Do you guys think Asus is slipping?

Last year the Asus Z70v and Z71V were the best laptops in my opinion for a portable yet powerful machine.

They have the hot swappable optical bay drive which extends the battery life greatly.

They had a great graphics card at that tiem period.

Best of all they could be had very cheaply. My friend bought a z70v (x600) for 2300 and that was with the extra battery in the opitcal bay and more ram.

Now, I think it is much harder to find a similiar deal like that. The W3J is similiar but costs 2000 before any extras. The other laptops dont even have the hot swappable optical bay.

So I ask the Asus fans of this forum, do you think that Asus is slipping in terms of their price/performance ratio?

 

Are you from Canada?

I'm in the States, and just picked up a W3J for 1800...

 

Not really, right now it seems there are two types of notebooks that ASUS makes, low end and high end, nothing in the middle. And because of this, right now, most don't appeal to most users, low end notebooks aren't worth it, as it is more expensive then the ones from Dell/HP but with similiar specs - and high end, it's worth every penny, but not everyone has that money to spend.

They also don't rely on their notebook sales for profit, if anything, I would assume that it is marginal. This year, ASUS may not make as many notebooks as before, as they recently signed contracts with HP/Compaq last year, Dell a few months ago, for notebooks for them.



If anything, think of ASUS as an enthusiast brand, if one can't afford it, well look at something else, as it's worth every cent. I've always been thinking that ASUS should ditch the low end notebook market, I doubt they are doing well there and focus on their mid to higher end machines.

edit: And yea, Alvito's a Canuck.

 

that's about equal at the current exchange rate.

 

I dont think so, I think Asus is great and along as my S96J looks good for the next 3 or so yrs, my next laptop will probably be another Asus.

 

Built on vs ensemble in price is not a fair comparison in my opinion.

 

If you've tried searching for Asus laptops on Ebay, it is very hard to find many of the newer models. Many searche return 0 hits. There are a few resellers, but no actual auctions from previous owners. What does this tell you? No one is selling their Asus laptops because they are satisfied with it. I have been through three laptops already in one school year, and I sold them all on ebay. Ignoring Nigerian scammers, I sold my z70va for only $100 short of the original price, and that person could have easily went to ISTNC or wherever and bought one brand new since it was always in stock at that time. I am in the minority for not liking that laptop but others loved it and maybe other people love there laptops and won't part with them on ebay. Not to mention, if you do plan to sell it, the notebook holds its value very well, as my selling scenario can testify.

 

Slipping? Only into the ensemble market. From their increasing popularity it seems as if they are purposely making their bto line less appealing and concentrating on ensembles more and more. This years models are easily 200$ cheaper but pack the same punch minus aesthetics.

 

Yes over the past few years ASUS notebooks's popularity has skyrocketed.

They even have an advertisement inside my local shopping mall with a huge 30ft poster of a beautiful lady holding a W5F.

 

Markville Mall

 

Eaton's centre?

Yes, ASUS has been aggressive in their marketing during the past year, even though they are relatively new in the North American market.

 

They will be new forever until they go to the television sets. It dont work any other way. If they do go to tv they will have to expand their service center to service the less computer literate people. Not that people who watch tv are not computer savy.....well you know what i mean. They are just not ready and not willing to go mainstream like dell. Doing so may hurt their target market. The computer savy individuals who dont want mainstream

 

If the V6j is slipping - then Asus has nothing to worry about. I think that this a time to realize that Dell can make a POS for $400. I have used computers like that, and I have to say that I would always rather pay the $1900 for my V6j than the $400 to waste. But, then again I fit in hte computer literate group, and most in that group are the same.

 

And the winner is.....coriolis

 

To be honest I think the V6J was a downgrade in from the V6Va. Slower video card, no IPS screen and at the same time they cut the warranty in half. And then it now faces several worthy competitors like the MacBook Pro, HP nc8430 and Lenovo Thinkpad T60.

I don't think Asus is slipping, but they currently don't have anything that interests me. The BTO line is getting more consumerish and bland, while every Ensemble is missing something that I consider a dealbreaker. I'm planning to hold on to my Z70Va for at least another year so I'm not too worried. They just need to give me something like the W3J with switchable graphics to save battery life and the choice of a higher resolution screen. Then I'd be real interested.

 

You have to admit though, ASUS notebooks are still a niche market. I don't think that their concepts (such as designing notebooks with leather and partnering w/ Lambo) will help them in the long run. Their #1 strength and profits are still in manufacturing motherboards and notebooks for other brands.

The first thing they need to do is establish credibility to the consumers by aggressive marketing and better tech support for their ensembles, and let time fly by.

 

Yeap, it's facing the Lottery Stand, near the food court, near BlueNotes


It's been there for almost a year now, quite impressed

 

Fully agree I saw a review of a sony with this, you had to reboot to change the setting, but it means you have a powerful GPU when you need it and when you dont you can switch to integrated graphics and have great battery life, from what I remember it was a massive increase, was at least like 2+ hrs extra!

 

Agreed, ASUS LIKES to be in the niche market when it comes to their own laptops. I think motherboards and being an ODM is their main cash cow, not selling asus notebooks. if they're designing notebooks with leather covers and lambo branding, they're aiming for the enthusiast crowd and try to seperate from the mainstream.

 

Indeed, and that is something I totally respect. I doubt they are making much, as you have to understand how much effort they put into their premium lines, not just the materials and specifications, but the design and research.

