W3J Advance Order Thread

::shrugs:: I'm not really worried about it one way or the other, however since they both are working off the same chassis I'd imagine it's easy enough to mass produce the parts and just coat them with different finishes

 

Ok.... I've got good news and bad news........ Today Asus finalized everything with the W3 and W2 shipment.......

good news first.... our allocation was increased which means that the advanced order for guarenteed first shipment has been reopened and there are are roughly 100 more open spots.

With regard to the W2j - Asus says that will get an SATA hard drive (as opposed to PATA)... the W3j will still have PATA, but the W2j has been upgraded....... Till I see it, I won't believe it, but Asus did confirm it and the official specs for the system also shows SATA...

the bad news.... Asus has confirmed that given their shipment date (which is supposed to leave tomorrow), we're looking at them arriving into customs during the first couple days of the month, which puts them a few days off from getting to Asus, and then a few days for them to get here. My best estimate would see us shipping on the 8th or 9th....... not all that bad, but I know that some of you have or need changes to your orders if you can't recieve it before the 10th..... right now I think it's safe to say you won't be getting it by the 10th.

....... anyone with orders who have questions - just drop me a line.

...... anyone still looking to get in on that first shipment, since our allocation has been increased, I'll reopen the NBR promo for $50 of the order......

Coupon Codes (must be entered in the coupon code section of the order form):
50W2JNBR - $50 off W2j - good till allocation fills up of 4/28 - whichever comes first.
50W3JNBR - $50 off W3j - good till allocation fills up of 4/28 - whichever comes first.

 

Thanks for the update Justin. Atleast now we know how long we have to wait. I know i keep mentioning this and it will be the last time i mention it, but when should I expect my credit card to be charged.

 

About 1/2 of them are processed.... I honestly have a hard time putting names to forum handles, so I'm not sure if I got to yours yet or not, but I'm trying to get them done in my free time and now that we're going to have more coming in and the advanced order was reopened.... I need to get all the old ones done or I'm going to really get backlogged....

 

Hey, thanks for the update.

 

For those who don't know yet, you can get on our W3J priority list for free.
Once they come in, you'll receive a VIP purchasing page that guarantees you'll get one.
If you do not end up purchasing within 24 hours after receiving your VIP link, your unit will default to the main stock and create more stock for everyone else at the main W3J purchasing page.

This will give people who do not have enough money for a pre-order to save up until they arrive.

To get your name on the list, please send me an e-mail and I will take care of you.

 

Makes alot of sense. Most of us who pre-order and get charged now will have to pay their bill before they get the laptop to avoid interest. That doesn't make any sense at all, even if it takes justin sometime to do pre-orders. I hope that will be changed or you might get alot of business c9.

 

Yeah.... Anyone who pre-ordered did so with the understanding that all orders were getting processed... nothing is changing and anyone who has a problem with that can get off our list and go anywhere they like. I have processed more advanced orders than I'd like to and I know I said this last year, but I'm not doing this again by myself.... We sold out of our original guarenteed allocation in four days and it's taken me 14 days to process half of them. Sasha can copy and paste his same offer in every W3 thread and I hope people take him up on it.... although I wrote it off before, this time it's obvious that it's directed at me and I want to point something out.

There should be no charge to get on a list....... these people have placed orders for guarenteed units, so they can put the pressure of getting that order in behind them and get a bonus little promotion for doing so. Their orders are in and when they get here, we actually ship them. So having things ready beforehand really helps when you have ten times the amount of systems going out in one day than you usually have. half of the orders were physically processed while we were still under the impression that they would arrive by the next week. This didn't happen and everyone who has placed an order not only understood that it was an estimate, but they understood and accepted to pay now. Now, granted, giving a link that allows people to start ordering once they are released is a decent idea, if we did that we'd be processing this first shipment until sometime in mid-june. Anyone with an order can still cancel without a charge I said they could if the ETA went into May, but please don't try to make people believe advanced ordering them from us is "costing" them anything..... most all of them actually got a discount for advanced ordering.... so I think it's actually the other way around.

