Asus N550JV - user review and owners lounge

The driver comes from Windows and does not have a different driver.
This issue is very likely to be caused by a defective webcam module thus a replacement is required.

 

After an year, this is my first upgrade. The hard drive I got with the laptop was fast Hitachi 7200rpm 750GB. Yesterday I added the Samsung 840 EVO SSD as the primary OS hard drive and moved the 750GB to BluRay spot.

I bought a SilverStone hdd caddy from a local store here along with the SSD. It was available only in white color, it didn't matter as the drive bay will stay inside. Carefully removed the bezel from BR ROM and I had to cut little pieces of plastic on SilverStone bay to make the bezel fit properly. Won't call it was made for this specific laptop but it worked.

The SSD is super fast, you won't regret this upgrade. Totally unleashed the power of this laptop.





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I just tried with ManyCam and it works.

EDIT: Actually it looks like I need to tap the webcam in order for it to work.

 

SSDs really bring to life the performance of these laptops. Powering on and OFF is so fast that I don't even feel it like a bother then I need to power on just to check a file. My peers are astonished at how fast it is too boot, also thanks to windows 8, that they look with disgust their older laptops with mechanical drives

 

Cold start from dead to desktop takes 4 seconds now in SSD with Windows 8.

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I has the exact same issue and no history of dropping at all. Just some cracking when opening the lid cover before it happened. and I found that the plastic piece that connects the lid cover to the hinges is broken and it is a part of the lid cover so I need to replace the whole lid cover. Any Ideas? How can I know the partnumber of lid cover to buy it?

 

Hi guys,

After reading a few posts on this thread and watching a tutorial video about replacing the HDD to SSD on the N550JV, I think I am ready to do the same.

I have a Samsung 840 EVO, and a torx T5 screwdriver as well as an anti-static wrist strap just in case. I plan on moving the HDD to the ODD and adding the SSD to the HDD slot.

My question is, how do I get it to boot and to clone the OS over to the SSD? Or should I fresh install? On my current HDD I have two partitions, C for the OS and D for the data. I just need to clone over C to the SSD but how do I do so if i will be switching their places and I wouldn't be able to boot.

Thanks for your help.

 

When you open the Samsung 840 EVO box, there is a CD inside it. Install Samsung Data Migration software from the CD (or download from the Samsung website).

Now you need a 2.5'' HDD enclosure, put the SSD in that enclosure, open Samsu g Data Migration software, select drive C to be cloned to the SSD, it will automatically detect the SSD as destination drive and hit Next. It's that simple.

Now swap the SSD with the HDD and your laptop will boot from the SSD, which is your Drive C now.

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Thanks a lot for the tip. I'll do that as soon as i've got all the equipment. Cheers.

 

See my post couple of post above also.

If you don't have HDD enclosure or a PC, there is a version - 840 EVO Laptop Upgrade Kit. It comes with a Sata to USB cable (shown in pic below) or you can find cheap one on Amazon also.



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I've just purchased this: http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00GSWT4HY

I guess it should be ok. It's USB 3 as well and my C partition is about 100 GB only so it shouldn't take too long to clone.

 

That will work. I used same USB 3.0 and it took only 15 minutes to clone my C drive which was 120GB.

Also I bought this, if I ever wanted to use the BD/DVD Rom.

http://m.ebay.ca/itm/291122475624?nav=SEARCH


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That's a good idea. Although I couldn't find a USB 3.0 version. Weird.

 

I did the same, but was unsatisfied by the rough-looking fit of the side bezel. So, I whittled down the plastic (of the caddy) with a knife on the side where it stuck out. This definitely took some time and it still isn't 100% perfect but the results are much more satisfactory.

 

The audio from the laptop is not up-to the 'Bang & Olufsen' standard.

The speakers are not bad. The placement of speakers is bad, and also the tuning, which makes the sound worse.

If you are using only the laptop speakers, here are the settings that I carefully adjusted in the Waves MaxxAudio to make the speakers sound normal. They should have adjusted the speakers to these levels by default. Make sure you are using the SonicMaster woofer that came along the laptop and all the equalizers in your media player are turned off (EQ, SRS).

 

Does anyone know if the CPU is replaceable? There are many videos on youtube showing CPU replacement on ASUS laptops, but not our model. I took off the heat sinks but it looks like everything is hot glued into place.I didn't notice any soldering. I'm wondering if maybe the keyboard needs to be taken out, or the motherboard taken out and flipped over, or it this model just doesn't have the ability to replace. I thought about digging into it deeper but changed my mind and decided to ask here first.

*EDIT* The CPU is so far so good. Just wondering.

 

It's not replaceable because it's soldered on there.
The only possibility to get it with a different processor is when ASUS revises the model and put on a better/newer processor.

 

My keyboard recently started acting up. Left shift, Z, B, N, spacebar and enter are giving issues and I have to repeatedly press them before they register. Read way earlier in the thread that it could be the battery pressing on the ribbon cable but i'm hoping someone has found an alternate solution because I'm not ready to open the laptop up.
I've reinstalled the keyboard filter driver several times and the keyboard returns to normal for a while but after a reboot, everything goes back to hell.

