Asus 3523?

I'm in the middle of buying a new laptop and have a low budget. My choices now are between either a really cheap low-budget model (Acer, Fujitsu, HP, their cheapest), or if I can save up I'm down to these choises: Dell Latitude D505, a secondhand used IBM Thinkpad T40 with 1 year warranty left, or an Asus. Someone has convinced me Asus does great laptops equal to the bug name brands. Seems Asus sell mostly in Europe, anyone knows something about this model: Asus lbh 3523?

Thanks,
Linda

 

Sorry, meant to say I'm in Sweden.

Linda

 

I don't know if I can help you or not.... but are you looking at an Asus L3? Those numbers and letters don't really make much sense... even for the call numbers of Asus in Europe.... Do you have a picture?

Thanks,
Justin
PROPortable
www.proportable.com
[email protected]

 

Well it's the numbers I got from the seller... perhaps it's A3500 with a modification. Oh, found a link to an auction, here it's called A3523:

http://www.tradera.com/auction/aid_12664031

Linda

 

I forget off the top of my head what those other three numbers are..... but

A - thats the series
3 - thats the model
5 - i believe that's the country code where it was sold
2 & 3 --- on the completed systems worldwide these numbers indicate the package.... there made be 2,3,4 different ways you can get it configured.

I don't know what you're looking for quality and performance wise... verses what you can afford, but the A3, especailly in the configuration I read in that link.... is really going to be good for anything but maybe internet and email. This is a basic system at best and might not be the best Asus to really get you hooked.

Here are a couple specs that trouble me if you're going to expect to do much more than email/internet.

-15." XGA - low low res
-Celeron M at 1.4 ghz....... celeron.. say no more.
-40gb hard drive - thats fine.. but they don't list speed which certainly means only 4200rpms.
-RAM: 256mb...... thats not going to get you very far.. xp requires 256mb just for the OS... xp home is not made for a laptop (you don't have any of the powersaving features like standby and hib.
- integrated graphics

unless you're getting this super cheap.... I wouldn't suggest it.

Thanks,
Justin
PROPortable
www.proportable.com
[email protected]

 

Justin...is the A3 identical to the Z9 here in North America?

ASUS M6800Ne, P-M 1.5 Dothan, 512MB Ram, Toshiba Combo drive, Samsung Spinpoint M 40G HDD with 8M cache, Mobility Radeon 9700

 

This is OT but are you a Forsberg fan, Linda?

 

I'm pretty sure the z9 is called an L4 everywhere else.

As for the A3, depending on specs it should be pretty good for office,web surfing, watching dvds and maybe some very light gaming (eg I can run BF1942 on my similar spec'd M2N ok).

In aust, the lowerest A3 model goes for around $1800 which = $1100 euro, its specs are

ASUS A3508N Centrino 1.6GHz Notebook
Description:
Centrino Platform Pentium M725 1.6GHz CPU, 256MB DDR RAM, 40GB HDD, 15" TFT Screen (1024x768), 802.11g 54Mbps Wireless, Combo DVD+CDRW, Web Camera, FireWire, 2.6KG, Windows XP Pro, BONUS Carry Case and USB Mouse, Cash Price

However given Justins list of names I believe that this is the actual model, which sells for around $2300 ~ 1600euro

ASUS A3503N Centrino 1.6GHz Notebook
Description:
Centrino Platform, Pentium M 725 1.6GHz Mobile, 512MB DDR, 60GB HDD, Dual DVD-RW, 15" SXGA (1400x1050) LCD Screen, Wireless 802.11g, Onboard CCD Camera and Microphone, 2.6KG, Win XP Pro, BONUS Carry Case & Mouse

If this is the same as what your looking at and you want a cheap but reliable machine then I think it is a v.good choice. Much better than a second hand IBM....and remember ASUS makes alot of notebooks for other manf. including ibm, apple, sony and voodoopc.
a


ASUS M6Ne 15.4" WSXGA 1.7 PM ATI9700 80Gb HDD 1Gb RAM

 

It's been a while since we had the Z9, but I think it is. Thats another reason I wouldn't suggest it. Although it's a solid computer and everything.... it's something that was meant to look good to the normal Dell buyers.

Thanks,
Justin
PROPortable
www.proportable.com
[email protected]

 

If you're looking on the same level of "basic", I'd still choose an Asus over a similiar Dell...... but just because it's an Asus doesn't mean we'll sell it.... know what I mean? For me, it's a quality and performance thing.

A system like that is best suited with a low end cpu, hard drive and ram..... but I'd rather a lower end configuration on a nicer system for the same price lets say as a good spec on a low end system..... does that make any sense?

Thanks,
Justin
PROPortable
www.proportable.com
[email protected]

 

I see what you mean. So how about a used IBm Thinkpad T40? Quality at the time. Anyway, better laptop but with lower specs... here in Sweden I don't think the come cheap despite being low spec.

 

But all the cheap latops only have Celeron etc, right? I meant if the Asus is better built then say a Dell Latitude D505?

