W5 / V6 update

Right, the V6 is the series... V6800 is technically the North American Series number.... We've getting the "V" model which is the Sonoma chipset with the "v" which is the dedicated graphics.... 64mb ATI x600.

Available right this second...... 15 came in yesterday, I think 5 are still available after all was said and done with the pre-orders..... another 38 are coming in a few days.....

Hot is an understatement. The V6 is a little big for my car (so my white M5 stays there), but it's a pound less than my M6ne and more powerful, with looks that are a mix between the M5 / M6 and W1.... very attractive.

Thanks,
Justin
PROPortable
www.proportable.com
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Justin,
Is V6V the same as V6800 Asus just announced at CeBIT?

The new V6800 is only 0.9 inch thin, so sexy. When is it available?

 

Well, since no one else is going talk about it, I guess I will.

Impressions of the final V6v model...


Build - brushed aluminum palmrest, carbonfiber bottom chassis, magnesium alloy lid... thats a trifecta of beautiful as far as a notebook goes.

Screen - This "glare-type" screen is much less GLARE than anything else. It has much higher contrast and brightness than say the M6 screen, but realistically, no one really needs that much brightness and contrast unless they're in a bright room or outside. I try not to work under overhead lights on a regular basis, but I did while testing the V6... there isn't that awful reflection that you'll see on the sony's and so forth... This a much different screen from the Asus "ACE View", but I think it's a good mix of contrast, brightness and easy viewing.

Parts - OK, there are 2, 256mb 400mhz DDR2 slots (easily accessible from the bottom for upgrade purposes. The CPU is also accessible from the bottom, it does come with the P-M 750.... The wifi card is also accessible from the bottom... Intel A/B/G as promised. The harddrive... no different, accessible from the bottom... Hitachi 60gb/5400rpm... Bluetooth.. FINALLY.

Special package throw ins - The same logitech aluminum laptop mouse that comes with the W1.. A nice laptop sleeve similiar to that that comes with the S5, but larger... Also, a nice black and blueish/gray carrying case... very stylish!

Hot, hot, hot...


Thanks,
Justin
PROPortable
www.proportable.com
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Oh also.. for those of you who have had other Asus notebooks or at least have seen them in a review or just pictures online.. The V6 is a mix in design of many other Asus systems... atleast 4 that I can think of.

Let me first list a laptop and what features seem to be pulled from it and put into the V6v.

W1 - the magnetic latch system, the brushed aluminum palmrest, the hinge deisgn. Although the speakers are in a different place (the palmrest instead of directly out front).. the bigger, louder speakers certainly come from this family.

Black S5/M5 - the battery design and placement, the silver trim around the outside of the case, the aluminum left and right click buttons most similar to the M5.

M6 - great 15.1" SXGA screen (although much better contrast), the dedicated graphics card can be seen to be pulled from this or the W1.. Most people thought the M6 was small, or atleat a very good size and wight for a 15" notebook... this makes the M6 look like a beast if that is even possible.

M2 - This may be before most of you guys really found out about Asus laptops, although it still sells in one form or fashion around the world. This 3 year old computer was a 14", and yet very slim and for a 14 notebook and had a painted magnesium lid... those two aspects of the V6 remind me heavily of that very popular model (which also made me start to wonder where the heck my M2 is.. I haven't seen it around since the summer!)

Thanks,
Justin
PROPortable
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Given the feature and price, I wonder why they don't just stick in 1GB memory. Sheesh!

 

Cost of 512mb sticks of ddr2 533 I believe was the reason..

Thanks,
Justin
PROPortable
www.proportable.com
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<blockquote id='quote'> quote:<hr height='1' noshade id='quote'>Originally posted by PROPortable

 

Also, I don't have it infront of me at the moment, but I almost want to bet the W5 uses so-dimms and not microdimms like the S5/M5.....

Two reasons I am assuming this:

1. no one to my knowledge makes ddr2 microdimms yet... not at 400 and certainly not at 533mhz.. and no one else besides the W5 would even have them spec'd, which would make it hard for a memory company to make them for a market that revolves around only a couple hundred that have been made so far.

2. the W5 is spec'd with onboard 256mb and a seperate 256mb ddr2 / 400mhz stick. This would explain the reasoning behind Asus having an option between 256mb / 400 and 512mb / 533...... if the 256mb were to be used with the W5/W3/V6..... and the 512mb /533 in the W1/W2... it certainly does make sense they would rather only order 2 types of memory rather than 3...

