Asus U41JF, U31JG

great that you didnt have any problems, but dont update the drivers or anything major, just let the machine keep working like that and never install linux.


times have change since the ATI 2000 series, its been more than 5 years

 

I think I may have found the answer to my own question. The link in the OP of this thread shows the U41 specs page for the Global ASUS site, which shows both Core i3 and Core i5 processors as being available. Switch to the United States version of the site, find the U41 specifications page, and it only lists the Core i3 380M.

I suspect it will be several months before we see SandyBridge in the 13-14" thin and light laptops, paired with a decent GPU. I'm going to go ahead and get something now since my old laptop has become next to useless.

 

Does anyone know if and when the U41JF becomes available in Europe? Looks like a great notebook to me!

 

Where in Europe are you located? A couple posts in this thread seemed to indicate that it's already available in some countries in Europe.

See here. Also WWWuser who posts here occasionally is from Lithuania.

Also the fact that there's a Polish review bodes well for it being available somewhere in Europe as well.

I'm a bit surprised there's not more news of people ordering/receiving it in the US considering it seems to be readily available now. I already have a Acer 3820TG so I don't need a laptop, but this looks like a nice laptop too.

 

Amazon is now selling it . i wish it was a core i5 with at least 1 Usb 3.0 guess i have to wait some more.
Amazon.com: ASUS U41JF-A1 14-Inch Laptop (Silver): Computer & Accessories

 

I just bought the U41jf on Amazon yesterday. I'm really looking forward to getting it and seeing how it works.

I postponed buying the U41 because I was waiting for the U31, which I was unsure would ever get stocked anywhere in the US. To my surprise though, this morning, ExcaliberPC has the U31JG "In Stock". Oh well, the U41 seems like a fine machine anyway.

 

Cool man i hope you like it, i want one myself but holding back for sb Core i5 /Usb 3.0 Please tell me how you like it (- the bloat where lol )

 

In your place I would wait for Ivy Bridge and Intel Light Peak ;D just kidding ;D

 

Lol no way man i need it before this year is out haha i think i will be fine with Sb.

 

Lol, thanks! I couldn't afford to hold out much longer, seeing as I'm in my last year of college, and my old Sony from freshmen year just bit the dust. I'm excited to get a new machine though, and I think will be pleasantly surprised by the performance upgrade over my old machine. I'll post more when I get 'er, hopefully tomorrow with Amazon's 2 day shipping.

 

Hey, I have kind of a dumb question. When I get my U41, is there any way to tell for sure if it has the 8 cell battery? Amazon didn't list anything in the specs about the battery, but on all the other retailers sites, it was listed with an 8 cell, which I assume is the standard US model. I just want to check to make sure it's not a 6 cell, which for me would kind of defeat the point of buying this machine, and I didn't know if there was an easy way to check.

 

Just look at the mAh rating on the battery label itself and then compare that to the specs of the 8 cell on the website. I think it's 5600 on the 8 cell and 4000mAh for the 6 cell, at least from a really quick search.

 

Well, I just got my U41 yesterday. It's a really sweet computer. I have had little time to realy break it in yet, but so far the machine is really solid. Build qulaity is very nice and overall the machine feels really durable. I checked the battery, and it is the 8 cell, so all is good there. The one really big letdown was the insane amount of bloatware that came with the system. This is disappointing, but I can fix that, so it's okay I guess. I'm fairly busy now, but I will try to put together a more complete review in a couple of days.

 

Cool man thanks for the Mini review, happy you like it. Yeah the Bloatware suck But i am just going to Clean install a fresh copy of windows the only thing is i hope The Nvidia optimus still work once i do it, Someone told me then did a clean install and the optimus no longer worked )I know its a driver thing tho and he probably didn't know what he was doing.)

 

I was thinking about doing a clean install too, but seeing as I don't have another Windows license at present, I just opted to clean it up myself. That Optimus driver thing was another concern of mine too, and I figured I'd just leave well enough alone at present.

 

I see well you can always Use Revo Uninstaller


Download Revo Uninstaller Freeware - Free and Full Download - Uninstall software, remove programs, solve uninstall problems

that's what i am going to use if i don't do a fresh install caused by fear of losing Optimus lol.

 

What is the verdict on the LCD panel used? How is the contrast?

