14.0" N43SL & N43SN, coming with Sandy Bridge + HM65

I dont have Momentus XT only Momentus 5400.6. Reason why all OCZ SSD's wont fit is because it is out of specs. It is wider than it should be. I think it would be possible to install OCZ SSD's with in the HDD holder if you cut part from it. Note that SSD's from other manufacturers should be right size. Found article were is more information.

I can say that programs start fast with this SSD. Also this notebook has SATA3.

There is a program from Microsoft which makes USB stick where you can install Windows 7. However I don't use that, I make my bootable USB sticks with UltraIso. There is trial version which is limited to 300MB files, the full version works also with bigger files.

Little guide(Ultraiso):
1.Read Windows DVD(7 or Vista)to iso image
2.Open iso file with Ultraiso
3.Bootable(menu)->Write disk Image
4.Select your usb stick(Should be empty, You can also use format button program near to write button).
5.Click Write

I have done this with Vista and Windows 7.

 

Can anyone share windows experience index?
Thanks

 

Here is my WEI score(N43SN with OCZ Agility 3). For Power4gear I used high performance mode. Quiet Office mode gets less.

 

Thanks for posting.
Just asked because someone, who has N43SL, complained on the low score he gets on the memory (ram), while me, with asus K43SV, with the same 4GB DDR3 1333, got 7.2 and that's a huge difference.

Asus K43SV

 

Thanks, guys, for your fabulous comments RE Asus's N43SL. I just purchased one -- haven't yet unboxed it, though!
As I might be forced to migrate to Win 7 32-Bit due to screen-reader compatibility issues with 64-Bit operating systems, I'm trying to locate N43SL's Win 7 32-Bit drivers. However, the download page for the 32-Bit Win 7 OS doesn't list many of the drivers one needs -- most notably the drivers for USB3. While the download page for Win 7 64-Bit is quite huge in terms of the number of utilities and drivers, the 32-Bit counterpart lists just a couple of drivers and the manual.
Given the scarcity of 32-Bit drivers, do you recommend installing Win 7 32-Bit? Have you noticed any issues doing it? I guess I should also take a look at the accompanying disk to see what it offers.

 

Traditionally only enthusiasts installed 64bit OS, but over the last couple of years and since the release of Windows 7, support is growing and you can see now days, most laptops for sale on the high street come with Win 7 64bit as standard, so its definitely a sign the 64bit is the way to go.

One main reason for using 64 bit OS is the use of RAM, under any 32 OS windows will only utilize just over 3GB RAM.

Some applications are now being written to natively run in 64bit mode using which should make software run faster but to honest i've seen the opposite.
I had one of the Autodesk developers in our office a few months ago because Civil 2011's performance on a newer 64bit PC was much slower than Civil 2008 on a 32bit older PC running the same operation. they focus so much on features, core performance is really getting worse every year, we recently upgraded our whole office from CAD 2008 to CAD 2010, every single project had a massive drop in performance, even on newer PC's. Its a joke!

Anyhow back to your question, I would go 64bit, so you can use all of the RAM on your laptop, if you have a certain application that will not work under 64bit windows, you could set up a dual booting HDD, so when you boot you can decide to go into 32 or 64bit windows.

 

Someone in Singapore posted a video of his i7 powered N43SN, I asked him what his WEI score was, looked quite good.

the i7-2630QM.

windows experience scores:

processor: 7.4

RAM: 7.6

graphics: 5.5 (due to the integrated HD3000, i have no idea how to force the GT550M for WEI)

gaming graphics: 6.7 (same as above)

primary hard disc: 5.9

overall: 5.5 (lowest subscore)

YouTube - ‪Asus N43SN entertainment notebook running various games [HD 720P]‬‏

Thats good enough for me, i'm going to keep my order. Anyhiow I went round a few shops in London, when I mentioned the spec and price they said, its an amazing deal with nothing else that matches spec for cost.

 

@ NZwaverider. are you still planning on getting it from x-kom?

 

Yeah I am getting it from X-kom, I paid for it back in April, they said I could get a refund, but it is still one of the best 14"s around.

Latest I heard (a few weeks ago) was 6 June, so I emailed them today to see if this date is still the same, I am still waiting for a reply.

If I fly to Poland and claim the tax back at the airport, that's probably going to cover my air fare, would you believe the cheapest courier, cost from 150 to 300gbp, what a rip off! Anyhow, Polish beer and food is very good, so a weekend break would be nice, I just need them to confirm shipment.

