Any review/recommand about Asus N55SF ? Thanks.

Thanks for your reply and feedback. That's really why i'm hesitating at the moment: sghitty keyboard, poor design, and full plastic frame. What a pity with a so good screen.

I'm still looking toward the Envy 14 or the new Samsung Serie 7 Chronos.

 

Hi guys,

A new review can be found here: Review Asus N55SF | Notebookreview.ro - Teste si noutati despre laptop, notebook, netbook. I know it's not in English but you can use google translate to a certain point, and for the test results the language shouldn't be a problem.

Wish you a nice day!

 

That was the best review I found on internet, even though it was google translated. Thanks MonteCristo.
I am really considering to buy HD+ (non-glare), i7, 8GB version. Only downside is HDD is only 5400 rpm, so I will probably have to change it to ~128GB SSD. How will this change effect battery life?

 

I just ordered mine in France, N55SF-S2029V - Intel Core i5-2410M - 4 Go - 750 Go 5400 - 15.6" LED (1600 * 900) - NVIDIA GeForce GT 555M 2Gb and this for just 776.90€
I'll have to do a clean Install because it will probably ship with French OS.
I can't wait
Are they any keyboard bugs? will it ship with BIOS rev 203 or older version?

Greetz

 

Good choice.

Can I have your feedback in French (je suis Francais moi aussi) regarding the keyboard? I'm still afraid of it's quality.... Cheap or not?

 

Changing to an SSD will hardly be noticeable on battery life, you probably get a few minutes more of batterytime only.

 

Just in case : I'm using a N55SF-1067V (i7, 6Gb RAM, 750Gb HDD 5400 rpm, FullHD) for a week now.

Pros :

• Really great screen : mat screen, good viewing angle for a TN screen, good luminosity, good response time (arrrrr, sorry for my english)
• F****g great sound : would be a joke to call it Hi-Fi, but it is gazillion miles ahead everthing laptop-esk I've ever heard. Can fill a medium sized room with acceptable sound
• Great graphic card : may not suit a real über-gamer, but having Bioshock running full HD, full options, at full speed at anytime is all what I ask. Seems to be sufficient for DIRT 3 at "classic" HD
• Can you hear me ?? : really quiet, even when playing games you don't have that absurd feeling that your wife is vacuum-cleaning the room next to you (hi honey, where are my socks by the way?). Really great, like the N53 series before.
• Core i7 + 6Gb RAM : not too shabby!
• Good battery life : not the best, but 4 hours of websurfing is enough for me. A bit short on the video viewing side of live (1h30 for a FullHD movie, but I'll have to redo this test)

Cons :

• Strange look : I'm not really found of the look of this thing, but to be honest I really don't care about.
• The keyboard is ok (average typing feeling), but you have to be accustomed to the multimedia keys (what an awfull idea, already seen on budget HP laptops)
• Absurd numpad bug : you have to flash Bios v207 to enable the nupmpad! Who is the idiot who f****d up this one ??
• 5400 rpm HDD : may have been better to have a 7200 rpm HDD. But I may have paid it as for battery life

Really, a great laptop for someone like me : I don't really care about the look of the thing, I'm not picky about battery life, I'm not in the ultimate gaming ring thing. But I like to have a great screen, great sound, good performance for the buck, and be able to play recent games decently.

Hope this helps!

 

Comme indiqué dans mon post ci-dessus, le clavier est correct. Pas génial, mais pas non plus défectueux. Je parle de la sensation de frappe et des erreurs de frappe. Je suis pourtant exigeant là dessus, je bosse sur clavier toute ma journée et j'enterre la plupart des secrétaires en vitesse de frappe...

MAIS il faut s'habituer aux touches multimédia placés sur une rangé à gauche du clavier (les premiers temps, essaye de faire "echap" sans appuyer à la place sur la touche qui change le mode d'économie d'énergie...)