 

Well, I'm no expert, but the LCD is nice and bright for me. Colors really look nice, and the contrast level is good, if viewed from straight on. It also has a good viewing angle from both sides, in that I can easily see the image on-screen from nearly 180 degrees on both sides. It does lose clarity when viewing from higher or lower, as is generally the case with laptops I suppose. This screen is really BRIGHT though, which I find is a plus, and actually was surprised that it was so bright at only half brightness or so last night when using it on battery. It is a durable screen too, due to the well manufactured aluminum backing. It feels sturdy when opening and closing the lid. That may have been a bit overly descriptive, but I hope it helps!

 

@Bellyfish... It is so nice to hear from someone who has the U41... I am really considering buying the U41 with a non-glossy screen, or a acer 4820tg

I am very onsure about the "looks" of the laptop. On Asus website it looks very smart and stylish, but on other pictures i have seen of the laptop, it looks very glossy and plastic.

I know you are busy, and maybe i am asking to much, but could you maybe take some photos of the laptop and post them? Please? i am expecially interested in som near photos of the keybord/touchpad area, and the area above the keyboard, also i would like to see the laptop closed, to see how it looks...

I understand if you dont have time to do these tings, but i would really appreciate it .. All info about the laptop is appreciated. I am not able to find any other reviews of the laptop elsewhere.

 

Here are a few pictures. Hopefully these help you out a bit. As far as the overall build quality, it is very nice. It does have some plastic, for instance around the keys, that collects and shows dust easily, but as for like the plastic on the bottom of the machine, it is a very nice, thick, textured plastic that seems durable. The aluminum design on the palm rest and the screen back is very nice, and looks classy without really smudging like cheaper plastics often have a tendency to do. Let me know if you have anymore questions.

 

This is a more hardware specific question. After looking at benchmarks am i right to say that the U41 Geforce 425m GPU, is about the same strength as the radeon 5650 that is in the acer 4820tg?... And another Q, is it possible to change the GFX in the U41?

 

I haven't done too much research on graphics benchmarks yet. As far as changing the graphics, do you mean adding a new card? I have no idea about that. I don't really plan to change much on this machine. I did, however, make sure I could remove the hard drive from the outside before I purchased it, as I had a horrible time and gave up trying with my previous Sony laptop.

 

I bought a U41JF-A1 a couple days ago. Here are some observations after a couple days of use.

Quick summary:

Pros:
- Size
- Screen
- Performance for size
- Battery life
- AC connector (LEFT!! side, L-shaped)

Cons
- Heat (palm rest)
- Fan noise (only under moderate/heavy load, otherwise it is silent)
- Build quality? (lid especially, although time will tell)
- Price compared to comparable Acer 3820TG

Screen: Quite good, actually. Very sharp. I cannot see individual pixels like some other LCDs I've seen recently. Very bright, as another poster mentioned. I reduce it to 20 or 30% and find that comfortable. After calibration (reduce gamma, reduce blue color) it is excellent. Viewing angles are good. Not Mac-good, but better than the low-quality 15.6 inch screens I've seen recently. Overall, very pleased.

Keyboard: Very similar in feel to the G73 series. There is a fair amount of flex, but it doesn't really affect the usability. The keys seem rather small, and take a bit of getting used to. I have not encountered any issues with missed keystrokes. I really wish the keyboard was backlit, however. This was a missed opportunity by Asus.

Build quality/layout: Not great, not bad. Lid and palmrest appear to be brushed aluminum, but thin - not as solid feeling as the HP DV6/DV7's. The lid is made of a very thin material which flexes with little pressure. If anything were dropped on the lid while closed, I imagine the LCD screen would be easily damaged. However, this means the lid is very light, and can be opened one-handed without the base tipping back. The touchpad has a nice feel and works well in practice. One of the better touchpads I've used, actually. The button bar below the trackpad produces an audible click, but not too bad. When I got the laptop I thought the buttons below the touchpad were scratched, but there was actually a thin piece of protective plastic covering it, which was difficult to see. The bottom plastics feel sturdy. I found the access panel difficult to remove on this model - I was afraid I would crack it. ***BIG PLUS - the AC adapter plugs into the rear LEFT side of the laptop. The connector is also L-shaped. This is awesome. I find it always more convenient to have the connector on the left side than the right side, and the L-shape reduces stress on the connector.

