Two notebook choices

Hi,

The Asus forum does not seem to be very active, so please bear with me.

I was initially planning to get an M6Nx, but decided that I will not be doing much gaming on the machine, since I already have a nice pc. Therefore, I am having trouble in deciding which notebook I should purchase for University, specifically for tasks such as, hardcore programming, typing notes, watching dvds/movies.

Right off the bat, the S5N will be the most portable. However, I cannot resist the price of the Z9000. Therefore, I just need a few opinions that will assist me in making a confident decision.

The following are the configs and prices. They are very similar.

Asus S5N - $2154 Canadian including tax

Intel Centrino 1.5GHz w/ 1MB Cache
512MB DDR PC2700
Intel Integraded Graphics
Toshiba 60GB 5400RPM
Wireless B
External CD-RW/DVD-ROM
2.5 Hour battery life

Asus Z9000 - $1927 Canadian including tax

Intel Centrino 1.5GHz w/ 1MB Cache
512MB DDR PC2700
Radeon 9100 IGP 128MB Shared
Toshiba 60GB 5400RPM
Wireless B
Internal CD-RW/DVD-ROM
3-4 Hour battery life

This is what I have compile from the two.

The Z9000 is heavier than the S5N at about 2.5-3 lbs more.
The Z9000 has a longer battery life than the S5N.

The following is a list of issues that worry me.

- fan noise
- heat
- general quality of the lcd.
- loud keyboards when typing

Therefore, do those two notebooks have loud fans, hot touchpads, etc? Furthermore, will there be ghosting on both machines when watching dvds or movies?
Sorry for the long post and thanks for your time. As stated, I just need a few opinions that will hopefully cause my brain to force me make a decision.

 

The heat and fan noise on both should be about the same. Keyboards really don't vary a huge amount in terms of sound, although, if the second option has a larger keyboard, it probably will make a little more noise. The LCD displays should be roughly equivalent.

Here is the thing: If you want your computer to be light, the first option is going to be better. However, if you intend to take that external optical drive with you, you must factor in its weigh and the inconvenience of connecting them every time you turn your system on. On the other hand, the second system may be heavier, but it offers a little more convenience, and the IGP solution is far superior to Intel's "extreme" graphics solution. All things being equal, I would go with the heavier unit. Again, though, this will depend on your personal preferences.

 

Thanks for the reply.

Do you know if the wireless solutions on both machines have strong signals? I read some reviews of other notebooks and some have weak signals despite being equipped with a wireless g solution (both Asus' are equipped with wireless b solutions). Furthermore, is 6.6 lbs really that heavy and a hassle to carry around on the go?

 

6.6 pounds is about average. Most range from 3lbs to 8lbs. There are some that are less than 3lbs and some that are as much as 15ibs. Mine weighs about 4lbs and it works great for me.

What brand of wireless "B" is it? I have intel brand wireless "G" and it works great.

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Fujitsu S6210: 1.6Ghz PM ~ 768MB RAM ~ 60GB 7200RPM Hard Drive
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I think it's the built in Intel wireless b

 

I dont know why the wireless connection would be bad. What reviews said it was bad? Im guessing you already browsed the Asus forums about the wireless connection.

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Fujitsu S6210: 1.6Ghz PM ~ 768MB RAM ~ 60GB 7200RPM Hard Drive
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Yeah, I read some user reviews about the Asus and Fujitsu models (forgot which ones), some say that despite having a wifi g solution, signals were not as good as their friend's b solution. I think it really depends on the environment and since I am going to a University, they will prolly emit strong wifi signals if you know what I mean. Also, is ghosting on lcds, when watching movies a common thing? Any notebooks suffer from this issue?

 

Remember, if the router and the connection is only B, then, even with a g solution, your speeds will only be at a b level.

Make sure that, on the wireless card itself, that the antenna wire is connected to the WIFI card. This might sound stupid, but some come off in shipping.

 

I see. Thanks a lot for the information.

If anyone else has any further opinions regarding to my initial post please feel free and post them.

Thanks.

 

With regards to ghosting on ASUS LCDs I can tell you that I haven't noticed it on my M6Ne or M2N while watching DVDs. But I'm not to sure what I'm supposed to be looking for. I was under the impression that ghosting was only really a problem with fast action games. I'm guessing that the screens on both these models will be good but not top of the line.
Personally I would go the M5N (which is just like the S5N only with built in DVD drive), and if you can afford it upgrade to a higher capacity battery.
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ps Sorry for the inactivity on the ASUS forum. I guessing its cause' no one has any problems with there notebooks ! lol

 

i've had my S5N for a week now and i'm loving it. gets a bit warm only when it's in full performance mode, and i live in the tropics and it's friggin' hot here in the philippines. the screen's very nice and i'm happy watching dvds and videos on it. the keyboard's well-designed, firm, and quiet. the system runs whisper quiet, i just can't hear it. it's such a joy carrying a full-featured system at a weight of less than 3 lbs (including the external optical drive). with the bag and all the stuff in it including the cables, adapters, mouse etc, it's almost 4 lbs and i can't imagine carrying a notebook any heavier. i dont' always use the drive anyway, and it's not that hassle to use. i really like the optical drive coz it's so thin, awesomely light and well designed. the build quality of the system really good and in my opinion, only bettered by IBM and toshiba, and probably on par with fujitsu [ ] hope this helps!

