Asus U35JC/U45JC

Are you talking Admin Tools -> Services? All the ones that are set to automatic look important to have running. I disabled WMP Network Sharing, but I don't see Java Update Manager nor Search Indexing.

 

This is shotgunb's Task Manager.



One thing I noticed is he doesnt have "NT Kernel & System". I found that it is a critical process in the boot-up cycle but it should never appear in WinTasks whilst under normal circumstances.

Hmm..

 

are you sure? i have it in my task manager for my desktop, im using vista though.

 

Hmm, guess not. Its just a post I saw on another forum when I googled it.

 

The list I sent was by processor load (truncated to screen size)... When I sort by description, I do have NT Kernel & System running (76k of RAM)

 

Ah, ok. I am trying to figure out what could possibly be causing me to not get the discharge rate you guys are seeing. Not sure what the culprit is.

 

Yes, Admin tools/services.

To disable search indexing, go to My Computer, right click on your C drive and go to Properties. Down at the bottom, uncheck 'index drive for faster searching'.

For the Java update, do you have a little Java icon in your system tray? Open that up and disable auto updates. If you don't have the icon there, you can go into control panel and access the Java control menus.

You can also get rid of Cyberlink Media Library Service. Most of the stuff listed running will look like it's important. It may be, if you use it but if not, you can disable it. I don't have use for Windows Media Center but anyone who watches TV on their PC would keep it running.

There's a lot of stuff dedicated to remote access of your computer and media control, print spooling you can set to manual, anything IPv6 you can disable too. Just google your first service if you don't know what it is. Yes, it's time consuming but its something you only need to do once and the reward is quite worthwhile. Picture removing all your bloatware all over again.

 

Here's a portion of my running services to give you an idea of other things you can disable. Again, this is Vista but there are many things that will translate over to 7.

 

@relentless - is your battery wear continuing to increase?

 

Says 2.5% right now. It went from 2.5% to 2.6% last night, but it is back to 2.5%.

Is there ANYONE with a U35JC getting similar discharge rates at idle (12,000 mW avg)?

 

I tried using Google Chrome, but for some reason when I view the task manager it shows 6-7 Google Chrome processes. Any reason why this is? I did install a few Chrome extensions. Is this opening up a separate process for each extension?

I stopped all the ones that you had stopped, but I am still seeing the same discharge rate.

 

Chrome runs each tab as a separate process, that's why you see so many.

Now I'm no expert, but if I were in your situation I would just call up Asus or whoever you purchased from and see what they think. If there is anyone out there getting 7-8 hours without messing with services and such (and assuming you didn't accidentally mess up anything before you got that discharge rate), then I think you're just wasting your time with all this trouble. Then again I could be way off.

Speaking of battery life, can a few more people give out some real battery life numbers, preferably from actually running down the battery, rather than estimates from batterymon or other programs?

 

I only have 1 tab open and it still shows 7 processes. Not seeing how this is less of a resource hog than Firefox unless I am doing something wrong in chrome that warrants 7 processes.

 

Either way the difference won't be enough to have any severe impact on anything. Use whichever browser you prefer and forget about the ~20,000K difference of memory usage. You've got 4 gigs to use up. The plugin container for Firefox is a separate entity from the browser itself. I've got FF open now with 4 tabs and it's using 58,308K, no trace of the Plugin Tasks, just the 1 process. Opera is my main browser though and right now also have 2 tabs open using around 187,00K in TM. But my system is still super quick because of all the other changes I've made and frequent maintenance. I've never used Chrome but I should give it a shot sometime.

SKWeathers is right though, closing out stuff in Task Manger isn't going to recover your missing several hours of battery life. I'm assuming you have SHE optimized already, maybe a phone call to ASUS would be a good idea. Another quick thought, re-enable the processor idle that you disabled to make the whine go away. Notice any battery life difference?

Sucks that you waited forever for this and then possibly got a bad battery. Could be much worse though. It really is a gorgeous laptop!

 

agreed, call asus ..let us know how that turns out though.

 

What? I don't recall disabling a processor idle for a whine?

 

I am going to call Asus now. I hope they can replace my battery. It would be great if they could send it to me and I can send back mine upon receiving it. I hope I don't need to send it in first and wait for a replacement.

 

Heh, nevermind then. It must be someone else I'm thinking of.

 

Ugh, Asus said I would have to send the entire laptop in and it would be 10-14 business days AFTER they receive it before I would receive it. I don't know what I want to do. I just got this laptop and I hate to send it back already. I don't want to deal with only getting 5-6 hours of battery life as that was one of the main features of getting the laptop. I don't know if I can go 2-3 weeks again without the laptop.

This sucks.

 

you could just buy another battery and see if that fixes your problem

 

Assuming the issue is high draw 'from' the battery (ie. you laptop is pulling more power than others in idle), wouldn't the problem be with the laptop and not the battery?? Seems from what you are describing, that the battery is supplying the right amount of power, but the higher draw is limiting the duration on battery power...right? If so, it seems like it would be a hardware draw and not software driven (ie. higher draw by CPU, monitor, GPU, camera, WIFI, etc).

