* Asus N61JQ Owners Lounge *

I think there are some applications that are neither on the driver CD nor online (3rd-party copyrighted software is not posted to the ASUS website); I think I remember someone saying something about a video editor.

 

I believe it was the DVD/BD player (Cyberlink?) that isn't re-installable.

stevedogg: did you see my previous posts a few pages back about what was keeping my touchpad from working properly?

 

Hi. I just updated to the latest Wireless Console software, but I still have the issue where I am having to click on the Bluetooth logo to turn on Bluetooth. It won't toggle it on or off if I keep pressing Fn+F2 like the wireless antenna. I thought that it should just toggle either of them or both so you could pick which one you want on or off (like wireless only, bluetooth only, wireless and bluetooth, etc). If anyone is having the same issue please let me know - and if you've fixed it I'd really appreciate the help!

 

Ah thanks, I guess I can safely do that then since I don't prefer to use that cyberlink software.

 

Hello everyone, just received my N61JQ-X1 today from Amazon... Only $882 bucks from Amazon Warehouse deals!

I'm extremely pleased thus far, but I think I'm already eager to invest in more ram.

Anyone have a good recommendation for an extra 4gb of DD3 that would work well with this lappy?

 

Virtually any brand of DDR3/1333 SODIMM will work. It is hard to say that one brand is better than another, but some of the favorites seem to be Kingston, Crucial, Corsair and Patriot.

 

Ok, thanks!

 

Yes I saw. Silly Outlook!

 

My Fn+F2 toggles both wifi and bluetooth together (On/On or Off/Off); it does not cycle through the 4 options (On/On, On/Off, Off/On, Off/Off). If you are not getting that behavior, you might try updating to the latest ATK drivers V1.0.0004.

 

Wow!, how do you American's get this laptop so cheap? the cheapest price in our country is $2136 NZ ($1431US Dollars) yet the N61JV which is fractionally cheaper on AMAZON ($880) is considerably cheaper @ $1493NZ ($955.49 US and that includes Tax of 12.5% and a 2 year global warranty!).

It makes no sense....there is definitely some strange pricing schemes going on here (it would make more sense if the N61JV was priced at around $1900 + which would be more consistent with US pricing if we were getting charged a big fat margin).

Since purchasing this laptop I've been worried the price is going to drop $500 any day now

Don't get me wrong, I love this laptop though even at this price (There was nothing comparable in price at the time (well I could of gone for the G51, but for some reason I thought the DX11 would be better because of the newer technology)), just wished I didn't feel like I paid too much for it.

 

Well you must realize my friend, Amazon Warehouse Deals means it was a refurbished item, not brand new. I'd be hard pressed to find this for anything under $1100 brand new (although Amazon did have a sale on this model a couple weeks ago for $910).

 

Well I appreciate the encouragement, it still does not explain the exceedingly cheap N61Jv's in our country though; in any case the addition of the more powerful processor & graphics card I would think would add a whole heap more to the price. I'm guessing ASUS is using this model to try and attract the huge market of US users and selling it at a loss; or ASUS might just be making mountains of profit on most of their laptops, with a moderate profit to the American market on the N61JQ.

It make financial sense to target bigger, richer markets like Europe and the US, I'm just wondering how the Taiwanese Manufacturer will cope with the mountains of laws (and lawsuits!) in those areas

 

About BIOS update this is the CHANGE LOG Asus sent me right now (see .doc attachment)

Product Model: N61Jq
System BIOS : 210
Item. Bug #. Root cause and change description Reference
1 Fix ASUSGPNV data loss when use aflash2 /down parameter or Ctrl-Alt-Del reset without use SWSMI to shutdown the system. AK-KVN0226
2 Update EC firmware to 202c1EF.EC
System BIOS : 209
1 Update VBIOS to solve customer issue.
System BIOS : 208
1 131 Update CFD MRC to 1.3
2 130 Fix using function fn+ESC that system will hang. AK-ALB0083
System BIOS : 207
1 Update EC firmware to 202C1AF.EC for fixing touch-pad can work after install ALL mode. LNS0017f
System BIOS : 206
1 According the ATI APNote to add a workaround for the BSOD 124 issue. AK-DKC5259
System BIOS : 205
1 113 Fix HDD password has no function when selecting SATA mode in IDE mode and enable fancystart after setting HDD passwords in Aptio setup menu AK-HCH0001k
2 Update EC firmware to 202C19F.EC LNS0017e
System BIOS : 204
1 109 Fix system can enter setup utility in s4 resume after setting HDD password. LNS0038

 

Amazon has it on sale again for $910 with free shipping.

