Asus 14.1" & 15.4" Comparison Table (with T61p)

I included the T61p's, and the Inspiron 1520 as a "baseline".

If any of the info is wrong, just tell me, I am not sure on the VRAM for the V1S and V2S.

And which should I buy?
(I want to game on it, the FN key as the farthest left key bothers me, and I do not care if the screen is glossy or matte.)

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and I really really like what I have seen of the F8SV, the only exception is that it is almost as large as the 15.4" Thinkpad T61p

 

Is there a table of laptop release dates anywhere?

 

out of that list (and judging by your comment on size) I'd go for the V2S. but then again what about sony?

 

Great comparison table. I do see what you mean when looking at the footprint of the F8 to a T61p, they are very close in size.

Just a note you should either use real weight rather than manufacturer weight, those Asus weight in pounds are off by a little, V1S = 6.5lbs, and etc. I'm sure all the laptops are not real weight, but i'm not sure if that bothers you or not.

The big thing to consider is your gaming potential and screen size.

If you want a 15.4" gaming machine, the Asus G1S is your best choice, if you need a more classy look get the V1S because it also has nice features.

If you need a 14" notebook with the ability to game, it really depends on how much performance you need.

Also your budget plays a big role when looking at 15.4" laptops because you can easily afford a F3SV and T61p, but the others are a little more pricey.

What will you be using the laptop for, school, work, home use, LAN parties, travel, these will also play a key role in determining your screen size and what gaming potential you need/want.

 

i'm in the market for a notebook very similar to yours... 14 or 15 inches, as light and as slim as possible (1", 5lbs) and with a 8600m GT (preferably ddr3)... I've looked at every single one of the ones you've listed and haven't found them to be exactly what i want.

you should also look at the HP 8510w and the macbook pro (w/ bootcamp and windows)... both are expensive but have similar specs to the notebooks you listed above. Also take check out the 14" zepto... can't remember the model name right now.

personally i think the macbook is fantastic (5.7lbs, thin, 15.4", 8600gt(, problem is that it only has a 1 button touchpad and it costs too damn much

 

please promote this if you care:

Dell xps 14" 5lbs, 1" thin 8600m gt
http://www.ideastorm.com/article/show/73869/14_xps_notebook

 

Yeah, I agree that the MacBook Pro is an amazing laptop, but it is around 2700 if you want the same specs as the G1S-A1 (and it has a lower resolution).

Also, for the weights for the new Asus', I had a hard time finding good ones because there isn't a user review (to my knowledge).

And am I correct that the V2S has 256 Dedicated DDR2, and the V1S has 512MB dedicated DDR2?

 

I have a desktop with a 7900GTX, but I built it about 2 months befre Core 2 Duo was released, and at the time AMD's AM2 was ahead, so my laptop will have a 30% faster processor than my desktop.

I will be watching a lot of movies on it, definitely gaming (CS:S, BF2, C&C3 mainly). Having a high resolution means a lot to me, because I like to have several things opened at once.

I will probably be using it in the car (45 minutes each way), and at school as well.

When I get it I will buy a 160GB 7200.2 drive from dell ($129), and will do a clean install of XP onto that.

I have a budget of 2000, but anything I save is cash in my pocket.
I do graphic design, mainly photoshop/illustrator, but Cinema4D/Maya as well.

Build quality is very important to me, so I might want to wait until the F8SV comes out (IMD), because other than its pretty large size, and poor speaker placement, it looks amazing so far.

 

What no c90? It would have the best price performance ratio out of all those notebooks. Drawbacks mainly being the low battery life.

 

Drawbacks mainly being the low battery life.

I want more than 13 minutes if I feel like playing games while not on AC
XD

Other than that it looks really nice tho.

 

Its an hour and 30 min to 50 min max on power saving mode. Even on normal mode I get 1 hour 20 min.
Also those battery lives for all notebooks are not under heavy strain. Most tests are low to moderate load on the computer so you have to keep that in mind. Nopne tests the computer under the most intense loads.

 

How long can you watch a movie for?

 

Hmm, with a bit of optimization, you can save a good chunk of money on the customizeable models from Lenovo and Dell: only go with 1GB of memory and upgrade from newegg, go for a T7300 instead of a T7500 (you will never notice the difference, unless you compare benchmarks), no need for an Intel wireless card (not that great) or wireless n (since nobody uses it), etc. And don't drop 1800 on that Dell. I bought one, its worth every penny and probably a few hundred more, but thats still less than $900.

