W3J Advance Order Thread

Someone who had there preorder canceled should order one and see if they get it.

 

Clearly there are positives and negatives about being in business and carrying only products you would use and limit those products to only one company who you feel is worthy..... because there are far more highs and far more lows and everything you do is based on what's in stock and when new shipments are arriving.

However, on the other hand, it's my job and has been for many years to know their products inside and out and have the most up to date information..... no one else can be on my level in that respect because no one else would limit themselves to such a specific line of products.

 

Well, my order's been voided, but I think the situation has been handled really well. My research hasn't turned up anything I'd like more than the W3, but concern over whether I'd get the product I had actually ordered has been a little worrisome over the last couple of days. This way I don't have to worry about it, and I still have the opportunity to get in on the ground floor if my expectations are met. Good call Justin. (Though I imagine you're forever done with 'advanced orders'.)
That said, do you expect definitive knowledge of the W3's specifications will be hazy until you actually have the machine in your hands? Given' the fast one they pulled with the W2jb you'd think this possible, but I imagine Asus would try to alleviate such problems after you cancelled your shipment. Obvious question, I know, but I'm living with computer withdrawal syndrome and I need some morphine.

 

Learning from ASUS faults [and inconsistencies], maybe we can bring our side of business to a level norm now… and should I say it... eliminate pre-order wars down the road?

 

Until Asus becomes more dependable or gives one an indication that they will actually fulfill on their promises I think that would probably be the best COA speaking as a consumer. I've preordered things before but I've never preordered something that changed specs and I've never been this much in the dark about it. That isn't the resellers fault. They are doing everything they can. But this situation has probably caused more anxiety than it was worth (from my perspective anyway). My order has been processed and I am not exactly comfortable with it for the same reason Justin isn't comfortable in processing the remainder of the pre-orders. My faith is basically placed in him to do the right thing should an issue arise and everything he has done so far leads me to believe he would be fair. The stinker is that he shouldn't have to be in that position and I shouldn't be anxious, I should be excited, thats what sucks.

 

Hi guys

Just wondering how well will X1600 be able to handle WoW and GW, as well as other games out there, like FEAR, Doom etc.

Thanks,
Vasyl

 

Exactly... at least you have good middlemen to depend on.
You can't say that for ASUS right now...

 

I think Zipzoomfly are liars.

 

I just called ZZF as well and the rep told me that ZZF rarely stocks any laptops. The "takes one to two days to ship" thing means that ZZF actually gets these from the manufacturer upon the order, and ship them to you once they get it from the manufacturer. She assured me that this wouldn't take more than 5 days to ship. However, since they don't actually have any in stock, this leads me to believe that ZZF simply has the incorrect information. Whereas they think they can get the W3J from the manufacturer once a customer places an order, in reality the manufacturer don't have any to ship to them yet.

 

vasylko, X1600 FTW, "hunter weapon" LOL j/k

I play (used to play) on a Geforce 4 ti 4200 128mb, getting around 20 fps. With low settings.

With the X1600 you will be able to play at max resolution, and all settings at max and turned on. The game will look so smooth and great!

Um, when your in Orgr or Storm city, you'll prolly only get internet lag, no video slowness, cos the X1600 is powerfull enough to handle those cities.

Thanks,

MysticGolem

 

Hang in there Justin...Thanks for the updates. There is no anxiety on my end as a result of your decisions. Good job.

 

Thanks MysticGolem for your response. I guess I will wait and see when this laptop comes out.

Sorry but I did not get a joke about "hunter weapon". That is OK, I do not take offense for jokes, especially when I have no idea what they are about.

Again, appreciate your help

Vasyl

 

I would have to agree, I bet if you ordered one they would keep on extending the delivery date, either that or they are inporting them from Europe, which I doubt.

I have purchased stuff on web sites before where the expected delivery date kept on bumping a week at a time, until the point it was over a month since I placed the order and the web site was still displaying 2-4 days delivery???needless to say after a month I cancelled.

Someone should do it....... just to find out, but I bet we would get our W3J's from Justin first.

Regardless of what the spec will eventually be, I still want mine!

 

99 % is prety dam good, anyway with any situation (group of people) you will always get 1-2% of the population are crack pots!

I have dealt with public consultation (presentation of designs to communities), some of the stories I have..... you always get one or two in a meeting that will get up and make some random mental comment, its not their fault.... they are just stupid.

Anyone who has any intelligence, and knows anything about how Asus distribute, knows that whatever happens, it is Asus’s fault. I just wish there was a way all of us could contact Asus and let them know what we want, it’s like a dictatorship, we just have to sit and take it. This is the only thing I don’t like about Asus.

