Need advice Asus v6va

I am really glad I stumbled across these forums. I am turning to you all for advice as this is going to be my first notebook computer and I want it to be a positive experience now and for the years to come. I was not even familiar with the name Asus until a few months ago. I have been pleased with what others have experienced with this name.

I use the computer for just about everything and I need a machine which is reliable, fast, and a solid build quality behind a solid name. I am physically disabled and use a wheelchair. I am unable to use my arms and my hands and have been forced to use voice recognition. It's not really the best thing in the world but I am having to adapt to it.

So obviously voice recognition is going to be essential. I also use Internet Explorer, Word, Outlook, while voice-recognition is open. I also like to edit video, Photoshop, audio editing, web site development, etc. I also answer the telephone, turn virtually all my appliances in my room off and on, and hopefully in the near future be able to turn my breathing machine off and on, all of this through the use of my computer. Is this computer going to be able to handle this demand? Is any notebook computer going to be capable of handling these demands? I need something that is going to work and not going to fail, or at least not fail often.

My main complaint about this machine is the very slow hard drive, the lack of widescreen, and the lack of DVI. However I realize it is impossible to have everything but this machine seems to have most of it in a very nice form factor and something he which is athletically pleasing to the eye.

I really need your input on this post. I really appreciate it.

Is there another laptop computer that you would recommend which is comparable. I want quality so I am willing to pay good money for a good machine.

One thing I cannot understand for the life of me is why Asus decided to go all the way down to a 4800 rpm hard drive. That is rather ridiculous to me.

Also, someone was telling me that Windows XP does not utilize more than 1.5 GB of RAM, is this true? Would upgrading to 2 GB of RAM in the future not benefit me?

Anybody know if a docking station is available or going to be available for this model?

Thanks again. I have so many questions I have a feeling this thread is going to be quite long.

 

Welcome to the board, fiasco1. We hope we can be of an assistance to you.

Firstly, the V6Va is a great system... a very high end model. All of the software demands you've mentioned (IE, photoshop, etc) will be a walk in the park with this model - even with the slow(er) 4200RPM drive that comes stock...although loading times may be slightly longer. However, it will be no problem, nonetheless. Personally, I would upgrade to a 7200RPM Hitachi drive. As for the toggling on/off of the devices in your room and breathing machine...I have no clue how any of that would work, since I am unfamiliar with notebooks and how they could control that. However, if there's a will, there's a way.

As for the lack of widescreen...it's personal preference, of course. If you want a machine that can rival the V6Va, then the Z70Va is the machine to go with. However, it's also heavier, does not have a glossy screen (in North America), BUT it can use the docking station (Asus PortBarIII) I believe.

If you do plan to multitask a lot, and I think you will, then getting an upgrade to 2GB of RAM isn't unreasonable. Keep in mind Windows "Vista" isn't too far away... and I'm sure it'll be a RAM hungry OS.

To sum it up, the V6Va is a great machine and I'm sure it's capable of handling anything you throw at it. In addition to that, it has a very high build quality. If you can justify the $2000+ you'll spend on it, you will love without a doubt.

:asus:

 

All I can add is this:

The screen is phenomenal.
If you go 7200 - go with Seagate

 

**** man this sucks! I wish i could get one of those. My V6 is sporting the unreflective screen. I wish i got a reflective one with the high rez of the v6 (1400x1050)

 

They don't make high resolution glossy screens on 15" notebooks. The Acer 8100 would be another option with a DVI port.

 

The V6va is SXGA+ and "glaretype" ... and 15". This is one of the few that have ever been produced, that's for sure. As I said before the only other time this screen was used by Asus was in a P4 L5 last year and only 50 of the screens were ever used........ very expensive panel, but there's really nothing better. IT's the ONLY panel that gets rid of the stigma of a high res SXGA+ 15" regular ratio screen... which is that they will all have bad vertical viewing angles (which every one of them do) except for one like this with IPS.