Questions for Asus W5F owners

Hi, I'm just wondering if the system have passive cooling or active cooling? If active, is the fan loud? Is there a way to adjust the speed of the fan via the BIOS? Also how much would the laptop weight with a 9 cell or even a 12 cell battery? Does the battery extend from the back or elevate the laptop from the bottom? Is the laptop made from a metal alloy or it's a plastic casing? Thanks!

 

Well, I can help you.

1. no.. if you want to really control the fan speed, I'd suggest the program speedfan, although the fan really needs to be spinning at whatever rpm it is at the time.... really.

2. the 9 cell really adds about a half pound more than the 6 cell does..

3. there is no 12 cell.

4. they're all out the back... the 6 cell sticks out about 3/4" and the 9 cell about 3/4" further than the 6 cell.

5. it's a carbon fiber composite...... aluminum would have been heavier... and plastic would have had to have been thicker (therefore heavier as well).

 

How is the battery life on this baby? I've been disappointed with battery life on all ultraportables except the X60s, which is already way out of my league.

 

I'm going to guess... with the 6-cell... you'll see 3-4 hours.
With the 9 cell... you'll see 5-6 hours

 

I don't think I understand what you said about the fan. Is it audible? Is it as annoying as the Sony SZ series?

So with a 9 cell battery, the notebook would weight about 4.1 lbs?

What do you mean by carbon fiber composite? Is it true carbon fiber casing? I don't think I can wait for the W7J to be released so I might be purchasing this as soon as my local store carries it.

 

Can someone here answer my questions above?

 

I'm not sure about the exact total real world weight with a 9 cell battery...but 4.5 Pounds might be more realistic.

The W5F won't be nearly as noisy as most Sony SZ series seem to be so far. If you're extremely picky you might take notice, but It's one of the quieter laptops available today by most peoples standards.

If you read around the forum you'll find a much better description of what the carbon fiber composite used by Asus is...but to answer your question quickly here, no, It's not true carbon fiber casing or the kind you'd find in the automotive world. It's a combination of plastic and carbon fiber that allows asus to make it's laptop panels much thinner and lighter while maintaining THE SAME structural strength and durability of normal laptops using everyday plastic compounds that are 2 and 3 times as thick and heavy.

Honestly, the W5F is a kickass ultraportable laptop. If you don't need the dedicated graphics of some of the future models, you'll be more than happy with a W5F.

Hope that helps, goodluck

 

I can't answer your fan noise question...
but yes, it would weigh about 4+ pounds with the 9 cell.
It's a carbon fiber composite...meaning, the material isn't quite carbon fiber, but it isn't plastic - it's a mixture of both carbon fiber and ABS plastic. That way, it maintains a strong structure while staying as light as possible.

 

Looks like I beat you to it by a few seconds there AuroraS!!!

 

Do you actually own a W5F? If so, I would like some more information on the fan.

I'm having a hard time deciding between a W3J and a W5F. It seems that on a per pound basis, I get more power and value out of the W3J. However, I don't really want a heavy laptop. Carrying my dad's Z71V around all day hurts my shoulder. Ideally, I would want to get a W7J, but I can't wait that long to get it.

 

I'd rather like to know if the display can compete with the Sony's. Does it have light leakage? Is it nice to watch 16:9 DVDs? Are there any dark marks in the display corners? And how's the keyboard? Thank you very much.

 

No, I don't own a W5F, however, I have played with both a W5a in the past, and a W5f recently...The W5a was at an Asus showcase...and the W5F was instore...so both locations weren't silent by any means, but I did pay extra attention to the noise level of both versions on both occasions... I've also read pretty much every thread and post written in this Asus forum for the past year...which includes many W5 owners responses/opinions.

My earlier responses are based on the above experience. Like I said, I really don't think you're going to have a problem with the noise produced by the W5F. I don't think I've heard anyone on here complain about noise on this model. However, It is a very subjective thing...and everyone is different. I feel It beats the new Sony's hands down in noise level...and I'd say It's on par with the quietest actively cooled laptops period. That's the best you're going to get...If It's that important to you, then find some way to see and hear one in person. It seems like no matter what I or anyone else says or thinks is going to be enough for you to be 100% confident...

