ASUS M50SV worth it?

Is the ASUS M50SV a good buy or not?

1) What is your budget? <$1800

2) What size notebook would you prefer?

c. Mainstream; 15" - 16" screen

3) Please select your country's flag as a post icon and tell us what country are you buying this in. Europe

4) Are there any brands that you prefer or any you really don't like?
Prefer: ASUS

5) What tasks will you be performing with the notebook?
Multimedia, Games (not the latest games at high quality)

6) Will you be taking the notebook with you to different places or leaving it on your desk?
I need it for school

7) Will you be playing games on it; if so, which games?
Yes, Different games, I don't need to play the newest games at high quality =)

8) How many hours of battery life do you need?
I use AC most of the times

9) Do you mind buying online without seeing the notebook in person?
I have no problems with that

10) What OS do you prefer? Windows (XP or Vista), Mac OS, Linux, etc.
Windows Vista

Screen Specifics

11) Would you prefer standard or widescreen?
Widescreen duh =p

12) From the choices below, what screen resolutions would you prefer?

d. WXGA or WXGA+ - 1280x768/800 or 1440x900; Wider viewing version of XGA, good for movie viewing or spreadsheets.
e. WSXGA+ - 1680x1050; Wider viewing version of SXGA, good for movie viewing or spreadsheets.
f. WUXGA - 1920x1200; Wider viewing version of UXGA, good for movie viewing or spreadsheets.

13) Do you want a glossy/reflective screen or a matte/non-glossy screen?
dunno

Build Quality and Design

14) Are the notebook's looks and stylishness important to you?
I don't want an ugly fat thing =]

15) When are you buying this laptop and how long do you want this laptop to last?
I will buy it soon and will use it a few years

Notebook Components

16) How much hard drive space do you want; 40GB to 500GB?
160GB+ not a SSD (cost too much)

17) Do you need an optical drive? If yes, a CDRW/DVD-ROM, DVD Burner or Blu-Ray drive?
No Blu-Ray (cost too much)

 

What exactly are you going to be using the notebook for?

 

I agree with the first responder to your post....what do you need?

For me, I wanted a 15.4" notebook that would be fast at everything it did. With the penryn processor, 9500 gpu, and 7200rpm hard drive I have a fast machine...at a great price.

I'm not a gamer, so I'm not into graphics intensive programs.

I like the keyboard. I love the numeric keypad--only one on a 15.4", for all purposes.

It's a great laptop that meets my needs...but what are your needs?

 

I want a good laptop with penryn processor, good graphics card.
well designed and good built quality

 

Well if that is what you want, I bet there are alot better laptops with better specs than the M50Sv-A1..

You have to be a bit more specific to what you want to use it for.

 

I use it for school, but i will also play games on it.
I've seen the asus c90s being populair, is it good portable (with that turbo gear fans thing)

 

Templarrush... fill this out to give a better idea of what you are interested in. This will narrow your search a bit more.

1) What is your budget?


2) What size notebook would you prefer?


3) Please select your country's flag as a post icon and tell us what country are you buying this in.

4) Are there any brands that you prefer or any you really don't like?

5) What tasks will you be performing with the notebook?


6) Will you be taking the notebook with you to different places or leaving it on your desk?


7) Will you be playing games on it; if so, which games?


8) How many hours of battery life do you need?


9) Do you mind buying online without seeing the notebook in person?


10) What OS do you prefer? Windows (XP or Vista), Mac OS, Linux, etc.


11) Would you prefer standard or widescreen?



14) Are the notebook's looks and stylishness important to you?


15) When are you buying this laptop and how long do you want this laptop to last?


16) How much hard drive space do you want; 40GB to 500GB?


17) Do you need an optical drive? If yes, a CDRW/DVD-ROM, DVD Burner or Blu-Ray drive?

 

i edited my first post

 

I can't recommend other laptops but your criteria was very similar to mine (replace school w/ work). I decided that going for anything bigger/faster/flashier was beyond my definition of "worth it" since I would hardly utilize any thing more.

The M50SV seems to fit all your requirements... while providing many options that are hard to beat for the price point.

 

I would consider getting the Thinkpad T61 (good deal on them right now), or the Dell XPS1530. GDDR3 graphics will increase gaming life of your laptop.

 

The c90s isn't as portable as the m50sv. The C90s is slightly more heavy and has much less battery life. So unless you know you'll be using it as a desktop replacement, I wouldn't suggest the C90s.
The m50sv on the other hand is a great multimedia/gaming system. I'm currently working on a review for the m50sv and in IMO, has a good balance between features, performance, build quality, and price.

 

I had one poster ask me if I thought the screen was grainy. I told them maybe a little, but not significant. Since you're putting together a review, I would be curious to read your perspectives on that issue.

Thanx

 

I will also be waiting for that review, and your perspective on the screen. (I was the poster mentioned by deadman haha)

 

Sure thing. screens can be one of the most important factors in purchasing a laptop. I will post pictures of different viewing angles and give my comments regarding the overall quality of the screen and how it compares to other laptops in the review

 

Any ETA on this review?

 

Most likely by the end of next week

 

Ok cool, will being waiting patiently. WHILE I WORK FOR MONEYY FOR MY NEW LAPTOPP!

 

When you evaluate the screen, would you see who the maker of the monitor is? Mine says Auo 2277, which I understand is AU Optronics . I'm just curious if they are making all the monitors for the M50.

