Seriously considering W3V over Sony S or Fujitsu S

Hi guys....I'm new to the forum but I have been using it extensively to do research for a new notebook. I currently have an HP zv5000 series with an AMD XP 3000+ that weighs a ton and gets about an hour of battery life. My work gave it to me but I've been travelling a lot for business and wish that I had something lighter with better battery life that I can watch DVD's, play a few games, and actually be able to open up fully on the tray table in a plane. After extensive research I think I like the Sony S, Fujitsu S and the ASUS W3V. Problem is...it's tough to find a reseller near me where I can actually touch feel and look at one. It's hard to decide by pictures alone. If any of you can sway me toward the ASUS without having to drive two hours to play with one....be my guest

 

I don't know where you're located... but I don't think anyone would disagree with me when I say that is feels at least as good as it looks. Also, with a 1.86ghz pentium-m..... you're going to get better cpu performance than even your 3000+....... but at least 3 times the life.

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

 

Thanks Justin...I'm located in South Jersey near Philadelphia. According to the reseller list through ASUS...the nearest dealer is in North Jersey about an hour and 1/2 away. There is another dealer in Brooklyn (I travel up to New York periodically). I've been to your website. You guys seem to have a nice operation.

John

 

Within the past year I have moved from the Fujitsu S6120 to the Sony S (because I fancied the widescreen display) and then recently to the W3 because my eyes were finding the pixels on the Sony S a little small, so I am in a position to compare all three.

The W3 is the biggest and heaviest of the trio, but is also the quietest out of the box and, with the 8 cell battery, has the best battery running time.

I found the build quality of all three to be good.

Hope this helps,

John

 

I played with the S-360 at Comp USA and liked it but I certainly couldn't go any smaller and find the screen or keyboard usable. Sony S I believe is 4.2 lbs. and the S Fujitsu about the same with battery. The W3V is rated at 4.8 with the 8-cell battery unless I'm wrong. 1/2 a lb. is 1/2 a lb but 14.1 sounds good to my eyes. I would just be concerned that on those long cross country or transatlantic flights, I still might have a problem with opening it up all the way (W3V). Until I actually touch and feel one, it will be hard to tell. How is the keyboard on the W3V and how does the display brightness/quality compare to the Sony and Fujitsu? Thanks

 

<blockquote id='quote'> quote:<hr height='1' noshade id='quote'>Originally posted by haydini

 

I'm just curious as to what city (ProPortable) is actually located in. I'm about an hour north of philly so taking a trip to the store to check out the asus models may be feasible.

 

I've played with the Sony S360 and I own the W3V

I really like the S360, and I think when making the decision between the Asus and the Sony that it comes down to whether you feel that the Sony screen has enough real estate. .7" extra doesn't seem like a lot but for some reason I really notice a difference. The Sony screen was just too small for me. Of course the Sony is also a pound lighter. That seems to be the real trade off in my opinion. Lighter Weight vs. Bigger Screen.

As far as the Fujitsu, I really think they look like great machines, but I've never used one unfortunately so I'm sorry I can't be of help there.

 

how much are you willing to spend.. there's a big performance and price gap between the Fujitsu S and W3V.. the former is lighter, has the 4:3 screen, and is cheaper. The latter is slightly heavier, has a wide screen and has far better gaming capabilities but price starts at $1899.

the Sony is nice too, but pretty expensive.. a similarly configured Sony S series will cost much more than an Asus W3V (from sonyvaio's site)

while at the same time, the Fujitsu S would be cheaper than both, but it does lack the dedicated Vram.

Portableone.com is a well renowned reseller for Fujitsu in this forums, and they also sell the W3V too

Proportable.com specializes in Asus products.

 

Initally weeks ago i wanted to get sony s360, but in singapore it was overpriced at SGD$3999 throughout. plus it doesnt have s-video, plus its graphics is 'only' a geforce go series.

then later i met asus w3v with the latest sonoma platform, has a s-video, on a x600 graphics.. and its only USD$1899... excluding half way round the earth shipping.. i only paid about a total of SGD$3.4k and the money to specs ratio is soo worth every penny. i love my w3v.

.. on stock Asus W3V

 

i've also played with the sony s series and they're nice and stylish although it costs a pretty penny to have them specced out. i would have bought one but it would have cost over 2000 once i customized it and the accessories are expensive as well. too rich for my blood.

i also looked at the fujitsu s series but the lack of SXGA+ with their glossy screen and a lack of dedicated GPU was a turn off.

i wanted to stay under 2 grand and I felt the W3V was the best value.

 

Configuring on Sony's site is significantly more expensive than buying it at Best Buy or some other retailer. Just a few weeks ago you could pick up a Sony S360 w/ Win Xp Pro for $1650. If you could handle XP Home, Comp USA was selling them for $1450. This isn't counting tax, but it's still cheaper than the Asus. Once you start thinking about getting a service plan it starts getting a lot closer to the price of the W3V. Still, the prices are fairly equivalent. I wouldnt' be surprised if rebates like those appeared one more time before the new S380 starts showing up in stores. So if price is the reason you're going to get a W3V over the Sony you may want to wait and see.

 

But if you buy in-store you do get a crappy 4200 rpm hard drive in the Sony. =
Forgot to mention that.

By the way, what the hell were they thinking with that?

 

Thanks for all the insight everyone....to Justin at Proportable....you should know that when I click your link at ASUS' reseller links...I get a "bed request" error. I went directly to your site but there is no address anywhere to be found. If you want me or anyone else to stop in if we're in the area...let us know where you are. I go up to New York all the time...shoot me the address and I'll make the trip. Thanks.

 

Sony S360 is only $1350 after rebates at circuitcity.com right now. I'd say jump on the offer. I figure at prices like those what's left of their inventory won't be around much longer. Then all there will be left is the new s380 and eventually the s460. Both of those seem crappier imo. S360 + Tax and shipping + 512MB Ram upgrade + Hitachi Travelstar 60gb 7200rpm = around $1800. Not a bad price at all for what will be a kick ass computer. I mention the hard drive upgrade, because I wouldn't be able to stand a 4200rpm. If you're not into taking apart half your system to put in a new hard drive then maybe the W3V would be a better alternative. I'm not into taking apart anything that expensive myself. I might be able to pull it off, but I've had enough bad experiences to not want to have to take personal responsibility for breaking something so expensive. Anyways, if that deal had been around when I was purchasing I might be in the Sony forums right now. =P