Asus N550JV - user review and owners lounge

AVOID Winflash !!!
Unzip "N550JVAS208" into the root of a pendrive - restart win - F2 key like crazy at boot - 2nd bios tab (Advanced) - start easy flash - choose your pendrive and 208 file.

 

Thank you for the tutorial but I got stuck on this screen. I don't know where to select my usb. Where do I go from here?

 

Try disable and then enable the NVIDIA card, it worked for me.

If you are not familiar with bios, Just use winflash, it's very safe.

 

key down - key enter ( once) until you see in the right panel your pendrive with N550JVAS208.
Then select the new bios and key enter again

@ mmp669
your guide to a fresh setup of win 8 is very nice. Link saved on my preferred. Thanks for sharing
Just disagree with the Winflash thing. The bios update is a delicate and "low level" procedure.
It's more safe out of a windows environment with tons of running process.

 

I don't think winflash flash the bios in the windows environment. It simply check the bios version then restart and flash the bios in bios.

 

Do you guy also notice some wear of the painting from the keyboard key's?
I got my laptop a little longer then a month right now and the silver paiting around the letters v,s,w and m is getting darker.
Especially around the sharp edges from the w and m.

It's pretty annoying since my old HP didn't showed any wear of the keyboard and it is 4 years old!

 

Exactly, WinFlash just checks if update is valid and copies the BIOS file to some place the integrated BIOS updater knows or gets told.
Nothing is flashed in Windows. I've done every single flash through WinFlash since BIOS 203, safely.

Can't see something like that on mine and I've got it since August 2013. Are you sweating or are you eating fatty things and then use your keys? It might be fat that comes off your fingers and sticks on the keys. It It happens with mouses and gamepads as well, especially in summer...
Have you tried to clean it with a humid cloth(not dripping )?

 

Has anybody had any issues with the webcam not being recognized? I used it once a couple of months ago, but now i cant get windows 8.0 (and now 8.1) to see it and turn it on.
Any ideas?

 

Thank you I found it and successfully updates to bios 208. Has anybody noticed problems with the WiFi disconnecting from there network? Ever since the update my network would get disconnect every 2 minutes or so and its very annoying. Is there a fix for this?

 

It's a common problem. It seems worse on someone and not so bad on others. It happened to me a couple of times but recovered after restart. You can try uninstall the driver then install the latest one from ASUS website, disable power saving. It might help.

 

Hi I have been contemplating this vs the Dell Inspiron 7537

I have been flipping through this thread but theres a lot of it.

Is this implementation of a chiclet keyboard good at keeping the 'crumbs' and such from getting under the keys? As the keys poke through the chassis it looks like it could a real challenge to get them out again.

 

I was trying to decide between the two as well, the dell has much longer battery and probably better build quality but this packs much more power. It's really depends on your need. Check my short review.

The gaps around the keys are fairly small so it's probably difficult for the 'crumbs to get in ine first place. But you are right, if they do get in, you will have trouble to get them out.

 

No, i'm always cleaning my hands after eating something etc.
Do you have the keyboard with backlight?
It looks like they painted the keys silver, and at the points were the numbers/symbols etc are there is no paint. So basically there is a little edge which makes it easier to rip the paint of.
And yeah i tried cleaning it, but that wont help

 

Can someone tell me how well playing games at non-native resolutions (1600/900, 1336/768) looks?
I'm considering buying this laptop for some ocasional light gaming and since the gt750 with ddr3 isn't that fast i'm afraid in the future i might have to reduce the resolution in order to play newer titles.
As i'm planning to use this lappy for about 4 years I'm really cyrious how the lower resses look to see if the laptop is fit for my purpose.

 

I played grid at low res (1280x1024 or something near). It was fine, very fine.
Then i discovered a trck to play grid at native res (full HD) and it was ultrafine :thumbsup:

 

Hm, yes I've got backlight and you can feel the letters if you wipe over them but it's not much and I can't imagine the paint to be ripped off because of that. Maybe you've just got bad luck Nevertheless this should be a reason to send it in if you don't want to accept this, so maybe contact Asus. If the paint vanishes after 2 years of extensive usage, ok might happen, but not after 1 month.

You won't have much fun with this GPU for 4 years. It's already not that suitable at this time for blockbusters like BF4(ok, on medium with 1366x768 it's playable but yea...) or the last Batman(runs, but not that pretty).
If you want to have a longer lasting notebook you should definitely look for a notebook with a gaming GPU like GTX 770/780M and pay a bit more.
Otherwise you'll need to purchase another one in 2 years...
For sure it's only the case if you are gaming the latest games and don't want to play the next coming games on low. Otherwise this one might work.

