W3V... got the best of me.

The Sumdex is exactly what I was going to buy.. then I decided on something a with more storage space but I think I will buy a Sumdex once I start my project at a new job ($3,000+ in two months!)

You got a good list going! Make sure you download a Startup Manager to check what is loading up everytime you boot up your lappy. I found soooo much stuff that was slowing it down like the ASUS monitoring crap, etc. Also you might want to reformat the HD, it came in two partitions for me and since I'm video editing and need one big partition I reformatted it to just be 100GB HD partition.

You should get AntiVir, it's very very good. (Top 10 of PCWorld). Zone-Alarm is a must... Wireless, I don't use a wireless network so I wouldn't do that. It COMES with SP2, just run updates for the small stuff. I loaded up my game =) CS: Source and let me tell you (I was afraid that it wouldn't run well because Source is very demanding) but it runs like silk!!! Don't install too much temp, cpu stuff... while some of it is good they still take up memory and aren't that great (in my opinion) maybe run ATI TOOL to overclock your Video Card a little but that's all I'm doing.

That looks great!! Welcome to the club bro =)

 

By the way, the Sumdex IS a perfect fit and the material seems like it really will stand a drop, definitely get it. It was selling for $19.99 here at Fry's Electronics.

 

Hi guys,

I ordered mine from c9tech. Hopefully, I get to play with it next week, perhaps I might install OSx86.

I have a quick question. I'm trying to make the w3v as portable as possible. Can you tell me the weight w/o the optiacal drive? Does it come with a dummy drive or you have to buy it.

Thanks

 

It comes with it. It makes the W3v 0.3-0.6lbs lighter, approximately.

 

Nice!

Gonna buy a Sumdex 14" and probably look at getting an extra battery...
Do I need a special battery tray? I wonder what the weight difference between a battery and an optical drive is..

 

Hey Guys,

I ordered my W3V (1.83Ghz 100GB:5400 rpm 1GB ram) from zipzoomfly on Memorial Day for $1385 (before $200 mail in rebate). I hope to get mine Friday. It looks like a total of 5 people (including myself) have purchased a W3V in a short period of time!

A couple of my friends are having a LAN Party sometime next week and I hope to get my W3V all tweaked out with new drivers for the event. One friend in particular has a week old W3J and maybe I could post some comparison pics if anyone is interested.

BTW: Im also going to look into that Sumdex sleve

 

finally.......

boarding a plane in a couple of hours to go see the beast.

cant wait

 

Let me know how it goes =)

 

Nice bankben.. welcome to the club :]

I just got to test out my W3v tonite and it's awesome!!

Mine has a "NTFS converter" exe on my desktop... does anyone else?
Should I convert my hard-drives?? Will it delete everything? Thanks guys, hope you're having fun too!

 

It doesn't delete, it converts FAT32 to NTFS format.

Its up to you, though converting from Fat32->NTFS is easy, vice versa is hard, if not impossible.

 

Hmm... thanks, I think I'll convert it... I think the only drawbacks are that NTFS won't let older Windows/Programs work but that's okay for me


I have one other question...

I kinda messed up when I set-up my Windows and I had the Capslock on when I put in my User Name... made it "nICK"

Anyways... I changed the User Name on startup/start menu to "Nick" and same with Right clicking My Computer then it's Registered to "Nick"... but I can't seem to rename the "C:\Documents and Settings\nICK" to "C:\Documents and Settings\Nick".

Does anyone know how to fix this?? Thanks a bunch!!

 

WOOOOHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Ahhhh, isn't life amazing when you set yourself off with high expectations and they are actually surpassed!!!!!!!



Even though the boxes are still on the kitchen foor, and all I have done is get on the internet, I'm so damn happy. This lappy is definetly better looking than any of the pictures I've seen and its even much more portable than I expected. So glad I jumped on this ban wagon before they ran out (already have at buy.com).

Also have to give some props to Buy.com, extremely fast, great payment options, cheapest option I found, packed beautifully, etc.

Well I will keep you guys posted as me and my new mistress get further acquainted.

By the way thanks YCD.TSAI for getting this ball rolling of last W3V owners.

 

Hey guys, the w3v got the best of me too! i was going to get a w3j, but the best price i could get was $800+ more than what i paid for mine. I only paid $900 shipped for it, cant wait till it gets here, looks AWESOME!

 

Damn How Did You Manage That Price Where????????

 

Yeah, seriously!!!! My cheapest was 1,268.... Urrutiaale beat me too.

