fellow U2E users?

Hello!

A 14 months old but "only slightly used and A1 condition", entry-level (U7500, no SSD) Asus U2E is in the mail now. £450 (or around $740) was just the deal I was looking for.

Any other u2e users around? Have you done anything about the noise? Does the latest BIOS affect it (changes thermal policy, says on the can)? Is the fan switchable, is it difficult to get to? So many questions...

I'll be installing Windows 7 RC the minute this thing arrives. Can't wait, really.

Posting pictures is possible, if anybody wants to compare this 15.4" beast alongside the 11" u2e.

Cheers,

ruoste

 

I gather you are concerned about fan noise?

Besides updating to latest BIOS to see if the fan policy is optimize, if the computer has been used for a while, it wouldn't hurt to see if the fan isn't clogged with dust. Who knows how careful the previous owner was...

What do you mean by the fan being switchable? We don't seem to have a U2 disassembly guide.

PS: Obviously I'm not an owner.

 

Hi E.B.E.,

Found this while hogging all U2E related:
http://www.anandtech.com/mobile/showdoc.aspx?i=3286&p=4

I haven't witnessed the noise yet, but it already concerns me since it's mentioned in a lot in reviews. The fan probably isn't switchable, that's just a thought... If there's room for a slightly bigger and quieter one (probably isn't), why not? I'm not macgyver though.

 

Hi rouste!

I bought my U2E last august in sweden and not until recently I was able to control the fan with Notebook Hardware Control, a free program. Now I'm running windows xp on it, and it is so quiet and fast, and it runs at about 55-58C. Now I love the U2E and vill not sell it anymore. Vista or Win7 the 32 bits editions works ok but not the x64, which seems to much for the processer, as it gets very slow.
BTW the bios update to 204 now fixes the LCD brightness bug in Windows XP!
So, once you get your U2E let's get some discussions going about the U2E.

 

Greetings steberg,

Sounds great! Where did you find the NHC acpi files for U2E?

It seems NHC doesn't work with win7. How'd you install XP on it? Did you need a separate licence?

 

By trial and error I was able to just change one line in the Asustek.xml file in NHC ACPI subfolder. It read first;

"Model name="F3JP" location="MAINBOARD" class='F3JP' file="ASUSTeK.cs" to

"Model name="U2E" location="MAINBOARD" class='F3JP' file="ASUSTeK.cs"

That did the trick. I also opened up the laptop and applied AS5 on the CPU which has helped a lot.

I have an old A6Ja that I dont use anymore, it has a windows xp pro recovery cd for ASUS, i used that and it worked.

There is a new NHC in the works for only Vista x86, not for xp or any x64 editions, maybe that will work with win 7 x86... I have not tried NHC when I had Win 7 installed.

 

Hi,

I'mabout to purchase an U2e myself and thought I would jump in on this forum. I'm looking at the 1.2 ghz unit. Would you say it is fast enough for Vista/Win 7 or should I run XP on it? I'm coming from an EEE 1000H, so I'm expecting a boost in performance with the U2e. Also how silent would you say the computer is when using the Fan Utility you mention? I really would like to avoid opening up the computer to apply thermalpaste as you descripe, but I hate fannoise.

 

Hi,

I'm about to buy an U2E and thought I would join the forum. I have a few questions before I order though.
Would you say it's fastenough for Win Vista/Win 7? (I'm looking at the 1.2 ghz version with 3 gb ram). I'm comming from an EEE 1000H and I'm hoping for a performanceboost.
Was the computer silent enough when you installed the fan control utility you mention? I only need it to be silent when I'm writing or browsing a little (school usage) so it only has to be silent on the lowest power setting.
I was hoping to avoid opening the computer.
The mini-dvi connector looks like a hdmi-port. Do you know if it will transfer sound and picture when connection via hdmi?

Thanks in advance, Tejs

 

Hi Tejs!

The HDMI port will only transfer picture, since it is a µ-HDMI. It works with my 42" TV since I connect the audio via audio-in.

It can handle Vista and Windows 7 32-bits editions well. When I tried the 64-bits edition it was slower on both Vista and Win7. I have the 1,2GHz modell.

The fan noise without NHC was fairly loud, but with NHC it's excellent, sometimes it gets loud when the computer works harder, but once it slows down the fan also slows down, something it did not do before, it would keep constant speed all the time.

 

Hi Steeberg,

Thanks for the reply. Sounds like what I was hoping to hear. My EEE 1000 was also very noisy when I got it and the fan was constantly on, but that problem stopped when I started using a fan-controlling utility. Perhaps Asus are just a bit conservative with their fan-settings. As I wrote I only need it to be quiet when I'm at school, so it sounds like NHC is the solution for me.

I read a few other posts by you aout this machine. I think it was you who mentioned, that the buildquality wasn't as good as you expected. I'm getting a pretty good deal on the machine so I'll be paying about 750 $ for a new machine. From your posts here I take it you would say it's worth that?
Also what kind of batterylife are you getting from the two different batteries?

 

Hi, the keyboard had some flex, but it was easily fixed. Now I'm very content with the U2E. My problem was with the fan noise, but now when that is fixed I feel it's a very good notebook, and the screen is awesome!

I have the 3cell and 6cell and with normal use I get around 2,5h and 5h on each battery. I'm also in university and I will bring it with me now when it's so quiet.

 

Hi! My U2E arrived as expected. Some amazing design, definitely. It's U7600 1.20ghz after all, a nice surprise. After a few days of usage, here's some thoughts.

- the keyboard is excellent, although I miss dedicated "home" and "end" keys. Very easy to get used to.
- Windows 7 works great and haven't noticed the slightest lag anywhere, also NHC installed without a problem, and Asus' Vista drivers.
- The fan is audible, though not bad out of the box. I followed steberg's advice and without any tinkering, just setting up the ACPI for NHC, this thing is now almost completely quiet, and temps stay at 60c max in normal use. Does feel a bit warmer on lap now, though.
- The screen is my only disappoitment. The viewing angles are pretty lousy. Vertically the screen must be pretty accurately tilted. Tilting the screen towards you a bit, the bottom third of the screen starts to dim first, and that is a definite annoyance. Can anyone else confirm this, or is it just my screen?
- got the 6-cell battery too, and 5 hours seems pretty accurate, pretty happy with it.
- Build quality is great, no squeky or loose parts. Solid and surprisingly sturdy.

Overall I'm very satisfied, even the screen is everything I expected when in the right angle.

Tejs, if you want another opinion on your deal - 750$ for a new unit is a bargain. A steal if you know U2E is what you want. And if you're upgrading from an Eee, this is definitely it. The screen, keyboard and performance upgrades are obviously huge. This is a full-blown workhorse that can run any 32bit Windows without a problem. Toss the netbook.