Asustek W6A (to adopt Toshiba panels for) upcoming 13.3-inch widescreen notebook

http://www.digitimes.com/systems/a20050825A2006.html

Asustek W6A Specifications

Feature
Specification

CPU
Intel Pentium M 730-770, 533MHz, 1.60-2.13GHz, 2MB L2 Cache

Chipset
Intel 915GM

Memory
DDR2 400/533 MHz, up to 768MB

Display:
13.3-inch WXGA LCD

HDD memory
40/60/80GB

Wireless connectivity
802.11a/b/g, Bluetooth V2.0, RF mouse receiver

Interface
3x USB, 1x TV-Out, 1x card-reader, 1x 1394

Dimension
31.5x22.6x2.79~3.29cm (max.)

Weight
1.85kg (3-cell)

...I wanted to put the image in but i couldnt figure out how...
so just proceed to the link soon coz digitimes only allows a prest time for free access.

 

It is cool... yet, very similar to other now available 13.3 wides...

Especially the Averatec one... with limited RAM, and no video card, which would be the upside for the ASUS? Apart from the looks that just rock of course... :asus:

 

I'm not sure who the panel supplier is, but it's certainly not unheard of for Toshiba to provide panels to anyone. However, it's my understanding that this panel is brand new and hasn't been used on anything else. It's supposed to be EXTREMELY thin........ I won't be able to confirm until we get a demo in here, but all the buzz is around these newer panels which Asus is also starting to use in their own desktop LCD models............... we don't see those sold here in the US, but they are quite cool.

 

Justin i know its hard to tell but what are the chances of you carrying this 13.3 laptop when it comes out? because i would love to get my hands on one. i mean or do you think it will take away from the 14.1in and 12.1 sales?

 

Well, first.... we're optimists and these "issues" with Asus are all supposed to be sorted out when they all get back from vacation... We're all taking a week or so off to do inventory and recharge our batteries after the W2's come back in and start shipping.......... so we're hoping when we come back from that, the whole mess will be in the past and things can continue on.
.... with that said......

We'd certainly be carrying it, it's just a matter of if we can get it to come in. I talked to Asus about this and as I said in the other W6 thread, right now Asus' US office has been pushed by Taiwan to order them, but they've been holding off for a few reasons. These include:

1. When they could get here (middle to end of October) would only leave a few months before the new dual-core pentium-m's are supposed to hit. Since it takes a few months to really get the notebook out there (magazines and word of mouth)... they think it might be a bad idea. They're intention right now is not to bring in another "brand new" ensemble after the W2v next week.

2. The S5 is done.... we've got some left for those who want them, but officially Asus ran out and aren't going to get more back in. Asus wants to focus their ultra portable efforts to the W5. That leaves the Z33 on the custom side which with the built in drive sells better than the S5 has of late.

3. I originally thought this was going to be very small and not have an internal optical drive. I've seen 4 reports...... two news pieces and 2 official Asus specs.. and they're all different. One spec sheet shows it with an internal drive and a size that's close to the Z63a....... if that's the case, it would be WAY to close to that model for Asus to believe it wouldn't hurt sales. However, I've seen other specs that show this as a true ultra portable with out an internal drive and basically a replacement for the old S1 which hasn't been around really for a couple years now. If that's the case, it truly would be awesome and I think, honestly a really good seller. Asus could forecast a smaller amount of sales for the fall and basically use this model to get into magazines and so forth....... by time it takes off, there might be a new refresh out that accepts the dual core cpus...... but at that time we can hit the ground running. I know that for a system like this, dual-core isn't going to mean a whole lot to the people buying them other than everyone else telling them that's the new big thing........ in reality, it's not going to help them with internet, email and typing up word stuff......

Basically - as far as I know right now, I've asked Asus to bring in some demos that we could all check out and have maybe notebookreview and some online sites that could give it instant coverage a short review period. If at that point popularity doesn't seem to be that great, Asus might insist on waiting till February to bring the next revision in. We'll see.

 

If this unit ends up being a true ultra portable with no optical drive are there and external optical drives with dual layer dvd burner that are powered by usb only?

 

Yes...... and like the S5, it *may* just be something they would be offering with the unit. Asus has a sweet tiny dvd dual layer burner that is similiar to the tiny combo drive they sold with the S5. The thing is, more of these ultra portables on the market that don't have an internal drive, don't come with one for free either. I think the S5 may just have been hurt because it included the drive at no extra cost. The external dvd burner would obviously be an even greater expense. So, right now, I don't know if it would be included, but I know Asus makes one.

 

juding from the specs, it looks like the Sony S series is going to be fierce competition for it. The real dealbreaker for it may in fact be the lack of an internal drive, since the Sony S includes a built in DVD+/-RW. Other 'perks' of the Sony S include a dedicated GPU. I guess we'll have to see how these are priced.

