W3j in Taiwan?

Hey, I currently own a w3v and its been great but I'm spending the summer in Taiwan for an internship and happened to wander accross an Asus store here. Apparently buying a laptop here is kinda like buying a car since you can bargain with the dealer about the price, so right off the bat the dealer offered to sell me a w3j for 47,000 NT which is around $1480 US. I was thinking about getting a new w3j since theyre so cheap and just giving my old w3v to my sister or something. I was just wondering that since its going to come with chinese windows, is it possible for me to use the cd that came with my w3v to reformat a w3j and change it to english windows? And, is there any website where I can check the specs or do I just have to confirm with the dealer?

 

Yes, you can use your other Windows CD to reformat to the english version.. You can check the model number to see if it's the refreshed version.. the newer W3J with a 2.0 GHz CPU is model H026P. The older version with 1.83GHz CPU is model H017P

 

Ya, as ledzepp14 stated, you can reformat it into english. I know many who were from Hong Kong, Taiwan and etc who can do such if they wanted to. I have to admit, $1480 is cheap. I am sure you can bargain even further.

 

I'm assuming it works the other way around too? Like if i wanted chinese windows on my old computer i could reformat using the cd from the w3j?

And yeah, since the vendor started at 47,000 Im assuiming hes willing to go lower, maybe down to 42,000? =)

 

make sure the hd is the one you want though...i recall early on the w3j in taiwan used 4200rpm hd's not sure if that's still true or if it will be a problem for you though

 

I might be of some help here. I'm in Taiwan, and I'm also considering purchasing a W3j. The lowest price I have found is 42,000NT. Thats ~1280 USD. That price does not include the 5% tax, and that tax is a MUST if you want a warranty. Out of the places that I have looked at... 42,000 is the lowest, and 51,800 has been the highest. In Taiwan, I have been told that yes, sadly 100GB 4200RPM drives are used. Also slower RAM - 533mhz, and a slower T2300 1.66ghz CPU. It's $500 less, but not quite the specs as the $1800 NA model.

I just was at a store today. Asus has a great deal right now! And it is good till the 19th of this month! If you buy the W3j, regester the notebook online with Asus, they will send you a free modular 100GB kit, for a total of 200GB's of storage space!!

Asus notebooks in Taiwan also have some other good things about them....

1) 2 year Global warranty... vs 1 year
2) With the W3j free bluetooth mouse
3) Free case and possibly something else small like this.

 

Buying laptops in Taiwan is not only cheaper, but it also comes with A LOT of free stuff.
Take PCHome for example, the old version of W3j costs around USD 1600-1700. It comes with not only standard sleeve, LCD cloth and mouse, but a USB cooler, PaPaGo GPS software, Skype phone, a wireless router and a 100GB HD (limited time only). The A8jm comes with another 512mb mp3 player and some kind of TV signal converter.

 

Wow thanks for the info Jason. My friend here in taiwan bought a w3j for 47,000 with those specs, although he said got a 5400 rpm hard drive. Either way, I could always just upgrade myself and use the old hard drive as an external. Do you happen to know which stores in Taipei are good? I just went to Kmall where they have lots of computer stuff but if you know any cheaper places please tell .

 

I'm located in Taichung (the center of the island). So I really do not know of any places there. 5400RPM drive though, that really sounds good, but thats not what I was told. I would go to http://www.taiwanfun.com/north/taipei/index.htm and do a little research on where good places are to shop for pcs.

@martian 1600-1700 is a lot here! I have talked to many Asus dealers, and right now the W3j comes with a free bag, bluetooth mouse, and 100GB HD. The other stuff you mentioned might just be a limited time offer from that specific dealer. I'm going to go down to the computer store very soon, and If I can still get the W3j for $1350 and with the free 100GB extra drive, I'm going to go for it! On a side note, this $1350 price that I found was around $60 cheaper then the lowest price any other dealer has quoted. So I would say if your paying around $1400-$1450, your getting quite a good deal.

 

No one seems to have read my post so i'll post here XD. Jason I was wondering if you saw any W2J's there with 1680x1050 resolutoin. And if you did do you know what price? Thanks.