Should I buy a V2JE w/ 3.5g for $1,508.60 in Taipei?

Was shopping around for laptops today in Taipei.

Stores are selling the V2JE for aprox $1508.60 US dollars, (50,000)

specs are
core 2 duo 1.83
gig of ram (1x1)
x1450
3.5g
6 cell battery (i think)

you guys think this is worth it?

also have another question, can the v2je hold 2 batteries at once? i read the US version is going to come with a 6 & 9 cell battery. the guy at the store was telling me it can only hold one battery at a time.

 

Pretty good considering the V2 with 3.5 is slated to hit here for like... $2300? But with slightly better states (T7200, 2 batteries).

 

That is an excellent deal! If I was in your position, I'd get it for sure... the V2 is a beautiful machine.

 

when you mean hold two batteries; it will take a modular drive battery, which will replace the optical drive and there is of course the default main battery.

 

This is a good deal indeed. I guess the keyboard has english letters on it and not taipei?

I would double check on the battery issue though.

 

Yeah! the U.S. version of the V2 comes with a T7200 and both a 6 and 9 cell battery, but believe me, the performance difference is not worth the extra $800 you'd pay here (it's $2300 for the V2 3.5 U.S. model).

The guy at the store is wrong. The V2 has a modular optical bay. That means you can take out the CD drive and put in an extra battery, or another hard drive, if you need extra battery life or extra storage. They're also hot swappable, which means you can switch them while the machine is running (so it's not like it's a pain to switch back to the DVD drive). The optional optical bay battery is a 6-cell, which is roughly 2 - 2.5 hours of battery life. You can use it simultaneously with the 6 or 9 cell battery in the back.




Also remember the Taiwan version of the V2 will have Chinese characters on the keyboard. If you live in North America/Europe/etc. and you don't want people glancing curiously at your laptop, you may want to invest in replacing the keyboard for about $40.

 

Good to know that you can buy a U.S. replacement keyboard, and probably a power supply too, to "Americanize" an ASUS lappy.

My only comment is that $1500 with a 3.5G modem sounds almost too good to be true. Why should a Taiwan version be so much cheaper than one sold stateside? Just wondering.

 

I don't mind the keyboard, it has english/chinese characters on it. the ctrl key is at the bottom left which I prefer as well. (my old A8JS had the function key at the bottom left and I could never get used to it)

The screen on the V2 did seem better when I compared it to the A8J, but when I go back to the store I want to compare it to a G1.

Overall, the V2JE seemed pretty solid.. it looks really nice in person, the buttons/led placements and colors look pretty cool/professional. i personally prefered the look of it over the W3J. however, the W3J does have a more solid feel.. there was some a slight flex when pressing against the LCD back panel, where the W3J had none.

They also have the W3J's with a gig of ram, T7200, vista business for about $50 less then the V2J. (tempting, but i really want DVI)

I'm still somewhat conflicted, because I sold my A8JS and was going to wait for the santa rosa macbook pro. however, I feel like I should take advantage of this offer while I am still in Taiwan.. the 1.83 ghz processor is also holding me back.. and i'm not sure if i will be taking advantage of 3.5g in the united states. anyway, i still have 2 more days to make my decision.

 

It's a totally different country. That means - no customs, no tariffs or taxes, no shipping overseas fee (imagine how much transporting laptops across continents costs).

 

Um, that doesn't always compute. Most consumer electronics gear is cheaper in the U.S. than in most countries, host countries included.

A slower processor ($150?), one less battery ($130?), no duty (less than 10%) does not account for $800. I guess I need my abacus to compute the diff.

 

There's also currency. The Yuan is on an 8:1 ratio with the dollar. The GDP per capita of Taiwan/China is lower than the GDP per capita of the U.S., so people in Taiwan will purchase the same goods at the same marginal utility at lower prices It just boils down to economics.

 

asus computers are much cheaper in taiwan

 

Not entirely correct. First of all, Taiwan does not use Yuan. Yuan is RMB which is used by China. Taiwan uses NTD, New Taiwan Dollars. They are two separate nations using two different systems. Although it is true that Taiwan has lower GDP per capita than US, Taiwan's computer prices are much cheaper simply because the market is also a lot more competitive. They have to compete with a lot of local brands. Secondly, Asus is a Taiwanese company with laptops made in Taiwan (obviously not all models, but here V2 is made in Taiwan). Thus, it is relatively cheaper to sell the V2 in Taiwan than US.