Asus W2v - user impressions

Sorry I must have not been very clear about the MCE control. My W2 came with the MCE control, and that is all. I feel like a dumbass saying this but what does the tv tuner look like? I don't see it there in the picture with all the accessories

 

Ok.... you've got a good unit.. that's what you should have.... the tv tuner is inside the system... Here's a diagram I made:



Now you can't see the cables in that picture, but there are two cables that go into that area and for the units in North America, one cable will be taped off because we can't use the hybrid tuner...... as long as your's is the same, you've at least got the right one.

 

its inside the w2

 

Is this a question or are you stating the obvious? There's a picture above that shows it's inside.

 

I've finally had a chance to play around with the Media Center. Overall impressions are very positive - the interface is clean, stylish and professional. All channels were properly identified, and TV listings were automatically downloaded and matched against the right channels. Closed captioning turns on once you mute the sound. Picture viewing is nice - the larger res pictures are first shown entirely then get slowly zoomed in to their native resolution. DVDs are playing fine too. Unfortunately I can't make the comparison with Asus Mobile Theatre. However my PC is from PROPortable's 1st shipment, and it's got the mobile theatre cd and other stuff - so one of these days I'll throw an XP Pro on this thing and see what Mobile theatre is all about.

I did end up with an unanswered question though. How can I run Media Center full screen on the TV through S-Video out? For example, AsusDVD software has an option in the config, called "Full screen on secondary device (using Overlay mode)". When it's on, once you start DVD playback, the TV switches from its normal mode when it just shows a 1024x768 sub-region of your laptop sceeen and starts to show only the movie, full screen. I would think media center should have a similar option, but I can't find any. I tried making my TV panel primary/secondary screen in the ATI display options - doesn't matter. When I maximize Media Center while TV panel is active, the screen both on the laptop and on TV just goes blank. I read someone's advice on Microsoft forums that you should set up your TV in Media Center settings as being connected through "DVI or VGA" rather than S-Video. I tried that, and the screen no longer went blank, but TV continued to show only a sub-region of my laptop screen - a subregion of Media Center's maximized window in this case. Ideally I'd like to specify that my Media Center's content should just run full screen on S-Video, regardless of Media Center window's state on the laptop. Did anyone have a similar problem?

 

After 2 days of working with the W2 my first impressions are that I am very happy with everything about it except for the screen. I love the 17 inch size, but am disappointed with its brightness. I am upgrading from the W3 and the drop down in brightness is very noticable. Having them side by side as I transferred files over, it was difficult not to have mixed feelings of regret. Can anyone comment on the brightness of the W1 compared to the W3? I would be tempted to "downgrade" to the W1 if its screen is comparable to the W3. Other than that, I think the W2 is a wonderful machine.

Cheers,
Gerry

 

Ger - something's not right..... my first reaction when I started up my W2, next to my W3.. was... "I thought the w3 was bright" ...... are you sure you have played with the adjustments?

Just so you know, the W1's screen is great, but it doesn't hold water to the W2 in terms of brightness...... I think something's up.... brightness was never something I ever thought would come up about that unit.

 

Right--- 100% right..... when going through s-video, for whatever reason, will appear like you've seen....... however if you run it through the vga out (I suggest buying the vga to component adapter from ATI's site: http://shop.ati.com/product.asp?sku=2537968 -- given that you have component.. if you do you'll appreciate it more than svideo)....... If you do that, you should be able set media center to just open on that monitor (full screen) whenever you open it.

 

OK, perhaps something is wonky with my particular W2? From the moment I started working with it, I reached for the brightness function keys and tried to make it brighter, but it was already at max. At the time I thought it just needed to be on for awhile before I made a judgement. But once I set up the W3 next to it I knew my head was not playing tricks with me. Granted, people have different preferences for how bright they like their screens, but sitting at the W2 I quickly noticed that my eyes were getting fatigued trying to read text, whereas if I switched back to the W3 my eyes were very happy again. This afternoon I just closed the W2 and went back to my W3. So what would you recommend a next step be? Call ASUS and schedule a diagnostic?

