W1jc - Does anybody have it and is it worth the money?

I consider myself fairly adept at web searching, however i have not been able to gather any info on the w1jc.... what gives?

im very intersted in the battery life... 1.5, 2, 3 hours?
What keyboard layouts does it come in etc. I know you guys are mainly form the US and that the w1jc is not avialeble overther (or so i read in a post), but maybe you know of a page with some additional info.

My alternative to the Asus is the LG S1 Pro. it has many of the same specs, but a louse battery life of 1 hour 50 min...

I hope some of you can help me, thanks in advance

JL

 

Where do you live? Because if you live in North America then you can't get the W1 unless you import it. As for alternatives to the W1 you have the V1JP and G1, and yes the LG S1 aswell. All three of these ensembles are great laptops.

 

The W1 is essentially the W2 in a 15.4" shell, so expect the same quality and all. Though the weight and size is almost the same.

 

The W1JC is one of the most beautiful notebook in existence and the only 15.4" notebook I would buy (as I am a fan of the 14.1" form factor and the W3s).

Does Asus have any plans to update the W1 and bring it to North America?

 

thanks for the replies. I live in Denmark wich makes a danish keyboard configuration highly desirable...
Do any of you have an indication of the battery life of the w1jc?

i must say that the lack of info about the w1jc is amazing. all i have been able to find is basically this forum. many of the othert sites are just Asus promo text and release info... a link to a review would be awsome.

What is the normal size and weight of the power suply for asus machines?
I know of some laptop power suplys that could match the xbox monster adapter anyday...

I have until monday before my computer supplier returns home from vacation... Asus, LG, Asus, LG????-..ararrragg - I never thought shopping could be such hard work.

 

there is a review on http://www.notebookjournal.de/forum/showthread.php?p=32217 (german). The reviewer says that the battery life is about 3h with wLAN turned on.

I tried to translate it with google but the result is pretty disappointing ^^
http://translate.google.com/transla...&hl=de&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&prev=/language_tools

anyway, if you have any specific questions I will happily translate the according part of the review for you (I assume you don't speak German).

 

If you can read German, the following thread also has a lot of relevant information: http://www.notebookjournal.de/forum/thread2605-1.html

There are several Danish suppliers that has it on their pricelist ( http://www.edbpriser.dk/Products/Listprices.asp?ID=219453), but when I asked around in the beginning of the month, noone was able to tell me when they could deliver it, and one claimed that it was no longer made. Currently Getmore.dk claims to have it in stock, so you might ask them. Otherwise (as I mentioned in a PM), several German suppliers sell it and both lapxpress.de and nutrius.de will happily replace the keyboard with a Danish.

 

Hi there

I'm from Denmark too, and I've had my V1Jc for about 3 months now - with danish keyboard and all.

My first impressions were not that good. I had a V6J before, so the size and weight of the W1Jc was quite different.

It's a bit fat around the edges, but that put a side it's a beautiful machine. Hatchless design and hinges incorporated in the actual machine and not in the screen as most other laptops. Overall it resembles a Macbook in a lot of aspects. I had a friend of mine (a Macbook owner) commenting on it, and she (yes - a female ) mentioned that it has a lot of the same qualities as a Macbook, without it being one. She was impressed by the aluminum around the keyboard and the slot-in drive (Macbook) and also by the latch on the left side hiding the expansion slots (whicj is closed using magnets like with the panel).

My laptop came with Windows XP Pro preinstalled, which most high-end Asus laptops do. Sadly that also included all the preinstalled bulk crap Asus believes us high-end users can't live without ie. Norton Internet Security.
Since I'm a student at the danish IT University I could get Windows Vista Business for free as a student license, which I quickly came around installing.
With Vista installed (ignoring all the quirks with drivers etc.), it really becomes a lot closer to being a Macbook. Even though I'm far from impressed with Vista, but probably will be in time, the machine handles it very well performancewise.

The overall performance of the machine is not bad.
It's an Intel Centrino Core 2 Duo @ 2.17 GHz (T7400) and 2 GB RAM (might vary), which is a lot considering it's a laptop.

For graphics you have to settle with an ATI Mobility Radeon X1600 with 256 MB VRAM. I haven't been a huge fan of ATI since their new control panel was made using the Microsoft.NET Framework. I might be oldfashioned, but hardware developers should not have to rely on .NET! Furthermore I think it's ugly, bloated and very unstructured (why, oh why didn't they include a nVidia card instead).

