Is W3J worth the wait versus other choices?

Following the order thread, wondering is W3J worth the wait, considering no formal reviews have been posted. Im not familiar with ASUS notebooks so just not sure.

Will its battery life be good? Oh the agony. With my short list being

Sony SZ120 /160
Acer 8204
MacBook Pro
Asus W3J.

All having various pro/cons (excluding Sony's horrid Customer Service, hehe )

Just don't want to "miss the boat" as they say and then be stuck waiting a really long time.

Thanks for any advice
Kevin

 

Macbook = NO; it's definitely IMO in beta mode and I've heard so many things going wrong that it's not worth it. Maybe in a year or two.

I returned my Vaio to wait for the W3J so that should say something. Plus ASUS makes the best literally motherboards so why would they skimp on their notebooks? Definitely wait, it's only a few weeks, don't blink or it'll be here.

 

I'm actually in the same boat. I've been very close to pulling the trigger on the Macbook Pro several times now, only to close the window right before the confirming the order.

With a W3j list at C9Tech and more allocation at ProPortable; I'm wondering if my first decision to go with a W3j back in February was the best one. I'd place a pre-order right now if I could just make a decision.

 

I'd wait for the W3J myself, if I could afford it...

 

I think its worth the wait..especially since I think it will be the first dual core 14" model with a decent GPU to come out. All the other ones (listed in my sig) will probably come out much later.

 

I'd say wait for the Asus. The MacBook Pro's Boot Camp Software isn't the best and still has a lot of bugs in it (hopefully Lepord will remove these). In addition, I wouldn't get the MacBook if you're going to be mainly using Windows.

 

Allocation is the same to everyone... the wait list is basically the same as a pre-order. You pay when they're available [within a 24 hours of being notified, otherwise you lose out].

 

Yeah, I liked the Sony for its weight and TPM and fingerprint scanner and that it runs very cool (I'll be using this on my workday commute from Baltimore to DC), but the support and the current discussion on the carbon and lack of 160 availability has me a bit concerned.

The Acer has all the feature I want, but the weight less than Ideal, though screen res. is nice. and has DVI though realize if I really need should just buy docking station.

Yeah Mac is at the outside. Not sure if the cost of Mac OS and name justifies since currently most of my software licenses are windows ( $$$$ )

If only the W3J had TPM and Fingerprint, it would be a no brainer. But like you all said probably still best choice regardless.

look forward to more comments on this

 

All of those laptops are significantly different in my opinion, expecially the Mac - if you're not doing anything related to graphic design or music production, why are you throwing the Macbook in with the rest of the options?

I am one of the ones who Pre-Ordered a W3J and I can't be happier - and I don't even have a laptop yet. TPM would be nice but that's in no way a deal breaker for me - I'll just keep any information I'm concerned about on an external, protected source. To echo what others have said, Asus makes outstanding desktop components, and their laptops should be nothing different, especially when considering the cost.

W3J gets my vote.

 

In my opinion, yes.

I returned my fully loaded toshiba M100 to wait for this.

 

As opposed to the Macbook pro...its just out of my means, haha

 

Oh, I like Asus products. Me I'm a web and application developer, so actually all the laptops has certain appeal, but A-Lit, yeah the Mac is more of a style thing then anything else.

The Acer is a much better fit than the Mac. Yeah the W3J is looking like the front runner. Gotta review the specs again, but its ahead in the polls.

 

I agree with sonicdivx, a lot of its appeal has to do with style

 

What about the Lenovo T60?

 

In the thinkpads.com forums the T60 has gotten some complaints. For the price of a well equiped T60, one could get a Macbook Pro. Part of the allure of the W3j is the great value it is.

 

^ And it's a plain old powerhouse (in a portable shell)

 

Well I just went and looked at the Macbook Pro at a local apple store. With the 200 dollar discount for students, you can get the Macbook Pro for the same price as the W3J. Yes it is a bit bigger, but only half a pound heavier with a larger screen (yes the smaller screen and body + the lightness is what made me want the w3J originally). With the addition of bootcamp (people say it has bugs but it actually works pretty darn well) you can use windows for games but do everything else in OS X (which is as good or better than XP). I think it is a very good option and should be listed in that group. Plus it looks so sexy!

 

Will PC games run on a mac even with Windows installed? I've always heard conflicting information on this...

 

Barrok, Well for me the 200 discount doesn't apply .

