Asus U35JC/U45JC

Asus U43jc-a1 - I think I have narrowed it down to this laptop - it fits all of my requirements - mobility/weight, fast, 14" display, long battery life, USB3.0

I see that standard it comes with a DVDRW drive. I don't really need one. XoticPC allows customisation to swap that for a second HDD (which I would prefer). Is it possible to change over the DVD drive for a HDD yourself after buying the laptop?

Does anyone have any other feedback on this laptop?

 

Yeah, if you search ebay for "A42-UL50 12 cell" it will return many options... all in the $60-65 range shipped. The two variables are the mAh rating and warranty period. Seem to be 6600 or 7800 mAh and 1 or 3 yr warranty. Higher numbers could be a scam or overstatement, but several sellers list a 7800mAh version still (checked this AM). The one I got was listed as 7800 and 3 yrs... and they are still selling with those stats. Still no answer but it was a weekend

 

Hosting thanksgiving here... so no holiday travel on the books. Heading out post xmas for a bit so may be able to ask then.

 

I want to buy this laptop (u35jc), and i've heard that nvidia optimus has some problems concerning driver, correct switching between VGAs, etc.
can you please describe the current situation of these problems? how much serious are these problems? are they resolved already? will in future? is there any hope? or i will have nightmares buying this laptop?

 

So your total on the HDD is 446+20=466GB on the 500GB HDD? That's perfectly normal.

Here's a snap of my 500GB HDD:



As you can see, it's listed as "500,105,216,000 bytes" or "465 GB".

Why the huge difference? It's not that you lost anything. It's the game the industry uses to name HDD's by their cumulative bytes. So, 500,105,216,000 bytes looks to be a straightforward 500 GB.

But remember that there are 1,024 bytes (not 1,000) in 1 kilobyte. And 1,024 kilobytes = 1 MB and 1,024 MB = 1 GB. So that rounded off 500 GB (500,105,216,000 bytes) when you repeatedly divide that huge bytes number by 1,024, you arrive at 466 GB.

Because it is by divisions of 1,024 not 1,000.

In other words:
500,105.216,000 bytes ÷ 1,024 = 488,384,000 KB
and
488,384,000 KB ÷ 1,024 = 476,937.5 MB
and
476,937.5 MB ÷ 1,024 = 465.76 GB
or that can be rounded off to 466 GB ... the amount showing on your HDD.

Does that make sense?

 

If you really interested in this laptop, go for it! I have used this laptop for quiet some time, and its great.

Yes, it does. For now, optimus still having some problems, but its only minor problems. One of them including unable to run certain program under nvidia 310M even after you used the right click command or set in under nvidia control panel. Don't be shocked if you find that you can only achieve around 4.6 for your WEI score of U35J (with aero being the bottleneck) while other laptop with identical specs but without optimus can achieve until 5.0. Its not that U35J perform less, but its because of some bug that prevent 310M under optimus to run your aero graphics. But don't worry, nvidia frequently release new drivers for their products, so just wait for improvements in the future (it will be better, for sure).

Nightmare? I doubt that

Yeah, now that really clarify everything! After you mentioned about 1024 bytes vs. 1000 bytes, just then I figure it out. When I bought my pendrive, I had this problem too.. At first I though there is a bug, having lower capacity then what it should. Now its clear. Thankz!

Well, is it really that big needed for system backup? 20Gb is a significant volume if you ask me. After I got my copy of windows 7 64-bit (I only have 32-bit for now), definitely will reclaim that space! Lol! You have done clean installation didn't you? Saw that you can use all of your volume.

 

Is it really necessary to fully charge the battery before first booting it up? I know of nothing else that still requires this procedure.

 

That 20GB isn't a system backup exactly. It holds the image files to restore your ASUS-supplied copy of Windows 7 x64. It's in place of giving you a Windows 7 DVD. But you can legally download the Windows 7 HP ISO and burn it to a DVD to create a Windows 7 DVD that you can use to install later. If your laptop was supplied with Home Premium, then installing it from another OEM DVD, the key on the bottom of your laptop will still work.

I did that and repartitioned the drive and reinstalled the OS.

