Asus S5A vs. Dell X1

It seems that the S5 is build better than the X1
Does anyone here owns a s5?
If yes can you give me your comments on it....it would be appreciated....
It will make the difference in my choice of new laptop which will replace my 3.5 yr old Inspiron 8100

 

your going to get biased comments in an asus specific forum.

that being said, my twin brother has the s5 and he loves his. he got it from proportable.com and he has nothing but good things to say about the laptop and the seller.

 

Here come the biased comments...... do a search on the x1 and see what people think about it........ the words "ecconomic" and "budget" will come up a lot.

 

got my opinion on the Dell already ...just wanted to see yours on the ASUS S5A....
the driving factor right now is the looks of the ASUS and the speed...

 

I can't comment on the build quality of the X1 vs the s5a because I have never seen the X1 in person. Compared the 700m, however, the s5a is godly. Perhaps that doesn't mean much because the 700m has horrible build quality, but the s5a does have a great build, both in looks and strength.

The x1 is a rebranding of a samsung notebook, but dell changed some of the compenents of the case to make them weaker/cheaper. In general, I have a horrible impression of Dell, so I would say to go with the s5a. Dell tends to give too small of a power supply/ too weak of a coolent system for many of their notebooks so if you push them in games, they overheat and/or just turn off. They also have horrible support, just look at them in resellerratings.com. Again these are just generalizations about Dell, and the X1 may or may not be plagued by the Dell syndrome.

The s5a is a great notebook. Small, light, fast, 915 graphics, good screen and keyboard (in my opinion), 3 usb, firewire, a LOT of accessories at purchase.

Here is a link to a review of the S5n, which is the older version of the S5a.
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=15778 (its the second review down)

There have been many posts asking where they could see a asus in person, so what area are you in? If you are in So. Cal, I know a few places.

 

Isn't the X1 from the Latitude line? If so, it should be pretty good - the Inspirons are the ones you should stay away from. I’m not saying it is Asus good, I haven’t seen either one in real life.

 

Who is biased here? I am not biased! Asus sucks compared to dell....
Dell is awesome! If you wanted rock hard quality, top notch support, long lasting components, a different look then everyone else in this world and many other great benefits for buying one of their reamrkable products....you would stay with dell. Once you go dell your laptop will smell. :750:

 

I would go for the X1 if it has the regular 2.5 inch HD (but it has a 1.8 inch)
the look on the S5A is better... :asus: and faster....
the turnoff for the Asus.....No seller in Quebec ...most of them sells the barebone...

Dell never puts coupons for the Latitude line....particulaly for the X1
the max rebate I saw for the Dell is 20%.....
why Asus doen't have any rebate more than a 100 buck (CAD)

 

I wasn't sure at first because I haven't researched the X1 in a while, but since it does have a 1.8 inch HD, I would go with the Asus. The fact that the IBM x41 has a 1.8 inch HD was the final deciding factor that made me change my mind from the x41 to the s5a. A computer running with a 5400 rpm hard drive will preform 33% faster than a computer with a 4200, and thats not just a artifical benchmark speedboost, it really does make a difference in speed. Ask people that changed their hard drives from 4200 to 5400, it is a world of difference. Of course I mention this because 1.8 inch hard drives are limited to 4200 rpm and limited to a max of 60 GB, and expensive - even that small 60 GB hard drive will cost you over 200 US dollars.
I guess this doesnt matter if you dont plan on upgrading the hard drive of the s5a, but its something that many users do.

Another thing that Asus has for it over Dell is that Asus' notebooks last longer than the average notebook, whereas Dells lasts shorter than the average notebook. (This is at least the case for the inspiration line, not sure about the latitude line, but I can't imagine it would be much better)

 

the other turnoff for the Asus is that I just bougth a slot dvd-rw...I don't know if it can be switch with the external ODD. since it's a top load.
as for build quality...latitude is just bit better than the Inspiron....

 

Did you check to see if the slot dvd-rw is compatible with the x1? Most ultraportables have special small-sized optical drives. It wouldnt work with the s5a (unless there is such a thing as a optical enclosure), with the z33a possibly compatible but im not sure. (z33a [m5] is the s5 with the optical internal instead of external and in black)

 

ahhhh forget it...
I'm a proud owner of a W5A....now....
my brick (Inspiron 8100) will rest in peace...or be donated...

 

Am I mistaking or the ASUS S5 gets hot? weight more? and has limited RAM space? maybe I'm confusing it with the ACER TM3002.

Pat

 

IIRC, the w5a has 256mb built in, with 1 upgradable slot, so the max is 1.256gb I think.

Well, all laptops get hot when in use for a long time and with heavy usage. Kinda of a vague description of 'gets hot'.

It's a hot laptop yes, very sexy

 

They did ask about the S5.... the S5 isn't going to get "hot" by anyone's standards...... 4200rpm hard drive and a 1.6ghz cpu..... It's going to be limited to 768mb of DDR2, only because 1gb modules are not made in microdimms yet. Also, it's very unlikely that anyone who can use more than 768gb would be using a tin 12" system like this anyway.

 

the s5 uses micro-sodimm and max out at 512mb /bar thus, only 768 mb for the s5...I don't know about the x1

 

micro-sodimm??!? I'm actually about to buy the X1 and was almost sold on the S5a after seeing pics and reading this thread (although battery life is still a little short), but micro-sodimm is a big disadvantage (I think it's also more expensive). The X1 actually uses regular sodimm, so the max memory is 1.28gb. And I disagree with that comment about using more than 768mb RAM on an ultraportable. Just because the computer is small, it doesn't mean you can't multitask, or use RAM hungry applications (e.g. photoshop). I was planning on getting AT LEAST 768mb RAM with my system because the GMA900 already takes some of that away from the system. That's really too bad

 

I'm not saying you can't multitask, but for the programs you'd use on a 12" screen with a 4200rpm hard drive....... give me a break... I use photoshop all the time... and have used it on the S5 when I'm on a plane and such.... if you're going to get into photoshop that deep on a screen like that... you're going to beat yourself up over the purchase.

Microdimms aren't "bad", yes they are more expensive, and 1gb sticks won't be out for another month or so.... but they're half the size and lighter....... all part of concept of the model.

 

I would imagine many users (especially business ones) using a laptop this small will use an external monitor when not on the go. I'm planning on using my ultraportable with a 19" TFT, and I plan on using it as a primary computer like a desktop. I will be multitasking, and doing photoshop work, so more RAM is an advantage. It's good to hear that there are 1gb sticks coming out, but really the S5A is already expensive and a pricey RAM upgrade only makes it worse.