Asus W3J...

Hi, just a quick speculative post to see what people know so far about this notebook, I saw on another post that someone has a photo of this machine from a foreign Cnet site but was hoping someone could shed any more light on what the specs of this machine are likely to be.

P.s. Rumour and conjecture are welcome.


:asus:

 

problem with the photo is that it could've been Asus simply slapping on an "Intel Duo Core" sticker on a W3V, which seems to be the case with the W2J in the pic.

 

Well, since it's pretty much the same size as the W3V, we can probably expect the 14" widescreen and discrete video with a similar form factor as the x600, which would probably be the x1600

 

Yes! I would love to hear any rumours and speculation about the W3J! All juicy gossip is welcome! What screen will it have? What will the resolution be? What material will go into the chassis? And most importantly, what will the GPU be like?

edit: I guess I was still typing when Scoob posted!

 

How's the performance of the X1600 compared to the X600? Better, I assume. Also, any idea what speed the CPU is going to be? Alot of what I've seen for dual core specs seem to only be running at 1.66ghz... I'd really like to see at least the 1.83 go into the W3J.

 

To make this very simple.........

"W" stands for the series

"3" stands for the model

"V", "J" stands for the chipset......

Basically this means as long as this is a "W3" something.... it's the same exact chassis. Some times new chipsets call for certain ports to be in different locations....... but the chassis will be the same. Color may be slightly different, but so far Asus hasn't indicated a change from the dark black colors that they started to go with last year. So it's going to be made the same...... etc.

Again, we're not expecting any of the new Enesemble to be shipping to customers till almost the begining of March.

 

I've seen a few posts say that the x1600 will perform similar or slightly better than the geforce 6800 go. I guess you can check the benchmarks/reviews for some of the new notebooks with this GPU (i think.. acer 8200?). Yeah, it'll be better than the x600.:centrino:

 

March is perfectly fine with me. I might have bought the W3V last year if it hadn't been for the low-end graphics card, but I'm in no rush (it's all just a matter of how long my wife and I can share the desktop without a major bustup!). I'd be quite happy if the W3J came with an X1600! However, what are the chances that it might come with a lower end card like the X1400?

As Justin is indicating, the W3J will probably look the same as the W3V. That's good news if you ask me.

What speed the processor runs at doesn't matter much to me. Whatever gets released these days is pretty snippy. However, what does matter is the screen. Will it be WXGA like the W3V or an updated WSXGA? If it's the latter I'll have my credit card out faster than you can say Visa!

 

Pretty sure its a WXGA, as WSXGA on a 14" is pretty....small!

Also, the x600 is nowhere near low end

 

I believe it's classified as "mainstream"

 

Mainstream sounds about right...
High end would probably be the x700, and low-end/budget would be the x300.

 

Or Intel's good ole' EXTREME GRAPHICS!


*cough*

 

WSXGA is FAR too much to expect on a little 14" widescreen... maybe WXGA+, but anything above that would be too much.... but it's most likely the same screen that it already has, which is very nice regardless.

I'm going to assume that it might be upgraded to an x1400 since the w1j and w2j are going to use the x1600....... but although an x600 may be considered "mainstream" in a BIG 15.4" notebook........ it's HIGH END without any doubt in a 14" system.... I mean the W3v has been out for 10 months now and how many notebooks of that size have even close to the same graphics?

 

what's an x1400? I just need it to play SupCom, thats all. Is an x1400 comparable to an x700 in terms of performance?

 

Yes... very comparable

 

Hey... let's not make jokes about my graphics card

 

Oh, whoops

The W3j looks really awesome...

I hate how technology moves so fast

 

Well, the Acer Aspire 5500 series has an X700 (albeit only the 64mb version, and I'm worried about Acer build quality and reliability). The Sony S-series (13.3"!) is available with the GO 6400 - comparable to the X600 (screen is too small, though...). The Sony BX is supposed to be available with the X700 (questionable availability though, and battery life is bad). The MSI 1022 comes with a GO 6200, but that is one step below the X600.