 

damn man, im jelous, kind of in need of a laptop, but saving for a summer vacation instead, lappy can wait until autumn
They been delaying 43sn for so long, but its def worth the wait.
and yeah in poland u will have a good time... been there 30+ times. just like u said, good beer and food, also polish girls are really sexy. have fun

edit: is there any new technology coming out in autumn? maybe new line of sandy bridge, or maybe the new series of cpus and maybe gpus?

 

Soo true I really enjoy my trips to Poland, just a pitty our current project out there has been cancelled.

Interesting you mention about what is on the horizon, Intel's new processor range codenamed Iveybridge is currently under development, incorporates 3d technology into the manufacturing process and is actually slated for release later this year!!

Intel Reinvents Transistors Using New 3-D Structure

But, back to reality now..... we have all been around long enough to know that things can often take a good 3-6 months to filter through from manufacturers, to final shipping of products to your local reseller, just look at the problems in trying to get this N43SN laptop, and even though Sandybridge has been out since January, its only in the last 2-3 weeks that major PC retailers like PC world and Curries, have actually cleared their old stock and are now selling the new Sandybridge range, considering these were announced in January at CES, this is incredibly slow!

Obviously online retailers are quicker to supply, but then that depends on where you live as there is a clear bias of manufacturers to supply Asia before Europe or USA. Also it depends on how quickly Japan can recover from the quake, as their reduced production may cause a shortage in supply of computer parts in the future, this has already been seen.

So tempting as it may be to wait, i'm happy to get the N43SN now.

You could imagine that the new processor range will be announced end of this year, showcased at CES 2012, then would slowly filter through to market there after.

 

Sweeet my i7 N43SN arrived from Poland today!!!

Stoked, I also got an OCZ vertex 3 240gb SSD and 8gb of Kingston Hyperx RAM....

watch this space.

 

Congrats on your new N43SN! I'm still waiting on a US release. =(

 

Loading up N43SN, installed 240gb OCZ Veretex 3 SSD and 8GB Hyperx ram, going well boots up in under 30 sec and sent the WEI score shooting up.

I'm very happy, will have to write a review.

 

Please do

 

Did you have any problem installing the Vertex 3 SSD?

 

No it was fine, the plastic molding around the SSD was slightly flared at the bottom, so this was a tight fit in the HDD mounting frame, but i took a sharp knife and cut of a small shaving from every corner and it fit in perfectly.

I had reports from, Halonhakkaaja that the HDD would freeze after booting, it did this a couple of times but after flashing the N43 bios and also flashing the Vertex firmware, it all works well, and performance has been very good, especially paired with the Kingston HyperX RAM, fully loaded with software, no tweaks yet, it loads windows 7 64bit in under 30 sec and starts up photoshop CS5 in 1-2 seconds, and 3D max 2011 loads in 5 seconds, which compared to my work desktop, is simply incredible, one you get a SSD you wont go back.

 

I'm considering buying N43SN, but I have some questions:

1. Does the glossy screen reflect too much external light, or does it have some anti-glare features?

2. Does the keyboard get shiny (polished) easily?

3. Does the keyboard exhibit too much 'flex'?

4. Can you describe the noise and heat level of the machine?

5. We get 2-year warranty right?

6. Is the chipset the revised one already? Meaning it no longer has the defective chipsets as described in ( Intel's Sandy Bridge chipset flaw: The fallout | Nanotech - The Circuits Blog - CNET News) ..
HM65
SLH9D(B2) (Recalled)
SLJ4P (B3) <--revised

Are there stickers indicating that it's the revised already?

7. What RAM models are compatible with this machine? 1600Mhz or 1333Mhz?

8. The maximum RAM is 8GB right? So @NZwaverider you have two 4GB in your current laptop?

Thanks!

 

Sure to answer your questions

1. I haven't had a problem with screen glare, its comparable to my W3J, although a little brighter.

2. Keyboard, I haven't noticed it get shiny, but am sure over time like most keyboards as you type, they would get shiny.

