Asus W3J Pics and benchmarks etc

Did you ask the sales person on Tottenham Court Road? Or how did you find this out...? If it's true I really don't understand their line of thinking. But are you sure... what a shame if so.

....

 

Mastha212 kool!!! im happy for you, but can you answer 2 questions, what's the speed of your Hard drive? 4200 rpm or 5400 rpm?

Also what's your batterylife. Test it under this condition plz

CPU setting at 800mhz
GPU setting at normal - the GPU has dynamic voltage and pipe control, however I would like you to heavily underclock it, and hopefully it would increase batterylife.
Screen Brightness should be set to something low but still easily readable like 6/8...something like that.
WIFI Off - well in class you really don't need internet for notetaking lol, sorta
Bluetooth Off
No USB connected to it - having USB stuff would decrease batterylife.
Programs - just do some light work like typing an essay, maybe some basic programming like Visual Basics.

Also can you comment on heat dissipation?

Thanks in advance,

MysticGolem

 

Can't do it right now - tomorow I have exam so I study hard . But I will put results here asap.

 

Kool Thanks

take your time and good luck!, i got an exam today and tomorrow =\, I hatvta study too. lol

Thanks,

MysticGolem

 

He said it did, I dont see a reason why he would say it is slower when if it was faster, I mean he wants to sell the laptop? I tried to look at the drive when he opened up to check the RAM, but the HDD had a black protective sticker all over it, I have the printed Asus Brouchure I will check it when I get home but I am quite certain it is 4200 RMP the other shocking thing was it has standard bluetooth and AC97 audio chip. which really sucks.

 

How about a little review.

 

^ yeah he's writing it up right now, he just finished an exam yestarday.

So expect it within 1-2 days

Thanks in advance,

MysticGolem

 

Sweet....... maybe he can confirm the detailed specs i.e what version of bluetooth and what Audio chip it has, I had alook around and am positive it had the Intel HD Azalia audio, I also think the bluetooth is standard (in the UK) but the scary thing is on one UK web site it states the W3J has PCMCIA and we all know that has been dropped for the new express card slot!!

So...... who knows????????? I give up..... for now

 

Today I'm going to Amsterdam (i have long weekend) so only put couple of things :
HDD - it's 4200 but it is the newest Hitachi K120 with lowest power consumption in 2,5" drives
Audio - is is called : SoundMAX Integrated Digital HD Audio
Bluetooth - ver. 2.0 + mouse is Logitech V270 (bluetooth mouse)
It doesn't have PCMCIA - only ExpressCard
RAM : 2x512 533
And now, what's cool :
1. built quality!!! It's absolutely awesome!!!
2. it's really quite even during benchmarks and games
3. it doesn't have any vents on the bottom, only od the right side so you can hold it on laps for a long time
4. 3dm05 scores : stock clock + asus drivers - 37xx
stock clock + newest Omega drivers - 3950
OC (450/450 - 510/510) + Omega - 4370 (I thought i will get 4500 but 4370 it's good score too)
5. speakers - I know it laptop but they are really good...for a laptop speakers
6. weight - 2630 g (maybe it's not the best but after Sager 5720 for me it's light as a feather )

Thing's that I don't like (not big deal) :

1. hot air from the went on the right side - it can be uncomfortable
2. HDD 4200 - ok, it's not the speed demon
3. display is good but the one in Sager was waaaaay better but it was 17" so maybe I'm too demanding

It's all for now, I'm writing a review of this lappy but it will be in polish (i'm a moderator on biggest polish laptop forum) but there will be a lot of photos and graphs so I think it will be quite useful.

Take care
mastha212

 

Thanks man, that sounds prety good to me!

I have said this before, but to be honest if it is anything like the W3V I saw a review of in "what laptop" mag where the W3V had a 4200rpm drive and 1.86 processor, it scored a Bopac Mobile mark of 256 which actually not juts bet, but whipped other computers with faster 7200rpm drives and faster processors, and is nearly as fast as the latest dual core.

