* Asus N61JQ Owners Lounge *

A little late on the update, but they are in stock as with most places.

EDIT, in case some of you were not aware the price is going up on the N61JQ (+ a few other models). Due to LCD pricing going up some ASUS models are going up (About $100 for the N61JQ). Some resellers may not be raising to the full price right away due to how much stock they allocated before the price increase.

 

BAH! Its a feature! It's there so that you never have to clean your N61. Just peel the skin. HA!

j/k

 

I too had some peeling, but it never really spread much. I did, however, buy a laptop sleeve, which I think has stopped the peeling from getting worse, as I frequently put in and take the laptop from my back pack.

 

Can someone that knows please post the programs for temperature monitoring for the cpu and the gpu. I think this could be added to the first page as well.

Thanks for any help i can get.

 

Update on my RMA:

They received the laptop on 3/18/10. It's been two weeks now and they still haven't repaired it. They said they are waiting for a part, but it's already been two weeks. Then they send me an email saying that it might be delayed another 1-2 weeks for them to work on it. I have called them several times and the only thing they can say is we will escalate your problem to our supervisors or we haven't got any word from the repair facility. I have only use the computer a couple times, the thing is pratically new. But the screen looks horrible in the sun with the dust inside it.

*I sent it back because dust getting under the screen after the first week I received it. It's only gotten worse ever since. The only places it's been is on my bed or on my table.*

 

I used HW Monitor. Pretty decent software. It will also do some benchmark for you. Go here for more information http://www.cpuid.com/hwmonitor.php

 

I feel you on the RMAs bro. I had to send mine in a 2nd time. I am waiting to get it back right now. I have hardly had the chance to use mine also.

 

Yeah if you spend over a grand on a laptop...nothing should peel off. I could not handle it lol.

 

I feel your pain. You've had the worst issues with the N61 so far. One of these days we will be able to sit back, have a drink and laugh. Instead of just having drinks to numb the pain. HA!

 

Where is everyone returning their laptops? Is it directly to Asus?

 

I'm awaiting on a part as well. I hope I don't have similar situation like yourself. Right now we are shooting a feature horror film and I would need my laptop at the end of the production to do post production work. I really hope these guys have my laptop ready by that time.

 

Wish, You know all this. You have been watching this laptop as long as anyone. Just buy the dam thing or we will spank your little avatar!

 

i thought i knew this, but justin came up with this little info about price increase! So, i need inputs. How long will this price increase be delayed?

 

The MSRP went up $100 today. You will see it go up on all sites very shortly.

 

The key part of your post about heat is " It is rumored". There is not a heat issue with the N61JQ. In my opinion it has to be one of the coolest running i7 laptops on the market. Part of the reason it runs so cool is that it expels a lot of the heat out of a side vent. A few people have reported being concerned about all the heat coming out of that vent. But expeling the heat is a good thing!

 

Time is ticking Wish, pull the trigger!

 

darn! this could well be the deal breaker for many, as the N61's USP was its bang for the buck. the other models could start giving it some competition now.

 

For example, which other models come close?

 

I smell a Troll donald! Maybe we better stop feeding him.

 

err.. whats a troll, mate?

@donald - i am not saying they come close performance wise. but a 100 bucks price rise would impact its sales because not everyone matches ONLY components versus components. some might not like asus and may be going for N61 only because of its price and if the price rises by 100, then they may go to other 'similar' performing (technically NOT equal, though) notebooks.

I am a big fan of N61. I know of its value. I am saying not everyone compares 5730 vs 330M as seriously as we may expect.

 

"Everyone" = 5 people on this thread. You can read about them on the first page under returns. I think "everyone" has sent them back to ASUS for repair.

 

I would second the link that Steven gave you. And thanks for the recomendation on putting this on the first page. I decided not to post it though because it is more general imformation and not specific to this Laptop.

 

what's your gpu temps when doing light tasks? [web surfing, etc] mine does read 66c

 

Well, I never understood the theory in this lounge that the bad rubbing was causing the peeling, inside the bag the screen is closed and given its size it is unlikely the bag is the culprit. I'd say it is the "lack" of care when opening the screen since it is easy the fingers touch the palm rest area edge. So far mine has not peeled, but I rarely move or close the screen in the laptop.

 

N61 quad core machine's thermal design is crap....

 

I think that part of the problem is if you have a bag that holds the laptop vertically and you put it in, there is a chance for wear on the edge of the palm due to the zipper, and it isn't really a problem on the palm rest proper. So if you also have a bag that holds your laptop vertically, a laptop sleeve that loads horizontally should help. At least it has worked for me. I can also definitely see poor care as the culprit as well.

 

Just a question, easy Mr Ally.

 

i'm thinking the same thing. lol. what's your laptopgpu temp?

 

...and you sir, are full of it

 

HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!! That was awesome!

 

Considering the shell of the unit is never more then warm and the fan blows out very hot air, it seems to me that the laptop's thermal design is excellent. If the air blowing out was warm and the laptop shell was hot, then it would be crap.

 

Doubtful. If LCD prices are going up and the technology used in the N61 is used in competitive laptops, I foresee everyones prices going up. That is assuming that it is an industry LCD issue and not just a problem with ASUS.