3. The keyboard does have some flex, My W3J is rock solid, but the N43 does have flex, not as bad as the N53, I have removed the keyboard and identified the source of the flex, what the problem is, it's the backing to the keyboard is mad from soft/ very soft aluminium, which gives it flex, so what I did was bent this base to make it slightly concave, so when you clip it down, the board keyboard is pressed firmer to the base, this minimised the flex, however you could apply a more permanent fix, the base underneath the keyboard is rock solid, so if flex was a concern, you could put small pieces of double sided tape under the keyboard (in areas of flex) so it would stick firm to the base under the keyboard, this would eliminate any flex, I have seen the N43 with a chicklet keyboard, i would like to find that as a replacement. but for me the keyboard is ok, they probably did this to save weight, but in my opinion, if the back of the keyboard was made from a stiffer metal, there would be no flex.

4. Surprisingly heat level is good, i have the i7 2630 CPU and GT 550 and the fan is barely audible under normal use, it actually runs cooler and quieter than my dual core W3J. I am very busy with work until and August, so haven't loaded any game s on it, so under load I am sure it would heat up, but running Photoshop CS5 and Autocad and 3DMax it flies and still remains quiet. converting video did cuase the fan to kick up a gear, but most if the time it runs quiet and relatively cool.

5.Confirm warantee 24 months = 2 years

6.As this chipset error occurred in January, and this laptop finally shipped in July, I would suspect it has the revised chipset. But as you say, the laptop case should have stickers saying revised intel chipset, mine doesn't, but I will ring the number listed here to double check, Proactively responding to the Intel-identified Sandy Bridge chipset design error
As you can see if it is affected it will be easy to replace.

7. Ram modules, now here is the fun part I have 1600mhz modules in

Kingston Technology Company - PnP - Faster just got easier

I saw a review where someone placed these modules in another Asus Laptop and the review said performance all round was noticeable, so I thought what the hell, its worth the risk, anyhow if you go to the Kinston website and put in Asus N43SN it does sya they are compatible.

Kingston Technology Company - Memory Search - Partsinfo

The Windows Experience scores went from single channel one module,a score of 5.6 to two of these Hyper X modules, the RAM score shot up to 7.8, thats nearly maxed out! so yes I can confirm these work and are very fast!

I have the Max amount 2 x 4GB HyperX 1600mhz modules. (although they only run at teh chipset suported 1333mhz, they do offer an improvement in performance.

I am very busy with work until end of August, but when i get time I will write and post a full review, I also converted the DVD bay to house a second HDD

 

Hi @NZwaverider

Thank you very much for answering my questions!

1. I'm eyeing in upgrading the RAM as well, but I just think it's a waste of resources when I have two brand new 2GB RAM stored in the cabinet without doing anything. I was told that I should keep them in case that my laptop needs to be repaired, and these two 2GB RAM needs to be placed back. Is it really necessary?

2. I'm quite worried as well with the faulty chipsets since the model is one of those in the list. Some say that you just have to check the "system information" whether it's SLH9D(B2) (Recalled) -or- SLJ4P (B3)

Can you help me confirm if that can be seen, as well as the response from your phone call to Asus?

3. What about the touchpad buttons, is it hard to press since it only has one piece of metal(?) for both click and right click? Does it produces a sound?

4. Is typing w/ (high) flex keyboards comfortable? Are chiclet keyboards more comfortable to use?

Thanks!

 

1. it really depends, as you say if you already have 2 x modules, then that would be fine, then if you decide to upgrade later, then you can get faster RAM. with my last laptop I kept the ram just in case i needed to RMA the laptop, this never happened and i went to sell the ram about a year ago on ebay and couldn't even give it away!, so this time I will likely sell my old ram soon, while it is still worth something. you can replace RAM and HDD without affecting your warentee, so i am sure selling it would be fine.

2.According to this

Top 5 Tips for an exclusive! Teach you to identify the B3 version of P/H67 motherboard at windows7s

and see the screen print, I have revision 05, which represents the revised B3,

But I may still ring Asus to double check, but I wouldn't let that put you off, because this laptop was delayed because of this issue, so would be very surprised if you did get one that was affected, as they should have been fixed months ago and even if you did Asus would swap it for a revised one.

3.Touchpad is quite nice multi gesture, works well, the mousee buttons do click, but its much quiter than my old W3J and you do not have to press hard (like you have to in some Asus models) I find it pleasant to use.

4. Typing is ok, im not much of a touch typer, so the little flex does not bother me, if it did bother me I would place double sided tape under the keyboard, you wouldn't need much, I would suggest 5 or so small squares, about 4mm square, in the places that flex, and this would eliminate any flex and the keyboard would be stiff and solid. I still want to do some more upgrades so want to remove the keyboard easily, so for now will leave it as it is, then later if it becomes annoying, I will stick it down, but so far the keyboard is fine for me I fond typing on it is a breezze, I havent used a chicklet keyboard, but they look nice and with mores space between keys are preferred by touch typers. But in terms of what i do, i am happy with this keyboard.

