I sold my soul to Asus...

Well, I said I wouldn't do it... but now it would appear I have no choice. After a brief stint with the performance driven, yet disappointingly presented Z71V, I have returned it for a brand new W3V. I will miss the extra 200mhz, the extra 512megs of ram, and the 64 megs of ram on an up to date video card.

Now, I've got some questions:

1) What is the easiest way to remove the keyboard so that I can install some matched ram in it... yah know, when the warranty runs out. 9_9

2) Where is the CPU compartment, and do I need a degree in Engineering to get to it so that I can lay in some AS5 or upgrade the processor to something that will bring M.A.M.E. to its knees... when the warranty runs out? 9_9

3) Is it going to turd up my 100 gig Seagate beyond all recognition (a.k.a. "TUBAR"). Has there been *ANY* confirmation whatsoever that the hard drive connector does actually support native SATA (with the adapter Asus didn't want W3V users to have, of course). 9_9

4) Is the DVD drive a full-zized notebook drive, or some custom super slim job? What brand is the DVD drive?

5) Am I going to need sunglasses to view the "Color Shine" screen under normal lighting? How bout in the dark?

6) Is it loud?

7) Will I need to buy stock in Johnson&Johnson in order to finance the medical bills associated with burning my palms and wrists off?

8) Build quality?

9) Gay stickers?

10) Will I be reminded it was manufactured by Asus every time I boot it up, or reminded it's powered by Intel's worthless Centrino buzzword?

I feel like such a sell out... buteverything else out there completely sucks right now.

Kai

 

SELL OUT! [ !]

j/k [ ]
I'm sure you'll be very happy with the W3...

ASUS M6800Ne, P-M 1.5 Dothan, 512MB Ram, Toshiba Combo drive, Samsung Spinpoint M 40G HDD with 8M cache, Mobility Radeon 9700

 

<blockquote id='quote'> quote:<hr height='1' noshade id='quote'>Originally posted by BBQmyNUTZ

I feel like such a sell out... buteverything else out there completely sucks right now.

Kai
<hr height='1' noshade id='quote'></font id='quote'></blockquote id='quote'>

Lol.. Kai.. don't sweat the small stuff. Nobody will blame you for selling out (none in this forum anyway) []

Congrats on your W3V.. I don't have one (yet!) but it sounds like is fill with good stuff. []

 

Why bbq? Why did you decide to return it?

 

1) I don't know why you would want to replace both of them. Another DDR2 PC4300 533MHz 512 MB will make the system run in dual channel [I know cause I just did it on mine earlier with the Corsair 512 MB stick]. It's a waste of money in my opinion if you buy 2 more sticks of 512s. This is assuming you'll be running 1 GB and not 2 GB.

2) I believe it's the same compartment as the secondary memory slot [under the lid with 6 screws & Windows XP product key sticker].

3) I don't know. You'll need to ask Justin or someone who has fully opened their unit.

4) It's a full size DVD Dual layer. I remember Justin saying it's a Pioneer, I'll check it up again when I'm on my W3V again.

5) The screen is good under normal/dark lighting.

6) Loudness is really relative. In an office environment, you may be able to hear the fans a little depending on the Power4Gear/SpeedStep setting. It's no where near annoying.

7) No the palmrest doesn't get that hot. It will get warm [when doing intensive gaming/work], but not to the point it will literally starting become uncomfortable.

8) Very good. It's from ASUS so you know you're getting quality. Pictures do not give justice to how good it looks and feels in person.

9) I haven't removed mine yet, but the only stickers visible are the ones from the pictures you might have seen on the palmrest.

10) You can either boot it up with the full screen ASUS logo or have the "POST" screen instead by setting it up in BIOS. I leave the full screen on my W3V, but I use the POST screen on my P4C800-E Deluxe.

[l]ikwid.[f]uzion

 

1. Honestly, no one makes matched pairs of ddr2 533 so dimms yet....... I agree, just throw another ddr2 533 512mb stick in there, it's better on your wallet and you're not going to see a performance difference

2. It's under about 6 screws on the button of the laptop..... but AS5 isn't going to do much for you now..... there are reasons to use it, but if you're just removing the heatpipe to put it on, it's not worth it. The cpu doesn't get hot enough to make 1-2 degrees make a difference in performance or overall life of the cpu..... as at it's hottest without AS5, a centrino is still going to run well within operating temps.

3. The W3 has the same connector on the motherboard that the Z7 has..... the problem is there isn't an Sata cable for it yet. Why? Well the Z7 is a barebone and customers may have been building it out with a pata or sata drive...... the W3 is complete and there wasn't a reason to include it (although when they start putting sata drives in, we'll be able to get the cable as a spare part for customers).

