* Asus N61JQ Owners Lounge *

The person that posted that review on Newegg didn't know what they were talking about or they were reviewing the wrong laptop. The LCD on the N61JQ is LED backlit.

 

What's the verdict on Lucid Lynx install? - have there been any driver issues?

 

new usb 3.0 driver v1.0.20.0
http://www.lycom.com.tw/Drivers/USB 3.0/NECEL-USB3-Host-Driver-10200-setup.zip

 

I got my ADW confirmation email today! Exactly 7 days from the day I put in the mailbox and sent via First Class USPS.

 

Actually, it does. Yes, you are correct that it is the bluetooth tray icon application but, the bluetooth profile created those notifications. Since many bluetooth devices are keyboards, the bluetooth software has keyboard notifications. You can turn them off by editing your registry.

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Widcomm\BTConfig\General\KeyIndication

Change it from a 1 to a 0 and the notifications should go away.

Update: There was a thread in these forums discussing this:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/compal/106738-caps-lock-off-screen-display.html

I know, it is a little strange... but true.

 

There is a place to plug in the keyboard. It has 4 connections. From left to rught they are 0V/5V/5V/5V. The pin layout may be different in the G series though. Donald is going to compare. I am going to try and get the keyboard lit externally so I know exactly what is ground and what is power.

The other issue is that the G software isn't working on the N series so the function keys to activate the keyboard aren't working. I used a decompiler on the drivers and it looks like the BIOS needs to support this feature for the drivers to install with it.

My other fear is that I have already fried my keyboards lights. I zapped the thing a few times and it shut off. I couldn't restart the laptop without waiting 5 minutes first.

 

Anyone know what the drivers are that are located on the bottom of this page. The turbo boost tech drivers? intel drivers pour chipsets

 

Not sure, but I tried to install one, and it wouldn't let me.

 

Those (poorly-named) drivers are basically graphics drivers for the integrated GPUs on some Core processors. The Core i7 720QM does not have an integrated GPU, so you will get an error when you try to install.

 

Ah gotcha, thanks.

 

Lucid support has been terrific. You'll need to activate the ATI fglrx drivers to get the graphics card working. Besides the graphics card, the rest of the hardware is zero-configuration support on install (better driver support than Win7!). Even some of the more esoteric functions like the trackpad multi-touch scroll just work without having to touch a single configuration setting.

Being said, I have noticed some driver issues.
- Image scaling in Firefox looks terrible, this is a documented issue with cairo and firefox and should be present on most if not all Ubunu distributions using the latest versions of cairo and firefox.
- ATI's catalyst control center is a buggy headache when it comes to multiple display configuration. Sometimes it won't detect second displays and changing display setups requires logging out. Luckily the Ubuntu monitor configuration utility works great and if you use it instead you shouldn't have any problems.
- Multiple monitor configurations where one monitor is a lower resolution will be configured as a rectangle with the maximum length and width of the displays. This means that there is an empty space above or below the smaller screen where the mouse can go off the edge of the display and disappear. It makes triggering auto-hidden taskbars a pain in the . I expect this is a 'feature' of the x-windows renderer and not a driver or model specific bug.

 

I realized that some of you might want to see some boot times with an SSD installed. I tested out 3 boot times. Thus includes the time it takes to select Windows 7 from the chameleon bootloader installed on the 500gb drive(it's already highlighted so I just need to hit the enter key) and type in my 6 character Windows password. Time was measured from hitting the power button to the time the Skype flashscreen disappears and my contact list comes up. I'm using Skype as an indicator for the startup applications under the assumption that when the contact list is available most programs have started and the computer is actually usable. At this point there is no application startup lag as other programs are read from disk to memory.

First test was done with my eSATA drive plugged in. The drive wasn't initiated in the boot sequence so I don't think it affected the boot time. Result: 35 seconds

Second test, the eSATA drive spun up as the computer booted and I noticed that the BIOS flash screen stayed up a bit longer.
Result: 43 seconds

Third test I realized that the external drive was skewing my test results and I decided to unplug it.
Result: 31 seconds

Conclusions, boot time is darn fast. Windows startup applications finish loading about 2 seconds after the desktop is visible. I might be able to shave off a fraction of a second more if I unplugged my external USB soundcard but I doubt it would make any significant difference. Having an external magnetic drive plugged in tacks on a significant chunk of time to boot as the drive must be spun up so the BIOS can check it for bootable partitions. I'll post some more tests later with the chameleon bootloader disabled and Windows set to autologon to remove any variance in the time it takes me to hit keys and type passwords.

 

I installed Far Cry2 yesterday night and started to played it
for about 2 hours. I'm really shocked to know that my CPU temp reached 89 celcius. I don't know my GPU temp since it doesn't show in HW monitor. I haven't upgraded the ATI driver, only updated BIOS to 208 so far. What do you guys think, is the temperature still normal?
I really don't want it to get burn do I have apply thermal compound? One more thing, I use cooling pad all the time though it doesn't really make any different..

