Asus W3V clarification questions

Hello everyone,
I’m a grad student and I’m looking for a laptop with the following characteristics:

1) Something between $1500-$2000
2) Light weight to carry around campus and business travel (4-5 lbs)
3) Runs Microsoft Office: (Word, Excel, Powerpoint)
4) Decent graphics card with dedicated RAM for the GPU for playing games such as WoW on the road.

I’ve narrowed my choices down to the Sony VAIO S-580 and the Asus W3V. I’ve read the FAQ on Asus laptops and looked through a lot of the older threads here and at notebookforums.com. I was hoping to get some clarification on a few questions:

1) Both the VAIO and W3V seem to suffer from a high amount of heat coming out of the right vent. This can be solved by undervolting. In the Sony forums, I have seen many people complain about the heat burning their mouse hand or making them uncomfortable when using a mouse. In the Asus forums I have not seen that complaint. Is the W3V heat coming out of the vent an issue when using a mouse?

2) I have seen a lot of posts about dead/stuck pixels on the W3V. I have not seen this complaint in the Sony forums. Why might this be? Is it due to the different types of screens the laptops offer?

3) Does anyone know any particular company that inspects for dead/stuck pixels upon request? The FAQ was not specific and I’m worried about insulting a salesperson. On the other hand, I don’t mind paying a slightly higher price if it means the company will go the extra mile.

Thanks for taking the time to answer my questions

 

I'd vote for the Asus for several reasons:

1 - You can't upgrade the hard drive in the Sony S series.

2. - The power adapter for the S series is huge, so it is very ironic to have on such a small notebook.

The Asus has better build quality, although the Sony is still nice. Both have excellent screens.

 

I vote sony....Not
As for your concerns
1. Trivial. Have to be EXTREMELY anal and picky to even care. There are no probelms with heat.
2. I have seen one or 2 in the past my self but overall if you are concerned contact your dealer about purchasing a dp guarantee
3. All asus dealers have the same policy regarding dead pixels and all of them offer a gurantee for an extra charge.

 

That's funny. I purchased my W3V (MX) from Portable One and I had them check my unit for dead pixels prior to shipping.

 

If anyone knows anyone else who will check pls let me know. I looked into portable One but i would have to buy a 2 year warranty and some other things and the price was too high for what I was willing to pay (not go over 2,000 including shipping).

This whole dead pixel thing is why I havent bought the w3v but I already been searching for a laptop for a LONG TIME and the w3v seems to be the best bet for me. I just am not about to pay 2grand for a screen with dead pixels. (however, just last night i was turning on this laptop and start up screen was black..i noticed a bright red dead/stuck/whatever pixel, havent seen it before and ive been using this comp for like 3 years. either its new, or it was just so high up/only visible on certain color backgrounds i didnt notice. i could live with that. but im afraid i'll get one smack center of the screen or something. ugh) ef that.

 

I have a W3V, and I'm very happy with it... actually, I'm at work right now, Playing Call of Duty 2, Toca 2, FarCry, Battlefield 2, and F.E.A.R. on the W3V.. Why? cause it's Sunday, and there's nothing to do... but I "have" to be here :S

As far as the heat goes, really, when you're playing games, you'll want to be at full performance mode anyway, so the underclocking becomes a non-issue, as does the heat... Really it doesn't get that bad. There is warm air "drifting" from the vent on the right side, but your mouse hand won't be close enough to the machine to notice. As far as screen... everytime I open up my laptop, I still get blown away by the quality of the screen... and everytime I go to any store, I'll walk by the laptops, and look at the screens on them, and I'm never impressed with what I see... The Asus screens always look better to me, but again, that's a matter of personal taste and opinion. BTW, I have no dead/stuck pixels on mine. The store i bought from, ordered it in, opened the box in front of me, and fired it up. Had there been a dead/stuck pixel, I wouldn't have had to buy it, and they would have ordered me up a new one.

I've had a Sony long ago, one of the "F" series... which had an inherant problem with the connection between the laptop and the lcd... after 6 months of use, opening and closing maybe twice a day, the screens would go blank, because the signal cable would fail. I'm sure that their laptops don't have that problem anymore, but because of that experience, and the experience of dealing with Sony, I would never consider getting another one. But again, My personal opinion based on my own experiences... I'm sure there are others that love their Sony's.

My vote goes to Asus.

 

a few things-

1. did they run any "dead pixel checking" programs? Cos isnt it possible you do have one but its only noticable on certain colored backgrounds? i remember reading a post by someone saying their dead pixel bothered them when watching DVD's

2. once box is opened..if you chose not to buy..wouldnt they have to discount that item? (I heard THAT was why ppl wont open and test the laptop..BUT.............

