Need help choosing what Asus to get

I originally posted in the "What to buy" section, but since doing a lot of research and stuff I've pretty much fallen in love with Asus - look, quality, customization, warranty, etc. So I'm pretty sure I want to get an Asus, just not sure which one - I've been looking at the C90s

I'm upgrading from a Acer Aspire 5100 series (specs in sig) who's motherboard has fried 3 times and is now out of the 1 year warranty.

I will copy the questions from the "what to buy" section and include them in this post.

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General Questions

1) What is your budget? max $2000 ish

2) What size notebook would you prefer?

b. Thin and Light; 13" - 14" screen
c. Mainstream; 15" - 16" screen
I've been looking at 14.1"-15.4" I would prefer 14.1"

3) Please select your country's flag as a post icon and tell us what country are you buying this in. (USA)

4) Are there any brands that you prefer or any you really don't like? Not too crazy about Dell or Sony definetly don't like Apple. Been looking into Asus

5) What tasks will you be performing with the notebook? My most run applications are Trillian ( http://www.trillianastra.com), Zune, Photoshop CS3 Extended, Office 2007 - with Outlook running constantly, Firefox. I don't really do any gaming, and it probably doesn't seem like I would need a high performance laptop for those apps, But I do them all at the same time and like to have flashy effects with windows. I want the most powerful notebook i can afford

6) Will you be taking the notebook with you to different places or leaving it on your desk? currently I use it mostly around the house, taking it to school maybe once or twice a month. I am a senior this year so next year is college and I anticipate needing more mobility then.

7) Will you be playing games on it; if so, which games? not really

8) How many hours of battery life do you need? as many as possible, however there is rarely a time i can't plug it in, it's just more convenient to run off batteries. don't know how it'll be at college though

9) Do you mind buying online without seeing the notebook in person? not if i read good reviews

10) What OS do you prefer? Windows (XP or Vista), Mac OS, Linux, etc. I plan on running Vista Ultimate x64 (DreamScene!) which i already own a copy of

Screen Specifics

11) Would you prefer standard or widescreen? wide

12) From the choices below, what screen resolutions would you prefer?

b. SXGA - 1400x1050 - Compromise resolution between XGA and UXGA.

13) Do you want a glossy/reflective screen or a matte/non-glossy screen? matte if the picture is just as good

Build Quality and Design

14) Are the notebook's looks and stylishness important to you? yes i want something to turn heads

15) When are you buying this laptop and how long do you want this laptop to last? ASAP - hopefully this weekend, and as long as possible

Notebook Components

16) How much hard drive space do you want; 40GB to 200GB? my 120GB is full so at least 160GB

17) Do you need an optical drive? If yes, a DVD, Blu-Ray or HD-DVD drive? i would like one built in but i could live without

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Barebone-wise, the ASUS S37 is a decent option, 13.3" 8400G, 4.3lbs, etc.. However, if you want a decent battery life, ASUS isn't really a contender in that option.

 

thats one of my only worries about getting an asus. I'm also looking into tablets. do you have any better recommendations?

 

I recently bought a u3s-a1b for $1549 from excaliberpc.com (great customer service )... has a 13.3 " screen, 1.5 gb ram (will upgrade to 2.5 gb), 1280 * 900 res. + 2.2 ghz. This laptop is pretty sweet and people will definitely notice it, since it's glossy black (like ps3), has leather handrests, built in gps , hdmi, dedicated graphics card switch on/off... The cd player is external and costs $169. It runs off the computer voltage out and USB and doesn't require a wall plug. I already had a slim Sony external so I didn't get the ASUS one.

Newegg is selling the white model w/o gps for $1399:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834220212
Don't know if cd player is included... it's in the description but not in the pix.


Check out the u3s owners lounge in this forum for more info!!!
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Another model I would recommend is the v2s-b1. I was originally considering this model but I got the u3s cuz of the gps and it's design. Selling for $1739 at ExcaliberPc...

http://www.excaliberpc.com/Asus_V2S...0NL6A 7311398EQL350T/partinfo-id-582676.html

v2s-b1:
14.1"
1440 x 900 res
2gb ram
SPILL PROOF keyboard
2.4 ghz
This laptop has the ultimate warranty:
2 - Standard 2 Year Global Warranty + 3rd Year Local Warranty (USA only)

Both laptops also have 1 yr accidental damage warranty too ...
u3s has better batt I believe...
both laptops have top of the line build quality...


Also recommend you buying a notebook cooler, this is the one I have:
http://www.buy.com/prod/antec-noteb...an-w-aluminum-surface/q/loc/101/10353046.html

Happy shopping!

 

I also recommend V2S (if you really want 14.1) which is sort of a lackluster not-quite-so-well-built notebook, and the U3 (with the drawback of 512MB integrated and no ODD). But be aware of the poor battery life on these machines.

W.r.t. to tablet PCs ASUS can only offer the 13.3 R1F I believe (was there an upgrade to Santa Rosa of that? I don't know you should check). The R1F is affected by the battery wear problem, however, so be aware of that.

 

u3 looks really nice - hows the performance - can it be customize, and how's battery life?

@ R1 i haven't seen it labeled as R1S so I don;t believe it's been upgraded to Santa Rosa. I'm looking into the gateway c-140.

 

U3S performance from a processing power standpoint is of course excellent. The dedicated GPU is I think the 7400 (but please check) so that's only good for 2005-early 2006-ish games or so. but of course it's a thin and light portable, so you shouldn't expect highend GPU.

No customization on any ASUS ensemble except RAM and HDD (and those should be done after the buy, while keeping the originals; if your reseller offers to customize stay away, that means that ASUS might choose not to honor your warranty -- of course the reseller might offer warranty in exchange but that is usually not as good as ASUS', 2 years global pickup and return + 1 year accidental in US).

Battery life is pretty bad, like on all the recent ASUS notebooks.

 

Gpu = 8400 M
gps software kinda sucks... doesn't zoom to your current location automatically

I'm also from MI and free shipping (Fedex ground) took about 8 days from Cali (ExcaliberPc)

 

OK, but getting back to the uses the OP talks about - depending on how much photoshop work you do a 14" screen may be too small or only sufficient for light work, esp with the higher res screen (I do most of mine on the desktop - the notebook screen is too small for detail work). For the other uses you describe, none are graphics intensive so you'll want to maximize the CPU speed and RAM. As I recall, Asus may also be having some issues with the 64bit drivers so the Vista upgrade you're thinking of might not work well.

Have you considered Fujitsu?

 

I haven't really looked into Fujitsu. not sure why lol they seem to be more expensive.

 

For serious graphic work, I would recommend an external screen of at least 19" diagonal. No laptop screen will do. (and when I say "laptop" I don't mean the 17 or 19" monsters)

Looking at your battery life requirements, I would recommend the V1S with a modular battery if I didn't know that it doesn't work I don't think there's anything in the current ASUS lineup that offers good battery life.

 

Yea I rieally like Asus, but I'm thinking they probably aren't right for my needs. I'm thinking of getting the gateway c-140. there's a couple things about it i don't like but overall I think it's my best choice