Please though... anyone with an advanced order who wants to complain at all, don't hold it in or post in the forum, please drop me an email asap..... I don't have any qualms with voiding out your order, only with people who agree with terms until they decide they don't want to anymore. For that matter, anyone who can't be charged until closer to the ship date, I'd be happy to put you on a list as well, but unfortunately you're already behind everyone else who has had orders in for a couple weeks and anyone else who physically places an order. However, if there are more units left once the shipment arrives, you could certainly be the amoung the first to get what's left.

 

Even though the W3J comes with PATA drive, can you tell us if the W3J will support SATA? (I thought I read somewhere that it doesn't??)

Cheers

 

Justin, thanks a lot for that update. People should know that patience is typically required in these new product launch situations, but obviously not everyone has experienced them before. Backlash can kill a new product if its rollout isn't done properly and if the product has problems after release, so I'm sure ASUS missed its initial shipment date because they were getting specs finalized, price points set, all manufacturing properly QCed, etc. All just part of the process.

I preordered mine a while back with all of those understandings just as you said. I think it's just that people are getting antsy for their new lappies -- I'm pretty anxious myself (esp. considering my current rig is being held together by duct tape, literally). When everyone finally gets their opiates, er, W3Js then they'll settle down.

 

Justin,

No need to defend yourself.
We're just offering a different way of what you're already doing.
We do not like doing any sort of pre-order, so this helps avoid that while still offering customers a similar service.
It just helps with those who do not want to put down payment before the item arrives in the US.

To the people waiting and getting anxious... calm down.
They get here when they get here, only a few weeks left.

Thanks,

Sasha

 

Yeah, you and like... I'd say at least a half dozen other forum members are literally sitting with their current computers on life support.... It's all gotta be taken in stride.

 

At least we are looking at a more solid date now.

 

Cool - is someone handing out opiates?

Seriously though...I'm buying things for a laptop I don't have yet - the madness has to stop (before my bank stops me from taking out money).

 

I am also buying things for a laptop that I dont have yet.

I actually had a dream about getting my laptop last night - it is getting out of control quick.

 

I DID TOO!!
Dreamt that the vendor received it and I was going to go get it... woke up and started crying.. hahaha

 

****... the W3J has a fix on you.

 

wow, u guys are really freaks

 

This is nothing compared to the wait for the Logitech v400 mouse.

7 months later(7 MONTH(aka 210~ days of waiting), with a thread with 590+ posts and just under 50000 views.

Now those are freaks!




Wait....

 

Well check this out it my laptop must be 6-7 years old, it has a PII 300mhz 192mb RAM, 64bit graphics with 2MB VRAM!!! and the scary thing is that when it was new it was worth over $7000 NZD and I brought it one year old for $5200 NZD!, now its probably worth.... $20??

I tell you though its is a testament to the old Compaq Armada range, it has taken a thrashing I have left it running every night for the last 4 years downloading (as we have only just got broadband) now it is my email/download/picture storage device, but can still run Photoshop, AutoCAD, 3D vis Cool edit and Soundforge, although it now runs win2000 the 192mb RAM dosent go far, and xp is just useless on it.
I have only taken it in to get serviced twice in its lifetime! it has a 100gb seagate drive now so passing time is a bit easier till I get my W3J
I have been reading review magazines for over 18 months before making a decision, but that makes the witing ever so more exciting?Painfull?, but the W3J will be worth the wait!

 

I just saw that thread, I had no idea so many people took notice of the v400, I'm looking forward to trying it out also.

 

Well, I guess I jinxed myself. My Acer tm630 just died last night. Pfft, gone. Won't boot or power on. Well, the thing is over 4 years old and took a beating in law school. Not as old as yours though -- geez, your rig is hurtin'. Mine was a P4 (not P4M/Centrino, so it doubled as a space heater), 256MB RAM, integrated graphics, and a battery killer (fried one every 6 mos after the first died 2 1/2 years in). Backup external HDD was the best thing I ever got for it!

So now just waiting for the W3J. Patiently. It's not Justin's fault, or really even Asus's, that this launch wasn't picture perfect, so I'm staying calm about it. I think there are those who are just excited and anxious, and then there are those who ran out of Prozac and thus can't understand why their laptop is not teleported to their doorstep the instant they preorder it. Most of us (hopefully) are in the former category. I've got at least another 3 months of Prozac left in my cupboard. Woo hoo!