 

If it's under warranty then best to let the manufacturer to handle it.

 

That's not really a viable option at the moment because i'm currently not in the US where it was bought and i'm not sure asus has a service center in Nigeria. I need a fix I can implement myself.

 

Remove the keyboard from the system, then find the part number which you can use to search on eBay.
Then order and have it shipped to you directly. Below is what I found.
N550JV keyboard | eBay

 

Ok,thanks. The only actual internal keyboard there is $105.97. Think i'll rather get an external keyboard at that price. Nice silicone covers though. Might still pick one of those up.

 

Check for the part number as searching for that can bring up other options.

 

I just gave up and bit the bullet and followed coercitiv's instructions on page 130 and it works perfectly now.

 

Dear N550JV user,
I have the same problem with the Qualcomm Atherss Wireless adaptor. Please help!
I got this laptop last November, sent in twice to my local service center due to internet connection issue.
When watching videos on internet, intermittent hanging occurs, sometimes as long as 2~3 minutes. Sometimes, freeze and I need to re-open the Browser (IE, Chrome and Firefox), or error message indicating not able to connect to source.

The above issue was resolved with the 2nd sent in. Lately, less than 2 months of usage, download was not possible, even on local source. The download lasted for about 10% and it stop downloading, after about 5 minutes, error message of "not able to connect to source" appears.

I refused to bring down to the Asus service center as they could not promised they are able resolve the issue, and maintained that my first 2 issue and this issue is different. Isn't it the same problem on internet connection?

I have download Atheros Wireless Driver from the website recommended by a fellow member here (could not locate his Thread) from another laptop, I managed to installed the latest version 10.0.0.287, and the page download is faster now, but I'm still not able to download big files. One good example is from Asus Driver download page, the file for Qualcomm Bluetooth driver at 90Mb, FAIL after 10%.

Kindly advice what should I do as Asus refused to replace the wireless router for me.
Thank you.

 

Try RJ45 direct connection to the router see if it's behaving the same way.
The latest version for the wireless driver is available.
Qualcomm/Atheros Wireless Lan Drivers Version 10.0.0.293 WHQL

 

Dear Kevin,
Thanks for your advice. Yes, cable was smooth. Feedback to Asus CS, but still not willing to change a Wireless Adapter for me, stating different issues and maybe other programs that affect the download.
I feel that it's the hardware that giving the problem, not the software. Anyway, I will still download version 293 for a try. Keeping my fingers cross.
Thanks so much.

PS. At this moment, I am trying to download Adobe Flash (as I have done a Factory Reset as advice from Asus CS, but to no avail), download failed the 3rd times when I was typing this message. Oh! The Qualcomm driver update just failed too. Haha!

 

For those who use Linux:

Linux drivers for the ELAN Touchscreen are problematic. I posted in this thread a year ago describing problems I was experiencing with the display on booting into Linux.
http://forum.notebookreview.com/asu...user-review-owners-lounge-16.html#post9377941

At the time, I thought what was happening might be due to some kind of hardware defect with my machine. However, I've never had any similar problems with Windows boots (it's a dual-boot machine), so the suggestion that the primary problem was a hardware fault seemed unlikely. In Linux, sometimes the machine would boot completely normally without any problems, but other times the screen would be flickering so much that it was impossible to read anything on the display, making a reboot necessary. These problematic boots would occur seemingly completely at random, and very frequently (maybe 2 bad boots for every 3 or 4 good ones).

It turns out, as far as I have been able to tell, that the problem actually involves faulty drivers for handling of USB communication with the ELAN touchscreen.
If you are running Linux, take a look at your system logs. With Ubuntu/Debian-based installs, check, for example, /var/log/dmesg. If your machine is like mine, you'll find that the touchscreen is disconnecting and reconnecting over and over and over again. That ain't normal behavior for a USB device, as far as I am aware.

This user's post shows the same kind of behavior I have been seeing with Kubuntu and Linux Mint
debian - Wheezy and touchscreen issues - Unix & Linux Stack Exchange

And it's not just Asus N550JV that's affected. There are reports across the web of others with Elan touchscreens who have been experiencing problems in the integration of their touchscreens with Linux.

Here is someone with a Samsung laptop trying to run Gentoo
Gentoo Forums :: View topic - Problem with ELAN Touchscreen (and/or xhci_hcd??)

Here's someone with a Lenovo discussing the generic kernel, and someone else trying to run Ubuntu
Linux Kernel - ELAN Touchscreen regression in recent 3.12 rc's? (USB)

Here's someone with an ASUS Q550LF trying to run Debian
Debian User Forums • View topic - Debian 7.6 won't boot with ELAN touchscreen

Here is someone with an ASUS laptop, not sure which distro
Re: Similar Elan Touchscreen reset behaviour -- Linux USB
Re: Similar Elan Touchscreen reset behaviour -- Linux USB

 

I have N550jv Touch version. Recently I tried swapping my DVD-ROM with an ODD Caddy - Silvertone TS08 and a WD-Blue 1TB 2.5" drive. It worked initially, I was able to format the drive in Disk Management, however few hours later when I booted up the laptop again it did not see the drive. Now when I look using HWINFO, I only see one SATA controller. Did I somehow kill the ODD SATA port in the process, or is it a software/driver/bios thing?