 

Yes, mine is an AUO. This is in fact one of the best 15" screens in the market and surely the brightest (with 330 nits).

 

I'm very happy to hear someone say something positive about the AUO screens. I don't know what 330 nits means. Also, can you explain further why you think that this screen is one of the best on the market. I've read lots of people prefering LG screens to Auo. Thanks.

 

The standard unit of luminance (candela per square meter) is often referred to nits. ie 100cd/m^2 = 100nits. The average brightness of laptop lcd screens are 200-250nits. Average external lcd monitors are 300nits. Apple's MBP (known for their great screens) also uses AUO and has 300nits. However, having a high brightness screen doesn't automatically mean it's great. You'll also have to look at the light bleeding/leakage (which the M50Sv-A1 has quite a bit concentrated at the bottom), graininess (which the M50sv doesn't have) and glossiness (which help produce vivid images but at a cost of reflectiveness), viewing angles etc.
All in all, the AUO screen on the M50sv is not perfect, but the high glossiness and high brightness makes it a great screen to "work" with, and average for watching movies due to the light leakage.

On another note, I've read reports that the same AUO screen in the Asus m51 laptops have significant light bleeding from the bottom. However, mine is not as severe.

 

Thank you for that detailed explanation. That's good informaiton.

I'm new at discussing the technical information regarding laptops, but I'm trying to learn. So, that term threw me.

I really haven't noticed any light leakage at the bottom, but I'll look for that.

In another thread I had seen AUO bashed pretty badly, so I appreciate this information.

 

The light leakage will only be noticeable when your screen produces an all black image. So if you are watching a wide-screen movie where the top and bottom parts are cut off, you should notice some light leaking originating from the bottom of the screen. If you tilt your screen to the "sweet spot", the leakage should be kept to a minimum (different vertical angles will produce different levels of light leakage).

 

Hi, I'm new to this forum and I've been reading up on the Asus M50 which I am interested in. To start things off here...

In terms of heaviness, the M50 is approximately 6.5 pounds in weight, whereas the Macbook Pro is at a weight of 5.4 pounds. Do you think that the 1.1 pound increase in weight is very noticeable? Since you have both the M50 and MBP, you could give me a better judgment for me. My brother also owns a Macbook, which comes to be 5 pounds exact. Sometimes when I take it to school, it's fine until I carry 1 or 2 textbooks with me, that's when it gets heavy. 2 textbooks + Macbook is manageable, so for me, having a larger screen that adds 1 extra pound is acceptable.

For a laptop, I want to be able to carry it around, for school or around the house. So my ideal laptop is not really a desktop replacement, so I was contemplating whether 6+ pounds is too heavy for me. I haven't really done any in-depth research on 15" laptops, but I don't know what kind of weight I would be looking to expect. But I do truly believe the M50 has a reasonable weight, where many features and specs are not compromised.

The last laptop that I use was a Macbook, where the display colour and brightness have been excellent. Is the quality of the M50's display noticeably different in terms of colour and brightness? I know a Macbook and M50 are not good comparison, but that's what I've worked with and it's easier for me to relate.

Please let me know what you think, my buying decision is really flexible, since my school term just ended and I have the entire summer to decide which laptop is good for me.

 

Well, my MBP does weigh quite a bit less, especially when you are holding in your hands. However, in a backpack the M50Sv doesn't feel like it's a lot heavier due to the weight being spread out more on both shoulder. Having to describe what the "acceptable" weight for one person is really quite subjective and difficult. For example, I go camping and hiking quite often and am used to carry 20-30lbs back packs, so anything under 10lbs seems light to me.
I would strongly suggest going to your local computer store such as Best Buy, circuit city, etc and have a feel of what 15" laptops feel like.
As for screens, I've never used the macbook before, so I can't really comment on how it compares to the M50sv.

 

Since I don't want to start a new thread and the title seems to fit what I am asking.

With a budget of $1500 or so. Someone suggested I try the XPS M1530. I tried to do similar build against the M50SV-B1 but the Blu-Ray option in Dell runs up +$550! The XPS has by default a faster CPU T8300 and customizable to 1920x1000 resolution. The site for the M50 I am looking at ( www.ncix.com) doesn't provide any customizable options.

My question is how does M50SV-B1 stack up to the XPS M1530 in terms of quality and pricing? It seems the Dell price runs much higher!

PS: Are there are any sites that customize ASUS laptops that are fairly well priced and ship to Canada?

 

Try Gentechpc.
They have options to configure your Asus laptop and ships to Canada too.

 

I recently bought and returned my Dell XPS M1530. The screen grain and backlight bleed was intolerable even though I ordered the WXGA+ (1440 res) monitor which supposedly minimizes the risk of getting the crap display. I got it 'repaired' and had identical screen grain with worse back light bleed!

Apparently these is a worldwide shortage of quality LCD monitors or at least this is what Dell Support told me.

So now I'm considering buying the M50v or even a G1S.

 

M1530.. what a sweet computer. only if it didn't have defective screens. I have one right now sitting in return box due to the screen issue (grainy, poor viewing angle) and sound issue ("hum" when using headphones.. it's pretty loud. and there's a huge glitch/static when I click on a link or any funtional buttons in IE, MS office stuff). I did order M50SV-b1 from Gentech. I am waiting but I think i'm done with dell period.