Urutiaale =) Glad you like it, I'm LOVING mine... Also watch out for the Power4Gear (I think that's what the name is) I disabled mine because when I first turned it on (on battery) it turns it to "Office" mode which (if you look at the preferences) undervolts the CPU so it runs really slow making me think that it was a crappy laptop because it was so slow. Then I plugged into power outlet and it went to Super Performance mode which made it a ton faster. So watch out for that.

I actually disable my P4G because it takes up memory, remember to gut your PC programs!! (Also do the NTFS reformat if you can before you load up all your programs, etc.)




As for nICK, go into Safe Mode and log into Administrator and go to C:/Documents and Settings/ and then rename it to Nick, hopefully that works, if not... well it shouldn't matter because no one will see it.

Worst comes to worst, reformat =) and make sure caps-lock isn't on.










CONGRATULATIONS to everyone who ordered, (and those who are thinking of ordering, you won't be disappointed) the W3V truly has exceeded my expectations.

1. It actually ran Half-Life 2 and Counter-Strike Source like silk, absolutely smooth.
2. Speed isn't that bad! Actually can be comparable to my custom-built computer that I loaded with nice things, not bad! (I thought it would DIE compared to the Core-Duo's, wasn't the case)
3. BEAUTIFUL CHASSIS!!!!!!
4. Speakers are decent and they are facing out, which makes it a plus when I close the lid I can still hear the crisp music.

I LOVE IT.

Those who are thinking of buying one... GET ONE SOON!!!
All the inventory are slowly falling down because we (W3V owner's/supporters) have bought one or are going to.... The rebate's too good to be true so jump on it soon!

 

NTFS is actually much much better. The "older Windows/Programs" must be from the 80's because from what I've read the NTFS is pretty current. It also lets you archive the data better (and degrags quicker) and lets you run it smoother and quicker. NTFS is the way to go.

I suggest you convert before you get all your programs loaded up.

 

anyone with a w3v official asus carrying case that "upgraded" or doesnt like it want to sell it to me for a reasonable price? i would also love the asus branded optical mouse with adapter!

 

hey i am a noob with laptop
after i did couple of weeks research, i am interested in the w3j
but after reading this thread, now i am interested in buying the w3v.
thanx guy!!!!! =)
but now the problem, where to get it!??
i live in toronto!!!
anyone know where is the best price to get it in toronto
or i can even get it from the US. my relative live in Ohio.
thank you!!!!!

 

Thanks for the idea ycd.tsai, but it didn't work .... nothing works... ah well I guess I'm stuck with it

Lovin' the laptop.. just one thing.. the hard drive heated up to 55 celsius and NHC said that was bad... is this normal? I wanna learn how to undervolt/use NHC well....

If you're lucky, there may be one left in Canada. I got mine from MilestonePC/CanadaSys about a week ago and it was the last one that came with 1GB of RAM. Give [email protected] a shout...
If not then, I'm guessing you'll be able to find one in the States.

 

hey battlecat how much u got it for ???

 

$1727.57 Canadian paid by credit card with 2 year warranty because I paid with TD Green Visa (includes 7% GST & $50 Shipping & minus $200 mail-in-rebate)

 

You just missed out on the rebates!!! If you wanted a W3V, you would have saved $200 Canadian if you had bought it by June 4th.

Try Canadacomputers.com the last time I checked, they had a few left in stock in both configurations. Again, It's really too bad you just missed the rebates. Keep an eye out though...Justin, one of the US retailers said that Asus extended/re-issued rebates again on most models in the US...normally Canada follows suit a week or two later. Good luck

 

Got my Asus w3v today. Being my first laptop, it really impresses me, my friends and roomates who has never seen an Asus laptop before. I think they are jealous. ;-)

I was worried about the hot palmrest but I think the problem is overblown and it's luke warm. It's very tolerable. The vent also heat up during intensive activity but moving the mouse a couple inches away from the source easily fix that.

The second concern I have is the low speaker volume. Although, it's not as loud as my desktop system, it's adequate. I wasnt expecting much coming from a laptop anyway. When I plug it in my studio headphone or my speaker system, it sounds great.

This laptop offer everything I need and more. I know I will be quite happy with my choices.

 

Ok, here is my 2 week update

Obviously have not donoe much but enjoy and play some games. Installed need for speed most wanted (which plays at max settings great), and F.E.A.R which definetly needs to play at lower settings to play smooth but that was expected.

Look of it is awesome and there is no heat issue in my opinion, yes it gets warm but not uncomfortable at all.

