ASUSWORLD Magazine March/April 2009 **56K WARNING**

Here's a few snips I'd thought I'd might share with everyone.

 

Eww are you serious asus?? G71gx comes with GTX 170M? What happened to the GTX 260M?? What a serious let down. Off my list, going for ati4850

 

I'm pretty sure the GPU will not be a 170M on the G71Gx. Although this is the latest Asus World magazine, I'm pretty sure it was printed around late Feb 2009.

 

Yah, first thing that jumped out at me was the GTX 170M on the G71's... I'm really looking at the refreshed cards on the G-series for Asus, and am hoping for some 260/280/4850s to roll around. I haven't heard much about the 170m, it doesn't even show up on notebookcheck's preliminary benchmark list.
http://www.notebookcheck.net/Mobile-Graphics-Cards-Benchmark-List.844.0.html

I will say that a 3d Mark score of 8400 is quite... underwhelming.

 

Nah, it will get much higher than that. The 150M (rebrand of 9800M GS + higher clocks and stuff) will get at least 1000 more than that, let alone the 170M GTX (I think a rebrand of the 9800M GT/GTS).

 

These laptops look very nice, but does anybody have some sort of guide telling what the newly named Nvidia GPU's are equivalent to.
Fn Nvidia for renaming all there cards, how the hell are we supposed to keep track!

 

GeForce G105M -> higher clocked GeForce 9300M G
GeForce G110M -> double the shader cores of the G105M, supports Hybrid-SLI
GeForce GT 130M -> higher clocked GeForce 9650M GT w/ lower power consumption.
GeForce GTS 150M -> performance between 9700M GTS and 9800M GS
GeForce GTS 160M -> slightly better than 9800M GTS
GeForce GTX 260M -> higher clocked 9800M GTX
GeForce GTX 280M -> best notebook GPU currently available. Higher clocked 9800M GTX with 128 processor cores (equivalent to the # of cores in the desktop GeForce 9800 GTX+)

 

Yes, I have the same thoughts ...

I am very sure that when they previewed this setup on CES 09,

it had GTX 260M ???

why the sudden change of mind for the GTX170M ???

what a let down ...




A Falling Cat named Spangky

9 Lives only

 

Thanks David that really puts things in perspective!
Any Idea when we could get our hands on these puppies?
Were do you get that magazine?

 

Things can still change. Asus has not always been accurate with the specs that are released on paper and on their website.

 

Some of these models are already released. Some are still under NDA, so I can't say on a public forum.

I got the magazine from a friend whom works at Asus. They release them to resellers/retailers who sell any Asus products. There's like 300 pages of Asus goodies, but only 10 pages on notebooks.

 

and its only up to 12 MB of ram !!!!!

 

I. Need. That. Magazine.

 

Hi all,

I'll start with "confession" that I couldn't justify not repping David for sharing with us some ASUS-insider knowledge even though most of it has already been covered here on NBR one way or another. Anyways, rep plus one!

Now, onto not-so-really-off-toppical thought of mine. Is it only me and my skewed perception of ASUS notebook lines, or it is a common thing to note that ASUS kinda fails to organize and market his notebooks in any clearly distinguishable families/lines that the likes as HP an DELL have accustomed us to?

Should we hold it agains ASUS or take it as a pecularity natural for the former ODM-only??

I mean, c'mon, just look at the bookmarks on the sides of theese scans: EEE family and just... notebooks. Fail. Thou not epic. But still a failure.

 

You aren't paying enough attention .

Just a brief (probably incomplete) model summary: EeePC, U-series, N-series, F-series, G-series, M-series, W-series. Each of those lines may several submodels in them (usually divided based on screen size), which is where the confusion often arises. It's different from the old days of limited Ensemble offerings of W and V only (but those too had multiple models W5, W3, W2, V1, V2, V6).

