Cannot Decide

I am looking for a laptop for college and I just cannot decide what the size of my laptop should be. I know I want a core duo asus but I cannot decide between the w7j, w3j, v6j, or the unreleased v1j. This decision has been killing me and I was hoping that someone who has already been to school or is in school right now could direct me in the right direction. How often do you bring your laptop to class? Do you feel your size laptop is too big or too small for your class? Is 15" 4:3 too tall where is seems to tower over the desks and other laptops? And most of all which laptop would you choose to take to school with you. I will be gaming but any of the cards will be sufficient, and it doesnt matter whether i get the x1600 card in the w3j or v1j, or the 7400 go in the V6J or W7j

Thanks for the help and your opinions,

IncendenS

 

I voted for W7J or W3J. I have a Z70Va that I bring to class pretty often, and while I don't have problems using it, I'd rather have a smaller notebook. It just feels bulky and a bit awkward with an average size 15.4". As long as you're okay with low res, stick with the smaller notebooks.

 

If you can wait until it's released, get the V1J. It'll have the best combination of features: ATI X1600, Core Duo (possibly Meron), 15.4" WSXGA+, about 6 pounds. The V1J is gonna be a helluva good notebook. If you want something a little lighter, but with a great screen then the V6J is a good choice. Good luck!

 

I had the Z70VA 15.4".. and at times when I traveled.. I wished that I had a 14" notebook instead. Especially in planes. So if you'll be carrying this around, a 14" is perfect, so the W3J gets my vote. As for the V1J, there's not enough info about this one yet. I'm personally looking into both the W3J or maybe wait for the V1J as well.

 

The v6j is only 1" taller in height than the 14" widescreens; I wouldn't call this too tall or towering. The added space gives you more room for vertical documents and lets you do less scrolling.

For most uses (except gaming), I'm a convert to choosing portability when other things are equal. W7.

 

I'm currenty an electrical engineering sophmore at Purdue and from my experience I rarely ever bring my laptop to class, mostly because its my only system and hooked up to a million different things (speakers etc.), and unplugging it and getting it ready for transport is a pain. If you have a desktop tho I'd imagine your laptop will be going to class quite regularly, and in which case the smaller the better. My laptop is a 15 inch and I can assure you it doesnt tower over the other notebooks, but it is noticeably heavier than other people's laptops who have 14, 13.3, and 12 inchers. Out of those 3 however, I'd want to have a 14 inch, as it's the perfect size for a college notebook, as it can go with you to class everyday, pack a serious amount of power, and not weigh you down, and I'd recommend that size, but its really up to you.

 

questions:
are you residing on campus or commuting?
will it be your only machine?
will you be taking notes in class on it?

 

Last year w3v had the lowest rma rate. Similarly the z63a (w3a) had the lowest rma rate by far on the built on side. Tho the w3j is comletely redesigned..........Well you get where i am going.

 

what is this v1j all about, how much do you think the machine will be? est.

 

Try reading this thread

 

I'm trying to decide the same thing (not a student, but plan on carrying the notebook with me every day). I've tentatively decided on the W7j, and here's my line of reasoning....

I won't play that many graphics-intensive games on the notebook, so I don't need the added power (and weight) of the W3J or A8j. I can read type equally well on a 14" or 13.3" screen and they're both the same resolution, so why not go with the smaller (and lighter) one? It would be nice to have the additional screen real estate that comes with the V6j or V1j's higher res screens. But it doesn't seem worth the added size and weight of these, since I'll mainly be doing email and web browsing (which is only moderately benefitted by more screen real estate).

Of course, your reasoning may be different depending on your needs.

 

i will be residing on campus, will probably be taking at least some notes in class with it, and it will be my only machine.