Not saying it's the best solution, but it's where they are right now.

Thanks,
Justin
PROPortable
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No, you're right, but their other option was 512mb / 533mhz - I don't know if it was their supplier or what. I think the 512mb /533 sticks are what they are going to use in the new W1 version and the all new W2.... They told me that it pushed the price up out of where they wanted it.

But just I don't confuse anyone, there are two sticks of 256mb DDR2; 400mhz in the V6.

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

 

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

 

Yeah, you have a point, but the W5 is the only one with internal memory and it's memory is ddr2 / 400....

The V6 and W3 both have two available slots and those systems handle the 533 ddr2.

As you might not be aware, the M5/S5 weren't "dothan ready" until May, when the dothan came out and the chipset could support ddr333. The M6 was the only system that was "dothan ready" when it was released in December .... 6 months early. Performance difference between the 266 and 333 - nothing to write home about...... 400 and 533 aren't exactly going to blow 97% of people away..... there are only a few who can actually make use of it. Other than that, it's the newest tech and it'll sell.

Sonoma just came out... lets be clear about this... also lets take a look at centrino since it's inception....

May of 03 - centrino with it's 266mhz ddr and 1mb banias cpu at 400mhz arrives
December of 03 - centrino (some) get 333mhz ddr.
May of 04 - centrino gets the 2mb dothan cpu at 400mhz.

Fast forward to oh..late February 2005 - Sonoma arrives with ddr2 /400/533mhz and the 533mhz dothan w/ 2mb cache.

I don't see the dual core Yonah affecting the sales of any notebook that is going to come out in the next couple months. This time last year, Sonoma was supposed to be out by the end of Q3... oh well, only 5-6 months off. There will always be people who continue to wait and wait.... but the first thing to consider, when has Intel been close to right on ETA's? Well, maybe when they get within a month of delivery.. but thats about it. I wouldn't bet on Yonah before the end of the year. Sonoma still has a lot to offer.

Thanks,
Justin
PROPortable
www.proportable.com
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http://www.pcworld.com/resource/article/0,aid,119959,pg,1,RSS,RSS,00.asp

Is this - the v6800V the same class/form factor as the v6000 series? Picture looks the same but it apparently is a new system...

 

Yes, that is the V6V that we've been hearing about for the past couple of weeks...[8D]

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

 

Yep, thats the puppy I'm using right now to write this post...

One thing though, the notebook doesn't even get to 5.7 pounds with the biggest battery...... The US market is getting the 8 cell battery standard...... It still sits flush with the rear of the notebook... and we're honestly toping off at under 5.5 pounds. I'm not sure how many other countries have recieved them yet, but I know as far as the US, we'll be the only ones with them till atleast next month. It's certainly light, strong, powerful, and sexy.

Thanks,
Justin
PROPortable
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Justin - can you tell us more on the display? I read this one from another forum, but maybe the contrast levels were not set properly.

'However, it has a fatal flaw for me, and that is the screen. Six months ago, I would have said nice things about the SXGA screen, as I did about the WSXGA screen on my M6. And compared to other similar screens it is pretty good.

But compared to the high contrast glossy screens, it is a poor cousin. It's not as bright, the blacks are worse, it is not as sharp and the angles are lacking. The guy at the shop told me it was one of Asus's new ColorShine screens, but it seemed just like their old screens. Kind of dull'

 

That is their "color shine" display - but it's not their "ace view"

It's not glossy, which means it's not reflective. The screen is better than whats on the M6, but it's not a glossy screen.

Glare-type refers to coating that enhances the black, thats all. Blacks are certainly more black, without the need for that reflective glass type screen.

Thanks,
Justin
PROPortable
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Would you say that the V6V will become the next M6Ne?
I hardly think the Z71V can match up to the M6's style, quality, and popularity... but only time will tell. The Z71V is DIRT cheap...

And without a Z70 anywhere in sight, it looks like the V6V will be the next hip thing...
Oh I wish that W3 would hurry up and come to Canada [ ]

EDIT: btw, congrats to us Justin... we're "Notebook Evangelists" now [8D]



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

 

Haha.. I was wondering what you were talking about at first... I got it though.

You know, here's the deal.