So, there are several alternatives to the W3V out there, but they all have some kind of flaw. I have seen lots of threads where people are screaming for a laptop that has a 14" widescreen and good GPU (X700 and up). I don't understand why manufacturers aren't listening. Surely the heat problems can't be that substantial. If a V6Va can run an X700 comfortably (in a package only 1" wider than a W3V), surely you could put the same card in a 14" package?

I could live with WXGA (I understand that icons and text on the screen would be too small with WSXGA). The X1400 also doesn't sound too bad, but I might wanna wait for reviews before deciding. I'd be sold if it came with the X1600, and I think Asus would have a huge sales hit if they released something like that.

 

Well the x1600 is more similiar to the x700 - is it not? I can't see them being able to fit anything more powerful or larger in the systems.........

With that.... I think the x1400 would be similiar to the x600... but to be honest I've only heard of the x1600 so far and rumors of the x1400.

 

... you'd be wrong if you said that...... if the graphics are too powerful, it's going to effect heat and battery life and you'll have more people complaining about that....... you can't satisfy everyone...... but of all of the systems you mentioned above, the W3 is still by far the best one of the bunch.

 

The X1300, X1400, and X1600 are all listed on the ATI website. However, I have no idea what their real world performance will be, and other threads have only offered suggestions.

Now, how bad can battery life and heat get? Similar sized machines to the W3V have powerful GPUs without complaints about heat. Are there serious problems with heat and battery life with the V6Va? It's only 1" wider and actually .1" lower.

 

Any machine that is around the same size as the w3v and has a powerful gpu is going to have heat, whether their owners complain about it or not. You just can't put that much power into a small laptop because it will have problems dealing with the heat due to a lack of space for extra fans and having lots of components packed tightly together.

In terms of performance, the acer 8200 with an x1600 got a 3dmark of around 4100 which is a great deal better than then x700 but still a little below the 6800 go. The x1400 is suppose to be the equivalent of the current x600 but it will probably perform on the same level as the current x700.

 

Thanks for the feedback!

I really hope Asus kit the W3J with a meaty GFX card, they could really fill a niche with a machine like that.
Additionally, the speculation so far has surrounded the GPU but does anyone care to take a stab at what
range of processors would be available? e.g. Dual Core etc...

 

DualCore would be nice addition. DC 1,87+1GB 667+X1600 128 and i will put my sager on ebay in a minute.

 

Lol with those specs i'm sure ebay would fill up super fast! though realistically if those were the final specs the machine would likely be in the very highest price bracket and then some!

 

That would be a definite deal-closer, but I doubt it'll have the x1600, it would run way too hot in such a small chasis. That wouldn't stop me, but it still seems unlikely.

 

I have the answer! WATER COOLED NOTEBOOKS just liberally douse your overheating machine with water whenever it seems to be heating up. alternativley you could try living in an igloo. hehe

Edit: Actually, scratch that, an x1600 could probably melt through all but the sturdiest igloos in moments, plus having no power socket could become an issue...

 

C'mon guys - we must BELIEVE But seriously, I will think about it even if it will have some x1400/GF7400. I'm just tired of 17-inches-over8lbs-monster. Besides I think that X360+14widescreen not-so-hardcore gaming laptop is the way to go. Will see.

 

Sorry for previous sillyness, please continue to add anything you hear about the W3J here, as it's obviously a greatly anticipated model!

 

x1600 is about the equivalent of a geforce 6800 vanilla in performance. No I did not mistype, the x1600 has 12 pixel pipelines and gets over 4k in 3dmark 05.


Honestly, I am 99% confident that the x1600 will not make an appearance in the w3j. Most likely, the highest upgrade it will get is up to x700 level performance/wattage levels. Anything more will will probably be out of the w3's thermal capabilities. It's more likely that you will see the x1300 or x1400 in this laptop.


EDIT: looking at the x1400, it's probably going to be between the x600 and x700 in terms of performance (closer to the x600 though), since it has only has 4 pixel pipelines.

 

at least in 3d mark scores, it gets around 1600, similar to an x600 with 128mb dedicated.

