W3J Advance Order Thread

I think you'll be fine by then cash...plus there will be some reviews out there that you can read to make sure it's the one for you. Not really sure how plan to use it, but it's a pretty complete little guy.

 

We dont? Ok well then at the risk of sounding like a prick i would like to say I was the first smart dumba$$ who ever started an unpaid pre-order. we got a preorder too with freebies in the original forum the first to offer unpaid preorders for asus laptops. I ll prolly kick my self in the head for allowing more preorders but seeing how most vendors now a days dont play by the rules i will not either. Now that i sunk to new lows all for a quick buck i can happily cry my self back to sleep. Good luck.
PS....Here is a riddle that will get you 100$ off and free shipping on your w3j. Anyone know the first asus vendor who offered a paid preorder 3 months before release making a killing but at the same time outcasting them selves and pissing off every single vendor out there? Yeah i am a little pissed. This is freaking annoying and i am tired of phonecalls and emails asking the same questions over and over. I dont hate pre orders i just hate what they create.

 

Haha... all I'm going to say is that with the amount of orders we got, if we had to wait till release day to process all them, it'd probably take a month to get them all out... maybe two weeks if we shut down the phone lines and didn't take any customers during that period...... I for one am glad I told people not to place orders unless they were comfortable with a wait time and getting their order processed now.... I'm not even through half of them, but I've still got time.... If Asus didn't miss the boat when they did, I'd still be processing orders and even though the first 1/3 would have shipped by now, everyone else would still be waiting...... sooooo whatever.

... oh but eddie... that situation is FAR different...... at the time, 1 we couldn't even guarentee that z70va would even COME out, and 2 It completely stopped sales of the Z70v. We held off on the W3j advanced order until two things happened..... 1 the W3v's were gone, and 2 Asus confirmed the ordered and have a good ETA. The only thing that screwed this up was Taiwan missing the boat and having to wait for the next one..... it sucks but it's not even close to the same situation.....

 

You can run ur biz how you want you have room for error others cant troll around like an inexperienced whore and if they must do it then do it with some class at least. Whatever tickles your pickle. i know before the z70va you nor I nor anyone else had pre orders as far as i recall. Moral of the story we all take a fine example out of one (unnamed mia) vendors extreme greed. It may not be the same situation but the circumstance is the same. I am sick and tired of doing presales work. For the last month i've been on vacation. literally. If it wasnt for customers who don't read forums we would have a quarterly loss instead of gain. In anycase. Let the presales begin. I am with it.

 

I'll agree with you 100% Eddie... We never wanted to start taking pre-orders, but given the situation of the other resellers, there wasn't much of a choice. Customers started asking for it, so we gave them the safest option.
Cheers.

 

Bottom line is that it's good for consumers that are committed in their decision to purchase the computer.

It may create more work for resellers, but hopefully it's good work = $$

 

It's not so much the pre-orders that bother us, just the commitment from the manufacturer when doing them.
Sometimes that's a very hard to do and that's why we did the priority list intstead. It saves time on both sides [just in case something happens]. Now it's safe to say there's not much room for change on the ETA, which is why we went ahead and started processing these [with no issues at all].

As long as we have something solid to fall back on, there are no issues.

 

That's incorrect actually.... we had advanced order for the W5a and V6v last year.... and then obviously for the W3v (which afterwards I said I'd never help run another one)....... but the pains in the butt in the forum and around have been dying for the W3j for a long time and I put it off as long as I could, but people would just call and email everyday just asking to be notified as soon as they could order because they wanted to be at the top of the pile... that gets old and wastes time... honestly..... so if we didn't start taking orders we'd not only have that build up open release, but everyone and their brother calling everyday to find out what the latest news is.

.... No with an unnamed vendor and that certain product...... that crippled Z70v sales (which was only out for a month and half at that time) and blah blah... we know what happened from there. Information was illegally released and people started buying a product which Asus hadn't even done more than consider, let alone confirm they'd even produce..... or obviously have a production day....... don't bring back that memory Ed because gets my stomach in knots.

 

eh well if you cant beat em join them. I am after all a business man just like you.

