Just got this. Looked at it for a few days on to get detailed specs and customer reviews before purchasing. I only bought it on amazon because the next day shipping was cheaper (about $) and the computer itself was $ less on amazon.
Haven't pushed the pedal to the metal as far as ram, HDD, and CPU go. There is an overclocking speed (called Turbo Boost) that is automatic. With windows 7 (instaleld) the Turbo Boost app lets you see the CPU ramping up. It shows that the CPU rutinely goes up to 2.6 Ghz when opening an application (not very intensive work) so I am not sure how accurate the gadget is, but we'll see. When compared to what else is out there, this coputer has much more for your money and is actually cheaper than many laptops with less power/graphics capability/coolness. Look at the prices at Best Buy for an Core i3 laptop. They are nearly $1000 and don't have as much ram, video memory, or upgrade potential. This is a Core i7, much more powerful and is less than alot of the laptops out there. Plus, Asus has a 1 year accidental warranty. Tops!
Pros:
-Amazon said it would be Brown, mine was black when I got it. Brown is ugly anyway!
You can create a recovery DVD to fix everything in the event you scrw something up. Also, has a bootup recovery option built in, so even if you don;t have the disks, it can be recovered.
1 year replacement/repair "i dropped it in a pool" warranty.
-Shipping. For the price of the computer, get the 30.00 next day. I order by 3:00PM on thursday and had the computer booted up at 3:15PM friday.
-Nice looking computer. Great sound. Great price. (You can get a lesser model without the i7 CPU from Best Buy for 999.00)
-USB 3.0 is nice touch. Cool touchpad with "gesture" recognition.
-I like the screen. The resolution is said to be a little low/poor for the machine, but I do not yet find it to be a problem. You can zoom in and out using the touchpad and gestureing, so if the icons look to big/small, you can change it up without messing with screen resolution. Basically, you can keep it in 1377x768 mode. HD screen looks good to me. Bright too.
-HDMI output! You can hook this thing up to your big ass HD flat screen.
With Windows 7, some "gadgets" aka iphone style "apps" that can be installed to the desktop require 32bit. This computer has the 64bit Windows 7 so you have to do some playin around to get those gadgets to work. Pandora is one of those. However, you can have a applet for Pandor Radio on the desktop without needing an open internet explorer window. Cool!
POwer saving one-touch button. NOt sure how effcient it is yet.
So far, Windows 7 is not that bad. Yet. :)
CONS:
A lot of "bloatware" on this baby. You have to sort throught it all and see what you like/don;t like and uninstall whatever you can live without.
At initial boot up, 80 processes running! Ouch. 33% of RAM in use. That's over a Gig. Trim down the fat and you should be good.
-The first time I launched the "See how cool this Asus computer is" demo, I needed to lower the volume. Whn I did so, the computer locked up, blaring a annoying sound. I had to hold th epower button for 4 sec to turn off manually. Not cool. After that though, all seems cool.
The keyboard is a little cheap, has some play to it. Go to Best BUy and type on one of their floor models to see if it is bad for you or not. Not a deal breaker for me, but kinda lame. The "full size keyboard is not true, it is laptop sized with a number padd on the right. The arrow keys (if you play games or use spreadsheets) are small and you can easily miss them and hit the 0 or control key.
With Windows 7, some "gadgets" aka iphone style "apps" that can be installed to the desktop require 32bit. This computer has the 64bit Windows 7 so you have to do some playin around to get those gadgets to work. Pandora is one of those. However, you can have a applet for Pandor Radio on the desktop without needing an open internet explorer window. Cool!
A lot of Asus "this and that" programs to deal with. I uninstalled half of them.
BOTTOM LINE:
Buy it. Remove what you don't like. Great deal. If you were going to spend 800, drop an extra 2 bills and get this one. If you were going to spend 1200, save you money and get yourself a case for this one once you buy it.
My two concerns when purchasing this laptop were:
A.) The Brown Color (it looks pretty brown and ugly in Amazon's photos)
B.) The Screen resolution of 1366 x 768
And upon receiving the product, this is what I've found
A.) While it is brown, its a VERY dark brown that appears black in most lighting conditions. Only under direct light or white light does this even resemble a brown color. It does not look like that milky chocolate brown in the Amazon photos.
B.) The screen resolution (1366 x 768) is a tough pill to swallow. The 768 vertical resolution is really hard to handle if you are used to laptops with higher screen resolutions. The amount of vertical scrolling and real estate for multiple windows opened at the same time is difficult with this resolution. This is not really a deal breaker for me because I have this connected to multiple external monitors, but if you intend to use the laptop screen as your primary display device, this screen resoultion is pretty poor. Its probably fine for watching DVDs or playing games at high settings so the native resolution can handle it, but I would have really preferred 1600 x 900.
