Having an asus built for you

Hi. I posted a thread in the gaming forum and with great advice from members, I have decided to buy the F3Jp AP104C. Three questions. If I wanted to wipe vista off it and install my xp pro disc, will the notebook come boxed with the original vista CD in case I want to reinstall it later on? I hear vista isn't currently that good and saps more power from the laptop.

Secondly, I have a shop near me who can build a laptop to my spec, and before I even mentioned asus, the guy said he would be using an asus chassis. He reckons he can build me the laptop to my spec, ie, the AP104C.
Would you trust someone to build you a laptop or would you worry that he might use some cheaper components such as ram, etc? The idea is that it may cost less for me to buy.

Thirdly, what does 53.28WHrs for battery life mean?
Thanks.

 

Yes, it does come with XP on a disc and a small recovery partition which is even faster for getting that factory fresh feeling.

I think it really depends on your trust for the guy. Maybe you could ask to stop by and see all the components before they actually go in. Also, keep in mind that Asus has a bunch of gaming models which come completely pre-assembled and with a very good 2-year Asus warranty (a self-built version will usually only be covered by the shop which built/sold it).

From Wikipedia:

My W3J draws the same amount and the battery lasts a bit over 3.5 hours, though your mileage may (and probably will) vary.

~ Brett

 

well... building a laptop???? some you can change the GPU, and CPU. Most can have a new HDD and RAM. i think just buy it from like gentech or somthing, you can still change some specs. i heard that unless the manufactures site has xp drivers, you will be screwed. last, that is how many watts are used an hour

 

Thanks for the advice guys.

Nrbelex , you said it comes with XP on a disc, or did you mean to say vista?

Yeah, thinking it about it, I think it's better not to have one built, since as you say, I may not get the 2 year warranty and I probably won't get the software that comes with a pre built model.

Regarding the 53.28WHrs, lol, I thought for a moment it meant the battery only has 53 working hours before it needs replacing. Yes I know, I'm silly. Just wanted to make sure though

 

You're right - I meant it comes with a Vista recovery CD and Ensemble models come with a Vista recovery partition. I'm not sure if barebones versions have the partition.

~ Brett

 

Thanks Nrbelex. Actually, I rang laptopsdirect today to check they still have it in stock and also asked him if it comes with the vista disc. He said it doesn't, but that I would need to make backup discs of everything on the laptop before formatting it. He went on to say I shouldn't be buying a laptop if I want to remove the OS and that I should buy one with XP. I thought that was a bit harsh, particularly since this is the only laptop they have which suits my requirements in my price range. He also said changing the OS voids the warranty. Thing is, wouldn't I need the disc validation number when reinstalling vista? And without the disc, I wouldn't be able to reinstall vista just from backup files would I?

 

I bought my F3JP from NewEgg and it did not come with a recovery disc. I did remove Vista immediately and put XP Pro in its place. I dont see how your warranty could be void for placing a different OS on the system. That wouldnt make too much sense.

 

1. You will have the serial number of the Windows on the license sticker, I believe, so not having a disk is not a terminal issue; however that number is for an OEM kit so it will only work with an OEM kit, and those aren't too easy to come by.

But it really doesn't make sense for the laptop to come with no means of recovering the OS (either image, or plain installation disc). If so, then something's fishy with that reseller. Or it might be that there is a recovery partition on the hard drive; and then you'd need to take good care of that partition.

2. Changing the OS voids the warranty seems to be nonsense. It might be in their regulations though, which would be stupid but who's to say store regulations have to be intelligent. The only disadvantage is that you're basically paying for an OS that you aren't going to be using. so in that sense it's better to get one with XP preinstalled. But of course most ASUS XP machines are now dated, so that's not really an option for most.

Anyway, the warranty should be handled by ASUS directly unless you are customizing the notebook, because by the model ID it seems to be an ensemble. So it's not the guy from laptopsdirect that's imposing the warranty terms, really. I think he was just trying to scare you off from downgrading from the newest software, since the newest software always brings the most money for hardware shops, requiring the most out of the hardware.