Asus N550JV - user review and owners lounge

Alright! That's great then...

I'll be upgrading to an SDD soon....

 

My battery wear is down to 6.8%. This just goes to show how the battery gauge tends to calibrate itself over time even with regular usage.

 

Hi, I experience the same problem in N550jk, so far no one give solution to this problem. Please help, it is really frustrating

 

Go to Metro and apps, then right click on the Calculator app, click uninstall.(who uses it anyways? ) Now the fn+numkey enter key will go to the old calc.exe

 

Thanks, it works.

 

Hi,
Anyone got as shaky WiFi, got the new model N550JV w the 7260HMW Wireless-AC and while its up and runing its just great, but approx every 3´d hour it drops and i loose internet, sometimes i have to manually restart the wifi to get it back other times it connects back after a minute...

Seems like Inter is aware of the problem Intel® Wi-Fi Products — Quick checks that might improve or fix connection issues but after going through all steps recomended the problem remains

Any help much appriciated.
/ R

 

So, apparently my HDD is dying, according to CrystalDiskInfo. My current pending sector count is 600 at the moment.

Now, this laptop is still under warranty, but the general process for sending the laptop to them takes so long that I feel like it doesn't worth the waiting time for me (I'm expecting 1-2 weeks in total, from handing it over to the shipping company to receiving the laptop on my front porch) comparing to switching out a HDD on my own. However, I do have a plan to possibly get a new laptop within the next three months (a relative promised to sponsor this upcoming purchase), and sinking in more money into this laptop might seems a bit wasteful in that case. What should I do?

 

Hello, I would like buy N550/750, but I often use my laptop in bed, so I have question for N550N750 users. Can be used this notebook in bed (on belly) due fact, that notebooks vents are on the bottom? Isn't notebook hot during office/internet work and what noise? Thanks.

 

Backup important data, keep using the current HDD. It may die slow enough for that new laptop to save the day.

If the unit starts acting up casing Windows boot failures, change the drive. You might consider a SSD, especially if the new laptop you are considering comes with HDD. This way your purchase might not be so wasteful.

 

I get these wifi drop outs as well.. V frustrating. Usually rectified by turning wifi off and back on again. Not sure if it is my laptop or the router that is causing this..

 

I went ahead with the BIOS upgrade (to the latest version) a few weeks ago, having got assurance via ASUS Support online direct about doing so beforehand.

I have been reluctant to potentially curse things by proclaiming success... however 3 / 4 weeks on I am now pleased to advise that I have not experienced a single issue with the fan following the BIOS upgrade

I love this laptop and must also say that the latest Windows 8.1 update has been a success as well.

 

I managed to back up most of my "important" information. Unless this HDD can hang on to its dear life to at least May 17th, I guess I'll just have to forfeit some of my games, because I don't have my 1TB external with me right now.

I've seen the recent trend everywhere regarding SSD to center on Samsung Evo 840 (or something like that). Is it really that good of a SSD? Or, were people raving about the mSATA version and not the SATA one?

 

Samsung does make fast and reliable SSDs, but he's not the only manufacturer who should be taken into consideration.

The reason you saw a trend towards the EVO recently was due to it being a very balanced product: cheap, high capacity, good performance for light/medium workloads and a software caching solution to further enhance it's performance (called RAPID). The EVO is a good choice for models with 256GB or higher capacity.

Other manufacturers you might want to consider are Intel, Toshiba, Crucial. Crucial probably has the cheapest offering (the M500 line), Toshiba has excellent price/performance (Q Pro Series), Intel is a safe bet as always.

If I were to buy a 128GB drive I would look at Toshiba Q Pro and Intel 530. For ~256GB models add the EVO to the list. If price is the main concern (both at 128&256) then Crucial should have the best offering.

 

This could be caused by the driver, have you tried updating it to the newest version?
Here's the latest version.
Download

 

I've been looking to get a 500GB minimum SSD for quite a while. Used to have the old Intel 510/520 series from years ago in my desktop, but that one was only 120GB iirc.

Do you know any sellers that might put those EVO on sales pretty often?

 

I haven't seen any recent sales for the EVO, but I think that wouldn't help help much anyway since we probably live in different regions of the world. I'm from Eastern Europe.

