Asus W3J...

I find this particular feature really intriguing. When I first started looking at notebooks I thought the only option to extending battery life was to buy two batteries. I'm curious as to how these work though. Would the computer drain power from both batteries simultaneously or does it deplete one first and then the other?

 

It always depeletes the modular drive FIRST, so if you finish that, you can easily get back the Optical Drive if you need to use it, or the HD tray, or just the travelers tray.

 

coriolis, how does the modular drive battery recharge? Does it have to be in the bay and the NB plugged in for it to charge?

 

You've got to love good design.

 

Excellent! Thanks for the information!

And yeah... how does the modular battery get recharged?

 

I'm not too familiar with that, However, I'm assuming you just stick it inside to recharge, and take it out once its done. There is no 'external' method(like a plug). Though that would be nice

 

Perhaps it just recharges in the same way as the regular battery, i.e. by plugging the notebook into a wall socket.

 

That would seem to be the easiest way. You would think if any other method was employed there would be some kind of additional equipment. That not being the case I would wager it just recharges when plugged in.

 

Roger that. 10-4.

 

I am not sure of this - but somewhere (I think on this forum) I read that you have to have the computer on, because otherwise the bay won't get power. This makes sense because when the computer is off, there is no reason to power the optical bay. This could be wrong, but someone with experience should be able to tell us.

 

Good point. Anyone?

 

It shouldn't have anything to do with the optical drive. The contacts the battery use are separate from the ones that the optical drive use. If it works like all the other laptops I've worked with it charges whether the machine is on or off. They usually charge and discharge one at a time. Commonly the secondary battery is discharged first and charged last. I don't know if the order is implemented in the machine or OS though.

 

This makes sense to me. It would not make sense to otherwise design the laptop in such a way that the secondary battery doesn't charge while plugged in.

 

Wow - I hadn't realized the CD drive could be swapped out for an additional hard drive... Time for some further investigation...

 

How do you guy's in the know feel a W3J would fare with a 2.0G core duo & 7200rpm HD with regard to battery life? The reason i ask is that although most places i've found customize a different model# for the W3's (built on), i've found Startech.com customizes the ACTUAL W3J (their warranty applies).

Here's what i want to do:
W3J - core duo 2.0, 2gig 667 ram, 60,80 or 100gig HD @ 7200rpm

Would battery life take a big hit here or would it be fairly inconsequential..

Thanks.
-Chip

 

If your on a battery you will probably keep it clocked down to 800mhz like i do. if thats the case then no it wont be much different.

 

Thanks SRD.. as i suspected. How about heat issues with a 7200rpm drive.. No big deal?

 

I would recommend a seagate 7200rpm drive. The bottom will get hot but the drive will be fine and so will the laptop. Just gets hot underneith especially if you are in you bed with it. Honestly though if you want those components in it, You should buy a stock W3J and buy the parts yourself on top of it and install it. Because if you let someone else do it you will lose your asus warranty which is not a good thing. Ive read one person having trouble with ageared notebooks that got a custom machine because they might outsource their support. Two you are paying for a stock W3J with upgraded components so you are paying for the laptop and all the new stuff you want put in but you dont get to keep any of the components that the laptop came with. Whynot you sure paid for them. and if you ever have issues just put the old parts back in and send the lappy to asus and they are none the wiser. just makes more sence. The parts will take you 10 minutes to put in. easy as pie.

 

I was under the impression startech does all their own work. I don't remember asking them directly though.. That would matter to me. I'm in retail and understand it. I build custom HDTV & surround sound solutions for customers with install, warranty..the whole nine. I work for Tweeter.

Some things to consider, thanks again.

-Chip

 

IM not saying they dont do their work. I just remember reading about someone who ordered from ageared notebooks thats does the same as startech modify the asus laptop. But one person had an issue and they sent it to ageared who then sent it to asus go figure they must pay asus to work on the pc and it was taking weeks because asus doesnt put a priority on voided warrantys. maybe startech is different might be. But you are paying for both sets of parts so you might as well do it yourself. Honestly you really arent going to notice the difference from the 1.66 dual core to the 2.0 the 7200rpm drive and more ran though will be noticeable.

 

For the record, it's http://www.starpcs.net/

The link didn't work to configure it though.

 

How noticeable is the performance difference between 5400 and 7200 rpm? Will I see a huge difference? Do you feel it's worth the payoff in increased heat and decreased battery (is that even affected)? If yes, where does the higher rpm help you out the most?

 

I was on their website and configured a v6va. Upgrading to a 2.13 cpu was only like 222 more. they probably cant even get them for that cheap. thats means they are prob taking those 1.86 that those machines are coming with and putting them into machines they are building for other people as to not lose money. wouldnt that be illegal? since they are used and not boxed CPUS? again just guessing Someone like Justin at proportable should chime in since he would know what they get CPUS for.