 

The w3 and w2 screens are basically the same, but they are going to vary just like desktop monitors vary.... so I'd say asking Asus what's up would be a good idea since there' nearby.. Looking at the W3 and W2 right next to each other though is weird......... Take the W2 and set it back about another 10" and make sure the background is set the same. That's going to give you a different look than what you're seeing.... it's impossible to compare a 14 and a 17" screen, right next to each other.... even if you're looking at the brightness..... Every size screen is known to have it's slight differences and you're also coming from a powerbook, right? The screen on both of these units certainly should be brighter than that at least. The 14" might be slightly brighter, because I know the 12" w5 is slightly brighter than the 14"... but it's not a lot. The thing you lose as you get smaller though is viewing angles....... so the angles should be better on the W2...... all in all though the W5/W3/W2 are the brightest screens we've got, in that order....

I loved the W1 screen, but everything about the W2 is better. If you're coming from a W3, you're not going to like the W1...... both the W3 and W2 (and this has nothing to do with their numbering)..... have built on what the W1 had...... No one and I mean no ONE could have either of those two models and then be satisfied with the W1.

 

Q: for Justin
Just noticed something odd, or not, but when I check System Properties it shows the unit installed with MSMCE v 2002, not 2005 as advertised. Am I missing something?

 

I don't think much has changed in terms of versions.... but 2005 is basically just like a service pack...... all xp machines read version 2002...... however the functionality of this years edition is far superior to the first........ and I could be wrong to begin with, but I thought 2003 was the first media center edition anyway......

It's 2005, you can check that against all the new features on microsoft's site.

 

Thanks J
U rock

 

... I do, and you're welcome

 

When I am comparing these screens I am sitting in front of each one at a time, looking straight at the screen in a working position. I also have the same web page up on each laptop. I moved the W2 back and forward, but did not notice a difference.

I have the original PowerBook 17, which is not as bright as the recent versions. This W2 is definitely brighter than the PowerBook, but not by a lot. If I lower the brightness on the W3 about 4 or 5 steps using the Function key, it approximates the max level on the W2. The W2 also has what I would describe as a cool blue tint overall. Is there perhaps a color temperature setting that might be out of wack within the system somewhere?

I understand that my reaction to the brightness may just be a personal thing, and someone else may not bother. In any case, I just got off the phone with Technical Support at ASUS. Arrangements have been made to return the W2 for examination. Then I'll know whether its the preference of my 50 year old eyes, or whether there's something askew with this particular W2.

Thank you for the help and feedback.

Gerry

 

I also found the screen to be not as bright and I had hoped. My sister's Toshiba's trubrite screen is definitely much brighter, but I won't complain about the W2 screen, it's still very nice. I have sent my laptop back to be examined for a number of problems e.g. keyboard not sensitive enough and problems with shift keys, front right speaker giving horrible sound and then correcting itself, and random sound card problems. I hope they will send me a new system because these problems are obviously not of the norm and I'd rather not them take a shot at assuming the problems are something, especially since I have only about a week until I leave for Japan >.<

Oh W2, why hast thou forsaken me

 

Ive been messing around with my W2v lightly for the past day or so and Im very impressed with it overall, even if Im still adjusting to it and learning all its quirks. There are a couple nitpicks like the keyboard being a little loose at the F keys and the corner but Ill see if I can have that addressed.

I really like the touchpad customization, Im still getting used to it but its very convenient and feels more efficient than using it as a touchpad only. I havent tested the WiFi yet but I plan to next week at school and see how it works. The slot load drive is pretty noisy when taking and ejecting discs and it didnt recognize one of my audio CD's too. Ill have to try others and see if its just that one or if its the drive's problem.
I dont have much complaints with the screen thus far, no dead pixels, no complaints about brightness (though I havent had the chance to use it outdoors yet), and MCE is working great. In fact, Im recording while watching Top Gear right now as I type this. Im a little disappointed with the TV and DVD quality when watching it fullscreen.....but then I shouldnt be sitting so close anyways and its fine when watching it as a TV from some distance. It replaced a 19" TV which I used to have but now Im sitting even closer to the screen
The TiVo style recording and pausing is new to me and its a nice novelty to have.....I think itll get quite a bit of use too lol
The sound is a little muffled sounding and lacking deep bass through my earphones as people have mentioned but the sound from the notebook speakers seem fairly sufficient so far but Im sure theres room for improvement here after the driver issues are sorted out.

