What's the Word on the Asus F9S? Worth Buying?

I've been thinking of picking up an Asus F9S, which my local MicroCenter finally has in stock. It seems to be somewhat similar to the versions I've seen online, except it has a 2.0GHz T7300 and 2GB of RAM.

It seems pretty close to what I've been looking for in a laptop in terms of a combination of price, size and performance.

However, I've had a hard time finding much information/discussion on this machine, other than a handful of threads (most of which are people asking about it, etc.).

Is there any consensus on whether this will be a good machine?

 

Heya zadillo, how nice of you to stop by


The F9 will be, well, it's solid with a few flaws being the plastic build(so it'll have flex at certain parts of the chassis, the hinges are also plastic and are potentially delicate). The screen, from what Pulp has mentioned is fantastic. Unfortunately, I don't think a single F9 unit made it across the border, so I didn't get to see it in person yet. The weight is decent, a bit on the heavy side for a 12" notebook, as well on the chunky side.

In conclusion, the only flaws in the unit is simply the build quality and the battery life. I personally think it's a great machine with only a few flaws, unless majority of ASUS's new machines, as the pricing is pretty aggressive, one can't find anything in this size category with rivaling specifications and pricing.

 

Yeah. I've been tempted by this basic form factor/performance combination, and the F9S price seems a lot more reasonable to me than an XPSM1330, for example.

I don't mind build quality issues so much; or at least, I'm assuming this thing will be at least somewhat sturdy.

What are the issues with the battery life? The one MicroCenter is selling has a 6-cell at least.

 

Though Pulp has the F9dc which has the TL-56 processor with a 6 cell, he barely hits two hours on low brightness and WiFi on.

Perhaps the C2D processor in the F9s could pump out a bit more, but I doubt it'll make a large leak. 2-3 hours on a 12" cell that inherently sticks out is unacceptable. Sticking out should automatically equal +3 hours of battery life!

 

Hrmm........ yeah, I've got to say, that would be kind of disappointing..... generally speaking I don't like working on machines with low brightness if I can help it anyway (one of my primary uses would be writing, and I like the screen as bright as possible). If it's 2 hours with low brightness, I wonder what it would be like at 3/4's or full brightness.

I guess I might hold off a bit, and wait to hear some more first hand reports of the F9S.

Or I might just break down and buy the MBP, which in all honestly probably is still pretty close to the laptop I'm really looking for (I still wish there was a modern equivalent to the 12" PowerBook G4 though, which is why the F9S appeals to me).

I might also wait to hear a bit about that F8SV though, which also might be pretty close to what I'm looking for, if it has good battery life.

 

If you want battery life, well ASUS isn't something you should be looking at. I don't know why and it's really stupid, I don't think a single notebook that is out right now breaks the 4 hour mark, most are 2-2.5 hours. It's really disappointing, they used to have notebooks that would get superior battery life, more then the rivals on the market but now it's just gone down so much it's just uncomprehendable.

I hope they stop this trend soon.

 

Hrmm, well, thanks for the heads up - yeah, battery life is probably one of my most important criteria - one of the other machines I've been looking at has been the ThinkPad X61, just because it seems capable of getting remarkable battery life (and I also like the keyboard on it a great deal, especially amazing to me given its size).

Anyway, yeah, I do hope this trend turns around with Asus. It's definitely a brand I associate with the pinnacle of laptop tech, for the most part.

Perhaps the next round of Asus laptops with Penryn, LED-backlit screens, etc. will improve on this?

 

if you cant wait then wait for the nehelm processor next year, which will have a dramatic performance update and also battery life I suspected

 

Oh I wouldn't wait on their promises. They use to say this for any new chipset, but then they cut corners and "compensate" with other power-sucking components and in the end you are left with the same battery life, or worse.

I also agree that ASUS battery life has been going down the drain, and if this is the status in a year or so when I'll want a new notebook, I'll definitely look elsewhere. I hope it'll improve though, just like everybody else...

 

I prefer the W7S to the F9S, personally. Better build quality, dimensionally identical, better screen, same price. Though, the RAM has issues. And, along with every other Asus notebook, the battery life flat out sucks.

 

What exactly is the difference between the two then? Or rather, if they are dimensionally identical and seem to have similar specs, yet the W7S has better build quality but costs about the same, what's the point of the F9S?

Also, I was reading about the W7S and it said that 512megs of RAM were soddered on, and they said the max RAM was 1.5 gigs of RAM (which I don't understand, I would think you could put a 2GB DIMM in the other slot to get 2.5 gigs at least).... if they were going to sodder RAM in, you'd think they'd sodder in 1GB instead.

Also, just how bad is the battery life on the W7S? Is it also like 2 to 2.5 hours?

 

The F9 is essentially a budget Ensemble version of the W7, but is the newer model. There may be a difference in OS as well, as the W7 only ships with VistaBusiness.