Justin, I'll have to disagree here, I believe this system has the most to benefit from going dual core.

The biggest benefit to going dual cores is multitasking performance, which is what I see a lot of people getting this laptop to be doing (at a webpage while checking e-mail chatting, typing in word, etc). Having dual cores means they can keep the same performance while lowering the clock speed, reducing heat and power usage, and when the added performance isn't needed, they can shut off an entire core, dramatically reducing heat and power.

 

That's just the thing....... it wouldn't be in competition with it if it didn't have an internal drive..... just because it has a 13.3" screen, doesn't mean it would compete with it. If anything, right now the newest S series model competes with the W3v. A W6, with a 13.3" screen and no internal drive or dedicated gpu would compete against models like the S5n which is a 12"... which has already been cut off by the US.. In their words becasue the W5 is a more feature rich machine that's smaller (although weighs more with the internal drive)........ but if Asus one spec sheet is right..... it would weigh less than the S5 and have a bigger screen and a lot more built in stuff. Till I see if, I don't really want to speculate, but if it's a true ultra portable, it would be a tiny lightweight, but with a big screen... that right there might put it at the top of people's lists just for that reason.

You're right, I guess I'm always thinking performance minded and not so much thinking about how conservative it could be. Performance wise, I don't think it's going to effect the majority of people doing the minimal tasks we're talking about. Yes, it's just another generational improvement to centrino, but aside from increased battery life, the heat and power on these small systems is rarely pushed........ although those of us on the forum may do it and may put super high cpu's in something like an S5....... we're in a great minority to the rest of the public. Since right now we don't have handle on a percentage dual-core pentium-m's could increase battery life, I don't think it would stop sales of this model........ even for those who know what's around the corner....

But it's just this that may hold this up till next year.

 

the thing is, the screensize really sets the footprint in stone (within a few percent)
Take a look at the dimensions listed for the W6 above:

Converted, that's
12.4" x 8.9" x 1.10" ~ 1.30"

Now, the Sony S' size as listed from www.sonystyle.com are:
12.3" x 8.85" x 1.18" ~ 1.39"

So the W6 is actually just a tad bit bigger than the Sony while a tag bit thinner. Honestly, I believe someone who's looking in this market will definately cross-shop between those, in which case, the internal optical in the Sony would definately play a role. The only variable left is weight. How much weight can be saved from the optical drive? Sony lists the S' weight as 4.3lbs with standard battery, I believe the W6 wil come close to this mark as well.

It almost feels like we're comparing a BMW M3 with an Audi S4. Sure, they may be in different markets (the Audi being a sedan while the M3 (E46 at least) is a coupe) but how many comparisions have you seen between those two?

 

Well....... that's just it... those numbers above are on one spec sheet that says it has an internal drive and not on another sheet that says it does not.... I mean compare that to the W3.....

13" x 9.7" x 1.18" ~ 1.28" ...... it's absolutely TOO close to the dimensions of the W3 to work as a seperate model, argreed? The way Asus is talking about it, I'm thinking at least the thickness and weights we saw on one of those spec sheets is wrong. I was told that a widescreen model would be added to the "V series" this fall.... this honestly would be what they were talking about back at the begining of the summer.... If it were as thin as it says, then it would be about the thickness of the V6 and therefore would need a super slim drive like the V6. Right now I think too much is up in the air to figure what's better because Asus isn't going to go after sony's market directly (or they won't be making the vaios for much longer) and right now it appears to be way to close to the dimensions of the W3/Z63a to even work.

By the way...... my S4 is almost 4 months old now and I can give your comparison a bit of insight.... ok.... the s4 has 4 doors, 4 wheel drive and an awesome V8........ three things the M3 doesn't...... however when it comes right down to it, unless you have a want or a need for those above, you can get an M3 for less.... more people will stare at you and you're going to be just as quick because the M3 is lighter (less the 4WD and 4DR) ...... Asus is the Audi without a doubt and Sony would be the M3...... the only thing I can say is sometimes I feel if Audi made the S4 in a coupe, it would have been what I got....... so what's that mean? ...... well lets wait and see what new info I can get on the W6.

 

How about some better pictures?

Ordinateurs portables

 

according to that site it weighs 4.16 pounds which seems kinda high without a cdrom in it. fujistsu makes a 13.3 non wide screen wuth burner built in and 8cell that weighs 4 pounds and this asus is weighed with the 3 cell. so with a 6 or 8 cell it would weigh close to 5 pounds.

 

Right, that's why I think there's something up....... it's either that or Asus some how clumped two different notebook specs under one name....... one spec showed an ultra portable (no internal drive) that was thinner than the current S5 and about 6 onces lighter (about 2.2 pounds) ......... Just looking at the pictures Klez found, that's not the notebook I was thinking was the W6..... although it's look is certainly in the "W series family".

