Contact me via Skype?! .... Asus Merom update.. W2j WSXGA+... weird combo, I know..

You know, I stopped giving out my cell phone number online for very good reasons... however a lot of you seem to be getting into Skype and asking if I use it. Since I've been using my Asus p525, I've taken up at least incoming calls with Skype as one way to demo the phone and just another method of communication with some people.

... Email is still the fastest way to contact me, but if you have a question about anything in the world, feel free to give me a ring. If you have sales specific questions, please call or email them, but I want to use some of the skype calls to continue to test the phone out, so please feel welcome if you have a question for me or just want to say hello.... Oh.. and the member name is "proportable" .... if anyone tries it and it doesn't work, let me know... still trying to get the hang of it. It's pretty weird because the phone rings just like a normal cell call, but skype needs to be on and signed in and some times it signs out.

To keep this completely Asus related... Don't expect Merom Ensembles to be available in your hands in the US before early September. The word coming today was that Asus is expecting the first Merom model at the very end of August / Early September.... We all know that means Early September at the earliest and then from there they need to get out to the dealers... So figure the first Asus Merom model should be shipping from dealers and in customers hands closer to the middle of September at the latest.

Now in terms of what's coming over when... I don't know and we'll have to wait and see. I do know that if two models come at a time, I'd be surprised, but at this time the following models are sold out at Asus (W2j / W3j / W7j)... The W3j and W7j are set for a return in two weeks with the current cpus.... and the W2j doesn't have an ETA. My guess is that because these two models will have another shipment before Merom, the V6j and W5f may be the first two to get swapped over... I also think this because they were the first two core duo models as well..... The W2j w/ WSXGA+ still doesn't have an ETA, which leads me to believe no one should expect it till sometime in late September as a Merom model.

I'm going to jump out on a limb here and say the W3j and W7j won't get Merom updates until October...... and I believe the the W2j with higher res screen and the new V1j may even come out a couple weeks before those.

In closing, since I mentioned everything else... remember the rebates on the W2j / V6j / A7j / W5f end in early August.... and W3 and W7 stock is pretty low everywhere.... anyone interested in them should re-read what I said about, because it looks like another 3 weeks before the next shipments.

 

I don't suppose there is a way (without selling and buying a new unit) that Asus can retrofit my V6j with Merom without voiding my warranty?

 

No they won't.. and at the same time I wouldn't waste your money or time. You'd be looking at what... $400-500 for the cpu you'd probably want... sell your notebook at a $500 loss and buy a new one if you really... REALLY want to upgrade right away. I really don't think it's going to be a big deal for a couple years anyway... Vista really has to get into it's first service pack before we're going to see other companies have real 64bit software available.... most probably didn't even start to develop on 64bit until longhorn was crowned vista and given a real eta... So, even though Vista is a long awaited prize for those who have athlon 64 systems that are 3 years old now....(not counting the worthless xp 64).... It still needs software. Anyone with a computer that's brand new to say... two years old... hold off at least a year or two before going to 64bit. Anyone who still hasn't bought a computer, you've got about 6 weeks before you'll have an option with Asus and January before you can buy a 64 bit copy of Vista...... but at least a year or two before you can really get anything out of the cpu in terms of 64 bit programs....... Nothing wrong with that, but just buy a computer when you need it... waiting for the next big thing with computers will always keep you on the edge. The way I look at it, most people buying systems tonight will probably be looking into a new system 2-3 years down the road before software they'll actually use is available in 64bit...... wait if you can, but it's not going to be a life changing event.

 

Will the Merom equipped notebooks be higher priced, or will the current models dop in price (assuming the models will be identical, albeit with a new CPU)?

 

I probably dont know as much about pricing as Justin does, but what I've noticed in the past is that prices on new/refreshed models tend to stay the same meaning that they don't usually go up. Of course, when a merom notebook comes out the older yonah version of it will go out of production and you'll have to find discount sites that sells them for cheaper but doesn't offer the same service as a premier site.

 

This is a different situation though.... Although a price drop does come once a quarter..... I'm not sure what's going on in this situation. The core duos are still going to be sold as "new"... the core duo 2's as they were will just be a 64bit version.... The goal is not to have any of the current models in when Merom comes out, so I'm not sure there will be a discount unless someone is stuck with a bunch of them, but even then, I think the 64bit versions may be a little higher.........the only two models not rebated right now are the W3 and W7 and those are also the ones that will probably be updated last... and everything else has a rebate on it.... so there really isn't going to be much difference in the next month plus that I can tell.