Et surtout, le pavé numérique ne marche pas. Il faut flasher le bios en version 207 pour qu'il se mette à marcher. On ne peut alors plus l'enlever comme sur un clavier normal. Ce deuxième défaut n'est pas grave (qui a déjà coupé le verrnum sur son PC???) mais témoigne du foirage débile que cela représente au lancement. En plus, ce n'est pas la seule série de PC ASUS touché par ce délire. Je crois que le responsable de ce gag doit transpirer (je n'ose pas imaginer le cout pour ASUS de ces mises à jour du BIOS...).

 

Should i buy the ASUS N55SF-A1 ? I need for university work, gaming, music, hd movies

Will this laptop run games like mw3 easily... on high or medium settings ?

 

Hi Dramacydal,

If you go pass the look of the thing, which I am not very fond off, from a performance point of view it's a pretty good machine. Regarding gaming performances, you can take a look at the values obtained here.

Wish you a nice day.

 

I read of throttling problems in the new N45/55 series.. Does anybody noticed it with the N55 or only with N45 as I heard?

I was planning to buy the N55, I can accept the glare plastic but the thottle problem and the "uncomfortable" keyboard....mmmm

 

This computer is awesome....it runs super cool, and the graphics card e awesome to! I got the Full HD anti-glare, great screen!

And i didn't notice any problems....the only thing that i'm going to change is the Hard Drive, because is only 5400rpm, and i'm used to 7200rpm

 

I am impressed with the laptop. Been using this version N55SF-S1184V for a month now and it runs smoothly with absolutely low noise emission, however you can hear the hdd run softly in the background, but only noticeable in absolute quiet environment. It can get a bit hot where the left hand rest on the platform just below the RAM.

It is on average level regarding the keyboard, it will flex around from ENTER key and around numpad.

I miss CHICLET! ...cant wait to see it coming for this laptop *PRAY*

 

Hello guys. I am supposed to buy N55SF this week and would like to know something. Is there a utility for manually switching between integrated graphics and GT555M?
I've had my eyes on Lenovo Y570 too but gave up on it because it had GT555M with less shaders. And this Lenovo had a manual switch on the laptop case for choosing between integrated graphics and GT555M. That is cool.
How are things with Asus on this matter?

Also, I've read people had problems playing Total war games on GT555M since the game does not recognize the card and doesn't allow advanced settings (they're grayed out). Any experience?

I currently own Asus N60DP which was a good buy back in spring 2010. It's got HD4670 and that was a good card for gaming too. The keyboard layout is exactly the same as with N55SF except for those media keys and shutdown key. I really don't like them. And for the screen... As much as I like HD+ version, I'm gonna go with 1366x768 because I want my games to run smoother. I won't lie, I play games everyday and my lifestyle simply doesn't allow for a desktop computer.

 

Don't go with a lower resolution screen just because of games, it's not a good thing to do. Perhaps the worst decision you can make when buying a laptop.

You can always turn down the resolution in games, but you can never make up for the tiny desktop space you get during general tasks. It's not a worthwhile sacrifice. The screen makes more of a difference than any other spec and you shouldn't sacrifice it for anything.

And aside from that, 1600x900 and 1920x1080 displays are almost always much better quality than 1366x768 displays. Games are still going to look better running in non-native resolution on a 1600x900 or 1920x1080 display than they will look running in native resolution on the Y570's 1366x768 display. Most 1366x768 displays are junk, while most 1600x900 and 1920x1080 displays have well above average quality and contrast.

Plus, as you have realized, the Y570 has a worse version of the GT 555M than the ASUS does. I'm 99% sure the ASUS has a 144-core version of the card, the Y570 only has a 96-core version. The Y570's GT 555M is a GT 540M on steriods, it's the slowest version of the 555M available.

 

I kinda got used to mediocre displays in laptops. There are two localized versions of this laptop that I'm considering.