So it shows you performance has got a lot to do with the motherboard design set up and drivers as it does with just having fast components.

Anyway the HDD and RAM are easy to upgrade. in terms of the speed of the RAM the one I saw in the high street deffinately had 667mhz, but I think it is up to the retailer to decide, as it is advertised as having 533/667mhz.

Enjoy your weekend!!

 

Hello everyone
I am trying to decide on getting either the w3j or holding out for the a8jm. One of the small problems I have with the w3j is that the ensemble model which will be available in Canada only comes with the 1.83 GHz duo. I know its fast but I figure that if I am spending the money I might aswell spend the little extra on a faster processor. I have found a reputable asus dealer that will customize the ensemble w3j for me (adding in the faster processor, different hdd,ram, etc.).

So my questions are, will I be compromising the computer by getting it customized by anybody other than asus? Would customizing the ensemble be a good idea or a bad idea? (Considering that it might not handle the change so well-as asus might have made it that way for a reason)
I guess the same questions would apply to the a8jm but i dont know how much longer I can hold out for a nice new laptop haha.

I know that the whitebox versions are customizeable so getting the ensemble customized might just be a question of warranty. I am going to ask the dealer about the warranty stuff but I would appreciate somebody elses unbiased opinion.

I havent found any info on this in previous posts (very helpful by the way)but I apologize if I am asking questions that have already been answered.

thanks in advance
earthdan

 

Earthdan,

The Asus global warranty is very valuable. I'm assuming you're talking about Startech (allasus.com) - You can upgrade the componoents such as the cpu, but that will void your global warranty, and you'll instead get the startech warranty. This means for any and all problems, you'll have to go through them. If you don't do a lot of traveling, this may not bother you, but personally, I would like to keep my global warranty.

Keep in mind that you wont even be able to perceive the difference between 1.83 and 2.0ghz (unless you took a stopwatch and timed how long it took to encode a dvd or something).

If you want to upgrade, just do it yourself so that you don't void the global warranty. Most small vendors don't mind if you up the HDD of memory, anyways.

 

hehe, It's awesome for us left-handers!

 

It was actually Agearnotebooks, but I'm sure I would have the same problem with the warranty. So there isnt that much difference between the 1.83 and 2.0? What about the 2.16 GHZ?
thanks

 

There's not that much of a performance gain for the 2.0 over the 1.83 and the 2.16 is just crazy.. you'd be paying a huge premium for not that much of a performance boost over the 2.0

 

Does anybody know if there are going to be any price drops on the duos this summer?

 

Price drops are an eventuality - It's not if...it's when.

Then again, the trend for Asus seems to be that they change (up) the specs while keeping the price point the same.

Who can say though - there's speculation that Intel will drop the chip costs and you'd think that would impact the cost to the manufacturer. Will they pass on the savings?

 

Is that with the extra battery or is asus claim for 2 kg a lie?

 

Tegis the weight of the W3J is roughly 5.5lbs <-thats with optical drive and the 8 cell battery. Which is all stock.

It is light, if you want something lighter you will havta look to smaller screens or something with less power.

THe weight that asus uses will be off because they calcualated it differently, so that it make their stuff lighter, almost all brands do it. So all you really need to do is measure it yourself or have someone else do it, and that is the REAL weight of the machine.

Thanks,

MysticGolem

 

I looked around a little to find wich battery you have to use to get to 2kg and found this.

• Dimension & Weight: 330x247x30-32.7mm, 2 Kg (4-cell, weight-saver)

But i guess that a 4 cell battery will have bad running times and the most w3j will sell with the 8 cell one.

 

if current users are only getting about 3 hours of battery life out of thier 8-cells...then a 4-cell will be.....

 

Some pics don't work anymore..
Could you fix those links?

 

Will the w3j be underclocked ? Wonder how hot its gonna be with a x1600

 

^ I've heard it's underclocked...maybe even by decent amount (don't ask me what the constitutes). It's always a trade off between performance vs. heat and battery life.