 

Sorry if I put you off, I would say many places down TCR are dodgy but my main point is at least look at 3-4 resellers before buying and make sure you have at least some knowlede about what you are buying, considering that you cant really go wrong, basically I look at independant reviews and never trust what high street sales people say as 90% is BS.

Considering that, the place I found has the best range of stock and are promoting Asus, ( I noticed a few others including Mirco anvita stocked a good range 3 months ago but now most shops only stock the A6 models?? I suppose in the high street price determines sales).

They have V6Js and W3Js as well as W1, W2, W5 and A series and to be honest with recieving the VAT refund I was very close to buying from him, if I wasn't going to the states and/or if I could not get one of the W3Js from Proportable in the first shipment, I would have brought from them, gettting the VAT back makes it really worth while.

I took his card so have his email, phone no: etc if you want, as I said if you can clam VAT back, Totenham court RD is the cheapest place, I would do it.

Another reason I didnt get one from the UK was that I am leaving in 4 days and dont have the time to transfer all my data, settings and software before I go.

 

W3j is going to come with 2 x 512mb instead of 1 x 1024mb. Asus cites increased cost for the 1gb sticks and more pressure from Taiwan and Intel to push dual channel capabilities.

Anyone who needs to cancel based on this new information can and should email ASAP. It's not the biggest deal in the world, but I'm sure some of you will want to cancel out of spite and then come to your senses and reorder down the road..... I'm not pleased with that as I have a sheet confirming the specs from 3/31 when we opened the advanced order.... Asus doesn't really care about that though.

I put feel I jinx'd this myself...

 

Well looks like it is the same as the W3J here in the UK, it also comes with 2x512, a bit anoying for people who want to max out ram, but at the end of the day its not going to make me cancel.

I mean thnk about it.......you cant really complain, I mean how many laptops come with 1GB RAM now days.... not a lot, and I think, for most people it is a good start, especailly for those who do not need to upgrade.

What is the resale value of 2 x 512 sticks?? because I am still going to upgrade to 2gb.

Can you confirm the HDD speed, in the UK they have 4200rpm, I hope you are still getting the 5400rpm?

 

I wouldn't sell the 2x 512 stick because when you have to send out your system for warranty repairs (let's hope you don't have to) Asus wants it to have all the original parts installed.

 

Albeit disappointing, certainly not worth cancelling the order over, in my opinion. So, what are the chances that since we're getting a similar config to the UK model that we'll get a bluetooth mouse thrown in the mix? (Unlikely, but hey its worth a shot!)

Have the changes been announced post-shipping from Taiwan, or does this mean the shipment was held back still?

Still anxiously awaiting my W3j! Hmm... maybe I can afford some more ram?

 

hmm.... dont mean to cause more distress but u guyz should definitely check up on the HD aswell... it doesnt make sense sending 5400 ones to the US while the rest of the world get 4200..whoops

 

Is it 2x512 677Mhz or 533Mhz?

 

It's 667mhz.

 

I'm interested in the HD question as well...4200RPM (I just puked in my mouth) or the 5400RPMer

 

I'll make this one very clear.. if the W3j's don't come with a 100gb/5400rpm hard drive - I'm going to cancel everyone's orders and tell Asus we're not accepting them....... I don't think THAT will be a problem though. Here are the latest specs and are technically "confirmed" as of today:

 

Ahh this sucks. Oh well thats out of our hands and I can't fault you for passing on what they deemed "confirmed" specs. I honestly wasn't going to upgrade to 2 gb until well down the road anyway (if at all I suppose). Sorry to keep harping a question thats already been asked over and over but any update on whether or not they've actually left yet?

 

is the x1600 256mb with or without hypermemory because i noticed that some notebooks sell the x1600 256mb with hypermemory therefore only having 128mb dedicated and 128 mb shared

 

^ 512MB with Hypermemory...256 dedicated.

 

looks like they changed the model number as well on proportable we were supposed to get the W3J-H009P but now we are getting the W3J-H017P. I wonder what other variations are available, for example what was the model number for the UK version maybe that is the tell all on whether US also got the 4200RPM harddrive.

I was doing a search for the UK W3J and found out that the model number for the W3J's they got is W3J-H002P, however it only listed the hard drive as 100gb it didn't specify the speed.

