W3J addons suggestions.

I ordered the W3J and need suggestions on a few things.

I need the W3J for the addons and weight.

1. Optical Disk Drive interchangeable add ons (I really need both hard drive and battery).

I need a good replacement for the DVD drive since it looks like it may never be in the computer. Software or external drive that can run from the USB only no power brick.

2. Car power supply?? Something to charge the batteries on the road.

3. Case to go with Viper XM looks good but any suggestions are welcome I would like it to fit into another case. Wenger has some good cases but any suggestions are welcome. Requested features light weight but able to carry the extra battery portable DVD and extra drive and protect it all.

Thanks in advance for any help.

 

1) you can buy a bracket from any of the resellers that will allow you to create a swappable HDD for the ODD bay. Depending on what you need, you can either get a 6cell(2hours) ODD battery or an 8cell(3hours) or 4cell(1.5hours) main battery.

I'd suggest you save your money and simply swap the DVD in and out as you need it.

2) Not sure whats available, but you could always get a car outlet converter that will give you normal outlets for your personal needs. If you really want to spend some money, some of the newer vehicles come with standard 120V outlets Canadian Tire sells/sold a converter that would charge when plugged in and provided portable power for a couple hours when unplugged. It had a flashlight and jumper cables as well!

3) Shiza has a reputable sleave on their website. Seems very popular. As far as an actual carrying bag, it depends on your style. Do you like backpacks, courier bags, breifcases?

 

I like courier bags I had one that slipped over my big bags handle then I could roll all of it together. That was a bigger computer though. I have an inverter but it is not very easy to manage. Also if I could find an external hard drive with the speed of an internal it would help. I am afraid that is not possible though.

 

Does the Viper actually fit well with the W3J?

 

That was why it was in the running. I read in another forum that it fit tightly which is what I want but it did fit. Try this link.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=71832&highlight=viper

My problem was the money though. It seems kind of expensive. They have a whole bag and sleeve setup but it was very expensive for me.

 

I have a second HDD runing in the optical bay about 95% of the time I use this computer, and for the 5% of time I use the DVD drive, I just swap it over, I wouldn't buy another removable DVD drive because it is so easy to swap, there is just no need.

Car chargers are usefull, I had one in NZ was great for long trips, I also made custom leeds that went from 3.5mm earphone out to RCA out put, which I plugged directly into the graphic eqialiser in my car stereo (this was 4 years ago before mp3 players came out in cars).

Bluetooth Mouse is also a good extra, it means you keeps 3 USB ports available for use.

 

Thank you NZwaverider I have needed an extra drive for a while my onlyproblem with going over to laptops. How do you install things to the second drive though? Or do you just store MP3's and files on it? Do you think the second battery is worth getting?

 

Nobody can answer that question but you! I gave you the run times on the battaries. We'll help you with everything up to the purchase but when it's time, you'll need to put on the daddy pants and make a decision for yourself

 

I am going to get the extra baterry and the extra hard drive. The problem I am trying to decide on is how to get the data from CD/DVD to the second drive and also not have missing files even though they are on the other drive. I would like to have several hours worth of batteries or I would have gotten an A8JM. Also an external drive transfers at a much slower speed. But I am trying to find out if there is some way to preferrably put an image of a few disks on the second drive. That way I do not have any extra weight that is not necessary. ie... CD/DVD drive or media I have the daddy pants on but it is nice to get an idea of how others use both the drive and the battery which I need. Where I live there are several hours between one recharging and information access point and another. Therefore I was just asking for thoughts on how to swap data for battery or vice versa and carry it all together as light as possible.

 

Think about getting a power USB hub if you plan on using this as your desktop replacement. That way you only have to plug in one usb into your laptop when you sit down on your desk. They're fairly cheap to ($10).

 

Aryding thanks I will consider that. I have a laptop now but it is just too large to do anything but sit on a desk. Laptop to me means in my lap when needed and I hope the W3J does just that. But since it is not convenient to drag two computers at the other end of a journey it will also be a desktop replacement. I will do that Aryding thank you. And a Bluetooth mouse per NZwaverider. I do like to use a mouse more than a finger pad. This is all good information.

 

Basically I load all the software on my main drive (160gb Seagate 5400.3) and use my second drive (100gb Seagate 5400.2) for storing extra mp3s, work and movies. I also us the second drive as a scratch disc when using photoshop.

There is an X copy command using dos that will copy the entire contents of a CD onto a drive (which also copies all hidden files).

In terms of batteries I have the main and optical bay battery, together they give me on average approx 5.5 hrs, my last laptop I actually had 3 batteries I travel every now and again on long flights (10hrs plus) so I am also thinking of getting another main which would give me 9 hrs, you just need to decide how long you will be away from power, if it is going to be over 5.5 hrs, I would just get another main battery, but it is usefull for short trips to have the optical bay battery.