N55SF-SX192
15.6" HD LED 1366x768
Intel Core i7-2630QM 2.0GHz
6GB DDR3 RAM
640GB Hard Disk
No operating system
Price: 815 € / 1100 USD

and

N55SF-S2330
15.6" LED TFT LCD diplay, Non-glare (HD+ 1600x900 / 16:9)
Intel Core i7- 2670QM 2.2GHz
8GB DDR3 RAM
640GB Hard Disk
No operating system
Price: 883 € / 1193 USD

Obviously the second one is much better but I'm already streched too far even with the first model. My reasoning is that I wouldn't gain anything considerable in games by getting the second one. Are these prices ok or it's expensive?
One more thing, can anyone please answer my question regarding switching between GT555m and integrated?

 

If you buy the first one you're going to be stuck with the mediocre display for another couple years. The first one is way too expensive for the type of screen you're getting, you are wasting your money if you buy the first one and don't go the extra cash to get the second one.

The screen makes a big difference for multitasking and image quality.

 

Any opinions about the build quality of the laptop? I'm interested in it, but I'm also looking at the MSI GE620DX which seems, as i read, to have a better overall quality.

 

Hi i may buy an Asus N55SF-SX310V with these caracteristics:

- i7-2670QM (2,2 Ghz)
- nVidia GT555M
- 1366 * 768px
- 15,6 " screen
- 6 Gb RAM
- 750 Gb Hard Disk at 5400 rpm
- Blue Ray


I mostly surf the web, do some website creation (not designer), watch videos on youtube, i want for sure to listen to music with great sound and i would appreciate sometimes to watch movies comfortably (that means without the movie blocking or slowing down because of bad graphics power), i would also appreciate to play some games (i never do now) like basketball games, or fighting games (does tekken still exist? or am i old generation?

My main question is : do you think that 1366*768px is OK for a 15,6" screen ? or is it really annoying/problematic and i should avoid that in any case ?
(remember: i would like to watch movies, but only once in a while, yet, i don't want them in any case to be problematic, slow etc)



Second question: the Hard disk is 5400rpm, is that really annoying/problematic for my usage ? in which scenario is the 5400rpm annoying ?



Question 3: does having a blue ray make sense with a 1366*768px resolution ?



- Price : 770€ = 1,066 USD

Thank you all for your help

Adrian

 

The 1600x900 and 1920x1080 variants of the N55SF will have exceptionally good contrast and well above average image quality.

The 1366x768 display will have a terrible contrast ratio and horrendous image quality, because 15.6" 1366x768 displays are all budget-grade screens and this is just how they are.

But while quality is certainly a noticeable disadvantage, the resolution in general is just too low for a 15.6" screen and will be a disadvantage for everything you do. 1366x768 in 15.6" results in everything being large and the resolution really limits how much you can fit onscreen at a time. 1366x768 is a resolution meant for 12-inch laptops. You get the same amount of desktop space as a 12-inch laptop if you get the 1366x768 screen.

In short, don't buy a N55SF config if it has the 1366x768 screen. Get one with either 1600x900 or 1920x1080. The screen is the most important spec and it needs to be a heavy factor in your decision. If you can't afford a N55SF config that has one of the better screens, get a different laptop that will allow you to get a better screen for cheaper.

 

The N55SF-A1 seems to be very hard to find in Canada. I've found TWO retailers that claim to have it in-stock.

Can anyone provide more information on the reliability of this model? My company has a number of older ASUS models we're quite pleased with (N82s, U36s, etc) and I have a nearly-new, bleeding-edge Dell XPS15 L502x that has been nothing but grief.

Is it worth a slight CPU downgrade (2720QM -> 2630QM) for an improved GPU (GT540M -> 555M) all else being equal? 1080p screen, BD-RE, 8Gb RAM, SSD, etc.

I guess what I'm really asking is.. is everything else going to be 'equal' even though the specifications say it should be? I see a number of complaints about the case and build quality of this ASUS, and I'm concerned it won't match up to the standards of previous models. I know this Dell XPS has been a reminder how far Dell has fallen in the past few years; the specs say it's well-equipped but the poor reliability and mountain of complaints say otherwise.

