Going to check out the W3v in person on friday!

Hey guys,

I was planning on buying the ASUS W3v near the end of July, but with the $200 rebate ending July 15th, I've decided to pick it up this week. If anyone remembers my posts from a month ago, I had trouble finding a place to see the W3v in person. I finally found a seller located in fremont, CA (about an hour away) who've agreed to let me see the unit.

If all goes well I will probably end up buying from them on Friday, but first of all, do you guys have a list of things i should look out for when checking out the laptop?

they also offered me an instant $100 rebate if I buy off the spot from them, which makes it even more sweet

 

Wow, what is the name of the retailer? I live in Fremont but I just ordered a w3v online, customized from agear

 

Good luck with your purchase!
A list he
- do you like the screen
- how stirdy are the keys, do you like typing on the thing
- is the size ok
- does it look and feel stirdy (so when you open the screen it does not feel like you need to be very carefull doing that)
- you obviously like the looks so take the time to look at it

Cheers

 

I thought the Ensemble notebook (W3V) prices were fixed by Asus. That $100 instant rebate sounds sketchy. Unless all Asus dealers are offering it on the Ensemble line, I would be careful.

 

If you're paying cash that makes a but of sense since everyone gets charged AT LEAST 2 percent to accept credit cards..... but that's still not $100 worth.... If you buy "on the spot" .. sounds like some fishy plan that some other dealers do... like if you call up you get a better price than on their website, etc. Just because it's wrong in a moral sense (since it's not offered to everyone) , doesn't mean it's wrong in the legal sense though.

 

I don't think you could get the ASUS $200 rebate if you buy through him. Don't you need to get it through a ASUS Premiere Partner dealer?

If you go to the rebate page and click "Dealers" it has a list. I think it has to be one of those. I could be wrong, Justin (PROPortable) would know more.
http://usa.asus.com/mobilemag/

 

Isn't Asus in Fremont? Can't you just go directly to them? ... or is this person an employee of Asus maybe?

I've bought an air conditioner from some guy named Sunpentown on ebay, picked it up at the Sunpentown warehouse in Southern California. He was either selling if for the company or for himself (stealing from inventory?). Who knows...

 

Here's a small program that does this:
http://www.laptopshowcase.co.uk/downloads.php?id=1

 

hey, thanks for the program, i'll put it on a USB drive before I go

 

alright, about to head out in 4 hours.. any last minute advice?

 

Yeah, check for dead pixels very good!
I ordered one which I went out to see today, and it had a dead pixel right in the middle of the screen.
The shop had another one in stock, and that one also had a dead pixel! Unbelievable!

Of course I didn't want these, so the shop is ordering another one. If this one also has a dead pixel, I have to pay 45 euro as a 'guarantee'. With this they test each laptop they get. If they find one it is sent back to the distributor, and the distributor sends another one, and the shop tests it again, and so on, and so on.

Oh well, at least I'll get one with no dead pixels and a 8 day guarantee.

 

funny i didn't notice this post the first time i read throught the thread =\
He said the $100 in savings is mostly due to ebay / paypal fees and such

 

So, makken, were you able to see the machine? Did they have ones that people could go in and try out, different models, etc.?

 

makken,
One other thing that I don't know if it was mentioned try to keep the machine powered on for a while.... This is to see if you think there is a heat issue before you lay the money down. I know there has been some question as to the heat "issue". I feel with my W3V that there really isn't an issue here,
yeah it gets warm but not as bad as some people are making it out to be.

Valsere

 

Well you didn't say this was an ebay store........ but ebay and paypal fees are the same as a real companies credit card fees.... one in the same basically.

 

People complain about the heat, but it really isn't bad. It's better than any apple notebook I've ever used and also better than any other comparably equiped notebook I tested. I think people use thin and light standards (notebooks with low-end processors, slow hard drives and integrated graphics) when they judge it, which it isn't, at least as far as hardware goes. I transfered files for about 4 hours (30gb ot stuff) and it barely heated up. I'd say it gets about 80f (27C) on the palm rest and 95f (35C) on the bottom, if you use it with anything between your legs and the unit (ie. pants, shorts, etc) it is not a problem. The only thing that annoys me is that the vents are on the right side, so if I use the mouse warm air (85-90f/30-33C) is blowing over my hand, very nice if it's cool-cold, though.

All around it's the best notebook I've ever seen or used.

 

Oh boy Oh boy Oh boy

 

Hey guys,

Sorry I didn't get back to this eariler, been configuring my new w3v

I got stuck in traffic going down there, so I got there pretty late and tired. I tested the machine for about 20 minutes, then realized that I really don't want to make another trip down, so brought it on the spot.

I got home late.. and even more tired (I had trouble operating the clutch to park when i finally did make it home -_- I opened up the box and pulled out the laptop. Then i noticed a little black thing still on the foam covering. Apparently the battery slider switch broke off -_-. the mechanism works fine, and the battery latches on fine, but without the button, I have to use a small screwdriver to detach the battery. For those wondering, the battery does have about 1mm of play in it, not that big of a deal IMO.

I'm calling ASUS on monday to see if they can send me a new switch. I hope they won't make me send the laptop back as I'm using it as my main computer now.

First thing I noticed when i turned it on was the massive amounts of icons in the taskbar. After trying to uninstall everything to no avail, I ended up reformating the whole system. What's interesting was that I found the hard drive was partioned into 3 parts, a 20 GB, a 30 GB, and a 10GB. no idea what that was about. By the time i was done reformating, re configuring, and putting on the utilities that I wanted, it was already 2am, and I hadn't eaten for 29 hours. I plugged the w3v into our network, and proceeded to transfer over ~25GB's worth of data from my old laptop while I made myself dinner.