 

Sound great soccerjoe.

Can you answer the following questions for me?

1. How long is the battery life?
2. How's the strength of the built-in wifi b solution?
3. What are the specs of your S5N?

Thanks.

 

no problem.

1. i usually get 2-2.5 hours on it with battery saver mode. what would you normally need to do on the go? if it's just normal stuff like surfing, mail etc, this would be fine. if you'd use it for games on the go, you'd get a little more than 1.5 hours estimate.

2. wifi's good for me. i've had good experiences with it, strong signal. no problems.

3. 1.5 banias, 256MB DDR333/PC2700 RAM, winXP PRO, 40GB hitachi 8MB buffer

more comments:

before i was gonna get the S5N i was quite worried about the keyboard because of its design/layout. i saw the review at www.tomshardware.com and the placement of the keys were just so out of whack! but when i checked out a model here in the philippines, it's got a US layout which i'm very happy with. good layout and design.

honestly, i'm VERY surprised and pleased with the performance of the machine even at 256MB only. especially when i consider that i usually run dreamweaver, photoshop CS, mozilla firefox, apache/mysql, and multiple virtual desktops all at the same time! i was in a hurry to get an additional 512MB but i'm so happy with the performance i can take my time! i used to have a desktop 2.53GHz P4, 512MB DDR333, western digital HDD 8MB cache "caviar" 80GB, with the same software (both had diskeeper pro to keep fragmentation down) in it and i can honestly say that i think the notebook feels/runs at par or even faster! i've read a review somewhere before that the reviewer mentioned the same thing, faster considering it's only got 256MB, when compared to other notebooks with the same specs. maybe the way ASUS designed it? i haven't touched the virtual memory settings and i haven't gotten any of those annoying popups about low virtual memory.

to compare to our other pc at work, which has a P4 2.66Ghz 256MB DDR333, with a lot less software, and about a month old only: i'd got a lot of low virtual memory popups, annoying. and it's much slower than my notebook.

i think the S5N you're thinking about is gonna be really fast with the extra RAM and faster HDD. maybe you'd want to get the M5N coz' of it's built-in drive but i like the way the S5N was designed in terms of the placement of ports/exhaust,etc. feel free to ask me any more questions about it here or at [email protected]. hope this helps!

 

Thanks for the very informative post. I really appreciate it. I'm not planning to do any gaming. I just need it during University and I have classes for a combined total of about 5hrs per day. I think I can manage just a 2.5 hr battery I guess. I might get a 7hr battery. The major things I am probably doing is programming, typing notes, watching movies, and typing documents. Furthermore, I'm planning to have a dual-boot Win XP and Linux Gentoo. What software/utilities came with your notebook?

btw do you have any pics of your notebook handy?



Thanks again.

 

well, you mentioned you're gonna be using it for class and all that, and i think the notebook's perfect. i'd hate to bring something heavy around that often. if you'd use the optical drive in class, i'd recommend the M5N coz' it saves space for putting the external drive coz it's built-in. my experience though, i don't use teh drive very often, especially in class or work. your call. i think you be very happy with both, but the M5N would be more convenient if you use the drive on the go. can you imagine commuting and you wanna use the dvd drive, you'd have to use the external drive to do so, and it'd be quite a hassle. well, that's the way it is with practically all the other ultraportables out there except the M5N.

the notebook came with the drivers for display, sound, lan, wifi, firewire i think, power utilities, touchpad utilities, bios update programs and a lot more. you can download the newer ones online. there are others but i can't remember, they're at home and i'm at work right now. i advise you to get the 48mAh battery/6-cell battery. that battery alone can work up to about 4-5 hours. so use that and keep the normal one in the bag, would probably provide you up to 7hrs. the normal batt's real small. the 6cell's a BIT bigger, not by much. there are pics here at the link:

http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=de&u=http://www.freundt.org/s5200n/&prev=/search%3Fq%3Ds5200n%2Breview%26hl%3Den%26lr%3D%26ie%3DUTF-8

the first picture shows the 6cell battery in it. i really wanna get one but i just don't have the cash right now. if you want pics, i can take them. just send me an email at [email protected]

about dual booting, i've read a thread somewhere about it and i think it's okay. i found this link:

http://www.cs.duke.edu/~reynolds/m5n-linux.html

hope that helps

 

Thanks for the reply. About the pics issue, it's ok, since it seems to be a hassle for you. [8D] I'll check out the batteries. Thanks again for your help. This notebook sounds great. I cannot wait to get it. [8D]

 

Damn. I just cannot refuse this deal for the Z9000.

Centrino 1.7GHz
512MB
60G
etc.

$1942 total

 

if you say so, then go for it! it's all about your personal preference. take me for example, it just my preference to put a premium on portability, i'm the type of person to pay extra for portability coz' i don't wanna think of having a laptop with me as a minus with all the weight. i pay for the convenience of having something light. if you're otherwise, then go for the Z9000. i've seen it and it's really attractive, specs-wise and feature-wise. it's got all those neat hotkeys and a nice big keyboard. the speakers are quite loud as well. nice big screen too.

whatever you decide, i'm sure you'll be happy with the lappy

 

Yeah, I guess. I'm still undecided, but thanks for your S5N input.