New A8Jm Review

Hello,

This is my own personal review on the A8Jm which I bought through P1. Nope, notebookreview.com didn't want mine, but I wrote it anyways because I got so much input from users here that I wanted to try to give something back.

A8Jm Review

Sorry to link to it, I wrote it in wordpress and I don't have it in me to rewrite it. Also, having it there allows me to make changes easily and control it all.

 

that screen issue you're having is unnacceptable, especially considering the ripoff $400 upgrade price.
I got the same machine (granted in base config.) for $1350
can you honestly say you're is worth more than double mine ?

good review otherwise though

 

nice review.

 

I can agree that I paid A LOT. But, and I feel like a total jerk saying it, money wasn't an issue this one time - so I couldn't help but upgrade everything.

 

Nice review, congrats on the purchase...

 

well, if money isn't an issue, then I guess you made the right choice.
you have a beast!
more powerful than most 17" lappy's

 

no man. the a8jm stocked is a beast. he's got a demon

 

All I have to say is this. I wish I had your a8jm...

 

great, we were all happy with our beasts, now we all want a demon

 

Thanks for the review!

 

I basically have the same system sans the UVA, and let me tell you, I'm REALLY regretting not getting the upgraded LCD =(

 

Okay, I want to test for 3Dmark05, I did it earlier and got suprisingly low scores. I guess i need to close some unneeded applications, but nothing is really hogging too much memory, any suggestions? Also, I am considering trying some minor overclocking of the GPU, what do you recommend?

 

With 512mb of dedicated ram, you shouldn't need to overclock it, I know I wouldn't. But, its all up to you.

 

I can't seem to open your link, maybe the site is down?

I'm just using the Coolbits registry tweak which you can easily find via Google. Benefits aren't that great-I got mine up to 520/421 and got 4260 3DMarks (somewhat lower 'cause I don't have dual-channel, expect higher if you do). However I think it was getting too hot because I'd have occasional pauses in intensive games, so I toned it down to 511 without any stability problems.

After two weeks I'm noticing the graininess of this LCD and I am not impressed. It's somewhat grainy and just lacks the sharpness of my desktop LCD. It'll do for use but now I'm seriously considering either getting a replacement screen (unlikely, cost is prohibitive) or an external monitor. The DVI cable is looking more and more appealing. Hopefully I'll be able to read your review soon and see what you did lol

Edit: some movies (read: March of the Penguins) don't look that hot, but Narnia looks good. I'm still not too sure about accuracy of color reproduction and the graininess is still kind of annoying but I don't think I'll be spending any more any time soon.

 

your review was so good that i'm actually considering the A8Jm. i can't make up my mind between w7j and the a8jm!! which would be more 64-bit reliable you think?

 

The specs look nearly identical except in video, where the A8JM should crush the W7J (but only in games). No DVI port on the W7J. Screen size less than 1" difference, same resolution. Same price. Am I missing something, I don't really see any reason to go with the W7J over the A8JM?

 

Sorry, link was down...should be up again. I just updated the 3Dmark scores...still I'm alittle disappointed - i wanted to break 4000, but i'm falling just short, which i doubt is very noticable in gameplay.

The DVI port is great. I purchased an external monitor and plugged it in, set it to multiple monitor, and within a minute i had an extended desktop with some serious workspace - beautitful. Unfortunetly I packed the monitor back up for school and didn't get a chance for a picture; take my word for it...it's amazing.

 

Overall built quality. While the A8JM is well built, its quality (it uses better materials) isn't on par with the W series. Its like comparing Honda with Acura. Both are good, well built, but acura are much nicer. People may spend more money for that feature. In addition, it also has the swappable optical bay which may be useful for some.

 

That's true. As I've looked for a notebook it's very frustrating. Yes the W series is built better but why cant they put the better video in it too? Why does the lesser model have a DVI port but the W series doesn't? It makes heads want to explode trying to make sense of it.

 

Still not working for me, but then I'm in China right now. Still I don't think that's it unless you have some kind of forbidden word on your site =P.

Just so you know for overclocking, no one on the forum's had much luck with the memory. The core, though, seems to go quite far. Everyone I know who's tried has hit at least 500.

I wish I had something to take with me to make use of the DVI but I have to leave both the monitor and the DLP TV at home when I head to university. Since tuition fees just came by like 2 weeks ago, I'm just seeing all the 30" LCDs that I'd otherwise be able to buy flying by...rofl

 

Great review...thanks for taking the time to write it!

 

I don't think the W7J has a swappable optical bay.. only the W3J does..

 

opps, just went back to make sure this morning... My bad, I thought he was comparing the W3J vs A8Jm, not the W7J. Thanks Darrick for catching my sloppy mistake.

 

i suppose we may see it in the next revision...ppl complained enough about having svideo out and now we have that in place of a usb port..so we'll see

 

i bought an a8jm very recently...
very quiet normally...
but you might want to be concerned about the cd-rom drive...

not too sure how loud other laptop cd drives are (first laptop). but the one on this is fairly loud and sort of shakes the machine

otherwise it's nice =)

 

Most laptop OD's are loud and noisy, because they are so small and thin, even worse on Super Thin drives(like the one son the V6) - but the Disc quality could also be a factor.

 

good tool to slow down the cd drive is
http://www.cd-bremse.de/
it's in german, yes, but it's pretty easy to use, without understanding any german...



could you do me a favour and look up which audio-chip is used in the A8jm?
Any Realtek ALC8xx?

Thanks a lot!

greets,
apollo

 

It's a SoundMax, not a RealTek.