ADDENDUM: local retailer just got back to me with a ~2-week ETA on the new ASUS N55 Canadian model- N55SF-DH71
15.6" (1920x1080)/Intel Core i7-2670QM (2.2GHz)/8GB DDR3/Nvidia GT555M 2GB/750GB 7200 RPM/BD-RE/ DVD+/-RW/CD-RW/Windows 7 Home Premium (64bit)/802.11BGN/2.0M Pixel/Bluetooth 3.0/6 Cell Battery/HDMI, USB 3.0/2YR Global warranty

 

The GPU makes more of a difference for games than the CPU. Many games run fine on an i3.

 

Had my N55SF for quite a while now and the only noticeable drawbacks are the poor wifi/signal strength and poorly designed keyboard (what's up with media keys at the left side?).

Beside that it has an excellent screen, good speakers and most noticeably; very low noise levels even under heavy load. I've yet to find an similar specced computer that runs as silent as this one.
The new Samsung 700Z series might be the only real alternative to the asus N55SF in my eyes, the samsung cost more but is way better looking.

 

I bought this thing yesterday and returned it immediately. It had faulty memory out of the box.
This is what I get during installation of Win 7:


And this is what Memtest86 says:


Can't belive Asus allowed a broken laptop out of the factory. The box was sealed so Asus is to blame. I'm expecting the store to replace the memory today.

 

who knows how long battery will last with Office power profile ?

 

With WLAN and bluetooth off as well as almost minimum screen brightness; about 4hrs.

With WLAN on and about 60% screen brightness; about 2,5hrs

 

Just got my N55SF back from the shop. The guy replaced faulty memory and now it seems to be working alright. Asus put different memory modules inside - one from Samsung and one from a maker I've never heard of.
I have a question for people that already have this laptop. Is there any audio application that should be installed along with the audio driver? I installed SRS but it won't load at all. Where do I control various sound aspects like, bass, treble, fidelity etc?

P.S.
I bought the version with 1366x766 screen. It's good quality - just like N60DP which I also have.

 

Hi, through the external HDMI or VGA port, does anyone know what the max supported resultion is? Is it capped at 1920 * 1080?

Ideally I want a new laptop that can do 2560 x 1440 at 60 Hz, but not sure if I need to look for one with Displayport or dual link DVI on a port replicator...

 

Hmm... Maybe ASUS is using a decent quality 768 screen (at least in this case, as far as 'quality' goes with this kind of screen). It's still a very limiting resolution though.

 

Well sure, but how much improvement is a GT555M over a GT540M? According to Notebookcheck.net's video card ratings the 555 is about 15-20% faster on benchmarks and about 10-12fps faster in most games. How much hotter does that mean this system will run, since heat seems to be the biggest issue of the Dell XPS series? And a lot of negative commentary about the ASUS N55s seems to be the 'fit & finish'- the design of the case and poor ergonomics.

 

Thank you edit1754 for your reply !

So for the 15.6" screen you advise either 1600x900 or 1920x1080, but i've heard that 1920x1080 is too much for a 15.6" screen, but i don't remember why they said that, what do you think ?

People any other opinions on that ?

Is 1366x768 screen OK for a 15.6" screen ?
Is 1600x900 just perfect ?
Is 1920x1080 too much ?

Thanks all

 

1920x1080 /can/ be too much, depending on your eyesight. Look at the text size on the 11.6" Macbook Air in an Apple store to see if it's an acceptable size for you. 1920x1080 in 15.6" makes text about the same size (slightly smaller but not noticeably)

There is also a DPI settings option in the control panel that allows you to adjust the size of text in certain applications. It's not perfect though.

Only go 1366x768 if you really need the large text. Otherwise, shoot for a higher res.

 

Thank you edit1754, i'll check the screens in a shop, it's a pity though they haven't that model (except online) so i won't know for sure how the 1366x768 looks like on the asus laptop but yet it will be a useful taste.