No, it's not necessary any more. You Windows power icon in th elower right will learn to calibrate as you go along using it. You can also use BatteryMon (more accurate every 10 sec but only a trial version) or the free BatteryBar (which seems good but inaccurate in ways.)

 

Thats great! This way I can have my 20Gb back! actually I do like the idea of having this image files, especially for laptop without dvd burner. However, with all the bloatware (including the wedding simulation, lol!), it doesn't look good anymore BTW, I heard that we can install windows 7 from pendrive by following certain procedures. Do you have any idea? I think its great because the installation time would be significantly faster..

Even for the first time? If that so, it will be great! Before this I was told that we need to charge notebook / handphone for 8hours before we use it for the first time, if not the battery wear value will increase faster. Even more, you need to remove your battery when you want to plug in your charger; and the reason is the same. Is that idea applicable anymore?

 

What is the optimal duration of the first charge of the u35jc battery? When it says it's done or it should stay longer?

 

It should be around 8 hours. Make sure you drain / use all of the juice out of your battery before charge it. This way should help to preserve your battery life better

 

You mean I should drain the battery life before the first charge only or every time i'm charging? The second seems quite impossilbe

So after i unpack my laptop i should power it on and leave it until the battery drains completely, and after that charge it for around 8 hours?

 

Yup, exactly! unpack, drains completely, then charge (make sure your notebook is turned off). Well, one of the beauty of U35J come from its battery life, so you need to give extra cares for its battery.

Well, another tips:

1. Charge your battery only when your note book is turned off
2. Remove your battery before plugged in your notebook
3. Drain your battery completely before each charge

All of these will help to preserve your battery life better. You may not able to see any significant gain at first, but after a few months, tada! You can use BatteryBar to monitor your battery. If you follow my tips, you should have 0.0% battery ware when you first use it, thus able to achieve maximum battery life that you suppose to have

P/S: You can only achieve full capacity of your battery after 2-3 times of complete charge and discharge of your battery.

 

10x man you post was VERY useful for me it gave me all the answers i was looking for.

 

Glad to help you Feel free to ask any question regarding U35J / U45J, everyone here should be happy to help

 

There is a thread here on this NBR forum about where to download the Microsoft ISO for different editions of Windows 7. There is also a thread for installing via a pen flash drive. Happy hunting.

Lithium-ion batteries do not have memory effects like the older batteries.

I advise anyone to just use your notebook and don't worry about the battery. When I get a new phone, they no longer advise charging first. They set it up while I'm standing there. The battery already has some charge. I charge it when I get home just so that I can carry the phone around.

I charge my laptop initially also so that ... I have a charge. Not to "condition" the battery, etc. Windows & BatteryMon catch on to battery use very quickly now.

What WILL damage your Li-on battery is if you deep discharge it to 1-3% and then recharge it. This will often affect its charge capacity (thus showing more battery wear sooner). Li-ion batteries do best with small discharges (say down to max 30-40% and charged up to 90-95%. But that's rarely practical.

I've read a large number of papers on this and there is confusion on the matter, but technical papers are out there. Trust me, in this day of cheaper replacement batteries ($65 now for a 6600mAh battery for your U35Jc) ... just use your battery normally. No pulling it in & out, etc. When it really begins to die in 2 1/2 - 3 years or so, replace it.

Sorry, Nash, I politely disagree with you on this one. Deep discharging a lithium-ion battery *will* truly damage it. That is an old method employed before Li-on batteries when batteries had memory effect.

As for how much you charge it, what makes 8 hrs special? The battery area has an overcharge protector, meaning once it is fully charged, the charger shuts off (hence the green light when it's fully charged.) 3 hrs, 8 hrs, 80 hrs, once the battery is at 100%, the charge cuts off.

He should look at the light until it is green. Finish. There's no magic time to be plugged in. And notebooks, chargers & batteries now charge very well and fully while plugged in and being used.

Again, there is NO memory effect to overcome on li-on batteries. That was Nickle-Metal Hydride batteries.