Definitely sucks if you need to send it in!

 

That makes sense. Ugh, I REALLLLLY don't want to send it in. Why does this have to happen to me. I was waiting for this for so long and now I may have to send it back and be without a laptop for another 3-4 weeks possibly.

Are you guys who reported your battery ratings on the newest 208 BIOS? I remember when I got the original 8 hours it was on the 207 BIOS.

I have another question. If it was the hardware how was I able to get 7-8 hours on my first charge? That included a lot of uninstalling/reboots as well. I guess I am just trying to be optimistic. I really want to find a way to NOT have to send it in. That may be my only option though.

 

Yes, 6.06.

Perhaps I'm wrong, but when I looked at the Optimus page, that appeared to just be the good old 189.79 nvidia drivers linked on a seperate page. E.g. on the ASUS driver page, your U35Jc's ASUS suggested video driver for the nVidia GPU is 189.64.

After all, no one's laptop has come with any "Optimus" driver. Just video drivers for the nVidia GPU and the Intel IGP.

I think when I once-upon-a-time installed the "Optimus" driver, I found that my nVidia driver version was updated to 189.79.

 

Definitely not an expert on battery draw, but my thought are if it is 'hardware'... then it is a setting/driver, and probably not an actual hardware malfunction. Something like CPU being OC'd or camera alway on, or the like... I know I am 'reaching'... but if you got good battery life, did changes to the OS, etc... and now have a higher draw, maybe it is something you did. One option prior to mailing may be to do an F9 restore and see if the battery life is better again. I am running 2.08 and just recharged... the 'stock' battery life in normal 'quiet office' mode with 50% brightness is showing 9hrs 13 min remaining after using it for about 20 minutes.

 

I suggest calling Asus up and telling them you can't part with it for 2-3 weeks, repeat what you posted above.

If no luck ask to speak to a supervisor and keep going until you get satisfaction ... at least you'll find out how far they'll go with their customer service if nothing else, worth a try maybe?

Good Luck.

 

Makes sense... current driver is 258.96, which is the one I have installed... 189.79 therefore looked like a completely different series to me vs an old link :}

 

IMO, your battery itself should not be affecting your discharge rate. It will only affect your battery capacity ... which is not that far from normal (82Wh capacity on an 84Wh design capacity battery).

The other poster may be right that it has something to do with your background services (software-related like the OS configuration & installations, not hardware-related like the battery).

Have you tried doing a safe mode boot? (F8 on boot up and request safe mode.). It's a very slow boot, but it disables most or many of your Windows services.

You could try that and then do your battery rundown test under the old conditions of 0% brightness, no wifi, etc.

That's if those things operate on safe mode.

Give it a try if you like. It's not very hard.

Yep. Sound conclusions.

 

I started the Safe Mode, but I am unsure on something. How can I do a battery test? Safe Mode isn't recognizing that a battery is inserted.

Do you think doing a System Restore is worth it? The only thing that leads me to believe it could work is how I originally saw 7-8 hours battery life on my first charge. If I got the same 5-6 I am getting now than I would probably have to send it in for sure.

 

In line with my earlier post I definitely think you should do a system restore when/if you have given up on everything else and before you send it in

 

I will definitely do that. I am running the laptop on a full charge right now and it looks like with wifi on/brightness 0/light browsing I will get roughly 6.5- 7 hours on this charge. I am sure if I do any video watching or anything else it will go down quite a bit. 7 hours isn't TOO bad, but I am sure people are seeing 8-9 with just light browsing, correct?

 

Sorry if this question has been answered, only read the past couple of pages..
Have you tried a fresh install of windows 7? - This can tell us if its the laptop rather then stuff inside the OS as the discharge rate should be lower then your current one.

Also if its already got 2.5% battery wear within the space of 3 days, surely the battery is defected/low quality like you've said unless of course you've left the laptop in a over-heated area or leaving the power plug in whilst its fully charged and running it 24/7.

 

Batteries are supposedly sent from the factory with a minimal wear so 2.5% should be normal. It's intentional. I don't remember the reason but it's in this thread a few dozen pages back. Bankergolfer answered the question.

The Toshiba R705 guys were worrying about this (they were getting their comps shipped with 8% wear) but someone finally called Toshiba, got someone who knew(?) what they were talking about and answered the question.

If I find the post, I'll link to it.


EDIT: I'm not seeing it and don't feel like spending the evening sifting around for it. Around page 98 or so there are pics of people's battery bar popup and they have 0.0% wear. I'd call Asus for a final verdict. They'd know best.

 

Ok, so I have been on this laptop for about 2 hours now. I have brightness at 0, power savings on, SHE on, light browsing, ms office. It looks like I will get 6-6.5 hours of battery life if I go to 0%. Its decent, but I was really looking for 8 hours on those settings. I am contemplating restoring and seeing if I get the 8 hour life I got on my original charge. It will be quite a pain if I do the restore and get the same battery life though. Having to remove all the bloatware/install my programs all over again.

