Opinions on the N56JR..

It seems to be working now. I have since returned a sata to usb hdd adapter that took less than a fraction of a mm to disconnect the connection. Also, the same hdd enclosures and cables I have now were previously not working. It may have been a bad usb cable/connection or that the usb ports are recessed too far into the laptop so some cables don't contact enough. Things seem to be connecting better now. I'll keep an eye on things. There are errors on the first C: partitions of the connected hdd's so I also suspect windows doesn't like that.

- - - - - Can I close the lid of my laptop and place it vertical providing I don't block the vents?

I have a question. If I use an external monitor on a desktop in an area without much space, and I tell the laptop to do nothing (not to sleep nor to turn off) when I close the lid, can I place the laptop in a vertical orientation? Obviously I would make sure the vents are not blocked. If it is ok to close the laptop and place it vertically, what would be the best orientation? Perhaps with the exhaust vents facing up or again, just making sure the intake and exhaust vents are simply not blocked?

If it's ok, does anybody have a suggestion for a simple stand?

 

If I put my PC in vertical the hdd will start to clicking loud, it may affect the spinning needle

 

I'm getting ready to place my order for this. I just wanted to double check that the link previously posted on the geforce.com site regarding updating to Windows 8.1 is a successful solution? Has anyone here followed the steps there AND continued using the laptop without issue using the updated drivers and Windows 8.1?

I do have an 8.1 Pro license I may update to anyways, but I'm not sure if there will be any driver issues or otherwise unforseen issues.

Just trying to be sure before shelling out a thousand bucks. Thanks!

Brent

 

I used the solution and don't get the error anymore, the update from 8 to 8.1 is free

 

After asking this I was thinking the laptop PC should work vertically unless laptop hdd are different than desktop hdd. All external hdd enclosures are vertical.

Is anybody experiencing eye strain with this laptop? I have an N56JR and I am finding I get eye strain with this laptop. It could be any number of things. It could be presbyopia affecting me as I will be 44 this year, and the the smaller, higher resolution screen does have smaller text (compared to the 17" 4:3 lcd's I use at home and work), or it could be the led backlight, and/or the graphics drivers.

Anybody else experiencing eye strain? I will ask in the Asus forum at large.

 

Great, thanks! I just know that when trying other solutions, it would seem to work for a couple of days and then it would break again. So I'm encouraged by this.

I went ahead and ordered. It says expected ship date of the 21st, four days after I ordered. Does it usually take that long for things to leave their warehouse at Microcenter? I mean, I can obviously survive, but I would love to hear that things get shipped pretty quickly! Excited to try out the new machine!

Brent

 

Hey Kevn-- I downloaded the latest Version V11.5.9.1
Steps I followed-- I uninstalled the Asus Gesture --- restarted ( Asus gesture has been causing my cursor to freeze at least once a day) This is my 2nd PC from B&H already with the same issue.
Installed 11,5.9.1 --- It seems to resinstall Asus Gesture?

Am i missing something? I was looking for a setting to change the touchpad Sensitivity? Also correct the freezing of the cursor occuring from the Asus Smart Gesture software (the PC doesnt freeze, I can still control it via keyboard)

 

How do I turn down the sensitivity? I cant find that setting anywhere---been looking for a week!

 

Will upgrading to 8.1 make text look better? I was having eye strain issues and to trouble shoot, I am outputting to my older 17" lcd that was perfectly fine with XP Pro. Now with the Win 8 output from this asus laptop, the text looks like crap. Do I need to downgrade to windows 7?

 

Did you remove the driver and reboot the PC after? Load the driver after the reboot. Don't install to overwrite it.

 

Kevin--
IStep1 -> went to the control panel and uninstalled the Asus Gesture Software-
Step2 -> Restarted
Step3 -> Installed the Elantech software 11.5.9.1
Step4 -> Restarted
Step5 -> The Asus Gesture software is available again in the taskbar & I do not see any Elantech items in the control panel.

Did I do something incorrectly?

 

Kevin-- another strange note
Even though the item in the taskbar says "Asus Smart Gesture"
I went into the control panel to add/remove software--- and "ASUS smart gesture" is not installed --- However-- ETDWare is installed---

 

hi I need some help. I did a fresh install of windows 8 after installing a ssd. I used a windows 8 iso i downloaded and it was activated automatically from my bios.