And he can't completely drain his battery unless he changes the power saving settings. The default warns at 11% and shuts down at 5%. Not a complete drain because the manufacturer knows that a lower drain will damage the battery.

As well, Li-ion batteries have a life span and a range of charges of about 500-1,000 charges. 1,000 for good chargers (which your notebook is.) If you recharge daily that will give you about 1,000 days or close to 3 yrs. Even if you don't recharge it (you put it in a closet) once you've charged it the first time, it begins to decay (wear down) and you'll still find battery decay/wear even if you do nothing.

 

Thanks man!

Read this----> Do and don’t battery table
Its turn out that what you said is true, lol! Sorry bokobokov for giving you false information

The tips that I'm using does true for older batteries. Have tried to my own notebook (the old one). Comparison between mine and my friend's notebook (who didn't follow those tips), shows that after two and a half years, mine still able to reach around 2 hours (it was 3 hours when I bought it) and his barely able to achieve even 30 minutes! But, that idea turn out to be useless against li ion, lol! BTW, thanks for the correction Quatro!

 

Ooh. A very nice battery info page. Thanks! Rep+ for you for finding.

 

Lol! Thanks! You do have a lot of knowledge compared to me + some of us, feel free to share more with us

 

haha 10x both

so is it necessary to remove the battery from the laptop when using the device pluged?

No worries mate :smile:

 

No, no need to remove the battery while it's plugged in.

Just use your notebook normally. Keep your battery in unless you are replacing something inside like memory or the hard disk.

The battery begins to wear down from the first time you charge it. Removing it while plugged in will not give your battery a longer life.

 

Despite of the us of ALTEC LANSING speaker and front position of it, U35J / U45J seems to have slow audio volume. I had deal with ALTEC LANSING speakers on notebooks before this, and it seems that this one is on of the worst. I wonder, why?? However, last night, I uninstalled the audio driver provided by ASUS (meaning i'm only using the driver that comes with win 7) and I'm shocked that the sound that it can produce is extremely loud! And I feel its much better like this. Therefore, for anyone who isn't satiesfied with their U35J / U45J audio, can try this

 

Hey all,

Is anyone familiar with this Asus model? Asus U35JC-RX145V

This model comes with the i5-460 CPU and i cant find anything about it online..

How is it compared to the i3 CPU model?

 

I bought it. Have been using it for quiet sometime. Well, everything is just the same, except it have i5-460M 2.53Ghz which can go up to 2.80Ghz and only 2Gb of DDR3 (according to my unit)

 

Thanks.

My unit comes with 4GB.

How is the battery life with the i5? What is the average it lats with moderate use?

 

Battery life just great, but still lower than what ASUS had claim (10 hours for this model). During idle, my unit does showing 10.01 hours (under BatteryBar), but real life usage just get me around 7 hours (web browsing, office etc.). However, thats still great

BTW, congratulation on your smart purchase

 

Ok, so last night I upgraded my Bios to v 208 and finished my clean install of Win 7 Home Premium x64 and all updates

Started installing my typical software (Firefox, AVG, etc)

Earlier in the thread was a suggestion to install all of the available drivers... I am looking on the Asus support page and it finds over 70 files for this notebook.

Loving this notebook so far, very quick processing power, has performed flawlessly even though I am doing things at the limit of my technical prowess.

Edit: Found the Bloatware guide, much appreciated ... got everything installed now I think! I kept the backup partition, combined C and D together, and installed all of my crap that I wanted and I still have over 400gb left, I think that should do me fine

 

To be honest, the best way is to install everything first, then remove anything that you think you don't need. Some of the software provided by ASUS might be handy for one person, but other person might not. Just try each one of them, by time, you'll know what to do However, this might help to give you the idea: http://forum.notebookreview.com/asus/380681-asus-utility-bloatware-guide.html

 

Yeah I finally found that guide a little bit ago and figured out what I did and did not want...

Only thing I wouldn't mind having back is the Optimus indicator that was on the top right of the desktop - any tips?

 

Top right? Sorry, never meet anything like that. The only indicator that I knew are the nVidia GPU activity, which positioned at the lower right of desktop; part of the taskbar (which can be activated at nvidia control panel) and another one can be downloaded, which is Optimus Tools Monitor 64bit.

