Please respond ASAP - is A8JS-4S034P worth $1380?

It is going for a very good price right now, but I am hearing that a good percentage of 4S034P ones have the bad AUO monitor. How big of a percentage has this AUO monitor? Is it bad to the point that one should not by the A8JS for $1380 and instead opt down to the A8JP for the better monitor but worse video card? If they do have the AUO screen - is it really bad to that degree? I'm about to buy this laptop if the monitor isn't as bad as people say.

 

Get the A8jp (from newegg) in order to get the CMO screen (no reports of AUO with this laptop as of yet).

Otherwise, if you are going to get the A8JS, please do a google search and try to find the A8JS-4S024P (not the 4S0234P). The newer 24P SHOULD (no guarantee) come with the CMO screen. It also comes with bluetooth (which the 34P does not have). I believe all the other specs (except screen and bluetooth) are identical between the 24P and 34P. You could also call the seller and have them check the screen. The information is available in ATI's catalyst control center.

As far as the difference between the AUO and the CMO, I can only say that the posters on this forum seem to universally agree that the CMO screen is superior to the AUO (I've only seen the CMO myself). There are A LOT of complaints about the AUO screen (see the A8JS owner's thread) so it's up to you if you want to take a chance on whether or not you'll be able to live with it.

 

I went with the A8JP for the cheaper price and built-in Bluetooth. I don't game so I couldn't care less about the vid card.

That being said, I don't really know how much of a performance difference the NVIDIA chipset offers over the ATI. If it's only a small percentage, I'd say go for the A8JP.

But in the end, you'll be happy with either one.

 

did you choose A8JP over the A8JS in terms of $1500 vs $1300? I am tempted to go for A8JP because of the better monitor, but the 512 MB video card for only $80 more is so tempting! thanks for the responses so far.

$80 + 512 MB video card or guaranteed CMO monitor?

this is touugh

 

The A8JS-4S024P actually costs some more than the A8JS-4S034P, at least by $100. But if you really want the better screen and use the notebook a lot, then it may be a good idea to pay some more.

I have the AUO screen unfortunately (I got mines in Dec), but the screen is ok. It's bright and has good horizontal viewing angles, but the pain comes when I use it on may lap. I have to tilt the screen a bit back, and on the bus when I use it I hope the screen doesn't bump into other people or behind bus seats...

 

I want to see an AUO screen for myself. Any suggestions?

AUO surpassed Samsung as the world's largest LCD monitor panel supplier last October: http://www.tgdaily.com/2006/11/13/samsung_auo_lcd/.

There has to be a bunch of AUO LCDs out there..

 

Note: This info was a lot harder to find (using Catalyst) than I originally though.

Here's one way to do it:

-Open Catalyst in "advanced" mode
-On the top left, click "information center", than "graphics hardware"
-Click "system information" button on the bottom right
-In the screen that pops up search for "CMO1416"
-The search will take a while. If you don't get any results, you probably have the AUO screen. You can do a search for "AUO" and see what comes up.

Alternatively, install Everest Home edition. It makes the process a LOT easier.

 

I'm sure that AUO produces their screens with various different spec levels. Unfortunately, I believe, there is only one type of AUO screen that comes with the A8JS; a BAD one. I'm not sure how you can arrange to see the screen because these laptops are VERY difficult to find in B&M stores. If you live in a metropolitan area, you may be able to find someone on this forum that lives within driving distance of you and is willing to let you have a look at his/her laptop.

Good LUCK!

 

One other note:

EVERY laptop screen is going to have a "sweet spot" for viewing when you have it on your lap. For me, with the CMO screen, the sweet spot is about 95 degrees. Of course this also depends on your stance (I'm usually leaning back in my armchair with my legs on the ottoman). If you're sitting straight up, you may have to tilt it back a little more. This will happen with EVERY screen, but reportedly, it's worse with the AUO.

 

That was what i was thinking. I don't care about how good a viewing angle is. If I could tilt it to one sweet spot where things look good, and where I can see well by placing my laptop on a table, then it's fine. What about the AUO complicates this? Is there never a sweet spot?

 

If you don't care about gaming so much, then definitely go with the A8JP.

BTW, its not like the A8JP can't game well. I'm playing WoW and HL2 on native resolution, pretty high detail, and its playing very smoothly. The X1700 is no slouch of a video card. Its only slightly worse than the 7700 Go. You probably wouldn't even notice the difference in game. Keep that in mind.

 

the auo screen has a sweet spot and it looks great when its there

It has a worse viewing angle than most lcds.

Ive never seen the cmo screen. I suspect it actually has the exact same stats as far as brightness contrast response time etc.

But I am confident it is better as well.

 

I remember people talking about blacks being more gray than black, but I'm not sure if that was both monitors or just the AUO.

 

Overall, I'm generally unhappy with my CMO screen in my A8JP. My Compaq V2000's screen looked better (despite WXGA vs WXGA+) and got a few degrees brighter--not to mention a better viewing angle.

 

Are you going to have a problem if you get an AUO? Maybe, maybe not. I might just have a really bad one. I'm not going to try and sway your decision; this is just my story.

The problem with my AUO is that if I tilt it back far enough to counter the light leak at the bottom , the top becomes very dark and not viewable. If I tilt it forward to make the top look good, the bottom is bright and the color is washed out. If I put it in the middle for an even balance of dark on top and washed out color on the bottom, the web cam only captures my head from the nose up. All of this is with the notebook on a desk with me sitting straight up in a chair and using the notebook's keyboard.

I agree that no screen is perfect. There's a sweet spot for every screen; some are more specific than others. I've just never had or used a screen whose sweet spot was an even balance of multiple poor elements. Dark top, washed out bottom, and half a head in the webcam isn't what I call "sweet".

You might want to consider is how much you need or will be needing the video card. 256MB should be good for most people. The only reason I got the A8Js is because newegg sold out of the A8Jp. Of course, they have them in stock again.

 

I'm not sure how bad or good you guys describe my screen. but i'm not feeling good about it. IMHO, i dont think this screen worths anything above 1000.

 

wow, that is one crappy screen. no a8js for me. in addition to payback's response, i'll hold off the a8js. thanks for the help guys.

 

You understand that the camera's exposure settings play a great role in how a digital photo looks, as do settings of the monitor it's being viewed on???

 

ya

my screen doesnt have a whole line of leakage like that. Does your screen really look like your picture, that there is a whole line of white light on the bottom?

You tell us. My screen has leakage just in the middle bottom. If my screen actually looked like your picture i would return it, that is a defect then.

could be in any screen.

I actually started the whole take a picture of your screen trend and look at the manufacturer and compare here in the forum to try and get people in touch with whats normal and whats a defect.

But i really regret it I think its confused more people than its helped.

If you see a whole line of white light on the bottom your screen i mean u actually dont see the pixels thats not normal. I think its a exposure problem though.

auo is a great brand though, but i can tell you cmo is a better brand and as ive said it can only be better. at worst its going to be just a little better.

cmo is the main supplier for viewsonic, thats good.