 

Actually stock 3dmark05 have been about where they were expected (3800). Now obviously you can overclock and get it well up to 4500 (at least the Acer 8204 is). Of course I don't know what the stock settings are supposed to be so it may techinally be "underclocked" its just on par stock with what most x1600s are. Hope that makes sense.

And the x1600 is a mid range card and is supposedly good at throttling down and not being overly hot so it *shouldn't* be a problem.

 

http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=30881

PHP:

Number   Speed          Bus       Cache  Feb    May 28
T2600    2.16GHz        667       2MB    $637   $423 
T2500    2GHz           667       2MB    $423   $294 
T2400    1.83GHz        667       2MB    $294   $240 
T2300    1.66GHz        667       2MB    $240  
T1400    1.83GHz        667       2MB           $209 
T1300    1.66GHz        667       2MB    $209             

thas what the inquirer says and im pretty sure thas Intels take on it as well...

btw me am new here hi guys! and wonderful lappy this is what i have my eyes on as well!

 

Racy, you're in a good forum, good luck

 

Thanks Arvin! i know ive been browsing for a while before i decided to sign up and take the plunge into posting.

But anyway in the advance order thread someone stated that Asus prices are not expected to drop, as Asus jus refreshes their line to account for any price drop on the hardware side. I love this laptop its just a little out of my budget

 

Since the W3j is "new", and the price drop for this chip is just $50 (component cost) I don't see it. It will cost Asus a little less to make, and they'll make a little more margin (nothing wrong w/ that).

I don't think early adopters would want to see their new computer drop in price $50 during the month that they take delivery either (which I figure is something that they would take into account as well)

Just as a reference point, it took the W3j coming out for the W3v to have a $100 rebate many months after it was released.

I'm definitely not "in the know" with Asus though so take everything I said as just outside observations.

EDIT: Welcome Racy!

 

Racy you do have a another choice, wait a long time and then rebates and price drops may occur on the retailer side? (it happens but we're talking small amounts of money)

Or buy a used one, if Merom does come out in august, you can expect some people to be selling their notebooks and therefore you can get the laptop you want which would be slightly used.

Um, you MAY be able to haggle just a little and possibly a retailer, and then you can purchase.

THen again you can work or somehow save some more money over a period of 1-2 months to increase your rbudget size.

PS: Yonah is upgradeable to Merom but we have yet to see full effects take place, hence many people are planning on buying now and upgrade later, so many will actually keep their laptops hehe. But ou neva know.

Thanks,

MysticGolem

 

nobody ever talked about his, and i don't know how to get this point across.

let say for easy sake, the (practical) lifetime of the w3j is defiite. that means past a certain time, it will be considered obsolete. so if you adopt the w3j later, you sort of have a shorter time with it till its obsolete date. so those who pick up the w3j earlier, they are paying a premium but enjoying a longer utility time with the machine. um. um. did i get this across?

point to note.. obviously everybody has different usage and therefore the usefulness of the w3j will vary, and so will its lifetime. but just thought i raised that point.

 

^ That's a term we like to call...Opportunity cost.

I guess someone could say it is already obsolete - there are laptops with faster processors, better graphic cards...etc.

At the end of the day, it all depends on what you're going to be using it for.

 

Haha that's the word! *lite bulb*


yeap.

 

Yeah your so rite dys

To calculate how and when a laptop is obselete is different among users.

1) There's technical obsoletion when a new laptop comes in and replaces the W3J then you know the W3J is obsolete. For example May 15 is the day of release for the W3J, the date it will be obsolete is when hypothetically the W3P <- Merom with X2600 in March 2007.

2) There's user obsoletion, when the user finds that the laptop can no longer use it because of the lack of technology in the computer. This one is usually the longest, around 2-3 years before the user find the laptop to be obsolete.

