A8JP Owners Lounge

[sanpabloguy]

Well, I decided to be a copycat and start a lounge for A8JP owners. While not specifically for North American users, I've run into a few things and tips to share since the A8JP is new to North America.

I hope that other users will post their info, as well as any questions, so that we can all get the best out of our new notebooks.

Beefdonkey's Excellent Review is a great place to start, and there's plenty of good info there.

The Asus Notebook FAQ is a great resource for all Asus notebooks, especially if you're buying your first Asus. I was worried (never heard of Asus, couldn't buy one from a brick-and-mortar store, etc.) but am very happy with it.

Batteries: This is a strange area. Since the A8JP has a short battery life (2:35 with average use), I wanted a backup. Batteries aren't available for the A8JP from any of the usual online battery vendors (as of 1/20, anyway). I contacted Asus Support and they referred me to The Asus Estore, which does not list the A8JP.

Asus Technical Support (excellent by the way) said that the A8Js battery would work in the A8JP. Asus' Estore said to use the "A8JC/A/M/A8F-1A BATTERY MODULE". Well that's conflicting to me and didn't want to spend money on another 2.5 hour battery.

Instead, I decided to get a Portable Power Station from BatteryGeek.Net, which is supposed to give 5+ hours on one charge (good review and pics Here.) If you click the "Free Battery Audit" button in the top nav bar, they'll provide you with personalized recommendations. This one comes with multiple tips (so it will work with other devices (in addition to Asus, it's can be used with all devices which require a 3V~28V power supply: iPod, PSP, MP3, MP4, DC, DV, PDA, Cell Phone, Digital Camera, CPAP device, Laptop, etc.)

I had a couple of questions and emailed the Battery Geeks. Their responses were detailed and easy to understand. Especially for someone who doesn't know his amp from his Watt. Like me.

It should arrive Friday and I'll post more info after trying it out.

Monitor: I believe the monitors for the A8JP are the CMO screens (Chi Mei Optoelectrics). Mine is a CMO. You can check yours by following the steps here: Determining Asus LCD Mfg.

Clean Install: I needed to re-install the OS (Windows XP MCE). It went easily and quickly. Basic instructions are in This Post and subsequent ones. I installed the drivers manually. The driver CD menu is easy to understand and you know what you're installing.

[Dio]

Nice thread for us A8JP owners much appreciated.

If we find Vista drivers lets post with comments I plan on upgrading this weekend.
Also ordered additional Ram and a 7200RPM hardrive looking forward to my goodies for my A8JP.

[ra990]

sanpabloguy, did you buy your A8JP from NewEgg? I am hoping that mine comes with a CMO screen as well. Are the viewing angles decent on yours?

[ra990]

What is the official Max Memory supported by the A8JP? I'm reading 2GB, but wouldn't I be able to use 2-2GB sticks for a total of 4GB?

Not that I'm going to need anything over 2GB anytime soon, but I'm just curious.

[sanpabloguy]

Yes, I ordered mine from NewEgg. Arrived nicely packed and everything in order.

I thought I'd seen one post saying that the user got an AUO screen, but it might have been purchased in Europe. Can't find it now. Otherwise, I've only seen posts saying CMO for the A8JP. Viewing angles don't seem too good, though. I usually am looking at mine straight-on, but from even small angles there seems to be washout around the edges. Turning down the screen brightness seems to help a little.

I don't know for sure about the max RAM for the A8JP, but I believe it's 2GB, which should handle most things for the next couple of years. I think the MoBo and the processor can affect the max RAM.

[pallonaama]

Hi there, mine arrived this morning. Bought this from Germany and I'm from Finland. Clean instal, ahoy!

Btw, found this superb sleeve for A8JP. It's Tucano Guaina medium. They say it's only 32cm wide (laptop about 33,5cm) but because it's made of neopren it's just snug for A8JP. Highly recommend it.

[Dio]

My LCD is a CMO1416 this info can be retrieved from Everest.

[sanpabloguy]

Pallonaama - do you have a link to buy? Sounds interesting. I've been looking for a sleeve.

You can also find your monitor info by going to Device Manager, expand "Monitors" on the right pane, and right-click the Plug-n-Play monitor. Select Properties | Details. The first line that appears will look something like this:

DISPLAY\[THEN STRINGS OF TEXT]

The first few letters after "DISPLAY\" are the initials of the monitor maker (which are described in the post linked in message 1).

So a CMO monitor will show DISPLAY\CMO[STRING OF TEXT]

[pallonaama]

Sanpabloguy, I bought my sleeve from the local retailer so I don't know where you could get it.

Did some googling though and this is the sleeve from US amazon.

http://www.amazon.com/Tucano-BLK-Neo...9?ie=UTF8&s=hi

Hope you find one for yourself because this is JUST the exact size.

[adrian]

I also have the CMO screen and don't have any problem with viewing angles. I also don't see any of the backlight leakage problems that people with the AUO screens report. The only real issues I have with the screen is that whites could be whiter, and there should be an option for higher brightness. I'm using mine in the VIVID mode, and it's still a bit dark. I don't know if I would use a high brightness option, but it would be nice to know that I have it. The one thing I have noticed when looking at the screen from an off angle, is that there is a lot more glare. But of course I expected that from this type of screen. So, from an angle, the screen doesn't get washed out. It just has a lot more glare; which should be expected.