 

@Baqar79


I think this is a "normal" market price for a US market including Canada and Mexico (free market-->>ALENA) for more than 500 millions customers...

If you buy it in Shangai I'm sure that you will pay less...

 

Good luck with that. I've done a fair amount of research (pricing) and the 4Gb DDR3 1333 is sitting at right around $200 per chip. If you're able to find it for less (I mean considerably less) please let me know. I'm flyin with my currently installed 4G on the A1 model but am just keeping an eye out for possible upgrades down the road.

One thing we've found in the IT hardware industry - seems the DDR3 has really not caught on like we all anticipated it did. Thus, the old law of "supply-and-demand" plays a big part here - not enough demand for this chip is causing the supply to be excessive, thus driving the price up. DDR2 had come down to where we figured it would but DDR3 (especially the faster 1333 speed) just doesn't seem to be.

Anyone find a different result?

 

I purchase my memory from memory-up.com

I got a very good price on 2 x 4GB DDR 3 RAM here and I've noticed a great increase in performance since installing it.

 

Hard to say, Baqar. I think the Asus is one of the very few US manufactured systems (could be wrong - someone correct me if I am, but that's what I've understood). I got my A1 for exactly $1049 including shipping and zero tax. I bought it online from a dealer I'd worked with before when I purchased my digital camera. I have noticed they no longer sell this model..I think they purchase a lot of them and once they're sold out the move on to another brand. I also don't know if they would ship out of the US.

 

Okay, their price is $160...that's better, to be sure.

(quickly find it by the PN below)
M-1333TN-4096BD16

 

No, ASUS is not manufactured in the US. No laptop shells are, although the custom builders in the Channel will build them from the barebones shells that are manufactured in Asia.

 

Okay, Donald - thanks for the correction.

 

I got my N61JQ-A1(build on 3/2010) through a bill me later merchant brand new for $980 OTD, no payments until January 2011

 

also would be nice if someone could mention how long it takes for the battery to charge too 100%

 

here is a good cooler. its like 25 bucks, and really good:

Amazon.com: Cooler Master Notepal U2 Notebook Cooler with Two Fans R9-NBC-8PBK-GP: Electronics

 

Ya I got that cooler for 20 flat and free shipping from amazon couple days ago, works good lowers temps 7-8 degrees on load.

 

interesting. I didn't think a cooler would be very effective considering the position of the vents of our laptop but I guess it would be good for removing heat from the bottom surface of the laptop.

 

The nice thing is, that cooler has fans you can easily move around so I put one right over the middle vent hole and another at a random spot.

 

We are pretty fortunate in NZ to get some of the best prices for electronics from asia in the world. We have comparable prices for ASUS motherboards as the amazon store; And when you factor in tax of 12.5% have a cheaper price in regards to the N61JV with a better warranty to boot.

It's just this N61JQ isn't priced anywhere near as well as other ASUS products in New Zealand; it's a bit of an oddity in that way.

However being such a low price in the states mean's that there is a much larger support pool in regards to problems to pull from...nearly 500 pages of comments....

 

Yeah, I have the same cooler as well. I liked the idea of detachable fans and an aluminum (instead of plastic) grid.

 

I've only seen one person report here that a laptop cooler had much of an effect on their temps. It has none on mine but I still use it as stand to carry it around the house.

 

Right we will see how long that lasts:laugh: ! Did you find a laptop for your Nephew? Amazon has new N61JQ-X1's for $910 with free shipping.

 

Don't worry about that there is a protective cover over the screen and some bumps that prevent the screen from touching the keyboard.

 

The ASUS box in inches is 16 1/2 X 15 X 4 3/8. Some sellers will ship it to you in this box (Newegg), and some will put that box into another one so check with the seller.