Price wise, size and options wise, the Z71v is what I'd consider the M6 of this year.

However, the M6 itself is getting a refresh into the Z70v model. I don't know though if the Z70v could continue to sell for more than the Z71v, if it ends up with only say... a 64mb x600 chipset. If it some how could have 128mb x600, I certainly think it could sell for a couple hundred more than the Z71v.

For now, coming from someone who's main notebook over the last year was an M6, the V6 just replaced it. It's atleast a pound lighter, no matter what anyone wants to say about the screen, it's certainly better than the current M6ne's 15.1" screen, and it's a lot sexier and I always love the aluminum....

Yes, it's expensive, but it's worth it. If you just "need" a computer, maybe it's not your first choice, but if you "want" a computer, you should be looking at it.

It's just like the people who think a car gets them someplace... the cheaper the better. There there are people who believe getting there is really the most important thing. When you beleive that, you start to want performance, all the goodies, good materials, good looks..... the same principle applies with computers. At least 65% of all people have to use a computer to get through their day.... it's your choice how you do it..

J

Thanks,
Justin
PROPortable
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What about the keyboard? From the pictures, it looks just slightly different from the M6 one that I'm used to...
from the looks of it, some keys have been moved around/removed... so does that mean the V6V keyboard is not as wide... thus making the V6 not as wide as the M6 in general?

That's one of the disadvantages of the M6 in my opinion.. it's just a tad bit too wide for my liking.

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

 

Well, you tell me.. I don't have my M6 at home, but I've got the V6 right here. It's a hair over 13" wide from edge to edge..... The keyboard is 11 and 3/4" wide.... As best as I can see.... next to my W1 keyboard.......everything is idential, except the arrow keys down drop down on the right side... .. enter, backspace, spacebar, shift keys... those all are identical... Last I remember, the W1 and M6 has the same keyboard... The pictures on our site were international shots from the main Asus office...... the US keyboard looks like every other US keyboard on all of our notebooks of that size.

J

Thanks,
Justin
PROPortable
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OK - I think I've got to get this up here.....

I've got a W5 that showed up today, I opened it up and the screen is certainly more "reflective".

In the original specs, both the W5 and V6 were supposed to have a "color shine (glaretype)" and "crystal shine (high brightness)" screen. The V6 certainly has good blacks, better than the M6... but they manage to do that through enhanced contrast and brightness, with a matte finish screen. The W5 screen, is no matte finish.... it's "glossy" if you will.

Now, I started to wonder and I checked out Asus' official specs.. and they have changed and dropped the "color shine" from the V6 specs, however crystal shine is still there. So, no glossy screen, but higher brightness. It's a nice screen and I prefer that it doesn't reflect my office when I have the lights turned on, but we're going to have to change our site.

Thanks,
Justin
PROPortable
www.proportable.com
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Justin,

Can you comment on the battery life of the V6V from your experience so far? Do the 4 - 5 hours from the specs hold up ok with normal use?

How about performance? Can this system be used for playing newer games? I know it is a notebook and that performance reflect this. But is the X600 card any good for more graphic intensive tasks i.e. gaming.

Are the 64mb video memory taken from system memory or not?

 

Haven't gotten to use it that much yet..... certainly not straight. I'll see if I can do that this weekend.

What kind of games do you want tested? I think I can have someone play doom3 against me on a W1... that has the 64mb ati 9600.... I can see what we think.

The graphics are dedicated... it's using it's own 64mb of vram, nothing from the system.

Thanks,
Justin
PROPortable
www.proportable.com
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That's ok with the battery. Just drop a line whenever you have a feel for the battery life.

If you can try out something like Doom 3 and/or Half-Life 2 that would be sweet... I am curious to know at what resolution and maybe detail level you can get decent gameplay.

 

My guess is, it'll be similar to the W1's 64mb 9600... of my M6 w/ the 64mb 9700..... I'll test.

Thanks,
Justin
PROPortable
www.proportable.com
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Just to make something super clear - We've had the W5's for a couple days now and I've already posted that they are taking so-dimms and not u-dimms. And before you go rush into using 533mhx ddr2, there are problems due to the speed of the built in ram.


ddr2 400 is working in the W5. It's one thing to use faster ram in a system that can't support it, just because it's the same price, it's another to to use sticks with unlike speeds, which is essentially what you have when you have with 256mb of onboard ram.

