A8J vs. W3J

The dealers are getting shipments of W3j's this week. It's been confirmed that the video card is an x1600.

3DMark 2005 is 4283 for the A8js posted by user on notebookforums.com

 

Dirac's A8Js has Merom, doesn't it? If I'm not mistaken, there's a W3J with Merom (Charivari) with a higher than usual 3DMark05 score.

 

There was a thread at NBF about the a8js benchmarks. They got around 4400 (3dmark05). That was without any driver tweaking, OC'ing, etc. I think it is a faster card. Supposedly nVidia cards work better with openGL applications. I do a lot of CAD type work so that's an advantage for me.

 

so what justifies the ~$300 difference, the a8j appears to have better specs/performance? Is it built quality on the w3j?

 

Yes + the swappable bay... and looks.

~ Brett

 

Yes here are my specs and 3dmark scores...

W3j
Merom T7400 2.16
2 gigs ram
X1600 256
Catalyst Drivers version 6.8

3dmark 05 = 4408
3dmark 06 = 2212

I was suprised at the scores...possibly its the merom or maybe the 2 gigs of ram

BTW this is without overclocking...all out of the box setup (only change I made is to install the 6.8 catalyst).

 

Do you have one of those Seagate 5400.3 160GB HDDs? I think those help too. Amazing stock GPU scores. Shows that the MR X1600 still has some bite against the newer Go 7700. Now if only ASUS would put a T7200 in the W3J instead of the T5500.

 

I have the Seagate 5400.3 160 GB... wait until my friend from Australia brings the T7600 I ordered through him... Maybe I can improve my stock 3DMark05 score to Charivari's level.

 

If it's sire alvar's A8Js you're talking, it's only 4283, not 4400. Unless you mean someone else's A8Js in NBF.

 

I have a 7200 RPM HD in my W3J

 

If all w3j come with T5500 how did he get a T7200 ? Did he upgrade himself?

 

Some dealers will upgrade it for you, or you can do it yourself. It's really pretty easy!

 

Yes, it's really pretty easy. I am buying a T7600 and as soon as it's in my hands, my W3J will be the first one (hopefully) with a T7600 in it.

 

How much is the T7600? like $500?

 

The official price is $637, but lack of availability will probably drive the price of any you can find up.

 

But is the upgrade worth it? I personally think its not worth putting in an extra $600 because the performance is not justified. Also which stock is better the current T2500 on the W3j or the the soon available T5500 on the w3j?

 

Generally the top processor is never worth it from a price performance standpoint since the costs rise exponentially compared to a linear, at best, performance growth. The most worthwhile upgrade would be from a 1.66GHz T5500 to a 2GHz T7200 since the price difference should be around $100 which is more "reasonable" while you get 2 bumps in clock frequency and double the L2 cache. The latter of which is probably more important.

I'm pretty sure the T5500 and T2500 would perform similarly since the Core 2 microarchitecture is about 20% more efficient that the original Core architecture. SSE (media tasks) would show the most benefit on Core 2 while integer tasks would be less since Core is already very efficient there.

 

People are making it sound like the A8Js is vastly superior in terms of GPU and CPU power. Thats not true. There has already been a lot of discussion on what people need (or whether they will notice the difference) in terms of CPU power and Justin from ProPortable makes some good comments on that issue. As for GPU, on my yonah w3j, im getting 4240 on 3dmark 05 and 2190 on 3dmark06. [Note that i have 2GB RAM and 7200 RPM HD]. The thing that I personally love about the A8Js is the higher screen resolution. Im thinking of replacing my screen with an A8Js screen if its possible. Still tho, my vote is definitely with the w3j.

....unless I beat you to it

 

would an a8js screen physically fit in a w3j?

If you want to look into the screens used the w3j has one from cho, and the a8js has one from auo.

the w3j is called a 14 inch screen and it has different resolution, If my memory serves me right its not available and isnt on any other notebook.....
the a8js is called a 14.1 inch screen. Its in a few different notebooks including thge hgl 30, the inspiron 1405 and toshiba a105


Im not saying it cant be done.
I just think it cant be done, however I think you can find a different lcd that would work.