With that said, this ASUS N61 laptop is absolutely fantastic. The build quality is excellent. Its a very solid, sturdy built machine with no flex in the display or the keyboard. It looks great with a clean polished look without all the ridiculous gaming machine graphics all over it. It has better than average sound quality and the display (aside from the screen resolution) looks great. I found the battery life to be more than acceptable because this has a quad-core processor and a 7,200 RPM drive with a fairly small battery (I dont want a big heavy battery). I'm getting a little over 2 hours, which I consider very good all things considered.
I previously owned a Sony F Series laptop with the Intel i7 processor and the Sony had EXTREMELY loud fan noise trying to keep it cool. I was scared at purchasing another i7 because I thought they were all like that, but that is not the case with this ASUS. The fan is very quiet. At idle its whisper quiet and under load it revs up but its a lot quieter than the Sony was. It also has a special power setting that keeps it quiet (perfect if you are in dead silent room and dont want to hear the fan).
The i7 is an absolute beast of a processor. I am batch processing thousands of images, analyzing about 3.2GB of data in SQL server, watching WinTV, downloading huge files via FTP, and compiling C code AT THE SAME TIME and this thing never skips a beat.
Aside from the lousy screen resolution (why its only 4 stars) I am very happy with this purchase. I am so glad I returned the Sony F Series and bought this. Great purchase.
Buy ASUS N61JQ-X1 16-Inch Versatile Entertainment Laptop (Dark Brown) Now
After a very bad experience with an Asus N10Jh-A1 and due to Asus having a good reputation for laptopsa second unit was tried, the N61Jq-X1 (A1 is same except for having 2 year warranty). Amazon has changed it's ad for this laptop since our company purchased this unit, as it does not have the TV grade, additional amplifier and cone speakers etc, which was advertised. Asus website still has these features listed, including a really nice video touting their laptop. Simply doesn't exist on N61Jq units.
Turned the laptop on for the first time, providing name /date/time, password and reached the create the System Restore DVD's (four required)part of setup. Inserted first new DVD disc and a half hour later, this laptop Blue Screened, BSOD, on SETUP. When finally back at the point of doing the Restore discs for second time, the second attempt to do Disc #1, few minutes later another error box and BSOD again. This is going well. Now on third attempt to do Disc #1 which started at 26% ?? and later, FOUR hours later, the four dvd backup discs are finished. Don't expect I could trust these discs to Restore anything. Day Two: ASUS was sent all the technical stuff (codes and information beyond my technical expertise, hoping only to provide Asus with information to fix the problem, OR be able to find out it's not repairable, information easily found using Windows 7 which I believe is the best thing Microsoft has done in some time and gasp! might even be better than XP. Four separate emails and tech numbers from Asus later, the Asus techs are still talking about SRS drivers and issues nothing to do with BSOD. Since initial setup, the unit in the past three weeks BSOD two more times while watching two movies from internet. Interesting only for having nothing to do with DVD drive in unit. The N61Jq-X1 as of yesterday is on it's way back to Amazon. Going to purchase a Sony VPC-F111FX/H or if Amazon takes forty days to credit the N61 like they did the N10, will order one directly from Sony.
It is likely in the universe of all the laptops which Asus produces that a couple of 'lemons' will come from their factory. Have two big issues with ASUS, First is their Tech Service from two different laptop, our experiences with ASUS Tech department in the past six months is deplorable. Second, I have a real BIG problem when a manufacturer touts features and hardware that is NOT actually in the laptop. Go to Asus home website asutech or ,, go to Products, to Laptops, Multimedia units, then click on N61, then click on N61Jq or any N61J code,, look at the Sound System you should have, Watch Asus video...THE SOUND SYSTEM, SPEAKERS/AMPLIFIER ETC. JUST ISN'T THERE. AMAZON IS CURRENTLY CHANGING SEVERAL WEBSITES ADS SINCE THE INFORMATION ASUS FURNISHED THEM WAS WRONG. INDEFENSIBLE TO SELL A PRODUCT WHICH FALSELY DESCRIBES THE HARDWARE THE CUSTOMER IS EXPECTING TO RECEIVE FOR HIS MONEY.
Just wanted to balance out the rave reviews,, I'm sure Asus does make some good units, the free information is always worth what it costs you. davzway/ TSRW INC
Read Best Reviews of ASUS N61JQ-X1 16-Inch Versatile Entertainment Laptop (Dark Brown) Here
Keyboard:
Chiclet keyboard feels nice, the large keys and a number pad are great! When I ordered this laptop I was worried I would get the UK keyboard layout with the large return key and the backslash key in a inconvenient location. When I received the laptop I was pleased to find that it was the standard US keyboard layout with large enter, backspace, shift, and control keys which is a nice change from other laptop keyboards that have smaller keys.