 

One very good thing about the delay is the Config bump that's a super bonus. They didnt even dent the price when they did the Config bump. But honestly it wont be long now its seriously almost at our doorstep.

 

You know what..... there are a lot of pain in the asses who have been complaining since I reopened the w3j advanced order page (this is only meant to offend people who know this is referring to them), but people don't like being way down a list, even when it means shipping within 2-3 days from the shipments........ which are ones that were ordered weeks ago.

... is it just me, or do the guys in the top 50 (mainly the hardcore forum guys and gals) at the very least deserve a little something extra for getting their orders in early? I mean it's going to be impossible (even though I'm trying) to get ALL of the advanced orders out on the first day...... but right now I'm shooting for a max of 3 shipping days, with two fedex trucks coming each of those days in order to take care of the already ordered systems..... Now some have expressed their concern for actually placing an order which will get processed shortly....... but for all of those with the understanding that me getting through the processing now means that we can ship all of these units in a matter of a few days rather than what would take a few weeks...... I appreciate it your understanding..... Last year's W3v orders were processed once they hit shore and I had 4 days between then and when they got here and had to get out..... I honestly put in 3-4 18 hour days during that period and swore never to do it again...... so getting through the orders now is certainly a help as they'll be ready to go ASAP.

 

There are definitely a couple of sayings applicable to this situation ... "Don't kill the messenger" and "don't look a gift horse in the mouth." Justin, your diligence and generosity are appreciated.

 

haha.... I wasn't going to say that, but, thanks I guess.

Unfortunately a few people did need to cancel because of the delay, but on the bright side, a few people move up in line a bit.

 

I second beyond's words and will extend my thanks also. I don't mind being charged early and I agree that those that have been diligently visiting these forums in anticipation for the release of the w3j or any other product deserve to have it shipped ASAP. If that means paying for an idea with pictures (for thats all I know of its existence) before I actually have it that is fine by me. It isn't like we didn't know the procedure when we decided to pull the trigger (unless you had difficulties locating the "coupon code" button but that is neither here nor there). I would hope that people aren't *****ing just because of the delays. We knew we were operating according to an estimated time of arrival I assume.

On a side note, they have shipped right?

 

Mm... i'm still waiting patiently for a few more reviews before I decide to purchase this. I want to make sure this batch doesn't have any flaws in them such that they will need to release another revision.

 

The shipment is supposedly on the boat, or will be this week, I can't remember the exact day, but it's on the forum somewhere.
Jay

 

I think "shut your pie hole" might also fit. Justin, I have a great idea. How about if the next person to complain "wins" a ProPortable prize and gets to fly to your office (at his own expense, of course), work 24-7 to process all of those preorders for you, work 24-7 when the W3Js arrive to get them shipped out for you, and then gets to take home the very next W3J available (which sounds like the second shipment) for the low low cost of $1799 plus tax.

And as a bonus, he even gets a bread and water diet and leg irons while he works!

 

They should have shipped from Taiwan on Friday or Saturday... Taiwan usually doesn't "confirm" this with Fremont until they're bascally already here if at all... but they were supposed to have left.

A note to vkyosho...... your idea is a good one, but in close to six years asus has never had a physical flaw in any unit that's shipped..... first batch or tenth...... there are always bios' and drivers that are fixed and updated all the time, but that's about the only "danger" in a first batch........ now you're simply dealing with a "refresh" here, so Asus didn't have to take the time to design the system, the just needed to make the new chipset fit inside...... which basically gave them at least size month JUST to work on the biggest change in the unit.... the graphics card. So, I guess everyone should knock on wood or something because I'm bringing this up...... but any flaws in the system are either going to stay there (ie: physically things that can't be changed that are part of the "design"... but none of those have really been mentioned in the year the W3v has been out) or software bugs (ie: a bios or drivers which can and will be easily written and updated if need be).