Also great how if you take out your ASUS(In my case, the V6va) at school/cafe/coffee shop, people take out their Macbooks, ThinkPads, Presarios, Pavilions, etc. and I take out my, supposedly, 'unknown' branded laptop that people look in awe

 

You might want to read some more reviews. Even with integrated, the Sony SZ only gets about 3-3:30 battery life, not 2+ hours. Many people are disappointed because the integrated graphics don't provide more battery life. The 7400go is a good increase in power consumption from the integrated gma but it can't be that enormous because you have to factor in the CPU, screen, mainboard, etc. all of which haven't changed.

 

I think the two graphics card thing will be most useful with midrange and high end cards that use noticably more power than the integrated. The 7400go is a low-mid end card that shouldn't use all that much juice.

All I know is that when I had the chance to play with one of my school's 15.4" Acer Travelmate Sonoma platform notebooks it got over 5 hours with its 65Wh 8-cell battery. I couldn't even believe it myself, I thought the battery meter was lying till i ran it down. This was at MAX screen brightness, only a WXGA screen but it was actually a bit brighter then my Z70Va screen at max. Speedstep was underclocking to 800MHz (no undervolting) and wireless was on. Specs: Pentium M 1.73GHz, 915GM chipset (GMA900 graphics), 2915 Wireless, 512MB ram, 5400rpm drive (can't remember the capacity).

My Z70Va with it's 69Wh battery gets a little less than 3.5hours with the screen at max brightness, CPU underclocked to 800MHz and undervolted, and wireless on. Powerplay also set to the optimal battery setting, I leave it at that and only turn off Powerplay when I game.

Of course it wasn't a controlled test, I had 1GB of ram, a higher resolution screen, an Atheros wireless card and a different brand of hard drive, but there's no way those components could explain over 1.5 hour difference in battery life. Which leaves the X700 as the culprit.

 

wow..i think the w3j with maybe a higher res screen and switcheable gpu would be great..it'd probably push 7hrs with the mod battery..also when just doing office work it woulnd't get as hot and may even be used as a laptop..literally

 

My dream laptop would be:

13.3" screen
7600 go or 1600
4+ hours of battery life, in order to get this you'll probably need a 8cell battery + optical bay battery.

Merom would be nice, but I dont think I'm going to get one for my first laptop. I've waited long enough for one, and on my first day of classes I want to have my laptop with me. Merom doesnt have much gain anyway. And when they fix the bios to get better battery life maybe I will consider an upgrade then.

I guess asus was just trying to sell to a certain market. I guess not many people bought the battery in the optical bay when they bought their z71v's and z70v's. So asus decided to only have it in their top tier laptop. the W3J.

If the W7J had optical bay battery, i'd buy it!

I want something small and portable, but that can bust out the games if i need them.

 

Where do you believe the A8Jm and F3Jm fall into the catagories of high/low end?

Thanx.
Sammy

 

Well now it is finaly over 1 year, that i have been waiting for a notebook with all the features I may want and have to play around with. The V1J has everything i would need for today and the future.

I have always been skeptical about ASUS's marketing and production of their laptop market, despite i like their products.

Firstly, this year I can count roughly 15+ Ensemble units and BTO models combined, yet like 4-5 of them are exactly the same, Yonah + X1600 with a 15.4" screen either WSXGA+ or WXGA.

This just blows my mind. LOL

I definately think it is worth spending a little more for higher end ASUS laptops, but if you can't then definately opt for the lower end, many here can atest to that they are still great.

If you look at Dell as the perfect example (please don't BASH ME) many here are so bias to Dell...but you can't dismiss they are the Number 1! seller for computers, and there's a reason for that!

Look at the Dell site, they only have 5 main stream laptops, XPS M1210, XPS M1710, E1405, E1505, E1705, and have a few models on the side, XPS2010, and some B series laptops. Just a FYI, they renamed thier mainstream models for the business section but they are exactly the same laptop.

So these laptops cover all sizes and class of laptops for users, in only 5 models, why does ASUS have 15+ models worldwide? Yet they still don't meet everyone needs. We know the mid range of 14-15" Dell laptops aren't that great for performance, but they still sell, and with less features compared to ASUS.

Also if Dell once again brings out C2D (Merom) notebooks before ASUS does, then many will simply switch to another brand. As Justin mentioned earlier, we may end up waiting till Late Oct to Nov. before we even see a Merom based notebook.

WHETHER this is true or not, it definately does not sound good.

Here's what I would do if I had the chance to make changes.

ASUS should produce roughly 7 models to meet our needs, all of those laptops should have modular bays, and DVI or Mini DVI. Next have screen options, look at Dell they allow screen changes on many of their models, yet for ASUS ensemble units, it what you see is what you get, and you can't do anything about it. If you try to make a change BAM, void warranty. (how nice)

So if ASUS did what I mentioned above, this will increase production rates of these models, more production means lower costs, meaning lower prices for consumers. With lower costs to produce, ASUS would have the flexibility to create slight amount of customization, like screen changes, just like Dell.

Also, ASUS just needs to put thing into production faster, no one likes waiting for things to come out later than other brands.

ASUS Verdict.
poor production and marketing, but has good products and slightly high prices.

Dell Verdict.
excellent production, marketing, flexibility, some laptops are poor and others are Okay to good, and thier prices can't be beat, especially for the USA with coupons.

Thanks,

MysticGolem