3. ............-continuing on the BUT- that would make no sense to me really because doesn't ASUS test run the laptops before even boxing them? Maybe not. so dumb question i ALREADY know the answer to- why even box the dead pixel one.)

i guess it just isnt making sense to be that a laptop in the 1500-2000 range can come jam packed with dead pixel/s and like the other thread said "too bad for you"

Im going to run a program to check for dead pixels on this laptop im on now and see how many i actually do have. i only just recelty spotted one on a black screen

 

I can't comment of what everyone elses experiences are... I just think people who buy Asus are not the norm. We expect perfection, and in all fairness, for all the complaints that we hear, and those are few anyway, for every 1 dead pixel laptop, they probably sell a good 40 - 50 without. And yes, the store ran a check program on the screen.
I think I was lucky as they didn't have the w3v on demo, so if I didn't get it, having it on display would have generated more business.

 

Right on. Couldnt say it better my self. The majority of complaints i get are just too ridiculous to do anything about. Extremely picky audience but this is why we are here. Asus provides a product that suits the picky bunch way better then any other manufacturer but people always complain. Dp's are a touchy subject. Some people just look for them. Most people dont care and dont notice some just have to have perfection. I respect it but i call it extremely picky. If you are picky ask your dealer about dp policy.

 

My two cents:

The W3 is not the equivalent of the Sony. It is a size bigger. You get a bigger (in area but not pixels) display and some extra keys on the keyboard. For me, a big advantage of the W3 is the dedicated navigation keys.

I have been one of the people complaining about the W3's heat, but only in the context of the hard disk running at or above its rated temperature. However, I should also point out that I was working in a high ambient temperature (about 32C) so everything was hotter than normal. Now that I am back in a cooler place the HDD is running much cooler but there is still a little warmth in the right hand palm rest, but nothing uncomfortable.

The outlet from the fan is near the back of the right side of the computer. I never notice any hot air because I position the mouse further forward.

Note that the actual weight of the W3 is around 5.5 lbs - a bit more than the literature suggests, but in return you get a battery life of more than 4 hours of light usage.

Finally, I have previously bought a couple of Fujitsu notebooks from Portable One and can vouch for the quality of their service. I'm sure that they will check the display for pixel problems. Their version of the W3 also includes modifications to the cooling system.

John

 

Both machines are excellent choices. I tried a W3V then switched to an S580 so I have experience with both machines. The mfg's packed alot of goodies in both machines so they do have a tendency to run warm. I didn't notice a big heat problem with the W3V's harddrive. What I did have an issue with is the W3V's cooling fan. It runs all the time (once it does turn on) and can be a bit annoying if you're in a quiet environment. I use my machines in a home office/bedroom at night so the noise is noticeable. If you use your machine in the classroom / library the ambient noise will mask the fan noise. The display on the W3V is very nice. As mentioned above the machine is larger and heavier than the published specs.

The S580 is also a nice machine. It's a bit smaller and about a pound lighter than the W3V. The S5xx models have a revised cooling fan that is much quieter than the previous models. The fan doesn't run continously like the W3V's and when it is on the fan is much quieter than the Asus. Again unless you work in an extremely quiet environment the differences in fan noise between the Sony and Asus are moot. Contrary to the post above the harddrive in the Sony is upgradeable (though it takes a bit of time). I upgraded the 80GB 5400 RPM drive to a 80GB 7200 RPM drive.

Given the choice between the two models I would suggest going with the Sony. The biggest reasons being the weight and size. You really can't go wrong with either machine. Good luck.

 

So if I buy a w3 and it has dead pixels- i may not even notice the dead pixel?


cos im thinking..i buy it. open it. and BAM

 

If you don't look for the dead pixels you may never notice them. Really depends on what color the stuck pixels are and where they are located.

 

Oh are you serious. I thought that it was just going to be different colors all on your screen at all times.

 

Nope... they're commonly called "dead pixels"...but it reality, REAL dead pixels are black and do not light up at all.
"Stuck pixels" are what most people refer to when they say "dead pixel"...meaning the pixel is indefinitely stuck on one color: blue, green, or red... sometimes white.

 

i was thinking the same too.. i was once an asus w3v owner too now im thinking about the sony. =D

 

Doesnt asus last longer than sony baloney?

 

Hi. I am also a grad student and just purchased my W3V from ProPortable last week. They were excellent to deal with btw. I used to have a Toshiba until it got stolen from the library (another story), and for a while I used my wife's Dell 5100 until I bought this one.