 

Haha...... maybe I'll work something like that out during the summer months when I'm around more often.... Right now I know I personally can't afford any distractions as I'm currently spending 3-4 days out of the week on the road between here and Boston this week....... and a couple days next week down in DC and the week after that out in the Seattle area visting some clients.... and when I'm back here and when I have free time at night I've been trying to process all the orders, but between the W3's and W2's..... I've got a what would be a solid week's worth of orders for our three sales people...... and I'm trying to do them in my "free time" which is sometime outside of my usual 14-15 hour days.......

..... I bet I could come up with a better contest though.... I wouldn't want to make people feel like it's a pain in the ass to be me.... because it's not... it's just a huge pain in the ass to not control the people I pay and be forced/tricked into working these advanced orders...... 11 months out of the year it's not half bad to be me.

 

By the way, this is an incredible statistic. I have a bit of experience with product roll-out in the electronics industry, and to my knowledge this is an unusually high standard of product quality. They must be QCing the **** out of those units before shipping. Which of course fits with their reputation of having phenomenal build quality all-around. And which might also explain why this first shipment was "late". Fine by me! As many have already expressed on this and other threads, I'd much rather wait an extra few weeks for a problem-free machine than get it early only to have to ship it back to have some component replaced.

 

I'll toast to that.

 

Well Asus has always been ultra conservative.... The W3v and this W3j are the only two units that I've ever felt they put out "ahead of the curve".... packing a 64mb x600 in a new 14" widescreen platform, last year, was unheard of from Asus.... and obviously a 256mb x1600 in this W3j is unreal as well...... but with the W2 series.... Asus took 2 years to see how 17" systems would sell across the board and then only decided to jump in once the platform stuck and the technology allowed them to fit everything they wanted into a chassis no bigger than the 17" powerbooks....... a very hard thing to do when the powerbook was 1/4 of what they now wanted to stick into the W2 and this new model is even better.

Asus knows they're going to have buyers, and anyone who can't wait for their products and will go and buy something else, probably doesn't understand what Asus is about in the first place. Most people... and I'd include mobo's, graphics cards, anything they make in this statement.... if you've ever owned one, you'd never go back to anything else...... and anything you buy, will be Asus if they make it and you can get your hands on it.. Their QC is done on the W3 and that's usually not what holds things up... but if that makes people feel better, then thats fine by me.... and the reason Asus doesn't have more notebooks out around launch time is because they're building launch models for other companies, so they fit their own stuff in when they've got time...

... all in all, I can't imagine another notebook company with a higher percentage of let's call them "more than satisfied customers" than anyone else. Just in this forum you've got to look at all of the people who disappear and never come back again after they buy a system. That's good and bad.... bad for the forum, but good for the product. This forum is the biggest on the site and given the fact that other companies have a lot more "complaints" and "problems" with their systems and do 1,000x the marketing, it's quite surprising that Asus is above Dell and HP in terms of forum use.

 

Can't wait..!!!!

Definitely worth the wait, now I want it more =)

 

I'm having a problem ordering keeps saying declined. I have a 9k limit so i have no idea whats going on

 

This really isn't the place to post that sort of information, but since you did..... if you're using our site anyway and getting a straight "declined" message, that means you don't have the funds available to make the purchase... regardless of your $9k limit.. If you're getting a "declined by fraud service" message it means that your order isn't being accepted due to billing information you entered that is incorrect...... ie: using a work address as the billing address if your home address is the billing address...... your name not being used exactly like it is on the card...... things of that nature.

 

Hey My memory on my motherboard died last year, but the system was so old that I was able to buy an old Motherboard/chassis as a spare on Ebay for 15 pounds!!! and replaced it myself.

Worth looking into, im giving my old laptop to my dad as an email machine, beats throwing it away!

 

If I could actually place an order I would be happy to wait knowing it is only a few weeks to wait.

I am suppoed to be flying out to the US next tuesday for 4-6 months work in California, but due to visa issues, it hasnt been confirmed yet?

Knowing my luck, as soon as I find out, all of the pre-orders will be closed.

People should fell lucky that they even managed to pre order, so if anyone else would like to pull out, I will happily take you're unit!

 

So your not buying it in London? Any specific reasons apart from the price? Did you go down to the shop again?

 

How's the battery life for w3j vs a8j ?