My question is how do i update to the newest bios i am currently on 203. I downloaded the latest bios from the asus website (201) and tried to flash it in the bios using easy flash but it tells me that model name does not match.

I also tried to dl the windows bios flash utility but when it installs it says only can be used with asus note book (which this is)

If anyone one has any ideas it would be greatly appreciated thank you.

Btw my bios says also the name is american megatrends inc n56jr203.

Thanks!

 

In windows 8.1 (and 8) you can configure the size of the texts, if in the 8.1 the text become blurry you nerd to use that option

 

Scaling text in windows and apps works ok, and improves readability by making text larger, but it does not reduce eye strain enough. It does not eliminate it.

Here is what text looks like on my 17" monitor output from my Asus laptop with Windows 8.

http://img163.imageshack.us/img163/6264/browserfontantialiasing.png


This is not my screen capture but it's almost exactly what I see on my external monitor which never looked like that before with Win XP Pro. It is from somebody named Jacob W. Klein on the answers dot microsoft dot com website. I see text like on the left at work, and used to see that on my 17" lcd with XP Pro. Now I see the text on the right from the Asus windows 8 laptop output to my 17" lcd. The text on the laptop is a bit nicer (smoother) because of higher resolution, but still has enough blur or softness to cause eye strain. NO combination of windows or chrome or other application scaling or not scaling helps enough to reduce or eliminate eye fatigue. Clear Type must be used or text is even worse.

I am thinking about dual-booting and/or downgrading to windows 7.

 

Adjust the refresh rate. It's stuck at 59hz. Go up to 60hz and you'll have clear text.
I upgraded my system. I added a 240GB XLR8 non-pro SSD. System flies. Just by upgrading to Windows 8.1 and adding an SSD(YOU NEED TO BE CAREFUL WHICH ONE YOU CHOOSE. Look at how much power they draw). I can successfully get 6+ hours watching videos in HD.

Edit: Here's a video. HDD = 1+ minutes until fully operational.
SSD = 9 seconds until fully operational.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cZ0j9c0NRd8

I also added a script. I'm coming from a macbook pro and I liked how with one push of a button i could decrease or increase the volume levels. With this device, i had to use the Fn Key and F11 or F12.
Now i'm lowering and increasing volume without using the fn key

 

What about this article regarding windows 8.1 blurriness?

windows 8.1 update blurred Fonts how to fix? computer doesnt seem - Microsoft Community

Hope this helps.

 

My laptop appears to be using the intel gpu and the two options I see are 60 Hz and 40 Hz and it is at 60 Hz. Changing to 40 Hz does not help.

Is there a way for me to force my laptop to use the nVidia gpu only?
Will updating the nVidia drivers help?

Yeah, I don't know what to make of this. It seems so strange because it seems universal and yet I don't see people talking about the problem everywhere. It's coming up more and more, I just thought it would be everywhere.

I am wondering if I should risk upgrading to 8.1 (it seems like it makes things worse at first, until you correct an issue)...or go through the hassle of downgrading to Windows 7. I would like Win7.

Is it difficult to downgrade to Windows 7? Drivers? Bios etc?

 

I was force to upgrade to windows 8 cause I didn't have any win 7 keys. So I did a system image recovery with the original hdd on a usb stick and port it over to the new ssd upgrade. Once I upgraded to win 8.1, fonts blur on me in chrome and I wonder why....I use the fix and everything clear up. The blurriness is due to the win 8.1 and the fix did it...It seems the support is heading towards win 8...You have to search around for win 7 drivers. I don't think you really need to change any bios unless needed.

 

So with the fix, is windows 8 and 8.1 the same in terms of sharpness? Blurry or soft? Which is sharper looking? Windows 8 or 8.1 after the fix?

 

Yes. The fix pertains to windows 8.1. I had no display issues with windows 8. After the upgrade, the blur occurred in Chrome. I switch to IE and it was sharp. Switch back to Chrome, it was blur before the fix. I apply the fix and the issue was resolved in Chrome, just like windows 8. Everything is sharp now...I can just leave it at medium fonts or blow it up a bit to large. But I would always maintain the resolution at 1920 x 1080...btw i was able change the wifi card after carefully dremel (shaving) part of the plastic to remove the screw....a very happy camper with 802.1 ac in there....