4. 12.7mm (not 9mm) - It's actually a toshiba... same one that would be in the Z7 (if you had that one)

5. no/no ..... and surprisingly, I think outside I can see still the screen on the W3, where with a regular screen I don't think I was ever really able to..... it's not ideal, but it's better than completely washing out.

6. no.

7. ... had someone once say an S5 "didn't pass his no shorts test" and "gave him 3rd degree burns down there" ..... I think that was a ULV 1.0ghz S5ne too... needless to say the guy just wanted an excuse to return the laptop he didn't like.... I've been using my W3 for over a week now and aside from the normal warmth you would except to be generated from the cpu, gpu, hdd, during heavy use.... I think it runs cool. You do have a thin layer between your wrists/fingers from the gpu and hdd..... the hard drive' heat can only really rise.. but the days of being "burnt" went with the end of P4's in smaller systems.... I guess thats a no [ ]

8. dare I say the best Asus yet? .. I dare.. I love it. Lets put it this way... I don't like the Z71v... it's on the bottom end of what Asus has done build wise in the last five years.... The W3 is up there with the W1 as the best.

9. I didn't see a rainbow anywhere...... but those stickers on the palmrest are only to ensure the customer they recieved the currect model and serves to tell them what they got... a little fingernail takes those right off.... they are meant to come off and I've never once NOT pulled one off cleanly... please take them off right away.

10. The ensemble line's bios is set to put up an "asus" in the middle and a centrino logo in the lower right hand side...... the barebone systems just show the centrino in the center. Now... little known fact.. if your intel wifi card is not installed, not working, or you use another brand wifi card... those centrino logos in the start up will turn to just pentium-m logos...... as the system is no longer a centrino. Honestly a huge help to make sure you got what you ordered.... and an easy way to find out if your wifi card ever dies (we had the first one ever die in two years of selling centrino systems, last week... so it can happen)

Why are you a sell out again? I think I might have missed that.

Thanks,
Justin
PROPortable
www.proportable.com
[email protected]

 

I actually used my laptop on my lap last night (I know, I know, but I'm in the process of moving, and my desk has been disassembled/packed). It definitely got warm enough to make my thigh sweat a bit (just on the right, where the CPU/GPU are; the left stayed nice and cool), but not enough to be uncomfortable. In South Carolina, it's warm enough now that setting a *book* on your lap while you read is enough to make you sweat.

I do mostly web stuff and word processing, but even working in InDesign, which is fairly graphic-intensive, the unit hasn't gone higher than 65 degrees C (line power, Game setting in PowerGear) according to ASUS Probe.

 

<blockquote id='quote'> quote:<hr height='1' noshade id='quote'>Originally posted by PROPortable

 

I think he says he's a sell out because he jumped OFF the Z71v bandwagon and onto the W3v one...[|)]

ASUS M6800Ne, P-M 1.5 Dothan, 512MB Ram, Toshiba Combo drive, Samsung Spinpoint M 40G HDD with 8M cache, Mobility Radeon 9700

 

.... I understood that...... I only get it if he went for the Z7 and sorta put down the W3 while doing so... and no feels like he's going back on this word or something......

Either way.... aside from the less VRAM and smaller screen, you're not really losing anything (weight maybe)... more like gaining.... colorshine screen, bluetooth, and better materials maybe........

I don't know what sold you on the Z7 to begin with, but I don't find many people looking at either or... so I'm kind of curious why you went with the one and now want to go with the other.... whether it was initially size, price, performance, etc... whatever

Thanks,
Justin
PROPortable
www.proportable.com
[email protected]

 

Thank you all for answering my questions, I'll be sure to post a full review and some ridiculously bad low-res pics when I get my machine hopefully some time next week.

As for feeling like a sell-out... I just do. BBQ's mind works in mysterious ways.

For the person that asked why I returned the Z71V: Because the screen, while wonderfully crisp and vibrant, has some serious manufacturing flaws that I simply can't bring myself to just tolerate. Uneven backlighting being the main one, considerable light leakage being the other. It isn't as pretty to look at as the W3V, but in my opinion it owns it up and down in the "bang for your buck" catagory.

Kai

 

Why didn't you just replace the Z71v? Perhaps you just had a bad screen?

ASUS M6800Ne, P-M 1.5 Dothan, 512MB Ram, Toshiba Combo drive, Samsung Spinpoint M 40G HDD with 8M cache, Mobility Radeon 9700

 

No rainbow sticker...hahaha...classic.

Good one Justin.

