Asus W3J...

hey is the w3j suposed to come with dedicated video mem?

 

Doesnt pretty much every notebook with a dedicated GPU? its 256 megs not sure if any of that is hypermemory i dont think it is though.

 

nope, but has up to 512 with hypermemory : p

 

Some of the smaller notebooks have 2 pronged adapters, I have a fujitsu s6110 and a older sharp that are both 2 prong

 

bollocks..
so far, i've bought:
a logitech (used..) mx900 bluetooth mouse ($40)
a 1gb stick of gigaram PC2-5300 ($100)
a new (old) huffy street bike ($75)
a timbuk2 laptop messenger ($90)
all in anticipation for this lovely machine (im using it for class & games..) as april looms slowly overhead, i can only hope preorders start soon, so i can max out my credit card before i have a chance to buy any more stuff for it...

ps: this is all being paid for by my nj class loan, at buttrape%apr.

 

How is this mouse in terms of performance (i.e. is there skipping/lag)? I'm in the market for a bluetooth mouse myself

Yep, I feel you on this one. My loan hasn't started yet but once it does, I'll pleasantly be spending the next 10 years paying it back

 

This thread is amazing. I came into it a skeptic and now I am a hardcore Asus W3J convert.

Hopefully I can get it locally (E-mails sent to both local Asus resellers) otherwise I will be preordering on CanadaSys ASAP!

Chris.

 

Whoa, such hype on this new W3J. Nice system of course since it's a W3.

Glad it's bringing in all these new Asus hopefuls.

Get ready for some quality computing Asus freshmen

*cough* still waiting on my FREE W3J Justin. Hahahahahahahahaha. *cough*

 

The only problem I have read about so far is, that there is a small conflict the models with built in camera and the new Duo chip, basically the camera occupies a usb connection, and when there is a USB connection live (even if it is not being used) it stops the processor from going into power saving modes.

But aparently you can download a fix for it.

 

Hey, check this out :
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/acatalog/Asus_Notebooks.html
Look at the W3J, the picture is W5F but...there is a GREEN square and IN STOCK next to it!!

 

Been looking at it all day. Hopefully it will show up in Denmark soon.

 

Lol I feel your pain...

 

I am going to college next year and am planning to purchase the W3J after a long and arduous search. I have researched for quite a while and I have definitely fallen in love with the W3J and am pretty confident in buying an Asus. I do, however, have kind of a stupid question. Although I have no problem using the 14" widescreen as the primary monitor, how would I go about solving the problem of having no DVI port if I do want to hook it up to a second monitor at one point or another? Is there / will there be a W3J-compatible port replicator? I apologize if this question was already asked, but I've flipped through most of the pages and threads of this forum and don't recall seeing it. Thanks a bunch guys.

 

Well, the W3J has a VGA D-sub port on it, so if you can stand analog output, you can use that. Otherwise, from what I hear the W3J won't be compatible with Portbar 3 (or the future version 4, if I understand correctly) and won't have any kind of DVI output possibility. Slightly less than ideal, yes, but for my own purposes, I don't care as my monitor doesn't have DVI.

Jay

 

Analog output is tolerable I'm sure.. but what are the downsides of using a VGA D-sub port vs. DVI?

 

VGA is older technology and supplies an analog signal to control the display. DVI is digital capable if you have the hardware to support it on both ends. Most people won't be able to tell the difference between the two in terms of clarity, but because the LCD is inherently digital in terms of the actual display, a digital control signal means less processing. That and digital signals are generally less vulnerable to noise than analog. But my display runs just fine and more than clear enough for me. For the record, I have the Acer AL1916W, 1440x900 and it doesn't have DVI. (Got it for less than $300CAD, too. But that's off topic.)
I'm sure there are more detailed explanations and arguments about DVI vs D-sub than what I've given you, but I'm too lazy on a Sunday afternoon to go and find them for you.

Jay

 

I'm not really all that technology-savvy so that explanation is quite sufficient. I guess I'm joining all you guys, patiently (or probably not?) anticipating the arrival of this lappie. Thanks again for your help jay!

 

now now now
why is my favourite thread way way down below?
haha.. im grinning ear to ear
cause i just found a way to get my baby
w3 mmmmmm......

ps. does anybody know which shop in taiwan has the w3j already?

 

Most users won't notice any difference at all. All LCD displays with VGA input have an A/D signal converter that transforms the analog VGA input to digital. DVI skips that step, the major difference between the two. Most LCD displays these days have excellent A/D converters so the extra processing time doesn't perceptibly affect the picture, though it's possible that very high end games with demanding graphic might show slight framerate drops. I haven't really heard any specific reports of this happening, but I do know most hardcore gamers swear by DVI (well, real hardcore gamers I guess have CRTs, but whatever).

 

Framerate is determined almost entirely by the video processing speed. The analog signal processing time in LCDs shows up in the response time of the screen, but that's more related to the time it takes the transistor to switch in each pixel. Your VGA LCD panel (recent ones, anyway) processes the analog signal as fast as your video card can send it, basically in real time.
The only real problems you might see with VGA over DVI would be noise interfering with the analog signal, and that would show up as flickering, washed out or altered colours, or possibly blurriness. Most users will not notice these effects in a standard working environment. You'd have to have a LOT of noise to start dropping frames.