The Interesting thing is that the V1J is said to be released at possibly the worst time, August, which is same motnh Merom is sposed to be released. The day it releases is the same day it becomes obsolete! LOL. But i will end up using it for about 3-5 years untill it dies or something.

Thanks,

MysticGolem

 

hah.
if you think abt it,
and just as it was mentioned earlier in this thread.. (i think),
merom will probably get 'obsolete' around the same time as the yonah, if not just a wee bit longer cause it's 64 bit. of course, i do stand corrected.

 

For anyone that's not swimming in money, notebooks are a significant investment. So although it might be "obsolete" in terms of better technology being out there, that seems to me a silly way of looking at it because you're not going to dump your notebook for a new one every 6 months. There is ALWAYS something new coming out, be it CPUs, GPUs, HDDs, whatever. Waiting b/c you're afraid a particular notebook will not have all of the absolute latest components means you'll be waiting a looooong time, i.e., forever. Every time you think of pulling the trigger, someone will announce something new, guaranteed.

For most people, "obsolete" should mean that there are things you want to do with it -- new OS, new apps, new games, etc. -- that it can't do b/c of its technical limitations. And even then, if all it takes is upgrading with more or faster DRAM, or swapping in a new HDD, or updating BIOS, then it's still not obsolete (unless the cost of upgrading is so high to not be worth it).

 

Yeah, I've personally come to view obsolescence (?) as an issue relating to my own usage of the product rather than its capabilities in comparison to other replacement products. But as it was stated before, everyone has their own preferences and requirements. My main goal is to have a system I can be happy with today, next year, and hopefully 3/4 years down the road.

 

I concur with rookie and A-Lit. My w3 j will be obsolete when it can't play the latest and greatest games anymore or if I decide that I have to have direct x10. I don't expect either of those to happen for a good 2 years and maybe more. That is why I got a small, portable laptop because it will still be valuable to me in its portability even if it isn't in performance. As it gets long in the tooth I will be looking at building a desktop.

 

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=51824

I don't think any of the w3j benchmarks were using the latest catalyst drivers so that probably contributes to the w3j's score of 3800. But I just wanted to point out that the stock 8204 not OC'ed scored 4500 and that means the w3j probably is underclocked.

 

in addition, obsolete technology is usually when it is no longer produced, or no longer recommended for usage.

 

Just buy it... and love it.... till it breaks!

 

Like movement, the degree to which something is obsolete is completely relative. By which I mean if you can use it, then it's not obsolete. The reason I decided to go for the W3j is because it suits every need I have in a computer, despite more formidable options being available, and it will continue to do so for quite some time. (I must admit though, the wait is starting to exhibit some of those same relativistic qualities. Namely, the kind that cause time to be perceived slower.)

 

*slo-mo speech* iii.. haaattteee...waaiitttiiinggg...

 

I've gotten more used to the wait over the past week. I don't know why for sure. Maybe its finals?

 

I see an exhaust vent on the right hand side, but no intake vent on the bottom. Where is the intake vent located?

 

Thanks Mystic Golem those do seem like a couple of good options, hopefully i will fulfill my needs soon... i hate waiting urggh.

I think obselete to an individual, as others have stated, means when the product is no longer able to perform at a standard that the user expects it to perform from its specs. Others might have a different opinion but I think this way i save the most money so it works for me haha....

 

I don't think there is any particular intake vent, though I haven't seen any pics of the underside of the W3J. Assuming there isn't one, that's not a problem. Laptop cases aren't airtight obviously, so as the fan blows air out of the exhaust, outside air is being pulled into the laptop through, for example, the keyboard.

 

Yeah, thats what i was speculating...

 

http://forum.purepc.pl/index.php?showtopic=199770

I know that it's in polish but I put there a lot of pictures and some benchmarks so you may want to check this. Hope you enjoy

 

^ Oh baby - I am...even if I can't read any of the writing...as they say (**cliche alert**) - A picture is worth a thousand words.

...wish the pics weren't so small though.