 

Well, Amazon.com is running this sale right now: Amazon.com: Samsung Electronics 840 EVO-Series 500GB 2.5-Inch SATA III Single Unit Version Internal Solid State Drive MZ-7TE500BW: Computers & Accessories

I'm from the US btw.

 

Well, that's not actually a sale, since the price they're starting from is the launch price, still it's a good deal nevertheless. If I were to ignore the sale tax in my country I would buy it here at the same price as you, although it only has a 7% discount. Marketing...

 

Has anyone found an alternative to the ugly silver-on-silver keyboard yet?
I've searched this thread more than a fair amount but to no avail.

Getting the N56 keyboard replacement has been the closest of an answer so far but I can't find it selling in a UK version anywhere.

 

I actually like silver on silver... i think the N550 looks great.
But yeah, I'd say the N56 is the same keyboard but painted black...makes it look more like a MacBook.

 

I understand that it's a matter of preference, and I've seen faaaar worse looking laptops, but I'd just really love a way of making this have a black backlit keyboard!
Also, I find that using the back light on the keys sort of looks strange because they're silver, if they were black then there would be more of a contrast to the light and the keys would have greater visibility.
Other than that it's a great laptop.

So yeah, suggestions are very appreciated!

 

You mean more contrast than the dark environment provides to being with? If anything, the silver keys tend to reflect more light in low lit environments, making the use of backlight optional. I understand this is a matter of personal preference, I'd like them black too, but let's not go to such great lengths in justifying personal taste.

PS: replacing the keyboard will require complete disassembly of the unit.

 

Hi everyone, I recently got this laptop about a week ago and I'm really liking it so far. I only have one problem though. I have the Canadian version and it comes with the Bilingual keyboard and I'm used to using typical US format keyboards. I was wondering if I were to purchase a US keyboard module would I be able to switch them? If so, would it be hard to do? I have no problem with opening up the laptop as I have done it a few times already.

This is what I was looking at: Replacement Keyboard Module (N550JV)

Thanks in advance!

 

I like the idea that this is possible, I also have a keyboard I'm not used to. Probably a lot of work as mentioned in the post just above but with some time and precision it shure will be possible. You probably have to open the laptop completly and unplugging a lot of things .. it's just what you want to do with a new laptop?

 

I've been digging through the BIOS to see what is really necessary.
Any thoughts on whether I can safely disable this stuff?

INTEL ANTI-THEFT TECHNOLOGY is set to enabled.
- I wasn't intentionally trying to use this. And Intel's website says they are phasing the program out by Feb 2015.

Realtek PXE B05 D00
and
Launch PXE OpROM Policy
- not sure, but I think this is for being able to use internet resources prior to loading an operating system
- other than for maybe trying a BIOS firmware update, I don't see any need for this bcz I rely on OS drivers for internet access
- Launch PXE OpROM policy is set to enabled (can it be disabled safely?) and Realtek PXE B05 D00 is listed as a third-line boot option (can it be deleted)?

xHCI Pre-Boot Mode is set to Smart Auto
- I think this is a BIOS driver for USB 3 ports; if so, can if I disable it, will I completely lose access in the BIOS environment (prior to loading an operating system) to those USB ports, or will the ports still work as USB 1 or USB 2 ports, just not as USB 3 ports?

 

The PXE oprom would load an OS from a network resource rather than locally.

 

Hi everyone
I have a problem and i wanna know if anyone have same problem
Sometimes my laptop otical drive (it's dvd) makes a sound by itself with no reason (the sound that it makes when you open it and close it)
I am using win 8.1

Sent from my GT-I9100 using Tapatalk 2

 

My wifi led is backwards. It turns on when the wireless radio is off, and turns off when the wireless radio is on.
Do others have a similar situation?

How can I reset the basic setting so that the light only comes on when the radio is on?

 

My laptop came with Windows 8.1, but I downgraded it to Windows 7 when I got it. Its been nothing but problems for me and I want to update back to Windows 8.1. Is there a way to do this without having to pay for the Windows 8.1 license? A relative has the new Razer Blade Pro and it came with a Windows 8.1 key on the sticker on the bottom of the laptop, but my asus doesn't have it. Is it any place else? or could I just install Windows 8.1 from Microsoft and have it update for me without the key?

 

Your Windows key will work with the correct edition, there's retail and oem version.
So if you load the wrong version then you will be prompted to enter a key, but if it's the right version then you will not need to enter any key at all.