 

I finished installing Aion and it's updates, it fired it up and went to the login screen but the screen was all messed up like a tv with bad reception. So I exited the game, the screen goes black and never came back to the desktop. I had it sit for a few minutes, but nothing. So I guess it frozed. I held down power button till it shuts off.

So I powered the laptop back up,I get nothing but a blank screen. I know it get it's to the windows login screen because I can hear w7's sound. Everything else seems to load in the back ground but I get nothing for video.

Anyone have any ideas? I just bought this laptop about a month ago.

 

I had this issue in the first 10 minutes when I first got the laptop. Your graphics card is dead. Manufacturer defect. You'll have to send it back for Asus to repair it (remember to call them up and organize an RMA number), the turnaround time for me when I did so was 1 week. Good luck man.

 

Ah just my luck! but thanks for the reply.

 

Deathwinger, what model bluray burner do you have in you NJ61?

 

The new catalyst drivers 10.4 have saturation option (not just in video) they are under ccc - desktop and displays - click the screen at the bottom the little arrow (NOT LCD IN THE MIDDLE of the window) and go to configure - color - saturation. This is similar to nvidia's digital vibrance.

 

OMG, talk about a eureka moment! Man I have been terribly frustrated by the default colour settings on this laptop ( too blue ) I tried making a color profile, but it kept getting unloaded in games. I then tried adjusting colours under desktop properties, again it disabled my colour settings on game load.

However! Once I saw your post about notebook panel properties I noticed there was another colour setting I had not see before. I tweaked it, praying that my colours would not get unloaded in Crysis Warhead.

Well, slap me down with a kipper! It only bloody worked! It did not unload my settings, I can now get rid of monitor calibration wizard from starting with windows.

Even though you did not directly help me, I am just so happy you made that post.

Thanks!!!

 

Could someone tell me how to download asus updates from their website? I'm having problems doing it. I try to using the asus navigation wizard but it doesnt work.

I can save the files to my computer but I don't know how to install them.

If anyone could tell me how to download updates that would be great. And there seem to be a lot of them, do I need to download all of them? I know I need to do stuff for the graphics driver and BIOS but I wasn't sure about everything.

Thanks again.

 

GBW-T10N if that means anything to you. I think its a 4x LG Blu Ray Burner. I got it from my dead Edge and transplanted it into this system. Perfectly good Blu-Ray and adds to the value of the machine. Why not?

 

Hello everyone,

I just bought a new N61JQ-A1 a couple of days ago and it looks great. I did a clean install of W7 Ultimate then selectively installed various drivers and utilities from the Asus driver CD.

All went well but I am surprised at the 1366x768 screen resolution I have; is this the maximum resolution on this laptop? My previous machine was an ancient Inspiron 6000 and I was able to get 1920x1200 on it.

Thanks for any hints to increase the resolution...

 

Unfortunately, 1366x768 is the native resolution of the LCD screen. You can't go any higher, but you can choose lower at the expense of image quality.

On the bright side, you will get better FPS in games due to the lower pixel count!

 

I found WLAN: V9.0.0.173 drivers, I would like to know if this is a good one for N61JQ.. ?

 

This is the first report of it. Can you give us a link so we can check it out?

 

This driver does not appear to be listed for our AR9285 card. If that is the card you have I would guess no on this driver.

 

it works great.

 

This is for AR9xxxx chipset... I found it there and it run great since yesterday on my system but unfortunately this link is broken tonight Latest Atheros WLAN drivers for Windows 7 and Vista (x86 & x64) - LaptopVideo2Go Forums and some modded here (blinking led and more...) Latest Atheros modded Driver for Windws 7, Vista and WinXP - LaptopVideo2Go Forums but link broken tonight too... 8-((

I just found my WLAN: V9.0.0.173 drivers here http://www.station-drivers.com/telechargement/atheros/wifi/Atheros_wlan_9.0.0.173(www.station-drivers.com).exe (not modded but adding in my system the microsoft virtual wifi miniport***) Atheros & Zidas drivers

***Virtual Microsoft Miniport allows us to connect to two access points at a time or turn the second virtual device into an access point etc...

N61JQ / AR9285 Wlan

 

Great post, thanks. IMO, the colors needed a little added saturation. I ditched my Win 7 color profile and set everything in ATI CCC. Here are the settings I used (fixes the blue tint and adds a little "vibrance"):

Code:

Desktops & Displays
Hue: 0
Saturation: 110
Brightness: 0
Contrast: 100

Desktop Properties
Color	Gamma	Brightness	Contrast
Red	0.75	0		100
Green	0.7	0		100
Blue	0.6	0		100

 

The desktop properties will unload every time you play a game. Desktop and Displays however will not, which is why his post was great!

My settings:

Desktops & Displays
Hue: 0
Saturation: 0
Brightness: -5
Contrast: 92

Any lower on brigntness and it messes up games gamma, making everything too dark.

