To buy Asus Z71Vp?

Hi there. I'm about to finish my notebook purchasing odyssey and have come down to this final choice. However, there are no Z71Vp's where I live (Melbourne, Australia), so I can't see one firsthand. I have a few questions that I'd love some answers to.

1. Does anyone know if the display on 1680X1050 version of the Z71 is the same as that on the ASUS W1000N?

2. There's been a bit of mention of the "sparkle" effect on the screen for white colours. Has anyone apart from the reviewer noticed this? Can someone suggest another model where I can see the same effect?

3. Regarding the high res screen, I have never worked with such a high setting before. Do people find this a comfortable resolution to work with without eye strain? Would the screen look fine if I needed to drop the res?

4. I am basically deciding between this and the Acer TravelMate 4102 WLMi. I have seen the acer and have my suspicions about build quality. I trust Asus's build quality, but the Z71Vp seems to be of a fundamentally different design and materials than the W3, V6 etc models. Can anyone advise on Asus build qualtity vs TM 4102?

Please help me out if you can, I hope to have this purchase behind me ASAP.

Cheers

 

hi there, i don't know if i can be much help, but...

i purchased a z71v a couple of months ago, same specs as the vp, but with a lower native resolution (1280x800). As for build quiality, i think its pretty sweet, i've had no "sparkle" effects whatsoever, but maybe that something with the vp's screen being different!

I was very happy with the Asus z71v, and am still in love with it =) the specs are awsome, and the 6600 is quite the little work horse of a gpu! (BF2 is great on this machine).

my screen has had no dead pixels, the flip screen is still as tight and sterdy as the first day i got it, and the battery life is great! (3+ hours).

As for the higher resolution on the z71vp, i don't think its going to be problem when you're working in windows/linux, i'm sure it will support a 1280x800 resolution if you want to turn it down...

Hope it helps..

 

The screens are different, I'm pretty sure since the w1n screen has the ZDB Policy and the z71v doesn't.

The High resolution is annoying at first...but you'll get used to it and you'll never go back!

The material is different the the rest of the ASUS's, but that doesn't mean its crappy at all. The build quality is really good, very rigid. If anything, you can't tell its plastic.

 

the z71v is very well built. the only problem that you'll have, if u even notice it, are the sparkles, but unless u're looking for it on a solid color background or something u wont even notice it.

 

i also like that screen because it can be automatically adjust the brightness, i also can press the function key to cancel the automatic adjustment. Good design!!!

 

The ALS is a very handy feature indeed, too bad ASUS didn't include it with every model...

Would be something unique to further seperate ASUS with other brands!

 

I agree... ALS is one of the most unique features I've seen on a notebook so far; I hope Asus incoporates ALS with a lot of their future notebooks.

:asus:

 

Thanks for all your advice guys! I've found a supplier in Sydney that build from barebones and rebadge it as their own "powernote", so the price is even cheaper. I've also come to an agreement with them whereby if I really can't stand the "sparkles", I can send it back and only pay for shipping (about US$45).

FYI, here are my specs:

1.86 GHz PM processor
1X1GB DDR II
80GB 5400 RPM SATA HDD
128MB NVidia jiggy
WiFi
1680*1050 Res screen
Three year onsite pickup and return warranty
(no o/s)

All this for AU$2540 = US$1930. I'd say that's a pretty good deal for down here.

I'll be sure to post of my joy (hopefully!) when I get it up and running.

 

Congrats, and just use the laptop WITHOUT looking for sparkles for the first few hours, then start looking for them - and if you can only see if after you start looking, and don't notice it, then it's fine.

 

I own a z71v and the "sparkle" is REALLY not bad! I may notice it the first time I use the machine, but then it looks normal. But it's certainly FAAARRRR LESS distracting than glossy screens!

 

Thanks for the advice, coriolis, I'll try to fight my instincts!

 

Hi Madan,
I just bought a Z71vp from Digitalstar in Sydney as well. Being a programmer I spend a lot of time with a white background. Having just started to use it today I still haven't got used to the Sparkle effect. I had a Sony 16.1" 1600x1200 laptop before and it was much easier on the eyes. I will try it out until the end of the week and if I can't get used to it I will try to return it. I hope the sparkle won't bother you.

 

Swede, just as a side note, how can you stand the default white background? I'm a Computer Science major, so I do a lot of programming as well and it amazes me why a white background is so popular! I can understand black on white for paper, but on screens, the best images are white on black (like a command prompt). On that note, I invert all my colors (including visual studio). It lookss way nicer, it's way easier to read, so I can work longer and more efficiently.

 

Well, the Z71 safely arrived from Sydney and I finally know what this "sparkle" thing is, and it's really not all that bad. I still catch myself focusing on it, but sometimes I don't notice it's threre. I'll see how I go over the next few days. In a perfect world, where I could actually go to a shop and see a laptop before I buy it, I may have kept shopping. However, right now I just need to get on with my life and figure I'll get used to the screen and that the other pluses of the system outweigh this slight negative. I'm actually really happy with the viewing angles and the contrast. The variation in colour from one part of the screen to another is way better than on most other screens I've come across.