Thanks,
Justin
PROPortable
www.proportable.com
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<blockquote id='quote'> quote:<hr height='1' noshade id='quote'>Originally posted by startech

 

We were informed by the technicians at Corsair that the memory we will be using will work. However until we test it we cannot be sure. From our understanding it will clock the 533 down to 400.

In our previous emails Art, I had said that the specs had changed and they were now offering 256 in slot 2. That was our mistake. The specs have been changing everyday on this machine, and we are trying our best to keep up to date with them.

Until we receive a machine we will not know for sure. But believe me, we will test it, burn it in, and make sure it works before sending it to a customer.


John

25 Years of Technology & Service
All our Asus laptops can be custom built to your specifications.
724-962-0566 x106
www.stipc.com

 

Remain calm.....everything will be ok.

For us, until WE prove otherwise, only ddr2 400 so-dimms are going to be offered in the W5's that we sell. We haven't been able to get our corsair ddr2 533 sticks to work in the W5, and corsair doesn't make ddr2 400 sticks..... so thats why we're offering kingston. We're not going to send anything out that isn't performaning correctly, whether the customer wants something else or not..

The internal ram certainly can not be removed and although I think that was just said someone who didn't fully understand the system.... it's not a realistic thing to do (otherwise Asus would have done it from the factory).



Thanks,
Justin
PROPortable
www.proportable.com
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There is no sense in beating each other up over this. But what I can tell you is the specs have remained the same for over a month now. We had some units in stock and didn't want to offer a ram upgrade until it was known what would work and that's why we didn't offer optional ram upgrades for most of the pre-order. Once we did, we had to only offer the 400mhz sticks and most all of the pre-orders should ship tomorrow.

Again, the onboard ram can't go anywhere..... Also, incase some of you really want to know.... even though so-dimms are made in larger sizes, a 1gb stick will NOT work and the system won't even boot.... the system is limited to a max of 768mb of ram.

Thanks,
Justin
PROPortable
www.proportable.com
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Even in Europe - I'm 99% sure there aren't 1gb microdimms..... there are only a handful of notebooks made that use them and none of them have been made to support more than 512mb sticks....

If a 1gb stick was made..... in ddr333 / 174 pin microdimm - it's be wicked expensive.... ... because the production yeild would need to be very small.... since again, there isn't a notebook that supports it and even notebooks that use microdimms can be counted on two hands... with room to spare.

Thanks,
Justin
PROPortable
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Justin,
Did you ever get a 1 GB chip to work in an S5?

John

25 Years of Technology & Service
All our Asus laptops can be custom built to your specifications.
724-962-0566 x106
www.stipc.com

 

1gb u-dimms haven't been made yet..... so I'm not sure if that was meant to be a trick question or you were really curious... but no, not only wouldn't they work, but we don't try them either.

My comment was more directed to customers who when they found out the W5 was using the so-dimm, they figured it might be able to handle 1gb sticks....

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

 

J,
It's not a trick question.
One of our customers went to europe paid a premium from what I understand and tried it in his S5, and it worked fine. I just wanted to see if you had done this yet, since you know about the W5.

John

25 Years of Technology & Service
All our Asus laptops can be custom built to your specifications.
724-962-0566 x106
www.stipc.com

 

He had said he paid over 400$ for it. I certainly can't justify that kind of money for memory...lol.

John

25 Years of Technology & Service
All our Asus laptops can be custom built to your specifications.
724-962-0566 x106
www.stipc.com

 

$400 for a 1gb ddr333 u-dimm? Just considering the yeild they'd have to the make....... I'd say it would have been a steal.

Figure this - If the memory isn't avaialable in the US... and there isn't a notebook that can take it... why make it? Their yeild had to be super small if none was ever avaialble here and that just drives the price way up.......especailly if only one company made it..... and right now there are only 3 companies who make the ddr333 u-dimm to begin with...

Thanks,
Justin
PROPortable
www.proportable.com
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Justin

Looks like Asus USA updated their site to show the V6V.
http://usa.asus.com/products/notebook/v6series/v6000v/v6000v_overview.htm

Specs show a possible 8x DVD. Is it not possible to get this drive yet?[ ]

 

No, not yet... I think that's going to be a while

Thanks,
Justin
PROPortable
www.proportable.com
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Hey Justin,

You guys still have plenty of Asus V6V in stock? Since time is ticking down, I wanted to know what are my options on getting which laptop by April 13th - 15th time frame.