 

ASUS saids that both the W3J and A8Js screens are 14".

For example the A8Js:
http://www.asus.com/products.aspx?l1=5&l2=26&l3=0&model=1373&modelmenu=2

However, I think they are really all 14.1" since they are widescreen. Non-widescreens would really be 14". Whether that makes them interchangeable I don't know especially since changing notebook lcds are a little bit too advanced for me. Well maybe not technical-wise, but it's too risky for me so I lack the guts.

 

Well if anyone is able to replace their lcd in the w3j with a higher resolution lcd I hope they post it

 

I don't see how it'll be possible. Doesn't the W3j have a 16:10 screen? The a8js is 16:9.

 

says 15:9 on the lid

 

W3J's screen has a 1280 x 768 res, 1280 : 768 = 1.6667 which is the same with 15 : 9 = 1.6667. A8Jm and A8Ja have 1280 x 800 res, 1280 : 800 = 1.6, so it's 16 : 10 = 1.6. A8Js 1440 x 900, 1440 : 900 = 1.6, so it's 16 : 10.

 

ok well thats probably the first root to this problem, that the asus site is wrong

the w3j one is 14 " and the a8j one is 14.1
somewhere on this forum are the exact model numbers of the screens used.

on the auo site its very easy to find the one used on the a8j.
http://www.auo.com/auoDEV/products.php?sec=notebook&func=info&product_id=14&items_id=2

the model of the lcd used on the w3j is here in the forum somewhere I dont have time to look for it.

 

here we go

http://www.cmo.com.tw/cmo/english/product/showproductn.jsp?size=14.1

the bottom one 14.1 inch

ask justin or geared2play.com to describe the connection to the lcd if its compatible.

You can look at the stats and the cmo one is desireable for its response time but the a8j one is desireable for its brightness.

 

the bottom one is not widescreen, it is standard ratio.

 

oh ok well I was actually quoting you. so it must be the top one however its not because that is 1280 x 800.

I know ive covered this ground before and it turns out its unique to the w3j but just like that one.


exact measurements should show it is literally a different size meaning if you could fit the a8j screen in there a certain amount would be covered....

it also is 14 inches based on data from this forum im getting tired of looking it all up again. it is literally smaller somewhere on these reviews measures both screens side by side you can see this isnt going to work Im 95% sure.

 

here is more data

http://estore.asus.com/shop/item.asp?itemid=3382&catid=466

14 inch. eventually Im sure its going to come up that the screen is unique, its smaller, there are pictures somewhere on the forum showing the two screens right next to eachother and you can see its not going to fit. cmo doesnt sell it but it has the same model number that i showed you so you have to assume the same stats.


http://estore.asus.com/shop/item.asp?itemid=3277&catid=461

14.1 inch


all things considered, i think its going to be nearly impossible to get a different lcd in there just because i dont think theres another laptop with that size of screen

if the connection is even compatible you are at least looking at a major craft project.

 

if you read the entire thread, you would see that I quickly admitted that I was incorrect. 1024x768 is obviously standard ratio because of the 1024, when it should be 1280.

 

I think the W3J's display is here:

http://www.samsung.com/Products/TFTLCD/Product/images/2005_Jan.pdf

Scroll down to Notebook PC Applications (Wide) and the only 14.0" one is the LTN140W with the 1280x768 resolution. I tried searching on Samsung's site but their TFT Notebook display section seems to have it's links all broken.

 

no its the cmo i showed you. actual user response that is the model number it just shows the different size and resolution on the cmo site.

also that samsung would be really inferior in stats, and it is missing the 220 nits which make it crystal brite.

what it is is the cmo model that was released in 2005, for the w3v. cmo doesnt make it exactly like that anymore now its 14.1 inch and 1280 x 800. but they still have those.
Is it all clear? lol I think all the information is there for everyone

if you have a cmo product catalog like that samsung one, and you have it for 2005, you will find the exact one, or you use an internet wayback machine.