As for the guy who has the "no shorts test" that's a bit alarming. If he'd put the notebook on his lap sans shorts, I don't even want to know what he was doing and I'd be reluctant to take that particular notebook back! [ ]

 

I think that was an "excuse" .. but he claimed the notebook's avg. temp was about twice what it is..... and the system would shut down by itself way before that........ Neither Asus nor PROPortable had a suit filed against them, so I don't know how true this is... although if it weren't I don't know why anyone would tell me that story.....

Thanks,
Justin
PROPortable
www.proportable.com
[email protected]

 

You only get one chance to make a first impression...

Kai

 

Going from a Z71V to a W3V, i would consider that as a hollywood upgrade!

LoL! I would to get my hand on a W3 too ;(, sad no trade in available hehe and the W3 video performance suck hard! 800ish to 900ish on 3DMark05!!

Laptop: Asus Z71V From www.proportable.com
* Intel® Pentium® M 750 - 1.86GHz
* 2GB DDR2-533 Corsair
* Hitachi Travelstar 60GB 7200 RPM w/ 8MB Buffer
FAQ Most asked about laptops: http://notebookforums.com/showthread.php?t=61505

 

exactly.

Thanks,
Justin
PROPortable
www.proportable.com
[email protected]

 

It'll run UT2004 at 60 fps on the stock resolution, which is the only 3D game I play. Everything else I use to entertain myself just needs good 2D.

Sure wish I had the power to burn, though.=(

Kai

 

<blockquote id='quote'> quote:<hr height='1' noshade id='quote'>Originally posted by BBQmyNUTZ

 

I can honestly say that it doesn't concern me in the least. If I'm not wanting to play Half-Live 2, Worlds of Warcraft, or Doom3 now... I highly doubt I will have any interest in playing their sequels.

I'm still stuck on King of Fighters and Esp R.A.D.E. ^_^

Kai

 

lol

Thanks,
Justin
PROPortable
www.proportable.com
[email protected]

 

<blockquote id='quote'> quote:<hr height='1' noshade id='quote'>Originally posted by BBQmyNUTZ

 

Ok, I went ahead and ordered 2 Transcend gig sticks, 200-pin SO-DIMMS from NewEgg. They've got, what seems to me at least, a pretty good deal going here.

http://www2.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=0-N82E16820208024

Now, for those who have tried or are just wicked smart, how would one void their warranty by removing the keyboard? I assume there is probably a screw or two on the bottom of the system, and that there will probably be a couple of clips around the edges of the keyboard itself. Where are the clips located, and what would be the best way to get to them. Pics would be nice, as I don't have much of an imagination.

Kai

 

I'll handle it like is was a woman... except without the belt.

Kai

 

Sounds good. If it's any more difficult, I'm banning you from the planet as well as the United States.

Which reminds me, I have to blast Smilepak into low orbit for recommending that Turdtastic Z71V screen.

Kai

 

The keyboard pops out easily. I don't have my camera on me today, otherwise I'd give you a photo tutorial..... take out the 2 screws on the bottom labeled with a "K>" ..... then there are I think 4 clips at the top of the keboard that need to be pushed back to pop the keyboard up. It's fairly simple.

Thanks,
Justin
PROPortable
www.proportable.com
[email protected]

 

haha... if you need a hand, drop me an IM or something.. most people will think they're going to break something and they are more gentle than they could be and it freaks them out....... After you do it awhile, you know what how everything feels.

Thanks,
Justin
PROPortable
www.proportable.com
[email protected]

 

... you'll watch her through a pair of binoculars? Humm... some how I don't think that's going to work the keyboard off. lol [ ]

Thanks,
Justin
PROPortable
www.proportable.com
[email protected]

 

<blockquote id='quote'> quote:<hr height='1' noshade id='quote'>Originally posted by BBQmyNUTZ

 

<blockquote id='quote'> quote:<hr height='1' noshade id='quote'>Originally posted by eightone

 

<blockquote id='quote'> quote:<hr height='1' noshade id='quote'>Originally posted by BBQmyNUTZ

 

cancer...... there's a marketing tool for you..... The most 2 gigs of RAM is going to do for you is keep you from going out two weekends this month. [ ]

Thanks,
Justin
PROPortable
www.proportable.com
[email protected]

 

Hey Justin/anyone...any news on the latest S5a and M5a refresh's? Any more accurate update's on their ETA's? [8D]

 

S5a - should be shipping from dealers within two weeks... nothing on the M5a (which actually won't exist... I believe that is the Z3a if my memory serves me correctly)... I'm sure it's not that far off.

Thanks,
Justin
PROPortable
www.proportable.com
[email protected]

 

<blockquote id='quote'> quote:<hr height='1' noshade id='quote'>Originally posted by PROPortable

 

Sorry, it was a late night last night.

Thanks,
Justin
PROPortable
www.proportable.com
[email protected]