Black W5F in Hong Kong

I have just saw the Black W5F in Hong Kong. It's using the T2400.

CPU: T2400
Ram: 1.5GB 533Mhz DDR2
HDD: 100GB
With Wireless mouse/carry bag
Others are the same as the standard.

Price: Tax-free
Visa - HKD 15,500 (~USD 1978)
Cash - HKD 15,050 (~USD 1930)
Cash - HKD 14,500 (1GB 533MHz RAM ~USD 1860)

The retailer said it was selling fast... 50 white ver. sold in first week and they got 5 black ver. 2 days ago and only 2 left now.

 

I heard that black model has little bit bigger LCD size than white's.

 

Who is the retailer?

 

That's incorrect.... same screens in both...... however, what you may have heard was that the old white w5a had a 1200x768 res, while the black W5a have a 1200x800 res.... it was only on one shipment as far as I know.

... however I hope that wasn't a special trip, because that really isn't a great price..... and if you're from the US you're going to have to claim that upon your return and you'll be paying an import duty at that point.... I hope you realize there's a good chance of that.

 

The Canadian W5f is also black, MSRP $2049, about $1840~ USD or so. Better to pick it up here.

 

Ooh, pretty. Just saw a pic of it on ncix.com. Any chance of the black one making it to the U.S.? Have friend who's interested in the W5 but turned off by the white color.

EDIT: Never mind. Just found a previous post by PROPortable mentioning the first shipments to the U.S. would be black. Cool!

EDIT to my edit: Just saw the post below that changing it to white. Original question still stands. Carry on.....

 

UK W5F is also black and HD is 80GB DL DRW with case + BT (unattached mouse) - with 1.5GN added this really flys.

 

Wise Computer Technology Co. Ltd
I visited their shop in Mongkok Computer Center.

Shop 119, Mongkok Computer Ctr., 8-8A Nelson St., Mongkok
Tel: 2771 3326

 

The one in black is 1280 x 800. I haven't check the white one.

G-

 

This is totally unrealted to the W5F... but would you happen to know how much the W3V or W3J cost in HK? Im thinking of buying one.

 

Price aside, are there any hardware/technical issues if you're buying overseas?

 

Different keyboard and language starting OS, but thats about it.

 

You can ask for a quotation from Hornington Computers ([email protected])

http://www.hornington.com/

They are the sole distributor of Asus products in HK since 1992, and do have their own shop.

But then again, only if you live in HK does it makes more sense buying the product there.

Good luck.

 

W5F should come with a T2300(1.66) Duo Core cpu and a 12.1" wide screen(1280x800). I guess that the keyboard come with a Chinese characters for different input method for typing in Asia.

 

The one bundle with 5 language Win XP home for setup...

When u boot the notebook the first time... u can select the language to setup...
1. English
2. Traditional Chinese
3. Simplified Chinese
4. Arabic
5... I can't remember the last one...

and after that it takes about 2 hrs for setting up the OS, all the drivers and bundled software

G-

 

The black in Hong Kong is a special batch and have T2400 instead of T2300 and in a very limited quantity. And T2400 should be the standard for the white one (At least in Hong Kong).

Hong Kong (also Taiwan & Mainland China) use the same keyboard as the one use in US. Same layout. Some models may have small chinese character on it but it doesn't affect english input, no difference in layout/key arrangement.

G-

 

As I know, Hornington is only responsible for the distribution of Motherboard / Displaycard / Barebone / etc but not Notebook in HK. Notebook is now distributed by SYNNEX ( http://www.synnex.com.hk) and King's Tech. ( http://www.kings-tech.com.hk)

Agree, or at least you should stay in HK and test the notebook for a week before you leave. Otherwise, it's trouble to repair/swap if there is any problem. (though the notebook has 2-yr international warranty)

 

Interesting. Actually, below was what I get from Hornington's website.

"HCC gains high reputation in the computer industry and is now the sole distributor of ASUS products in Hong Kong and Macau region. It distributes ASUS motherboards, ASUS notebook computers, ASUS Pocket PC, ASUS wireless System, ASUS Server System, ASUS Computer Bare b one System and Computer cases , ASUS graphic accelerator cards, ASUS Optical Storage Devices such as CD-ROM, CD Writers , DVD-ROM and DVD writers. In addition, HCC distributes Corsair (U.S.A) Memory, BUFFALO (Japan) wireless solution, switches, File servers, network DVD players , CoolerMaster computer cases , cooling fans and power suppliers, Antec Power Supplies 、 Plextor (Japan) CD and DVD writers, Synology NAS (Linux Based) File servers and HQDV2 6 in 1 digital video & camera for various customer base that cover retailers, c omputer dealers, large corporate accounts, educational institutions, system integrators and home users alike.

Hornington System Limited (HSL) and Hornington Hitech Company (HHC) are two retail subsidiaries which located in the ShamShuiPo Golden Computer Centre 1/F Shop No.98 and Shop No. 43 and MongKok Sim City respectively to get closer to the customers. "

I actually emailed Hornington and asked them for a list of retail shops in HK that carry W5f (that was only out of curiosity as I already bought mine from Proportable). But they instead gave me a quotation by return email, and that I can call them or visit their shop at Shop 98 & 43, 1/F, Golden Shopping Centre, 94A Yen Chow St, Shamshuipo, Kln.

