Asus N80-X5 need advice

Hi everyone,

I am about to buy the Asus n80 from Newegg.ca for around 1 grand. It has P8600, 4Gig ram, 320GB 7200 RPM HD, 9650m GT.

I am about considering the Gateway GT627, which is 15.4, but is actually around the same weight and has a much better GPU.

I would like to know the battery life of Asus N80. Is it decent? Does the 9650m GT have hybrid mode? Like 9100m integrated and 9650m dedicated when needed?

How much battery can I get with N80 at moderate usage, 50-70% brightness, Wifi on? Can I get 4 hours? The problem with many Asus laptop is short battery, so I am concerned about this aspect mostly.

What attracts me to Asus despite Gateway GT627 being a much better deal is the build quality and warranty. The Gateway has bad keyboard (big flex). With 9 cell, Gateway has decent battery (~ 4 hours despite having 9800m GS!)

Thanks!


EDIT: Sorry when I say Gateway GT627, I meant MSI.

 

Average battery life I hear it around 2-3 depending on usage. I'll know more once I get my N80Vn-C1.

 

Hmmm yah as I suspect! Why do Asus have such crappy battery life T_T. I mean I know why, but stilll.... OH WHY!

 

Not all Asus notebooks have less than mediocre battery life. The X83 series for example perform much better, not to mention the new 1000HE netbook as well.

 

But as soon as you stuck a performing GPU inside it's tiny little chassis (/sarcasm), the battery life goes down to 2 hours

 

That's just how it works.

We don't have the luxury like Apple and Sony have with hybrid SLI in our ASUS laptops.

Why? COST.

 

You sound like you work for Asus. "We"? According to Notebookcheck, 9650M GT has the capability of hybrid mode with 9100m? I am not sure how this works, but it shouldnt be expensive to implement. I am also puzzled as to why Asus does not offer extended 9 cell battery for most of their laptops.

Nevertheless, I still plan to get the N80 because it is pretty good.

 

OP, I have the X5 (using it to type to you now).

I can get 4 hours in Linux with just surfing on Wifi. 2-3 hours when watching videos or playing games. I think it's good.

Vista... 3 hours or less just surfing.

Replacing the hard drive with an SSD or the new 7200.4 drive could save you 1 watt, or about 15-20 minutes. Otherwise there's not much to save. The backlight is LED so turning it down doesn't save anything. In fact, I have the backlight turned to 50% or lower *all* the time because it is so bright!

 

Thanks. I was wonderrng on Linux battery life on that model. I do wish there could be a 9 cell battery option :/.

 

1 hour playing WoW, buy extra AC adapters for every room !

 

hmm might half to try Linux again. i get 2-3 hr depending on what i'm doing.

i think thats good. what class last over 3hr?

 

N80 has a real bad touchpad buttons.