More V2 series pictures, information, etc.

Well, since we finally got a price confirmation, I thought I'd post up what this docking station has, an eta, and retail price...

$299 - Available by the start of the year

5 x USB 2.0
1 x VGA
1 x DVI-D
1 x GB Lan
1 x 120w Power
plus...
1 x PS2
1 x Parallel Printer Port
1 x Serial Com Port

One thing I like is both a power button and notebook lift assist button on the edge, as well as a kensington lock port as well.

 

That's pretty sweet....

 

Wooo! Nice...

The notebook in the photo is the V1 right? Just wondering.

 

If that is the V1, I wonder how it'll look with the V2. Would the dock have wings on either side with a V2 (not the rocket) attached?

 

No, it's actually the V2........ I had to double check myself at first because it takes up the full width of the docking station. The first thing I thought was... I know the width of the V2 is actually a hair less than the W3, and obviously it is impossible to make a 15.4" the same width... But those "wings" as LT called them above actually spread out to fit the wider V1.

As you'll see in the picture below, just to the right of the words "alignment point" are two lines.... In this picture, the unit is set up for the wider V1, and about an inch over to the right is the line marked V2. As you can compare above, with the smaller V2, those edge pieces are basically pulled all the way in to the edge of the main part of the unit. These edges help you line up the notebook so the notebook sits on the connector correctly and locks in.

 

I wrapped up a logical product page for the V2. Of course we don't know what the configuration we will be getting here in the US, or for that matter, when it'll be coming, but we do have some clues to base our information on. The only thing I can see as unconfirmable until delivery is set, would be what chipset is used, if within the next 3 months, it'll likely be exactly as depicted on the product page we created. However, if later, it will be Santa Rosa based with a doubt.

I think the 3.5G is going to be optional for markets to order because I don't think every market can honestly sell it due to it's expense. Right now, if compared with a similiarly configured Sony SZ, w/o 3G ~$1925.... w/ 3G ~$2400... which is a $475 cost for the built in 3G. My guess is that cost will be lower on the V2, but still, if that means $2200 w/ 3.5G and $1800 w/o, Asus will really need to judge the potential market... Yes, it's a business class notebook, but if this perhaps replaces the W3, it's going to need to be around the same price point.

My educated guess after going through the numbers and comparisons, is that we see the V2 perhaps within the next 3-4 months w/ 3.5G. I believe that the cost of this unit alone will seperate it from the W3, and allow the W3 to continue to sell and be refreshed in the spring without direct competition by the V2. Possibly a $2400 system nicely configured, plus $300 for the docking station.... $2700 out the door..

Questions, comments, concerns... general observations?

(Click to View Product Page)

 

What are those grills on either side on the dock? They look like speakers, but they'd be covered when the notebook is docked. Are they active fans maybe or just air holes for the power supply?

On another note, I wonder what type of battery life the V2 will get with a 6-cell battery. Maybe each cell holds more since it's a bit disconcerting that the W3Jp has a 8-cell although the X1600 is more hungry.

 

I wonder how well the V2 is going to be received in the UK? Last time the V2 came to town, they didn't take to it very well at all...

 

That good to hear, bring back the W3Jp

 

Haha... well this one isn't German!

As for the battery... I'm assuming they're going with a 6 cell that's simply more powerful. The R1f has a 5200mAh 6 cell (compared to the W3's 4800mAh 8 cell)..... I'm going to assume a battery like, if not identical to the R1's because the V2 is nearly a 1/2 pound less than the W3, and the only place to cut weight is in the battery. So, my guess is that the battery life will be better than the W3 by probably at least 15-20% easy. Plus, you'll have the modular bay for another 6 cell, which can give this system most likely 8-9 hours while using both batteries....

Looking at the much larger images I have, there isn't enough room for fans in the base of the dock. My guess is those holes are simply to give the notebook fans someplace to pull the air from.. They're certainly not speakers either.

 

God I wish the V6j had that dock. That would be absolutely perfect. Darn you Asus for being a model year behind!

