Point for clarification re: Z63A chassis

Hi,

Can someone please verify whether or not the entire Z63A chassis is made of the carbon fibre composite and NOT just the lid?

Thanks,

K

 

I don't have the answer to your question but I am actually quite impressed with the material used in the bottom of this notebook. It seems to feel as solid as the magnesium alloy that's used on the bottom of my Sony VAIO ultraportable.

I personally just think of the lid as plastic rather than CF. To me it looks and feels like plastic.

 

i believe the whole thing is carbon fiber alloy meaning its CF bonded with plastic. it is high quality feeling very well built.

 

Well, I can feel a difference between the lid and the rest of the chassis...
I believe that the lid is carbon fiber/plastic alloy, whereas the rest of the chassis is made up of a very strong plastic; it feels very sturdy and solid.

 

The ENTIRE chassis on 90% of all of the laptops are CFEP - carbon fiber embedded plastic (which is really what CF normally is...... it's not just in a clear resin, but rather a greay ABS and painted).

In terms of the Z63 and W3v ------ between the two the only parts that aren't CF would be the W3v's aluminum lid...... Hope that makes sense. One easy way to tell (you probably can't, but I can)... the chassis' are between about 1/32" but less than a 1/16" thick..... plastic chassis'.. like the A series are closer to 1/8" thick.

 

Thanks for the info...I am surprised that ASUS doesn't spell it out clearly on their web site.

K

 

Asus is far from a marketing company and they just design and make a good product...... they've been using CF chassis' for more than 3 years now and all it really means is that they can make thinner and light panels as the same needed strength...... so that means the computers really aren't stronger..... if you understand how CF works, you get more strength per weight.... so you can save weight to get that same strength....

So basically...... if you see one computer that is lighter and thinner than another....... but they have the same components... it's basically gotten down to the materials used..... so they don't have a need to stress it, because a system like the V6 - shows it in it's weight and thickness...

make sense?

 

z63a read abs on most of the shell. I think that plastic no?

 

Eddie... I know I've corrected you on this many times.... I know you see "abs" ... but that's just a marking showing that ABS plastic is used and it's recylcable... ABS plastic is used to bond the carbon fiber........ basically it's that instead of a clear resin that you'd use if you were trying to use the CF itself as a design element......

 

Justin, why do they paint it though? (I'm referring to the palmrest) doesn't the plastic already have a colour to it?

 

It's painted because Asus offers it in 3-4 different color options and the abs plastic is grey....... and it's really not pretty....

... just so you know though, if it were just left unpainted, you would shine up the palmrest just the same...... I know that's probably where that was going......

 

Thats correct however the type of abs in the z63a is different then the type in the z70va. You will find the numerical value (which you will find in the litle triangle) in both notebooks are different. The type of plastic is different. Regardless of what it is neither is made out of carbon. Its a carbon alloy which has less then 100% carbon probably less then 50%. Its not the same plastic you will find in a dell but its still mostly plastic. It was good as an advertising compaign but at this point it means nothing. Its like bragging about your house being a titanium alloy where titanium powder is used to assemble the bricks 1% by volume. If there is such a thing. My question is who cares what its made out of? We can tell you its made out of turd oil and leaf resin you will never know the difference unless you open it and look at the little triangle with the number on it. ABS plastic - any of a class of plastics based on acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene copolymers
plastic - generic name for certain synthetic or semisynthetic materials that can be molded or extruded into objects or films or filaments or used for making e.g. coatings and adhesives. Thats says that any cover with the words ABS on it is ploastic and maybee a little bit of something else. Its light weight its solid and the z63a by far has been most dependable. Thats all that matters./

 

Carbon Fiber has to have a resin to bind it. I believe Justin was saying that Asus uses ABS as the binder. Either way, no carbon fiber anything will be 100% carbon fiber. Eddie, you're right that it is a great notebook regardless, but you have to admit that 1% carbon would be silly. You make a weave (like fabric) of carbon fibers, then flood a resin over it. So technically, all CF is an "alloy".

 

But does most every other manufacturer have designs out of some type of alloy. How does the alloy asus use differ from others? I think the premise here is that asus is lighter because of material. Is it posible that it is not the case rather they just make things lighter because of the size, thickness, material and size of their heatsinks, ammount of metal inside and such? As a marketing campaight its great but how does asus abs cf or whatever you want to call it differ from clevo alloy matterials? Why is asus always lighter?

 

CFEP is a standard and it's not used for visual effects or anything else.. it's used to lower the thickness and weight of panels.... which is how these systems can be as light and as thin as they are.

 

The point is i am trying to asnwer the original posters question. How would he know?. If we told huim its 55% cf or 1% cf there is no way he would be able to tell. Designs that are all plastic today look so good and feel just as light that you have to be a reseller to tell the difference. I for one thought it was completely plastic (the z63a). It felt plastic to me. It does not feel like the z33a or the z70va. The lid is alot stiffer so is the whole chassis and its a bit more in weight then what i expected. How does knowing what its made of affect your buying? If i couldnt tell its alloy from a visual inspecition how do you think you would be?

 

It doesn't matter how they can tell......... CF is what makes the thinness and weight possible. A CF model would be thinner and lighter. That's really what matters in terms of CF in notebooks.

 

May I ask if a 'white' Z63A edition does exist?

 

No - the Z63a (w3a) comes in silver with white accents... that's it.