I am consirned about palm rest fading, NOTHING HAS HAPPENED, but i do rest my hands on it alot, so want to figure out a stylish solution before anything happens (knock on wood)

All in all I love the purchase of this lappy

 

Hi everyone

I picked up a W3V yesterday in Toronto. I had actually been looking at the A6JC, with the dual-core, 1GB and 15" screen (but no XP Pro or bluetooth), but I liked the look of the W3V, the portability, and the chance to finally run a legit copy of XP Pro. I picked it up at OTA Computer Center, (final price to be commented on later). It listed for $1590 - $50 more than the A6JC.

First off, one of the things I dislike about notebook models that are kept around for a long time is that their specs change wildly and it's really hard to figure out exactly what you're getting. I had no idea what to expect - I have seen reviews of this model with any of the following: 5400RPM drive, 4200RPM Drive, 60GB, 80GB, 100GB, DDR2, DDR3, 8-cell battery, 6-cell battery, 64MB Video, 128MB Video. What was mine going to be?

I asked the salespeople about the harddrive - they said it should be 5400RPM. He was "99% sure". He pointed out the stack of coupons next to it - save $200 by end of July. I figured I'd increase the RAM to 1GB and have a smoking laptop at a great price ($150 less than the other computer I was considering!). So, I installed a 512MB stick ($75) and headed into a cab.

When I got in the cab, I noticed the side of the box said "4200 RPM Hard Drive". I stopped the cab and walked back, ready to swap the computer with the A6J. However, he offered to put in a 7200RPM 100GB drive for $80 more. Okay. $75+$80 = $200 rebate heading out the window. I think regardless of whethere I chose this or the A6JC, I was going to have some buyers remorse and wonder about the other one

When I got home, I noticed that the fine print on the coupon said USA only (but sent to a Canadian address). I figured what the hell, and I've sent in the coupon - it had BETTER be valid, otherwise I will have a major issue with OTA promoting non-existant rebates. I don't see any mention of Canada in ANY Asus literature, so I hope that we're just sort of included here. So, officially my price before alleged rebate, is $1590 + 5% (credit card charge - amex is 5% instead of 3%, but my gold card offers theft protection, doubles the warranty, etc etc), + $75 + $80 + 15% tax (hate tax, but I gotta include it since it does add to my cost).

So, for $2000 all-in (before the $200 rebate that had BEST be coming), my specs are:
100GB 7200RPM drive / 1GB RAM / 533 FSB / Mobility Radeon X600 128MB.

Now for my quick review... I'm coming from a fantastic Acer Aspire 2000 - the first (and last) of the solidly built Aspires - aluminum, not plastic casing, with a sub-woofer at the bottom that make it the best sounding notebook I've ever heard. My wife's laptop got stolen the other day, so I figured I'd treat myself to a new one and give her my Aspire 2000.

Spending $2000 makes me, like most of you (I hope), wanting to know (or fool myself) that I made the right choice. So far, I think I did pretty good. I would love a crack at the A6Jc for a few days to confirm, but here's my quick notes. I will focus on the things that I find rarely mentioned, or worth mentioning again:

PROS:

- solidly built. i don't plan on dropping this laptop, but I'm not afraid that a piece is going to break off in my backpack.

- beautiful. no doubt about it, this thing is small and sexy.

- compact: 14" widescreen is a great setup I think - the pixels are closer together than the 15.4" widescreen while maintaining the same resolution, so things are sharp as can be.

- the screen is great. i've heard the rumblings and complaints, but as far as the 'glossy' type screens go, this one is among the best. i worked outside on it all day today (in the shade). no eyestrain.


CONS / THINGS TO "BE AWARE OF":

- the volume output on this thing is shockingly TERRIBLE. terrible isn't even the word for it. obviously i'm spoiled coming from my Aspire 2000, but you can barely hear anything with the volume at 100%. headphones are also VERY VERY low in volume. this, in my mind, is a very serious issue, especially when trying to promote this machine as multimedia friendly. i read another review that said the ASUS CD Player (the one at bootup that I erased when I formatted the HD) had loud volume. I hope this is the case, because it means a software tweak can probably fix it. But where to get this tweak? Have others overcome this problem??? IT SUCKS

- the disparity between people who say this thing is hot (temperature wise) to those who don't is pretty comical. make no mistake about it - this thing runs on the very warm side. I don't think the fan has ever turned off, though at the low RPM settings it's pretty quiet. now, my only guess between people who claim not to notice is that perhaps they are the people with the 4200 RPM hard drives. does anyone care to chime in on this? people who say this thing isnt hot, do you have 4200 drives? do the warm-sayers have 5400+? i don't really mind that much (aside from the fact that its summer), but honestly, this thing is a hot little number. And to think heat was the only factor that kept me away from the Acer Aspire 5670.