 

Hi justin I see you talking about 4800mAh and 5200mAh but are the voltages the same, ie both 14.4V or is one 11V ? as that would change how many watt hours the battery lasts for.


insane

 

Yes, true.... the 4800 is 14.8v and the 5200 is 11.1v

Regardless though, the V2 with such a 6 cell gets better life in the R1f right now than the W3jp does with it's 8 cell.... given the difference in the gpu's between the V2 and W2, the V2 will still be an improvement.

 

Unless I missed something...looking at the docking station specs I did not see any audio interfaces...not exactly the deal breaker, but quite disappointing if thats the case.

 

Nice catch, I suppose you could get USB speakers for it.

 

No, there is no audio out... for me personally, that was the first thing I noticed..... but remember - Business Class.... I don't know what it would have taken to add a fiber optic or s/pdif out... but that would have simply been amazing.

 

Ew, bad decision on Asus part. Don't business users use skype, listen to music/news on their pc's to concentrate on a noisy biz environment, etc... can think of many business related things which would make audio on docking station - a simple stereo jack, if not s/pdif or optic - a valuable adition!

 

You know.. you could tell people you kick puppies, and your avatar will still make you look like a nice guy...... haha... I agree with you, but I don't think it's going to affect business sales. Think about it this way.... you're right, they're trying to drown out the background noise and they usually (or at least should) wear headphones. I interned my freshman year of college at an office and one guy had his computer hooked up to a big stereo.... everyone had to wear headphones just to not have to listen to country music.....

So, you can go about that two ways.

 

sorry justin - I disagree - just one more example of them going 95% of the way but apparentlyu not willing to make the final effort to get things right

Without an audio output from the dock you lose important and significant functionality - adding even a simple audio plug would have been zero effort or real expense - without it you defeat the purpose of all in one connections for a dock

its disappointing and frustrating when you see tehse kind of mis-steps on otherwise excellent products - and after you see enough of them you start wondering where elese they have missed something important ....

I am in a business setting and use audio to the speakers in my 26" monitor which would require a separate cable

Is it the end of the world? Nope - but it is quite frustrating as noted to see all the other excellent effort minimized by such glaring simple and obvious ommisions

Sorry - just calling as I see it ...

 

I don't know what you're diagreeing with me on exactly. The fact that most people in a cubicle use headphones? I'm not in disagreement with you, perhaps we're talking about two different sides of the same story though.. I have no idea why there isn't an audio-out jack... It's not like they "forgot" or didn't put it on to "spite" us.

I'm going to check on that though and see if thy can give us an answer.

 

... Ask and you shall recieve... Here's a shot of the left side of the production V1/V2 dock. As you can see, S/PDIF out, Mic in, line in, and the 5th USB 2.0 port:

 

Thanks Justin for the baby comments and good news to see Asus got this right. This is one of the things I wish very much my A8Js had (and because I carry my laptop to grad school every day, and come back home every evening to plug it back in, it would make a lot of sense to me). Alas, the V1J is not the A8Js, its more expensive and doesnt have the 7700. But then again, I am asking myself if I rather have the V1J's dock, finish (not entirely happy with the A8J's finish) and multibay, and would be fine living with the X1600 for my light gaming needs. Anyway, decisions, decision! (would be nice if all decisions in life where between such two wonderful options).

A comment about the V1J sold on my market, Spain: all web stores I have contacted asking about its steep price (almost 2300€ have told me it comes with docking station and additional multibay battery by default. Weird, eh?

 

Interesting Venturello, double check something, the V1JP is the Core 2 Duo model with the X1700 which is slower than the Go 7700.

The V1J is the Core Duo model with the X1600.

Some countries do get amost or all extras with their laptops, for example the i believe the R2H in the UK gets all accessories including the keyboard.

 

Is the V1J come with 2x512MB or 1GB RAM?

 

That depends on your region and the configurations of V1J available.

