Considering the A8SC-A1

Hi all, I'm considering the A8SC-A1 as one of my possible Laptop replacements but I have some questions:

1. How durable is this notebook (or at least one of the other notebooks in this family)?
2. Does Asus use similar hard drive protection technologies as the other notebook vendors?

Thanks.

 

1) Very durable. Asus is noted for high build quality
2) Are we talking hardware (like shock protection) or something else, software based?

By the way, I was considering the A8Sc-A1, but I realized before ordering that the Cntrl and Fn keys are switched up on the model. That would bug the heck out of me, I think.

 

Hardware and software protection for Hard drives.

The notebook intrigues me partly price. It's has pretty decent weight and has a dedicated graphic card.

 

Oh yeah, it's a phenomenal price. You can get a fully loaded 1.8Ghz Santa Rosa unit w/ 160GB hard drive and the GeForce 8400M for $1300.

 

The A8SC is pretty good value for money. It is not a gaming laptop for sure. Solid laptop but dont expect too much battery life. With all the discounts currently a Thinkpad T61 with the Quadro 140M might have a similar price to the A8sc so I suggest looking at that too.

 

Ok, no offense to anyone, but the HP dv2500t is a better notebook in essentially every way. It looks better, is more durable/better build quality, is custom configurable, its cheaper, and will have the 8400M option in the coming few weeks.

Nothing against the A8Sc, but overall the A8 is a pretty mediocre line of computers. The only thing distinguishing it are the highest end models which have really high powered nVidia and ATi graphics cards (A8Js[Go7700] and A8Jp[X1700] right now). The SR/DX10 versions of these have not yet been released though.

 

But so far the dv2500t is only available with the intel x3100. Alot less power then the 8400M GS in the A8sc. If you want to game sometimes or play some old games the Asus is the better choice for now.

 

The 8400M GS is coming to the dv2500 relatively soon, by the end of June at max.

 

Wow I never noticed that until you pointed it out. Seems like the A8js has the same thing. Only the 15.4" F-series doesn't have that.

I think I can live with it, though. Then again, I could wait for the new F8 (updated A8js.)

 

I think not a single person on this forum can tell you how durable a notebook is unless they owned one in the same series. a8js for example. It is definitely a mediocre line from asus. A8js had no inherent issues. The screen on a8sc is only wxga but does not suffer from the same poor view angles as any wxga+ display such as a8js. I had a chance to review it. 3dmark 06 came in just over 1000 points. its about 3 times less then a 8600GT found in the g1s however you can still play many games on it. @ 1200$ i think its a pretty decent deal. It becomes an incredible deal becuase there is not a single manuf out there that can offer better then asus standard 2yr warranty, 2way overnight shipment, and 24/7 DOMESTIC support

 

Hmm, the dv2500 now has the nvidia graphics option. It comes out to approximately the same price as the A8Sc ($1300 with 2GB memory and otherwise identical specs). I still think its better for the same reasons as before: it looks better, is more durable/better build quality, and is custom configurable.

 

Definitely looks good, however, I don't think it's available in Canada yet.

 

Not sure if you're still interested, but it's available in Canada now...

http://www.shopbot.ca/p-57332-1299043.html

 

is the dv2500 available in canada? i cant find it anywhere

im debating between the a8sc and the a8js as well, my worry is the a8js is too old and the a8sc is too..'cheap'

why did they have to solder that ram to the w7s...perfect otherwise

 

Not to complicate things further, but don't forget about the IBM Thinkpad t61. It can be configured in a lot of ways, but with a 7300 CPU, 2GBs of RAM, a 160 GB hard drive, 14" WXGA+ screen and a Quadro 140 (GeForce 8400) it's priced at $1499 CDN/$1380 US. And that's with a 3 year warranty and probably better build quality than any ASUS A-series notebook.

 

oh i know, that and the dell 1420 were my #1/#2 choices, unfortunately the wait times (a month or more!) for delivery are too long...i need it for school in september

i might just bite the bullet and get a w7s with a ram upgrade to 2.5gb...hope it lasts a few years at least.

appreciate the help though