I have a couple questions though; first is about the IR in front, was it originally intended only for the mini remote and MCE remote only? I have a cellphone with IR but it only responds to IR on the right side.
Second is regarding the AV-In port, I plugged in my PS2 but I didnt find MCE had ant provisions to play the AV-IN so does this mean I have to use another third party program to get that working or is it something Im overlooking?
Third question is about the coaxial connectors. What are these supposed to connect to?
Last problem is I can't get my CC to work at all. Could it be a driver problem also? I tried turning it on when muted and on at all times and I didnt even know it had CC until I read some post here about it. I really want to get it working.

 

The AV-in plug is interesting.... it's really only going to be nice for people using something like Adobe Premier where importing video where you can't do it otherwise.... say over firewire, usb, etc......

MCE doesn't really have anything set up to work with that... but there's other software that'll give you access to that....... I haven't found any, but I do know it's out there..... AV-in though is manly used for importing stuff into something like Premier without some external video grabbing tool.

 

So it really wasnt meant to be used similar to the TV in to watch devices with composite out? Thats a shame, because I really had a need for it. Unless I could find a hub to replace that use.

So what about the coaxial adapters, what are they meant to connect to?
For the closed captioning to work in MCE do I need to find a compatible DVD program that recognizes CC or is it another problem? I read something about switching to WinDVD and close captioning working.

 

OK...

1. No... not really... meant more for the importing of stuff like that into video editing software... although, like I said... it's there, it CAN be done... I just don't have the software that I can tell you would be good to use.

2. those coax adapters are ... and incase for some reason you need male ends instead of female....... like if for some reason you were connecting that little cable directly to a splitter or something.

 

Hello everyone!

Yesterday had arrived my little baby (W2Vc) and the only thing i could say is that this notebook is really AMAZING!
I've played a lot with it and i would like to write some things about it! I bought it from Germany and the model is W2VC-UU00P.

1. First of all about the fan. I dont know why many users say that the W2Vc's fan is loud! For me is REALLY QUITE. Maybe i am a little deaf.....
I've read all the posts about the fan and i am really worried because i think that something wrong with my notebook's fan. Sometimes it's so quite that i think that it doesnt work! My W2Vc's bios is 0207 and the fan usually works at 2400 rpm (Asus Probe measurament). Do you think that this number is Ok or is too low?

2. The only thing that is making noise is the slot-in DVD-R. But it isn't something disturbing. For me it is just OK!

3. The performance of this notebook is AWESOME! I've benchmarked my notebook with 3DMark 05 and PCMark 05 and here are the results.

3DMark05: W2Vc 2497 points - Desktop PC (Nvidia FX 5900): 1090 points!!!!!

PCMark05 CPU Test: W2Vc 3185 point - Desktop PC (Athlon Xp Barton 3000+) 2885 points!!!!!

PC Mark05 Memory Test: W2Vc 2570 points - Desktop PC (768 Mb 400Mhz) 2330 points

PC Mark05 HDD Test: W2Vc 3750 points - Desktop PC (Maxtor 80 Gb Ata133) 4182 points!

When i saw these results i shocked!!!!!

This baby is really FAST! For me it isn't just a desktop replacement notebook, it is MORE! The only thing that i could remark it's the HDD. I think that Asus should put a SATA HDD or at least a ATA133 HDD. I think that the specific HDD slows down the overall performance.

3. The screen is PERFECT! And for me it's really bright. The only problem for me is that when working at 1280X720 it isn't so clear as it it at 1680x1050. But i think that this is happening because is a WSXGA screen. Does anybody knows any trick to make the screen at lower resolutions as clear as it is at 1680x1050 ?