 

so, any numbers on video playback time on the C90s?

 

I will refer you to kickace's battery test.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=143907

He did a good job with it. Also while some people do test it with video playback if you read alot of reviews most of them test it with web browsing and a typign program since that is the most typical thing people do while off of battery power. Hope it helps.

 

yeah, that is much too short for me.

 

Based on this image the F8Sv will have the FN key to the left of the Ctrl Key (bad for gamers)

 

I just ordered an asus G1-A1 from zipzoomfly for 1669.00. And Asus has a $40.00 mail in rebate going on for the G1/G2, so you could get a G1 for 1629.00 with free shipping.

 

Wow, the results of the poll aren't very helpful.

 

Well if you combine like systems you get the following results (at the time of this typing):

G1 system=18%
V systems (15" and 14")=53%
T61 systems (15" and 14")=12.5%
F8sv=15%

The results may be a little bias since this poll is in the asus forum. The F8sv votes may be low due to the fact it has not been released in the US yet (correct?)
As you can see at this time the Asus V systems is the recommended system based on the poll results with over half the votes.

Edit woops my mistake I misread the poll, and interpreted it as the V1-a1 and v1-b1 systems instead of the v1 and v2 systems (and the same for the T61 systems).

 

Well, if you want to game you can cross the V2s off your list. I'd say if portability isn't an issue, spring for the Asus G1s or the Thinkpad 15.4" T61p (depending on which style and look you like better). Otherwise get the 14.1" T61p, as it's by far the best combination of power, portability, and price on that list (it's only really rivaled by the MBP IMHO).

 

Yeah, I think I am going to go with the Thinkpad T61p 14.1", partly because I want my laptop to weight LESS than my lil bro's Mac Book Pro (and not 1LB more), and I found a good deal on it.

There is a large bias towards the Asus' because it is the Asus forum, so I would say that the thinkpad's would get a lot more in the main board.

Also, the ONLY thing that I do not like about the T61p is the position of the Fn key, and the only other two laptops that have the "correct" ctrl key position are the V2S and the G1S.

The G1S has bad speakers, and is a little big in general (although I like pretty much everything else, including design, Esata / HDMI, GDDR3, and Carbon/aluminum look).
The V2S is just two expensive for my tastes ($1750 for the V2S, versus $1300 (with 20% off coupon) for the T61p 14.1".
But if the V2S was as much as the F8SV (which I don't like because it is almost as big as the 15.4" T61p), then I would probably go with that.

 

t61p 14" has the equivalent of a 8600 GS not GT just fyi. your lil bro's MBP will be faster in games (although maybe not since his resolution is higher)

 

The mbp will be faster yup, a good amount too.

 

The 14" T61p's video card is indeed the equivalent of an 8600M-GT, merely with a lower memory bandwith than the MBP's card. The 256mb MBP will definitely be faster by a good amount, but the 128mb MBP will at a maximum 40% faster, but in real life it will be around 15% faster in most games.

And to clarify, the 14" T61p has a higher resolution than the MBP.

 

15.4" T61p. Its faster than the MBP, its a lot cheaper than the MBP, and it weighs nearly the same (like 5.7 without OD). The 14" is lighter, but its the same height because of the standard ratio screen, and its got a crippled graphics card. Not as bad as the V2S, but its worse than any other 8600GT out there atm. Pretty similar in performance to the 256MB 8600GS in the F3Sv.

 

Yes, but I don't want a MacBook pro, that is why it isn't in the poll

 

However, people will still compare your choices with the MBP as a baseline, seeing as how the MBP is pretty much the single best 15.4" gaming/performance notebook out there at the moment.

 

I would put the g1 ahead of the mbp.

 

Why? It's heavier, larger, has worse battery life. It has nice features, but in terms of performance and portability it's slightly behind the MBP.

 

Slightly? The G1 weighs almost 1.5lbs more and has significantly larger dimensions...

 

Yeah, but the performance and cost (versus the expensive 256mb MBP or the weaker 128mb MBP) makes up for some of the bulkiness. In my opinion, the HP 8510p/w is a much closer competitor the MBP than the Asus G1s.

 

Yep. I really like the 8510p, it seems like a very nice notebook. Really inexpensive as well, considering that it nearly matches the MBP in form factor, and beats it in performance. Thats the notebook, I would have picked had it been on the poll.