Kia Kaha

 

Yeah, well the problem is that Asus' personal branded notebook bussiness is such a small part of what they do on a whole (growing and certainly big in it's own right... just looking as at it as a huge company)........ Fremont is technically Taiwan's end user and the ONLY ones they are remotely responsible to. Asus has the capabilities of pumping out 1,000's of notebooks a day (not all of them are their own brand of course), but their subsidiaries around the world are in a way their clients..... The big way that Fremont has fought back in the past is by not ordering a notebook in which they feel isn't up to their standards, or Taiwan won't let them order in a certain way. Taiwan will push them and say they really want them to put this into that market, but they aren't going to get anything if they won't pay for it. On the other hand, if there is a mistake (on purpose or by accident), and the notebooks ship and get to California. Asus really only has one option... make the best of it and sell them and try to get a discount from Taiwan for the change. Otherwise, if Taiwan would even take them back (and lets imagine it's at no cost), there is still the cost of shipping to the US (which the US already paid for and has to eat) and then there is the import duties (which will already be paid) and then there is the shipping costs back to Taiwan and probably even more taxes there... who knows...... I just know that it's so ridiculously expensive that they have no choice but to make the best of it.

 

I keep hoping against hope that they somehow are shipped and received sooner than the ETA.

Justin and/or anyone with a similar experience w/ them in the past with a new model, is there ANY chance that we could get surprised and see them ship sooner...or does past history show that to be unlikely (and should I stop dreaming)? There doesn't seem to be a real good channel of communication going on so I'm just wondering out loud.

 

You should stop dreaming. Getting here before this latest ETA is possible, considering Asus is expecting them in their office on the 22nd and have given everyone else an ETA to Fremont as the end of the Month....... so, technically they should get here sooner, but I'm still not going to budge from the Early June ETA we've moved to, just in case. The fact is, as of Friday night, they still haven't left Taiwan.

... and in case you haven't been following..... Taiwan doesn't give any information to Fremont and they basically have to beg for what they're getting. I don't think you understand that Taiwan doesn't give a **** about people who are on an advanced order list and frankly... neither does Fremont. Until the unit is in and sku'd up..... the product doesn't exist in their minds.

 

In Ogrimmar in peak hours(Near bank and AH), the x700 + 1gb ram performs really well at max settings, with an average fps of 35-38.

 

Is a dream the same as a nightmare? - LOL!

Good enough and just curious...that's for the update as of Friday. I wish Asus Taiwan loved us.

 

I wish they just had a heart...or a soul....

lol j/k

 

I didn't feel like making a new thread, so I'll just ask here.

I've been researching laptops for a while, and figured I want to get an Asus W3j. Just want to know if I order it now from a site like ProPortable, will it still arrive in June, or will I have to wait longer?

 

You will receive it....when it comes. None of the dealers have an exact date, and are only given ETA's by Fremont. It comes when it comes, the dealers have little to no control.

 

If we are lucky they will be here before July, but I doubt we are lucky.

 

Check with Justin to see if he has any spots left in the first shipment...I bet some of the people originally reserving one have gone in a different direction.

 

It's no problem for the most part, I just need it before August. Maybe I'll send Just off a PM.

 

Pre-orders are done for Proportable but there should be units available when the shipment comes in (which hopefully should be soon).

 

There is a batch of die hards that still have orders....... then there is a huge batch that we cancelled for a couple reasons.... those people are going to have first chance to get back in line once the units come in..... after that, everyone else is fair game and the page will open back up. I wouldn't say July, but anything I do say may come true..... Once stock is available and everyone else with orders are satisfied, normal shipments will take place and stock should be ok for a little while.

 

Whats all the ETA changes anyway. Is it just a shipping problem? They are built arent they?

 

Canadacomputers just listed the W3J on their site at $1999 Canadian. It's not saying they have them instock, but they usually don't list something until It's VERY close to arriving or has arrived...take that for what It's worth

 

I have a good feeling about our chances with this latest ETA. First of all, as Calibrated noted, some other places are getting notices up. The s96 has shipped with x1600s so there shouldn't be a problem iwith a shortage. And now the a8 is just about here and it is a similar 14" offering. Plus, throw in Justin's rejection of the w2. They've kept us in the dark/yanked our chains long enough. Hopefully we will have them in our hands that first week of June.

Johnny, I think what Justin has been telling us is that they have been built. But if they have, why are they sitting in the factory collecting dust?

 

Im getting 2 gigs of ram, 3 year warranty, the optional high density arctic silver 5 processor thermal compound paste, keeping the 1.83(T2400) and keeping the 100GB 5400. (I dont feel like upgrading to 7200 is worth it).
The only thing I'm worried about is the graphics card, but the 2 gigs combined with the Hypermemory feature will hopefully be able to handle anything I throw at it. BTW this is my first notebook. yay!!!!!
Im hoping to keep this laptop for at least 5 years. Is it future-proof enough?

 

I don't think ANY laptop is future proof enough for 5 years...at least not to be able to handle the latest and the greatest games...etc.