 

Mmm, well I say def keep portability in mind. Mine is 15.4", and so far the one thing that bothers me most is that it's heavy for something I'm carrying around often. Like, I can handle it but it's a bit painful/uncomfortable

 

taking notes in class will require portability, but since it's not that often, you'd be better off with a slightly larger machine.

w3J would be the happy medium for all your needs.
but if you forsee your media needs being more important than portability (it's an expensive daily workout lifting almost 6 lbs!)... i assume you'll also be watching movies on top of gaming since you're on res.

i would actually wait and see what the V1J turns out like before making a final call. chances are by that time, the W3J and V6J (and W7J) will all be established and people will have found most of the possible bugs and you can make a more informed decision then

 

I'd second the recommendation for the w3j. At 14, it wont hold you down but still offers serious power for when you need it, gaming or multimedia otherwise however as a good measure Id say to your daily load find a few objects that when combined roughly equal the weight of the laptop you wish to purchase and carry it around for a week in addition to your standard load. this gives a good idea to what its like having a laptop on the back and will let you kno if you comfortably can carry it around.

 

my only concern with the w3j is the quality of the screen, i have heard many reports that you can never even truly see real colors on the screen because the viewing angle is so little. if the screen were even a bit better there would be no hesitation

 

viewing angles are a bit tight, but not impossible. when would you ever really need good viewing angles anyway? unless you're sharing the screen with 3+ people trying to watch a video with the notebook speakers that point down =P the screen is quite bright and the resolution really fits the form factor. viewing angles are merely preference for the most part. if you can, find a dealer with some demos of w3vs, w3js or z63as and see for yourself.

 

All of the above posts are great and have nice individual aspects that would need to be taken into consideration.

Firstly, these 4 notebooks, provide a lot of performance, and great graphic performance if u go with the W3J, V1J or A8jm.

So now you got that, many here use notebooks for school, class notes and school usage. So this is where portability comes in.

We know that most 14" notebooks are portable, decently thin, and decently light enough for the average girl and guy.

The tricky stuff is the 15.4" laptops, this is where awsome designs shine. You can look at the Mackbookpro, 1" thick, smaller dimension, smaller footprint, weigh 5.6 lbs. This can be considered as competition to the 14" notebooks because of the design.

Yes we know the GPU is underclocked and heat is definately noticable.

So now we have the V1J which is supposedly going to be thin and light and powerful. This should be comparable to the MBP.

There's also 2 other competitors, the LG S1/P1 and the Samsung X60 which are all decently thin and light and offer a lot of power.

BUT there's a HUGE catch to this, when you want a thin and light and powerfull machine, guess what... you pay!! $$$$$$$$$ lots of it.

You can see it too, the S96j despite 1.5" thick and 6+ lbs i can cost up to 500-1000$ USD/CAD less.

So cost is a big factor too.

Incendens, people are acutally becoming very picky, with the W3J, since you pay sooo much for such a hgih quality notebook, people were expecting a better screen. But to be honest, i've seen the video, to me i was pleased.

You can visit a store and see it, or ask for someone here to describe and give pictures of the viewing angles which are ideal for viewing.

Hope this helps.

Thanks,

MysticGolem

 

the $$$ are not so much a concern, as im willing to pay for quality as long it will last me for four years. I live in new jersey and I do not know any retailers around me where I can actually go see an asus.

 

Here you go,

New Jersey:
Aspect Computer www.aspectcomputer.com
Raw Power PC [posting as Unleaded on Notebook Forums and Notebook Review] www.rawpowerpc.com
Source Micro www.sourcemicro.com
Viewmicro www.viewmicro.com

I forget but how much time do you have until you finally make a purchase? I am assuming until late august cos that's when the V1J supposedly would be released.

Other than that your best option is to wait a lil longer, =\.

Thanks,

MysticGolem

 

geared2play is in Brooklyn

 

I take my notebook to class everyday. Saying that I wouldn't want anything more than a 14in. because desks can be quite small and I enjoying being somewhat portable. Anything bigger and you get the feeling of, "**** this thing gets in the way a lot." I was messing around with my friends 17in. macbook the other day and I hated it, I might as well be toting around a billboard.