* Asus N61JQ Owners Lounge *

[2MNY]

eSATA/USB enclosure are hard to find (I mean with a cable plug USB to eSata) -if you have some shop link..- and its not clear, do I have to plug eSATA enclosure via USB or eSATA to my USB3 laptop ? How is it faster ? At this time we have very poor alternative to use and perform USB3 at max data transfer rate because there is no any 2.5 device ready for... except the very expensive SSD sata3. Even if it displeases to several...

There are many drive enclosures that have both eSATA and USB ports on the back. You should use eSATA to eSATA if it is an option, eSATA cables are essentially the same as regular SATA cables and will give the same transfer speeds as internal SATA drives on a consistent basis.

[blue_junior]

I just used the regular USB 2.0 slot and got a sustained 30.0 Mbps transfer rate with my USB 2.0 external hard drive. The fastest my old laptop could reach was 20 Mbps.

[testador]

Thanks for your answers again! great forum!

I'll quote the reply's I've gotten in case someone like me comes along and can find them together instead of browsing through the pages because of the great and high activity level in this forum, maybe it'll be easier to find. I hope this is not spammish, i'm trying to help someone like me, do letme know if there are better ways to help.

[paladin44]

You should study the Original Post in this thread where you will find almost all the technical answers you need.

[testador]

ok ill startposting compiled answers, fel free to add and maybe i should update this post.
maybe i missed some to quote!(feel free to let me know) but i did read them all, so thanks everyone.

1 - How do you personally use your drive partitions? There is much more space in drive D: DATA, what do you use it for, what do you install on it? I wonder if I can use D: to install most of my software and as a RAM scratch disk for stuff such as video processing or 3d, because it has much more space than C:

1- I've created folders on D: called Documents, desktop, Music, etc. Then I rightclicked on the user folders on C:, went to properties, and set the location to the corresponding folder on D:. This way if I have to re-install windows or format C:, I still have all my data.

1. I ONLY use the "C" drive for installation of applications. All of my data goes onto the D:\DATA partition. You can change default save locations inside such apps like MS Office (if you have Office) so it will default to saving to a different location other than the default C:\etc

1) Since I have 2 drives, a SSD and a Magnetic I divvy up things a bit differently. Windows is installed on the SSD along with all my programs and user profiles. My Pictures, Music, Documents, Downloads and Video folders from my user folder have been moved to my magnetic 'data' drive. I don't like splitting up my User profile folder like this but it makes the most sense as the large contiguous files are moved off the SSD where they won't see much performance benefit and folders such as 'AppData' are left on the SSD for quick program launching.

(Considering these suggestions, I'm using my D drive to store all my videos, zips, and documens, all libraries are being pointed towards their D equivalent.
Also, I'm installing most software, if it is a large install on D:, because it is much bigger, most newer games, video software, and adobe suite, because its several gigs per install!)

[testador]

2- Which power mode do you generally use your laptop on, I wonder if i should switch to power saver ofter to lower temperatres if that will increase my laptop life?

2. I have customized my power settings to my liking. I have the screen dim down after 5 min on power and 2 min on battery. Then the screen shuts off a few minutes later. This is 100% personal preference but understand that the less power you use the cooler it'll run and the longer your battery will keep plugging away. This laptop is designed to be light-weight, not super-long running on battery. I personally like this option over a monster battery (weighs a ton) and several hours' run-time..

2- I use mine on high performance most of the time because it's plugged in. When I run it on battery I use the quiet office setting..

2) I keep my notebook on the 'balanced' power saving mode. Balanced doesn't seem to cap performance in any way when it is needed while still using plenty of power saving features. I did chance some of the power button features to my liking but the rest is unchanged..

ok, then, so far i use high performance most of the time. most suggestions don't go against it... Now, sometimes I leave the computer on all night downloading or rendering video, in this case, I made a custom mode similar to power savings, except that it ony turns off the screen after 5 mins, but never turns the computer off. i dont know if there is a way to make it more efficient for a single process going all all night.

[testador]

3 - Is it really better to leave the laptop battery to discharge itself completely before recharging it,or do most of you leave it plugged all the time, is it better for it to use battery life or to have it plugged most of the time?

3- As far as battery life goes, I think you're best discharging to below 70% every now and again. It's not a good idea to let the battery drain completely, I try to keep mine above 20%.

3. Lithium-ion batteries do not need to be full-cycled like previous types (Ni-Cad and even NiMH have to be cycled more often) but it is a good idea to cycle it occasionally. I also agree with another poster that said you don't have to drain the Li-ion batteries quite as far down...though I do like to take mine down to 3% or so then charge back up. Use your own judgment how often or do some research on the Internet...lots of different opinions.

I would love to know if anyone knows if leaving this model system plugged in 24x7 hurts the battery. Some systems keep on "trying" to charge when the system is off and it eventually ruins the battery. Others have a full shut-off system that once the battery is charged nothing further is leaking in so it doesn't damage the battery. I am new to Asus laptops so haven't seen anything on that yet. Dell systems were real bad at one time about "do not leave charger attached indefinitely once battery is charged) as it will damage the battery" while Toshiba's are not (as well as several others).

The capacity of lithium ion batteries is shortened by heat and charge level (see Figure 1 of this link). When you leave the laptop plugged in, the battery stays near maximum charge (not at 100%) and takes heat from the running laptop, which reduces its life somewhat. Discharging the battery to 0 can also damage the battery and shorten its life.

3) I do as recommended by a number of battery experts and keep my battery stored in a drawer under my notebook when it is plugged in. ASUS seems to have some decent battery saving tech built into the N61 but it still can't prevent wear from heat. If I'm doing any sort of important work I like to plug the battery back in to prevent a shutdown in the case of a power outage.

It's good that it stops charging when plugged in. It can be harmful if li-ion cells are left at 4.2v for extended periods of time, which is where I believe this came from. If one is real concerned, pull the battery when not using it. Older Dell laptops used to come with a "dummy" plastic battery adapter. Wish they still shipped these so there isn't a big hole in the laptop when the battery is removed.

Ok, so I will start removing my battery when I'm at home or studio with the lap plugged in. starting...now...ok, it's done
I'll use the battery on the go and try to get it plugged in after it reaches 30%..because, frankly, it only takes about an hour/ hour and a half to get there.

[GarryChow]

@risco

i think i figured out how the stop the stutter in gta4. turn off vsync. it worked for me. let me know if it works for you

[Matteola]

Hey, I got my Asus N61jq a couple of months ago.. I know this sounds like a very noob question, but I dled the new catalyst 64bit 10.5 drivers from here:
Drivers & Support | GAME.AMD.COM
and I was wondering what is the right way to update my drivers.. like do i need to uninstall my asus ati driver first and then run driver sweeper, or just install it without doing anything else..

Thanks everyone. :]

[teksavvy1]

Anyone who knows what the latest bios update fix?

ftp://ftp.asus.com/pub/ASUS/nb/N61J/

ftp://ftp.asus.com.tw/pub/ASUS/nb/N61JQ/