 

Read this thread.

 

Or read this blogpost: mmp669-All About Gadget: ASUS N550JV Entertainment Laptop SSD upgrade and Clean Installation of Windows 8.1

 

Thanks, but I ended up getting a 8.1 Enterprise version from a relative, been trying to get that to work, but I'm having more problems... Here we go:

When I first re-upgraded, Geforce Experience was fine and everything was recognized, but the laptop crashed when I was updating something with my GPU drivers and my bluetooth driver. After that, Geforce Experience kept saying I need to install the latest driver, despite installing them 5+ times. I've tried everything to fix it, including cleaning up the registry files and deleting any Nvidia related files. That didn't do it. I also tried doing 3 different re-installs of Windows 8.1, but that still caused problems. I'm not sure what else to do... I'm honestly considering RMA'ing my laptop. Anyways, this is what Geforce shows me when i install a driver (R331 or something like that): http://i.imgur.com/PCtZabR.png
If I try a newer update, it wont let me click out of "Drivers".

And this is Device Manager screen: http://i.imgur.com/svdNZwd.png

Any help? This has been bothering me for the past 2 days now... Could it be a GPU error?

----------------------------------------------

Fixed it by updating the BIOS (for anyone else who may face this problem later on)

 

Hey Guys,

I am trying to fix a DB72T for a friend who broke the screen on their laptop. The screen still displays an image fine, but there are a few cracks going through it and the touch is acting up. I have been searching, but only found LCD replacements like this: Screen for ASUS N550JV-DB72T. Replacement Laptop LCD Screens , and this: Laptop LCD Screen for Asus N550JK 15 6" Full HD | eBay

It doesn't look like these come with the glass though. Does anyone know where I could get a full display assembly or even just the glass? Any resources or advice would be great.

 

If it's been less than a year, then it should be covered under the ADP (Accidental Damage Protection) Policy. You can send it in and they'll fix even accidental damage for free. Only for the first year though.

 

Hey guys--I'm getting the orange charge light flashing and the computer not recognizing the battery. I tried to update the BIOS (Worked last time) but it's telling me the BIOS build is too old (November '13) and apparently I can't flash it when it's that old...it's the newest one on the ASUS website. What to do?

 

I tried to go that route, but unfortunately they didn't register for ADP within 60 days of purchase so it is a no go. =( The computer itself was purchased about 7 months ago.

 

That's too bad :/ I'm gonna have to send mine in 'cause I dropped it XD Broke screen bezel, headphone jack, and the BIOS/Hard drive are sketchy. Probably the root of the problem I mentioned above

 

Has anybody find a solution to this problem? It would say a game would use up too much memory and suggest closing it. But its only using about 1.1 gb or ram. I know the OS takes about 2 gb ram but should't I have like 6 gb left?

 

It's likely to be a memory leak problem, as some people on other discussion boards suggest. I think this is indeed the case since I also got this error a few times on my machine with 16GB of RAM, when reported memory usage was around 4GB. Possible culprit could be the graphics driver, so updating your GPU drivers would be advisable.

You can disable the popup but it doesn't really fix the problem, system is likely heading towards a crash. Some info here.

 

I did notice that I didn't update the gpu driver but that didn't stop the problem. I have never heard of a memory leak, can you explain what it is and maybe how to stop it?

 

First of all, I have no clear proof there is a memory leak at all, this is just a guess other people made and no one proved / documented. It does seem the likely candidate though.

Memory leaks are the result of a program that incorrectly manages memory allocations. For example it will request some memory and then loose the means to either use or free that memory, often ending up requesting more memory instead. A simple analogy for a memory leak would be storing lots of movies on optical discs without labels: one might remember the contents of the last few discs, but most of the discs in the pile would be a mystery. This could easily lead to the decision of writing a movie on disc multiple times, thus ever increasing the pile of discs without necessarily storing new movies in it.

Memory leaks are quite common and usually harmless. However, when they happen with programs that use large amounts of data and/or run for long periods of time, they can cause serious problems. If a device driver is causing a leak, that could lead to the system running out of memory. It may not even matter how much memory the system has to begin with.

The best thing you can do is keep your dirvers updated, whatever it is it will get sorted eventually.