 

Higher number has to be better!!!!

I went for a walk at lunchtime down to the high street today and can confirm un the UK it has a 4200rpm drive, the model is indeed W3J-H002P

The guy even cracked the chassis to check the RAM and it also has 2 X 512 (667Mhz) RAM, the other concerning thing while I was reading the specs on the train home after work (he gave me an Asus Brouchure) was that the W3J in the UK has the standard bluetooth, not V2.0 with EDR. so big ups to the US

I also looked at the spec list at the rear of the page and it lists the W3J as having the older AC97 Audio chip and have ditcthed the newer Intel HD audio chip, which the W3V had.

Justin can you tell us what audio chip will be in the W3J shipping to the states?

Cheers

 

The extended numbering which is officially being used this year is something we've had for years... those numbers indicate the exact configuration details... Yes, that changed and I guess I'll have to change it on the site and on the news page, but Asus said that number might even change as Taiwan has given them multiple ones depending on the day.

The W3 will have the same sound the W5/V6 have.. I forget, but I can look at them.

 

it seems that i will have to travel to the US now just to get this laptop... not good... but the EXACT specs for the US models are sill not confirmed so u never know...

 

Just a quick question for Justin, although the ram is confirmed, can you confirm that the W3J's are on the boat to the US.

 

Hello, everybody!

Justin, does the screen for w3j actually have high brightness? Or is it just glossy?
The ASUS site said it's crystal bright (or smth like that)...
That can kinda affect my final decision..

Thanks
still :asus:

Thanks again

 

All colorshine screens are also crystalshine screens.... enough said.

 

Well at the end of the day im still getting one, although because I want to record the audio chip was a consideration in purchasing this laptop, the spec here for the UK models, the V6 have got the AC97 chip (one reason I didint get a V6 yet) and the W5 has the Ac 97 chip, so who knows??

Justin this must be causing you such a headache, I just hope poeple dont take it out on you.

What are ASUS thinking???? I would much rather choose a model no: with the exact configuration and hapily wait till it shipped from Taiwan. do you think that would ever be possible? I hate people deciding what is best for me, thats why it has taken me over 18 months to find the right laptop!

Anyway, I suppose you have to take the good with the bad.

 

i was looking at another resellers site 1toppc.com and they list all the specs for the US W3J and according to the specs listed the audio will be Built-in Azalia compliant audio chip, with 3D effect & full dulplex. I'm not sure if that's confirmed though.

 

The funny thing is, I knew some people would cancel.... just because. Whether they were looking for a good excuse or what, I don't know... I mean the system is still coming with a gig a 667 and the only way it screws anyone up is when upgrading the memory... but either way, this is the system and it's all that's going to be offered in the US. A handful of people wanted to cancel, but the funny thing is.... all of their orders were placed within the last week... so they're all low on the list to begin with and the change in configuration the deal breaker.... No offense the die hards who really want the W3 have orders in prior to 4/7...... we all know that.... but the die hards are also the ones who are really going to want to upgrade to 2gb right out of the box...... so I just figured this would hit them harder.... I guess not.

 

hey justin,

i was one of the people who canceled the W3J just because i was looking forward to the A8Jm model... i knew the model itself is not a high-end machine like the w3j but the only reason is because of the price difference, if the difference is 200-300 dollars with same/similar HD/CPU/RAM then i'll probably switch to the a8jm model but any less will probably make me wanna go back to the w3j model for the better build. Is there a definite price range for the A8jM cuz so far i've read it's 1500$

trust me right now i'm torn between these two, just because they're like the best 14" laptops out so far and it fits my requirements perfectly as a student.

 

Fantastic! that means it has the latest Intel HD audio chip, (which I was expecting).

It is quite funny the brouchure I got today is an official Asus UK for April May 2006 and it seems that the specs on UK web sites even differ from this brouchure, maybe its a misprint, i seriously wonder?? god it is so confusing, I didn't realise models changed so much from country to country.

I think in the US you have a better deal than here in the UK, better specified and much cheeper, I don't see why anyone in the US would cancel, I just consider myself lucky enough to be travelling to the states.

