Asus N61JQ-A1 available NOW!

actually, i thought that atheros was bad but i googled something about it and people said it wasn't bad at all and the performance was great.

 

^ yeh! you had me worried there for a second, pal.

Please be careful about posting such info. It may actually deter a lot of people!

on a sidenote, why are people insistent on getting the Intel wireless chip?

 

i know its an option at powernotebooks to upgrade the card to the intel 5300 for $33

 

This looks like a great machine. I'm really impressed by the heat levels (runs cooler than my desktop, ha).

Can anyone provide some info on battery life? I've seen people suggest 2 hours or lower, but I noticed it can switch to Intel integrated... Any chance that can make it longer?

Thanks.

 

There is only two antenna feeds for the N61JQ, it would be pointless for the Intel 5300, however the 5100 would be a viable option.

 

i thought only the core i5 model (N61JA) can switch to integrated graphics, is this true?

 

You're probably right. I found the information looking through the manual, but I double checked and it says "only on select models".

Switchable graphics would be sweet, oh well.

 

can someone please confirm?

Whether this machine has switchable graphics? or NOT?

Thanks

 

only arrandale supports switchable graphics, if you want that you're looking for N61JA, not N61JQ

 

Sorry! I have read some awful things about Atheros though, and I hope those were only certain cases. We shall see!

 

So even though it's not switchable graphics, can anyone make an official(ish) comment on battery life?

I've used a few Atheros, by the way... they're annoying in Linux but I wouldn't say they're awful... at least not all of them. Intel is nicer, though not of OSX86 is one of your goals (which probably isn't with a 5730 anyway).

You can just swap it out, though, right?

 

Pretty sure you can, like Justin said the 5100 is an option, but apparently the 5300 isn't really since it has 3 connectors and the comp won't host them, or something. I don't know much about wireless cards other than the reviews I've read.

 

you can expect aroud 2h, maybe even a bit longer battery life.
its not official(ish), thou
take a look at this, its similar model, biggest differences would be bigger screen and arrandale cpu: http://forum.notebookreview.com/showpost.php?p=5771506&postcount=24

 

is that true for the N71-jq as well? im guessing since they are fairly similar it is, but some confirmation would be nice.

 

Good info... plus the 7200RPM drive. Sounds like a pretty accurate estimate, though.

The Lenovo Y550P gets 4 hours on power-saving mode. The 5730 (26 Watt) doesn't use that much more power (240M @ 23 Watt), and all the other specs are very similar. It seems odd that there'd be that big a difference. Unless Lenovo (or Nvidia) is just way better at power management.

 

I just got e-mail confirmation that you can upgrade the Atheros to an Intel 5100 for an extra $25. I think I will probably do that, just to be safe. I feel better with Intel.

 

That is correct.

 

That's a good point, and one I'd like to know more about. Anyone have an opinion here? I mean, my Lenovo doesn't compare so it's of no use to compare to. And I actually do have an ATI card in here, not Nvidia...

 

I would love to know the gpu temps on this while gaming? hmm, wonder why it wasn't posted on an earlier reply, just cpu temps

 

Unfortunately it is not capturing GPU temps with CPUID. We will try some other utilities to get GPU temp.

 

Does Xotic charge for tax online? I am interested in knowing because i want to get my laptop from there but it might go over my budget if they do.

 

Waqas Ahmad: ok so i noticed that at powernotebooks,com, they are offering a configuration with Intel Wireless N 5300 instead of the built-in wireless adapter
can you tell me what the regular built-in adapter is and is it fully wireless N?
and does xoticpc offer the intel wireless as a configuration for this laptop?
Joseph L: sure, its an Atheros AR9285
we can offer it if you like
but there really isnt any point in going to the 5300
on this model
There are not 3 antennae leads and that is the benefit of the 5300
Waqas Ahmad : is the atheros ok? i mean is it reliable...fast?
Joseph L: there are only 2 antennae leads. So going to the 5300 is a waste of money
yes the atheros is a good card
Waqas Ahmad: hmm ok
Joseph L: the 5300 is a better card but only when you use all three antennae
otherwise you would notice zero difference
Waqas Ahmad: so the n61 just doesn't have the antenna or whatever
so its no difference
right?
Joseph L: yep, exactly right


Atheros AR9285 Specs/Info (PDF)

Atheros AR9285/Intel 5300 Comparison

 

no they don't

they also give 3% discount if you pay them via bank transfer.

 

True, but you can go to the Intel 5100 at Xotic, as per Justin said. I guess it just depends on preference?

