Since most of the aspects of this notebook is covered, i'll just share my personal reviews on it

1. As of writing, this is definitely the best bang buck lappy (<2k) that offers some punch for gaming
2. Power Express (3200->4570 & vice versa) * Update (3 March/2010)Power Express switching working perfectly with the new beta Catalyst 10.3
3. Battery life is averagely ok. (no suprise as AMD has inferior battery life). Full charge, (Watching movie + averagely loud volume) gives me around 1hr 40mins. Surfing could be longer, around 2hours.
4. If your looking for something that has longer battery life, skip this & go for intel. Off course, expect to pay more for the similiar config hardware
5. Excellent 2yrs Global warranty from Asus. definitely value added
6. Cooling design is very efficient. U'll hardly feel any heat emitting from the palm rest area even @ max load.
7. Good built quality & finishing (carbon fibre like ). It still creaks slightly here & there, but it's understandable for its price. I had even feel lousier plastics on other brands
8. keyboard is OK, a bit soft & 'thin' for my liking. I guess is a personal thing, but i still prefer the feel of Compaqs.

Recommended Software
- K10Stats (to undervolt & improve batt life)
- VLC media player (boost up the volume up to 400% - if WMP is too 'soft')
- GPUOverclock Tool (OC the vga to boost up FPS)

Pros:
- best bang value <rm 2k notebook, that offers some serious gaming power
- 2years Global warranty
- Adequate processing power
- Above average built quality for its price, nice carbon fibre pattern like
- It’s blardy <rm 2000 (to be exact rm1899-1999 – depending on model & availability). What more do u expect.
- Efficient heat management, palm rest is very cool even @ load

Cons
- battery life (not really a negative point, as it’s more of an AMD issue)

Frequent FAQ

1. HOW TO ACCESS THE INTERNAL PARTS For Parts Upgrading
- remove the 4 screws along the kensington lock area
- remove 1 screw in the battery compartment area (remove the battery 1st, u can see a screw holding the lid)
- slide the plastic lid out

2. How does a notebook cooler affects the temperature
- Virtually none. The Asus’s thermal management is efficient & cleverly design. U can’t even feel any heat at all even @ load. So save your money for other useful upgrades like RAM

3. How does it compare to dell studio 15 (1555)
Differences
Dell
– Intel T6600 ( more efficient/faster clock to clock compared to AMD, and lower power consumption)
– Has esata/HDMI/Windows 7 (asus has none, only VGA)
– 3gb DDR2 (no big problem, you can easily add more RAM to Asus)
– Windows 7 (asus’s freedos)
– ATi 4570 GDDR3 memory @ 680/800 ( Asus’s is DDR2 @ 680/500 – probably the max you can OC is 700/600 average)
– Has Blue Tooth module ( Asus has none, you could buy USB powered)

Asus K40/50AB
- Relatively slower processing power clock to clock ( I roughly gauge it equivalent to a 1.8ghz Core2/Pentium Dual core)
- Lower battery life [comparing the 15.6’’ version] (roughly 2hours vs 3hours of surfing wifi)
- Longer warranty 2yrs instead of 1yr from dell (big bonus)
- Better themal management/design ( Asus palm rest area is cool even @ load, feel the Dell studio 15 and you’ll know it’s hotter even on surfing)
- Has numpad ( useful or not, depends on individual)

DESIGN:
Individual’s Preferences, you could hate/like Asus’s or Dell’s design, or couldn’t be bother by any of it. Personally, I prefer the Asus’s design more, black, carbon fibre pattern like design. Built quality wise, probably the asus has a tiny edge better built construction than Dell’s.

Which one is better?
So, the price difference is around rm 700 – 750. I usually tell ppl this, both offer equivalent price: performance: paid. You get more stuff with what you pay more. Let’s breakdown the ‘upgraded’ components on Dell Studio 1555
- Win7 Home Premium 64bit = rm400
- Intel CPU = rm150 more?
- 1gb ddr2 = rm90
- 4570 DDR3 = mayb around rm100 difference?
- Bluetooth = rm20

So it works out more to be an ‘upgrade’ for the price difference.

If processing power, battery life is of your concern, go for Dell Studio 15.
If your on the cheap, with only max rm 2k to spend, look no further than Asus K40/50AB

This post has been edited by kucingfight: Mar 3 2010, 01:45 PM

Anyways, I've installed Fusion Mobility version,i've noticed that switching from 3200 -> 4570 isn't a problem now. more of like, with fusion, screen doesn't go blank switching from Batt -> AC Adaptor -> Batt. In short, i think the powerplay is working properly, but not sure to which extend if the 3200 is able to stretch the batt life longer

Anyways, i uninstalled AMD Fusion Mobility

1. kinda hassle to switch profile everytime (shutting down processes etc)
2. shuts down programs i wanted to run , etc MSN (not sure if it's configurable, lazy to figure out)
3. Asus's Fn key can't be used (control volume) etc
4. i think there's no much diff with Asus Power Hybrid scheme.

680/500..inferior to ur dell 1555 @ 680/800

+1
Significant increase in performance, when ddr2 speed is OCed to another 100mhz..

coz it's @ idle mode. underclocked @ 0.9v

juz enter the core n mem speed, n hit 'setclocks', vddc will auto adjust to 1.1v

after gaming, to underclock back, restore default clock

not hard wut, i wonder how much easier should it be

yes off course

memory clock = ram speed

no ideas, mayb a newer bios will display it properly

already mentioned, it underclocks @ lower voltage to save power. auto ramps on load

This post has been edited by kucingfight: Oct 18 2009, 06:20 PM

as mentioned, the 3200-> 4570 switching still has issues. Blank screen.
In short, only enable the 4570 all the time.

QL64 n 65 is almost the same. 2.1ghz. except, ql65 has 2000HTT mhz vs 1800mhz on ql64. which is barely, unnoticed.

anyways Catalyst 9.10 is out.

Tried yest, somehow, mobility modder is able to mod the inf, but installation unsuccessful..

ah..back to cat 9.9

from what i've tried, mobility modder is able to mod the INF, but somehow, the driver can't seemed to be installed completely.

SRS definitely has made some difference.

good job to Najmods, not an audiophile myself, can't tell whats what diff btwn them

anyways..possible to save the custom setting or something? kinda irritating changing the setting everytime

any brand will do

The FID on k8 is non adjustable. only DID is adjustable

K10stats is giving false CPU reading. juz ignore it. u can't overclock.

anyways for bragging rites, u can try up to 3ghz , but it's stil a 2.1ghz

This post has been edited by kucingfight: Oct 26 2009, 11:38 PM

yes false reading..already confirmed long time ago

u can run superpi or 3dmark06 cpu result to confirm.

else we would have shared here already

to observe artifacts, run a 3d benchmark prog like 3dmark06. observe for any non normal graphical abnormalities, things like, spots, torn graphics, weird shapes that shouldnt be there. so continue to downclock roughly till it's abnormalities disappears

yes off course, x64 is the only way to utilise >4gb rams

which OS are you on? i'm having the problem on win 7 32bit. Mobility modder would successfully mod the INF, but win refused to install it.

are u on Power Express mode? if yes, HD3200 is taking up the memory from the total installed memory

This post has been edited by kucingfight: Oct 29 2009, 09:01 AM

on x64, supposedly no prob, as tested by our Batusai

yes, and u got to do the additional mobilitymodder. everything is @ the 1st post


yes, there was an issue on changing screen brightness with dGPU. u hav 2 flash to the latest bios