 

Hi y'all! I'm new to this forum and all those computer stuffs!
I managed to buy a N56jr-mh71 and I just received it!

It's a gift for my brother getting in engenineering so i wanted to swap the HDD for a SSD and put the original HDD in the optical bay
I 'd like if someone can explain to me step by step how to do it and reinstall the OS W8 OEM
*Thx

 

I swapped the hdd with a samsung 840 evo (best bang for your buck). Used the samsung data migration software that came with it to clone the hard drive. Everything went very smooth. I do suggest getting a usb 3.0 sata to usb cable though as my clone took about an hour. After that, if you don't use the DVD drive, buy a DVD to sata caddy and install the old drive into that.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

First, you need atleast 16gb usb stick will do, a 32gb stick better. Create the system imaginery recovery on the stick. Make sure its a new stick bc the system imaginery recovery will wipe out anything you have on it. Do all this before you swap the drives out.
I got the Samsung 840 EVO 250GB SSD...you just miss a sale recently...swap out the drives and use the recovery usb to boot up. This will re-install win 8 OEM on to your new drive. Save this stick somewhere and not write anything else to it...you need to flip back a few pages here to see what caddy you need to buy to swap optical
bay and find a youtube video to see how to replace it...I haven't done this part...see pg 45 or posts 445-450. Good Luck.

 

Thx Rhodes588 & gongtowjai!!

I performed the manip! Created the recovery unit using Asus backtracker and also swap the hdd
Update most of the drivers and everything looks ok since 12 hours now...

I've just one last question! As I installed the original OS on the SSD, is it gonna instal a recovery partition too??

 

Yes...it should mirror the hdd. Mine did. What looks on the hdd is the same on the ssd for me except for the partition size difference.

 

I received my ASUS N56JR-MH71 from Microcenter yesterday. I'll post a full review when I've had more time with it, but I just have to say that so far, this is a spectacular laptop. It's well built and feels good. The keys aren't clicky and feel good when typing, the look is very sleek, the screen is bright, the power is excellent.....it's a good laptop.

The trackpad is larger than my old laptop, so I've had to get used to it since previously, one of my other fingers would linger around the edge of the trackpad. On this one, that lingering finger ends up ON the trackpad at times. But I'll get used to it.

The sound is pretty good, especially with the sub-woofer. It's MUCH MUCH MUCH better than my old laptop, and I really can't complain. It's especially good once you figure in the MaxxAudio sound settings(the company that makes the MaxxAudio plugin is one of the best audio plugin companies around, and this plugin for a professional studio would go for anywhere from $200-$600). I come from an audio production background, so I will say that small tweaks work best and it can take a little tweaking of the settings to get it just right, but it can really improve the balance and power of the sound if you know what you're doing. The speakers on this model are on TOP above the keyboard, and not in the front like the N550. So they project well.

It does have Bluetooth as well, just to confirm.

Also, the trackpad mouse gestures work great, along with using the mouse and keyboard. So not having the touchscreen is really no problem. Still getting used to a few things with Windows 8(though I was already familiar with it since my wife has a Surface Pro and I use that sometimes), but it really is an excellent OS that is, in most respects, better than Windows 7 once you get used to it. And I'm a BIG Windows 7 person.

I actually updated to Windows 8.1 last night and had no problems. I didn't have to update the bios as my laptop already had a NEWER version of 204 than the latest one on the ASUS website. After updating to 8.1, I didn't seem to have any problems with the graphics card being detected, probably because the bios on this machine was already updated.

So I went to the ASUS site and searched for "VGA" on their downloads page, and found the newest NVidia drivers that had been uploaded on March 14, 2014.

Before updated, I took the battery out and ran purely on AC, as suggested on the NVidia site. Then I just ran the installer I had downloaded from ASUS, and I now have version 332.50 of the NVidia drivers. They aren't the newest drivers, but since the laptop came with version 311 of the drivers, it's much better.

So far, I have yet to get any errors for the graphics card. It's detected by everything and games play fine. I'll update this thread if I have any problems, but I really couldn't have asked for an easier time with getting them installed.

More thoughts to come later. I love this laptop so far.