4. Sound. Well the sound isn't what i was expected. It sounds like Ac'97. In fact i think that the system is a 2 speakers system and not a 4.1. Of course all the speakers work, but i think that all play the same sound. But it is OK and really loud! I haven't noticed any other problems with the sound!

5. Size and Design. JUST PERFECT!!!!! I think that size is one of the best things in this notebook.

6. Remotes. I have Win XP Pro and BOTH remotes working with Mobile Theater. It is really amazing to watch TV, DVD or listening music and control everything with these remotes.

7. Carry Bag. The ONLY thing i cound complain for my W2Vc is the carry bag. It's beautiful and stylish but i think that it's a little small. If i put inside all the peripherals (mouse, remotes, antenna....) and the power adapter, i think that the notebook is pressing a lot. I hope that there will be no problem with that pressure. I dont know... what is your opinion about that???

That's all about me. I could write more things about this notebook but i dont want to fatigue you! For me EVERYTHING is PERFECT. As Proportable said the good things are so many that i just dont care about the few bad things (as the sound).


And some questions:

1. I have a problem with Mobile Theater. I would like to watch TV from antenna (analog). When i open TV settings and i set Greece and Pal everything seems to work fine. I set up all the channels and i close TV settings. After that i open Mobile Theater and i go to TV. There the only options for TV is Cable, Digital and Composite. There is nowhere any option about Antenna, or analog TV. So i cant see TV with Mobile Theater. I have installed DScaler and the TV Tuner works great! But i would prefer to watch TV from Mobile Theater. It's the remotes that make the difference. Any idea????

2. I will format my notebook because it has German Win Xp. I've noticed that there is a partion about 1.8 Gb that is called "RECOVERY". Do i need this partion or i could simply delete it?

3. What are your temps? I can only see the cpu temp and it is always about 50 degrees (C). How could i see the motherboard and the HD temperature?
Thanks!


P.S. Sorry about my bad english!

 

Your use of color is great... really helps with the flow of your post.

1. I have not gotten that antenna to work with UFH or VHF signals and Asus says: it's only for over the air digital... so take that as you will... but I'm sure there's a way to get it to work.

2. You don't need it, but if you ever lose your discs, you're going to be glad they're there.... I would leave that if I were you... unless you need the space.

3. I'll let someone else comment about the temps for now... but I'm about to do an IR temp reading on various parts of the W2, during idle and under full power.

 

Hey, that's new! The latest bios on the Asus site is 0206a and that's the one I have. Maybe there is a new bios that sorts the fan out, that would be great.....
My fan runs at about the same speed.

I wouldn't risk it. I just used Partition magic to merge all three partitions and converted them to ntfs. Safe.

Same here........

 

Indeed! When i saw 0207 i was really suprised! Even now at asus web site the latest bios is 0206a. Maybe they are working it more before they give it for update. But even with 0207 there isn't any option for slowing down the fan. And the fan still works all the time. I don't know why my fan is so quite. Maybe the bios, maybe Asus noticed the problem and put new improved fans.

That's exactly what i mean when i say "delete" the partition.

Anybody any ideas about these i asked before:

1. Does anybody knows how i can increase the screen quality at lower resolutions? How to make it as clear as it is at 1680x1050.

2. What is your opinion about the carry bag? Am i the only one that think that the bag is a little small and the notebook takes a lot of pressure?

 

Thanks, I'll search for a good program that I can "watch" through the AV-in.

Regarding the TV-in plug, do you know the name of that plug?
I want to try and see if I can try an adapter so I can connect other stuff to it if possible. That plug doesn't support out does it?

 

No, the way I describe it you do not delete anything, you just put everything there is in one C partition.

 

I don't think that is possible on any LCD. If you use anything different than native res you'll lose focus.

 

After a few days have receiving the W2v from www.proportable.com, I am very impressed with this notebook, although it is not perfect. So here are my pros and cons.