However, even these specs don't seem to work out. I took one of those same wireless Asus mice and put it on the keyboard of my W3 and it looks a LOT smaller than that one..... Basically the W6 looks basically like a W5 w/ out the camera (so you could fit a bigger screen).... it's obviously like 1/2" wider too, but still things don't make total sense.

Two things I'm thinking ----

1. the other specs I read lead me to believe there's another model that's super light and thin.......
2. specs on the W6 are still dicy, but it's still a sweet little system...

 

Why does asus limit the amount of ram you can add by adding 256 on board i would rather have two slots so i can put 2 gigs in since its so cheap to do so.

 

It's a space issue.... it's a hard one to argue unless you could see the tight confines of say the S5/Z33/W5.... but trust me, it's a positioning, weight saving, space saving thing. All my information shows this unit will take so-dimms, so 1.25gb should be recognizable like the W5 and the memory obvisouly cheaper than the microdimms in the S5.

*EDIT*

Basically..... with 95% of all of Asus' systems, banks of ram sit opposing on another... one on the bottom and one on the top of the motherboard. In the cases were they use onboard memory, not only the thickness of the system plays a part, but also where it's located and the structural integrity or visual integrity of the system if they were able to open up a slot on the top.. under the keyboard like in most of the other units... Like I said, it's mostly a thickness issue, but not 100% of the time.

 

I dont know if you have seen the fujistu 6240 but its real small 4 lbs with two memory slots dvd burner and a 8 cell built in that doesnt stick out the back but its under the pc itself. im sure its hard to do it but how do other companys do it maybe the asus is a tiny bit thinner i dunno. i do love asus contruction and designs though they are pretty much second to none.

 

No, I haven't seen it, but even if I have, I'd like to see inside it. Asus has a few reasons for putting most of their batteries out the bad in the last year and a half...... 1. balance, 2. heat, 3. multiple battery options ... That usually means no room for ports on the rear......... some think that's a good idea because it's a pain to get to those ports when using the computer, and others think it's the worst idea in the world because then if they have things plugged in, they're coming off the side.

When we're talking about thickness, a couple millimeters is a lot and means the difference between being able to have that second option dimm...... What makes me wonder about this W6 is that, there is another 13.3" model that's on the drawing board that's super light and thin...... there's something we're still missing about this model that hopefully we'll see in the upcoming month.

 

Im not here trying to promote fujistu but when i saw it i was pretty impressed it was still well balanced even with the battery on the bottum and was a very cool laptop with a 1.86 centrino and had a modular bay for a extra battery. so all that can be done. i like asus designs but when the battery extends out so far it kinda ruins the design alittle. but if they come out with a 2.2 pound 13.3 wide screen model with a external dvd dual layer i will def buy it. But sometimes i think whats an extra .7 pounds if its built in its more convenient. to many choices.

 

I just thought I drop off this link of pictures and specs I put together..... Enjoy for the time being. Just so you know, I don't have a model number, but the smaller unit I was thinking of, IS another unit... not the W6a.

Also, if you notice, this is basically the design of the W5a, minus the camera, with a bigger screen and a slightly wider chassis. It'll have a full size 12.7mm optical drive, so 8x dual layer dvd burner would be standard. Personally I think the W6a fits right between the W5a and the W3a(Z63a).... it might be impossible to bring into the states because it will deffinately pull sales from one or the other. Also, we don't know if an "ensemble" or a "built on" or both would show up when they do.

http://www.proportable.com/w6a.htm

Enjoy

 

Come on justin bring it in you will sell a ton of em. ill be one of the first.

 

Haha.... we'll see what happens. If we didn't have the Z63a.... it would totally fit in under the w3v and above the w5a... but squeezing it between the w5a and z63a right now is almost impossible.....

but hey, listen... i love new stuff... so of course we're going to check them out and see if we feel it'll work. If so, we'll let Asus know and hopefully other people will do the same.

 

... I think we're going to be waiting till January for the next revision of this. Asus doesn't think it'll fit well between the W5a and Z63a (w3a).... They want to bring them over as an ensemble and a barebone. The barebone would have significantly less than the ensemble, so I'd guess bluetooth 2.0; RF and any brushed aluminum surface would be gone. It would make for a very nice system, but how is that supposed to sell next to the Z63a? I could sort of understand how an ensemble could fit between the W5a and the W3v.......... but again, unless they got rid of the z63a, it doesn't really have a place.

Time will tell, but I think the idea of getting this sometime this year is just slightly higher than us being able to import some barebone W1vc's..... which is slimmmm.

 

Why the ram limit. Is it because its pretty much the samething as the w5a but with a bigger screen. I still love :asus: .
Thanks

 

Yes and no.... I see it uses so-dimms, and for whatever reason Asus only tests 512mb sticks in the open dimm...... but 1.25gb should work without a problem, but 256mb is soldered onboard.