A8Ja vs A8Jm vs W3J?

Hey guys, I've finally decided to go with an Asus. I really prefer a 14" with good gaming performance so I came down to these 3 models - A8Ja, A8Jm, and the W3J. I really don't know how to choose between them. I've already checked several posts about the benchmarks of these laptops and my impression is that the W3J has the highest score (and the most expensive?) of the three and that the A8Ja has the lowest. If anyone could confirm this, it would help a great deal. Any feedbacks from any owners would be helpful! Here are the specific specs just in case (taken from review):

A8Ja:
CPU: T2300 Core Duo (1.66 GHz)
RAM: 1GB DDR2 533MHz
HD: 80 GB 5400 RPM
GPU: ATI Radeon X1600
Screen: 14.1 WXGA (1280 x 800)

A8Jm:
CPU: T2400 Core Duo (1.83 GHz)
RAM: 1GB DDR2 667MHz
HD: 100 GB 5400 RPM
GPU: NVidia Go 7600 512Mb dedicated memory
Screen: 14.1 WXGA (1280 x 800)

W3J
CPU: Intel Core Duo T2400 1.86 GHz Processor
Screen: 14" WXGA (1280 x 768) LCD Panel
1 GB (2 x 512 MB) DDR2 667 MHz RAM
ATI Mobility Radeon X1600 w/ 256 MB VRAM GPU (512 MB Hypermemory)
HD: 100 GB 5400 RPM

 

Well, depends on which benchmarks you use... in 3dMark05, the x1600 wins but in 3dMark06, the Go7600 wins. I don't see how the W3J would be able to beat the A8Ja since it has almost identical specs .. (maybe W3J wins because it's got 32 less vertical resolution and hence save some graphics power in benchmarks.. I dunno ).

But here's a summary of main differences between W3J and A8Jm.

W3J:
- Better materials and looks
- x1600 256MB dedicated mem, 256MB HyperMemory
- Extra modular bay for extra battery, HD or travel tray etc
- 1280 x 768
- 3 USB ports

A8Jm:
- Go7600 512MB dedicated
- DVI port
- Webcam
- 1280 x 800
- 5 USB ports

If you're in North America, I don't think you can get the A8Ja ... oh, and the W3J refresh actually has 1 x 1 GB stick if I'm not mistaken..

 

A8Jm is a lot cheaper

 

I guess what's left to decide is whether the Go 7600 is better or the x1600.
And about the modular bay, so you can stick in a second HD? What's a travel tray haha
Thanks for the help!

 

A travel tray is what it really sounds. A tray, probably put in the gap to fill it, basically a weight saver that is of a tray.

 

The Go7600 and x1600 are in the same performance class, you won't notice much difference if at all in real life usage. The only place where you'll notice differences is probably in benchmarks, and even then its quite subjective since in certain tests either one can beat the other.. I know that in 3dMark06 at least, the Go7600 can beat the x1600 both stock and OC'd (Go7600: about 2300/2600, x1600:about 2200/2450, but not sure about 3dMark05, I've seen flip flops going either way). PPl say 3dMark06 takes advantage of the 512MB dedicated RAM, so that might be where the benefit comes from.

I think you can pick either and they'll serve you well.

Yep, you can put in 2nd HD, or 2nd battery or even optical drive I believe...

 

it's got a removable optical drive, so normally the optical drive will be in it, but it can be replaced with a hdd or extra battery.

also the a8jm has dvi-out and in north america doesn't have bluetooth (though it can be added)
the w3j does