- do you think a hard disk seagate Momentus XT is more noisy and more heaty than the original SATA 5400 tpm ?

my usage will be : mostly internet surfing with lots of tabs open, audio editing, NO video editing, some web creation (i'm not a web designer though), maybe a game but not the last ones extremely demanding, watching a movie once in a while

here in belgium there is this one :

- i7-2670QM
- graphics GT540 with 1 Gb memory
- screen 1366*768px
- RAM 6 Gb
- hard disk 750 Gb, 5400 tpm
- 770 € = 1,070 USD

what do you think comparing to this one ?

- i5-2410M
- graphics GT555M with 2 Gb memory
- screen 1600*900px
- RAM 4 Gb (can add to max 8Gb i think 6gb is great ?)
- hard disk 750 Go, 5400 tpm
- 810€ = 1,126 USD

how much will it cost to add 2 more Gb of Ram to the second one ?
Could you please advise me any brand for extra memory ?

Thank you

 

if you think 4Gb memory isn't enough, then add another 4Gb - memory is cheap anyway. Any 204pin SO-DIMM 4Gb 1333MHz stick should work.

I have an momentus XT 500Gb in my other laptop and it is noticeably faster, but it also vibrates slightly and you can hear when it reads/writes, not much but still noticeable.

I have the fullhd panel in my N55SF, and am very satisfied, but I'm running 125% size in windows - text is just too small to work with at 100%. I have no issues with this though, a few icons looks a bit "jaggy" when resized to 125% but that is rare.

 

Please tell me, what software should I install to be able to control bass, treble, clarity, etc? Currently I only have Realtek Audio manager that came with the audio driver.
But is there any additional software that I'm not aware of? After all this is supposed to be music oriented laptop and I saw a picture of SonicMaster software on a leaflet that came with N55SF.

 

I'm looking for the same answer. I've just made a clean install of W7 and I'm searchin all the right and updated drivers.
I think it's good to have Asus Sonicmaster installed, but I can't find it. On asus website I found a page which says that it's included in audio driver, but I can't find it, I only have Realtek driver installed, nothing else..

 

You didn't make a backup of the original driver files?

On the original asus install all drivers can be found in c:\eSupport\eDriver\Software folder..... could be an good idea to make an backup of the whole eSupport folder before doing an clean install.

Edit; my email won't let me send files larger than 25Mb, and I do not have access to an ftp site to upload it to either, sorry.

 

I got the drivers on the DVD but the SoniMaster software isn't there. The laptop came with no operating system - there was nothing to back up. I would appreciate if you gave me the file. I'm sent you a PM.

 

Edit; my email won't let me send files larger than 25Mb, and I do not have access to an ftp site to upload it to either, sorry.

Try contacting asus about it. Tried this driver? ftp://ftp.asus.com.tw/pub/ASUS/nb/Drivers/Audio/Audio_Realtek_SM_Win7_64_Z6016449.zip

 

Can you please upload it to rapidshare.com or any other service?

I tried the driver you provided and there isn't Sonic Master software in it.

 

I finally got it. The answer is not to search for updated drivers. That goes against my instinct too. I installed all drivers from the supplied DVD via Asus autorun program. It took care of everything, Sonic Master is there and my Bluetooth works.
I tried manually installing Realtek drivers with Sonic Master but that doesn't work. It has go via Asus autorun to install properly. Same thing goes for bluetooth. I thought it was broken since I tried all new drivers but it wouldn't pair with any device.

And now that I've had a chance to listen to this laptop with SM on, I have to say that "SRS Premium sound" software sounded better on my old Asus.

 

I have to say that I just ordered the Asus N55SF-S1194V from a local dealer in Sweden.
Just look at the specs!

Intel Core i7 2670QM / 2.2 GHz
8 GB DDR3 SDRAM - 1333 MHz
750 GB Serial ATA-300 - 7200 rpm
15.6" LED TFT 1920 x 1080 ( Full HD ) 16:9 Matte Anti-glare
NVIDIA GeForce GT 555M 2 GB DDR3 SDRAM
BD-ROM
S/PDIF
2 years of warranty
etc...