 

It is alittle noticable if you dont do much on your pc. The seagate and some other drives really dont get hotter than 5400 rpm drives anymore and battery really life isnt effect much anymore with the new effient drives. You would notice the speed most when windows loads. Transfering large amounts of data to the HD. When loading games and programs. when installing programs. but its really not like a huge different most users wouldnt miss it.

 

As SRD said, the notice isn't all that much. I upgraded in my current laptop (I don't have an ASUS yet, but its still a laptop) and I didn't notice a decrease in battery life - if anything a small increase. The laptop on my current drive is right under the touchpad, and I have never had heat related problems, couldn't even honestly tell you that it is all that much warmer. As far as the speed issues go - for speed alone it probably isn't worth buying a new drive. Now that I have one - I will use my 7200 RPM, but to go and spend $200 just for the small increase in speed doesn't make sense. If you have to buy a drive anyway, then it makes sense to upgrade to the 7200 RPM, but otherwise, there is no PRACTICAL difference.

 

The W3J configuration doesn't work yet, right. I configured a V6J i believe. The upcharge to go from a 100gig5400 to 100gig7200 was 55 bucks. Not unreasonable..

 

Wow this new W3J sounds fantastic~! The W3 series really needed a GPU upgrade even though the x600 still does a pretty good job.

Only 55 bucks to go to a 7200rpm from a 5200rpm is pretty darn good.

**** I want a W3J now. Hrmm, did I just hear Celia growl at me?



Cheers,
Mike

 

Would you guys replace the optical drive with an NEC drive from Newegg? Sounds like that's a popular mod.

I'd up the RAM to 2 GB and possibly swap out the optical drive. I was thinking of getting a 7200 rpm drive but not sure if it's worth it.

 

why would you want to do that? Only reason to replace the dvdrw that comes with it is if it breaks. People used to switch out CDrw's (on various laptops) for the newegg drive but really no reason with the w3j.

 

wasn't there something about voiding the warrenty if anyone else removed the asus internals? If ya want an upgrade I think it'd be best to just buy what you want from newegg and install it yourself, not to omuch trouble, and if anything happens you can swap the originals with the upgrades and still return it to asus with their warranty

 

Some of the companys provide their own coverage. Personally, i could care less who covers it as long as they are reliable.
One example, i suppose would be portableone with their MX. Startech is another..

 

You should care beause some company oursource their support.

 

Usually, dealer support is the best, but depending on which dealer, some have their own support, while others direct you to ASUS.

I know PROPortable and Geared2Play have their own support team, and I'm pretty sure PortableONE does as well.

Also, their warranty is usually N.A., not worldwide, but read the fineprint to make sure

 

You misunderstood me i believe. If a company outsources support, chances are i would pass. I'm in retail electronics and do understand the concept pretty well.

 

Just a litle reminder for everyone about warranties and modding your laptops

 

If Asus is providing the warranty for the notebook, absolutely.

 

oh this is stupid but..

support is already for w3j (and a8j and bla bla)
u can already choose it under product model for notebook..
even if, they're not even here yet.. irony.

http://vip.asus.com/eservice/techserv.aspx

 

I wish they would just announce a production date already.

 

Yeah i wish they would just post a production date also, so at least i know how long to wait. Two days ago i placed an order for the w3v, but i cancelled it because i saw that on Proportable.com i could get the W3j for the same price.

 

oh c'mon

waiting will just make the arrival all the more sweeter

mmmmmmm...

 

um. i got this from another thread..
if they're 'basically the same screen', why is w3j not covered by the ZBD? or is it a design thing that makes it impossible to have zero bright dot on w3.

edit: oh i know ZBD's a extension from samsung warranty, so that means they're basically the same screens from diff manufacturer?

 

oh yeah, sorry to OT abit but to Dys > I heard that Asus did not comfirm that the W3J will be coming to singapore?

If it doesn't hit our shores, if we were to purchase it from overseas, is the international warranty still valid?

 

I'm a little concerned also that you don't have a screen guarantee...

I mean if I buy this thing and it comes w/ dead or stuck pixels, it's not going to be pretty.

 

hello joy n dys. i'm from SG also.
i'm also waiting for W3J. but seems like hope getting lesser. lol. then i might just settle for the W3V. lol.

 

lol, wouldn't it be great if they just said that production started today? ahhh *dreams*

 

Hmmm, I would of though production would of started already, its already 2 weeks into March

 

hey tuyuit~ welcome to the forum.. =)

hmm.. if the warranty will still be valid in sg even if the w3j doesn't hit our shores, might as well it it overseas right since as someone mentioned that in Proportable.com its the same price but w3j has much better specs..
=P

 

If you buy any laptop you can be stuck with dead pixels so thats a point that doesnt make sence to bring up.

 

International warranty is valid no matter where you buy it from.

 

I don't disagree with that, but it is (was) nice to have a guarantee that your new item arrives flawless.

Any W3V owners w/ pixel/monitor problems? i wonder if they're putting the same screen (same manuf.) in the refresh?