Brent

 

Just as a followup to my post above, I noticed that the latest version of the NVidia drivers at the ASUS site didn't include the GeForce experience. So I decided to attempt to install the latest drivers from the NVidia page. From previous experience with my old ASUS laptop, I was always able to install manufacturer drivers or the ASUS ones, as long as I didn't let the ASUS updater overwrite it.

So I downloaded the 335.23 drivers from the NVidia site, installed them, and all seems to be working well. I haven't played any heavy games yet with it, but everything is still detected just fine.

So I'm guessing the bios may be the biggest culprit behind the issues people have had. Between that and doing the initial update with the battery out, I've had no issues whatsoever.

Stay tuned. I'll post here if I have any problems. So far, so good!

Brent

 

Can anyone post step by step directions on how to change the sensitivity of the touchpad?

 

great news brandall, so you installed a pure nvidia driver from their website without any issue ? they didn't pop up that you don't have the correct hardware ?

does any one have a color profile calculated with a probe for the LG screen of our N56JR ?
thnx

 

Yep, I did! It installed as easily as it does on my desktop for my gaming machine. Detected the card, installed, done.

I first followed the instructions on the Geforce thread mentioned earlier, and then installed the Nvidia direct one. I don't know if the NVidia one would have worked without doing the other stuff first or not, so you may even get it to work right away if you have the bios updated(see step 1 below).

To make it simple, here is what I did for those who don't want to search around:

1. Make sure the bios is version 204. Mine came with a version of 204 already and I didn't have to update it. In fact, when trying to use the latest version from the ASUS site, it told me I had a newer version already. But I think this particular step is an important part of the puzzle, so double check it. You can download 204 from the ASUS support site, and use the Winflash utility already installed on the N56JR to install if you wish.

2. Install Windows 8.1. You need to have some other Windows updates installed to do this, but doesn't take too long.

3. Remove the battery(not sure if this is necessary, but it may help the system fully power up the NVidia card to be detected)

4. Search for "VGA" on the ASUS site( ASUS Service | North America, then select "Download Drivers, BIOS, Manuals, and Firmware", then search for "VGA" in the search box(NOT your model number, just "VGA"), then select your operating system(8.1 64-bit in this case), then the first "VGA" option(as there will be several). This will bring you to a list of drivers. Use the latest NVidia one.

3. Install the driver you just downloaded. I personally recommend to check the box to do a clean install, though I don't know if it's necessary. Restart your computer.

4. Play some games! Once you've confirmed it's all working, put the battery back in and have fun.

5. If you decide to update further, go to the NVidia site and navigate to the drivers page and select your model, etc. Download it and run it like you would for any other card. I did NOT choose a clean install for this one, though you can.

In the end though, I have yet to have any problems whatsoever. Both the NVidia control panel and GeForce Experience are there, and both detect the card and the latest drivers. The option to select which GPU to use when launching a game is still in the context menu, and games still run on it. No errors, no crashes, no issues that I can see.

Also, I haven't even tried to update any other drivers. Everything works well, including all special function controls and gestures, laptop controls(volume, key backlights, etc.).

*obviously, do all this at your own risk. It worked for me so far, and I'm guessing it should work the same for everyone

Brent

 

Please could you explain what script you wrote for the fn keys and how you applied it? Did you use a program like AutoHotkey? Was it difficult? I have been searching for this and its driving me nuts! Should also mention I have no programming/scripting knowledge!

 

Please could you explain what script you wrote for the fn keys and how you applied it? Did you use a program like AutoHotkey? Was it difficult? I have been searching for this and its driving me nuts! Should also mention I have no programming/scripting knowledge!

 

Hi,

I've noticed that ASUS is currently selling a ROG laptop (G56JR) which is, to say the least, very similar to the N56JR :

- ASUS G56JR-CN199H ordinateur portable - GrosBill.com (french)

- Asus G56JR-CN199H, 15.6″ Full HD mat avec GTX 760M, Core i7 Haswell, 8 Go, 750 Go 7200tr à 999 (french)

- http://www.asus.com/Notebooks_Ultrabooks/G56JR/#overview

One noticeable difference is that it is directly sold with Windows 8.1.

The asus.com website offers Windows 8.1 compatible drivers, including graphic cards drivers (released in february for the NVIDIA driver).

Has anyone tried to install these drivers on an N56JR ?

Thanks.

