Asus m9j - new super-light 14" model?

Is this a new Asus model? There's no mention of it here on notebookreview and google's only turning up a few french and australian retailers...

It looks like a thinner, lighter version of the s/z62j - 14" with geForce Go 7300 but it's light (1.95kg with 6-cell according to the Asus site) and has 512 Ram onboard a la w7j. I'm assuming the build quality won't be as good as the w7j because it's a cheaper model (AU$2169 cf $2500) but because it's an ensemble it should be better than the s/z62j. This is just speculation, by the way. I haven't seen either!

I've been tossing up between w7j and a8jm but in some ways this looks like the best of both - 14", light, dedicated graphics (the 7600 on the a8jm would be overkill for me).

The only downside I can see? 14" XGA screen - no WXGA, not even SXGA. But hey, that's what i'm typing on now so i guess it won't make any difference.

Asus website specs
Flash tour

Anyone have any more info on this model? Or should I just go buy one - there's one in stock just down the road

14" XGA
T2400 1.83
512 onboard (1.5GB max)
GeForce Go 7300 (128mb)
DVD Super Multi DL
Integrated 802.11a/b/g
Webcam, Bluetooth
8-in-1 card reader
4xUSB2, Firewire, ExpressCard, 10/100/1000 LAN
31 x 25.5 x 2.2-2.9cm (W x D x H)
1.97 Kg / 4.33 lbs (6-cell battery pack)

 

The M9 series has been around for a while but only avaliable in certain markets.









The M9v has a review on the site here: http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=34843&highlight=m9v

The Compaq B2800 is actually the M9v, but slightly modified by ASUS by the request of Compaq. http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=47543&highlight=m9v

 

Ahhh ... an updated version using the same chassis. Thanks for the quick reply.

 

No widescreen... Ickkk

 

i'll never buy a laptop that isn't widescreen

 

I've been using a non-widescreen 14" for the last four years and can't say i've really suffered for it. Widescreen might be a nice addition, but it's really a cosmetic thing, a matter of opinion for me. Saving ~400g on the weight with this model compared to other similarly spec'd 14" widescreen machines (s/z62j, a8jm) is a trade-off I'd be willing to take!

 

I'm using a 15" SXGA+, and I love it, I went from a 15.4" WSXGA+ too, I barely notice there was a real change heh.

 

yeah i don't think many people will mind the difference. Some will because the fashion is for widescreen at the moment - but otherwise this could be yet another asus model to add to people's pleasant confusion. Expect to see posts like "can't decide: a8jm / w3j / w7j / m9j / z62j; help!" Hell, I could post that myself because i'm still no closer to deciding ...

 

I'm too lazy to start a new thread so I'll just ask you here since you're on the topic. I really want to get the A8JM but I feel that the GO7600 is overkill since I don't play games that often. I do play CS every now and then and HL2 but this could be due to my ancient vid card that hinders my game playing (geforce 5500 for desktop). I wish there was an A8JM that had something like at GO7300 so it could a bit cheaper in price and probably get more battery life. This m9j seems like the answer but I think I'm hooked on the wsxga.

Any suggestions??

 

I believe it's called the A8Jc .. but yeah.. not available in North America... How bout the Z62J / S62J ? ... I think the Z62J will have WXGA+

 

The US market is growing tiresome of regular ratio displays and the US office doesn't have a big plan to continue to import more of them....... The V6 is the last one of the high end models that they're still bringing it and they wouldn't even bring that in if it weren't so thin and light and a perfect "professional" solution. Even that may get replaced by the 15.4" V1j, only because the new docking station for the V1 may make it an important feature to pump the V1 to the top of the professional lineup..

The M9 is a great little system, but there's no room for it in this market. It's been out for nearly 8-9 months now and there still aren't any plans to import the latest version of it.

 

I am so confused. I priced the Z62J on AGearnotebooks.com and gave it comparable specs to the A8JM and it came out to $1500! This is almost $100 more then the A8JM which has a GO 7600 instead of a 7300 that the Z62J has. The only thing that the Z62J has over the A8JM is the longer battery life and option for 9cell battery. Having more battery life would be nice but I expected a comparable model to be abotu $200 cheaper then the A8JM.

Here in the notebook I looked at:
1. Display: 14.1 inch WXGA (1280x800) Glare Type LCD w/ Built-in Webcam
2. Processor: 1.83GHz Intel® Core™ Duo T2400 w/2MB L2 Cache - 667FSB (+$80.00)
3. Thermal Paste: Standard CPU Thermal Compound Paste
4. Graphics & Video: 256MB nVIDIA GeForce Go7300 VRAM w / Turbo Cache
5. Memory: 1.0GB DDR2-667MHz Memory (2x512MB-Dual Channel) (+$45.00)
6. Hard Drive: 100GB 5,400 rpm SATA/150 HDD (+$90.00)
7. DVD/CDRW Drive: Dual Layer Super Multi DVD-RW/CD-RW Drive w/Software (+$50.00)
8. Wireless LAN: Built-in Intel PRO/Wireless 3945 802.11 (ABG) LAN
9. Main Battery: Smart Li-ion Battery: 6-Cell 4.0+ hours
A. MS Windows OS: MS Windows XP Professional w/SP2 CD (+$145.00)
B. MS Office XP Software: None.
C. Flash Memory Drive: None.
D. AC Adapter: AC Adapter - 110/240V 90W AC Adapter
E. Auto/Air Adapter: None.
F. Port Replicator: None.
G. Carrying Case: Free Deluxe Carrying Case from Asus
H. Gigabit LAN: Built-in 10/100/1000BaseT Ethernet LAN w/RJ-45 Jack
I. 1394 & Modem: Built-in IEEE 1394 (Firewire) and 56k V.90 Fax/Modem
J. Mouse: None.
K. Warranty: 3-Year Parts/Labor w/ 1 way paid shipping

Subtotal for AGearNotebooks.com: 1506.00

Can anyone justify this price?

 

Hm, this might be due to the 3 year warranty. I just priced the same speck with a 1 year warranty at geared2play and it came out to 1250.