 

Check caddy connectivity, or put ODD back to verify.

 

Forgot to mention that Caddy has LED which comes on when Laptop is powered. I'll try swapping DVD back in. I don't see the drive in BIOS either =(

 

Could be a faulty caddy too. Try installing BD-ROM back and check if it's working.

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I have the same caddy. First thing I did was unplug the LED wire. It was very bright and annoying.

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Hello guys,

I think i have a problem with my memory speed. Firstly i run 3d mark 2011 and at the result i noticed the speed was 800mhz. After that i downloaded "Speccy" and it confirms it runs on 800mhz.

Here is a screenshot.



From what I know they are supposed to run on 1600mhz.

Any help;

Thank you in advance!

 

Anybody got issues with hinges under display ? I got my notebook for about 1year. I was opening and closing notebook, max 2times a day.
I am afraid, if I open and close notebook one more time i think it will break up.

Does it covers Asus Warranty ? If yes, how long it takes ? I need notebook because of school projects...
Photo

 

First year warranty covers accidental damage. This could be a manufacturing defect also. Contact Asus if the laptop is in warranty.

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The memory is dual channel.

800Mhz X 2 = 1600Mhz.

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Thank you d3p,

Has anyone installed windows 10 on the laptop; Any problems;

 

What version of the Intel 7260 should I get for this laptop? The 2.4ghz is super crowded in my apt, and my router does 5ghz.

I originally had the same issue with the headphone jack, it first started acting a bit wonky, and now it doesn't detect anything anymore. How did you manage to finally fix it?
I have ended up using a DAC now.

 

I have not fixed the problem yet and I'm nog going to send the laptop to Asus since I need it for my study.

 

HI All,

I posted in this thread about 10 months ago trying to get the Qualcomm Atheros AR3012 bluetooth to work under Windows 8.1. Was unsuccessful and decided to leave it assuming that may be further down the track, an updated driver would emerge to fix these issue. Fast forward to now. I am still No further in trying to get this thing to work. The drivers on the ASUS site have not been updated in over a year and are still the 8.0.1.306 ones which just simply do not work at all for me.

I have tried uninstalling the 8.0.1.306 drivers (including ticking the option to delete the driver completely), rebooting and reinstalling, and repeating the same process with .314, .318 of the Bluetooth suite to no frustrating end.

Trying to access the Bluetooth settings under windows 8.1 just gets me a fullscreen cog page, then a completely white screen, before being simply bounced to the "PC Settings" screen. I don't know what gives?

Has anyone using a N550JV laptop with the Qualcomm AR3012 bluetooth being able to get this thing to work reliably at all for them? If so, I wouldn't mind any pointers.

Many thanks.

 

ASUS Support suggested I try a few things (Resetting the BIOS back to defaults), but implied I may have to send the laptop in for repair.

Anyway, shortly afterwards (probably by coincidence) my Windows 8.1 installation some how got hosed after installing the latest set of Windows updates. Couldn't boot any more and would just give me a rather terse and un-detailed "Sad face" BSOD, then would attempt to repair, then fail, then reboot and repeat the process ad nauseum.

Did a PC Refresh, which put the computer back to Windows 8 (Not 8.1), Immediately, the bluetooth started working. I was able to pair with all of my bluetooth devices effortlessly. My question, is what the heck have they done in Windows 8.1 to kill bluetooth and why haven't we received an updated driver or Windows fix by now?? Not many people use bluetooth on this Machine?

 

Good it is working now for you. Bluetooth never worked perfectly for me from day 1, I tried various settings and drivers before giving up. Windows 8.1 had numerous issues on the laptop, went back to 8. I think replacing the Qualcomm module with the Intel, costs only $35, WiFi performance will improve as well as battery and hopefully bluetooth will also work without any problem.

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Anybody managed to plug an external mic on the combo jack input ???

When i plug one it doesn't recognize it as a mic, i just get speakers and headset choices in the realtek tab...

 

Is it a microphone only? Or a headset with both headphone and microphone?
Can you check the Mixer property and identify the name of the audio device to see what it shows?

 

A headset with both microphone and headphone, i just tried to plug the mic part of it

 

Make sure the connector goes all the way in, but if problem persists, then try another microphone device.

 

I had problems with a headset until I reinstalled the audio drivers and did not disable the pop-up that occurs each time you insert a headset. When the pop-up occurs I just press enter twice to minimize. That fixed all problems for me, they return if I disable the pop-up.

 

Try the latest driver from Realtek, under HD Audio Codec, not sure if it's going to help but please give it a shot anyway, thank you.

 

Is it possible to replace the grey keyboard with the black asus n56 one:
New for Asus N56 N56V N56VZ N56VJ N56VM N56DP N56JR US Backlit Keyboard | eBay

Mine is showing serious wear of the keys, so i want to replace it.