W3V

So I went out and purchased an ASUS W3V from Canada Computers yesterday.

I have a question though, would any other Asus users or people in the know recommend I do anything or change any of the settings before I continue? It seems there is a lot of laptop-oriented software on this machine, and as this is my first laptop I'm not sure if any of it is useless and should be uninstalled. Also, there is a tonne of "security" software and firewalls, from Norton to Windows and it's really bugging me. Any idea on how I can stop it all?

I'll post more about the computer if anyone is interested, but it seems everyone else has already posted their opinion. If anyone has any questions though, please feel free to ask.

 

Delete Norton right out of the blocks and use something better....

Thanks,
Justin
PROPortable
www.proportable.com
[email protected]

 

Done. Any recomendations on what I should use for antivirus?

 

How do you like the W3V? Did it come with the case and the mouse? I'm thinking about getting this machine or getting the upcoming Z63A.

Also, did it come with the new 3 year warranty that Asus is supposedly offering?

Let us know. Thanks.

 

Hey there, awaiting my W3V too. I've been using AVAST! for awhile now and I love it. Simple, slick interface. Plug-In architecture for working with email, IM, and file sharing programs. The virus database updates itself automatically every day with the latest virus definitions. Here's the big pluses- it uses very little system overhead, it's not the CPU hog that norton is. And you can use it for 60 days free! It's worth checking out.

 

I'm not sure about the third year in the warranty. I should really check up on that.

As for the mouse and case, yes it did come with both. The mouse is actually very handy and saved me $40 on purcashing another one.

One problem I've noticed is that there is noticable heat produced over the right palm rest, in the area of the HD. Of course, I have only used the laptop while it has been plugged in on Super Performance so far, so that may be the reason. It is not uncomforatble at all, just noticeable. The CPU temperature is showing at 60C right now, and I'm not sure how to check the HD temperature (if anyone knows how, please let me know). Comparing it to the User's Manual, there are no vents on the underside of the laptop as it says there are, and I noticed someone else pointed this out aswell in another thread. The fan is extremely quiet though, and I had to lean up to the laptop see whether or not it was on. The build of the notebook seems to be great, the LCD is solid with very little ripple effect produced after significant pressure.

There are many features I'm still getting to know, as I find more I'll post more.


jbhuffer - thanks for the tip, ill check it out.

Also, Justin or anyone else who would know, is the DVD drive on this +/-, want to make sure before I go out and buy any blank media.

 

The HDD (and CPU) temperatures can be monitored by MobileMeter from http://www.geocities.co.jp/SiliconValley-Oakland/8259/ .

I am concerned by the hard disk temperature in my W3 - see other posts - but in my case the palm rest barely gets warm - the hottest part of the computer is under the HDD. There should be some air vents on the front of the computer next to the HDD, but you may have to turn the computer upside-down to see them. They are quite small.

You should be able to get the CPU to run cooler. See the thread about under-volting at http://www.notebookreveiw.com/forums/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=15492. My W3A runs very cool and quiet at a reduced voltage (but this has the Intel integrated GPU so there is less heat generated).

Enjoy!

John

 

I'm glad about the case and mouse. When I called the Richmond Hill store, the guy I talked to didn't know anything about the free case and mouse and thought I was crazy. Oh well, at least it's available.

 

www.majorgeeks.com has free AV under the anti virus section.,

Its called AVG Free edition.

Windows XP firewall should be more than adequate.

 

<blockquote id='quote'> quote:<hr height='1' noshade id='quote'>Originally posted by PROPortable

 

For AV I personally like McAfee.

For firewall, you cannot beat Sygate.. the best I've used so far.

http://www.sygate.com/

 

John, thanks for the tips. I am a bit afraid of undervolting my machine as I am not exactly an expert user. However, if the heat problem persists, I may have to try. Does undervolting affect performance? I can feel the heat on the keyboard, but as in your case the underside becomes very hot. And yes, I see the small vents, but are they enough? I'll get back to you with my HD temperature once it's been running for a few minutes.

Snoopy, it's all inside the box, so the salespeople wouldn't really know what's inside as it's all packaged up.

 

I suggest Kaspersky Anti-Virus for the hardcore users in here. I still very much like PC Cillin, and not quite sure why Asus stopped using it.

Thanks,
Justin
PROPortable
www.proportable.com
[email protected]

 

I agree... Kaspersky has one of the best AV programs out there...however, if you want something free, 3 very good ones are:
AVG Free Edition (www.grisoft.com)
Avast! Antivirus (www.avast.com)
Nod32 (www.nod32.com)



ASUS M6800Ne, P-M 715 (Dothan 1.5), 512MB Ram, Toshiba Combo drive, Samsung Spinpoint M 40G HDD with 8M cache, Mobility Radeon 9700

 

in looking at my Asus utility cd, it does in fact have pc cillin 2002, i guess i got rid of it for norton.

scanning my hd w/ avast! at the moment and i've found a few trojans already! wtf happened to norton [ !], you blow norton!

