V6Va or W2J?

Hey everyone,

I had this beautiful thread all typed out and then I lost it so now it will be a bit shorter


Will be using the laptop at work (landscape architect) for office applications, CAD, Photoshop,Illustrator,...
Screen quality is important, battery life not that important but I'd like to be able to have 3h working time. As I will be taking the laptop home every day, it shouldn't weigh too much.

Is the W2J worth the wait and the extra money?
What's the travel weight of the W2J ?(power supply included)
Do I need DVI or will VGA do for connecting a real monitor(I'm thinking about buying a new LCD screen, as my old CRT broke down)
Do all V6Va have the IPS screen?

there's a promotion for the V6Va now
pentium 760, 2gb ram, 60gb 7200, x700, 15.1" SXGA for 2050€

So, buy now or wait till march (or when the W2J is coming out in the netherlands)

thanks for your help in solving this issue that's been spooking trough my mind:decision:

 

They are kinda different classes of laptops. If screen quality is important the V6Va has no one else in the class. But only with the IPS screen. but if you need more screen space a 17in WSXGA is the way to go. hard to compare the two.

 

It's a touch call... personally, I think the V6Va is more worth it.
The W2J really is more of a desktop replacement...

 

I agree, I think the w3j is too much of a beast for what your looking to do. That is of course you dont plan to travel with it extensively and you want to use it for multimedia purposes as well (gaming too).

If it is only the mentioned activites get the v6va with the IPS (better screen) while they still last.

 

What is wrong with the current W2? CAD, Photoshop and landscapes sound like good reasons for the larger screen. I'm looking at the current W2 based on it being wide screen (I will be using mainly for Photoshop) and the current discounts.

 

David,

There is an issue with the W2, the way the internal speakers are set up (pretty much unlike any other laptop) ....... and becasue of it's sound card...... you have 2+2.1 stereo.. which means two lefts, two rights and a sub....... because of this, you can not output simply 2.0 channel sound....... 2.1 is ok, 5.1, 7.1 is ok.... but basically you can't output worse sound than the laptop already has. Most people don't think it's a big deal because most people outputting good sound off the W2 are looking for 5.1 channel or more.... but that's simply THE issue anyone has even come up with.

For the current price and what most people want to do with it - it's still the king.

 

My question about "what is wrong with the current W2" was only meant to question why spruytster is not considering it. But instead is only considering the current V6Va and the furture W2J.

 

Oh... well honestly my reasoning may very well be it...... the W2v's have sold out in a lot of places and that could be one reason.... they've got to wait for it... but you're right... very weird options.....

 

I'am not considering the current W2 because I can't find it in the WIN XP Pro configuration. confused: come on, think of something better). Plus it looks like the current W2 has some problems(convince me they're only minor).
Maybe the question should become "V6Va or W2V or W2J"

I was also considering the new V6J but I didn't like the graphics solution on that one (not a real opinion based on facts, just a feeling).

And then I started my research here on these forums, and the posts of Mr. Proportable convinced me to look at the current model V6Va, which should be great (and it's mature technology).

Actually I like the W2 the best (design), I guess I won't really notice the performance difference (it's only 2d cad),.......hmmm, it has DVI (the new one only)
But I fear the W2 will be a bit too big or heavy. Can someone enlighten me
:base: don't know what to say anymore. They're both great laptops but it's a lot of money and I don't want to regret this decision because of a little thing.

 

If the only thing Justin can say is "THE ISSUE" is related to the sound output, then it would not be an issue for me. The only time I would really be using the speakers would be in a classroom where I and others would like to here some music while working. But I am not a gamer.

In fact if I could find a business class unit with the style, screen, and power of the W2, that would be a machine for me.

 

Well.... the sound on the system is really nice..... and with a 5.1 or 7.1 system... it's awesome... it's just normal old 2 channel stereo speakers suck because for whatever reason the lows are pulled out... I believe that for some reason, to seperate the highs/mids from the lows for speakers on the system itself made it impossible for them to combine them again on the output. Yes, everyone has a set of normal stereo speakers laying around.... It's a limitation which those who complain see as a limitation, but others just see as a non-issue...


Now, I see how this guy wants a W2 w/ XP Pro.. well I'm not sure where he's located, but he's not going to get a W2j with XP Pro either.. unless he's out of the US.. Because the US model is going to continue to come with Media Center Edition.

 

Getting a W2 (v or j) with XP Pro will be real easy for me, it starts with "format c:"

 

Exactly........ but I wouldn't do that if I were you anyway...... because you lose functionality of that tv tuner for almost no reason...... MCE is 99.5% XP Pro.... plus the media center side..... you don't lose much and it's waste to have to go through and do that when you have a machine that owes a good 1/3 of it's appeal to Media Center...

 

Well, to me, it is not a waste of time. I will clean off the machine, partition the drive, load the OS and my standard applications, then use Norton Ghost to save off the image. I keep all "my data" on the second partion with the drive image. Then when I get into the mood to try a few new things (the beta of IE 7 is a good example) or just mess something up or just every so often to keep the performace up, I can go back to the good image any time I feel like it.

Using this method I can get that new machine feel from an image in about 30 - 60 minutes.

 

No, you don't actually understand what I'm saying. MCE is XP Pro minus the ability to use a domain controller....... but plus all the MCE functionality... You might as well not have that tv tuner ... or pay for the OS if you're going to reload XP Pro....

 

I'm a long way from the US, in Belgium as a matter of fact. But I'll be buying the notebook in the netherlands (laptops4u) as it is a lot cheaper over there. And the W2J is available only with XP pro (or the moment)
Justin, I thought MCE was the Home version and not the pro (plus all the media extra's).
I've asked them if their V6Va has IPS, guess I won't have that answer until monday.

So I just have one more urgent question. What about the W2J's (or W2V's) portability and mobility, Do you (the owners of such a model) find portable enough to move it every day? (not working during the travel) I know that's subjective but I'd like to hear the opinions
Maybe I have to look for a place where I can see one. Probably not going to find much here in belgium (asus doesn't even have a belgian website)

 

No.. the first generation of MCE may have been based on home, but the last two versions have been based on Pro.

 

and Asus doesn't really put junk software on there systems at. all, Asus and Fujitsu are really good about not including a bunch of useless stuff.

you would definitely want to stick with media center

 

Any update on when the W2j's will be in? or when they can be pre-ordered at least?

 

In the Netherlands, the W2J will be available begin march. According to the latest news from proportable(sticky) it will be available late-march in US

 

hmmm that's good to know. But let me clarify (forgive me for being slow)

I'm probably going to use W2 series for running engineering simulation, play MP3 and heavy on games. And the problem with sounds, if I just play the music off the laptop it will sound whatever the rate that MP3 is encoded, lower frequency=crappy sound and higher frequency =awesome sound right? and if I were to plug a normal desktop speaker, 2 channel off course, and a head phone to the laptop the sound quality will be bad no matter the encoding rate?

So for software... I normally do like that other guy when i bought a new computer is to refromate and reinstall everything cause I'm use to seeing Chinese fonts and type Chinese on my computer, and plus majority of the game I play are in Chinese. That's why I always reinstall my own version of window than take whatever the manufacture put in it. The other reason being the manufacture like HP and Dell tend to put Junk in their system so to ease my mind I do a clean isntall.