Dell and HP have their models divided firstly by screen size and then title (i.e. dv3 & dv5 for HP; S15, I14, for Dell) but there are multiple submodels in there for both if you look at retail (i.e. dv3xxxx, S15Ixxxx) so one could argue that it is equally confusing compared to Asus' N80xxxx, for example . Asus divides chiefly by model series (N/F/G etc) and then by model number which is generally tied to screen size, so this is essentially just an expansion of their model offerings from what they had done prior to 2007.

In the end, people are just used to the way Dell/HP do things because they have been around vastly longer in the North American market.

 

Hi ClearSkies,

It's not precisely that I'm not paying enough attention. Far from it in fact! W/o going into details of how long have I been using my current ASUS V1Jp and history of looking for my ideal lappie, I'll just emphasise, that my perception of the ASUS series is by no means limited to your otherwise quite correct list.

I would like to point you out to the particulat Wikipedia article, that used to list almost a full alphabet of notebook series plus countless submodels. Unfortunately the article in question got deleted! Strange, but true. For your reference, it used to be available here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ASUS_Ensemble_notebooks. If you're good at using Google cache, make sure to drop a link.

Anyways, what one could learn from consulting that deleted compilation of virtually all ASUS models is that ASUS maintains NO clear model families! Or it does, but surely beyond anyones willightness to comprehend that!

That wouldn't apply to me either. Poland here.

Kind regards,
AdiQue

PS Taking time to reply to my post didn't go past my appreciation though.

 

No worries. I also shouldn't have assumed NA v Europe - my oversight .

 

AFAIK, this is how I interpret the different series:

M - multimedia
G - mainstream/hardcore gaming
new W - hardcore gaming/desktop replacement/multimedia (W90 series)
old W - light-weight business (W3 series)
F - mainstream/budget gaming
N - mainstream/budget gaming or luxury/business netbook (N10 series)
X - budget desktop replacement/multimedia
U - light-weight business
V - mainstream business
B - mainstream business
P - budget business
R - tablet business
C - custom build
VX - luxury
S - ultra portable/netbook

I can understand how people new to Asus may find their naming scheme confusing, and I can agree with that somewhat. Once you get used to it, you can pretty much tell what type of notebook it is based on their alpha-numeric call sign.
On the other hand, the most complaints that I've heard are how there's so many different versions for one particular model (eg the G50Vt with the A1, A2, X1, X5, etc), but it's really not as bad as one might think. There are others that are go far beyond imaginable regarding the production of different SKUs for a single model series.
Case and point, the HP dv5 series

 

While I do see several duplicate niches in these lines, how can one complain about having too many options? As long as we have the option to choose which one suits us, and if what we get is a good quality product (big if) who cares if there is a similar type of Asus in a different line?

my question is where is K-series going to fit in that? the 4860GPU is really looking like a one of a kind, although the CPU and other components scream budget. maybe "budget gaming"

 

More options is always a good thing, but I think Asus needs to clean up their act a little so their products can be presented in a more user-friendly way that would be easy to understand to everyone and not just existing Asus users.

For the K series, I would probably put it in a budget mainstream and/or budget multimedia category. Nowadays, it's hard to put a notebook in one single category without overlapping into others. One thing for sure is that the K series will be on the cheaper end of the price spectrum.

 

Those bamboo series notebooks are awesome BTW.I have seen them in person and they had best screens in the the class IMO.the only "bad" thing I could find was the lead-it moved even under very "small" pressure!

 

I dont knoe if the guy I just talked to from the phone from asus is telling me the truth but I will share this with you guys,

I was unpatient about the news about that paper on the first post so I decided to call asus. Asked them specifically about this magazine and pointed alone on the G71gx with 170GTX. First, They they did not want to tell me anything about it and kept telling me to just wait for it in mid may or early june for the release, but I insisted and told them that I have been waiting for this G71gx and I have owned alot of asus computers. And I also mentioned about the G71gx that they showed on cebit09. I will go straight to the point, the guy I talked to is the one in charged for the shipping the laptops to all the resellers and has the knowledge about these laptops coming out pretty soon. He specifically said "GTX 170M will be on the G71gx, not GTX260M "

Im pretty dissapointed about this, I dont knoe maybe he's telling a lie or not. Only the release date will tell and the official specification.:/

 

I love their bamboo series. not that i own one but it would go perfect with my floor. The thing that pisses me off is that they charge like a 30% premium for this bamboo finish while we all know it cant cost them much more then 50$ to actually make it. If they made their luxury line more affordable people like me, women and pretty much everyone would jump on it.

