After 2 month of heavy usage, Now its time for me to write up my own review of this laptop.
Detailed Specification
+ AMD Athlon X2 QL-64 ( 2.1GHz 1MB L2 Cache)
+ AMD780G+SB700
+ Hynix 2GB DDR2 800MHz
- Due to Limitation on QL-64 processor, the ram speed is capped to 667MHz.
+ Hitachi HTS543225L9A3 (SATA 250GB 5400rpm 8MB AHCI mode)
+ ATi HD4570 (512MB DDR2 8ROPs 80SP 680MHz/500MHz)
- onboard IGP ATi HD3200 (256MB HM 8ROPS 40SP 500MHz)
+ Altheros AR9285 802.11 b/g/n WiFi
+ Realtek RTL8168B Gigabit LAN 10/100/1000
+ 15.6" 16:9 LCD LED Backlight (1366 x 768)
+ Altec Lansing + VIA HD VT1708S + SRS Premium
+ Full Key Keyboard with numpad
+ Weight: 5.83 lb. including 6-cell battery
+ Dimensions: 14.57 (W) x 10.08 (L) x 1.22-1.40 (H) inches
+ Battery: 6-cell battery
+ Warranty: 2-year global warranty, 1-year accidental damage, 1-month zero bright dot LCD warranty
+ Extras: Notebook carrying case and mouse
Pictures
+ will be updated later
Design and Aesthetics
The outer design of the casing is quite pleasing. With different angle, the color can be black or dark-brown. Closer look will reveal dots n short horizontal line, with also, in different angle, will change its color either black or gray. It makes the K50AB looks more expensive. But the cons here is the casing is really prone to fingerprint and other smudges.
Keyboard
The Keyboard with numpad is a big plus for people that worked with a lot of number. With the key adequately spaced, my medium sized hand(compared with a dozen of my friends hand) feels really comfortable. In this model, Asus have opted for fn + key for any other functions. More than half of the fn + key need driver installed to be functional, and this really irritate me, because I like my windows to be ran in minimal process as possible. Abandoning these software makes 10 key nonfunctional. The plus point is, the key is really responsive, I have no problem in typing my long assignments.
Touchpad
The touchpad is quite weird. It integrates with the casing, and it is not as responsive as other touchpad I've touch so far. Most of the time, I rather be using a provided USB mouse. The touchpad uses multitouch technology, with that, 2 finger operation will make it scroll, 3 finger tap will open up context menu(the right-click in our mouse). Sometimes, it doesnt work.
Screen
The 15.6" screen is a welcomed and the main reason why I choose K50AB over the lighter and longer lasting brother K40AB. The viewing angle is average. With minimum brightness settings, you have to be viewing the right angle to get to see full screen without the color to be washed away. The brightness however, is great. I have no problem watching DVD in bright sunlight.
TBC...
Thursday, November 5, 2009
Sunday, October 4, 2009
Chrome
I have heard of Google chrome for quite some time now. and also, hearing is not the same as seeing for himself, so i decided to use Chrome.
As a heavy user of internet, i do a lot of things. Be it social networking, participating in discussion forums, flash games, reading blogs, etc... i do use a web browser to the extend i never even bother to close them. they are either closed/restarted when i shut down my laptop(on rare occasion, i usually hibernate), or when there are updates or only when i have installed new add-ons.
Lately on rare occasion, firefox have an issue of 'hang' for 1-2 seconds, it is registered as not responding. and then it went back to normal. Although some would say "hey, it is only for 1-2 seconds" or "At least it is not crashed like IE" but it is rather annoying.
Enter Google Chrome. It is simple, but tad too simple. I always customize every aspect of my softwares. and I aspect my Chrome can be tailored to me also. But the only thing I notice so far is theme. What? just theme? Ok, dont fret, maybe there are hidden settings elsewhere. But i dont see the hidden setting. coz it is hidden. duh.
2 days worth of work in chrome, so the conclusion?
Switch back to Firefox!
As a heavy user of internet, i do a lot of things. Be it social networking, participating in discussion forums, flash games, reading blogs, etc... i do use a web browser to the extend i never even bother to close them. they are either closed/restarted when i shut down my laptop(on rare occasion, i usually hibernate), or when there are updates or only when i have installed new add-ons.
Lately on rare occasion, firefox have an issue of 'hang' for 1-2 seconds, it is registered as not responding. and then it went back to normal. Although some would say "hey, it is only for 1-2 seconds" or "At least it is not crashed like IE" but it is rather annoying.
Enter Google Chrome. It is simple, but tad too simple. I always customize every aspect of my softwares. and I aspect my Chrome can be tailored to me also. But the only thing I notice so far is theme. What? just theme? Ok, dont fret, maybe there are hidden settings elsewhere. But i dont see the hidden setting. coz it is hidden. duh.
2 days worth of work in chrome, so the conclusion?
Switch back to Firefox!