 

I am in the market for a new laptop and Linux Compatibility is my #1 priority, I've narrowed it down to 2, and the main (compatibility related) difference between these two are the video cards:
Asus N61JQ - ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5730
or
Lenovo Y550p - NVIDIA GeForce GT 240M

Side-by-side comparison on NewEgg

I plan on Running Ubuntu 10.04. So how does the N61JQ run on Ubuntu?
Any suggestions

Thanks in advance,
-BassKozz

 

I have read many complaints about ATI support in Linux but truthfully my experience with the N61JQ has been great. Lucid driver support on the N61JQ has been better and easier than Windows. I haven't tried gaming under Linux or running OpenCL but for basic composing it works perfectly. Cross-compiling is very fast, I was able to compile about 3,000 Angstrom packages for ARM in just a couple of hours.

Go with the N61. It has the better graphics card, USB3, full keyboard and the eSATA port isn't shared with a USB port. Not to mention ASUS industry leading reliability, warranty and stylish chasis (the buttons on that Lenovo look like they were tacked on at random)

Note: When I downloaded catalyst drivers directly from ATI's site they did not work. The fglrx drivers from Package Manager work great and are easier to install anyways.

 

Highly recommend installing this. It fixes the LMS error I was getting in my event log.

 

No it does not, it causes event log errors which is a classic sign of driver incompability.

 

Not for me... and it add a virtual wifi connection...

where is located your event log error ? In windows Event Viewer ?

 

Thanks for the feedback 2MNY,

Looks like I am getting an Asus. This will be my first Asus after a LONG line of Dells. Hope all goes well. Wish me luck.

 

I wasn't able to get rid of the blue tint using Desktops & Displays alone

Edit: Do the Desktop Properties settings get reloaded when you return from a game?

 

Risco and Stevedogg what brightness do you guys use under windows power options - display brightness on battery and AC?

Edit: also check this out http://www.lagom.nl/lcd-test/all_tests.php#colorbands.png

 

BassKozz,

Take a look at this thread, it will tell you lots, even though it is not focused on the ASUS NV61JQ.

http://tinyurl.com/379uoym

Mektub

 

That is the site I use all the time As to brightness, depends on what I am doing, but never higher than 80%.

Side note, anyone notice a faint buzz ( in a quiet room ) when using battery while pressing the touchpad? Bit annoying, seems to be power state related as when I open the mic panel it goes away ( using more power )

 

I've had my N61JQ-X1 since March 19th and I've been 100% satisfied so far. I'm coming from a Sony Vaio FW160E, (C2D P8400/GMA4500/4GB RAM), so this is quite a step up all around, especially after I installed a 500GB Hitatchi Travelstar 7200RPM Drive and 8 gigs of DDR3 1333.

I lurked here for a bit and learned about MSI Afterburner, and currently run my 5730 at 775MHZ Core and 925MHZ Memory. 125MHZ jump on both, seems kind of high, but I did numerous stress tests and stability tests, as well as monitored the heat output of the GPU, and the highest temp I have seen was 90C after an hour and a half of Mass Effect 2, settings maxxed with 2xAA/8xAF.

I'm happy.

 

I use 100% plugged in, 30% on battery.

 

if its function has no problem but only has some dll missing warnings, just ignore it. mine works great anyway.

 

Notice to interested people about Wlan drivers for N61JQ if thats can help some... I did some test with different WLAN drivers this w.e. :
8.0.0.238
8.0.0.305
9.0.0.163 (MODDED http://forums.laptopvideo2go.com/index.php?app=core&module=attach&section=attach&attach_id=3187 )
and finally
9.0.0.173 Atheros & Zidas drivers
All run stable but 8.0.0.305 and 9.0.0.163 (modded) are the more slowwwwwwwwwww

The better is so far the 9.0.0.173. Its the more fast, the more stable, and I always have network icon in taskbar...but you have to do manual instal without any reboot... the modded one do not blink my led like announced and very hard to configure for.. nothing !

 

Sup man...been real busy with work. Waiting on my laptop to come back in. I will let yall know how it goes this time.

 

After doing some intense graphical work on this system today, I realized that I may need to consider upgrading the memory of this system from 4GB to 8GB.

Does anyone know what memory works on this system and where I can get it at a good price?

 

Not sure if it's already been covered in this thread.

I can't afford a full 8gb (2x4gb) memory upgrade.

Is it possible to upgrade to 6gb? (1x2gb + 1x4gb)?

 

Any brand of DDR3 1066/1333 SODIMM 204 pin works.

 

Thanks. My laptop came with 4GB of 1066. Two questions I have,

1) How many memory slots does this system have? I think 2 but using ram reporting programs it shows the availability of 4.

2) If I was replacing all the RAM I have in here (2x2GB 1066), should I get 1066 or 1333?

 

Just in case anyone is wondering, this card can be overclocked a lot from what I can tell so far, currently running 800/925 over stock 650/800, but I really don't see a ton of improvement, at least I don't think it's a ton of improvement. Playing Stalker CoP at native res, 2xAA, 4xAF, maximum settings on enhanced dynamic lighting I see the lowest FPS using FRAPS drop to 41 during a 2 hour gaming session, with the highest reported heat at 89C. The game is still playable on normal clock rates, but not as buttery smooth as with the overlclock.

Also, what is too high of a temp for this GPU? Based on what I know of mobile gpu overclocking, which isn't a ton, I think 89C is fine. Any thoughts?