 

Thx for the reply guys.

Morv I'm not a particularly demanding gamer. I'm currently owning an ancient MSI CX 620 with first gen i3 and radeon hd5475 with 512 ram and I was actually ok with the way it played skyrim, deus ex HR and mass effect 1-3.

These are the kind of games i usually play. I'm more in it for the story than the eye candy. Upcoming titles like thief and the already released dishonored are also on my "to play list" asswell as the everlasting WOW.

That being said I do wish this thing would come with atleast a gt760m... because if i am fully happy to not turn up the eye candy I generally can't stand playing at non native resolutions and i have a feeling alot of titles will not play well on gt750 on fullhd even with minimal settings.

P.S. lenovo anouncing their new y40 and y50 for may doesn't make my choice any easier.

The earliest I would be buying this laptop would be beggining of march...so what do you think should i hold off for the new releases coming this summer?

 

Many thanks Morv Man !! ))
another thing i need to know , i read many articles here about CPU & GPU and about heating ,
the conclusion i got that after get 80 C Temp or something like that when play a game they will decrease from 3.2 or 2.4 to 800 MHZ so it all those specifics like i7 processor 4700HQ and all high performance will be useless , then this laptop will be useless because it is cant hold on even it can do alot ... so is that true of what i said or there is solution or i'm wrong !
i'm search for this laptop for 2 months and i found it , but after what i read here about CPU & GPU Decrease because of heating it doesnt makes me comfortable , and if that true and no solution for that, can you give me a name and model of a good laptop with same processor and almost same good components , and of course around this model coast
thanks alot and im waiting for you help )
thanks alot , and Merry Christmas ))

 

The gpu only throttles on battery. While plugged in it is working ok.

Throttling of the CPU can be stopped by using throttlestop(software) , throttle toggle(software) or just setting your cpu to 99% thus stopping it from going in turbo mode.

I would recommend the first two options for stopping throttling on the CPU. Also notebook fancontrol would be a good addition as it will greatly improve the way the cooling system works.

Cheers!

Btw Christmass is long gone but merry X-mass to you 2 "MAN"!! )

 

I could fix this by changing the receive buffers and transmit buffers to 256 in adapter settings.

 

Get yourself ThrottleToggle and add it to the startup to forget about this issue. I haven't had any issues so far.

 

As you were already informed, there are tools for it to get rid of it. Limiting to 99%(=2.4 GHz) does help but still lets your CPU throttle if it stays up longer on that frequency. With ThrottleToggle and NotebookFanControl you don't have to worry about speed, noise and temperature. The first gives you the full speed of your CPU while the other one keeps your fans quiet when no load is present(by default they just don't shut up...) and otherwise you can control as of which temperature the fans should go up to 100%. For example, I created a profile for gaming which puts the fan speed up to 100% at 60°C already, so it cools earlier at maximum performance.

These things are happily no more reasons to decline a purchase

 

No i mean it would be easier to rip the paint off on this keyboard then on a normall one I think.
But if it get's worser i'll contact Asus and hope that they send me any replacement parts, cuz I really can't miss this laptop so i'm not going to send it to them.

 

Thanks You Guys , i think after all this ,this laptop isn't that bad and most of its problems solved ))

 

another thing , sorry i'm asking alot but just to be sure that everything is fine ... i saw 2 models 8 & 12 GB ram
so im confused if 8 GB is it enough or it will not be as 12 GB ... 12 GB not cheap like 8 GB model btw

 

I can not for the life of me get into system recovery. I got the laptop used and I would like to reset it.

Before trying to get into recover I installed the lastest bios. Then tried the recovery.

Pushing or tapping F9 doesnt work
Pushing or tapping F8 doesnt work
Pushing or tapping F5 doesnt work

Using MS config I can get into safe mode.

I have gone into computer management and it seems the recovery partitions are still there.

Any ideas?

Is there any setting in the bios that need to be changed?

I downloaded a copy of AI recovery, as the computer didnt have it installed. I dont think its the latest version. Can anyone point me to the latest version?

 

4gb is too little, 6gb is good for 90% of users, 8gb is going to be good for all games, some Photoshop work, video editing. At 12gb your going to have to have a need to justify that like very large photoshop files or video editing or you to run a ram disk. So 12gb is going to be useless for 97% of users.

Better off getting an SSD with that extra money.

 

but i think there is just 1 slot of hard disk . so u should choose between ssd or a normal hard like 1 TB 5400 rpm ...?

