Better deal than the S96J?

Im interesting if anyone has found a better deal than the ASUS S96J for a gaming/school notebook ill be planning on buying it this summer sometime. It seems amazing scoring nearly 4000 in 3dmark05 with its impressive X1600 for only about 1400$ CAD before tax. (1gig ram 667, 80 gig 5400, 1.83ghz T2400 core duo).
Please don't post buy a "DELL". I hate dells. We have dells at school and they're all "DELL-inized". Even if the specs look good on paper, those dells will somehow mess up. They're like cookie cutters: cheap, mass produced and completely useless.

 

I don't think there is right now (unless you're using the Dell coupons ). I'm *very* happy with my S96J, especially at the price I got it at. The price/performance ratio is impeccable.

 

There is no better deals in term of price/performance with the S96J. The closest will be dell inspirons E15xx series which are cheaper, especially if you combine it with a coupon..but I believe the best GPU they put on it is an x1400, versus the x1600 in the S96j?

maybe in the future. the MSI 1039 might be the same price.. and Compal has a new 15.4" model that also is VBI and has an x1600. but doesnt seem to be in the US right now

 

^ Hmp... thought so..

 

Wait till the end of the month, core duos are supposed to go down in price. Other than that, $1400 is as good as it gets...

 

good to know^^

 

Yes ill wait till the end of the month and ill get a T2500 instead of a T2400 for the same price. The 1400$ is in Canadian $$ too.. So it's about 1250$ USD.. Outstanding price..

 

Actually, the Compal will be using the nVIDIA 7600 w/256MB.

It should be released in very early June and will also have a fingerprint scanner and 9 cell battery standard, with Bluetooth and TV Tuner options. It will be more expensive, but only about $70 to $80.

 

I have no use for bluetooth and I got TV's in every room of my house except bathrooms.

 

Well, you may have use for Bluetooth in the future if you ever want to sync your PDA with your laptop, or you want to use wireless headphones...

And, having a TV in the room is not at all the same as having it on your laptop screen. The TV tuner has an "always on top" setting so it stays there no matter what windows you have active. You just put it in a small window at the bottom corner of your screen and you never have to turn your head and refocus (the focal length is the same if it is on your LCD screen) to watch it. With it on the LCD screen you can actually work and watch TV at the same time without skipping a beat (I am watching mine as I type this).

Of course having a 9 cell battery will greatly enhance the useability.

Now, if you have never used the fingerprint system to remember all of your passwords you haven't lived! It is so much easier to just put your finger down on it and it will fill in your password for any site you have programmed.

 

do you know when Compal's 14" model, the HGL30, will come out?

 

Don't know for sure, but they are eager to EOL the EFL30 so I expect it by mid-June

 

Will they sell this compal model in Canada though?

 

Doesn't Compal sell their components to dell? Maybe I'm mistaken, I don't know.

 

Compal is one of Dell's ODMs, along with Samsung, Quanta.. and in the future, Asus.

 

I guess I was just thinking along the lines of the Non-Business Dells. Isn't the latitude series made by quanta (not all parts, im assuming others are involved samsung, lg etc)? The rest (inspiron, dimension) are made by compal?

 

yeah I believe most of the Inspirons are Compal and the Latitude are Quanta. Some exceptions, the X1 is definitely Samsung.. and I believe the non-compete Samsung has in the US, is with Dell.

Toshiba also uses Compal, not sure which line.
And from a recent article that was posted here, Dell will have a new line with Asus as the ODM.

 

ya dells used to be made by acer and now are compal. the inspirons.

I dont know what to say about compal actually, they seem to be the cutting edge manufacturer for getting technology out. most of the inspirons they make use cheap plastic, probably what you would call the cheapest. the cheapest acers use better plastic.

the e1705 has a metal lid, but its real cheap looking and the plasic on the bottom is cheap. I mean, its the cheapest thing going its a great deal

I think its safe to say that compal beats all competitors on price for the cheapest model at this time.

 

Have you considered the ACER models?

The new Aspire 5672 with x1600 should be out within a week or so, and it comes with almost everything you can think off.

I really thought that was a good deal, unfortunately I fell in love with ASUS already

 

No, I am sorry but we do not ship to Canada.

 

It changes all the time, so it is hard to keep up with what DELL is doing currently. DELL plays all of the major ODMs off of each other and whoever gives them the best deal gets the contract for that project...so you have to be absolutely model specific to identify who the ODM is for DELL laptops.

Quanta is the largest ODM in the world, with Compal 2nd.

 

So it still looks like ASUS is the #1 for the best price to performance ratio. Even if compal comes out, i really dont like how it looks, but the fingerprint reader and the 9cell battery would have sparked my interest. I guess I could just buy a 9 cell for the S96J instead of spending the extra 70$ or whatever.

 

I can understand not liking the looks of the Compal, but how does spending about $110 on a 9 cell battery for the S96J make sense over spending about $70 and getting the 9 cell AND the fingerprint reader standard?

 

^ You're forgetting one major thing. You also have another 6 cell. So basically you get a 9cell AND a 6 cell. I can bet your battery life will last much longer than the compal's with that. Fingerprint reader, meh, I can do without..But battery life is what matters most

 

Everyone is certainly entitled to their opinion...I am not here to change yours, I am just pointing out the facts.