 

Right... ok, well it's nice to put a name to a forum handle... Your idea of going to the A8, although I understand you, I know you understood what I said when I told you that the A8 is asus' "mainstream" 14", while the W3 is the "ultra highend" model... at least that's how Asus is going to market them. I didn't think I'd see anyone go from a W3 to an A8... especially since they're on the same boat... but I guess you want to... all I can tell you is that the feel of the W3 alone sets it apart from the A8. However, I think the W3 might have too MUCH graphics punch for the average user and in that case, going to the A8 makes sense, although I have no idea why Asus would say that because the graphics in the A8 aren't going to be that much different than the W3.... but the cost differences comes in with the build costs.... the A8 technically costs more this year than it would next for the chassis itself.... and even though the W3 is in it's second year, it's still going to be quite a bit more expensive than the A8...

 

Yeah Justin!! I was thinking that I wouldn't be using the x1600 to it's full potential.. so why pay for it? Right now I'm just playing WoW and CS1.6...

But since the Z62j (w/ webcam!) might delay to around the same time as the W3j... this is a tough decision, cost is also an issue (that I may be able to deal with )

 

With 2x512 677Mhz it should run in dual channel right? So if you were not planning on upgrading its actually better!

 

That's the key...... Intel wants to push dual-channel and Taiwan therefore wants to push Fremont.... it goes both ways, it really does.... it only sucks for people wanting to go right to 2gb....

 

Justin,

can you confirm what audio chip will be used in the W3J because on the global set it lists the chip as "Built-in Intel® High Definition Audio compliant audio chip, with 3D effect & full duplex" is that correct. I mean if its not I'm still getting the system, but i'm just curious. So i know what specs to expect when I get the system.

 

I know I can answer a lot of questions, but I trust less and less what Asus tells me until I can actually verify it. The intel chip is used on all 945 chipset models if i'm not mistaken... and you could always call Asus up to double check... but that's what's on their website also... and what's in the W5/V6.... so... I'd assume so, but I don't like to assume anything.

 

Just a note:

I know I said anyone who needs to cancel their order based on the new update on the configuration can certainly do so, but I have no interest in listening to reasons why you have to cancel. I'd say they're funny to read, but about 5% of the advanced order customers needed to cancel and I swear to god that at least 10 of them pointed out that they ordered extra ram to get 2gb out of their system and now that's not possible and cited that our site read 1 x 1gb when they made the purchase.

I'd just like to say... no kidding.... I certainly don't mind voiding out some orders becasue of this, but you didn't need a reason to cancel it. I understand and I just feel when I get these "excuses" it's like playing hookie from school and coming in the next day with a nice tan and a fake cough and saying you were sick. I honestly have to say that anyone who needed to give me obvious reasons either didn't think I'd allow them to cancel or think I'm just an idiot... either way, anyone using those reasons - you don't know me or how we work here... and that's a shame... You don't need excuses... excuses actually just tick me off, especially when the the tone of them feels more like the people were lied to rather than them understanding things change which are out of our control.

 

Well this is my first post and I have been lurking around the Asus forum here for a few weeks. This is the first time I have ever dealt with Justin and PROPortable in general. I must say that it has been a great experience. This guy has answered every minor question I have had and several were on the weekend. His employee Sean was also a great help (pass that along please Justin). In my day job I do IT work for a HUGE retail consumer electronics company. D*mn near every single laptop came with 2x512 or 2x256 and they use the cheapest memory possible. When I heard about the memory change I had just placed my order and I was just like "oh..alright, no problem." For people to make a big deal about it and freak out is BS like you said. I think that the large majority of individuals who have pre-ordered from PROPortable are very understanding. They know the difference between an ensemble model that is still going through changes and a user-configured or built-on system. This happens ALL the time with products, I have been in this arena for 9 years, trust me. Justin, thank you for what you are doing here. You could just fade to the back and not communicate everything like you have been, but you have a dedication to your clients and I appreciate that. We all know that you gave ASUS an ear full of four letter words and honestly, there is nothing more that you can do.

 

Thanks Ben... yeah Sean is our sales manager and my younger brother... I'll tell him what you said but he doesn't need the ego boost.