If youre feeling like finding out exactly I think youll show the forum new data thats probably good to consider.

 

Oh. How do people using check? Does it just say in the display control panel?

 

yes in advanced monitors

btw id rather see someone try and put this

http://estore.asus.com/shop/item.asp?itemid=3383&catid=466

on their a8js and see what it looks like. Might be a hell of a lot cheaper that trying to make the w3j an a8js

 

Well if it is a Cho Mei then the only one they make that fits the bill is the N140A1-L01.

http://www.screentekinc.com/Chi_Mei-N140A1-L01.shtml

They only offer 2 14.0" models and the other one (L02) doesn't have the glossy finish. I wonder do those ASUS Colour Shine, and Crystal Shine features come like that from Cho Mei and ASUS just labels it as their own or does ASUS actually apply it on when the put the W3J together?

 

they dont do anything to it

 

I'm currently debating between these two as well. Here are my main concerns:

I'd go for the A8JS in a second if it weren't for the 3 hour battery life, vs the 7 hours with the W3J. But the W3J has a worse processor and GPU. However, at http://www.geared2play.com/store/products/laptops/asuselite/w3j/W3J-H037P.htm you can customize the W3J to have the T7600, so that's no longer an issue.

The only remaining question is, then, how big is the difference between the X1600 and Go 7700 GPUs? Also, I'd ideally like to have the battery life of the W3J, but the power of the 512mb Go 7700. Anyone know if it's possible to install the Go 7700 in the W3J?

Some other questions I've had: what about the W7J? No one's mentioned that, or the Compal HGL-30, or the SZ370. It seems to me that they hold their own, especially if you find a vendor willing to upgrade the video cards.

Edit: Is the Asus Z96J another model worth considering?

Edit: Another model: Acer TravelMate 8204WLMi

 

not possible to put the gpu from the a8js in the w3j.

possible to put the x1700 from the w2jp in the w3j

 

Even better. Do you know any dealers who will do this? And how much of an impact will that have on the battery life?

Edit: Is the W2JP out yet? Nothing at notebookreview.com about it, nor on google...

 

Do I?

I heard justin of pro portable chat here in this forum that he would consider doing this.

seeing as the w2jp is not for sale yet this is all theoretical.

 

7 hours???????? Whoever told you that is seriously misinformed. The battery life for the W3J should be in the 3-hour range, just like the A8Js.

 

^I would assume he's taking the optical bay into account ...

 

Right, sorry I didn't specify. I read the battery life with the second optical bay battery is up to 7 hours.

I'm wondering though... Would it be possible to carry around a second fully-charged battery for the A8J, and just replace it when it's low? Or is this bad for battery life?

On a slightly different topic: geared2play.com allows you to customize the Z96J to identical specs of the W3J, for several hundred dollars cheaper. So what's the incentive of purchasing the W3J/

 

absolutely you can do that. you put the system into stand by and change the battery.

the z96 has an inferior chassis larger size and greater weight.

 

Another thought: one of the touted 'advantages' of the W3J is the available extra internal battery. But how is this really any different functionally from purchasing an extra main battery for the A8J, and switching them when one is empty? The W3J's batteries will degrade over time just like those of the A8J's anyways. Plus, if you take the extra internal battery along, you won't have a DVD player. Is this pretty much the case, or am I missing something here?

 

W3J is too pricey and no DVI.
A8J is not sturdy enough.

Fast, Cheap, Good - select any two

 

The benefit is that you won't have to turn the notebook off and back on when one battery runs out. Not a big deal for some people, and big deal for others.

Edit: Took out wrong information that I posted here, Roboh corrected me a few posts down ...

 

Hi Darrick, a bit of correction here: to put the secondary battery in W3J, we must take out the DVD drive, since they share the same modular bay. Unless it's something else you're talking about.

 

Ah.. my bad.. sorry... thanks for the correction

 

OOT: Jadi kapan balik? Bisa titip batere W3J enggak?