Should I dump my beloved W3V for...

(Kinda a long story, slightly sauced up for a more interesting read. Please bear with me and suggest what I should do!)

I currently have about an 8 month old W3V and I absolutely utterly love her to death. It performs flawlessly and really, I have nothing to complain about.

Until... I heard about the new wave of Core Duo notebooks that ASUS is releasing/has released. Namely, W3J, Z62F/J. Now, I see the signs of what could potentially be the end of my relationship with my W3V. Since time immemorial I have been a closet Mac fan (who isn't?) but I've always known it would be more of an eye-candy-lust than anything - sorta like eyeing that pretty girl in your workplace knowing that nothing will ever come out of it. I have programs that I need to run on XP that don't have OSX ports, plus I'm also susceptible to the occassional gaming session.

But then Steve Jobs pulls a fast one on me and releases Intel-based Macs. All of a sudden, the walls between XP and OSX have been torn down. The leap to a Macbook is still slightly too far for me, I feel, but the ability to install OSX on Core Duo systems has me really, really intruiged. OSX in a Macbook chasis wins hands down on the sexiness ratings, but OSX in a W3J chasis comes a very, very close second.

Which brings me to my dilemma. My W3V has a good year or so of life left in her, and it seems like such a waste to dump her for the W3J. Money isn't really the problem (not to boast, but it's comfortably affordable) it's the question of if I should splurge... I know the Z62F/J are lesser siblings to the W3J but should I consider them as well. Not so much the Z62F because of the integrated graphics, but the Z62J with a 7300Go should serve my purposes pretty decently. Then again, x1600 also makes an appearance on Apple's offerings so driver support should be more decent.

What to do?

Oh by the way, if I do decide to abandon my W3V it will mean that a pretty new, in good condition W3V will be up for sale...

 

You still can't legitimately run OSX on non-mac hardware. There's some DRM in hardware that prevents it. It can be illegally hacked, so you could do it, but it isn't legit. I guess some people don't care about legit, so that call is really yours. Personally, I'd stick with the beautifully functioning W3V until the next wave comes out, namely Merom, which is the platform containing the 64 bit version of the Core Duo (to put it short).
Besides, what value do you get from running OSX on a windows box? Lack of hardware support, for one. And most of your programs are in Windows anyway, so you say. I'd either leave it or wait for a revision or two of the Macbook Pro if you're that keen on it. You can now install Windows XP on that hardware legitimately.
Jay

 

dump it in my backyard plzzzzzzzzzz

 

i'd agree with killerjay on this. unless the programs and games u use are real intensive i'd wait for the merom version of the w3j or until the macbook pro gets all its kinks worked out and boot camp becomes more fully developed.

 

I third that sentiment ^

If you don't need anything more than your W3v right now, and you're still loving it...hold on to it. Come the next few months things are REALLY going to heat up and if you jump too soon you may regret it.

Now if you didn't already have a laptop that's a different story...

 

I went for a macbook pro over the W3J. Obvisouly the W3J isn't out to give an apple to apples comparison, but I believe both are viable choices. The MAC offers DVI which the W3J doesn't.

I have both windows and os x (tiger) on my macbook pro and they both run smooth. I play my games on the windows partition and use office and other programs (picture editing mostly, and my itunes) on the OS X partition.

Downfalls are it a) it gets pretty **** hot, only had a HP laptop before to compare which also got pretty **** hot but was noisy as hell. The Macbook gets hot but is not noisy at all. b) x1600 is underclocked. It can be overclocked in windows to better play your games but it would be nice not having to do that.

Either way you should be happy, even if you just want to keep your laptop. Remember 64 bit laptops with dual cores will be out in mass soon (merom and turion x2), so that might be worth waiting for.

Also, the W3J is super sleek. It might not be as sleek and sexy as the macbook (my opion) but it is so much better looking than alot of laptops and its pretty much the fastest smallest laptop on the planet! So don't think I am trying to switch you to mac, especially on the Asus forum because the W3J just looks tight and Asus has been known to have high quality builds, something that is important (apple makes solid builds too, unlike dell and hp )

PS. Don't listen to people complain about bootcamp. There is pretty much ZERO problems with bootcamp, and if you have any you can always just use BOOTCAMP to erase the partition and bring it back into the MAC OS X partition. I have installed bootcamp and had zero problems with it.

 

Here's my suggestion.

Keep the W3v until the release of Merom, then by a notebook that naturally comes with merom and you will extremely happy with its performance and features.

In your particular situation going from W3v to W3J may not be exciting, all you do get is 2 core and more overal performance from the CPU and GPU.

Now your considering the MBP, um, don't buy it yet, untill more people are satisfied with the heat generation, and untill apple has fully refreshed it and dealt with this issue.

However, once agan, you'll be moving from Pent-M to Yonah...not worth it in my opinion from your situtation.

The interesting thing is that IF big IF merom is released in later Q3 or early Q4then you'll be able to buy a new notebook in this same year and get more, and possibly for the same price ( i know money ain't a problem in your situation).

Or you may havta wait till next jan/feb/march for a perfect notebook to match your need like a W3P <- merom and a ati 2xxx that has dx10 and other goodies. (hypothetically speaking)

And regarding running Mac OS non apple hardware, i have no clue...if you really need dual booting between tiger and windows.

You may wait for the apple version of merom laptops... and then you'll get the best of 4 worlds, MAc os x, windows, 64bit, and dx10! plus other goodies that comes with it.

That's my 2 cents

Thanks,

MysticGolem

 

Whoa, whoa, whoa, you were thinking about getting rid of your W3V for a W3J?

Like mysticgolem said, stick with your W3V, it will last you quite a while. Unless you can afford it, stay with your W3V until newer hardware comes out.

Even when Merom comes out you will find your W3V with its pentium-m processor perfectly fine for everyday tasks and cpu intensive tasks.

I suggest upgrading once you find your W3V not up to par to handle your needs.

Cheers,
Mike

 

Add me to the list of not switching yet....I am holding on to my M2N waiting for merom, & money isnt the issue, its more of that I see the current intel lineup as a band-aid, with the arrival of vista next year I want to wait & get the hardware that can take full advantage of the os, that or switch to mac....waiting for them to release a portable/13.3" thats as good as the upcoming w7.
a

 

What do you mean your W3V has a year of life left in it? I hope Asus notebooks last a little longer. I've had a lousy Dell for 3 years, no problems. Money not being a factor I'd buy the w3j now and buy new again as soon as the new ones come out. But what do I know I'm a novice.

 

apes, life of a laptop can be interpretated 2 ways.

1) Physical life, which regards to years of use before it physically can no longer do anything. Wear and tear causes a notebook to be useless overtime, with increasing number of breakdowns.

2) Technological life, this is what Aleksandr is referring to, because the technology keeps getting better every 8-12 months for notebooks. Your laptop will become outdated. Also the fact that the turn of notebooks occurs when Merom releases, you will get 64bit dual core processers and a GPU that supports PS3 or PS4 with Dx10 and other goodies.

Some people have the need to constantly upgrade as technology is coming out. For desktop users this is alot easier and cheaper. For notebook users it causes people to sell their old notebook and buy a new one, which is extremely costly.

So right now we are at the point where many here suggest that if you have Pent-M or planning on buying a Core Duo soon, we suggest waiting for Merom and buy one of those. And people who have a Pent-M wait aslong a possible until the pent-m cannot do want you want, then buy a notebook.

I suggest quickly reading through this.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=51459

Thanks,

MysticGolem