I am running WordPerfect, Excel, Endnote, Winamp, FolderShare, Thunderbird, and Firefox plus some others at the same time. No problem handling it. I did get another 512 MB of RAM though, but before I put the extra RAM in the computer it handled all of the programs fine.

I haven't tried any games yet. Have to finish my thesis first and loading some on might be a bad thing.

I stare at the screen a good 12 hours a day writing, and the screen is awesome. No dead pixels etc. My eyes don't hurt nearly as much as they used to. It did take some getting used to the 14" WXGA after using a normal 15" one for so long, but I now like the 14" WXGA much better and highly recommend the bright screen.

I carry the computer about a 1 mile to and from my car each day. Much lighter than my old ones. The bag that comes with it works great. Nice and compact and only designed as a computer bag. It can fit all my cables and my new laptop lock inside it no problem.

It also come with a USB wireless mouse. In regards to heat, yes there is some shooting out on the back right hand side. It doesn't bother me that much, but I do try and adjust my mouse pad location to avoid it. Also, the right side where my palm rests gets warm as well. It doesn't bother me that much and certainly doesn't burn me. I probably notice it because the left palm side is cool.

Overall, I am definitely glad I got the W3V and recommend it. Good luck.

 

When I was looking, I had narrowed the choice down to the Sony s560 and the Asus W3V. In the end I picked the W3V because of the following:

1) I wanted a good video card in a small package. The s560 and the W3V are amongst the very few laptops who have "decent" card. Both the Sony and Asus tied in this respect.

2) The sony battery life is horrible! Sony rates the battery at 1.5-3 hours, while from what I had read, the Asus got close to 4 hours (which I can confirm now that I have the laptop). Since the whole point of these laptops is portability, battery life is (at least to me) very important. Also, with the Asus, you get a modular drive in which you can take out the dvd drive and stick in another battery to get ~ 7hours of battery life. This is a definite win for the Asus.

3) The Sony s560 was ridiculously expensive. I'm in Canada, so we don't get the option to configure this laptop to our heart's desire (like you can with the s580 in the states). The price on the s560 was $2500 cdn, while I got the w3v for $2000. On top of that, if I wanted 3 year warranty from sony, I'd have to shell out another $300+, and this doens't even include extra batteries at ~$300 also. For the asus, I got a 3rd year warranty for $120, and I think that extra batteries are about ~$140. In total, we're talking about ~$1000 extra for the sony laptop! Yikes! I havn't even mentioned the fact that with Asus you get a free bag (which is very nice) and a wireless mouse (which has a weird texture...).
Again, this is a win for ASUS.

Basically, in my opinion, the only nice thing about the Sony is its small size. I don't know of any other laptop that packs so much power in such a small space. If you're willing to pay $1000 extra, and have horrible battery life for this, then it's the sony for you. Otherwise, I recommend the ASUS. Just look into getting the screen checked before hand if you can.

In my case, I love the W3V EXCEPT for this one **** bright green pixel. Forget about watching dvd's without getting horribly annoyed. Upon closer inspection, there is another dud pixel right on top of if which shows up dark red on a white background. Does anyone know if I can get it replaced for free because of this?

Phew! Sorry for the long post!

 

The Sony gets around 3.5 - 4 hours on a charge. Sucks about not being able to configure a model in Canada.

 

someguy00: I'm not totally sure...but I think you can get it replaced if you have two or more stuck pixels within a square inch of each other. Ask your reseller to confirm.

 

duffyanneal: that's good to know. I got my information from the sonystyle.ca website: http://www.sonystyle.ca/commerce/se...Id=1002046&navigationPath=n32009n32160n100192

When researching this laptop, I dropped by a sonystore and that's what they told me also. But then again, the reps at that store were completely useless and almost didn't know the difference between a laptop and a desktop. So, do you get that battery life with the standard battery? Did you undervolt? I'm just curious

 

Yes I undervolt and that is with the standard battery. I do have the screen dimmed.

 

get the sony, its lighter, smaller and u wont have as many problems and if u do you can always return it. I have the w3v and I wish I would have bought the sony. Stupid bright pixel!

 

Sony Vaio VGN-S5XP all the way!!!!!!!!!

 

You people are weird, how can you say the W3V is better when it is 1.8Ghz processor, 80gb hdd and 512mb ram when the Sony VGN S5XP (a.k.a S580) is 2.0Ghz processor, 100gb hdd and 1gb ram!!!! open your eyes!

 

Because it's a Sony? Let's see the card reader only supports sony memory sticks!!! Yay! I plan on using the card reader in my W3V. I'm sure I could find other reasons, Sony is a *****.