 

I have a RAM question:
If I buy new 2 x 4gb sticks of 1333, I guess there is no way to make sure that it will actually run at 1333 since there is no overclocking, ram/cpu dividers in the BIOS.
So I'm thinking it's probably best to just stick with 1066 with faster CAS latencies?

 

Well I downloaded the newest nvidia drivers from the Asus site and got them installed, 260.99 is the version - but how do I know my Optimus is working?

EDIT: I found it. I found a walkthough online that was very helpful.

 

just got the laptop, i don't think i'll be keeping this for a long time, i wish i could return it but i can't.

the high pitched sound is driving me insane right now.

the keyboard feels very cheap and the amount of chattering and flex (especially to the left side near the Q,W keys) is amazingly bad.

it's quite heavier than it looks, with the weight not balanced and concentrated on the battery side.

but mostly i can't stand this high pitched whining.

 

Yes. if your processor / motherboard only support 1066, there is no point to pay more for 1333 since the bottleneck of the system won't let you go more than 1066. However, in you do have extra money to spend, just go buy yourself the gaming RAM which is cooler and have lower power consumption..

 

I have heard no such high pitched whine..... only happen during battery use or plugged in too? I have been plugged in almost always so far

 

I didnt purchase it yet

How is the build quality overall? some say that the keyboard has a flex.. is that the case also with yours?

 

To which laptop are you referring?

 

both, plugged in and on battery, also switching between the different power modes (high performance, entertainment, quiet office, battery saving) doesn't seem to matter, the only time it does actually go away is when i'm doing something cpu intensive. from some research, it seems like a problem with the cpu going into a power saving mode and is affecting many different brands (not just asus) of laptops...

u35jc-a1

 

Just bought U35JC.
While working it produces some pitch noise, it's really annoying me.
If i'm moving cursor via touchpad or just holding finger on it make another strange pitch noise.
Can anybody give me advice?

 

This thread has many pages given over to discussion on that high-pitched whine that some owners are experiencing. Just search & read about it.

 

Mine just fine.. Yeah, the flex does exist, but not much, and hardly noticeable, not a big deal. Overall quality is great, but if you remove the battery, you will notice some parts around the battery placement seems quiet thin, as if it will break somehow. But I don't think it will, lol! However, I love the overall build, really nice

 

Quatro, thanks.
Is this noise applies for the warranty?

 

Didn't think so. Unless you can prove that your unit is defective, you won't go nowhere with the warraty..

 

No. Not everyone hears the whine either. And even those who hear it say they can only hear it in a very quiet room.

This appears to be something with the processor and is present in different models & companies.

Way back, a few found a remedy. You'll have to look for it.

Also several commented that the noise lessened as they used the laptop. Some said it had to do with the mic being enabled. Others felt it was related to internet use (see HERE).

Read HERE.

HERE is a thread on it.

You can do your own search on this issue.

 

Is it possiblle to turn the whine off?

 

If you already read through this thread, you should know the answer, which appear to be, NO. But there are things that you can do to minimize the whine.. You can fine it in this thread..

 

For those of you looking for a good option for monitoring your battery and dont want to pay much i have good news!

BatteryBar is having a black friday promotion where you name whatever price you want for their BatteryBar Pro software. Just has to be above $0. I just picked it up!

-JFlem

 

Several options have been tried and some have claimed success, but no definitive answer was ever found that works for everyone (I think).

Good find! (Though I still prefer BatteryMon )

Reason? BatteryBar Pro has a glitch on my laptop, for some reason, I can't reset. Even now, BatteryBar says I'm using 8.849mW and will fully discharge in 1' 48". BatteryMon says I'm using about the same amount of power (it fluctuates a bit) but my battery will fully discharge in over 7 hrs. The later is closer to the truth.

 

I suppose that makes you unlucky with it then! Works fine for me. Hopefully it works for everyone else that gets it too

 

Same goes for me. Before this the reading can shows up to 10 hours, but I don't know why its only showing < 5 hours under batterybar (full charge) now. Need to stick to something else..