The screen is absolutely gorgeous! It's a crystal clear 1680x1050 widescreen, so if you're wearing glasses, you might have to get them ajusted - the resolution is very high for a 15.4" screen!

The tv-tuner is neither bad nor great. It is the AVerMedia M103 which has some nice features like hybrid tuning (both digital and analog), teletext, stereo FM radio etc. The only thing that bothers me now is that Windows Vista Business doesn't include the media center stuff and since the included version was XP Pro I will only be entitled to an upgrade to Vista Business through the Asus Vista Upgrade Program, which I don't understand since the laptop pretty much is a media center PC.

The sound was actually what suprised me the most. The integrated "sub-woofer" really does a great job enhancing the overall experience of the speakers making it more full in spectrum. You should not expect a disco coming out of the thing, but it can play rather loud maintaining a nice sound.
The drivers are from Realtek and are ofcourse High Definition. I believe there is full hardware acceleration, but I can't tell for sure (even though it's been known to be integrated on the mainboard).
Theres support for Dolby Digital Live (5.1 Surround) in digital output and something called Dolby Home Theater, which allegedly should make virtual surround from just two speakers. I haven't tried any of that yet, so I can't tell you if it's actually working (but I do believe them).

As for other pheriphals you'll get Bluetooth 2.0 (Toshiba) and Wireless LAN (Intel 3945 ABG). Theres integrated 4-in-1 multimedia card reader supporting the standards (MMC, SD, MS, MS-PRO), three USB 2.0 ports, one firewire, a standard VGA port, tv-tuner antenna port, modem (why!?) and LAN connections, DV-in, S-video out and mini-jack connectors for headphones, microphone and aux. Besides the antenna and DV-in it's all the same as other high-end laptops.

The battery is not very powerful, and if you're lucky you can get about 2,5 hours from it. I haven't calibrated it yet, so I have no idea whether that is standard or not - it's just a bit less that what I would expect from a laptop nowadays. That said, it could also very well be Vista eating up some more juice.


A few things I have noticed is that some of the keys on the keyboard is a little loose. I have fixed it, but it wasn't easy. The on-switch has an orange light, which might be annoying to some, but I find it a bit more pleasing that the blue light in some of the other laptops I have come across. I would, however, wish that Asus made a subtle white light. It would fit this particular machine a lot better than orange.

The microphone, speaker and aux jacks are placed on the center-front. I find this particular design-choise a bit annoying since it makes it difficult to sit upright with the machine on your lap while using headphones. Ofcourse the idea is that you will sit with the machine some part away when using it to watch films and such, but in a train that space isn't there.


Overall I am pleased with the W1Jc, but I do have some issues with the weight and the design not being very slim. That put a side, the design is very streamlined and it does look cool/good on the desk. The screen is nice and the aluminum around the keyboard really makes this machine stand out from the crowd.
I have though come to that conclusion that it is much more of a multimedia PC than I need. I am a software developer and I don't use the tv-tuner at all. The media center functions are nice, but it's not what I need.

I guess my advice is that you really have to consider what you need before buying this laptop. It's a nice machine, but it relyes heavily on it's multimedia functionality.

/Kenneth

 

Wow, thank you for all your replies - and thanks for the review Kenneth.

Circumstance has sort of made my choice a bit easier. My cpu pusher returned home yesterday and informed me that the W1jc is not availeble to him...

Since im the old fashioned type who likes to have some one to blame when my computer doesnt work, i prefer to buy face to face. Shouting at an online FAQ doesnt relly do i for me.

So LG S1 Pro it is. Hopefully i will recevie it tomorrow.
Reading your review, i fell i have made the right choice. The LG is leighter and less bulky.

Thanks again. Ill make sure to recomend this forum, great help.
Positive bit.
JL

 

Yeah, well, looking at the LB S1 doesn't make me regret my choise of the W1Jc... I guess it's a matter of oppinion, but the LG seems a bit to much plastic. The absolute top reason for me to choose Asus was the aluminum and the carbon design. It is indeed a bit heavier and a little bigger, the difference is still in favor of the Asus.

Again, it's a matter of oppinion... In any case good luck with your new laptop!