You guys have been getting 8+ with those settings, correct?

 

I just finished my battery run down and I am disappointed.

Brightness at 0, Power Saving On, SHE On, Light Browsing (No Flash), Light MS office, AIM and I would have gotten just about 6 hours. I shut down at 13% with 33 min remaining to make about 6 hours.

What is the absolute most I should run down the battery before powering off? I heard 10%, but should I even shut down before that or does it not matter.

I will try an OS Restore after class tomorrow and HOPE that I get the original 8 hour battery life of my first charge. Otherwise, I may have to send it in.

 

My INITIAL charge I only got 5 hours! My next charge after that was about the same with light office and minimal web browsing. I also am fairly unsatisfied with the battery performance of my U35JC. Tomorrow I will try setting Wifi on, Brightness 0 and do some light surfing and report back what kind of times I am getting.

 

>>> The computer store near my house has Asus U45J. Is it the same series to U45JC? I checked the laptop: specification are identical, but not the name and the weight. What are the other differences?

 

The U45JC has a 14" screen and an optical drive so it's thicker and slightly larger.

 

I am no expert... but this doesn't look good. Lowest brightness setting, quiet office, not doing anything...

 

I got a 6.428 mW discharge rate with WiFi turned on and connected to a network, but completely idle. This is incredibly low btw, it's lower than my EEE PC 901 ever got, and it has an Atom processor. I'm really impressed.
I have no idea why the rest of you are getting higher values, sorry

 

If you don't want to lose your current OS, you could use something like the Acronis backup, so you can always restore back to your current OS status.
---
Also, Just tried Batterymon - It is showing a significantly lower discharge rate then Batterybar...Interesting.

@Anarkigr, how many processes do you have running? And does it fluctuate from 6k-11k so you happen to caught the lower scale?

Mine can fluctuate from 6k-12k.

 

Yeah when I'm actually using it, it fluctuates between 6-12k. But just sitting idle it's always around 6-7k. I still find it impressive though
69 processes are running right now, I don't think I got rid of all the bloatware

 

Hi guys, I'm from Australia and I just received the Asus U35jc (bought from EXcaliber pc). So far I'm enjoying it, it's a pleasant change from a 10" netbook.

I'm trying to find a suitable case at the moment. I see a lot of people on this thread have been discussing the Zeroshock III. I was planning on purchasing it from ebay but upon examining the internal dimensions for the 13" case, they seem far too small for the U35jc. Amazon is too expensive in terms of shipping to Australia (in a feasible time frame) so my only choice is ebay. Could anyone give me any advice on how I should go about getting this case? Are the ebay dimensions wrong?

Ebay listing:
ZEROSHOCK III 13.3" LAPTOP SLEEVE CASE MSI X320 X340 - eBay Briefcases, Laptop Cases Bags, Computer Accessories, Computers Networking. (end time 24-Sep-10 11:05:25 AEST)

Thanks

 

kinkbmxco...where did u get ur laptop from?
and relentless you too just to confirm?

 

I am really concerned now, I don't believe I should be getting this much wear already after 1 week of very light usage. Should I return it now? Quiet Office, 5 notches dimmer than full. Full design is 84000 but my full charge is 80340.

 

I feel your pain ethicall. Really I do. I am considering doing a 2nd OS restore and hope that I get my old battery life back. I did get very close to 8 hours on my initial charge and I remember the battery meter said 10hrs at one point. Not entirely sure if thats due to the OS not being familiar with the battery or not.

I am on a full charge right now at school and it looks like I'm on track for another 6-6.5 hour battery life. Not as bad as yours, but it is still poor and not at the 8+ hour standard.

I ordered from ExcaliberPC.com btw.

 

Ugh, how annoying. I ordered mine from GentchPC. If I do a system restore and continue to get 5 hours TOPS battery life, should I be contacting gentech or Asus directly about this issue? Ethicall your situation appears to be a lot like mine.. I will do another test today at school to see what kind of battery life I am getting, but I have a feeling it's not magically just going to start getting 7-8 hours haha.

 

Did you get a higher battery life on your initial charge? The only reason I am contemplating another OS restore is because I got 8+ hours on my first charge. It also could be because the OS was getting used to the battery? Not sure, but I will attempt an OS restore when I get home. If I continue to get 6-6.5 battery life, I am unsure of what I will do. Realistically, I'd like to send it in, but I don't really feel like waiting almost a month to get it back :\

 

If he wants to avoid restoring the same problem, and have a fresh OS install, he should probably not use Acronis. The point is to start afresh.

 

No my initial charge was only 5 hours...

 

AND if there is nothing wrong with your laptop except software issues, they'll just do an F9-style OS restore anyway and mail it back to you. Then you won't have gained anything and lost 3 weeks without the notebook.