 

Hi again,

[RANT]
Najim, although I agree with you up to a point I am the one [and not the only] to complain about the mess that the plethora of diffrent series is.
Why? Because ASUS' Golden Age laptops unfortunately seem to be a melody of the past and despite them churning out new series/subseries/diffrent SKU's like there is no tomorrow, most of you will agree, that we can't find the right combination of desired feature set, that we can easly devise and put on paper.
There is always something lacking or cheapened out; compromises are made not to our hearts' content...

And please, spare me the talk, that what I complain about is mostly subjective, because the vast majority of ASUS series are budget ones, and thus, by definition, they need to be lacking [in areas, where technology enthusiasts we all are would not want to see compromises in the first place!].

On the other side, ASUS' luxury notebooks, basically limited to the VX plus some ultraportables are lacking in [a mix of] features and/or performance giving "only" well above average built quality in return.

If I own an ultraportable, I wan't to see no less than 5 hours of continous work and ASUS' machines have a poor excuse of battery life. Onto the Lamborhini series'. I could forgive the price premium. I couldn't forgive that BestBuy's sub $999 outperforms them easily! I rest my case with them.

Oh shesh, I am typing on a V1 model, admitedly not a budged model and honestly, I can't imagine going down in build quality. That pretty much reduces my choices within ASUS family to... ?? Clueless. And despite I am set on buying a new machine and probably won't escape this particular taiwanese manufacturer, I am what I said - clueless as to what should I choose. I can't even organise a "casting"; no [ASUS] candidates fullfill the criteria!! And you go on to say:

Sir, the above is sadly true only in your, my and everyone else's perfect dream. Period.
[/RANT]

On a side note the most striking piece of information from the above posts is Eddie's... not giving any information at all! LOL Specifically the ommision to comment on that:

Wait again, what was it called? NDA, right-o?

Cheers and sorry for YALP (yet another long post),
AdiQue

PS

Couldn't. Agree. More.

 

uhm i am not here to give information in every post. i am here to put my 2 cents in. if you want information then call me, email me or pay me.
There is no info to give. the only important piece of info is wait and see. i dont know what nda means but i dont much care about their line up for spring. when its out then we will sell it. before that i dont want to know. they are too small of a oem/odm to be giving out such information months before.

 

NDA stands for Non-disclosure agreement.

Fair enough Eddie.

 

If someone wants my copy of the magazine, shoot me a PM and I'll ship it to them for free (US only please). I can ship internationally, but you'll have to pay for shipping. (first come first serve basis)

 

PM sent

 

You got it

 

I just wan't to know when the K series with a 4860 GDDR 5 is coming out? Hopefully sooner than later!

 

you can download it as a pdf from their site

http://www.asus.com/ContentPage.aspx?Content_Type=AboutASUS&Content_Id=9

the link is on the lower left called emagazine

 

Nice find and bookmarked!

 

I think the GTX170M and the GTX260M are the same card ...

It is just a naming confusion and missunderstanding ...

someone in the forum said that the GTX170M was the initial branding name by nvidia ... which was later changed to the GTX260M ... so there you go ...

I am just wondering when will this laptop debut ... Mid May is quite some time off ...

Perhaps can someone call Asus up again to get the specs of that GTX170M card to confirm ...



Regards


A Falling Cat named Spangky

9 Lives only

 

Just saw this post +rep, thanks David! Didn't know about the N10Jh until you posted this

BTW: I'm looking forward to the N10Jh's "chocolate keyboard"

 

Forgot the UX series.

 

It's not out yet