Questions for ASUS W7J owners

(I didn't know if I should post so many questions in the lounge, so hence, this thread)

I'm buying my first laptop, and I'm thinking of getting the W7J. I have a few questions:

1 - Is the battery affected by the ASUS battery problem (drastic battery drain over a short period of time)? I read the thread about potential causes and fixes, but I was wondering if long time users of this particular laptop have been hit hard with this problem.

2 - The rep at the store was against asus laptops due to them having sony batteries. I imagine it has something to do with the quality of them, since they caused problems (exploded?) before from what I've heard. Any thoughts?

3 - From the reviews, it sounds like it comes with an ASUS sleeve, but a lot of people are looking for sleeves in the lounge thread. So does it come with a sleeve? I'm looking at W7J-3P11xC.

4 - This laptop has been out for a while, and there's a new wave coming, with santa rosa, better video cards, etc. I know that there will always be something better coming out, but if you wanted what you originally wanted out of a laptop now (specs, looks, anything, at this price range because I doubt the prices will fall for a while), would you still choose the W7J? Why/why not? If not, what would you choose instead?

5 - this question is a bit controversial, but here goes. Why would you choose this laptop over the macbook (or would you now)? They've been compared to one another (cnet review). I've been a long time PC user, but well, so many people are urging me to get a mac...

6 - Lastly! Why do you LOVE your laptop?

I know this was lengthy, but I would really appreciate your thoughts. Thank you!

 

1 & 2 I'm haven't noticed any battery problems with mine but I've only had it for about 5 months or so. About the exploding batteries there is no sony brand anywhere on the battery so I don't know if they're related.

3. Mine didn't come with a sleeve but I have the core duo version.

4. The z37s is suppose to be on santa rosa with a dedicated video card in a 13.3" form factor. I don't know what the price is going to be but that sounds like a good alternative if you can put off purchasing for some months. Personally, I love my w7j. I looked around and did my research for a couple of months before purchasing my first laptop and could not find a better laptop to match my needs.

5. Funny you should ask. As much as I love my w7j, sadly I'm trying to sell it right now so I can get a macbook. I've had a chance to use OS X for a week and love it.

6. I love everything about the w7j. It's got a good mix of performance and portability. The laptop is amazingly light (4 lbs compared to a same sized macbook which is 5 lbs). The screen is beautiful, the keyboard is great, the size is perfect for me, and it has a dedicated gpu, and is solidly built. However, for me, it's biggest flaw is that it doesn't do OS X, sadly.

 

Thanks showtime!

I'm the opposite of you - I don't like OS X very much (odd one out?), so I'm staying very hard to stay away from macs.

I just called ASUS, and they confirmed that at least the model I'm looking at comes with a sleeve. Judging from the way they handled my call, I'm already impressed by their customer service. I wonder - is everyone who's looking for a sleeve on the lounge thread a Core Duo owner, or just looking for something better?

Does anyone have thoughts on anything else I asked, i.e. battery questions?

 

1) The battery life is not as good as from a Sony Vaio S-series, but nonetheless, i get just about the same amount of battery lifetime. but for my vaio, when on battery, i turned the brightness to really low and it was sometimes hard for me to see clearly what i was doing (but i had to do this in order to get the maximum battery life out) as for asus, the great thing is that because the screen is already naturally brighter than other notebooks, even when i turned the brightness all the way down, i was still able to see clearly and comfortably.

2) no thoughts on batteries exploding. i've never heard of such problem with any notebook and i'm Sure asus or sony would not make or use batteries that would cause such problem.

3) yes, mine came with a sleeve and even a handsome notebook carry bag (compared to other notebook bags that i normally find way too bulky and just plain ugly). the sleeve could be better looking, i'm looking for one, but it's useful nonetheless. i bought my w7j customized from www.btotech.com they are really good with customer support and has good prices.

4) yes i would have still chosen w7j because i've researched tons and tons of notebooks before making my purchase. i loved my sony vaio, and would have gone with it again, but it just didn't have enough usb connections and it didn't have the s-video port that i wanted. i customized my notebook with a 1.5gb ram and 120gb harddrive so if u aren't looking to customize, there are other notebooks u can look into buying. but nonetheless, asus w7j has all the things i wanted. i just wish it had a better graphics card... haha but i dont even play games. my other choice was the macbook just because of the looks.
5) I went with w7j instead of macbook because i wasn't ready to switch to using a new os AND once i found out that vista took after the mac os, i just dropped the option of a macbook. however, if u do still want a macbook, but want to use mac os And vista, you can. just go get bootcamp. it allows you to use two OS at the same time.
i didn't end up buying the macbook because it was 5Lbs.. slightly lighter than w7j, and also cuz it didn't have enough ports for me. But now that I think about it, if u want more ports, just buy a usb hub.. they are small and handy.
so i guess right now, to me, the only difference between a macbook and w7j is that the macbook has better battery life. oh, i love how w7j has a 2 year global warranty. and customer service is really handy if you buy from www.btotech.com ... the owner posts on this forum too.

6) i love my notebook because it looks good compared to MOST other notebooks. and looks are important to me. then i love my notebook because of my customized options. haha. 120gb 7200rpm hard drive, 1.5gb ram. i think basically, it's great portability (very light) good looks, good features, good service.

i hope this helps. if not, u can email to ask questions.

 

1.) No issue.
2.) No issue.
3.) Mine didn't.
4.) If I needed one now, I'd get it again. If I didn't need it now, I might wait six months.
5.) When I bought mine, macbooks were in the middle of their overheating issues. Also, teh macbook didn't have a dual layer drive. Looking back, I'm glad I got what I have.
6.) Small, light, fast, and well equipped.

 

Bright screens would be a plus, since I'll be huddling in dark corners of the library doing work...

I think what the sales rep means is that the quality of sony batteries have gone down. I'm not sure if there's any truth in that.

That's great...part of the reason I'm looking at the W7J is because it comes with so many accessories that I don't have to buy later on...really an ensemble package. Mouse, sleeve, carrying bag...what more could I want? Besides a USB key to make vista go faster...

I can't buy from btotech because I'm from Canada, and shipping etc would cost way too much.

I was considering the sz, but it's too pricey for me. I've going crazy researching notebook info!

Thanks!

 

Why would you wait 6 months? For any particular notebook? I could wait, but I'd be lugging around a Dell Inspiron 18200 until then. That thing weighs a ton.