 

Hi there, with Easter break it was a bit disruptive and I have been away with business the last few days, I would have never thought Totenham Court RD would ever compete in price, let alone have it in stock! I just happened to be down there and when he mentioned about getting VAT back, my ears pricked up, but even taking that into consideration, they are still cheaper in the US and beacuse I am lucky enough to be going to the US and that I prefer the US keyboard (it is the same as we have in NZ) is another reason for me buying in the US.

If I was not going to the US I would go to Totenham Court RD, to see the system (its the only way to check out build quality, screen, keyborad, finnish etc) and then I would probably buy from an internet reseller.

www.asuslaptop.co.uk/proddetail.php?prod=Asus_Laptop_W3J-H002P

and cash price is -33 pounds (which is not much of a cash discount) if you live in London, I have been to their premises in Battasea but they have free next day delivery so not really worth the hassle.

It is odd sometimes if you walk in with CASH you can get some deals, but it always pays to shop around.

 

Jackyz, the batterylife on the W3J is around 3+ hours.

We only have 2 people on the forums that have it.

The first one mentioned the batterylife is roughly 3 hours and something minute ( i think 15). this is with a reasonable brightness and with wifi and BT on.

Now a true test would of long batterylife would be something like this.

-Screen should be slightly tweaked to get maximum brightness and clarity at max brightness. Then decrease the brightness untill it useable. maybe 5/8 brightness.

- CPU should be clocked at 800, using the lowest voltage, unfortunately you cannot undervolt the 800mhz clock speed. However one must venture and try to undervolt the next step, which i think is 1000mhz, and hopefully the voltage is lower than of 600mhz. Either way that's all that can be done with the CPU.

- Graphics card should be heavily underclocked to consume the least amount of power possible without hurting the GPU.

- The HArd Drive and Optical drive should be left alone. The optical drive should not be in use.

- No usb devices should be plugged in, also bluetooth should be turned on.

- Wifi should be turned on and should be coupled with light uses, like typing a document, essay, classnote + msn, or something to that effect, quite possibly add music with heaphones.

With all of these things properly taken care of, the W3J batterylife may just hit 3.5 or even come close to 4 hours. But since the models is not out yet in NA, we can't tell.

Expect the a8j to have extremely similar batterylife, except for one thing. Cooling teh a8j may be more effective, causing the fans to run less or at lower rpms.

This is just speculations based on specifications.

Hope this helps.

Thanks,

MysticGolem

 

While I have no doubt that this is a generally accepted way of measuring max battery life, I'd say that it's incomplete. The majority of people who buy a W3J won't be undervolting or underclocking for whatever reason, and also won't be underclocking their GPU. The most helpful tests would give a few different battery life figures, including while using the optical drive (e.g., watching a DVD), gaming, browsing, office apps only. Then maybe run another test while undervolting and underclocking as you suggest to see what effect that has on the baseline battery life (with maybe a note about how it has affected performance). This way different people planning to use their machine for different tasks can gauge whether the battery is enough for them.

 

So you dont recommend buying it from Tottenham court road? Im asking this cause im also eligible for VAT refunds and 11% refund is quite a good deal dont u think? but if u recon that folks at Tottenham are a bit "dodgy" then maybe i should buy it from an online reseller? im quite confused...
cheers!

 

The X1600 dynamically adjusts its clock speed depending on what your doing on the computer there is no need to under clock it.

 

Bump that Johnny

 

rookie yah your rite, people will definately test the battery out in all types of usage.

I was just trying to show how it might be possible to get the max batterylife, but also usuable for light-work loads like note taking and webrowsing...since most of us are students, looking for a notebook.

Johnny, yah im aware the GPU having a dynamic ability to shut down pipelines. The X1?000 series is said to increase batterylife by 10%, because of the 3 power saving features the this series has.

Since i have not played with one, i am assuming by just underclocking it will further help decrease power consumption and increase batterylife.

That's just what i think

Thanks,

MysticGolem

 

Wow! I just read ALL 35 pages of this thread! I have pretty much decided this is the notebook I want , but not quite ready to order. I am really looking at July. Will the demand have died down enough to be able to readily order an in stock unit by then? Of course, I understand that you never know, just a best guess.