New Laptop: Asus M51SN

TheBear21 · 20th May 2008, 11:41 PM

Picked myself up a laptop (first one I have owned) yesterday. Decided on the Asus M51SN (specs in sig) as the best option for what was available to me at the time. Quite happy with it so far, although I was expecting their to be a HDMI port, which their isn't, just DVI/S-Video which will be a bit of a pain in the ass as I will use this as a bit of a HTPC.

I have a couple of questions with regards to this machine:

1. It came with a TV antenae. This plugs in with what looks to be a tiny coax cable. Is their a connector I can buy that will allow me to connect a full size connection (ie home TV antenae) to this port?

2. It came with a little cable that plugs into the headphone/SPDIF port. This cable terminates in what looks like some sort of transmitter, like that of a remote control. Any idea what this could be for?

3. Is their a good program available for recording TV, well better than Media Centre. From the quick go with Media Centre it doesn't seem to have a lot of support for guides etc.

4. SPDIF - Is this like a digital audio output?

McbLt · 21st May 2008, 8:11 AM

How much did you pay, if you don't mind me asking?

mystic_granny · 21st May 2008, 8:42 AM

we sell them at work i love the things.

TheBear21 · 22nd May 2008, 8:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by McbLt

How much did you pay, if you don't mind me asking?

$2400 at Myer. i was kinda desperate to get one ther and then. I didn't have the luxury of finding the best deal. I also needed an interest free payment too.

Really bummed now I am home and want to connect it to my TV that it doesn't have HDMI. I was told it did by the salesperson, and it's too late to take it back now.

jlccarv · 22nd May 2008, 12:40 PM

DVI to HDMI adapters r as cheeeeap as chips...

Fedevor · 22nd May 2008, 1:09 PM

as mentioned above, you can get a DVI - HDMI connector rather cheaply. It will only transmit video signals, not audio as well.

1) dont know

2) the plug you got that goes into the headphone/SPDIF is probably an optical digital audio cable. most amplifiers have a connector for this type of input.

3) dont know

4) SPDIF is optical audio, and it is transmitted over either a coaxial cable, or an optical cable. Asus laptops have an optical SPDIF transmitter inside the headphone port

mystic_granny · 23rd May 2008, 6:06 PM

Apparently after speaking with an asus rep at work today, they choose to delay hdmi output to the next model, as hp (whom did release it) and themselves were having issues with the hdmi only outputting video if it worked at all

TheBear21 · 23rd May 2008, 9:28 PM

I am having problems playing a Blu Ray movie to my TV. I think this is because my LG LCD tv is not HDCP compliant. Any workarounds for this?

20th May 2008, 11:41 PM	#1
TheBear21 Member Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Gladstone, QLD Posts: 832	New Laptop: Asus M51SN Picked myself up a laptop (first one I have owned) yesterday. Decided on the Asus M51SN (specs in sig) as the best option for what was available to me at the time. Quite happy with it so far, although I was expecting their to be a HDMI port, which their isn't, just DVI/S-Video which will be a bit of a pain in the ass as I will use this as a bit of a HTPC. I have a couple of questions with regards to this machine: 1. It came with a TV antenae. This plugs in with what looks to be a tiny coax cable. Is their a connector I can buy that will allow me to connect a full size connection (ie home TV antenae) to this port? 2. It came with a little cable that plugs into the headphone/SPDIF port. This cable terminates in what looks like some sort of transmitter, like that of a remote control. Any idea what this could be for? 3. Is their a good program available for recording TV, well better than Media Centre. From the quick go with Media Centre it doesn't seem to have a lot of support for guides etc. 4. SPDIF - Is this like a digital audio output? __________________ Home:Q6600 G0 @ 3.2Ghz \| P5Q Deluxe \| Galaxy GTX260+ \| 4GB Corsair Dominators \| Zalman CNPS9700 NT \| WD750Gb \| Samsung 1Tb \| Corsair HX-620W \| NZXT Lexa Blackline Case \| Viewsonic VX2235 \| Logitech G15 \| G5 \| G51 Laptop: Asus M51sn \| Duo T9500 \| nVidia 9500m GS \| 3Gb DDR2 667Mhz \| 320Gb HDD \| Blu Ray Drive \| 15.4" WXGA

22nd May 2008, 12:40 PM	#5
jlccarv Member Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: melbourne Posts: 1,132	DVI to HDMI adapters r as cheeeeap as chips... __________________ Sony Vaio Club Member #4

22nd May 2008, 1:09 PM	#6
Fedevor Member Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Perf Posts: 92	as mentioned above, you can get a DVI - HDMI connector rather cheaply. It will only transmit video signals, not audio as well. 1) dont know 2) the plug you got that goes into the headphone/SPDIF is probably an optical digital audio cable. most amplifiers have a connector for this type of input. 3) dont know 4) SPDIF is optical audio, and it is transmitted over either a coaxial cable, or an optical cable. Asus laptops have an optical SPDIF transmitter inside the headphone port __________________ Q6600 : Asus P5Q-E : HD4870 512mb : 2x2gb Corsair XMS2 DDR2 6400 : HT Omega Claro+ 640gb + 500gb Samsung 250gb + 250gb + 160gb Seagate : 700w Epsilon : TRUE + Scythe Slipstream P180 + Scythe Slipstream : Sony DAV 5.1 Home Theatre : BenQ G2400W : Logitech G5 + Wave Asus A8JS = T7200 : GeForce 7700Go : 2x1gb DDR2 5300 : 120gb

23rd May 2008, 9:28 PM	#8
TheBear21 Member Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Gladstone, QLD Posts: 832	I am having problems playing a Blu Ray movie to my TV. I think this is because my LG LCD tv is not HDCP compliant. Any workarounds for this? __________________ Home:Q6600 G0 @ 3.2Ghz \| P5Q Deluxe \| Galaxy GTX260+ \| 4GB Corsair Dominators \| Zalman CNPS9700 NT \| WD750Gb \| Samsung 1Tb \| Corsair HX-620W \| NZXT Lexa Blackline Case \| Viewsonic VX2235 \| Logitech G15 \| G5 \| G51 Laptop: Asus M51sn \| Duo T9500 \| nVidia 9500m GS \| 3Gb DDR2 667Mhz \| 320Gb HDD \| Blu Ray Drive \| 15.4" WXGA

21st May 2008, 8:11 AM	#2
McbLt Member Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Adelaide, SA 5000 Posts: 1,102	How much did you pay, if you don't mind me asking?

21st May 2008, 8:42 AM	#3
mystic_granny Member Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Northern Sydney Posts: 264	we sell them at work i love the things.

23rd May 2008, 6:06 PM	#7
mystic_granny Member Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Northern Sydney Posts: 264	Apparently after speaking with an asus rep at work today, they choose to delay hdmi output to the next model, as hp (whom did release it) and themselves were having issues with the hdmi only outputting video if it worked at all