F3F, F3Jc, A8JR - some questions about these 3 models.

I'm looking to get a new laptop and have pretty much decided on an ASUS, but I have a few questions about the 3 models I'm interested in - F3F, F3Jc and A8JR.

1. What is the battery life like on all three models? Reviews seem to put the A8JR at 1.30-3 hours, but I can't find any mention of the other two's MaH 7200 battery.

2. Do they run hot/noisy?

3. Is there much gain in performance between the F3F and F3Jc - as the only difference seems to be one has GMA950 shared graphics and the other GeForce Go 7300 but is £85 more expensive?

Cheers

 

The A8JR's got the most powerful graphics(relatively speaking), and the F3F's the weakest. The Battery life on my F3JP(Standard 6 cell, 53 WH battery) is about 3:30 hours, WiFi off, screen at 4th from lowest setting, no gaming. Guess a F3F will be about half an hour better. Still, I'd recommend the F3Jc, simply due to its dedicated card. In terms of performance gain, gaming still isn't possible on a Go7300, unless a low res, low-med settings. However, Vista would run smoother, and your system RAM would not be cut down upon.

As for the noise, my fan's rarely off, although that could be due to the X1700. Still, the upside is that it doesn't get too hot. Warm-yes. Hot-No. I am comfortable using it on my lap when not gaming. But the real test would be this summer....

 

Cheers, high-end gaming isn't really a consideration as dislike FPS/RTS type games which seem to need thje better graphics and only play turn-based strategy and RPG's like Civ IV, FM2007 and NWN.

 

I believe Civillisation IV has pretty high end requirements.. although I may be mistaken.

 

Its not that and any machine of last years config should be able to run it comfortably.. Besides its a turn based game and fps isnt a big issue here.

 

I can tell a thing or two about F3Jc, since I've had one for 8 months...
1. At first, the battery life was close to 3:30 but now the average runtime is 2:30. NHC says the battery wear is 6%.
2. The fan is off only until after the notebook warms up, then it runs constantly on a low but audible level. Although the notebook runs relatively cool.
3. By all means, get the F3Jc if you plan on light gaming, which IS doable on this notebook. Flatout2, Trackmania Nations, CS 1.6 etc. run like butter at native rez. Valve`s Source-based games also run with a bit of tweaking.

As for build quality, it took some scratches quite easily and after lugging it around practically every day of the working week for 7 months, one of the right screen hinge cover`s plastic retaining hooks broke and the cover itself is trying to come loose eventually.

Vista will run quite happily but lacked in the gaming department compared to XP. Just make sure you have your notebook with 2GB RAM if you want Vista, because it will chew up close to 600MB by default.

 

I would say the A8 gives you the best deal. The GPU is the fastest of the 3 meaning you have the best for games . Additioanlly, 14" is a lot more portable so if you need to take the laptop with you anywhere it'll be a lot easier.

If the laptop will be on a desk most of the time then stick to 15.4". Theres the F3Jr if you want the x2300 in an F3.