 

Hi, I can get a pretty good discount on N550-JV which probably makes it more worthwhile to buy it and upgrade its RAM and HDD than to buy its big brother the N550JK. I'll be using mostly for web design, adobe CC apps, and for some music recording. However, I do have a few questions...

1. Is there a major issue with the wifi adapter, or has anything been fixed in latest manufactured models or with latest driver/firmware? I'm mainly getting this laptop to be able to work on my websites when I'm traveling so if the wifi is defective, this might be a deal breaker.

2. Which memory cards are compatible with the built-in card reader?

3. Can the 2x4 GB RAM sticks be removed easily and replaced with 2x8GB? Also, which RAM types are recommended as replacement? please provide links if possible...so that I know what to purchase.

 

Great questions. I would like to add to these the following:

4. Are there any known issues with running Windows 8.1 and or the drivers?

5. 128GB is not enough space and I do not want to use external storage. What options are there (and how easy is it for a hardware noob to to) to either swap out the 128GB SSD disk, or add in another 250GB SSD drive or a 500+ GB regular drive?

6. When surfing the web and playing light games such as Minecraft do these units tend to run fairly cool? I'm not crazy about the vents being on the bottom of the unit. Does it get uncomfortable heat-wise with this thing on your lap?

6. Has anyone compared this to its big brother that retails for about $2000 with the high end screen? Is that one a much better performer in terms of gaming? I definitely like the screen on that unit better, but at double the price its hardly worth it just for that. But by the time I add in another hard drive .... who knows it may only be a few hundred more at that point to get the big brother?

Thanks!!

 

Hi Xotic! Thanks for the info...just bought mine and want to do just that: put in the SSD as primary, and take the included 750GB and pop that in a HDD Caddy as 2nd drive. My question is...how do I grab the OEM Win 8 that was included with the laptop and transfer that over to the SSD, which incidentally still has a Win 7 image on it from my desktop PC?

Secondly, has anyone purchased the 9.99$ caddy on ebay, and if so, have you had any problem with shutdowns?
NEW 2nd Sata Hard Drive SSD HDD Caddy FOR Asus N550JV N750JV RE GU71N UJ8C2 | eBay

Reason I ask about the shutdown issue is because a more expensive version of it says in the specs that it fixed this issue:
"- updated SATA board: incl. fix for Asus shutdown problem with 2nd HDD"
Asus N550 N550JV HDD Caddy - add an extra HDD or SSD into your laptop!

So, to sum this up just want to know how would be best in my own case to proceed to install OEM Win that came with laptop on the new SSD which will be in the primary slot of 2 drive system, and also to make sure if I buy the 9.99$ version that it doesnt create a shutdown problem. Looking forward to your advice Xotic!

 

You will need to use a Windows 8 OEM disc. The key is embedded in the BIOS but it will work as long as you use the same version of Windows (OEM) The problem is finding one of those disc. Microsoft has made them scarce to help fight against piracy. You can also look into making a bootable USB drive which may be the easier way.

That caddy should work, but since we are not selling it directly I cant say for sure. You can go with the more expensive one to avoid potential headaches. I havent heard of those shut down problems but since there is one with a fix for it, there must have been an issue.

 

So if I can find a friend with a retail Win 8 disc, I can I use that with the embedded key? Or the embedded key will ONLY work with an OEM version?

I guess the alternative would be to use a non-OEM version of Win 8, in which case could I override the oem only embedded key and use a retail key with a retail install?

 

Yay! I'm the proud owner of a new Asus N550-J
For those wondering what upgrades will void warranty, Asus rep told me the following will NOT void the warranty:

- Adding a 2nd HDD
- Upgrading to 16GB RAM
- Upgrading the wireless module
- Replacing the battery

However, he did advise great caution when doing the wifi module. If done improperly and damage is caused, then yes the warranty is void.

 

OEM keys wont work with Retail discs. You can use a non-OEM version of Win 8 as long as you use a matching key.

 

I bought my N550 at Staples in Canada... the keyboard is bilingual layout. However, Im finding that 2-3 keys are poorly lit in the dark... i would love to hear from another Canadian owner, possibly post a picture of your backlit keyboard so I can compare and see if mine is normal... (before I go back to the store and swap my unit)...






I have NEVER owned a backlit keyboard so of course I LOVE it but im just wondering if its normal that these keys dont shine as brightly or evenly...
Feedback would be much appreciated!