A bluetoothe mouse is good, but just be aware when running on batteries it does consume more power.

But to be honest, I just like having all of the accessories so I can load up for whatever i need at that time and leave the other bits at home it makes it really versatile.

 

That really sounds good on all fronts. I only have one trip that I take that is 14 hours and only if the wife drives can I work or play. The rest are 3-10 hours usually I drive so not much to worry with there. If the air travel continues to allow PC's that is another good place. My other problem is I always leave something at the house that I need. I may even get two optical hard drives then all of my data could take the trip. I usually get what I need before leaving but there is the occasional file I forget. A third drive could carry just about every file I have for special uses. In the past I always kept my photos on the same drive as the OS. The second drive would eleminate lots of the problems and the PS scratch disk on the second wow awesome idea. That is why I have come here for suggestions. My biggest programs are Visusal Studio, Java, Microsoft Office, Encarta and Photo Shop. I do like my games for a break but they are not as critical just stress relief. But all of these Take large amounts of drive space. By the way will xcopy allow all the hidden files to copy or would an imaging program be better? I would much rather not have an extra CD/DVD drive. The problem is starting of some programs like games require the CD or DVD. I just wish they would install to the drive like they used to.

 

Hey lapquest... sorry about the daddy pants comment

If you're only concern with an external hard drive is the speed of USB.. get one that communicates through the PCI Express card slot. Someone correct me if something like this doesn't exist yet!

Also... If you're going to be traveling long distances by car, you might want to pick up a Wifi locator


Also, if you plan to juggle your HDD and ODD in the bay, you'd probably be better off getting another 8 cell primary. You'll have to power down to switch, but thats not such a big deal.

 

Mikeoo17 it is not a problem maybe I should change my user name to Daddy Pants. LOL I am hoping that some more of the Cellular companies come out with express card internet and that is the planned use of the slot. The hard drive will probably be used in the drive bay most and switched with the battery and ODD. But only because when I am in a non moving location I have an external drive and power. My ODD ""portable drive"" is just full size in a case therefore not too portable. I do have a wireless finder but moving at 65-70 MPH it is hard to stay connected. Then out in the country there is no internet. Sooooo I would like to think maybe a satelite express card will be a possibility. I have to go into semi remote places. That is why weight battery and drives all come into play. Carrying clothes, gear, camera, school books and other items makes for lots of need for smaller more portable all in one computing. I have to work in and out of town and go to school so I have a little more than normal portability issues.

 

Logitech's bluetooth V270 mouse is $36 at newegg. Great mouse.

 

I've read that the optical HDD is a little slow. Trying doing a search in this forum to find out more.

 

I will look into the mouse Aryding. I understand the drive may be slow and will try to do a search in the forum on it. The big question to me is it as slow as firewire or USB? If it is then probably I will get somewhat upset. But if it is faster then it should be worth the expense. I looked around and it seems that it runs at full speed. I will also be running 7200RPM drives so that may help also. If you find anything that I have not found please let me know. But all indications are that it is full speed??

Check the bottom of the second page on this link Aryding.
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=64422&highlight=hard+drive+speed

 

um..... where did you hear that?? before I switched the Fijutsu drive out I ran a basic speed test on one of my 100gb Seagate 5400.2 drives. Installed in the optical bay the Seagate was faster than the stock Fujitsu drive installed as the main HDD.

This means only two things

1) the stoch Fujitsu drive is really really slow

or...

2) A HDD installed in the optical bay is as fast as the main internal HDD.

I just ran a basic test with the same HDD (100gb Seagate 5400.2) to see the difference between running USB 2.0 external drive and using the optical bay HDD kit, I think the results speak for them selves, the first test was done using a Argossy HD260 USB2.0 enclosure, the second test was done on the same drive but installed in the HDD optical bay.

Hope that helps

 

Awesome, I heard it in this forum but it doesn't matter anymore. Looks like I might by a the optical HDD kit. Good job!

 

I was just thinking about this thread... I was reading about USB2.0 speeds which average around 30MB/Sec. Very close to the data transfers seen in your tests!

The two are quite comparable! I would most likely get an external provided the 5MG/sec difference. I would rather have the optical bay available for the battary or the multi-drive.

 

That is a point, although I was mainly looking at overall performance which includes access read and write times, with the overall scores showing that the internal HDD kit is 22% faster than running the same drive in an external USB enclusure.

You are right it is a small difference, but from my own experiance I have had a few problems with external drives, one being the neighbour dog running through the house, sending the drive flying into the floor while copying data, I was impressed that it continued to copy through the fall and kept on working for about a month, until the point where it stopped (the same point where I was upgrading my laptop and had everything on it!) which meant it went in for an expensive data recovery (found a great place in NZ good rates and got back 99% of all my stuff)

especially while travelling it is easy to move the laptop and drag the drive to the floor, its just more safer.

mind you I still have 3 Argosy HDD enclosures (HD 260's Google them and reviews, they are fast and solid, much better than those cheap IBM ebay cases).
I use them all the time, I use both just depending what for, I normally run my W3J with the HDD in the optical bay all the time and I travel with the USB HDD enclosures and also use the HDD enclosures to copy stuff to and from work.

Mind you I have 4 HDDs so need the enclosures to keep the HDDs safe.

 

I went ahead and bought the extra drive bay and extra battery and an extra main battery and a DC adapter!!! The problem with the dog knocking the drive on the floor is exactly my point I have an external drive also but that will hold nothing critical. I think the more power options I have the better because I have a problem running the batteries down. Does your battery slowly run down even when not in use? Mine seems to trickle some power off every day??? One day sitting with no use after a full charge it was down to about 96% from 100% the day before. I am just curious to see what you have to say about your experience with this. No extra anything just the computer.

 

Whaaaa??? Must be doing some intense stuff... Why so much storage space?

 

Well now I actually list it out I have quite a few, purchased over the last 2-3 years, yeah I just seem to accumulate drives, I was in thailand in Jan this year and brought 4 seagate 5400.2 drives, sold one to a friend, but this is what I currently have:

1) Seagate 160gb - W3J Main

2) Seagate 100gb - Loaded with work files (mainly resides in the optical bay)

3) Seagate 100gb - In my old Compaq

4) Seagate 60gb - Initially brought to upgrade my old laptop (comming on 7 years old now so I didn't think it would take a 100gb drive) but guess what......it did!! so now the 60 is sitting at home, not even intialized, i should sell it.

5) Fujitsu 100gb - original drive from the W3J - I use for document backup, it
is loaded up with windows, so I can swap it in the W3J if needed. and if I ever have to RMA the W3J.

6) Hitachi 80gb - Loaded with movies and music.

7) Hitachi 80gb - full of music, I think it has sufferred a knock as whenever I try to copy from it it comes up with a disc error, another fact of when I get time I will try and save it.

8) Fujitsu 40gb - old latop drive (2 years old), I was using through a cheap PCMCIA to USB2.0 adaptor when the power turned off and on, now it has a corupt sector and is not woking, when I get time I will get some software to fix it.

So as you can see I have had a couple of drives have problems, both while using cheep crappy adaptors brought on ebay, so having the internal optical drive is just more secure and more reliable. every day I have the 100gb Seagate (work files) in the optical bay, and the 80gb Hitachi (music) in a external usb case, sometimes I will swap the music and work drives around, depends what im doing, I mean at some stage you will want to hook the optical drive to another pc, thats why I always have an external USB case as well as he optical bay HDD kit.

LapQuest, I agree my last laptop I had 3 batteries and a DC adaptor, I mean acrrying around another main battery for an extra 3.5hrs, I think its worth it. the more accessories just make it more versatile.
About the power drain, if I fully shut down, I have never noticed a loss in power from just sitting unused, well not that I have noticed anyway.

 

I checked it again yesterday and the same held true. About 5-6% was gone. I turned it off it was shut down and in the bag turned it on and then it was depleated. I am not too concerned I really like the mini me. But I was a little concerned with regards to the thing sitting for a few days and maybe needing to jump up and go out of town. The other thing is if the new main battery is charged then it sits for a few days before using it. Is it going to be dead? That is not going to be good. When at the house I use the charger most of the time. But like I said when I leave I like to have portapower!!! So I was just curious. How do you like the Seagate? How did you replace the main HD with the 160GB without loosing the installation? That was actually what I wanted to do but one look at the case and I was concerned. I could not even find the memory door or how to get at the hard drive. Do you have to completely disassemble it?

 

Li-Ion batteries will discharge at a certain rate when left on a shelf/unused in the notebook, but this is a slow process that will run it down in a matter of weeks or couple months, not a few days. Battery meters tend to be inconsistent from one bootup to the next anyway if you do them back to back.

The memory door and HD bay are beneath panels on the bottom of the notebook - you just have to pull out the screws that hold the doors in place and pop them out - no disassembly needed .

 

What reseller did you buy from, and was the optical HDD tray an add-on option, or did it come with the stock unit? I'm interested in getting one, but need to know where to do so.

 

The tray that comes with it is odd it is just blank. The HDD tray has not arrived it is on back order all over the continent. The door you are talking about seems to be a large part of the bottom of the computer. That was why I was asking. It seems much too large to be the HD amybe the CPU and the Video also. The memory maybe yes. There is one small door but I removed a screw and it did not want to come out so I did not take it out. It is a new computer and I am not going to mess it up. I need to find some diagrams just to be sure I do not kill it. I got it from MilestonePC. Very nice guy and fairly reasonable. I wanted more than the stock setup so I went with him he was one of the only ones that would do that. My only gripe is he is very hard to get a response from at times other times it is very easy. He seems very good to work with in fact I almost had to back out and he was very understanding about it. I was afraid that it might not handle some of my software. The computer is very nice and it is really small not to say the screen is too small it is more comfortable small. I also have a Dell inspiron 9400 and they are completely different machines. The Dell is pretty good but it is too large for me to fight with on my lap. The Asus seems to be pretty good that is all I can say at this point. In 3DMark05 it beat the Dell at stock but not with a video overclock. I also have not tried to overclock the Asus and won't. It gets a little warm but it does not even bother me now. I have a little foldable tray it sits on and the mouse sits next to the airflow. That is not a problem with heat now. Sorry I went on and on but I really like mine.

 

Since we are on the topic of HDDs with the w3j....I would like to get either the seagate or hitachi perpendicular 160 GBs for my w3j- possibly to switch with the main fujitsu drive or just to use as an external. Can I just get a nice,small, cool looking enclosure or should I get one that will protect from the elements a little better?
thanks
Dan

 

You can get an external case or switch it out with the main drive. I just have to find the proper way to get in the bugger. I know it can be done. I have never had a laptop not be able to switch drives. The other question is how to move the software? If you want to install fresh it is simple. Move one drive out move the other in. Next format install XP or whatever your fancy is install drivers then update. First lets find out how to get in this puppy though. I can remove all the screws but I do not want to remove one that lets something get out of place.

 

Nothing should move out of place if your taking off the bottom panel. Just make sure that you keep track of your screws because they are very tiny. Also, don't screw them back in too hard or you might strip them.

 

So you do have to basically take the back off? Was it bad besides the little screws? nothing else came apart?

 

The Seagate 5400.3 (perpendicular) is a good upgrade at the time I purchased it, it was the biggest and fastest 5400 drive, when first installed it would fully boot in 30 sec! it runs faster than the stock Fujitsu drive.

If I wasn't worried about power consumption, I would get a 7200rpm Hitachi, but then again they only make 7200's in 100gb, so 160gb for now is a great.

Install is easy, take a look at the pics, just remove all the screws and pop off the door, the HDD is just loosely sitting in its bay, just lift it out and unplug.

The important thing to remember is that there is a plastic film stuck on the bottom of the HDD, that insulates it from the copper plating in the door, just make sure you remove it and place it on the new drive in the same location (very easily done) otherwise your system will not boot.

From other laptops I have pulled apart the HDD on this one is one of the easiest to get the HDD out.

I am going away for the weekend, but let me know if you need more photos, but basically remove all the screws on the bottom door, and there is a small indent near the middle front, just enough to get your fingernail under and lift the door off.

All I did was plug in the new Seagate drive, pop the Asus Windows CD in and boot the laptop, the CD and asus driver CD automatically installed windows and the Asus utilites bacK to the original state (like when I first turned it on).

It was very easy to do.

 

Yeah some screws are different lengths, so place them out on the table in the position the come out, so its easy to replace.

 

On the HDD I have Hitachi 100GB 7200 RPM and there seems to be nothing noticeable in the battery time. With that said it does seem to deplete just overnight with nothing on or anything used. The 7200RPM starts with almost 4 hours something like 3:54 hrs mins. So I can not complain about the 7200 and I need the speed. My only complaint is the startup speed once logged in. I am trying to take the little bit of bloatware out but it seems like all of it is good stuff. The picture adjustment the power adjustment things like that. So I guess I might just have to be happy with it as is.

 

has anyone in the UK been able to find an esata express/54 card?

 

I am not in the UK but here in the USA there are very few Express cards of any type none that I need. They have been elusive at the very least. I need one for cell phone internet connection and I have been looking since February. There is one company I have seen come out with one and the others keep saying it is in the works. Obviously the one out is not the one I would like or use. I am starting to think it is vaporware!!! I just checked the only esata I found was a SIIG here in the USA. Maybe they would sell and ship to the UK. It looks like it might be a good external drive solution.
http://sewelldirect.com/siig-raid-e...icewatch&utm_source=PriceWatch&utm_medium=cse

 

I just wanted to say thanks. I got the second drive formatted and it put a jumper on it and away it went. Next I am still typing on high performance with both batteries in after two hours and there are still three hours 20 minutes left. What can I say WOW!!! I also got another main battery for the long periods. I can not even say how impressed I am. After two 1 hour battery life computers and then a 2.5 hour computer this one just may be the one for me to brag about. Asus you have done it again. And thanks to all for all the help. WOW that is all I can say WOW WOW WOW!!!!