Opinion - ASUS laptops
 

Does anyone have an opinion on the quality of ASUS laptops?

I have an HP laptop that died on me after 6 years. My current HP laptop (Envy m6-1105dx) is 4 years old and runs very hot. It is probably not long for this world. So I am looking ahead to the next purchase. On the desktop side, I build my own and have always used ASUS MBs without any problem.

I know that Lenovo has a good reputation, but it is expensive. I have had bad luck with Toshiba. My requirement is number crunching. I do a lot of numerical modeling, floating point math, linear algebra, FFT, etc. My application spawns multiple threads that utilize all four cores. The cores could be on full load for up to 4 hours and are, therefore, likely to run hot. Graphics speed is not a requirement

I am wondering if ASUS's MB reputation carries over to their laptops. Any help will be appreciated.

This can most likely be solved by cleaning all the dust and fluff from the CPU cooler. Search Youtube for instructions how to open your laptop and clean it. One word of warning, don't blow or suck air through the fan without fixating it.

The people really into hardware that I know all recommend either Lenovo or Asus laptops and warn against anything from HP. Some give an OK to the Dell Latitude line of business laptops. All that being said, your requirements are unusual for a laptop user. Most laptops do not take kindly to situations where you routinely have high cpu utilization for extended periods of time like you typically get with numerical modeling; the heat generated will try the cooling systems of most laptops under those conditions. A conventional desktop computer would work better for you and be cheaper for the same or similar hardware as a laptop. But if you need portability, as is apparently the case, Asus is a good way to go. You might also be able to get a refurbished Dell Latitude cheap if price is important:

http://www.dell.com/us/en/dfb/notebo...it&cs=28&s=dfb
http://www.dell.com/us/dfb/p/latitude-laptops

Just stay away from the Dell consumer lines and stick with the Latitudes.

Having owned a asus eeepc 701sd and eeepc 900 (dual ssd drives).

Price was right. (cheap)
Support sux. (Leaves you hanging overseas)
Some components were on the cheap side (mouse button <but repairable if skilled like me> , phison ssd was slow)
But overall they were very good netbooks. I received good use out of them for years while carrying them in my motorcycle saddlebags in 115F outside desert temperatures using free wifi at highway rest centers.
Both ran different Gnu/Linux distros from time to time as I learned my way around. I sold them for more than what paid for them originally.

I did not use mine like your mission statement states. So my reply only covers what I personally experienced.

I'd agree, stay away from Dell consumer lines. (Long story short, I needed 4 motherboard replacements before I had one that worked)

For heat management, I'd highly suggest getting a cooling pad, especially since you're going to be heating up your CPU a LOT.
Most of them are basically a fan powered by your computer's USB port. Some of them are curved so that the laptop has room to "breathe" underneath. In my experience, they work very well.

Thanks to all who responded. A cooling pad sounds like a good idea. So I guess using a laptop for extensive number crunching is not normal? I may have to switch to a desktop.

---
Note added:
I ordered a Cooler Master Note Pal X-slim cooling pad.

I guess you'll find such anecdotes for every brand. My Dell Vostro 1710 laptop is in its 8th year and still running strong. I replaced the hard disk with an SSD and put Xubuntu on it. Still lightning fast...

Yeah, well, the times they are a changing. I still have a desktop, but it seems that's less common, and "PC" sales seem to reflect that. The hardware even in laptops, CPU and GPU, are so much more capable now that for more modest computation a powerful laptop is probably quite adequate. For heftier projects people can also rent server time virtually more easily. So perhaps it's the new normal. ;)

Hi...

Although it's a bit dated, I found this report, if it helps. :)

Regards...

I had one around maybe 2009. It was a good laptop and had good service. It actually broke down near the end of the warranty period. All it took was a quick phone call and a short trip to a nearby repair place, and it got essentially refurbished (they even upgraded the BIOS) at no charge. They were very polite about it too.

It is interesting that this report mentioned Toshiba as one of the most reliable. The first laptop I bought was a Toshiba for $1700. That's what you had to pay in those days for an entry level laptop. It was trouble from the start. It failed progressively, not all at once. First the optical drive, then the NIC card, then more and more things. Its ACPI subsystem did not work in Linux, so no suspend and hibernate. Its Phoenix BIOS had a bug. There was no way to upgrade to a Toshiba BIOS. On the plus side, it was built like a tank.

Hi...

Yikes! I hope yours was just an anomaly. :(

Regards...

Hi,

I develop data reduction software for radio astronomy where lots of computing power is required and I work with graphic cards.

I have seen many ASUS laptops with Nvidia graphic cards and with very good cooling capacities. As these laptops are made for gaming they are quite robust. Why don't you think about HPC with GPUs? CUDA is quite easy to learn.

http://www.nvidia.com/object/what-is-gpu-computing.html
https://developer.nvidia.com/cuda-zone
https://developer.nvidia.com/how-to-cuda-c-cpp

First, I would like to reiterate the already stated: make sure that the ventilation is not clogged. I have seen laptops run at at temperatures near 100 °C on heavy load, but once the ventilation was cleaned drop to 40-50 °C. Dust just gathers into the ventilation paths and when this happens for years you end up with a system where the fan does not push the air through it efficiently. Another trick is also to take out the fan and lubricate the axle.

But, it is also true that many laptops are not designed with heavy use in mind, and you might have other reasons to want to buy a new one. I'm my experience Asus is OK.

ASUS eee pc2g surf
 

Hi. This looked like the place to maybe ask this question. First of all I'm a Linux noob and also not great all round at computers (I still run XP on my home comp lol). Anyway. I've got one of these ASUS Netbooks. When I turn on I get error2 on the screen. I can get into the BIOS settings and it says all the drives are disabled. The answer would be to enable them I would have thought. However pressing shift + douesn't do anything at all. Ideas?