 

F9 is the right key. Windows 8 boot really fast so the best way to do it is to hit restart, then hit F9 like crazy. Or at start menu (tiles), search advanced start-up, here you'll find the option to boot straight into recovery.

AI recovery won't work on windows 8, the only way to back up is using windows backup facility to backup on a usb stick. Check here

 

You can get rid of the ODD, put an SSD in the 2.5 bay and put the HDD in the ODD bay use an adaptor.

 

ok guys , thanks ))
Which and why are the best, N550 jv or ASUS N56JR

and sorry for asking many questions i know thats a lil annoying

 

Well... there is no "BEST". It's all relative to what you want/need
N56jr has a better video card gt760m
N550jv has a sleeker body and IPS Touchscreen

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Rather take the N56JR with a Quad and the GTX 760M, you've got more gaming power with that one. Though on the Asus specification site there is only listed a 1366x768 display, at least in Germany there are Full HD displays built in.
If I could switch I'd do right now...
Guess Asus listened to the feedback and refreshed the series a bit, black keyboard again, stronger graphics, (same) good display.
In Germany it's the Asus N56JR-S4057H to be specific but it's not deliverable until the end of January.

Nope. For me it looks pretty much like the same body, it even has the second button top-left, and not every N550JV has got a touchscreen. If it were that case I would not own such a device.
Edit: Naw, might be another body yes, the hinges are different. Maybe it's a bit thicker, yes. But the power you get by the GTX 760M compared to the GT 750M with DDR3 is worth it.

 

Hey guys. I have had a N550JV-CN032 for a week and I am satisfied with it. A few problems sticking out though:
-> display lid hinge is making noises when being opened and closed, is this normal or should i use warranty?
-> when playing games i somethimes get a "windows is low on memory" warning, suggesting i should close the game curently open. i can simply close the warning and move on
-> when changing a resolution from native full hd to a 768p+fulscreen in league of legends i get a bsod after 30secs or so (not that i need the 768p, i dont want bsods on a new lappy)

i installed notebook fancontrol after seeing it being mentioned in this topic, works super great.

 

Dude the difference in thickness is 1cm... that's more than 35% of the n550. Also the bottom on the n56 is plastic.

That being said..if this thing was upgraded with an ips panel i would have killed for it....that 760m is pure gaming goodness.

I'm now confused even more about what laptop to buy.

Do you guys think that asus will refresh the n550 with the new 800 series gpus that are launching in february?

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The truth is, there is always a better one around the corner. I think the n550 is at a price/performance sweetspot. If gaming is your main concern, you really should look at some proper gaming laptop, such as Lenovo IdeaPad Y510p (Core i7-4700MQ, GeForce GT 750M SLI).

 

I've tried some GPU overclocking with MSI Afterburner and it's nice to see that some fps can be won.
The best I could gain was +70 MHz on core and +160 MHz on memory. Beyond this artifacts appeared and the driver crashed and got restored.
I've set the clocks and ran Furmark to see if it's not crashing instantly and if it didn't I've run 3DMark(the latest). If that went through the whole tests I've increased the clocks.
Sometimes Furmark was stable but 3DMark wasn't, for example with +80 core and +160 memory.

3DMark results:
Default: NVIDIA GeForce GT 750M video card benchmark result - Intel Core i7-4700HQ,ASUSTeK COMPUTER INC. N550JV
OC: NVIDIA GeForce GT 750M video card benchmark result - Intel Core i7-4700HQ,ASUSTeK COMPUTER INC. N550JV

It gives 4-8 FPS in the games I've tested.
Batman Arkham Origins was the most with a again of 8 from 35 to 43 FPS at the beginning scene (1366x768, medium settings)
Civilization V was around 5 FPS (1920x1080, high settings, medium shadows, 2xMSAA)
Men of War Assault Squad was only 1-2 FPS on 1920x1080 on high settings with 2xMSAA.

I'll see if I test some other games. BF4 needs to be updated that's why I didn't test it already.

At least, again, in Germany the n550jv and the n56jr cost the same and only differ in the GPU, so why not take the one with the better graphics performance and one additional USB 3 slot?

 

so thats it N56JR
what about cooling , and heating , is it good or bad and what are cons of this model , because i think its more better than N550JV ?

 

I have no idea but I guess it will have the same or similar issues as the N550JV as this already has the same issues as the N56VZ etc., but it should also be well solvable with the known tools. NotebookFanControl worked with the profile of the N56VZ for the N550JV as the author wrote and ThrottleToggle will also work as it's the same processor.