Pros
1. Excellent Build Quality
2. Excellent screen, but behind Sony and Fujitsu
3. A very good quality keyboard
4. Style
5. A good gaming notebook
6. The best sound that I heard from a notebook

Cons
1. Fan is constantly on
2. Right cursor key makes loud clicking sounds when I press the key
3. I really do not like Windows Media Center OS
4. The quick key buttons under the power button get warm
5. Wireless signal is weak. When I am at 12 ft away from my Linksys wireless access point, I do not get a full signal of 54 Mbps, I get anywhere from 24 Mbps to 1.0 Mbps

Asus's weakness is the fan. I owned a few Asus motherboards and the Asus M6BNe notebook, and the fans were constantly on especially on their motherboards and on the M6BNe notebook the fan was on when it is needed. I think that Asus should start using heatsinks in their laptops.

 

Kage - I think you should honestly know more about your laptops before comment like you are on the fan...... I'm not saying the fan is not always on.... but the fan speed is the run by heat senors which is created by cpu and gpu speed... When you're running high performance or super performance.... your cpu is at full blast for.. you guessed it... performance..... so the fan's activity is really a product of the performance you're creating... Most people don't need that performance kicked up all the time and it's one reason to get to know power gear or other power saving software well.

There is a way to get the fans to go off... for a while, but the performance in that system of yours isn't going to allow it.... as long as your fan isn't running at full rpms, it is normal........ so when in email mode and just doing normal things... you shouldn't actually hear the fan, even though it's going to be running a bit.... I don't know what configuration you have in your M6, but physically what's in the W2 is going to get hotter and that has to be released...

Now, you said Asus you start using heatsinks... and this is where I sort of wonder how much you know about these systems.... They do have heatsinks.... well actually heatpipes, which is all you're going to get in a laptop unless you want a W2 that's twice as thick.... It's the same concept.... but actually works better. A liquid inside heats up and turns to a gas, that flows up to the copper fins (which is the heatsink/radiator part) and the heat is transferred to the fins and the fan blows on the fins to push the air out of the system..... the gas turns back to a liquid and returns to the cpu....... There's not a better way to do this and there's not a company who does it better either... You can turn the fan off with programs like speed fan, but consider what's in that system... if you do that, the system is going to run hotter... it has nothing to do with Asus, and all about the "performance" parts that you've got in that system... even if you only use the performance once in a while, you've got to turn stuff down.. and it can only get turned down so much... you're never going to get the cool running, perfect quiet machine that could get in a ULV centrino notebook...... you can't have your cake and eat it too... well you can and you do (that notebook still runs cool and had great life for what it is) .... but it's can't be 100% perfect... I wish there was a way to do that, but until we could figure a way to use fuel cells to power it and refridgerant to cool it... I think it's as good as it can get for now.

About the wifi - it's not your computer..... well atleast it's not hardware... what proset version are you using? What firmware do you have on your router? Wireless should be as good as it was on your M6...... and if that sucked too, I'd certainly look at your router or your drivers... Also, check what settings your router is on.... if you want 54mb/s all the time, make sure it's set to 54 and not auto speed.

 

Has anyone else had trouble getting closed caption to work on MCE? I set it to be on all the time with CC1 and CC2 and neither work. I rely on it alot when I multitask and just in general and it bugs that I cant use it on MCE.

I tried searching for drivers but there doesnt seem to be any other cases about this with the Lifeview card on the W2v's.

 

Should have nothing to do with MCE itself... but your cable..... the first thing I noticed when using MCE was that when you muted the sound, closed captioning started right up..... not that I need it, but when you have to mute it to talk on the phone or something, it is nice to have when you're trying to follow something..... I really don't think it's got anything to do with MCE itself.

 

I used the same cable line that was plugged into my tv which I know had closed captioning so it should work.

I did a search for it but it could be driver issues with the tuner or program glitches. I think I read that using WinDVD could be the solution but I dont know if MCE will integrate with it. Anyways it seems Im the only one with this problem.

I also notice some artifacts when playing DVD's; also theres alot of noise when watching TV, same when watching dark scenes on DVD, is all this supposed to happen?

