W3J-7200rpm vs. V6J OR Dell D620

Hi there,

Basically I need a laptop for when I start University where I will be studying Product Design. So naturally i'm looking for a machine which can handle some fairly intensive c.a.d work, but I also want something which is quite portable so I can take it around the campus with me.

I've narrowed my choices down to three laptops:
Asus W3J
Asus V6J
Dell D620

I'm leaning towards the W3J, but being from the U.K i have one major concern, the crappy 4200rpm hard drive it comes with

I've found a retailer that will upgrade the HDD to a 100gb 7200rpm but my main concern with this is obviously the heat. I won't really be using it a great deal for intensive gaming (mainly c.a.d as stated before) and was just wondering how bad the heat will be under normal(ish) usage?

I've noticed a few peeps on here do have W3J's with 7200rpm HDD's, any comments???

Any help is greatly appreciated,

James

 

Well, I don't have a 7200 but i have the NA 5400 RPM, the only time I get really hot air coming out of mine is when i'm playing a graphics intensive game. The air coming out directly by the vent *i put a thermometer next to when when I was 3dMark05-ing it* was about 130F and 55C.

 

I have a hitachi travelstar 7200 rpm HDD, and it only gets to about 48 degrees when active - not hot at all.


Product design eh? Industrial design?

 

Yeah, the course is actually called industrial design & technology and I'm hopefully gonna be doing it here: http://www.lboro.ac.uk/departments/cd/

if I do well enough in my exams which start tomorrow btw's!

I just looked at your avatar Arvin, nice to know a fellow designer is using the W3J. You doing much C.A.D work on it, if so which programs do you use and how does it perform?

My Dad's got an precision engineering business in England and one of the guys who did a lot of the programming there has just left, so he wants me to learn. The program he's using, OneCNC, doesn't seem too demanding on a system so I'm hoping the W3J will run it no probs.

Just a final question Arvin, did you ever have the 5200 HDD in there or did you put the 7200 in straight away. I know there are a lot of different comments with regards to reducing battery life, noise and of course, the heat.

Now that I know the heat won't be much of an issue, have you noticed anything in terms of the other aspects I mentioned?

Cheers again

 

I use the W3J for 3D graphic design and its a pure gem. So perfect for desgin work. Lightwave (my 3D program) is a very demanding program and the W3J runs it very very well.

http://www.threedcg.com/new3D/Jupiter/Jupiter2.jpg

 

Sweet. It's good to know that it'll handle all the c.a.d o.k, but I'm still a bit concerned about the heat I'm gonna get from it with a 7200rpm drive.

Will I really notice much difference in having the 7200rpm over the standard 4200rpm in terms of heat and battery life?

It's so annoying that the only place I can find which will offer a HDD upgrade, only offers the 100gb 7200rpm. 5400rpm would suit me fine.

This is why I'm tempted by the V6J, it comes with the 100gb 5400rpm as standard in the U.K and has a bigger screen which would be handy for C.A.D.
If I did go for this would I really notice much difference between the GPU'S, I know the x1600 is supposed to be a lot more powerful than the gfx 7400.