 

No it does not, here is the benchmark of N61JA:

throttling issues on G51J is not cause of insufficient power adapter, Rezeki tested the 150W adapter on his G51J makes no difference.

if customers did not cusotmize it it can ship right away and 3~5 days for customization.

5.9 lbs with 6 cell battery.

 

Others have said upgrading the CPU can void Asus's global warranty, are you sure? im thinking of importing and upgrading CPU,thermal paste GPU/CPU from Xoticpc to the UK.

 

If the reseller does it, it doesn't void the warranty. If you do it on your own, it does.

 

So from what it looks like from 3dMark06, the N61JQ-A1 is ~ equivalent to a 4670 desktop?

Now just to see how battery life is..

 

Does anyone know what the battery is like?

 

Most people are guesstimating 2 hours, but there's been nothing particularly official.

 

a compelling query from people with personal experiences- is the atheros card really a cause for worry?

I dont want to spend money on the intel card, for unnecessary reasons, as my budget is VERY limited.

Thanks

 

Have you all noticed the approx performance of N61JQ-A1 in the first video ???

It is not obvious from the video that who much time it takes to have a complete boot, but certainly takes 30+ seconds from login to have a desktop !!!

When the video starts it is showing the Win7 "Welcome" screen and at 30sec of the video you can hear the welcome theme sound when the desktop is ready. Means it takes AT LEAST 30+ second from login to have a desktop !!!


From a i7 processor, 4 GB RAM, 7200 rpm HDD, 6MB L3 cache, I was expecting more performance. Note that this 30 sec is not from the time from the initial boot, its only after login.

 

Forget about the benchmark numbers, what we are seeing, we have to accept that. After login-to-desktop 30 seconds !!! At least, I can not digest it

 

Well ill personally be happy with 30 seconds....my current lappy takes approx 5-6 min from start up to desktop...and another 3 minutes until i can safely use it without having it have so much slowdown it will crash...All i can say is i cannot WAIT until i get this asus next week....especially if it DOES have the backlight keyboard

 

Maybe there's a lot of bloatware loaded onto it, which you can obviously take out, and quicken up the load, eh?

 

is the gpu installed right? no temperature on hwmonitor or gpuz recognition. all data/benchmarks should be included in the first post

also why is the click pad chrome in the first pic and black in the others?

 

^interesting observation about the click pad.

Also, can anyone (read justin/ken) clarify about the backlit KB status?

Thanks

 

The lack of GPU temp is normal. It's been popping up in threads all over the place since CES. I assume it's because nothing can see the temps on the 5xxx series yet.

As for the person crying death over the login time. I was going to reply earlier, but decided not to. I better reply now before you spam that at every new person in this thread.

Login time is no way to measure performance. The hardware factors that influence login time would be cpu and hdd. Both of the ones used here (i5/i7 and Seagate 500GB 7200rpm) are widely used parts. Thus if long login time was a problem, it would affect practically every single new laptop running these parts.

Now, Seagates are practically equal in performance to every other manufacturer's, so are you seriously going to claim that every single i5/i7 laptop is not worth buying? If not, then it's not a hardware issue, and you can stop your doomsday naysaying. If so, I rest my case.

 

^ are you sure there is no utility out there that can measure the temperatures of 5xxx series?

What about one of the preinstalled bloatware that comes with asus to monitor HDD and CPU/GPU temps? Doesnt that work either?

 

I second this question....

Atheros vs Intel, perhaps the 5300(?)

Which is the safer/better bet?

 

Well, I personally have no clue. But like I said, it's been a common problem arising in several threads, so that would be a fair assumption to make.

 

seeing when gentech received its N61JQ-A1 shipments (1/27), someone should receive it by tomorrow, ie, (1/30).

Waiting for unboxing/ first impressions/ benchies/ detailed review

 

Does anyone know if this nb has the multi-touch touchpad?

 

Sorry, double post...

 

Yes, it does. Check the Youtube video in the original post.

 

Those wondering about the battery life might want to check this post from this thread.

The user claims to have gotten 3.5 hours out of an N61JQ-X1 using something called "Office Mode" (I'm not up on all the power management stuff). The only difference that I can tell between the X1 and A1 is the HDD (500GB A1 vs 320GB X1).

I don't see any reason not to trust him... except for the fact that what he's saying is completely contrary to what we've been expecting. Maybe the i7 down-throttles more? Or it could be a drivers thing.

 

Anyone know if powernotebooks.com is shipping this model yet?