- it's not dual-core. part of me wonders if i'm an idiot to be purchasing a laptop mid-2006 that isn't dual core.

- it's kind of heavy. it's small, yeah, but when you add the battery in, it weighs more than you think it would. but since the chassis is so solid, perhaps it shouldn't be a suprise.


Aside from that, I have yet to install any games. I'm going to give them a shot tonite and I don't expect any problems, as people have been saying games play fine (I only want to play some NHL 2006 & NBA 2006 anyways). Oh - I've installed Notebook Hardware Control (formerly Centrino Control) to underclock the CPU in hopes that the fan will shut the f** off, or the thing will run cooler. I prefer to work with a mouse, and the hot air blowing out the right side of the chassis can get annoying, especially since i'm typing on this thing 8+ hours a day.

I don't regret the purchase, but of course I can't help but wonder if I'd be happier with the A6JC - not as sexy or compact, but more powerful. I don't know who to be angry at if I don't get the $200 rebate, but if I don't get it, I might take this issue to Amex and pick up the other model.

 

You should have no problem to get that rebate, they just gave you the wrong rebate form, here is the Canadian form
.

 

Edit: Nevermind. I should look more closely at the date of the post and rest of the thread before replying.

The X600 and a X1300 will perform about the same for most things, given that they have similar clocks. The X1300 have support for Shader Model 3.0, though, and a bit more shader power, so the newer the game, the better X1300 will perform compared to X600 (allthough, you're probably looking at slow and slow+15% in such cases). The X1400 is the same as the X1300, but clocked about 25% faster. The X1600 and the X1400 tend to have similar clocks (depending on implementation), but the X1600 have almost three times the computational power (but the same fillrate). In 'real world usage' with modern games the X1600 is likely to be roughly 2x faster.

 

Thanks for the link to the correct coupon.

Oh, I thought of another "con"... what the heck is with switching placement of the "ctrl" and "fn" key!?!? "ctrl" is only the most used key on the board!!!! utterly nonsensical, but i can adapt i suppose.

 

Wow, almost makes me want to ditch my plan to pick up the W3J... Almost.

Glad you guys are happy with your purchases. Just wondering though, was the W3V discontinued or are they still actively being supplied by Asus.

If not, Justin from Proportable mentioned rebates are simply a way for stores with product purchased at the old rate to move stock before a permanent price drop takes effect.


Just something to think about..

 

I don't think Justin's comments apply to W3V, this model has been discontinued for quite a while, just a inventory clearance.

 

If you grabbed this lappy. Grab a Logitech V270 Bluetooth Cordless Mouse from BestBuy (I got mine on sale) Same mouse as the w3j people get, unfortunately, without the cool Asus Logo

 

is this rebate still valid?

i checked on the asus site and it said the deadline is july 2nd, but the rebate must be post marked 30 days after the purchase, so is the deadline for the pucharse or the rebate?

if someone can clear this up me, would really appreciate that, really looking forward to this deal, was hoping to order today when the question came up

 

Can't it be both? That is, you must purchase by 2 July to be eligible for the rebate, but regardless of the date you purchase your rebate form must be postmarked within 30 days of your personal purchase date? So, for example, If you bought on 15 May, your personal postmark-deadline would be 14 June, but if you waited to buy until 2 July, your personal postmark-deadline would be 1 August... at least, that's how I interpreted the rebate form

I would guess manufacturers instigate a 30-day limit so that they can know from month to month how many potential rebates they might have to honor. It's like when you buy a magnetic fare card for the subway--the system knows it's got X thousand riders-in-potential out there until a certain date, when some of those fares will no longer be valid for travel and the money can be moved from the "owed to customers in the form of rides" into the transportation system's "pure profit" column

A friend of mine once asked a megastore salesperson about the dozens of rebates on their board--some of which, in legal combination, rendered the products nearly free to the consumer. The salesperson said rebate offers increase sales like crazy but that something like 70% of purchasers never actually submit the forms, so to the store/manufacturers it's easy profit.

 

hmm good point

i guess the wording on the rebate form threw me off, it said must be post marked 30 days after purchase, nothing about before 30 days and the word must is kinda demanding but okay sounds good

think im gonna go for it