After dinner, I updated windows and installed essential apps (MS Office, Winamp ^__^) then pretty much passed out until 3pm today.

I'll just briefly touch on the issues that've been brought up in this forum:

Heat:
After writing 25GB's to the hard drive, that thing does get HOT. I tried to use the touchpad right afterwards and pretty much burnt my finger. Today, which has been mainly normal usage though, it does get warm there, and you do feel it when you're typing (ie: right now), but it's no where near discomfortable levels.

According to the ASUS probe, my CPU is running at 66 degrees C right now, which is rather warm for normal usage. I haven't stressed the CPU so far, and I decided to not put PlowerGear or whatever it's called back on, but I can do some tests and see how hot this thing gets later.

My biggest problem with heat is the vent. Take a look at the attached image to see how my mouse is usually positioned. It does get to the point where if leave the mouse idle for a while and come back to it, it does hurt to touch it for a bit. the constant stream of hot air onto my hand also gets annoying after a while.

Screen:

If i had to describe the screen in a single word, Overrated comes to mind. Yes, it is bright, Yes it is clear, but not overwhelmingly brighter or clearer than the competition. Also, contrast seems average at best, and I dont' see a way to adjust it on screen. When i view pictures with this screen, i'm not awed by the Vivid Colors. All in all, i would rate the screen just a notch below the sony's XBRITE system. I would also rate it better than the Gateway "glaretype" screen, but I can't compare it to other glossy screens as I have not play with those laptops yet.

To comment on the thread about the whole "washed out colors / light leakage" problem, I would say the problem has been greatly exaggerated in there. Does the problem exist on my screen? Yes. Is it noticable under normal usage: No. I can get the problem to show up if i turn off all the lights put on a black background, adjust the screen to a weird angle, max the brightness setting, and really stare at it for a while. but other than that, the problem doesn't show up, so it doesn't really matter to me.

Other than that, i only have a few minor grips with the laptop:
1) the audio out port: when I use speakers, the wires just get in the way of my mouse.
2) the touchpad buttons are hard to press
3) this is the first time I'm using wireless G (only had B before), but I noticed that the reception isn't that great. Currently, the router is in the next room (only seperated by a hallway), and I'm only getting 36mpbs. Even when i'm only 2 feet from the router with direct line of sight, I don't keep 54mbps steady, it bounces back and forth between that and 48.
3) I CAN'T FIND ANY WIDESCREEN WALLPAPERS

I'll probably post a full write up after using the laptop for a week or so. heck, I may even submit it here

 

Search for 1280 x 768 wallpaper..... .. I used this site to link to some wallpapers I was needed for my 1920 x 1200 screen........ but a lot of them have the lower res widescreens as well:

http://tenser.typepad.com/tenser_said_the_tensor/2004/08/1920_x_1200_wal.html

 

I can't help but be intrigued by your little summary.

You make it sound like the heat is a big deal, but then you go on to say that you're still going to use it? If the heat is that big a deal then why are you still using it? If it almost burns your fingers to touch the touchpad then why don't you return it? I'm just a bit sussed.

Thanks

Jake

 

I'm with musika. That was a rather lukewarm review, makken. Let us know how it goes over the upcoming days.

You bought it right there at Asus, right? How did that go?

 

Sorry, maybe it doesn't seem clear.
the touchpad burning my finger only happened because i was writing ~25GB worth of data to the disk at once. I'll probably only do that only once per reformat. Under normal usage, the heat under the palm rest / touchpad doesn't cause any discomfort and is barely noticable.

As for the vent, it's annoying, but I'm getting used to pushing the laptop up a bit so that my mouse / hand won't rest directly over the vent. If I do that, then there's no issue with that at all.

the ASUS probe CPU temp is rather high for normal usage (compared to a desktop P4), but as long as the chip doesn't break down, it should be fine.

 

Thank you for clearing it up

Sorry I'm just a bit fussy because I'm planning to spend 2000 US myself on that thing

I hope you enjoy it,

Jake

 

Thanks for clearing up the heat issue, as well as the screen! I kinda had a feeling everyone here was over doing the issue.

Also thanks Justin for those book mark link to wallpapers. I found some real neat ones.

 

alright guys, now I got two new questions,

1) I'm gonna add in ram to this thing, did a quick search, and found a few I might pick up. Out of these modules, which one would you pick, and why?: Personally, I've had good experience with kingston ever since PC133 days, but I'm open to experimenting with new brands if they're reputable:

http://www.ms4me.com/el1gb1pc53dd.html
Elpida 1GB PC4200 533Mhz DDR2 200PIN So-DIMM, $109

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...221121&CMP=OTC-pr1c3watch&ATT=Notebook+Memory
gigaram 1GB 200-Pin DDR2 SO-DIMM DDR2 400 (PC2 3200) Notebook Memory - Retail, $111

http://www.komusa.com/fco1gb15320s.html
Komusa DDR2 1GB (1024MB) PC2-4200 533Mhz 200Pin SO-DIMM Laptop/ Notebook Memory, $112

http://www.buyaib.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=6444
Kingston 1GB PC4200 533Mhz Notebook DDR2 SO-DIMM memory, $113

Are there any major difference between those?

2) I just installed CHC to undervolt my processor. Does anyone have a list of recommended voltages for the sonomas? Right now, I have it on auto dynamtic, and it's undervolting at 0.792V at 6x multiplier

Also If i undervolt the ATi card, will that conflict with Powerplay? (running catalyst 5.6 modded)

Thanks guys