For all you Napa buffs..... read my news thread for todays updates!

There's been some confirmation on the new napa models.... ETA's have been updated (pushed back)... and some good and bad news as well... check it out.

 

wow, the A7 is going to be an ensemble and the w3j having an x1600?? :O

 

Yeah.. on the custom side they are going to focus on the current Z83v till late spring...... and the A7j is going to be an "affordable" gaming system.... coming in at under $1,700 for the configuration I placed in the post..

... and yes..... Taiwan confirmed the 256mb x1600 in the w3...... I also found out that it won't be in the V6j becasue of thermal issues - so they used the 128mb 7400 instead..... it had to do with the thinness - they could have physically fit it, but it would have been impossible to cool.

 

^I'm still surprised it was chosen for the w3j, also for the thermal issue.. from what I saw..it isn't that thick either :O

great news though!

 

Im surprised by the new updates. I thought the better video card would be in the V6J, not the W3J. That is actually a relief because I prefer the W3's size and widescreen over the V6. I am also surprised that the V6J and W3J both have 1.66 ghz processors, I assumed both would come with 1.83 ghz processor. It looks like the W3 is the new high end ensemble and has moved past the V6.

Any idea on the prices?

 

Justin, why do you do this to me? Looks like i might be waiting til late march...well unless i want the z92j...gahh im so confuseddd!

 

the 1.66 is going to be the new 1.86..... in terms of performance it'll still knock the socks off the 1.86 dothan obviously... but the 1.66 core duo is slightly more expensive than the 1.8 model... so to keep prices similiar they have to do that.... everyone knew the cpus would be "slower" .. that's part of the advantage of the dual core.

The V6 is a great deal thinner - eventhough we're talking about a few cm's..... it's enough to make it impossible they said to cool it. Also, they are still looking at the V6 as the "professional" model.......... with the regular ratio screen, it's still more of an office system..... the 128mb 7400 is still better than the x700, but not by much........ but the new model, not having the IPS screen is sorta going to put the W3 back on the top of people's lists.

 

is it? bench marks of the 7400 put it between the x600 and x700..I believe around 1900's using 3dMark05

 

i'm disappointed by the w3j only getting the 1.66 proc... but that is going to be one sweet video card to make up for it.

 

The W3j is gonna be KICKA$$

 

Indeed... that W3j looks awesome!

 

W3j is what I've been waiting for. It should share the same body as the w3v right? Any ideas on price yet?

 

Justin,

Does the z92j have an alternate name? It sounds like the a6ja. Do you have ballpark price for the barebones? Thanks.

 

Again......... I don't know why people would complain about a 1.66ghz cpu....... then again, scratch that..... there's always something to complain about...... IF THEY USE THE 1.8 - it would be close to another $100 - and right now a 1.66 dual core will way out perform the 1.86 dothan.... so it's an improvement but far - but it'll keep the price similiar to the out going model....


... Yeah, the Z92 series has always been the custom A6 series.... and if I forgot the "a" in "ja" ... it is the "ja" model that's coming in.

 

This is a little off topic, but why not.
Given that the 1.66 dual core will outperform the 1.86 dothan, other than aesthetics is there a reason not to go with a 1.66 dual core z62f over a 1.86 z63a similarly configured???

 

well most people will NEVER see a difference.. that should be known..... but it will be the next big thing and it is an overall improvement...... it's just more than a huge majority of people will ever need.

With that - the Z63a is 5x better looking than the Z62f.... it's your choice, but in that situation, I'm going to go with the Z63 simply for looks and value...... either are going to last you a few years.... so it's not a life or death decision..

 

Hey Justin!

I remember not too long ago you said you were trying to get Asus to release the W1 series as a Built On line here (i think?) just wonderng how that was going so far.

 

Wow... the W3j is just awesome...I wonder if they're replacing the VGA with a DVI...if they are then I might have to wait...Could you enlighten us at all Justin, or are the specs still not final?

 

@ Justin,
you mentioned that the W3J has been confirmed to contain the 256 X1600 ( wow ) but my question is, what portion of that 256, if any, will be hypermemory?

Thanks, The Brig.