Does MCE uses AsusDVD to play DVD's or something else?

 

Hello Justin
mine is an Italian version (model: w2vb-u001m)
it comes with MCE installed,
packaged with the MCE remote control and
SURPRISE! the tuner is the hybrid digital and angalog (has two cables attached)
my tuner works very badly (I use MCE tv configuration): I get an extremely noisy signal so tv watching is very troubled
Any chance that the Mobile theatre software allows better results?

Another major issue is that I can not make the AV input work...I connect a dvd player or any other analog device but I can not capture as no device is recognized
I've used all I could:
Ulead Power director (comes in the cds), Movie maker, etc but I have no luck

Suggestions or comments from you?

The retailer was not of any help and next week I will try to call the Asus Italian tech assistance to see what they can do for me..
thanks for any help

 

What do you mean, the dealer is not of any help? This guy sells you a top notch device, pockets the profit and is not capable of answering your questions?

Return the W2 a.s.a.p.,get your money refunded and go to a REAL dealer.......

 

I've returned the notebook and all teh reatiler did was to install
hybrid tv tuner updated drivers
and the following software:
Ulead InstaMedia 2.0 Digital Home Theater Software
which was not originally installed and which I guess should be the european version of asus mobile theatre
the funny thing is that I can not get any antenna signal (terrestrial analog) using this software as in the settings it only diplays Cable / composit / SVideo

I can only see something if I use the Media Center Tv option but again the image is far too noisy

so I guess the retailer made a mess
on monday I'll call Asus Italy
but before that any suggestions?
thanks

 

Well, I don't know about Italy, but here (NL) the W2 has come out with MCE (Microsoft Media Centre Edition) from the beginning. I bought mine two months ago and it had MCE, and no Asus Mobile Theatre.

You say u use the Media Centre TV Option. Do you mean Windows Media Centre? If so, then you should check your TV settings. Which signal do u use? Analog, digital? Antenna or Cable? All these things should be set properly.

I presume you get an analog signal, otherwise it cannot be noisy. Digital you either have perfect signal or none at all. If u have analog signal and you have noise, then your signal is bad and that has nothing to do with your software.

Check the cables, connections and settings again. Do you receive the same bad signal if you plug a tv in the same cables you feed to your pc?

 

Yeah I mean Windows media center
I properly set the tv settings (antenna)
and the signal is great if connected to my tv

the signal becomes awful only if connected to the Asus notebook tv tuner

 

Hi All!!!

I am about to order a W2V and would love to get some info from you;

1. Is it possible to make sure I get the latest one out, by serial number, or other way?

2. Any recommended dealer standing behind the product and offering some money back or replacement for 15-30 days?

3. Do you have any info about custom changes, as offered at AGearnotebooks? A faster HD?

4. Is it possible to disable some of the startup stuff, and have a more plain XP envoyerment (for heavy music applications) ? or to create 2 sturtup modes?

Thanks All,

:centrino:

 

Haosus,

1. Is it possible to make sure I get the latest one out, by serial number, or other way?

-We sell them as they come in, so therefore, you would have the newest ones available.

2. Any recommended dealer standing behind the product and offering some money back or replacement for 15-30 days?

-We offer Education / Military, and Referral discounts.

3. Do you have any info about custom changes, as offered at AGearnotebooks? A faster HD?

-We have multiple hard drives availble for your to configure the unit with. Configure your W2 here: http://pc11.flashecom.com/startech/system_dept.asp?dept_id=SD-028

 

I am trying to get Mobile Theater to work in the USA on the MCE edition with analog tuner. I am having a problem with sound, and I will also explain why I don't like MCE.

It was mentioned that Mobile Theater does not operate with the analog tuner in the US - however I think it's merely a driver issue. On asus download site, there are separate drivers for the analog tuner - one for WinXP/2000, and one for the MCE. Just installing Mobile Theater does not work - it would hang when TV is selected. So I replaced my MCE driver with the one for WinXP/2000. At this point my Media Center sure enough no longer works with TV, but Mobile Theater shows the TV stream and allows to flip the channels just fine. Except - there is no sound on any of the channels! I can listen to music from within Mobile Theater if I go to the Music section, but there is no sound with TV. Does anyone know why? Obviously I checked all possible volume controls and such..