For me that's hard to beat if you're (like me) looking for high performance 15.6" that weighs less than 3 kilos. And all this for a price of €1100! I just can't wait until monday...

 

This appears to be the same as Canadian spec N55SF-DH71, except the DH71 includes 6x BD-RE. Ours arrived this morning, and my first overall impressions:

The performance appears good. Chassis seems very solidly-built and no issues with the LCD hinges as some had reported. 1080p screen is as good or better than the Dell XPS15, mostly due to being matte rather than a glossy look like the XPS15, I prefer it this way. The ports are well-planned and spaced, evenly to left and right sides. BIG PLUS - the N55 offers FOUR USB ports, 2 of which are USB3.0. VGA, HDMI and Ethernet are standard. The N55 also appears to have good, large ventilation ports to the left to cool the GT555 and i7 CPU.

Machine is loaded with tons of useless crap that needs uninstalling of course - the ASUS bloatware pile just keeps getting bigger and bigger with every iteration. The real 'failing' I think on the N55 so far is definitely the KEYBOARD. It is too much in too little space - as though it was a last-minute design or afterthought to the rest of the system. They cram a numeric keypad AND the somewhat-infamous left-hand media keyset into a 15" frame, and this is too many, too small keys for this width. On top of this, the keyboard design is also very cheap and flimsy-feeling. The keys have a flat, chiseled look to them that is not comfortable to type with and the key travel allows some obvious wobble in them too. Also, there's no keyboard backlight- I've grown to like this function of the Dells and now seeing a system without it is disappointing.

The machine will be getting a HDD->Vertex3 SSD swap this weekend as well, so I will post up a blurb about ease-of-access on that later.

I hate to sound like an Apple user, but that keyboard is going to bug me every time I use this machine- even though I know overall it is better and more reliable than the Dell.

 

So here's a further update- any prospective owner scheming towards upgradable hardware will be pleased that the usual triumvirate of HDD, RAM and wireless on a laptop are easily-accessible all under one panel at the front of the N55 underneath the touchpad. It should take no more than 5 minutes' work to replace any of these.


Even better, the N55 also allows direct access to the Intel CPU through a small panel in the centre of the case. So theoretically, you may even be able to replace or upgrade this module on your own with little hassle.

 

That's not the CPU, that's a TV tuner or some other card.

 

Yes, those TV tuner cards are murderously hot. That's why ASUS placed that heatpipe along the bottom of that compartment, visible along the lower edge.

 

What chipset is the tuner?

 

Anyone have a clue if the versions with HD+ or FHD matte screen are likely to be available in the UK. The versions I have found seem to be all Colour Shine ones, which unless I'm mistaken are glossy.

The models I've found in the UK.
Asus N55SF-S2342V - ASUS 15.6" FHD / i7-2670QM / NV GT 555 2G / 6G / 640GB / BD Combo / 64 bit Win 7 Home Premium / BGN - Laptops Direct

and no model number here... but heres another one.

ASUS N55SF 15.6" Laptop - Black | Dixons |

Any advice.

 

Hi!

Can someone please confirm if the Nvidia drivers from NVidia page work/install properly on the N55SF i7 model, without the need to fiddle with INF files? It's really annoying when the manufacturers stop making updates for the video after a couple of months. I really want to buy an N55SF.

Thanks!

 

Hey guys, i'm interested in buying the Asus N55SF S2342V model with i7, 8gb ram and 2gb video card. I'm an architecture student and I need to know will this laptop run intensive rendering programs such as 3ds Max and Revit. I will also be running programs like Photoshop, AutoCad and Google Sketchup.

Has anyone done any 3d rendering on this or know if if will be able to handle it nicely? I really need to know as my current laptop is rubbish at rendering high quality images and it's a huge part of what I do!

Really appreciate any feedback!