 

All of the memory listed with the graphics cards are dedicated. I'm not sure what the x1600 uses are hypermemory - but I know Asus said on the V6j - w/ 128mb Nvidia 7400 - w/ the 1gb of system ram that it'll have, it will release 284mb to Nvidia's "turbo cache" - which is like hypermemory......... which means the system will show 512mb of VRAM out of the box. Asus wants to advertise them this way, but dedicated comes first in my mind and with an asterisk maybe... comes the turbo cache or hypermemory.

None of the new models appear to have DVI...... I could be wrong, but there hasn't been word of it - maybe it's insignificant with the who new chipset and graphics, etc that they forgot to mention it... but I doubt it.

Yeah... well the W1 has a better chance of coming over as a barebone at this point than an ensemble again because Asus has doubts about it - mainly because it sold bad initially as the W1n...... (I think that was because of bad advertising), and they think it's too expensive and too much like the W2, so they think it would compete directly with it and not have it's own market. So they said eventually there will be another 15.4" in the lineup - but we're looking at late summer if at all. If this hypothetical model doesn't look like it'll be available --- that's when the W1 would come in as an Ensemble.. but it looks like that decision would be made in May or June..... Barebone hopes look dimm because we abandoned that when we found out they would bring it back over as an Ensemble.... but we'll look into it again.

 

The news thread was updated with prices. You'll notice due to the configurations they are bringing in, the prices remain close to untouched. The W2j is shoot up another $50, but the V6j will actually be lowered $100. That is a good price, but just so none of you V6va owners or potential owners get upset - the V6 (as are all of the ensembles) are only a 1 year warranty which really brought the cost down. There wasn't much of an adjustment for the lack of IPS screen, so the V6va is still by far a better value.

 

The news thread was also just updated with information on Asus' extended warranty program for the ensembles.....

 

Whoa the w3j....apparently when i first read the news thread i skipped that it had an x1600 and is only 1799...jesus...what an overlook...

anyway, wow that is an awesome system...

Justin from what i understand none of the ensembles are going to be changed from a design standpoint, right?

Sorta going from v6j to w3j now..im so confused...anyway this is great info!

Edit: One more question..will the w3j have the same screen? the glossy one, or no?

 

I would assume all the ENSEMBLEs have the same chasis and screens BUT the V6j

 

I don't know about the W3j but I know the A6j comes with both a VGA and DVI output.

 

I was having my doubts about the W3J, but seeing those stats and the price... it's going to be hard to convince me not to get it. It's definitely the most attractive laptop I've read about since Yonah launched.

 

Chassis' are the same.. colors are even supposed to be the same (which is unheard of from model year to model year). Screens are all the same, but the V6j will change for the third time and will just be a colorshine screen like the rest of the lineup.

The Z92ja should have DVI as the A6j it's based off does..... however that custom system is the only model that has the possibility of having it for the next six months or so.

 

for those out there who have the influence on ASUS USA:

PLEASE BRING THE W1J TO THE US!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

i'll beg if i have to.....! is there anything that can be done? would an influx of emails and letters prove that there is in fact a market for the W1? please do all you can...... even it's a barebones/built-on type, the chassis alone is a sure seller!

thanks

 

ahhh this is great news...was worried the w3j would only have a x1400 but knowing its gonna have the x1600 probably pushes it over the sony sz for me

 

Sorry dude, but influence doesn't mean sales..... basically to bring it in if Asus doesn't see a market - there's a large minimum order Asus US would have to place with Taiwan... if they don't see a market - then it's up to one of the dealers to front the money and bring them in for themselves...... Frankly, I don't "see" that market either... although it will sell, it will compete directly with the W2 and a little with the V6.... If we have to bring in 400-500 of them and we sell them - great.... but if that eats into 300-400 W2 orders... it's really a bit of a wash....... and likewise, I feel most people would be choosing between the W1 and W2.... and I think most people with the same needs, would end up choosing the W2 because it's got a bigger screen and it's about the same price........ so that would mean a WHOLE lot of stock that won't move.

... it's not as simple as bringing 20-30 and if they take a month or two to move, it's ok....... it's more like being in debt and maybe not moving all that stock in a year......that's not acceptable. If the W2 wasn't an option....... we'd do it in a heartbeat..... but at the same time, if the W2 wasn't in the lineup, Asus wouldn't think twice about it either.

 

i just don't understand why every other country in the world is able to carry both W1 and W2....?!
Is it because ASUS is not as popular in the US?
But I hear you about the business side of things...it just sucks for the consumer. If they really feel that it would directly compete with another model, why even design/produce it at all?