 

Its the X1600. Not that its a major difference. T7200, 2Gb, 120Gb HD.

 

I could be wrong

But I do believe the x1700 has a big difference I havent seen described here yet in that it has the hd output technology.

Its actually not advertised yet because the gpu manufacturers dont want you to know the gpus they have now dont have it.

This is for blue ray hd dvd playback. 7700 also. Im doing a double check and getting back to this tommorow.

The first chip with the new hd playback was the 7950 so the next chips, this 7700, ati x1700 ati x1450 are the first hd output gpus.


This is why the w2jp comes with the ati x1700. It is the first hd output gpu from ati.

this is also why the 1450 was also released in a 17 inch asus notebook. What it is is an entertainment feature for running the new video format on an external hdtv Its just that they dont happen to be telling you this yet....

 

I'm guessing you're referring to HDCP. Here's wikipedia's link for HDCP in case you're bored.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-Bandwidth_Digital_Content_Protection
ATI's specs for the x1700 mobility does list HDCP ready.
http://ati.amd.com/products/mobilityradeonx1700/specs.html

Basically it enables you to play HD-DVD and Blu-Ray movies on your system IF
1. You have an HD-DVD or Blu-Ray drive (duh)
2. You have the proper software
3. Your display device also supports HDCP.

The last one is a bit weird in the case of a laptop. I don't know if Asus has given the display an HDCP chip.

Oh and this only works over digital connections including DVI, HDMI.

 

I should probably clarify that HDCP is for copy protection. It encrypts the video data between the video card and the display.

 

I had somewhat of the same annoyance with the lack of a docking station option on my A8Jm after seeing my roommate's T60 click in and click out while I had to plug in power, a mouse, LAN, etc.

But then I got a gateway 21" LCD that had a 4-port USB hub in it. Now my keyboard, mouse and USB sound card all go through that and I have 4 plugs to stick in my laptop (plus a lock). Now that I've got my laptop set up in a good place the process takes me <10s and I doubt I'd be willing to pay $300 for a dock. It helps ALOT that all of the A8Jm's important ports are lined up in a very sensible place on the back. As I've said before, I absolutely adore the port placement on my A8Jm.

Moral of the story: USB hubs are your friends! (oh, and a dual monitor setup with a 14" gaming laptop and a 21" WS LCD&400W logitech speaker system will make you the envy of your hallmates =P)

 

Totally.... with wifi, bluetooth and usb... there are a lot fewer things people really NEED a dock for, but they're still handy in a lot of situations. But I find it funny that people will decide AGAINST a model because it say has 3 USB's instead of 4 or 5... and really, I can only see a real need for maybe 2.... 1 to plug in your hub (where you leave everything else hooked up... and maybe 1 more just in case - for a usb thumb drive, or maybe too hook up your digitial camera (if you refuse to take out the card and slip it in the designated card reader)....

However, I recently set up a gigabyte network in my home so I can stream videos and so forth back and forth between a server and multiple points around the place..... wifi is great for internet use and sending up to say 100mb files... but when you get much larger stuff, it's great that the gigabyte lan is built in, but I never want to hook up a cable..... well if it's hooked into the dock, I guess it can always been connected to everything else while sitting at my desk.

 

Sorry newbie question here ... thus the docking station provide any cooling effect on the laptop? many thanks

 

Most docks raise the computer a tiny fraction, which lets more air circulate, yes.

 

Just as a small note, Asus confirmed pricing on the V1/V2 dock today and said they imported enough of them to bring the cost to $199 (as opposed to $299 I mentioned earlier)...... This is a bargain, especially when you consider that Asus' Port Bar 3, which is the port replicator for a few of the models runs about $120....... We got some of the docks in today and they're impressive.... We're getting a small shipment of V1jp's at the end of the week... I'll let you know how that goes.

As for air flow, this does raise the unit a little, and there are vents in the dock itself which allow for better circulation and allow air to be pulled from under the docking station itself.

 

Sweet, that's a huge price drop...