 

Because of the edge in gaming performance. I just think macs are way too overpriced.

 

WHY ARE WE STILL TALKING ABOUT MACS IN THIS THREAD?
lol

 

Err, sorry for hijacking the thread...

I would also take a look at the HP 8510p, as mentioned above. It very closely apes the T61p 15", except it trades the 570M for an HD2600.

 

The HP 8510 looks nice but it appears that you can't get an 8600M GPU in it for less than $2K.

 

You can't get an 8600M GPU in it at all (though you can get the equivalent Quadro FX 570m in the 8510w, which I assume is what you're talking about). However, we were recommending the 8510p with the HD2600, which can be had nicely configured for ~$1400.

 

Woah! The 8510p is perfect. I am finish waiting.

 

The HD2600 comes down in the middle of the DDR2 and GDDR3 versions of the 8600G in terms of performanceT, so while its slightly slower than the fx 570M, its a LOT less expensive. Although, I think with the w model, you can get an optional WUXGA screen, while the p is WSXGA only.

 

For us Canadian, there is not much choice. The 8510p is absolutely stunning at such price point in comparison to other alternatives. 8510p is cheaper than the V1S/V2S/F8SV and it is a business class notebook, and best of all I can get it in Canada for $1600CAD taxed + shipped infront of my house.

 

Myself I have been torn over the

V1
C90s
T61p
8510p

for the last month and a bit I've been debating because i'm in a peculiar situation of being in China. Normally I live in Toronto. But I also have access to American friends.

Since Lenovo has been offering pretty substantial discounts to Americans on their site 25% during labour day and 20% currently, it made the T61p with 570m quadro competitive.

For about $1400 us or cad (thanks to dollar parity lol), I've configured
C2D 2.0 ghz
1gb ram (to be upgrade via newegg to 3 gig for another $105)
80 gb 5400 rpm HD (upgraded later again via newegg)
9 cell
every other option stock.

None of Asus options could even touch it and this was a business class notebook.

However recently, on another thread I just noticed that gentech is now offering 8600 GT with GDDR3 memory which would coincidentally rival 570m on the T61p and for comparison's sake MBP. The only problem with that when I try to make a similar configuration with an E6600 Gentech. It's at least $150 more with a 60gb 5400 HD.

Is a desktop cpu+upgradeability better than business class build and better battery life. My primary concern is price/performance

 

Well, the 8510p at $1400 essentially matches that T61p config (though, I think it has a larger hard drive, mebbe wrong...), so you can take your pick between the two. Personally, I would rather have the HP, but that is maybe just my slight bias against ThinkPads showing.

And the C90 has pathetic battery life. Like an hour and a half, at best. Essentially useless as a notebook. However, in terms of price, I priced it with the E6600, the GDDR3, 1GB/120GB and a wireless card for $1440. No OS though, so that may change things a bit if you want to add it. Though, I think you can get XP for a lot cheaper than $95 (dunno though, I've never actually paid for an OS...Its either come with the computer, or I got it free through the UW or Microsoft)

 

You can get the 8510p for $1500 + tax in Canada. T7300/1gb ram/ati 2600

 

that's almost $100 + tax with a vidcard that performs slightly less.

I need a reason to go with HP over T61p as if they were the same price.

 

Its all about personal preference. I personally like the HP over the T61 in terms of design, so thats what I would get. The GPUs are very similar in performance, so that shouldn't really be a deciding factor.

 

there is currently a 20% off for T61p's?

 

Where are you getting your T61p from (in Canada) that is cheaper than $1500 + 6% tax?

 

If you guys read my first post, I stated that I can get the T61p from the American Lenovo site because I have a friend in the states.

To me buying from CAN or US isn't any different because afterwards, I will ship it to China. Besides if I was still in Toronto, I would either get my friend to order it and ship it because it's still cheaper.

For you two, if you don't have that option than the HP is an obvious choice.

Earlier during Labour day, it was 25% off. So my guess is that this 20% off is gonna be the new pricing level for the T61's.

If I was in Toronto, I'd get HP if I don't have an American friend since Canadians get ripped off in terms of buying notebooks.

 

True, but you can still get batteries for $70
Still haven't tested how mine last so cannot comment.

Compared to my dad's inspiron 1501, portability is not that bad. I doubt it does more than 1lb more than the Inspiron. Also, when I move it in my hands, I don't fear breaking my C90S, unlike the Inspiron (wich has unbelievable Flex).