If you mean will it last you 5 years for what you need it for...well...that depends on how you're going to use it. I'd say 3 years is about the prime life for a well equipped laptop.

While it's always hard for me to see into the future, it's especially cloudy with all of the new Intel and AMD chips coming out, Vista...etc.

 

Personally, the reason that I'm not getting an extended warranty with mine is because I want to upgrade the cpu in about a year to the 64-bit merom chip (which voids your warranty)

 

Has anyone proven that the Memron upgrade is possible?

 

with all due respect.... how the hell are they going to prove it? Prototype chips haven't been sent out and besides the fact that intel claims it's the same pin count... same socket...... There's really not going to be a way to "prove it" till it comes out and someone tries it. In my opinion, if the pin count and socket are the same... and the voltage is the same.... it's probably set up to work since it will be on the 945 chipset. However, a bios update to enable 64bit is probably going to be needed, but that'll be out whenever they refresh the models for them (by the end of the year).

.... the biggest thing I want to stress is that you can't believe anything intel says because they control what happens and they put a lot of stuff out there after distributors and companies commit to the "new" cpus and chipsets... they come out and start ramping up to the next thing. Intel can't lose money, but the companies can... so they may leak things here and there and various websites may say certain things, but till the cpus are out, no one can say for sure and they'd be dumb to say different.

 

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=49139

according to this, it's possible. though no word on 64-bit support

 

... well without 64 bit support... it would be dumb to upgrade it, wouldn't it? Anyone looking to make that upgrade, I certainly wouldn't do it within a year... it really makes no sense and until there is a good amount of 64 bit software, it's just a waste anyway.......

 

i completely agree...i definitely wouldn't upgrade to merom and void my warranty just to boost performance on an already fast cpu....this is why i'm hoping to wait until summer next year to purchase.

 

My guess is that we dont have that much 64bit software during 06 and that it aint worth to get true 64bit support until 07. And if you realy need 64 bit support sooner you could always get a few bucks on ebay for your used laptop and buy a new one that satisfy your demands then.

I orderd a w3j earlier today here in sweden and i think that it will take me in to 07 without problem. The only bugger is the price with the current exchange rates to usd. Feel a bit ripped of here in sweden when you will be able to get it for about 700$ less. But i guess its something with the taxes that makes the difference so big.

 

I would have to agree, and from what I have read its one thing even waiting for Vista (which all of the reviews I have seen so far, it is a bit of a system hog) and then you will have to wait for software developers to upgrade their software to take full advantage of the 64bit OS, which is going to be well into 2007.

 

IMO, 64 bit is too far ahead of us right now. 64 bit will get popular in around 2 years. So buy what you can afford now and think about the 64 bit issue later. Maybe then you can afford another one or better yet, you'll find out you don't even need 64bit!

 

Based on software release, Vista will be in it's first service pack before 64bit programs of popular software are even out...... so that puts the start of even being useful, at least two years down the road. I personally think, regardless of when it becomes available, it will be highly unused and another new cpu will be out before 64bit really takes off..

 

Any updates for N.A.? Confirmation that the units have been built and are en route? Final (final) specifications? Anything? I'm feening.

 

Asus is done updating......... if they show on time, they show on time... if not, then they'll update. Keep in mind that it's a Monday and they just got to work 20 minutes ago.... and usually I find they're in meetings for the first hour or two of the day anyway...

... but nothing's new on the W3j front.

 

Well I guess its all a waiting game at this point. Would be nice to know if the W3J's shipped. Is no news, good news?

 

I would say no news is good news considering that every bit of news we've had has pushed the unit back.

 

.. my thoughts exactly.... if we could jinx it anymore.... I think we could push it back. Asus wants to buy back the A8jm's they shipped us as they've decided not to sell them in the US........ so they're really focusing on the W3j.... I don't want to make any guesses at this point, but we can't get them in any faster than they're going to come in.

 

It is interesting that most of the Asus resellers list the W3j as "in stock", but when called, can't confirm it or say the information is errant and it is in fact, not "in stock". I spoke with one in Nevada, he said he expected shipment on Friday, but now he expects it the first week in June (as Justin's been telling us for a while now) He said that the reason he's getting for the delay is that Intel is lowering the chip prices. He said that Asus is waiting for the prices/supply to sort out. He said that they should start building them at the end of this week/next week. Don't know if he knows what he's talking about or what, but thought I'd pass on the info.

 

That line is actually a line a bull...... Intel reimburses Asus much like they do this chip distributors.... Asus gets a credit for cpu cost based on current price..... so even if they built them a month ago, their cost for the cpus are based on when they are going to release. They can release them a couple weeks early if they wanted... but their build time (within a certain timeframe from cpu drop) automatically allows them to set the pricing......... So, believe it if you want, but the plan for the last month and half has been to include the 1.8ghz for what the 1.6 costs now....... so we're not going to see any change on the W3j side at this time and that's not the hold up... they still haven't made it to port.