Also, considering you need about 300-400 more to start competing with the N61, I doubt this is going to be much of an issue.

 

HAHAHAHA! You and Donald are on fire!

 

In what way is the thermal design crap? This is the first laptop I've owned (or used) in 8 years that I can actually put on my lap and use to any extent without burning myself. The only heat generated blows out the side.

 

@donald- doesnt PNB sell msi notebooks?

 

I haven't been able to find a definitive thermal spec for the 5730. Some desktop cards are designed to operate as high as 105 degrees C: http://www.msi.com/index.php?func=newsdesc&news_no=727. I saw someone mention 105 degrees C as the throttling temperature for the GPU, but I don't think you could even reach that temp on this laptop to test it out.

 

When 4 of the returns are from critical component failure within the first hours of the notebooks use I think it's a serious issue to be playing down. It's true that we get a lot of uninformed posts in here about the performance, build quality and choice of components. It's perfectly reasonable to defend a product you proudly own against these accusations but that shouldn't keep us from recognizing the recurrence of cosmetic issues, component failure and BSODs. If there is a design, component or manufacturing defect in the N61, denial isn't going to fix it.

I encourage those who have RMA'd to ask for a disclosure on the specific point of failure. LordDavon has also kindly offered his services analyzing BSODs. If you keep getting them, it couldn't hurt to ask him to help. If you have fixed them, let us know how you solved the problem.

 

I think there are always going to be a few lemons built in any manufacturing process. I believe that the peeling issue really is an issue but, I don't think there are too many problems with the internal design of the unit. Of the thousands of laptops manufactured, and we have no idea how high that number really is, we know of 4 or 5 defective out-of-the-box.

Don't forget that people who are having issues with the laptop are going to wander into this thread looking for a solution. People who have had no issues with the unit are most likely happily playing games and working on spreadsheets and not looking for others with the same laptop (unless they are truly geeky like, well, me). ;-) In other words, people having issues are most likely coming here while people without issues aren't going to even care there is a thread.

I am not saying that there isn't an issue with the N61's manufacturing. I am just saying that we haven't enough information to say there is. It is one of the reasons I wan't to examine some of these memory dump files.

Just my 2 cents....

 

I believe the mobility 5730 shuts down at 95c. Not sure if that is throttling temp or the emergency shut off temp.

The desktop cards aren't really a good point of comparison as they have their own cooling solutions separate from the CPU and other components. With single fan cooling setups, if your notebook CPU is running hot then the heat is going to bleed over to the GPU. The amount of heat a chip can generate is only relevant when seen in the context of how efficient it's cooling system is.

I plan on running a combined GPU/CPU stress test when I get my N61. I don't think it will be able to handle the load without overheating and generating a BSOD or shutting off completely.

 

If anything, that would reduce the thermal specs for the desktop chips; if they have dedicated cooling solutions, they need not be able to tolerate high temperatures (since they will not occur). E.g., it would make sense to design a desktop GPU to have a lower maximum temperature than a mobile GPU, because the cooling will be much better for the desktop card.

I, and many others on here, have done stress testing with Intel Burn Test, Prime95, Furmark (and even Prime95 + Furmark in my case). While it's interesting to see how the laptop behaves under those tests, real usage will never stress that much.

 

True that. If my laptop had not died within the first 10 minutes of usage. I'd only be checking this forum for driver updates and not posting about what is happening with the notebook during the RMA process.

I have tried to find out what the material replacement is as stated on the Repair inquiry forum by calling in but I have not been able to get a definite answer. All they can tell me is that the part that needs replacing had to be ordered and they are awaiting its arrival at the department.

Of course, based on the series of events that occurred, XoticPc was able to tell me flat out that it was the graphics card. So that's one point for them and I'm going with that.

 

I'm having a problem with mine. Sometimes it wont come out of hibernate mode. It goes from the resuming windows screen to just a black screen

 

what video driver version are you using?

 

catalyst 10.3

 

I think there is a Microsoft hotfix for that. The official fix is supposed to come in the next service pack or something. Not sure how you'd find the hotfix.

 

Mine has done the same thing once and I hope it doesn't happen again. I wonder if I should start shutting it down some instead of always putting it in hibernate mode?

 

This is most likely a driver problem more than anything else. If you are using official, stable drivers....I'd suggest you upgrade to the latest official stable drivers.

Just be happy that your device is not indefinitely showing a black screen and then you are checking the RMA status everyday seeing that they haven't even started work on your system due to lack of working parts.

 

Just checked my 2nd RMA status. System is waiting for parts also. I leave to go back offshore Tuesday. I will be gone for two weeks. I hope I will have it back by then. Out of 8 weeks since I purchased the laptop, I have used it for one week. I hope everything works out this time.

 

62-75C

an excelllent thermal design will keep CPU/GPU idle temperature at 40-45C while this thing idle temperature for CPU is 59-62C and for GPU is 62-65C.

 

^ Is there an example of a laptop(s) of similar size with similar or more powerful CPU and GPU that fit those temperature parameters?