And Forsberg... ooooh yes. **huge** fan : ) Got a personalised signed photo framed. And I've interviewed his dad.

Linda

 

I always say... pick the model that'll best suit your top 3-4-5 needs..... pick the hard drive you want, the RAM you need, and then the CPU you can afford.

You can put in a new hard drive, but the best performance is going to come it whatever you have and it's not always fun to swap to a new drive.

You can always add more ram, but don't limit yourself to 2x256mb if you need 512 now.... get one stick of 512 and have room to expand without chucking everything.

CPU's come down over time and most people won't even notice the difference between a 1.3ghz banias and a 2.1ghz dothan 533...... so get what you can afford and when new chips come out and the top end stuff comes way down, upgrade down the road.. like jump from a 1.3 to 2.1 or whatever ends up coming out.... but a jump from 1.86 to 2.1 isn't going to yeild that much of a difference anyway.

I guess the bottom line is... I hate trying to help customers who come in wanting a 2.1ghz cpu (actually they are the ones coming in thinking they want a 3.6ghz p4 becasue they need the power)..... but then want to skimp on the ram and get a 4200rpm hard drive and put it in a low end system..... all to meet a budget. My way above is the most logical way to meet budget, get what you want, and get what you need at all the same time.

Thanks,
Justin
PROPortable
www.proportable.com
[email protected]

 

I'm a huge fan too! We miss him over here, but we're glad you get to have him back for a bit. TEMPORARILY!

That's cool you interviewed Kent Forsberg. That must have been a treat.

 

Ok, I hear what you say. Is there a huge difference between a 500 cache cpu or a 1000 cahce cpu? Can't afford to picker a faster cpy anyway I'm sure. So, there is a performance difference between 2x256RAm and 512 RAM+ RAM is at loeast something you can upgrade on a laptop, the cpu, or harddrive is impossible to upgrade (I assume).

Oh! Forgot. This is very important to me and decisive which brand I'll pick: I don't want noise! What is the db on the Asus (the latitude has 31 db for instance, but up around 35 is ok)? And I don't want overheat problems!


.......Forsberg is coming back to Colorado I heard. Oh, well, Kent was actually very grumpy, nothing like his son : (



Linda

 

There are 2 models which have had problems with noise, they are the M5 and the A2D. Apart from that ASUS notebooks seem to be very good on theremals and noise. I would strongly suggest only looking at a PM based machine, if noise heat are issues, and I also agree with Justin. It is best to get the the best overall system, rather than one fast component, a computer is only as fast as its slowest part. I personally don't like IBM much, yes they are well made, but they are ugly and very expensive. I don't see it as agood investment. I would go an asus anyday. Have you had a look at the M6 series. You should be able to pick up one of these for a v.good price now that the newer V6V and W3's are out.
As for ram its not that 1 stick is faster than 2, more that if you get 2X256 then when you want to upgrade latter, your gonna have to chuck out 1X256 stick, which is a waste of money. Most asus nb's, come with 1x512, where as acer, dell, hp etc will always give you 2X256. For the price, performance and quality, I don't think you will find a better machine than an ASUS. Dells maybe competitive price wise but they are poorly built with low quality plastics.

a



ASUS M6Ne 15.4" WSXGA 1.7 PM ATI9700 80Gb HDD 1Gb RAM

 

I'm glad to hear he is coming back to CO. I know that he had been talking about retiring to play in Sweden permanently. I think he gets homesick a lot.

That's funny that Kent was grumpy. How could you be grumpy if Peter was your son?????

 

One more question: If I go with a more expensive Asus (or other brand), better models often have higher resolution like 1400x1200 (or whatever it says). i don't want that high resolution cause my eyesight ain't that good. Can I choose on such a laptop to put down the resolution and still have a clear/crisp screen? I read a review once where they complained it got blurry when they lowered the resolution like that.

Linda

 

Well technically "sharpness" or "crispness" as you may put it, is something that would get worse the resolution dropped...... You really need a program that makes the fonts larger while keeping the higher resolution. That is actually better for the eyes. Whats bad for the eyes is when the fonts and icons are so small that you can't see them..... but screen resolution is not 100% tied to that.

Thanks,
Justin
PROPortable
www.proportable.com
[email protected]

 

Why? Because if you can't see, you shouldn't spend your money on the higher res screen.

If you have xp now, you can go into the display settings and bump up the size of the icons, fonts, etc... you can see what I'm talking about before having to do it.

A couple customers have suggested the program eye relief because it can do a better job at it than windows can: http://www.entechtaiwan.com/files/eyerelief.exe

Thanks,
Justin
PROPortable
www.proportable.com
[email protected]

 

So, if it's that simple as downloading (? is it downloadable?) a program which makes the fonts bigger (does it make maps/folders etc bigeer too?), why does sometimes reviewers make a note that if you see poorly perhaps you shouldn't take a 1400x1000 resolution screen? Why don't they say "but you can download a program so it's no problem"? This is right now the make or break issue in my choosing... where can I find this program?