Heat: At idle, cpu temp is about 40 - 45C. GPU is about the same. Under load, I've seen the GPU creep up to 75 C, and the CPU up to about 82 C. The palmrest gets noticeably warm under even moderate load. The palmrest is never cool, even at idle. Under load, the fan gets quite loud, and is a bit higher-pitched (not good) than some other models I've used. It is silent when surfing the internet and doing basic office tasks.

Battery: My laptop came with the 8 cell battery. The battery itself does not prop the laptop up from the desk. This was a selling point for me, as I find the systems with 9 cell batteries that stick out the bottom are uncomfortable to have on your lap for extended periods. Good for heat dissipation, but they dig into the legs after awhile. This system sits flat on the desk/lap. Battery life is very good. Surfing the internet non-stop with screen at 30% brightness I can easily get approx 6 hours. I let the computer download a large file overnight on battery - I took it off power at midnight (100% charge), installed a couple programs, then set it on the stand next to my bed with the lid closed to download all night. When I woke up around 7:45am this morning the battery light was flashing orange and it was at 6%, warning me to plug it in or it will hibernate. When gaming, it says it will last anywhere from about 1 hour 30 minutes to 2 hours. I have not tested this yet - I'm just going by what windows battery icon reports when I ALT-Tab out of a gaming session.

Performance: Pretty good. For what I do I found the HDD to be the limiting factor, so I swapped it out for a 7200rpm model (WD black). This made a significant difference in photo editing, loading times, etc. It is good for gaming - No issues with Fallout New Vegas on high settings at native res. I had issues with a couple games - GTA 4 and Splinter Cell Conviction. GTA 4 refused to recognize the nVidia card and would not let me raise the resolution above 800x600, and Splinter Cell would speed up randomly (like fast-forward - very odd). I traced the cause to the new nVidia drivers I was using from the nVidia website. When I used the video drivers from the Acer website (older version I presume), the problems went away. The 425m in my system can handle a mild overclock to 435m clock speeds (650/1300/800). The GPU ran a bit hotter (about 80C after gaming 20 minutes), but seemed stable. I would not overclock it any higher due to heat. In fact, I find it fast enough at stock speeds, so I leave it there.

Hope this helps.

 

Nice review! I've also tried to overclock my 425m a bit. I was able to set core clock to 790mhz when my laptop finally freezed. At 780mhz after about 30min it showed DX problem so then I stopped torturing my laptop. I'm sure that 750mhz core speed would be stable. The best thing that it's possible to overclock 425m to 435m level (650mhz) with no affection in stability. And my CPU ran only about 3C hotter (under load my GPU is about 65C). However, my intel core i5 460m reached 92C under heavy usage (at 3200mhz speed with SHE) so I've lowered the speed to 2500mhz, and it now only reaches 82C (and the frame rate in most games is almost the same). To reduce the heat a little bit I recently started to put something under the back of the laptop to raise it (that's the same as to use 9 cell battery). So now when I use High Performance mode in SHE (3200mhz) my CPU reaches only ~86C at max and the GPU never exceeds 70C even when overclocked to 435m level.

 

I will have to re-check my GPU temps, as I think they were a bit higher than your's. Are you using a notebook cooler?

Also, I had SHE enabled when I got the results I posted in my review. When I ran into problems with those games I mentioned, I reinstalled windows (fresh install) and as part of my troubleshooting I disabled SHE in the BIOS, and also I did not install the Asus Power 4 Gear this time. I am going to compare performance/temperatures without SHE / Power 4 Gear. I don't really like the idea of the CPU (i3 380m) being overclocked in this system, which I believe SHE does in high performance mode. SHE also does something to conserve battery power in Power Saving mode, but I'm not sure what. I'm going to see what kind of battery life I get without SHE / Power 4 Gear. I guess I just don't like the idea of something overclocking/underclocking my hardware without me really knowing what it's doing. If anyone could explain what SHE does, I'd appreciate it.