 

which one uses the least resource? i just got rid of norton and installed avast! so far i like it, seems better than norton, than again....i was still running norton 2003.

 

PC Cillin uses like 5mb if you use the 2002 version but update to the latest virus table of course...... In fact, I'm pretty sure that's why Asus was using the 2002 version, becasue you could leave it on and it didn't use up too much ram. I think they may have stopped using it because people thought they were getting and "out of date" virus software.... But that's just for people who don't know what's going on.

Thanks,
Justin
PROPortable
www.proportable.com
[email protected]

 

Okay...so if we can't buy it...then how'd you come across it...any suggestions? [8D]

 

Congrats on your W3V purchase dokta. Which location of Canada Computers did you buy it from?

Justin, where is Kaspersky Anti-Virus available for purchase? When you say hardcore users out there you mean those who like to configure lots of things to their preferences?
[8D]

 

Norton has always stunk.... it's just a matter of when you realized it.

I am not sure if Kaspersky is even available for "purchase" anywhere in the states..... It's Russian and no one better to write virus tables than the people making the viruses to begin with. PC Cillin is 5x better than Norton or MacAfee.... but Kaspersky has a lot of options and their virus tables are updated daily.. sometimes a few times a day... they are really on top of things.

Thanks,
Justin
PROPortable
www.proportable.com
[email protected]

 

Actually a friend of mine who raved about it for the last year. He used it in his office and caught 1,000's of viruses every week... He really knows what he's talking about and is almost paroniod about security.

Thanks,
Justin
PROPortable
www.proportable.com
[email protected]

 

So I've played around with it a bit more, and I have to say it's great. I've played Need For Speed Underground 2 on it and the graphics are perfect.

Some issues I have:

-The mouse cursor keeps dissapearing on me for a good 5-7 seconds sometimes. I don't know why this is, or if it happens to anyone else, but it seems to move right on top of the start button, dissapear from the screen and stay like that while everything else on the computer is functional.

- The HD came partitioned in half, which is somewhat annoying. I don't want to install anymore software to get rid of it, but that looks like the only option. Any recommendations on what to use?

- There is noticable heat. Another question I have, does undervolting reduce performance significantly?

- The LCD doesn't have a latch. However, the hinge is very strong, but that too can get a bit annoying when opening the notebook. Of course, This setup is 100x better than a flimsy hinge.

 

<blockquote id='quote'> quote:<hr height='1' noshade id='quote'>Originally posted by dokta

 

<blockquote id='quote'> quote:<hr height='1' noshade id='quote'>Originally posted by dokta

 

<blockquote id='quote'> quote:<hr height='1' noshade id='quote'>Originally posted by eightone

 

I am a strong believer in keeping the OS in a separate partition to the user data so that when the time comes that Windows falls over and has to be rebuilt, then you don't lose the files stored in another partition. Unfortunately, the default path for the Documents and Settings folder is on C:.

John

 

Yes using the restore cds will erase all of your data. The only way to safely migrate the drive would be to use a software program such as partition magic...this is a great program although it will set you back around 50-100 bucks....personally I would have to agree that dual partitions are the best way to go. Put all your data on the spare partition and keep ie C drive for windows and programs, this way if windows craps it....which it probably will..you wont loose your data, or if you just wanna do a clean instal, then all you data is safe and you can reformat C drive without having to worry about backing up all you data first.
a


ASUS M6Ne 15.4" WSXGA 1.7 PM ATI9700 80Gb HDD 1Gb RAM

 

I haven't used single partitions since Windows 95 days...and that was when I started using computers more regularly LOL

[l]ikwid.[f]uzion

 

Well... anyone who works on one partition is probably the same type of person who doesn't back up their data to begin with...... It's just the way it seems to be. So if you are so into using just one partition, enough to reformat... just make sure you know what you're doing.

The whole point to have a seperate partition for the OS and programs is so you can reformat if you need to, without losing all of your irreplacable data... like mp3s, photos, documents, etc.

Thanks,
Justin
PROPortable
www.proportable.com
[email protected]

 

... anyone who remembers using say... win 98 first edition... or wasn't bright enough to NOT use win ME...... should be the people who understand why seperate partitions would be super handy to have.... I remember while just testing out ME..... we'd have to format out the system probably once a month.

Thanks,
Justin
PROPortable
www.proportable.com
[email protected]

 

<blockquote id='quote'> quote:<hr height='1' noshade id='quote'>Originally posted by John Ratsey

 

if i use restore cds, it'll be back to original factory settings and would i be able to partition it to my likings? such as 15 gb and 45 gb

 

yea it should.

 

Don't need to use the restore cds at all. Press F9 during the boot sequence.... the restore cds are loaded onto that other partition so you can format without the need of those discs with you at all times. You have 4 options to restore... you can do 1 or 2 partitions this way as well.....

Thanks,
Justin
PROPortable
www.proportable.com
[email protected]

 

oh nice~

 

i can't choose my own partition size with the restore =(