Help me decide between 2 Asus notebooks

I'm getting ready to buy my first notebook, and have been researching for several weeks now, and I think I have narrowed it down to 2 choices, either the Asus M3000Np or the Asus Z9000. If anyone has any experience with either (preferrably both) of these notebooks, I would appreciate your experiences with it. Here are the specs I would put in either system; the price comes out very close. I also wrote what I believe to be the essential specs, as gathered from Asus's web site.

Asus M3000Np
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Pentium M 1.6 Dothan
512 MB RAM
40 GB 5400 RPM Hard Drive
CD-RW/DVD Combo
Wireless LAN
WinXP Pro

14.1" XGA 1024x768 Display
Intel 855GME + ICH4 (64 MB Shared)
5+ hrs. battery life
12.2" W x 10" D x 1.14" H
5 lbs.

$1414


Asus Z9000
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Pentium M 1.6 Dothan
512 MB RAM
40 GB 5400 RPM Hard Drive
CD-RW/DVD Combo
Wireless LAN
WinXP Pro

15.0" XGA 1024x768 Display
ATI RS300MB + IXP150 chipset
ATI Mobility 9100 IGP (Up to 128 MB Shared)
5+ hrs. battery life
13.2" W x 10.8" D x 1.4" H
6.6 lbs.

$1369


At first glance, it would appear the Z9000 would be the obvious choice, but it may not necessarily be so, based on what I'll be doing. First of all, I will not be playing any games on this machine, so 3D accelaration is unimportant. What is highly important is 2D video quality, and display quality. From looking at the tech specs of both graphic chipsets, it would appear the ATI is better, with a 300 Mhz RAMDAC vs 250 Mhz RAMDAC, and tons of other snazzy specs I found at ati.com's buzzword laden page http://www.ati.com/products/mobilityradeon9100igp/features.html

These specs all sound great, but the real question is, does the video look [worse than/as good as/better than] the M3000Np. Same for the LCD on each machine, which looks better, or are they about equal?

I will be using this machine for mostly 3 things. Writing, programming, and LOTS of reading (hence the importance of the good display). I will also be using this machine a lot while it is sitting on my lap, so size, weight, noise, and temperature are factors as well. I like the 5 lbs. weight of the M3000Np, I'm not sure if the 6.6 lbs. weight of the Z9000 would be too heavy or not. Most notebooks I see at stores are behemoths that I would never want to have sitting on my lap while I'm writing. 8 lbs. for a notebook is nuts! Is 6.6 lbs. comfortable while sitting on a lap, or is getting kinda heavy? Also, what about noise and temperature? I like quiet computers that run cool, which one of these 2 notebooks will win in that area, or will they be about equal?

Also, since I will be doing a lot of writing, the quality of the keyboard is quite important too. I like keys that are just a little heavy and have a solid feel to them. I have a 17" LCD iMac, and the keyboard on it is pretty close to perfect. I have tried many notebook keyboards where the keys seem a bit too light and sensitive to the touch, like you just graze your finger over them and they press. I don't like that, I like to feel the keys as they press. I hope I explained that well. How are the keyboards on either of these machines?

Since I'm asking about everything here let me throw out one more variable, battery life. Both of these notebooks claim on Asus's web site to have 5+ hours battery life, but how much do they really get? I imagine I will be using this machine for long stretches at a time away from a plug outlet, so the longer the battery life the better. Any real world experience on battery life for either of these 2 machines?

I'm sorry if this is kinda lengthy, but I like doing thorough research on a product before I buy. I will hope to get a good 3+ years out of this machine, so I want to choose wisely. Based on what I have mentioned, which do you think would be the better machine, with video and display quality being the number 1 most important factor, and size/weight a second.

Just for the record, I am kinda leaning towards the M3000Np right now, but only by about a 60%/40% margin, and would be willing to be convinced either way. I'm mainly concerned about weight (5 lbs. sounds a lot more attractive to me than 6.6 lbs.) But if the display quality on the Z9000 is much better, that would swing it in favor of the Z9000.

Thank you all for any help/suggestions/reviews/opinions, whatever. All your advice will be taken into consideration. Thank you.

 

get the z9000... reason its more powerful and the graphics will be
ultimately the deciding factor that puts it above the m3n... the
m3n has the looks but lacks the power and juice... so u decide

 

I was basing the specs for the battery life from the following page:

http://usa.asus.com/products/notebook/nbindex.htm

For the Z9000 it says "5.5 hour battery life", while the M3Np says "5+ hour battery life". I was assuming they would be similiar in battery life, was I wrong in assuming that?

This is a tough decision for me, I wish I could go somewhere to try these machines out before buying.

 

I can't comment specifically on either model as I don't have either. But I think that the M3 will better on your lap and on portablility in general ie better battery life, on that are you sure that the Z9000 has 5+ hr batterylife? I couldn't see any specs on the ASUS website to suggest this, and I would be a bit surprised with these numbers I think 4hr would be more like it, while the M3 should be able to get out to 7h similar to the M2N. The Z9000 is aimed as a budget powerhouse to compete with the likes of the compaq X1000. I do have an M2N which is similar on the inside to the M3N. It copes with photoshop etc very well, esp now its got 256+512Mb Ram. But its keyboard is not as good as my M6N, and the screen is ok. I suspect that the screens on both will be about the same, good but not great. Its a tough choice, but after all that I guess I would be leaning towards the Z9000 as well. The larger screen size will help with reading, and overall performance will be better.
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ASUS M6Ne 15.4" WSXGA 1.7 PM ATI9700 80Gb HDD 512Mb RAM

 

My bad..sorry. I'm a little surprised that the z9000 has such good battery life, but ASUS are pretty good at telling the truth so I guess the z9000 looks the winner.
a


ASUS M6Ne 15.4" WSXGA 1.7 PM ATI9700 80Gb HDD 512Mb RAM