Questions about W5

hi

I am planning on purchasing the new sonoma Asus W5 because it seems to be the best compromise fit for what I need.

Some questions that I have specifically for the W5 are:

1. Can I get it in black/charcoal (i use it mostly for work so I think the white model might look a little out of place at the office), most pictures seem to be of the white model. I'm thinking yes?

2. I like the idea of the inbuilt RF for 'certain' logitec kb and mouse.
3 questions:
Is there a button to activate and deactivate the RF to conserve battery?
Also, the included logitec asus branded mouse, does it have a scroll wheel?
what 'certain' logitec kb and mouse will work with the W5?

3. the stock hdd is a 4200rpm model
what brand is it?
can it be replaced with a 5400 or 7200rpm model?
Do I loose my warranty if I replace it?

Too bad about the lack of 533mhz DDR2 ram, but from benchmarks it doesn't seem to be holding the system back too much...
Would also love an ATI mobility x600 or something for the occasional game, but I haven't seen any 12" notebook that has this kind of graphics power.
Is it due to battery consumption of the GPU?

 

Bahman,

Finally, someone who knows what they want and can ask specific questions.

1. The white model is all we have in North America

2. Thats not a question... ahh.. i spoke too soon.... well the RF works with whatever you set it up for.. Asus ships it with a logictech mouse... just to be nice... wait... no #3 isn't #3 but 3 questions... great....

a. you can turn off RF just like you can turn off bluetooth and wifi... I don't have mine in front of me, but I think the wifi on/off switch turns off everything all at once... atleast on my v6 here it turns off wifi and bluetooth together.... but the v6 doesn't have RF....... i think regardless, it can be turned off.. all wifi signals have to be able to.

b. yes

c. logitech's drivers are built in- mainly for the mouse though, but I'm sure you can get other stuff to work. Personally, I've been using bluetooth with my bt logitech mouse.... you need drivers, but you have options... you can try random stuff.

3. Hitachi - read my post in one of the other threads. To keep your warranty with asus in the US, or globally, you need to have all the original configuration parts when you return it to them for service. You can put anything you want in, we can put anything you want in, but you need to keep the original drive. Otherwise you void that warranty and the dealer has to warranty it for you, but you're losing the great warranty Asus is giving you.

If you want the 533 or especially the x600 gpu.... consider the slightly larger W3v: http://www.proportable.com/detail.aspx?ID=107

However, on a 12" widescreen.... you're talking about a small screen... graphic work on there would be a little overkill.. I think it's borderline on the W3, but just enough people love the idea on something that small....... the W5 is just a little too small.

How that helps.

Thanks,
Justin
PROPortable
www.proportable.com
[email protected]

 

Hi Bahman,

Where abouts in Australia are you? I'm in the market for a new lappie and am interested in looking at some Asus models in shops. Can't find any shops that stock them though. I'm in Sydney.

Cheers

 

thanks thats very helpful

I noticed where I am in Australia, both charcoal and white are available at a local Asus dealer!

 

Ok, good.. well the helps that you're not in the US then [ ] Glad to help.

Thanks,
Justin
PROPortable
www.proportable.com
[email protected]

 

I'm in Melbourne

Have a look at http://www.cworld.com.au
I think they have an office in NSW

Good luck

I went to have a look at the W5 today but they didn't have them in stock, but I could order them.

I had a look at the pearl white M5 instead since they had it in stock. It felt quite solid, the keyboard wasn't bad, but I still think the Samsung x30 had the best 'feel' to it. Size of the M5 keyboard wasn't bad and better than I expected for a 12" non-widescreen notebook, the directional keys were quite tiny but I don't use them much anymore anyway.

I asked to have a feel of the M5 with the battery installed (it was shown just the unit without the battery at the back), but they said I didn't need to because its 'only' 200g...so in my opinion that wasn't very good customer service.
I feel an extra 200g on a notebook that size warrants a test/feel for a potential buyer...

 

just curious, but are there any versions of the w5 that has dedicated graphics memory?

 

No. THe W5 only comes with integrated graphics...

ASUS M6800Ne, P-M 1.5 Dothan, 512MB Ram, Toshiba Combo drive, Samsung Spinpoint M 40G HDD with 8M cache, Mobility Radeon 9700

 

If you liked the M5's keyboard, you're going to like the W5's keyboard better.. it's slightly bigger.

Thanks,
Justin
PROPortable
www.proportable.com
[email protected]

 

http://www.surpass.com.au/content/standard.asp?name=ASUSW5000N

Are the specs right?
5400rpm drive?

Also,
http://briscomputers.com.au/asus%20notebook.htm

Some are offering only 256mb as standard?

Also, I only notice the charcoal/black model is always bundled with the slower 1.6 Pentium M...

The option exists to go up to 2.13ghz, but I never see one pre-configured.

How do you configure an Asus branded notebook?
In the specs for Ram, HDD and CPU they say they offer a range, but I never see any shops offer configuration.

I'm aware the barebones machines are configurable, but the W5 isn't offered in barebones yet. I am also after the carbon fibre chassis.

 

Don't know if this is a stupid question about the RF mouse, but does it use batteries, and if so, what kind?

My dad had one he got for free, but it was a pain because it had to be charged with a separate charger (which seems to add more clutter than a regular wired mouse). But maybe things have improved since then?

Also, what is the range of it? (How far away can sit and still use it?)

Jean

 

Ok ---- bahman, -- where you are, they might offer a 5400rpm drive and only 256mb of ram..... every country has options when ordering from taiwan.. but usually that means the rest of the country has the same unit.


Jeanlo --- the mouse comes with two AA taiwanese batteries... they last a while, but replace them with duracells or something when they die.. they aren't rechargable.

Thanks,
Justin
PROPortable
www.proportable.com
[email protected]

 

I'm in Melbourne, Australia
Does that help with the question?

Looks like there are two models in Australia:
Black/Charcoal: 1.6 Pentium M, 256mb DDR2, 60gb HDD
White: 1.74 Pentium M, 512mb DD2, 80gb HDD

Some websites say 5200rpm HDD, some don't mention what speed the HDD are...

I'd like to get the black/charcoal one with 512 or 768mb DDR2 (depending on upgrade cost) and with the Pentium M 1.74+, pref at least 1.8
or will I not notice the diff?

 

It might not be a bad idea to sticky the ASUS warranty info. It's not exactly obvious as the title of the post has nothing to do with that.

The post is here btw: http://www.notebookreview.com/forums/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=14130

It would be nice to sticky Justin's reply to emilio's question with an obvious subject header, etc, since a lot of people have this question and it's a lot for Justin to type out again every time.

_{I am one escroww}