A-Lit from what I have read Windows games run actually pretty well. Boot Camp is definitely beta, but the general consensus is that the issues are relatively easy to fix, wouldn't be surprised to see an update in a month or so.

T60 not really option due to cost and not having firewire (I use firewire drives).

From what I gather the W3J is preferred over say the A8Jm mainly for build quality and not specs. That seems to be what drives people to the Asus, build quality, which is important after all who wants to be sending there laptop into get repaired.

 

the thing about the a8jm that makes it attrative, is its specs, DVI, webcam, nivida gpu = good for linux. Plus its cheaper than the W3J. But the W3J looks AMAZING!!!

I suggest you put ur money into the W3J, but definately watch the MacbookPro development.
- watch boot camps improvement in running windows + games
- watch the refreshed models of MBP to see solved problems
- try to go to the nearest store and look at it and test it out but don't buy.
- Get a student to get you that 200$ off coupon...like a son, or some random kid and give him 5$ for doing it..lol.

also W3J compared to the MBP is like comparing apple and oranges, but the use it will have for you will the same, aslong as you can basically dualboot on it.

Forget about the Acer 8204... i can not recommend it to anyone, anymore.
The Sony SZ, is a nice notebook, and many have returned it to wait for the W3J, including my friend who spent 2800$ Canadian, and returned it to wait for something better.

All in all put your money in to the W3J but keep a keen eye on the MBP's development.

Thanks,

MysticGolem

 

MysticGolem, ya know should have mentioned went into local apple store and to guy I talked to was like, "They all run hot, what new revision?" in other words clueless. On top of that the ones they had on display must have been the first versions (didn't have serials for revised ones so can't be sure) because there was some serious, I am burn your hand heat coming off these.

That freaked me out, but maybe I should go back with serials in hand and ask to see one of those models or talk to people at genius bar (see if they are geniuses ). Yeah Boot Camp is going to progress fast.

 

Ha Ha, I never trust sales prople, especailly those apple ones, they all seem posessed! (no offence to MAC users) I was thinking that about a powerbook, but after reading that Adobe are not rewriting their software to run on Intel processors for another 10 months, means it runs through Rosetta.

Mind you from 18 months of dedicated reading about laptops, Asus have by far been the most consistant in terms of performance, build quality and looks, they are in my opinion, the best.

My friend used to work for ASUS and reasured me of their quality, the more you read the more it becomes clear, and ASUS actuallly make some Sony and Apple laptops anyway....now thats saying something!

 

yah exactly NZwave,

Sonic, there's something to do with the serial numbers of the MBP, Apple is trying to address the MBP heaters and cool them with a bunch or solutions combined.

Something along the lines of send your MBP in and then you'll recieve a new one.

The thing about the MBP, Apple seemed to be aware of this problem when it was released, but they wanted to catch the market and have your money before you end up buying an Acer 8204..lol.

So when you got ur MBP, the first thing everyone did was complain about the heat, and now apple is fixing it.

Same thing happened to the IPod Nano and Xbox 360... its sorta normal and not normal...

Asus has did the same thing too, with the ASUS Z71v, and the battery problem that was not predicted by anyone.

Asus did it to the Z70va and its unexpected red ghosting...

In general no laptops are perfect, but we are definately getting closer, and aslong companies wanna take responsibility, they will try to fix them.

As you already know the W3J is coming real soon, we have one person on the forum that says there seems to be no real heat problem with it. But he's just one person, we are gonna havta wait and see.

Regardless, if the W3J has a heat problem, heck everyone wants it!, i would buy it too!.

For someone like me, i couldn't care about OSX tiger, ima windows guy..and will be 4eva. So the MBP is outta the question for me, even if Bootcamp works 100%.

I just feel more confortable with windows based lappy.

Thanks,

MysticGolem

 

Was just in Apple store today, to take a look again. Came to conclusion not worth it, I'll wait for a revision or two.

 

yah exactly, if you got time, use it lol, i've waited like 8-10months, so don't hurt to wait 2-3 months.

Thanks,

MysticGolem

 

Justin at Proportable said the case should be like the W3V , read the reviews that is a nice case.

 

One guy already has it and posted a lot of pictures and responded to a lot of questions / benchmarks.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=47989

But to answer the topic question I would say that it is all about personal preference. It is a really simple question if you ask me. If you like the w3j the best and you have time, then wait. If you dont have time, buy somthing else.