ASUS V1S or G1S? And some questions about G1S

So I was really set on getting the new Sony SZ refresh but then after reading the specs (64mb 8400M GS) I was really disappointed so decided to look at other makers. I'm not too familiar with ASUS but I've been reading some of the threads and am deciding between the V1S and the G1S except I have a few questions.

1) What is its material made out of for the G1S? Is it aluminium/metal, carbon fiber like the Sony SZ, or the hard molded casing like in a thinkpad T61? I am very tired of the cheap Inspiron plastic my current lappy has so I want a higher quality material.

1a) What is the material made out of for the V1S?

2) The side flashlights seem really cool on the G1S, but i have a few questions on it. Is it an always on feature? can you turn it off? how bright is it? Can you get it in other colors besides green (i think i remember seeing a picture of it in red). And a huge request, but can a current G1S user take a picture of the lights on the laptop so i can see how it looks like? The pics on the internet look like photoshopped lights (not actual, just digitally lighted to "show" it)

3) What would you say the primarily difference between the G1S and the V1S? I look at the specification and the G1S is thicker, almost 2 pounds heavier than the V1S, but the specification are almost identical as far as I can tell.

4) Finally, what is the difference between the G1S-A1,A2,and A3? I looked on http://www.excaliberpc.com/parts.asp?stxt=ASUS+G1S&x=0&y=0 and I can't find any specification difference. I'm guessing A1/A2/A... designation means a refresh, but shouldn't there be specification changes? When is the V1S-A2/A3 and the G1S-A2/A3 going to be released in the US?

5) Does the G1S have a fingerprint scanner? I really like that feature on the V1S

Thank you very much for your help! Hopefully I'll make the right choice.

 

also, does ASUS make a laptop that's smaller than 15.4" that has santa rosa and 8400+ GT? I know something like the Fa8sv is coming out, but I heard the Fseries are of lower quality and build than the V series? I'm looking for a really reliable and high quality laptop.

 

V2S is what you are looking for.

EDIT: Didn't see until after I posted you wanted GT?? V2S is 8600 GS.

 

Although it's not a GT, the 8600GS does out-perform the 8400GT by a margin. So if that's what you mean, then the V2S is indeed forth looking into.

 

The V2s is a good choice if you want more portability, but for the most power I would go for the slightly larger V1s.

 

ok thanks! I'll check those two out. Any thoughts on the G1S and can anyone answer them?

 

1) What is its material made out of for the G1S? Is it aluminium/metal, carbon fiber like the Sony SZ, or the hard molded casing like in a thinkpad T61? I am very tired of the cheap Inspiron plastic my current lappy has so I want a higher quality material.

Plastic (made up to look like carbon fiber) and alu. Overall, it is quite solid, but a bit heavy.



1a) What is the material made out of for the V1S?

Magnesium, I think, but look around on the Asus web page for the info.



2) The side flashlights seem really cool on the G1S, but i have a few questions on it. Is it an always on feature? can you turn it off? how bright is it? Can you get it in other colors besides green (i think i remember seeing a picture of it in red). And a huge request, but can a current G1S user take a picture of the lights on the laptop so i can see how it looks like? The pics on the internet look like photoshopped lights (not actual, just digitally lighted to "show" it)

Its green or nothing and you can turn it on or off with a software utility. Its not too bright in a well lit room, but does show up well in a dark room.



3) What would you say the primarily difference between the G1S and the V1S? I look at the specification and the G1S is thicker, almost 2 pounds heavier than the V1S, but the specification are almost identical as far as I can tell.

There is some speculation that the V1s uses slower video ram and may not perform quite as well for graphics intensive applications, but until we see some reviews, this is just speculation. Also, it appears that the G1s has more USB ports. Other than that, I don't think there are any big technical differences.


4) Finally, what is the difference between the G1S-A1,A2,and A3? I looked on http://www.excaliberpc.com/parts.asp...US+G1S&x=0&y=0 and I can't find any specification difference. I'm guessing A1/A2/A... designation means a refresh, but shouldn't there be specification changes? When is the V1S-A2/A3 and the G1S-A2/A3 going to be released in the US?

The G1s-A2 and A3 are different configurations of the G1s that include a larger and faster hard disk and (for the A3), I believe a Blu-ray drive in place of the standard DVD. I would not bother with the A2 as for about the cost increment over the A1, you can buy the same 200 GB drive and have the old 160 GB left over for backup.



5) Does the G1S have a fingerprint scanner? I really like that feature on the V1S

No. The G1s also does not have the option of a docking station, so if you are looking for an office oriented system, you might do better with the V1s.

Ira

 

The V1S's only advantages are the modular bay and larger screen. It uses [IIRC] the DDR2 version of the 8600GT, which the V2S's 8600GS can easily be overclocked to match. As a tradeoff, you add ~1lb. to the weight and a slightly larger body.

 

I thought it had been established that even the DDR2 8600Gt could also easily be overclocked to improve its performance past its stock settings. It's unfair to say the cards are equivalent based on the fact that the GS may can be overclocked to the stock GT, while ignoring the fact that the GT can also be overclocked.
However, if the GDDR3 GS's overclocking potential is far greater than the DDR2 GT's overclocking potential, then it may be a valid argument. I've never seen any conclusive evidence to confirm this, however.

 

GDDR3 has much greater overclocking potential than GDDR2, however, the 8600 reaches it's limits at stock GDDR2 GT. So if you're fine with GDDR2 GT stock, then the 8600GS will be fine for your purposes.

 

does the G1S use DDR3 GT?

I'm kind of leaning towards the G1S but I read some post earlier in a search with lots of people claiming that the V1S is of higher quality because its a "business" edition. Is this true?

 

Yes the G1s uses DDR3, the V1s is a higher build quality, its also lighter and smaller than the G1s. We just dont know if the V1S will have DDR3 or DDR2 until it is benchmarked.

 

any idea when the ASUS v1s is being released this month? Also, which retailers sell ASUS computers? I want to check out there quality and stuff before buying one online. I'm having a really difficult decision right now... ASUS V1S 15.4" with 8600m GT or Vaio SZ 13.3" with 8400m GS

 

I would deffinately go with the V1s. I have the sony FE and the build quality is aweful. But it depends whats more important to you, Gaming, or Weight.

 

hmm... is the FE business class? the SZ I am considering looked pretty nice when I checked it out at the sonystyle store...although im clueless on the build quality internally though. The problem is I've never seen a Asus in person so I want to check it out first before I buy one. Any US retailers that have one up for display? Bestbuy maybe?

 

The SZ regular model is about the same quality as the FE. Sony has horrid customer service and their staff are liars and dont know their stuff. Also Sony accessories are massively overpriced.

 

amen to that

 

matt, that's so true. that's why I never buy any accessories while buying a comp--that's where they make a huge amount of money off of you. their staff doesn't know crap either. I went to a sonystyle store in june asking them if the SZ's have santa rosa (this was before I found this forum) and they had no clue what I was talking about until they had to call in their manager. Then the manager told me the SZ with santa rosa will come out Feb 2008 so it's best to buy now, which now it is evident that that was complete bull****. THat's why I'm considering buying a ASUS V1S, problem is i need it before next term starts in sept or else I'll have to haul this this Pentium II desktop crap to my room and wait. will it come out before sept?

 

Yes, the current shipping date should be Mid August and will take about 3-5 days to get to you.