Linda

 

So, if it's that simple as downloading (? is it downloadable?) a program which makes the fonts bigger (does it make maps/folders etc bigeer too?), why does sometimes reviewers make a note that if you see poorly perhaps you shouldn't take a 1400x1000 resolution screen? Why don't they say "but you can download a program so it's no problem"? This is right now the make or break issue in my choosing...

Linda

 

Here's a small one that gets the job done:

<blockquote style='border: dotted 2px black;background-color:white'>EyeRelief 1.00 is a small, simple and free Windows utility that provides improved legibility to high density LCDs, allowing larger font, icon, tool and taskbar sizes at native resolutions. Users with, e.g., SXGA+, UXGA and higher resolutions LCDs may find EyeRelief's desktop scaling a viable alternative to running at lower non-native resolutions.</blockquote>

Edit: Too slow...

 

i'm the quickest draw on the forum, don't forget it [ ]

Thanks,
Justin
PROPortable
www.proportable.com
[email protected]

 

Well since both are still under warranty,then the issue about a working unit shouldn't be to much of an issue. Personally I would go the dell...i cant believe I just typed that..lol
The reasons are as follows
1) better screen, this sounds like it could be really important for you and your epilepsy
2) Ibm's are very ugly
3) Better overall specs with dell, dvd burner will help for backing up data etc and I you just get alot more for your money.
4) Ibm's are ugly
Anyway good luck with your purchase...my final words are to spend the least amount you can to get what you need, because in 2-3 years it(what ever you get) will be outdated and you will have to upgrade.
a


ASUS M6Ne 15.4" WSXGA 1.7 PM ATI9700 80Gb HDD 1Gb RAM

 

Thanks, that is one nifty little program! Works great : )

I'm getting crazy wrapping my head around this. I'm narrowed down my search for a new laptop to secondhand laptops on auction, you get so much more for the money, if there's warranty left. Problem is I found no newer better Asus on the used market : ( Here is two choices I stand between now:

IBM Thinkpad T41
Pentium M 1.6mhz 1mb cache
1 gb RAM
32 mb Ati 7000 graphics
40 gb harddrive
dvd/cd combo
xga 14 " display

warranty until 2007-03


-OR-


Dell Latitude D505 -"new in box" (the seller claims)
Pentium M 1.6mhz 2mb cache
15" 1400x1050 display
1 gb RAM
64 mb shared graphics
60 gb harddrive
dvd-r burner

extern floppy
1 extra battery

warranty 1 year


The Dell is only interesting cause you get a lot and it's still for sale at Dell for a lot of money with that configuration.


I can get either one for more or less the same price. It's the same seller, he seems reliable. The IBM is the seller's own private he's used for a year.

Ok, after reading till my eyes bleed I've concluded this.

IBM

Pros: Well everything, got reputation to be quality built. But, only if you get a working ex.

Cons: I've read a lot about crash-problems, some say the screen-chassi is flimsy, and keys gets worn. The lid easily scratches and dent. Fan noises (?? I want a silent laptop!) Main problem here is crashes, if I get a working T41 it's marvelous, if I geta bad one it's crap. Feels like a lottery. Expensive support, they've told me they charge for some support.


Dell

Prs: They're very popular and many people says they're great. The D505 is a widely used laptop. Great screen and I need a comfortable screen to look at (I'm epileptic). And it's really juiced up. Silent. I'm used to Dell having a Latitude CP since -98, and even if it's had its problems, it's still working, which is impressive!

Cons: I've read of overheating problems, the lid is flimsy. Bad support and sercive. Many complaints about bad build quality.


If I just knew the Thinkpad was a good ex it'd be easy, but....


HELP! Can't decide here.

Linda

 

Bugger! Seems I've misinterpreted the price, the Dell costs $200 more then the IBM : ( Still the one to go with?

I know, it gets old really fast, but I'll doubt I afford an upgrade in two years, might be stuck with it longer then that.

Linda

 

I forgot to mention that in the past Thinkpad T42 has been sold on auction. It's rare they show up, but when they do it's about the same money as the Dell. They're very stripped then, only 512 RAM etc, but still... Am I right that's the one to choose if I could find one? Not likely I do, but..

 

I know that this started out semi on ASUS but given that your now down to a used IBM and a dell, perhaps you might be better off asking this question in the general hardwear/what should I buy section...as well I'm pretty biased and truthfully wouldn't personally buy either, dont like dells due to poor build quality and customer support, and IBMs are over priced and ugly. Thus I'm not the best one to offer advice on this choice.
I will say on parting that the newly released ASUS A6U might be worth a look, it maybe a few weeks to a month before it hits stores in Europe, but its price is looking very attractive (possibly as low as US$760)

Good luck
a


ASUS M6Ne 15.4" WSXGA 1.7 PM ATI9700 80Gb HDD 1Gb RAM