Long hiatus
its really quite been a long time since i ever posted anything or even read anything here. now the posting shall be here again, maybe in weekly basis.
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
Another Test.
You are The Hierophant
Divine Wisdom. Manifestation. Explanation. Teaching.
All things relating to education, patience, help from superiors.The Hierophant is often considered to be a Guardian Angel.
The Hierophant's purpose is to bring the spiritual down to Earth. Where the High Priestess between her two pillars deals with realms beyond this Earth, the Hierophant (or High Priest) deals with worldly problems. He is well suited to do this because he strives to create harmony and peace in the midst of a crisis. The Hierophant's only problem is that he can be stubborn and hidebound. At his best, he is wise and soothing, at his worst, he is an unbending traditionalist.
What Tarot Card are You?
Take the Test to Find Out.
Friday, July 4, 2008
Last Day of Intern
This is the last day of my training. Have nothing to post really. Just a bit more of the project that Mr. Zaliman gave me will be finished. A bit of touch-up here and there and done. (i hope so)
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
Mac OSX on my BenQ S41
Inspired by some of the forumers success on installing OSX into his BenQ-S41, being the same model, I'm also into trying this. These are the links that I've followed. Throughout this process, Ive got another PC with all the guides I got below and an active Internet connection in case of something goes wrong.
http://wiki.osx86project.org/wiki/index.php/HCL_10.5.2/Portables#BenQ
http://wiki.osx86project.org/wiki/index.php/Installation_Guides/Kalyway_DualBoot_10.5.2
http://coolblog.profit42.com/2007/07/03/updated-osx-10410-dual-boot-guide/
http://forum.insanelymac.com/index.php?showtopic=81036&st=500
http://www.andrewchapman.net/home-mainmenu-71/1-latest/73-hackintosh.html
Please be aware that I'm just a student who are trying to test the system. After the success of this, I'm also be sure to delete all traces of mac and will destroy my burned disk as well. Please don't ask me where i got the disk and where i downloaded it from. Its not ethical and I only done this to test it. after all, I am going to buy a mac in few years time. And also, i'm not in the mood of making any screenshots. Please don't ask. Read the guides instead.
This is the specification of my BenQ Joybook S41-409
- Intel Core 2 Duo T7100 (1.8GHz Dual Core, 800MHz, FSB 2MB L2)
- 2 GB DDR2 667MHz
- 120GB SATA HDD
- 14.1" 1280x800 nVidia 8600GS 256MB GDDR3
- Intel(R) Wireless WiFi Link 4965AGN
- Marvell Yukon 88E8055 PCI-E Gigabit Ethernet Controller
In Vista, my score is 4.3
- proc: 4.9
- ram: 4.9
- graphics: 5.9
- gaming: 5.5
- HDD: 4.3
1. Formatting.
At fist, I've resized my jampacked HDD. After few DVD backup of my data, ( 9 pieces ) I've loaded my S41 with an Acronis Boot Disk. This is to resize my HDD partition and make some room for OSX installation. Notice that I do this without ever need to destroy any of my existing data.
the structure of my HDD: 3 partitions.
c: [45GB-NTFS] vista partition
d: [15GB-FAT32] mac partition --set it to active partition.
e: [56.78GB-NTFS] Data partition. i kept all my data into this partition in case my vista does become corrupt, which is not possible unless i do something really stupid.
2. Burning and making boot disk.
I think this should be the first step. But heck, I'm using the "Kalyway_10.5.2_DVD_Intel_Amd.iso" and after all the sweat and tears of downloading 3.67GB I've burned it using Alcohol 120%. You can use any burning software instead.
Next, using Acronis Disk Director, I've made a Boot disk using a CD. This is to make the step no 1 above a success. Again don't ask me how I do the first step. Do your google search.
3. Booting up and selecting.
I've changed my boot sequence to DVD and after inserting the Mac disk, I've been welcomed with a beautiful wallpaper. Before that, I've make sure to boot with F8 and -v command.
By selecting English as my language, I've open up the disk utilities. I've prepared the Mac partition to use the 'Mac OS Extended Journaled' as my partition. Exit and I'm done with the disk utilities.
Now time for some customisation of the installation. The + is what I've added, and the - is what I've removed. Note that I do this on my own risk.
-Additional Fonts
-Language Translations
+Kernel_vanilla_92 (i've also unchecked the default)
+NVinject-256
After that click ok and the disk check will make sure that the disk is ok and consistent. After that the installer begins installation. Time left: 24 minutes. Pretty good. Vista takes a whole lot more time.
4. Repairing and booting.
After the installation is completed, I've restarted my Laptop. Something is not right, it won't boot up. The error saids HFS+ Error.
I've re-inserted my Acronis Disk. this is to make my vista active again. This step is to do a dual-booting and with hoping that it will cure this, I make my vista partition active again. Then, off I go rebooting. It works. Inside vista, I've copied chain0. and then with few command in cmd.
for the sake of my ass, i just do what the above said, and began booting up. it works and I've been welcomed by a really beautiful welcome screen. With lots of welcome in different language. Then, I hav to do some sort of customizing.