As for the RAM issue, the W7 should work fine with a 2GB stick in the single slot. The reason for the 1.5 max is that 2GB sticks did not exist when the model was spec'd by Asus and has never been officially tried, but the BIOS should support it. Re: 512 soldered on the MB, Asus doesn't typically update the onboard memory in those series that have it, as it is cheaper from a production standpoint to maintain consistent build as the models are updated (W7, W7j, W7s) and 1GB would be more expensive.

W7 owners in the past through the -j series have reported 3+ hours, but I don't recall many W7S series people around here.

 

Battery life is about the same as the F9S - 2.5 hours roughly.

The W7S tops out at 2.5GB of RAM, since you can put in a 2GB stick of RAM. And yea, the 512MB soldered in was a boneheaded move....I'd have less problems if it had 1GB soldered in as well.

The W7S is better in every way, except for the soldered RAM. You get magnesium and carbon fiber instead of plastic, it looks better, its got a larger screen, etc. The F9S is smaller in every dimension by exactly 1 millimeter, and its less than an ounce lighter, so the difference in size is negligible. However, the configuration is slightly worse: T7300(2.0)/512MBx2/120GB instead of T7500(2.2)/1024MBx1/160GB on the F9s of the same price ($1299). The W7s does come with Vista Business in place of the Home Premium found on the F9S, but that may or may not be worth anything.

 

Gotcha, thanks. I really don't understand the point of the F9S in the line then.

-Zadillo

 

Neither does anyone else. The F9Dc makes sense since its so cheap, but the F9S and W7S are hitting the same market, and are in effect stealing sales from each other.

Asus really needs to reorganize and consolidate its lineup.

 

So glad I bought my Z33 when I did... Last model they had with good battery life.

It'll be Thinkpad X series for me from here on out. Although by the time I replace my Z, it will probably be an X80

 

Does anyone know how hot the F9 is compared to the w7s?

Apparently the w7s runs extremely hot.

 

The W7 is going to run warm, but few around here have called it "extremely hot" as I recall. You have a midrange dedicated gpu in there and that's what happens when you stuff heat-generating components into a little box with restricted internal airflow patterns - same problem with most d-gpu sub-15" notebooks. As for higher heat, only when you stress both the cpu and gpu with gaming/encoding or block the vents/shell. Pulp is one of the only folks around here with the F9, and he already posted his response there.

 

Considering it has the same specs, and the same size, I'd assume that the F9S runs just as hot as the W7S, though both should run slightly cooler than the F9Dc, due to the inadequacies of AMD processors.

 

well to give an update, i was going to buy this last week and put in the order with gentech (1toppc.com) but because they made a mistake and put instock instead of preorder, i canceled and got the sony sz660, which is fantastic by the way...BUT newayzzz


ken from gentech emailed me today saying there going to be at his place tomorrow, so anyone ordering shoudl order from gentech as they will have them instock as of tomorrow.

sad i left asus when i sold my c90s, but still will be watching i can always sell sony....

 

kickace, mind sharing how you got the SZ with a T7500, 4GB ram, and 250 harddrive at that price??

 

One more question about F9s vs W7s

The w7s does NOT have a protruding battery, correct. (well it does, but its negligible)

The F9s, does the standard 6-cell protrude much, or is it only the 9-cell

 

Correct on W7. The F9's 6 cell should be negligible, if at all; the 9-cell will protrude.

 

Thanks for the response

So basically, the F9s 6-cell (included) does NOT protrude either?

i'm just asking again because I want to be absolutely clear!

What's putting me in doubt is the following picture:



Maybe Pulp or another new owner can chime in?

 

Oops, I forgot the size of the F9 was 12" -- so that could very well be the 6 cell... time to get the actual owner's take, and you've already posted to Pulp's other thread so I'd wait there.

I had been thinking that the F9 should have been near the same as the old W5 series where only the extended battery stuck out.

 

its a 6 cell, the battery sticks out because the f9j (the first of the f9 series) came with a 3 cell, by the way about the magnesuim in the w7s, its very dangerous, my sci teacher showed how it reacts to acid and heat (it ignites and can blind u) i'm not exactly sure how the w7s was build though, not sure if the magnesium is exposed or not, but i would be cautious around any heat source, for i getting the f9s, u can upgrade it to 4 gb max (3 gb for a 32-bit OS, and 4 gb with a 64-bit OS)

and yes i know this thread is very old and unuse, but...

 

You might want to get your science teacher to teach you a bit more about the difference between the science experiment he showed you with magnesium and a product made using it.

-Zadillo

 

he used magnesium ribbon and lit it with a bonsor burner (don't know how to spell). if its magnesium its magnesium, there might be a small concentration of magnesium but even with a 1cm long ribbon it was able to lit up pretty brightly

 

Right, my point is that it doesn't sound like he taught you anything about compounds, alloys; somehow you've come away with the impression that the magnesium used in a laptop is dangerous, which is startling. Your teacher should have taught you the rest of this, I think.