 

I feel your pain, mnesikles. I like everything about the w2 except the size. If the w1 were available in the US, I'd buy it in a heart beat.

 

So what do you know about screen resolution so far? I am hoping that either the Z92ja or W3J have a WSXGA, am I in luck?

 

Z92ja...maybe, although WXGA+ or WXGA is more realistic.
W3j will have WXGA... anything higher is just too much for a 14"w

 

Terrible news about the W3j. I need something with 4 hours' battery life, but the unnecessary inclusion of the x1600 kills that chance.

 

Since the W3J is strictly an Ensemble model, are there any chances that some resellers will be able to customize the options for us like adding a faster processor etc in the near future, or is that only for the Built On models?

 

The W3j may have a 'brother' model, like how the Z63a/W3a is to the W3v, but without something.

And there will always be resellers willing to customize it, if you don't mind voiding the warranty

 

What is the expected battery life for the W3J? I need a minimum of 3 hours, more is preferable.

 

Is there any word on the W2j having the built in 1.3MP camera?

Nick

 

.... no... it won't.

 

The US market is truly unique...... the market here is the fastest growing, but it's still small compared to other places.... Each office is truly its own entity and they have their own choices to make. The W1n sold a lot better in Asia and Europe than it did here......... and other countries have reported their W1 and W2 sales...... and the US' W2 sales are above anyone elses....... so that leads everyone to believe that the W1 and W2 is splitting sales..

I feel for you - you're complaining because this is what you want and I understand that. But whne it comes down to it - I've done this before and of all the people who say they want the W1 now.... less than half of them would actually buy it when it came in...... and I'd say 1/3 to 1/2 of the rest of them... would end up deciding on a W2..... So it just won't fly without the proper demand and it's just not there. The big thing for most people and the only two reasons the W1n didn't sell very well was becasue it was heavy for a 15.4" and it was expensive for a 15.4" ....... and it's funny... the W2 is light for a 17" and really a decent price for what's in it........ for 1/4 to 1/2 a pound...... there is a reason most end up leaning to the W2.

 

i dont think you can ask much more of asus...they catered to a large group of laptop consumer who want a mobile 14" laptop with power gpu...its just not possible to expect 6 hours of battery life in a small package with a power gpu.

hopefully the w3j can get 4 hours of battery life but if it doesnt then thats fine because of the performance you're gonna get. If you want more mobility and battery life get a sony sz

otherwise....:asus:

 

hey justin is the time when u get the laptops? so a late march w3j wont get to us till april?!

 

Hey Justin,

Do you have any idea of how much the Z92ja will be? I know its customizable and will change from person to person, but whats the base price going to be around? Thanks!

 

The ETA's are the ETA to us.... so that should be about the time it could ship to you... but keep in mind ETA's are "estimated time of arrival"... but this ETA is to us and not just to the shores of San Jose....

A Z92 probably will be around the same barebone cost of the Z70va's... I'd say a little more, but since it's off an A6 chassis, I'm guessing the cheaper build offsets the upgrades.. Obviously the cpus are 50% more for the same speed as last years single core........ so that's where the cost is going to jump....... you'll keep the price similiar if you go with a step down in speed..... like a 1.8 instead of a 2.0.... etc..

 

for those who wonder what the W3J looks like:
http://taiwan.cnet.com/computer/first_take/0,2000071393,20103754-10,00.htm

Not too bad of a design if you ask me. Plain but not ugly. Exactly what I'm looking for.

 

its widely believed that the model above is just Asus slapping a Duo sticker on a W3V.

 

i dont think thats a bad thing...the w3v wasnt that bad a lookin laptop

 

I dont know why you are complaining about needing 3 hours battery life of course it will meet that. The current gets almost 4 hours and the new one yonah has bettery power saving not to mention you can underclock the cpu and gpu with CHC and have a modular bay for a second battery.

 

yeah....... the chassis is staying the same.. the only thing Asus hasn't confirmed is whether the colors will stay unchanged..... every year they like to change it up, but I think they may not this year because the dark colors are still very much in style......

But yeah.... every notebook they showed at CES was the current 915 model with a new sticker and new specs........ no one passing buy will ever know the difference because they weren't benchmarking them or anything.