W2V Keyboard Replacement

Hi,

I just bought an Asus W2V like a couple of other people on this forum. I got the 1.86/512 version from Germany too. I just had a couple of questions about English-ising my new toy.

Firstly is there any way to use the restore disks/partition to convert to an English version of XP?

Secondly is it viable to have the keyboard replaced with a US-English version? I've done some web searches and noticed that there are plenty of replacement Asus keyboards out there. Does anyone know if the keyboard in my W2V is the same as any other models? I'm really only interested in buying a new genuine one or one that's better than the original. I'm not too keen on putting a crappy aftermarket thing on my nice new laptop

Other than that so far I'm very impressed. It's a bit tardis like in that it seems quite reasonably sized when closed up and in the bag but freaking huge when open on the desk. Compared to the 12.1" Acer I have been using the difference is almost comical. It's a really usable screen size for all around entertainment and work (CAD) which is exactly what I wanted.

One minor question. In the bottom right corner of the Portugese review posted by someone else there's a aluminium looking thing. Does anyone know what this is? I didn't get one with mine and I'm curious.

Thanks,

Phil

 

That would be an external harddisk and is supposed to be an accesoire with his W2V but those accesoires differ from each deployment area. So the Netherlands will not get the same as Sweden and the USA will also get different ones.

Can you give us some info concerning heat/noise and performance?

Thanks

 

Thanks for that. I actually noticed the reply in the thread I was referring to just after I asked the question. Shame I didn't get one but with 80gig in the laptop and my 200gig external usb2 drive I think I should be OK for now ;-)

I'll give you a more thorough review when I've got an English OS on here and I've had a chance to check it out properly but initial impressions are pretty good so far.

As someone else mentioned the fan is a constant background noise but I don't find it irritating. It's not very loud at all and is actually less noticeable than most desktop hdd's much less their cooling fans. Unfortunately the DVD drive is pretty noisy. Most computer drives are really I guess and it's not an issue if you're watching a movie at normal volume or are a little way away from the computer but if you're watching one very quietly and are pretty close then the noise can become a bit instrusive.

The heat is also not an issue at all. I've had it running on my lap for around two hours now and it's barely even warm underneath. I'm quite suprised actually it seems to run cooler than the slow 4 year old Acer I've been using up until now. The battery life is pretty good too. Over 3 hours for average web browsing etc. I haven't got any games or CAD software on here yet so I'll let you know how heavy use effects the battery life when I've had a chance to test it out.

Hope this helps a bit and I'll give you more useful information as soon as I've go everything up and running properly.

Phil