 

pleas no one have done it ?? it is same panel with N56vz, so if you have a link this will help a lot, thank you

 

You need to install ALL partitions except the last one which is for data and you need to do it manually.
This computer does not have a windows 8 key.
You'd need at least a 240gb ssd.

And i HATE the trackpad. It's so inconsistent. Also, when upgrading to windows 8.1 you need to install the 332.60 mobile driver.

 

for the trackpad, i advise you to install elantec driver and uninstall asus gesture manager, i have a much better trackpad after i've done this.

 

Im thinking of getting this computer, for school and gaming.
I have some simple questions that Id like to know the answers to.

1. In general, is this laptop on the hot or cold side.
2. How long does the battery last while playing a not to-demanding game and also listening to music on youtube in the background.
3. Does this laptop stream (via twitch tv) well? Does it slow down majorly?
4. I've seen some comments about Windows 8.1 and how this computer's hardware makes the GPU not work or something? Can someone explain if this is a big problem and if it can/how it can be solved
5. Would using a headset and mouse be bulky and awkward with this laptop?
6. Would a keyboard need to be used for some serious gaming?

Thanks!
(Sorry if these questions are dumb or the answers can be found easily and I just missed them.)

 

But does this still allow all the gestures and customization? I've had the gestures stop working twice, though it's easy to fix it and only takes 15 seconds. But I'd like to have a better working driver that still has the gestures.

Brent

 

1. Not hot at all. It may get a little warmer during intense gaming, but I keep expecting it to get hotter, and it doesn't.
2. Battery during gaming may give you an hour or two. Normal usage of the laptop gives you between 3 and 4 hours total probably, at the most, depending on if you are playing video, just browsing, or leaving some music running in the background.
3. Haven't tried this, but I imagine it won't have problems if other machines don't. Probably depends on your connection?
4. Not a problem. See my posts on the previous page. I'm running 8.1 with the latest NVidia drivers without issue for days now.
5. No? No more than any other laptop. Not sure exactly what you think the problem might be though.
6. No. The keyboard works fine. It's a laptop keyboard. No contours or anything like that. It's a flat keyboard. If you are used to something else, it may take some getting used to. But it's a laptop keyboard and will feel like one.

Brent

 

Thanks Brent!

 

yes i have all asus gesture and more with the stock elantec driver, trackpad is working like a sharm since i moved to the official elantec driver.
just give it a try, i'm using version 10.5.9 .

 

Where do I download the official driver? I found a newer Elantech driver on the ASUS support site. Is that it? Or is there a more universal place to download? Google brings up tons of manufacturer websites, but no sign of an Elantech home page or anything.

Brent

 

Hey guys I've had this laptop for over a month and a half now and man this thing is beast!!!
Unfortunately, I've discovered another issue (one being the erratic touchpad)... When I plug in my external harddrive to any of the right usb ports, it does not get recognized, but gets powered on and I can hear the disc running... When I plug it into any of the left usb ports, It gets recognized and runs as it should.... Weird thing is that When I plug in any other devices to the right usb ports, like mouse or keyboard, it runs normally... just the harddrive does not get recognized.... Any input on this??

 

I just plugged in my 3.5 inch external Seagate drive(bus powered), and it worked just fine on the right side. I also have my mouse plugged into that side. So no problems here that I can see.

Brent

 

all my usb ports are working well with my external hard drive, but when i plug my phone to the left down usb port it continuously plug in and out it self, this doesn't happen with other phones or other plugged things, only with my phone ! , so i just avoid it, it look like it is not compatible with that usb port, weird behaviour.

 

Do you always use the same cable for that phone? Maybe slight differences in that cable vs that port.

 

tried original 3.0 USB ( it's a galaxy note 3) and hdd 3.0 cable and 2.0 cable, all had same problem on that port !
but working on all the others, so i just avoid using it.

 

the port on the down left is an offline charger USB , maybe its getting conflicted with the USB charger program

 

Anyone know where I can download the correct official Elantech mouse drivers? I downloaded a newer version from the ASUS site and actually lost a little functionality, so I think I may have needed to uninstall the ones that I had first. I think they were conflicting.

But I still can't see where to download them outside of the ASUS site. All other download locations are from other laptop manufacturers, so I'm not sure exactly which one I'm supposed to be looking for.

Thanks.

Brent