5. Testing and Playing around.
This step is not shown and I think most people don't need me to shown this. A lot of apps loads fast, I don't even need to wait. The animation is really fluid, pressing F9 key brings up expose, and blah blah blah...... you get the point. Even now I'm still playing around with my Mac Joybook. Lol.
Leave me a comment if this little diary of mine is used or if you want to add this to somewhere.
http://wiki.osx86project.org/wiki/index.php/HCL_10.5.2/Portables#BenQ
http://wiki.osx86project.org/wiki/index.php/Installation_Guides/Kalyway_DualBoot_10.5.2
http://coolblog.profit42.com/2007/07/03/updated-osx-10410-dual-boot-guide/
http://forum.insanelymac.com/index.php?showtopic=81036&st=500
http://www.andrewchapman.net/home-mainmenu-71/1-latest/73-hackintosh.html
Please be aware that I'm just a student who are trying to test the system. After the success of this, I'm also be sure to delete all traces of mac and will destroy my burned disk as well. Please don't ask me where i got the disk and where i downloaded it from. Its not ethical and I only done this to test it. after all, I am going to buy a mac in few years time. And also, i'm not in the mood of making any screenshots. Please don't ask. Read the guides instead.
This is the specification of my BenQ Joybook S41-409
- Intel Core 2 Duo T7100 (1.8GHz Dual Core, 800MHz, FSB 2MB L2)
- 2 GB DDR2 667MHz
- 120GB SATA HDD
- 14.1" 1280x800 nVidia 8600GS 256MB GDDR3
- Intel(R) Wireless WiFi Link 4965AGN
- Marvell Yukon 88E8055 PCI-E Gigabit Ethernet Controller
In Vista, my score is 4.3
- proc: 4.9
- ram: 4.9
- graphics: 5.9
- gaming: 5.5
- HDD: 4.3
1. Formatting.
At fist, I've resized my jampacked HDD. After few DVD backup of my data, ( 9 pieces ) I've loaded my S41 with an Acronis Boot Disk. This is to resize my HDD partition and make some room for OSX installation. Notice that I do this without ever need to destroy any of my existing data.
the structure of my HDD: 3 partitions.
c: [45GB-NTFS] vista partition
d: [15GB-FAT32] mac partition --set it to active partition.
e: [56.78GB-NTFS] Data partition. i kept all my data into this partition in case my vista does become corrupt, which is not possible unless i do something really stupid.
2. Burning and making boot disk.
I think this should be the first step. But heck, I'm using the "Kalyway_10.5.2_DVD_Intel_Amd.iso" and after all the sweat and tears of downloading 3.67GB I've burned it using Alcohol 120%. You can use any burning software instead.
Next, using Acronis Disk Director, I've made a Boot disk using a CD. This is to make the step no 1 above a success. Again don't ask me how I do the first step. Do your google search.
3. Booting up and selecting.
I've changed my boot sequence to DVD and after inserting the Mac disk, I've been welcomed with a beautiful wallpaper. Before that, I've make sure to boot with F8 and -v command.
By selecting English as my language, I've open up the disk utilities. I've prepared the Mac partition to use the 'Mac OS Extended Journaled' as my partition. Exit and I'm done with the disk utilities.
Now time for some customisation of the installation. The + is what I've added, and the - is what I've removed. Note that I do this on my own risk.
-Additional Fonts
-Language Translations
+Kernel_vanilla_92 (i've also unchecked the default)
+NVinject-256
After that click ok and the disk check will make sure that the disk is ok and consistent. After that the installer begins installation. Time left: 24 minutes. Pretty good. Vista takes a whole lot more time.
4. Repairing and booting.
After the installation is completed, I've restarted my Laptop. Something is not right, it won't boot up. The error saids HFS+ Error.
I've re-inserted my Acronis Disk. this is to make my vista active again. This step is to do a dual-booting and with hoping that it will cure this, I make my vista partition active again. Then, off I go rebooting. It works. Inside vista, I've copied chain0. and then with few command in cmd.
bcdedit /copy {current} /d “Mac OS X” (just leave the {current} there and don’t change it)
bcdedit /enum active
bcdedit /set [ID] PATH \chain0 (replace [ID] with you identifier: http://janschneiders.googlepages.com/idosx.gif)
for the sake of my ass, i just do what the above said, and began booting up. it works and I've been welcomed by a really beautiful welcome screen. With lots of welcome in different language. Then, I hav to do some sort of customizing.
5. Testing and Playing around.
This step is not shown and I think most people don't need me to shown this. A lot of apps loads fast, I don't even need to wait. The animation is really fluid, pressing F9 key brings up expose, and blah blah blah...... you get the point. Even now I'm still playing around with my Mac Joybook. Lol.
Leave me a comment if this little diary of mine is used or if you want to add this to somewhere.
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