few in the search.. but I don't know. Maybes Ken can answer.

 

Disabling the ambiant light sensor, and you should be fine. I would go outside and see how it i myself, but it's cloudy and drizzleing outside.

Anyone know which driver would be best for he 9600m gs?

 

200nits is normal for notebook screens. Some notebooks such as the Lenovo 14" T61 even uses a 150 nit screen.