 

Gaming is not my main concern but it is A conceen. I am a casual gamer at best. I play titles like WOW, Dishonored , Skyrim, Deus Ex HR and I don't need max settings.... I only want that similar newly launched games will still work on my laptop 3-4 years after after i buy it even if they are in low settings

There is a n56jr review thread..you can check there for the issues. Throttling is not a problem for the cpu...it only stops turbo when it gets too hot and drops to 2.1-2.4 ghz.

The big problem that i could find is the gt760 getting the same code 43 error as the gt750 on the n550 but there is NO BIOS UPDATE YET to fix it. Bare in mind a newer bios version might be launched soon.

If you don't care that it doesn't have an IPS touchscreen and that it is slightly more bulky and plqsticky then the n56jr is definetly the better laptop

But if you don't care about these things then lenovo y510 with SLI 750 is an even better laptop

So it's up to you to choose better performance vs better build quality and materials and IPS Touch

 

Sure about that? You can reflash the same BIOS version with WinFlash too. If I'm not wrong that already helped some here in this thread when they had already the current BIOS version.

 

Yes you can and it will probably fix the problem temporarily...but it will come back in time and the issue is that it's happening almost instantly if you are running win 8.1

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Some times, normally happens after a game crash, you laptop will display a message like 'Windows has stopped this device because it has reported problems. (Code 43)' and when you try to open NVIDIA control panel, you will receive a message like 'You are not currently using a display attached to an NVIDIA GPU'. This is due to NVIDIA driver error that cause windows to disable the NVIDIA card (hardware level?). If you check the device manager, you can see an annoying yellow device manager yellow exclamation point next to you NVIDIA card. To solve this, you can simply disable the card then reenable it. If this doesn't work, you need to flash the bios. It doesn't have to be a newer version, it can be the same or even older version (Check how-to a few paragraphs up). This will reset the card and it should work again.

This is NVIDIA Optimus Technology related but I am not sure it's hardware or software and it happened to other brands other than ASUS as well. So bios 2.8 is not the magical fix.

 

hmm i think this problem not an easy to fix and its annoying guys ! ....
now its made me confusing to choose between N56jr and N550jv ....
so i think all i have to wait or just search for another model ....

 

Just wanted to say that the new caddy from hddcaddy.com works perfectly and resolves the issue. Thank you very much!

 

On the asus n56jr thread it's written that this problem does not arise only on games crashing. Several users have reported that the problem started as soon as they installed win 8.1

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On a sidenote... does anyone here have the n550jv bought from Microcenter US and if yes is the warranty global or only local.
I'm going to be in the US and pick one of these babys up but after that i'll go back to europe with it and I am worried about issues with the warranty

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Since some of you guys in here are confused and potential buyers are worried which one to buy. I can give some important info on both the N550JV and the N56JR since I owned both of them but returned the N550JV back in August and I'm now 4 days into owning and testing the N56JR.

I can try and help out and give a brief pros/cons on both the N550JV and the N56JR. The Asus N550JV-DB71 that I had was the non touchscreen model with a good quality IPS Anti-Glare panel since I hate smudging my screen and I want vivid but no glare displays. The N550JV's built quality is solid and it had good hardware for just under $1,000 since it comes with a quadcore haswell and a ddr3 gt 750m.


Here are the PROS and CONS for the N550JV that I can remember.

PROS
- Great Display, really high contrast, good brightness distribution and lower black value making blacks really look black, display is not very high color gamut but is vivid enough to enjoy it. The IPS/AHVA/PLS panel on it is also a plus but not as good as the IPS panel in clevo w230st or the AW14 since those have higher color gamuts but they also suffered from severe backlight bleeding glow.
- Great CPU performance for day to day task and a decent gpu which is potent enough to play games at native res as long as the quality settings are turned down to medium or low.
- Keyboard travel and placement is great except for those things I mentioned in the CONS section of the keyboard.
- Laptop looks elegant and felt premium and general build quality is good
- Spacious and decent touchpad