And here's what motivates me.. This is what I don't like about MCE:

a) when you start playing a DVD, if there is a menu of episodes you need to choose from - it doesn't highlite the menu item currently selected, like Asus DVD software does, for example. Pressing up/down buttons on the remote control shifts the focus from one item to another, but you have no idea which one is selected until you actually start playing it.

b) In TV mode, there is no way to direct the sound to rear channel output. If you have an external 2-speaker system habitually connected to the laptop, then in order to watch and hear TV you either have to disconnect it, or connect to the "front" audio jack, in which case you get really bad quality audio.

c) Can't be run full screen just on the S-Video TV out - either you need to scale down resolution to 1024x768 and run Media Center full screen on the laptop itself, or buy some VGA-to-composite adapter, I was told.

So with that, I find Media Center practically useless. I am not sure if Mobile Theater would address all of the above concerns, however I really want to give it a try. Any feedback on the sound issue with MT or maybe on the MCE quircks I found is very appreciated.

 

Hello everybody,

i have mine W2VB voor about 2 weeks and have a lot of fun with it.
Every time i start it up i have a smile on my face and stays there till i shut it off.
I never had such a great notebook before, my previous notebook was an Asus L3800Ce.
I use this notebook for Photeshop and the screen is perfect, nice deep colours and vieuweble from manny different angels.
I read al lot about the bad sound, but for me its good. Ofcourse if it is to be improved a'm all ears.

Pros:
1. Perfect screen
2. Good sound (for me)
3. Great looks
4. Nothing to wish for whats already on it.

Cons:
1. Lak of time to play more with it.
:asus:

 

Hi all,

i'm reading a lot about sound on the W2V in this forum.

So my question: can you attach at the W2V a 2-way speaker system? Do you have a line out interface to connect speakers? And if you do so: are the "internal" speakers automatically muted?

Thanks for any input.

Emil22

 

Yes - and that goes for every other notebook that I've ever put my hands on, not just Asus and certainly not just the W2.

 

When you had your L3, it was awesome at the time, if you got it when it first came out anyway....... I'm glad to hear when just turning on the notebook puts a smile on someone's face!

 

Thanks for your input. Which connector do you plug the cable in and where is this connector located? At the front? Is there any sound quality issue?

Thanks for your feedback.

 

There's an S/PDIF output on the front of the system... it should have a headphone logo on it.

 

had mine delivered from c9tech yesterday. i ordered from the US rather than fro australia(where i am from) for the following reasons:

oz spec has the following:

lower spec Pm (1.8ghz i think)
tray dvd drive (rather than slot)
512mb 400mhz ram (rather than 1024mb 533mhz)

and over $Au400 more expensive

First id like to say what a **** exy machine this is, and i cant understand posts on the notebook forums about the fan noise - what noise?!?

some pics








slot load drive is not at all noisey

not much else to say at the moment, will post in future as i learn more about the machine.

one question - what on earth is the "ir extender"?? its a little cable - looks like an antenna...and what port does it connect to???? u cn see it in the last pic bottom left hand corner

thanks

 

The IR extender is really meant for a media center that's hidden behind a cabinet door....... and you'd hook that up and hide it somewhere on the outside so the remote would still work.

 

ahhhh. i thought the front panel had the remote IR......

ok just got mce working, had to install asusdvd to get rid of the decoer errors & region problems

just tried to watch a Frasier DVD....quality is not what i expected.

I have a 50inch marantz plasma PD5050D. When i watch this dvd (only one i have tried on the w2v) the quality is far superior on the plasma. Is it the laptop screen itself, the software (asusdvd - i have read the nvidia decoder is better), or is it to be expected when compared to the marantz?

thanks in advance

 

Take all those stickers off, and it will be even more sexy!