If only the V6 would work, I'd buy it even at $299.

 

Well, I think Asus brought in a lot more than they originally were planning, plus I think the price was a little bloated just to make sure they didn't tell any of us it was going to be cheaper than it would turn out...... The funny thing is we have the docks....... we just don't have either of the notebooks that use them......... I think we got 20 of them in.

 

Anyone care to comment on the proposed V2 x1450 card vs W3j x1600 vs W7 7400?

 

No one has specs on the 1450 yet, not even ATI..... The x1600 is better, but I'm fairly certain based on where it should be competing, that it's better than the 7400.... it's probably closer to the 7600. The x1600 beat the 7600, but the 7700 beats the x1700. Until we see specs on the 1450 we don't know anything exact, but it should be above the 7400 for sure.

 

Darn, we got the V1J here with ATI X1600, not the V1Jp with ATI X1700

 

Hey Justin, we have our V1JP's in stock (started shipping today) so you must have yours on the way

 

Well, I wouldn't call the supply of V1's Asus got on a whole enough to call "stock", but our advanced order customers all know where they stand. Unfortunately I don't think Asus is going to truly have enough for our demand for at least another two weeks.

I think we all know when shipments arrive, because those are the only times you stop by this forum... I know that public service is appreciated


By the way, Asus only got 19 V1jp's in for all of North America.... we're getting 5 of those... so I'd love to know how many you managed to get.

 

I found this comparison of graphics cards:

http://www.notebookcheck.net/Mobile-Graphics-Cards-Benchmark-List.844.0.html

 

I don't put much stock in the 3DMark scores anyway. It all depends what kind of games you play and how long you want to be able to play new ones of the kind for.

I see 3DMark as one thing: A great way to sell graphics cards. The technology they use in the benchmarks is almost always 2-3 years away from being in actual games.

 

Oh, 3D Mark is most certainly designed that way and they certainly get kick backs from nvidia and ati... there is no doubt...... same goes for their cpu benchmarking software... they're meant to point out the finest details and to seperate models to "justify" getting one over the other. With today's cpus, the difference between the $200 and $600 versions will never be noticed by 99.9% of the consumers over the entire life of the system.. but they sell!!!!!! and they sell because of benchmarks which so the differences on a scale that's just unimaginable by a normal person.

The 7700 and x1700 are competing cards and better than whatever most people are upgrading from....... unless you're a truly hardcore gamers, you're not going to notice a difference.

 

Do we really need a 3 megapixel camera in a notebook like the V2?

 

The more the better.

I am waiting for digital camera in cell phones to replace digital cameras, however i want to use SD cards to store and use as memory over XD card.

With 3 mega pixels you get more quality, but you can turn it down to as low as you want, so when your streaming on MSN messenger doing video chatting, or video conference you will want to lower it. Since it will be smoother for streaming.

 

Dont you think taking picutre is the job for a digital camera? Mobile phone is for SMS/call someone while notebook is for either gaming or office work? 3 megapixel in a notebook, that will just mark up the price for V2?

 

Well think of it this way, I and We can't tell what cell phone companies to do, one day we saw camera phones and some of us said "Kool" the others said "too expensive and no need". Now it is standard to have a 1.3 mega pixels camera in a cell phone. Also the role of the cell is much more then SMS and calling some one.

Cell phones have the capability and potential to become a 5-in-1 device, Phone/Digital Camera/Mp3 Player/PDA Style Organizer/USB or Flash Drive and quite possibly a video recorder. Also the fact that cell phones are getting smaller and have newer and better technology this should be attainable in my opinion.

Currently, a few selected ASUS notebooks like the V1JP have a decent 1.3 megapixel camera, and setting new boundaries and standards elevates notebooks to the next level. Not saying that notebooks should replace digital cameras, but it will be handy to have a swivel camera that can take good pictures to share with everyone.

 

That’s a nice looking dock, at a hefty price tag though...

 

Guess so, but I dont like the price tag for V2 to go up as well