CONS
- Silver keyboard is a terrible idea especially when backlit is on since you can barely see it.
- GPU is only a ddr3 gt 750m and isn't really potent enough to play modern games even at medium settings at native fhd resolution smoothly( When I say play games smoothly, I meant is to play and to actually feel smooth frame rates w/o lag when you start moving front and back and side to side, CS or FPS shooters will understand what I'm talking about.). Downscaling resolution is a solution but I don't like it since it makes everything smudgy and less sharp and fuzzy, it actually looks better when in native resolution with the quality settings set to mostly medium and some to low to keep that smooth frames per sec.
- The CPU and GPU has a tight thermal restriction that Asus has probably put in that throttles early similar to Alienware M14x R1/R2 , the cpu and gpu when both heats up when gaming, the cpu throttles early around 81-83c and turns the cpu turbo clock and base clock off and forces it to the minimum which is 787mhz/800mhz making gaming at that point on very laggy and slow. The quickest solution for this problem is to turn off intel turbo boost by setting power option on the cpu of min/max to 99 for both. This way the temps will stay a little lower and 2.4ghz is plenty enough power to run the game and not affect the frames per sec via FRAPS than leaving turbo on and crippling it all the way down to min clock unless the game is very cpu intensive but you have to monitor it via fraps for frames per sec.
- The Sound Quality is decent but the Audio balance is off like the sound is concentrated on the far left or far right, probably bad speaker placement and it just sounds weird. There is also an interference/crackling/buzzing noise when earphones/headphones are connected.
- The wireless card can be a con or pro but when I had the n550jv, the wireless was glitch and always drops/disconnects and reconnects and it was an Atheros card. I also have the Atheros card currently on the N56JR but no problems on it whatsoever.
- Some of the keys on the keyboard are sticky and had a clicking noise like when you press a letter W on the keyboard, it will make another secondary sound like it is hitting something and 4-5 keys on the leftside of the keyboard had this problem.
- As always with IPS/PLS/AHVA displays, it suffers from BLB bleeding glow, some are minor and some are worst making blacks looks lighted up especially when gaming or watching a movie with darker backgrounds.
- Low battery life of only 3-3.5hours from 100% to 5% auto hibernate shutdown, monitored via Task Manager @ 40% screen brightness in balanced mode just continuous web surfing w/ no flash, a little document editing and music playing. No Gaming or Video playing. The battery life could be a PRO or a CON. For me, 3 hours is not too bad but I would've preferred around 4-5 hours.




Now on the Asus N56JR, I only had this for about 4 days now and still testing it out, so far so good. Build quality is similar to N550JV, looks professional and elegant with a premium feel/look to it but is slighty thicker than the N550JV. The hinges are tight and does not creak. I usually don't like the touchpads on Asus especially their G series since it has a mind of its own and is very jumpy, but to my surprise, it is as good as the touchpad on my old Alienware laptops where it is accurate and very responsive, even the two finger tap works and the left and right integrated click is quiet as a mouse.

The keyboard is good w/o ghosting and thankfully it is black and not silver. No sticking keys or secondary clicking sound like I had on the N550JV.

I was heavily testing the the i7-4700 and GTX 760m over the weekend to see if there's heat/throttling issue and to my surprise, even when gpu temps are 82c and cpu at 90c after 30 minutes, there was no throttling and you get full performance in both the cpu/gpu compared to the Asus N550JV where it alreardy throttled as soon as the gpu hits 80 and the cpu in the early 80s and you are force to turn off intel turbo boost or limit the gpu via NVidia inspector. The display on the N56JR is a high quality TN anti-glare model LG with good brightness even at 40% brightness at balanced mode is so bright lol I can't believe my eyes, the color is vivid and it doesn't have any sparkly/grainy effect like some other anti-glare panels. 3dmark06 score of 18,486 and 3,602 on 3dmark11 all stock no overclocking.

The Audio quality is good and clear and it doesn't have that balancing issue where the sound is coming from the far right or left and it is even out. Also no buzzing/humming/interference noise when earphones/headphones are connected.

The Atheros AR card w/ BT 4.0 is stable w/o any issues on the N56JR. I don't understand why since I had issues with other Asus laptops especially in the G55/G75 and the N550jv where it just disconnects and reconnects and sometimes does not even reconnect by itself.




- For the CONS, right now I can't really see any flaw on this laptop and believe me, I am very OCD about flaws and problems but give me a few more days and I might be able to find one, but one annoyance is the PSU where it emits some coil whine/whirring noise but it's only there if the laptop is on sleep mode or turned off which I can easily remedy by unplugging.

 

Hi Guys,


I have big problems with my Asus N550 laptop.The 4 keys on keyboard just stopped working or better said i have to press them really really hard .Keys are Q,P,D,A.I don't understand what happened .Please if any of you have any advice will be greatly appreciated.

Thank you very much.

 

It was mentioned earlier in this thread...you need to open the bottom of the laptop remove the battery and reroute the ribbon cable over the ram instead of bellow the battery.

As it is now the battery is pressing on the ribbon cable and affecting the signal that is coming from the keyboard

In 4 hours after i get off from work i will tell you on exactly what page of this thread to look in order to find a step by step guide with photo.

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