 

I'm still waiting on my RMA for bricking during bios flashing. I'm still sticking with this recommendation for people without a lot of experience with upgrading their bios.
If you have a problem with your computer that a new bios addresses then update the bios. But if your computer is working fine or the new bios does not address your problem then don't update it. Now some have been flashing their Bios since birth and can do it with their eyes closed. I don't belong to that group and I wish I had followed my own rules. My N61 had the origional bios version 204 and it was working perfectly. With the rate these new bios are coming out why just automatically flash everyone of them? Just chill and skip a few of them!

 

edit: nevermind

 

Sorry to hear that your notebook is bricked.
Did it happen during flashing of v209?

I heard that this bios was a notebook killer if flashed using easyflash tool that is why ASUS released v210 very fast.

 

I have a question: This laptop prompts me to perform a backup. Do I need to grab a bunch of DVDs or can I just back it up on an external hard drive.

 

Well it has died without giving any signs of wanting to do it

Guess what not after a bios update but simply after a restore from the hidden partion, it said restore completed system ok to shutdown and I clicked on the OK button, it shut down but when I switch it back on it lights up but nothing else.

No bios screen, no disk activity, nothing!*!

I have now taken out the hard disk to save the 1% of data I hadn't saved yet and it is working therefore I guess the motherboard has fried without ever having been put under stress. That's really crazy!

I have to wait til Monday to contact Asus, what a pain but I guess it's better now than after the warranty expires

 

Hi Turbogear, maybe you missed this post, I'm refering to your Intel N-6200 that's breaking Risco's and my balls

 

If it wants to backup the hidden partition you have to do it to 4 DVDs, so that if you lose the disk you have the dvds to restore the system with the software as from the factory to a new disk .

 

Wow all our laptops are dropping like flies! Mine is in rma too lol. They have accepted there are some faulty parts and my rma status is waiting for materials and spare parts. I had a good idea when sending mine back. Basically I opened up paint and typed in all my issues. I then saved it as a walllpaper so when the tech switched it on the first thing he saw was my problems listed!

Thanks for confirming that it is not my card. It is a shame about it not being 300mbps. Also for refererence I rang my bank and they gave me a free 3 year accidental damage warranty plus an extra year standard! I bank with natwest for refererence.

 

LOL great idea with the wallpaper unless the tech uses the F8 key to enter provisional mode

That's bloody good service from Natwest!

As for the card seeing that I'm sending the NB in I've decided to take it out and put back the Atheros card, in my case not only the 300mbps but also not being able to use the 5Ghz frequency

Let's hope they repair our NB as well as they would with their's.

 

They are about $120........ with free shipping at Newegg.com

G. Skill

And,

OCZ

Both are very good brands!

 

Hello everyone! I just ordered an N61JQ-X1 off amazon.com and it should be coming on tuesday. Just wanted to thank you for all the input that was given in this owners lounge, it's a great feeling of reassurance that there's a place I can reference for help if anything goes wrong with my new purchase *knocks on wood*. This forum was a dealbreaker for me, I was seriously considering a K52JR, but the information on this machine made me feel like this was a "safer" purchase. Thanks again especially to the creator of this thread, you have already, and definitely will help me out in the future with the time you spent on that opening post. Cheers!

 

I've been trying to figure this out for a few hours without success...

What piece of driver software is responsible for the keys above the keyboard working? I did a clean install of Windows 7 when I got my N61 and really want to be able to control my volume with those keys (the function keys don't even work for that purpose).

 

The process responsible as best I can tell is labeled "ATK Media" by Windows and the actual process is Dmedia.exe. According to a process listing site this "Provides support for multimedia hotkeys".

 

No this one is on me Turbogear. I used v210 but when I brought up the easyflash tool v210 was not showing up. I went searching around in the bios and found it listed the same as when I downloaded it. I got a warning that it was not labled but it looked exactly the same so I went ahead with it. Bad Move! This was my first attempt at a bios flash. Next time I will stop and check with technical support in this lounge.

 

You're welcome. Welcome to our little lounge. Don't be a stranger and we could use a new review for the first page when you get yours as we haven't had one for awhile.:smile:

 

Absolutely cheapest memory I could find: Komputerbay 8GB $226 Shipping included.

 

Thanks for quoting the above. What is the difference between what you quoted above and this.

Both are same price.