 

LOL!


Just to let you know- one can upgrade the w3v to match the specs of that sony.

Anyway.... I chose to stay away from sony because I heard their quality is horrible and sonys are beyond crap for using it to make music on. *Shrug* The only thing that seems to be going for sony TO ME, is that i havent heard of all this crap about dead/stuck pixels.

But also it seems asus notebooks are "built to last" and that's what a lot of people like.

You can throw those specs onto a ton of notebooks, but "higher" specs doesnt automatically make the notebook better.

 

Sarcasm alert! System overload!!!....*crash*

LOL... Come on now, people... both systems are great. Go with whatever you think justifies the money you spend!

:asus:

 

I like sony
They make unique products. Cant comment on customer support but i will venture to say its just like the rest. Outsourced. Asus is not though they can use an extra hand there right now. Consider this. For every 1 really picky sony user there is prolly 10x that for asus atleast. Although it may very well be posible that sony has screens free of dp. Highly doubt it considering they all go to the same odm. You guys make it sound like its on all of the w3's. Out of 50 units i have seen maybee 2 that had a dead pixe. thats 4% dp rate give or take. Very average. Asus problem is that a huge majority if their users are overly picky forum goers while the same cannot be said for sony. Asus has not conspired to give you less quality screens. Sony has one thing going for them. Unique design and the 10"laptop. I like very much but cant get.

 

I agree with Eddie from geared2play.com. There are users like me who are incredibly picky with their computers. If I had a dead pixel I would have raised hell, but then I had issues getting my undervolting configuration stable. But not a single dead pixel at all. My big mistake was using power4gear program to handle undervolting.
Now with omega drivers, rmclock, and a full complement of registry tweaks this computer kicks more ass than anyone elses in my entire 220 person medical school class.
I now no longer use my monstrous World Cyber Games tourny machine, for anything except watching dvds on its 17" screen.
I play my 3 primary games on my laptop, World of Warcraft, Half Life 2, and Battlefield 2. Yeah and the only one using less than 1280 by 768 highest settings is BF2 (in HL2, the only thing disabled is the new HDR b/c my fps drops to around 25 with it on, otherwise im over 45fps at any given time running with high speed)
I get 3 hours and 45 minutes without playing games, but keeping Bluetooth, wireless, 50% brightness, and my dvdrw with a disc in it all the time(BF2).
Also, I think my W3V looks better next to the Sony, since many of my classmates have the Sony model. (the other half all have apples)
In conclusion, I can give nothing but praise for my W3V after the "getting used to it" phase. Issues that I noticed because I am very picky are the heat when not undervolting, ASUS drivers and preload software are "iffy" at best, although after I got rid of most of it and uninstalled Norton my system screams. 38 second boot with 33 startup programs. One other thing is the lack of stable hibernation, sleep mode is fine but deep sleep hibernation is iffy at best (software issue?).

So would I recommend the W3V? For computer savvy users 100% absolutely. For noobs w/o the capacity to work with windows/drivers/extra software I would not recommend such an advanced machine.

-Mavtop

 

The Sony VAIO S5XP (A.ka. S580) has the same specs as the Asus W3V (except the Sony has a better 2.0Ghz processor) apart from the screen being smaller, but that makes the whole laptop smaller, more compact and much lighter anyway.

I too have narrowed my choices to these two, but still I am not sure what to do.
The Sony must run better on games since it has a better processor, I mean that might not affect much but still it is more than the W3V has.

 

The Pentium M 750 as in the current UK W3Vs is equivalent to a Pentium 4 of around 3.2 to 3.4 GHz. 3D games performance will depend on the GPU so you need to research comparisons of the two types of hardware.

As one who moved from the Sony S to a W3, I would say that your choice is between having a bigger display, bigger keyboard (with dedicated navigation keys), bigger battery, 3 USB ports and a memory card slot that also takes SD/MMC all in a bigger and heavier chassis, and having everything a bit smaller with only 2 USB ports and a memory card slot that only takes Sony's memory sticks. And I should add that the Sony comes with a heap of pre-installed software which you may not want.

At current UK prices you can put more RAM and a bigger HDD into the W3V and still have money in your pocket instead with buying the S5XP. And the W3V currently comes with a 2 year warranty. So the issue is whether you want to pay more money for something a bit smaller. I don't regret having something a bit bigger, but still much smaller than the 3kg+ monsters.

Hope this helps - I think we have been through this previously. The longer you wait the more choices appear. Fortunately the new Sony 14" FJ1S has a slower CPU and integrated graphics (but the price is attractive).

John