Magnesium is one of the most commonly used structural metals in the world, along with aluminum and steel. It is not dangerous as you say; the experiment with pure magnesium you described is not really applicable here. Magnesium itself is generally only easily flammable in powdered or shaved strip form (which is why he used a magnesium ribbon in the experiment you described). It isn't flammable as a structural material.

-Zadillo

 

i would use the lappy with cautious, don't know concentration, just with cautious, he did about a story on how a ship with made up of magnesium (it was during a war) and it was hit be a torpedo and well, lets say it was very bright

 

Again, nothing is going to happen. As I mentioned, magnesium is used in all sorts of things; it isn't flammable in any of those forms, like in a laptop, or magnesium alloy wheels, or whatever.

I really think your science teacher did a number on you; he should have explained that magnesium was flammable like that when you had a thin ribbon, or powered magnesium, or whatever, but that's it.

-Zadillo

 

I'm not sure what that's a reference to, but seriously, what does that even mean? Was he claiming the explosion was very bright because of the magnesium used to make the ship?

Seriously, your science teacher has really misled you here. A laptop which uses magnesium in its chassis is not dangerous.

-Zadillo

 

either or, better be careful, but alloys can still have the same properties as its compounds, heh heh this is getting so of topic.

 

yes it was the magnesium in the ship

 

I think I found a reference to the story you mentioned, on some school's science fair page:

http://www.chem.umn.edu/chemday/1997/picture4.html

Either way, this seems like a special case - as I understand it, the water is part of the requirement for flammability here, which doesn't apply to most other things magnesium is used in. I'm not sure what makes you think though that a laptop made with magnesium alloy would be flammable.

-Zadillo

 

what makes u think water has anything to do with it, and see alloy

 

Because water would contribute to it. Either way, I'm not sure of the details of this - as I said, the only reference I could even find was this science fair page which doesn't go into much detail.

Again, I don't know what else to tell you here.

The basic claim you are making is simply not true; magnesium is one of the most commonly used structural metals in the world, along with aluminum and steel.

The easy flammability of magnesium is in specific scenarios, in small strips, powder, etc.

Magnesium as used in things like laptops, automobiles, etc. is not easily flammable, any more than other similar metals.

So again, the basic claim you're making, that these laptops would be dangerous because they use magnesium, is patently false.

Please find a single example of a magnesium-made laptop igniting.

-Zadillo

 

ha found prove heres the link http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=36077
its got the link for further info, click "at blaze"

 

Errmm, did you actually read the linked story?

http://web.thock.com/cubefire.htm

So as they point out, igniting magnesium is not simple, and does require reaching the ignition point, which if you read the whole story, was not a simple process.

So again, the point you are trying to make is really silly; no laptop made out of magnesium is going to just reach the magnesium ignition point from its own normal heat. You need to really go out of your way and create incredible temperatures to even come close to igniting it.

Again; magnesium is easily flammable in ribbon or powdered form; it is much harder to actually get a large piece of magnesium to ignite without tremendous amounts of heat, well beyond what any laptop generates even at its hottest temperatures.

-Zadillo

 

i didn't say from its own heat, i said be cautious around heat source, geez

 

And seriously, read some of the other responses in that thread; someone raised the same question you did, which people responded to:

And oh yeah, about the water (which would seem to explain the example about the ship exploding):

 

You said that it's dangerous (i.e. implying it was dangerous that it was used in these machines), and you also said around ANY heat source.

My whole point here has been to demonstrate that it isn't any more dangerous than anything else when used in a laptop.....

And your warning makes no sense; if your point is that it's dangerous to use the laptop while someone is applying a gas torch to it to generate extraordinary heat to try and ignite the magnesium, then I see your point, but that is kind of a silly point to make.

And even then, it doesn't make sense.

-Zadillo

 

yea read abou water, it does help alot, but hey what if the lappy can be burnt still (plus occanisonally spillage of water), and im just saying what if

 

what about bbqs and fire place (actually more like a bon fire), lots of heat may be needed to be applied

 

I'm sure the laptop could be burnt, but that would be true of any laptop, not specifically one made with magnesium.

But especially since these are using magnesium alloys, the combustability would not seem to be a concern.

All I'm saying is, laptops with magnesium in them aren't any more dangerous than another laptop, seriously. The kind of heat necessary to even cause an issue would be much more serious than anything else.

-Zadillo

 

Right, but how does that make it dangerous exactly? If you stick your laptop in a bbq or fireplace, the laptop is going to be destroyed anyway, regardless of what's in it. It isn't any more dangerous than anything else.

This is really getting ridiculous though; can we please just agree that laptops with magnesium are not "dangerous" as you said originally?

-Zadillo

 

OMG! get a F9s. This is the laptop i have from Saturn.de. Its a nice one, but little low on battery life. It gives me near abouts 2 to 2:30 minutes. But the system is realldy very powerful.

Jes dropin any questions regarding the look or feel of this machine!

*I guess no one buys a laptop for 1200 Euros and drops it into fire, unless you are really rich!!! Get F9S and enjoy!

 

yea im getting that