Looking to buy 2 F3JP... thoughts???

OK... after careful consideration it looks like I will be getting an F3JP for myself and my wife. That said, it doesn't look like many people own that one here... any thoughts? Does anyone own one and like it? Dislike it?

Also, does anyone know of a good place to get spare batteries? Newegg doesn't seem to sell them, but I would like to pick up one or two. Or maybe wait for a trip first...

Anyway, I would love ANY feedback I can get. I read the post from the guy that was going to Iraq (hope you have had good luck, btw), but that seemed to really be the only post with any serious info on this model.

Thanks!

 

I'm sure there are a few F3Jp reviews around; Google would help.

The model itself is pretty decent... it's not top quality Asus hardware, but it's definitely good quality stuff. As for getting spare batteries... resellers on the forum here may be able to help you out. ProPortable, MilestonePC, Gentech, BTOTech... all good places to buy Asus hardware.

 

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=101851&highlight=f3jp+review

Anyways, as an owner, I have to say that this book rocks my socks off. The grain issue that initially came with this model (though not sure about the recent releases) was easily fixed by a BIOS upgrade, and that was that. I'm unsure about extra batteries, though; I'll have to consider this myself, since at max, the notebook will give you 2.5 hours with adequate brightness and management of applications while surfing the net.

The other option is the A8JP, a 14incher, more suitable to carry around.

The build quality is better than my sister's new Dell, and the weight is rather good at a little over 5 lbs. The only possible gripe would probably be vertical viewing angles, though I don't look at a screen from such strange positions to comment on this.

Some consider the fan to be noisy, though I'll say that it's a low white-noise while running medium-load applications, and only blowing while intense gaming. Otherwise, run the quite office setting in the power manager to have it whisper.

--


shazaam.

 

Yeah, I saw that review... the only real one I saw that I found informative.

But you like yours then? If you had to do it all over again, you would still go the same route? It feels well built?

 

It's good for me. In comparison to my mother's gateway (bought a summer ago), my younger sister's dell, and my older sister's Toshiba a-series, mine feels the most solid, overall.

The dell wins a little in terms of screen flex, but my F3JP's keyboard feels less giving, and the lid's hinge is tight enough for me to push the lcd and have the whole notebook move.

The only trouble that people have had with this and some other models were scratch sensitivity. I prevent this by using a small hand-towel cover when not in use, and plan on buying a notebook sleeve for better protection. Thought If you want something that will look new for a long period of time, and with the same specs, you'd have to spend some more money.

I'm guessing that the popularity with this model have been limited to two factors; resolution, and size. Since it has a high-end GPU, meaning gamers, I'm guessing they gravitated to the A8JP without much fuss. There are F3JP owners here but none so outspoken, I guess.

 

I just got this model in Jan of this year and it is a very nice laptop but don't expect much from the battery that it comes with. I am lucky to get 2Hrs with wireless on surfing the web. I can't imagine gaming with the processor reved up. This is with max battery settings enabled. I also am having a hard time finding a 9-cell battery to fit it. I think it really is all about what you are planning on using it for. I had a HP6000t with a T5600 1.6 processor just before I got this one and it was $700 cheaper and for my needs I should have stuck with that one. The Asus does have a very high resolution screen but I have to enlarge the text and reduce the resolution to read mail with my 50Y old eyes. Again I am not knocking the laptop except for the very weak battery performance. Just figure out what you are going to be using it for. One note that could have some effect on the battery... I had them upgrade the HD from the 5400rpm to a Seagate 7200rpm drive.

 

Actually the difference between a 5400 and 7200, contrary to popular belief, is extremely minimal. Almost something to go unnoticed.

As for resolution... if you have problems seeing the screen, you will get a better quality image by leaving the resolution the same and changing the dpi. Should be able to read text much easier.

 

Me and my girlfriend have the predecessor, the F3Ja with the slightly slower X1600 GPU, and they've been great. The grain issue was quickly solved, although I still have the issue that the speakers won't mute when I plug in my headphones.

I have one with a 9-cell battery and a T7200, my girlfriend has one with a 6-cell battery and a T5600, both with 2gb RAM. The bigger battery adds some mass, but it also makes it possible to use it up to 4:30 with just browsing on wifi and low brightness. Power management even indicates battery life up to 5:15. With screen at maximum brightness, my girlfriends laptop indicates battery life up to 2:30.

For my, one nice perk of the laptop is that the processor and GPU are on the right side of the laptop, with the fan blowing backwards. This means that when you're gaming, neither your left hand (on the keyboard) or your right hand (on the mouse) gets uncomfortably hot due to heat from the laptop. If you intend to use this laptop with an external display, you might find the VGA, DVI and TV-out ports to be placed inconveniently.

The overall color balance of the screen is quite cold with the standard settings, but the so-called 'Splendid technology' makes it somewhat easy to adjust color temperature to a more normal tone.

 

I really enjoy mine (the WSXGA+ model)... Although i've gotten to the point where I'm strongly considering upgrading the ram. Base Prices for it are down to the 60 dollar range.

 

I'll probably end up getting another 1GB RAM stick. So far it looks like I will be picking up the following:

2x: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834220142
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822107001
http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=101258&prodlist=pricegrabber
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822101030
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834999397
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834999396
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833181218

That way I can also replace my server and change my network into a wireless network. Lots of fun!