Color:
The page says the color is dark brown but appears black under almost all conditions, a plus in my book. I had to shine the back with an LED flashlight for it to appear brown. I haven't taken outside in direct sunlight but it may appear more brown outside.
Build quality:
I would rate this a medium. It shouldn't break under normal use but it doesn't look as sturdy as some others. Very bright white LEDs on both sides of the laptop blink when in standy mode or when powered on make the laptop distracting in a darker room. I like the quiet fan volume. Even the DVD drive is fairly quiet. Screen hinges look nice and shouldn't break easily.
Performance:
Windows 7 boots fast! Windows Experience Index of 5.9. Runs most all modern games on high quality. Great performance for the price.
Ports:
Aside from the standard ports, this laptop has an HDMI port with audio out, one USB 3.0 connector, an eSATA connector!
Bundled software:
Comes with standard game demos, Office 2007 trial, and various ASUS utilities. Nothing special but not nearly enough to be considered bloat-ware. Comes with Windows 7 and driver re-install disc as well as recovery disc maker software.
Audio:
Great sound quality for laptop speakers. No noticeable distortion even at high volume!
Battery life:
Mediocre, I average about 2 hours in power saving mode. But what do you expect from a gaming laptop with an i7 processor? Get a netbook if you want battery life :)
Warranty:
Great warranty, came with one free year of accidental damage protection.
Want ASUS N61JQ-X1 16-Inch Versatile Entertainment Laptop (Dark Brown) Discount?
ASUS N61JQ-X1 is the best laptop by far. I replaced all my gaming systems & desktop with = this laptop & a STEAM account. I wirelessly game on my 2009 52" Sharp LCD HDTV & Sony/Polk -hybrid DolbyDigital 5.1 home theatre system [multi kW theatre]. Sometimes I game in the 7.2 Klipsch/Polk -hyrbrid movie theatre.
I know about games: I have a PS3 w/ 20+ Games HDMI & FiberOptical, Xbox360 HDMI w/ 500+ games & FiberOptical addon [gamertag CONTRA2634AD], i7-975EE desktop @ 4.8GHz on 24/7 Phase Change (TRI-SLI HDMI & SB Fatal1ty Titanium FiberOptical), and I auction vintage videogame lots of 100s of games.
N61JQ-X1 has Radeon 5730 1GB, a powerful DirectX 11 graphics card. This Radeon 5730 is at least 33-50% faster than the nVidia GT 220, 230, 240, 320, 350 you'll find in similar under-$1000 LENOVO, DELL, HP competitors. Also, the 5730 is only about 20% slower than a GTS 360m, the modern over-$1500 laptop champ.
From continuous 24/7 use since my March 1, 2010 purchase, I have experienced no crashes, no bugs, no issues at all. I play all the modern STEAM games: AvP, CODMW2, Borderlands, DragonAge, Fallout3, RE5, GTA4, Crysis, Metro2033, STALKER, L4D2! Full speed. GT 360m laptop cannot even play minutes without overheat freeze/crash!
This is a flawless, lightweight computer that leaves nothing lacking for my use! I even upgraded my house to the fastest Wireless-N Buffalo Router on the market to PC game wirelessly from now on.
Moreover, I upgraded this laptop to the MAXIMUM! 8GB DDR3-1333 SODIMM, Sony BC-5600S SlotLoading BluRay, 128gb Q4-2009 Samsung SSD, 64GB FileMate ExpressCard SSD, 32GB "Class 10" SDHC, Windows 7 x64 Ultimate, USB3.0 1TB 2.5" Laptop Harddrive, Microsoft Bluetooth Notebook Mouse 5000, Bluetooth Keyboard, Xbox 360 Wireless Controller for Windows, 8' HDMI Cable.
**I even RETURNED the best LAPTOP COOLER on the market because this laptop DOESN'T NEED IT!!!!!**
**HERE ARE MY GAME SETTINGS in all games ~60 FPS **: SET RESOLUTION TO 1280x720 @ 60Hz ON YOUR DESKTOP & IN ALL GAMES [720p], Shadows = OFF, AA/FSAA = OFF, Water = OFF, Reflections = OFF, vSync = OFF, PostProcessing = OFF, TerrainDetail = LOW, [& Adjust sound quality if needed]. If you can't turn those settings off, adjust them to their lowest settings. Almost every other setting can be turned up MAXIMUM in most games.
First of all, it took me a few weeks just to decide I wanted the 13" Retina MacBook Pro or this one, in the end, I went with this one. Here's why:
