W3J vs W7J >>> Can't decide!

Some random questions:
1) How do the battery lives compare?

3) Is there an HDD swapable bay on the 7?

2) What is the difference in screen quality for the 3 vs the 7?

3) Am I going to regret not buying the 3 in a year if I get the 7?

4) Is 0.7" going to make that big of a difference in portability?

5) Will the 7 fulfill my CS:S and BF2 needs?

6) Which one do you think is more business professional?

7) Which one would you want and why?

8) What can I do to make my decision an easy one?

This decision is driving me insane Please help!

 

1) How do the battery lives compare?
- from the estimated battery life on Asus page, seems to be comparable


3) Is there an HDD swapable bay on the 7?
-doesn't appear to have one

2) What is the difference in screen quality for the 3 vs the 7?
-in general 14.1" widescreens seem to suffer a bit with their vertical angles, but it seems 13" have better ones.. but we shall see when the W7 comes out

3) Am I going to regret not buying the 3 in a year if I get the 7?
-depends on your usage.. the W3 is more powerful yes.. but one day its card will be obsolete, and you may wish you have gotten something more portable. Depends on the person and how long you intend to keep it.

4) Is 0.7" going to make that big of a difference in portability?
screen size not really.. but the weight is a pound lighter..which is significant

5) Will the 7 fulfill my CS:S and BF2 needs?
yes

6) Which one do you think is more business professional?
the all black W7 with the webcam strikes me as being slightly more business professional..but it can be just me. The W3J is still nice as well..either way they're both alot more professional looking than something with an alienhead staring at the public

7) Which one would you want and why?
I personally would probably go for the W7J and use the saved money to upgrade my graphics card for my desktop.. but that is assuming you use a desktop to begin with.

 

I would just like to note that we do not know exactly how long the w7j battery will last. Early estimates are around 2.5 to 3 hours with the six cell. You can find more info in this thread: http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=60932

 

The decision was driving me insane too. I put my pre-order down for the w7j. I figured i might as well gain the portability and since I don't game, I didn't need the extra power. I liked the brushed aluminum of the w3 but I think the black looks more a bit more professional, like a think pad. I didn't want it to flashy on campus anyway. And for the -300 or so the w7 hit the spot for me...

 

2.5hours.... oooouch.. Chalk one up for the w3j! I have problems keeping my ipod nano charged, and that runs for 14 hours.

9) Can you get it with the 9 cell or do you have to buy that seperate?


I'm about 70/30 W7J/W3J (I changed the figure a little for obvious reasons. Realisticaly I'm almost 90% sold on the 7 series)

10) What additional costs should I include in my laptop purchase. Warrenty, battery, bags, cables etc.

 

If you don't play games get the LG T1 with 5 hrs battery life + 3 yrs warranty + best design ever for a laptop

 

I would go the W7 myself, bit more portable, built in web cam, which is great big bonus in my books.
The 9 cell battery will going on previous asus's models be an extra purchase.

In the past ASUS ensembles have come with a bag and mouse+warranty. So in effect you can get away without buying anything else. But check with your reseller on what they are shipping with this model first.
a

 

W3j here - for the GPU power. It's also cheaper here in Taiwan. But, if I didn't care for the extra GPU power, then W7j all the way. And I have seen the W7j here in stores. Has been out for nearly a month. The viewing angles are basically the same as the W3j. Screens look very simmilar. .7" smaller though. I don't know about in the US, but here the W3j comes with a free BT mouse (and bag), and the W7j comes with a free ipod shuffle!! (bag also.)

 

OK its a nice laptop but def not the best designed. Not to mention you cant even get it in North america.

 

I know all your answers will be subjective but: is the w7j strudy, well built? Does it look good in person? Is it light enough to hold with one hand extended out in front of you? The more personal feedback, the better

 

its built very well. looks really good. without the battery (1,6 kg) you can hold it for a a few minutes. with the six cell (1,95 kg) about a minute.
personally im just happy with it.

 

jdkbx, do you actully have one? If you do, i would love to see some pics or a mini-review, battery life and such....if you have the time, I know it would make a lot of people happy.

-Thanks-

 

Here, here. I second penguin17's motion. Plus, is the w7j cool, warm, blazzing hot? What are the real world battery specs? Can you get closer to 4 hours?

 

Seems the most common concern is regarding the battery life of this sweet little machine. It doesnt make sense that an Ultraportable would only last 2.5hours despite the dedicated GPU. Then again... I'm a lil new to the laptop world and maybe just don't realize how things are.

Some pictures would definitely be appreciated. The one's on the Asus website look airbrushed.

 

W3J baby. The chassis is just awesome. Heat issues? What heat issues, just get the W3J.

 

believe me, its coming. i guess sometime this week. i didn't have an opportunity to test the battery yet. when i put it in fully charged, acpi said around 3h after i used it like 10min. used it for 2h after that. no idea how much power was left. been having it on ac all the time.

 

PLEASE hurry!! i'm stuck in the same decision!! i need to know how this Keyboard on the W7J is! i need to know the battery life (hours) on a 6Cell!!


PLEEEEEASE write a review soon! or ATLEAST charge it up fully, and drain that battery down to 0 while timing it! it would be a huge help!

(if this battery lasts 3.5 or more, i'm sold.)

 

i let you know in about 15 hours.

 

I will be waiting. Your review will go a long ways in my decision to purchase the w7j

 

Same. His review will be the deciding point between the Sony SZ or the W7J... or the slightly bigger but more functional W3J.

So it's.. like..crucial, lol.

The keyboard's feel, and the palm rests, and the battery life. 3 things i'm mostly interested in. (the things which either seal or break this deal... so to speak.)

 

I had the same issue. I decided to go with the w3j for a few different reasons:

1. Its not that much bigger than the w7j, it only weighs 1-1.5 lbs more.
2. It's faster, CPU & GPU wise
3. Its more upgrade-able, meaning it only comes with a 1-gig stick of memory, but has an open slot for another.
4. You have the versatility of the hot-swappable bay.
5. Bigger screen.
6. I have owned a web-cam and never used it, so the built-in one doesn't matter to me.

I don't own a desktop, so i use my laptop for everything. I needed one that can do everything a desktop can do and that will last more than a year without me having to buy a new one.

 

personally id get the w3j bc i think it looks nicer!

 

just an update on battery life
after running for 29min

Battery 1: discharging, 83%, 02:41:34 remaining

brightness on lowest
wlan & Bluetooth enabled
both cores limited to 996 MHz

just websurfing

i guess i wont get 3.5h, just 3.1h

 

When you say "limiting the cores", do you mean undervolting?

 

no, unfortunately not. i just limited the allowed frequency to 996MHz, which is the lowest possible.

hardware limits: 996 MHz - 1.83 GHz
available frequency steps: 1.83 GHz, 1.83 GHz, 1.83 GHz, 1.83 GHz, 1.83 GHz, 1.83 GHz, 1.83 GHz, 1.83 GHz, 1.33 GHz, 996 MHz
available cpufreq governors: conservative, ondemand, powersave, userspace, performance
current policy: frequency should be within 996 MHz and 996 MHz.
The governor "powersave" may decide which speed to use
within this range.
current CPU frequency is 996 MHz (asserted by call to hardware).

 

3h10m thats what its going to be. right now:

uptime && acpi -b
11:49:44 up 2:27, 3 users, load average: 0.20, 0.11, 0.27
Battery 1: discharging, 22%, 00:37:05 remaining

that makes 2:27 + 0:37 = 3:14

half the time idle, half web browsing, just a few minutes high load running something

 

Thanks for the info jdkbx! I'm pretty curious to how the viewing angles compare to the W3J.. but i think its a bit difficult to do unless you're a reseller who has both conveniently next to each other.

 

so its been 3h

12:21:57 up 3:00, 3 users, load average: 0.83, 0.61, 0.42
Battery 1: discharging, 0%

acpi reported nothing left for over a minute now, but it kept on going. might still be a few minutes in there. considering that i put almost no stress on it, it isn't too impressive. still enough for my demands.

 

****.... 3 hours. =/ thats less then i had hoped, by a long shot.

i guess im sold on the sony SZ. =/ (Atleast in stamina mode, it can hit nearly 5 hours... maybe 4.3 or 4.4)