 

Hmmm, I'm still wondering where you're getting that figure from...?

 

From Canadasys
http://www.notebookforum.ca/phpbb2/docs/Benchmark.htm

 

Thanks for the link!

That is a much lower figure than I expected for the X1400. That means the X700 is a vastly superior card. What does that make the X1400? A minor upgrade of the X300???

Here's to hoping that Asus puts an X1600 into the W3J! Heat can be controlled - just give us the power!

 

I believe the X1400 is an upgrade of the X600..

 

... Asus isn't dumb enough to take a couple people's word for it when they say "just give us the power" .......... they have to consider all the others who won't know how to underclock it...... and would complain about heat and battery life.

.... I meana they already cripple the x700 just to get good battery life and heat out of it......... yes, you can bring the settings up to "normal" without overclocking - but you need to know what you're doing. The biggest problem isn't giving you that power.... because they would cripple it so that only those who KNOW how to release the performance would do it........ because they still have to sell notebooks based on battery life and heat.......so people don't complain.....because 90% of people buy more WAY more than they'll ever use.

Now........... if they put an even higher end gpu in there.. it would raise the price a lot more. It's one thing about crippling that card for the average user....... it another to even get the average user to pay a lot more for something they may never use....... so there is a fine line they have to walk.

 

I found a German site that lists the x1600 256k for the w3j. may be rumor I can't read German. http://www.hardwareluxx.de/printer.php?id=3484

 

I read German. There's not much really worth reading. The important thing is, it's supposed to be available in February. I wish it listed proc speed!

 

Here are the specs from the site. Hope they turn out to be true.

ASUS W3J:

Napa Plattform: Intel Core Duo Prozessor, 667 MHz FSB

ATI Mobility Radeon X1600 256 MB

14 Zoll Widescreen Display

ExpressCard

Bluetooth 2.0

Erscheinungstermin: Februar 2006

 

oh well... I guess we will find out soon enough.

 

That's an interesting find. It's usually the Italians that leak this stuff first...... but whether or not that's 100% accurate --- they went through a lot of trouble, with a lot of models and mentioned a few things I've heard of but could not confirm......

1. lightscribe drive on the W2
2. the 11" S6
3. express card slots for all

This means nothing yet....... but if they put a 256mb x1600 in the new W3 - it would mean 256mb x1600's for all the ensembles w/ any sort of video... very impressive..... but sort of would diminish the 256mb x1600 in the W2j... don't you think?

 

.... February means that's when offices can order them to spec.... then you have build time, ship time to Asus' offices........ then out to retail..... then for sale.. I'm told not to expect ANYTHING to get delivered here, ready to ship to customers till around the first week of March.... and that's only supposed to be the W5 and V6 update, if that...... so others would follow later.

 

I'm trying to find where you saw that at.. i'm looking at the German site.. they have specs for the V6J, A6 and W5F..but can't find the W3J.. and on the V6J page under product.. they say it has an Nvidia Go 7400 but in the rest of the specs, say x1600 256mb with a 15.4 screen (looks like they did a lazy cut and paste of the A6j).

if anything..I'd think it'd be the x1400..but then again..Lenovo supposedly has the x1600 card in a 14" T60

 

wow w3j with x1600 256mb. That's crazy. If these stats are true then w3j might heat up really fast when u play games

 

What exactly is an express card slot? I've been hearing that term pop up alot lately.

 

an express card is the replacement slot for the pcmcia slot... it's like half as wide.... and faster.... opens up more room on the outside of the system.

 

drool........better start saving up the cash

 

Well, if Asus is "dumb enough" (Justin's words!) to put an X1600 into the W3J, I'm sure going to be one of the first to reward their stupidity!

 

That's fine..... I bet many others would publically say the same thing now...... but if the the past has anything bearing on the future... a good 10-15% of those same people who would die for that now.... would be complaining about it in a couple months....

 

Does anyone know which version of the 1.66Ghz Core Duo processor the W3J will use? Will it be the regular T2300, or the low voltage L2400?