 

No, I'm not using any cooler. The only thing I do, as I said, I put something under the back of the laptop, so it's raised about 1 cm above table. By doing this, the vent has more space to exhaust hot air. And because the laptop has only one vent for the CPU and the GPU, when I reduce the CPU's speed, it doesn't heat so much and the GPU temps are also lower. By the way, I checked the temps when I've been playing Mafia 2 or running 3d Mark 06. Maybe you've played something that puts more stress on the GPU? That might be the case. Not all games or programs affects the hardware equally.

 

When you did a clean install did you have any problems with the Battery saving features like Optimus?

 

I have not had any issues with Optimus using the Intel and nVidia drivers from the ACER website after the OS reinstall. Just be sure to install Chipset, then Intel Video, then nVidia video drivers in that order immediately after you reinstall the OS. The rest of the drivers can be installed in any order after you do those first three. Then do Windows Update of course.

I did have issues with certain games with the newest nVidia drivers from the nVidia website, however. I documented those issues in my review. For now I'm using the older drivers from Acer with no issues. I'm using all drivers from the Acer website right now, except for the Power 4 Gear utility.

Battery life seems to be the same as before I did the reinstall, so Optimus appears to be switching between gpus seamlessly. It has so far automatically recognized all my games and switched to the nvidia gpu accordingly.

 

Oh ok thanks i am still on the fence i don't want to jump on this i am waiting for the Core i5 SB and USB 3.0 U41 i hope its not to far away.

 

I have looked at a few descriptions of the U41, and one of my worries in contrast to the 4820tg, is that the U41 is noisy. In one review i read about above 40db.... So can any of you U41 owners verify that the laptop really is loud?... And how is it compared to other laptops?

 

It is only loud under heavy load. I never hear the fan unless I'm gaming or encoding video. It seems to have four "levels": silent, quiet, loud, and very loud. I've only heard very loud when I overclocked the gpu a little and was playing a game. When gaming at standard clocks, the fan stays on constantly at level 3 (loud), which I prefer to on-off-on-off (like some HP laptops). My main gripe with the fan noise is that it has a relatively high pitch, which is not pleasant.

I can only compare the fan noise to what I've heard on the HP DV7, Acer 5745dg, and Alienware m11x, and when gaming the U41JF is louder than the Acer and the Alienware, but not as loud as the HP. The Asus is nice when just surfing the net or watching sd video as the fan stays silent. The Alienware and HP seemed to kick in their fans randomly even at idle, and the HP in particular sounded like a hair dryer when it kicked on.

 

OUCH Guess i need to buy this laptop now

"Intel finds Sandy Bridge chipset design flaw, shipments stopped and recalls beginning"

Intel finds Sandy Bridge chipset design flaw, shipments stopped and recalls beginning -- Engadget

Or i'll still wait for at least USB 3.0 and a core i5 come on Asus

 

Hi everybody.
I just got my brand new ASUS U41JF from GenTechPC.

I have the following problem: The touchpad buttons do not respond properly when pressed, especially the left one. If I click normally, the left button does not work at all, except if I do it at the far left side, just next to the end of the button. If I put my finger in the (normal) position closer to the button's center, I need to press hard to get it to work.
Also, If I click on an icon and try to drag 'n' drop it, the dragged item may be released despite my still pressing the button.
Other than these, the actual touchpad is working fine.

Is there any solution to this? I stumbled across a post of a similar problem in a different laptop, where the suggested solution was to "lift the button 1-2mm using a thin instrument (e.g. a thin needle), to allow air to go inside".

Please, help.

Thanks.

 

try to install new touchpad drivers. the above solution might work, but not because of the air, just because it would reinsert the buttons in the correct spot

 

That's one disadvantage to the "rocker" style touchpad buttons. The center is the rocker so you need to press on either end for left or right click. I prefer the two-button system for this reason, especially as I'm left handed and my thumb naturally ends up in the center of the button area.

That said I'm not sure if your U41 has a problem with the button or not. I haven't received mine yet to compare.

 

I was going to order the U35JC for my brother but the U31JJG seems like a better option for a few $$ more on Amazon, since it has a faster cpu/gpu, a better lcd without the horrbile viewing angles (yes?), and about the same battery life. Would like to wait for SB but he needs it now.

Am I right?

 

Mine is the same. No issues with the right button, but the left button is definitely "stiffer" to press if I don't press it far enough toward the left side. I actually did not notice this until you mentioned it, as I rarely press the left touchpad button (usually use external mouse, or I tap the touchpad to click).