 

Thank you very much @NZwaverider for the information.

1. Can I know where you bought your unit?
2. And for how much?
3. What other units did you consider before eliminating them for Asus N43?

 

Sure, I brought mine from XKom in Poland, this model., ate the time it cost me about £800 I just went to the bank and transferred the money into their account.

Asus N43SN-VX068 i7-2630QM/4GB/750/BRCombo - Notebook / Laptop 14,1" - Sklep komputerowy - X-KOM.PL

I went for best base model i.e. i7 with GT550, no OS minimum RAM (as i have Win764 and is cheaper to upgrade components yourself), then you also get to use or sell the old components.

A friend from Poland helped me because they don't post out of Poland

I also considered the Lenovo Y470, similar spec but my current Asus has lasted for 5+ years so was keen to stick with Asus, I also considered Alienware M14X, whihc is a bit of a beast, as it has a GT555 GPU, but its massive, heavy so you might as well get a 15" and has a slot loading DVD so I couldnt fit the second HDD in the DVD bay (thats a must for me), I also looked at the Sony Vaio SB & SA models, very quick, but i couldnt justify spending 1,700 GBP on a system that would be out of date in 6 months.

 

Thank you @NZwaverider for your time! Looking forward for your written review of the unit (when you're free)!

 

How's the battery life n the N43 when wifi on and just continous surfing w/o playing videos? Real time usage please not estimates and predictions.

 

I bought the N43S yesterday, thank you @NZwaverider for the convincing answers to my previous questions.

I don't usually use the battery, since I use this unit at home. So I cannot tell yet for now. I will post if I need to use the battery.

For now you can rely on: http://forum.notebookreview.com/asus/542204-asus-n43-jf-battery-life.html

 

hey i'm going to puchase asus n43 with nvidia 540m 2gb
how is the battery life and anyone here playing games like crysis 2 bff2?
has anyone tried to overclock and run 3dmark vantage?
thanks ahead

 

I've seen N53SV (same graphics card) playing BFBC2, and it looked pretty decent with everything at medium.

I've also seen people on youtube playing Crysis 2 with GT540M, and it looked pretty smooth to me as well. Of course you can't turn everything up, but it is still playable with decent graphic options.

 

Hey

well done , actually you will find the JF is first gen I series CPU's where the S series is second gen i7 (4 digit code to idnetify which one) even large 17" gaming notebooks with dedicated gpus under this new gen i7 cpu's are getting upto 4hrs battery life, which is previously unheard of. So the battery life uner light load will be much better in the N43SN than the older JF series N43.

 

no throttling issue on the n43? like wat happened to some acer laptops sporting i5 2410+gt540m

 

I'm not familiar with throttling.

----
The BIOS seems to disable the settings for CPU. I tried Speedfan and other programs, but it seems that I cannot control the fan speed. Is there a way to do that?

 

Hello all....
i'm newbie here and i would like to ask a few question regarding my laptop, asus n43 sl.
my laptop come with a HL-DT-ST BDDVDRW CT30n and i installed nero 10 as burning program. until recently, few of my friends asking me tu burn some cds....first it all started smooth, but when nero started verifying the compilation, it took a very long time to do it,so I decided to cancel the process...but then, when i tried to explore the contents of the cd in Windows explorer, there is nothin in there, explorer said its a blank cd....would anyone help me on this?
btw, I used BenQ Cdr, nero 10, win 7 home premium 64 bit.
thanks before....

 

Hi Poetra,

Have you tried another CD (just to rule out CD being the problem), and just using Windows to burn CD (drag and drop to the CD, then burn)?

 

Hi,

I've read the whole thread and think that it is the best information source for our notebook.
I have a N43SN myself and am looking for a guide to replace/upgrade the CPU.
Did anyone here already upgrade his CPU?

Also I'm interested in adding Bluetooth support because my version came without an internal Bluetooth card. Is it possible to add one and how is Bluetooth realized in the other N43SN?

 

hai...been a long time since i've visited this thread,,,,guys i wanna to know does any of you change the hardrive on ur n43sl with ssd? i'm planin on switching my hard drive with samsung ssd 850 evo 1 tb, does n43 sl support it? and if yes, how do we cloned the hard drive.thanks