 

Justin have you seen the W5F with the 1280 x 800 screen? since its a new screen does it have improved viewing angles. I have found that some models like the MSI 12.1 have great vewing angles where others like the W5a arent so good. and the MSI has a 1280 800 screen so just wondering.

 

That's really confuse, I've actually visited their shop about 2 weeks ago when I'm looking for the W5F for myself (and also make a called to them just after reading your post, Tel: 2361 1696). They said they no longer selling Asus Notebook. So at least Hornington is not selling them directly right now.

Anyway, for Hong Kong buyers, it's better to contact Asus Hong Kong [ (Eng) / (Chi)] directly. Or check it out at the new Asus Hong Kong service center at:

Shop 5,G/F,191-195, Fuk Wah Street ,
Sham Shui Po, Kowloon , Hong Kong .
+852 29581620

 

I travel to Hong Kong alot. Thanks for the info galenyip. The only downside to buying there is you don't have the typical protections that you get in the US. It would be worth a look though.

 

Yeah, that is confusing. Anyway, attached is the quotation (dd Mar 10, 2006) I received from Hornington via email.

 

Ladies,

Thanx for the excellent informtion for HK, I put off buying the W5Ae because of W5f. I too travel to HK alot although I live in China. 2 things that tick me is the OS, in China, you can only get Simplified Chinese Winxp home, and from all your posts, the other is even in HK its Winxp home. I called China Asus before and they dont offer english or an upgrade to Winxp pro. The Asus vendor even suggest that they will put in a pirate version of Eng Winxp pro for me for free, I rather pass on that knowing I wont be able to update on it..

I was wondering if in HK you are able to get an OEM upgrade to Winxp pro in english?

Another curiosity, galenyip the quote you got is 1000hkd more then joycecylam's, the only difference I can really tell is 500mb more ram and black clad, wondering if there are anything else different for the 1000hkd. Thanx.

I am ready to pop down there and go hunt for my W5f.......

 

Model : W3H740DD(W3V)
14.1"WXGA LCD
Centrino 1.73GHz(740 Dothan) CPU
512MB DDRII RAM
60GB Harddisk
ATI M24 X600 64MB
Super Multi DVDRW
56K Modem
LAN+WLAN 802.11 g +Gigabit
8Cell Battery'
USB 2.0 *3/IEEE 1394*1/A-DJ/SPDIF/TV Out/ Bluetooth/4-IN-1 CardReader/Gigabit Ethernet/Hot Swap
Windows XP(Home)
ASUS Wireless RF Mouse
2yr Global Warranty

For Cash: HK$ 10,700 (USD 1,372)
For Visa/Master: +3% service charge

 

For WinXP Pro, I've asked about that but the answer is negative. However, Hong Kong's W5F allow you to select WinXP's language to install when you boot it the first time.

For the HKD 1000 difference, its due to the 1) RAM and 2) Payment Method. The price I quote is actually:
14500 (Basic Price)
+ 550 (Add 512MB of Ram)
+ 3% (Visa/Master Service Charge, it's also mentioned in JoyceCYLam's quotation)
-------------
Total: HKD15,500

 

To clear things up, I've emailed Hornington about whether they are selling Asus Notebook. The following is their reply:

----------------------------
From: "Paul" <paul(at)hornington.com>
To: "'Galen Yip'"
Date: Mon, 13 Mar 2006 22:38:57 +0800

Dear Galen,

We are just restarting to get the ASUS notebook back for 2 weeks ago.
Therefore, you can have the notebook from our shop about 2 weeks later. If
you can't wait for that, you still can go to Wise or Centralfield in Golden
Shopping Centre to buy the ASUS notebook. Thanks!

Best regards,
Paul Lo

----------------------------
Date: Sat, 11 Mar 2006 08:39:41 +0800
From: "Galen Yip"
To: Paul <paul(at)hornington.com>

Thanks Paul,

But I would like to know which retalier will have the model as well. I've
visited Hornington's shop at 1/F of Golden Shopping Center but the sales
told me that they no longer selling Asus Notebook.

Thanks.

Galen Yip

 

Any new updates on this thread? I'm thinking about buying a W5f in HK this week. Would love to get a recommendation on WHERE to go to buy it, and how much to pay!
(i live in the UK)

Thanks!!

 

I think W5F isn't a hot laptop. Because it has no graphic card, it will be rough to using Windows Vista. And it looks almost the same as original modle, ASUS didn't change anything (like to replace webcam...)

 

Thanks for the rather useless reply clearly the W5F isn't for you if you need a fast graphics card, but if you use it for office apps/music/internet etc it should be great - good looking, small, quiet and packing a lot of punch for the small size...

PLEASE someone, let me know where i can find one in HK?!

 

You can find the names and addresses of 2 retailers in HK, and also the W5f prices, if you read thru this thread.

 

I already did - have emailed them... the quotes are a few weeks old though, and i'm reading elsewhere that it's very hard to get hold of this laptop at the moment... not sure if that's correct?

 

yes... they are:
- Centralfield
- Hornington
- Wise Computer
you can find their contacts in the previous post.

When will u come to hk? if u looking for the black one, it's better to make a call/enquire them first to check whether there is stock.

I'm in hk and I can help to make a call to them if necessary. Just let me know.

 

there's one available on ebay for $1770. one caviat is that the person selling has limited feedback and the notebooks come from taiwan. according to the seller, it comes directly from asus themselves.