 

shipments stopped and recalls beginning for the New Sb i was waiting on one also but now i will have to wait for them to put a i5 and usb 3.0 in the U41


Intel finds Sandy Bridge chipset design flaw, shipments stopped and recalls beginning -- Engadget

 

Can someone conform if U31JG has a better lcd than the ones in U35/UL30 series (with the bad vertical viewing angles)?

 

soooo, how's the LCD screen on these puppies?

 

Thanks for the responses guys.

Mr MM, I looked for new drivers but I have the latest drivers which actually are newer (!) than those provided on the ASUS's product website: they have Synaptics v.15.1.8 of 12-Aug-2010; mine is v.15.1.18 of 08-Oct-2010.
I tried something I found on another website, that is swap the mouse buttons to left-handed orientation and back again. I think there is a slight improvement, although it may be just my getting used to the touchpad.

Overall, I have to say that I'm a bit disappointed by the touchpad, because I've been spoiled by others that feel way better. My previous laptop was an (old) HP nc6320, with a small non-multitouch touchpad, which however felt soooo good to use - especially the two buttons. Also I get to use a MacBook Pro 13.3 every now and then - no way it can be compared to it! Of course the multitouch feature is 50 years behind Apple. To be honest, I don't understand why it is so hard to create a MacBook-like touchpad/clickpad for windows-based laptops.

Anyway, I'll let you know if I find anything new.

Hi Busy_lad.
I got my new U41JF yesterday, so I haven't experienced much yet.
I didn't find any review on the U41JF's screen before purchasing it, so I had to go blind on this.
So, the screen's brightness and colours are quite good for a laptop of this class. I haven't tested it with games yet, so I don't know its behaviour in fast graphics (reponse rates etc).
The two points I'd like to stress are:
(1) the viewing angles are not as good as I expected (especially the vertical, which is not good).
(2) the glossy screen sucks! It reflects everything, even from a very small light source. I need to find a way around this ASAP. I found an anti-glare screen protector on eBay which may do the trick, but I'm afraid that it may worsen the viewing angles even more. (Any suggestions on that are welcome)

 

PC Magazine put up a favorable review of this model here.

Maybe this will help sell more of these laptops. I always thought they had a winner here.

 

Another question (picking the details here):
Is the DVD writer of U41JF LightScribe-enabled?

Checking the LightScribe official website, they say that you can recognize an enabled notebook drive by the "LightScribe disc encoder sensor" on the inside of the tray. I think I did saw that, but it was quite different from the one displayed on the accompanying photo, so I just want to make sure.
FYI, here's the link: FAQ ID # 67 - How can I know if my drive is LightScribe enabled?

 

That review is fantastic, and basically emphasizes all of my feelings about the U41JF. I've had mine for less than a week, and it's an excellent notebook, and I believe currently unmatched in its market niche.

 

AW men tell me about it that review was great i see why they did not add an core I5 option (But no USB 3.0?) i Really want to get this now ....Must wait......Must resist.. per...fect laptop .

 

What I find interesting is that same reviewer panned the U36 heavily for producing too much heat, and he didn't say a word about heat from the U41. Is there really that much difference between the two? Isn't the i5-460M in the U36 basically the same as the U41's i3-380M but with the ability to step up the clock speed under heavy usage? The U41 has a much faster GPU and isn't that much thicker.

I would have expected similar heat output from the two models.

 

i've had it for two weeks now, and it's perfect for what i use it for.

the only gripe i have with it, someone already mentioned, is the "high-ish" pitch noise the fan makes under load (sorry if my terminology is incorrect).
i'll have to live with it, but other than that, great laptop.

edit: for those interested, the only time it actually goes under load for me is when playing starcraft 2. for everything else i use it for, it never reached that level, yet.

 

whether the notebooks are subject to the recall really depends on what SATA ports are used. the recall is for two affected ports, which are not the primary SATA ports. odds are good that a lot of notebooks won't use those ports, and thus won't have any problems with the SB.

 

I hope so. You have any idea what Asus did not put a USB 3.0 in the U41?

 

current chipsets don't include USB 3.0, so it would've required an add-in controller. whether the reason was cost or packaging or something else is hard to say.