If the Asus Z71V comes in by early next week, then maybe I'll go with it given the build/test/deliver time could reach to me by the April 13th time frame.

If not, my last two choices will be the Asus V6V or Acer 8104 series.

hehee

 

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

 

a handful of V6's, but the initial rush is off, atleast until the reviews start coming out.

The Z71v's.... right now, it's up in the air. The ship these are on is set to arrive on the 4th.. well they are set to be out of port and at asus on the 4th. We're dealing directly with Asus, so the line of communication is clear.

However, some of the other dealers seem to have been told that some of the distrbitors have told them the date is the 28th of this month... Asus says this is only one shipment coming in and that's on the 4th... so I think distribution might have it wrong..... but we'll see... usually they just show up... earliar is always better than later.

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

 

Sometimes the US site just pulls stuff right off the global site.

The US office is responsible for all of north america..... so just one model of the v6 here.

no 4 cell for this reason - the 8 cell is not much bigger and adds very little weight.. so they won't even offer the 4 cell as an extra.

there isn't an 8x 9.5mm dvd burner yet.. but the system will handle it, it can be upgraded to it..... and it'll eventually be available and the price will come down to where it makes sense to use it..

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

 

Cool thanks...

Interesting, the us.asus.com website state a few things that is different than what is being discussed. I wonder if they ment that to be the candanian version...

On the website:

4 cell 2400mAh battery
Up to 4 hours of battery life

DVD+RW
DVD-R/RW: 8X/4X or 4X/2X, DVD+R/RW: 8X/4X or 4X/2.4X, CD-R/RW:24X/10X or 16X/10X, DVD-ROM:8X, CD-ROM: 24X



Laptop: TBD
My Website: http://www.smilepak.com

 

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

 

1:41

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

 

[8] So is the sound on the W5A's any good? Sony VGN S 360 (non sonoma) sound seems kind of sucky.

Anyone want to share thoughts on how VGNS360 compares with W5A? I'm not really interested in processor speed or price but would like the pros and cons of other features. Assume I got bluetooth on the sony.

 

In particular, how does the fan noise differ between the two laptops?

I am worried that sonoma laptops will suck at fan noise.

 

The sound on the W5 is better than the S5.... reason is because the w5 has a little bar with the speaker behind it up on the screen.. so it's directed towards you..... The S5 had one little speaker that was in the palmrest - and your hand usually covered it.

-built in RF is hot because you get the free logitical mini optical rf mouse that came with the S5... but the S5 needed an RF dongle to work..... so this is neat.

-Camera is barnone awesome for web conferencing.... neat for spy shots out at the local cafe [ ] - every easy to use too which I'm really glad asus worked out on the production units.

-bluetooth... is bluetooth... everyone's been asking for it forever from Asus...... keyboards, mice, headsets, phones, etc.. useful.

I don't know..... I certainly wish my current M5 had all of these features..... I'm not a big fan of widescreen on such a small notebook.... 14" in the limit for me...... but some people really dig the tiny widescreens.

Thanks,
Justin
PROPortable
www.proportable.com
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Did you see my picture?

http://www.proportable.com/images/keyboardcompare.jpg


I'm telling you, I have my M5 infront of my right now and a W5 next to me..... lets say... like between the center of the "g" to the center of the "h" key is 3/4" which is 19mm... both have full size keys....

From [Q] to [}] ---

M5Np: 7.75" -- 196.85mm

S5n: 8.00" -- 203.2mm

W5a: 8.5" -- 215.9mm

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

 

As far as I know the 12" S5/M5 has a standard size keyboard with key pitch of 1.90mm (correction, 19.00mm or 1.90cm). I have found that the keyboard is slightly smaller on W5: at 1.75mm (correction, 17.5mm or 1.75cm) key pitch - listed on most vendors' or Asus' websites. That was very astonishing - since the W5 has a 12" width as compared with the 10.8" width of S5/M5 (although W5 has one more line of vertical keys on the very right side!) .

Can anyone with a W5 measure the distance between the centers of the keys [Q] and [{] ? It's the distance that will give 19.00mm (correction, 190.00mm or 19.00cm) for a standard-sized keyboard. Thanks a lot.