Jay

 

I can tell you with my Sony LCD and my desktop fx5500 using DVI helped with colors quite a bit. My framerate has also increased in COD2 but I'm going to credit that more to the patch that was recently released and not the DVI.

 

remember this thread, when everyone was complaining about the 1.66ghz

 

I love how long this thread has lasted, i remember when i started it i was just considering Asus as a brand and saw the W3J as a promising progression from the the already impressive W3V. and now almost 5 months later i'm certain this is the machine for me and I have cash organised for ordering one some time later this year ( Around late June / July )



Awesome times!

 

Keeping it alive... love it, there is some good info in this thread

 

The best thing is reading the first few pages of posts with people speculating about whether the X1600 was going to be included on the W3J and how popular the machine would be if it was, and now we know it is...

 

It's pretty cool that you started it Brigand - Monster thread that you created.

The W3j definately seems like a buzz machine - it's creating a lot of it!

 

Quote from 20th January

He he, how little we knew back then

 

haha, thats hilarious.....now we're all impatiently awaiting our preordered laptops

 

2 more weeks for our long awaited prize

 

what is the latest eta...... still ship around 10-15 April (from Proportable) ?

 

I believe the 15th is the earliest ETA.

I'm wishing we see a post that says: Stock came in sooner than expected - keep an eye out for the FedEx guy....I love that FedEx guy.

 

If the ETA really is 5.15 .. that'd be pretty sweet seeing as my birthday is the 16th :asus:

 

Now THAT's a birthday present!

I'm hoping to get it around then, that's for sure...I need to put together a picture and video presentation for my baby's first birthday at the end of May!!

 

We'll see... with the way ETA's have been, don't get your hope up or down.

 

It seems like everyone here thinks this is the notebook to have! I have been looking for a new notebook for some time now. I keep coming back to the ASUS but I have little knowledge or experience of ASUS laptops. I have had many Dells in the past and have had bad luck with my last unit. I have also been looking at Toshiba Tecra A6 and Satellite M100. Does anyone here know of any other reviews of the W3J? I haven't been able to find too many. Where is everyone making their purchase? It sounds like this unit is going to be hard to get here in USA. If I order now, does anyone think I will receive it before the mid to end of June? I have a fairly large multimedia show to put together at the end of June and I need a new unit to do this program. Thanks in advance for all of your help and input!!!

-R

 

Hey man - not too many reviews for it yet - it literally just came out in the UK and is due to come out in the US within the next few weeks.

For a pretty good idea of the unit, check out the Asus W3v - basically the unit that the W3j is the refresh of. Mind you it won't give you an idea of the performance (check out the Asus Benchmarking thread for that) but it is almost identical in look (save for slightly darker in tone and a fancier track pad and button) and it's the same basic chassis.

I can't speak to if you can get it by then but I"d be willing to bet that you still can. I bought my from Proportable and I know they're working with plenty of orders, but Justin can weigh in on when you can expect to get one through them.

 

U can find a user review in this forum (the one that says "benchmarks" and "pics" in the header. There is also a review on notebookforum.com in the Asus review section. It is stickied at the top.

 

Hi folks, I just joined you all as I ordered my W3J a few days ago. Hope I don't have to wait long. Anyone got one yet? It is the only notebook I could find that fit all of my criteria.

 

It's not hard to get in the U.S. You're just spoiled by the Dell megastore -- plenty of resellers are supplying the U.S. with these lappies. I ordered mine from Justin (i.e., PROPortable.com) but others have it, too (e.g., Danny at MilestonePC.com, formerly CanadaSys). According to Justin's e-mail, it sounds like you won't have a problem if you order now -- you should still get one by early June; he is shipping the second round of orders by circa 5/29, I think. But I'm not sure what waiting list he might still have so I'd check with him and the other vendors ASAP.

 

It's been four months since I started this thread...

and guess what... my W3J arrived today

Very, Very, Very pleased!!!

more to follow when i've finished drooling!

Thanks for all the info over the past months NBR!!

 

^ Mine is on the truck...ETA in under 4 hours. My wife is stuck at home to sign until the unit arrives.

 

Isn't it grand when you're at a restaurant and you go to the bathroom and come back to find your food is done and at the table.

I just had one of those moments - MY W3J JUST ARRIVED!

 

Congrats, TheUndertow! You've been waiting for this!

 

Thanks brother - I have!

 

Welcome in the club!!

 

Can't wait to get cracking...I have to do some video editing and make a slide show with videos and pics (and audio...etc) so maybe I'll include part of this in my bigger comp. review.

I think I'm going to kick things up to 510/510 like you have Mastha. Do you think that will help with the video editing, or just gaming?

 

Unless the programs you use to video-edit supports th GPU for real-time effects or other rendering, it won't matter if it is clocked at 510Mhz or 110MHz

Video-editing is usually much more sensitive to processor power.

 

^ Good to know. Then that can wait.

 

What Video editing software do you use, Undertow? I think Adobe Aftereffects and Premiere Pro can use OpenGL via the video memory for some realtime effects.

And congrats on your new toy! I shall get mine tomorrow, at which point I'll load it up with video editing stuff too.

 

I use Adobe Premier, but did you realise windows XP have a program called windows movie maker built in....it is prety basic, but heay.... at least it is a movie program!

it not in the start menu, but if you look under programs in windows explorer you can find the exe file and create a shortcut.