You know... I gave them a talking to and that doesn't change anything and they know it... Taiwan made the change and basically told the US office to suck it up... I guess they're used to it.. I should be too, but I still gave them an ear full. Like I said, and I told Asus... this is going to mean as many as 10% of the orders being cancelled and therefore 10% less we're going to order. I didn't care and it's easy to void out the orders that aren't processed yet. I've put a hold on processing because the orders that came in after the first 4 days are the less "hardcore" of the w3j fans..... and holding up on this processing is probably going to make it more time consuming to get those orders out... I'm not mentioning you Ben, but others that got their orders in after we started the advanced order... there are a lot of people who don't understand what an ETA is and you wouldn't believe how many people have emailed a couple days after placing their order to ask where the hell it was. I hope it doesn't cause time delays on the people who aren't being pains in the rear, but the ordering has gotten out of control and you'd swear that no one can read.... there's not more frustrating..

They way you're looking at it is the same why you have to look at it. This is what's coming and get it from us or anywhere else.. it's the same. The only thing the advanced order is doing for you is getting you one of these units out of the first shipment guarenteed...... till they show up in my office, I'm not putting my life on what's in the box and all I can do is update people... but I certainly have not lied to anyone and honestly at this point.... I'm looking at the brighter side... the more people that cancel, the less I have to process. I'm just hoping all the cancellations are ones I haven't wasted my time with.

... oh yeah, I think it goes without saying.... well... I'll say it... Advanced orders are over.... at least on this scale. I think for all future advanced orders, we'll allow 25-50 orders and tell everyone else they've got to wait till release...... I swear this isn't going to happen again.

 

I am privvy to a lot of inside information on the specific pricing that goes on between PC manufacturers and resellers. In my side of the business, laptop margins are HORRIBLE. I'm sure there are a lot of you out there thinking, oh this guy is making 2000 on a sale and probably 500+ is profit. Not even close. I am sure Justin and other resellers only make a very small profit, probably 50, maybe 100 dollars (I'm not as familar with ASUS' margins). The hours this guy is putting in probably negates his profit. Think about it, time away from friends and family, lack of sleep, the list goes on. Some of you will sit there and say, "That is the cost of doing business." Well that's called dedication to your clientle and not many companies have that anymore. I applaud the efforts of the PROPortable team and I am glad you guys are providing quality service to this community. I get to see so many other companies who treat their customers like cr@p and get away with it because their price is slightly lower. Sadly, we as consumers have accepted cr@ppy service as a norm in our society. Good to know there are those out there trying to go against the grain.

 

Correct me if i'm mistaken, but wouldnt we need a FSB of 1333 to even use 667MHz memory in dual channel?

 

Ben, you must have been sent down from up above to make me feel good about everything... You're not off base all that much... The margins on our systems used to be better a few years ago but there also weren't a lot of sales because only IT guys knew of Asus... so although we're still growing, we've got to sell two systems to make as much as we did say 2-3 years ago.... that has to do with everything..... I mean intel makes a cpu for under $20 and sells it to distributors for $400.... intel racks in a ton and they're the real profit makers....... I'd say coming in a close second would be credit card companies.... they really don't do anything but they make at least a 1/3 of the gross profits..

... ok that's pathetic and depressing...

no, you don't need a front side bus of 1333 to make use of it..... but nice math skills .... That would make sense, but it's not the case.

 

Brilliant idea just came to me. Some of you who already have their orders processed and ordered extra ram but now think the extra ram isn't going to be useful for you (I know 1.5gb isn't 2gb.. but it's better than 1gb)..... but to make it easy, if you don't want the extra memory anymore, I could swap it for a battery or something.... just a thought

 

Lets hope most people are receptive to it...I just checked your site to see If the two options were of equal value, (I was curious) which they are and I noticed that the W3J specs are still listed as (1X1024GB) RAM...just thought I'd point that out.

 

i could still use the ram because i just purchased another stick from newegg

EDIT: If i remove the keyboard to install the other 1gb stick will that void my warranty.

 

It won't, as you can just take it out and replace with the 512 sticks if you ever need to send it in, there are no stickers on it.