The W3J is a whole different ball game. Only you can decide which suits you better. If I could own two laptops, and I had to buy them now, I'd buy the black W5F as my ultra portable without question...take that for what It's worth.

Again, good luck, in the end, only you can decide

 

ncix in Vancouver is supposively getting stock of the W5F soon. The problem is that the 9 cell battery will make the notebook almost 5 lbs. I mind as well consider the W3J since it's significantly faster at about 1 pound more and offer similar battery life with the bay battery. I'm also considering the Fujitsu P7120D because of its amazing battery life and small size.

 

I have owned a W5f for about two weeks now and have been very pleased for the most part. I just received a 9-cell backup and am going to send it back not b/c of the weight, but because it sticks out of the back just a little too far for my laptop bag (acme small slim cargo). Still fits but a little too snug. However, the 9-cell did make it through two showings of X-Men 1.5 (played while conditioning the battery) with juice to spare. With the 6-cell, I can easily hold the laptop in one hand, although don't confuse it for a Sony TX. There is no visible light leakage, but the glossy screen is not the best in direct sunlight. Overall, the screen is not as good as the Sony's but that is to be expected. I like the feel of the keyboard and the touchpad is solid and have really only had problems with the battery meter, but that seems to be a software issue w/ the Mcafee security center I installed.

The webcam is something that I didn't think I'd use, but with this new porn gig, I know that I got the right laptop (you still reading?). No, but really, I downloaded Sightspeed and now can check out my niece and nephew from time to time who live across the country. Fun. Kind of.

I got this W5f "modded" from Startech with an upgraded t2600 2.16 core duo, 2 x 512 mb RAM, 100 GB 7200 rpm hdd and it's pretty speedy. It set me back about $2700 and I'd do it again. Are you not entertained?

 

^Wow, thank you for that Star Tech site. I book marked it right after I saw what you could do there.

 

There you go Sgt_Strider, if Stulaloyd hasn't sold you on a W5F then I don't know what will...He/She has a LOADED W5F and isn't complaining with those specs...infact at that high price they said they'd pay it again, that says something.

It's all up to you, but If you're considering a W3J now, then you shouldn't be looking at the W5F in the first place...they're two very different animals. If you want a true ultra portable, there aren't many that can match the W5F period.

Good luck once again

 

And by the by, the fan noise is negligible. The hard drive makes more noise and that's you're standard hard drive grunts which are just above a whisper. Just looked on macrumors.com which said that the t2600 is going to drop $214 as of May 28. If you can wait that long, you can save yourself some cash. For those wishing to keep their Asus warranty in check, the standard W5f is probably going to go down about $50.

 

How much does the 9 cell battery stick out from the back of the laptop? Can you measure it? Can you take a picture with the 9 cell battery installed?

I was using my dad's Z71V today and I can really hear the fan spinning if I place my head near the keyboard. Can you try that and see if you hear anything? Thanks!

 

Sorry, but I already sent the 9 cell back. It stuck doubled the amount that the 6 cell stuck out and was, in my opinion a little too much. As for the noise, if you do spend a lot of time sticking your head down around the keyboard, I guess there is some noticeable fan noise, but never to the point of distraction or annoyance. Again, a normal hard drive grunt is usually louder than the fan noise. At a normal distance (laptop on your, say laptop or even stomach, the noise is never a problem. Good nuff?

 

I don't think anything is going to be good enough for the Sgt when It comes to the fan noise and our thoughts and opinions.

You're making the noise on this laptop a much bigger issue than It needs to be. Your battery question has been mentioned and answered many, many times in here. Do a quick search and you'll find results. I think people have even posted pics of the W5 series with the 6 and 9 cell batteries in place. There are definitely pics of it with a 6 cell because that's what It comes with...so you can use your imagination and add close to an inch to that visual If you can't find the 9 cell pics.

 

I understand that fan noise is subjective. To me fan noise is an issue. It may not be an issue for you, but it's an issue for me. I will try to search up on some pics.

 

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