Which ASUS model is this?

Really? That's the reason it's called a "bamboo hinge"? Stupid reason...

 

It's a single hinge that's shaped like a bamboo(long and round), and it provides maximum support between the chassis and the screen.

 

Better explanation. Thx.

 

Yep. Its supposedly the most durable type of hinge as well, so no hinge problems will be encountered later as the notebook ages.

Also, since the F8 doesn't seem to have a latch, the hinges should be pretty stiff to keep the lid closed. This seems to be getting common for Asus and the other manufacturers though (HP, Dell XPS, Sony).

 

that or magnets holding the latch shut? *shrug*
i still can't decide between F8 and V2
V2 looks better imo with the black on black
but the F8 specs are better and it has the hinge...

 

I would buy the F8 in a heartbeat if it didn't weigh so much. After lugging around this 7lb inspiron 6000 I really want something light for college.

But I dunno, they say the 8600m GS can be matched to a stock GT if you add another 1GB of ram. Granted you can also improve the GT this way but I'm just looking to be able to play next gen games with mid-high settings (would Crysis run with 3GB RAM and OC'ed GS on medium settings?)

 

I'd say to be playable with Crysis, the max settings you're looking at would be 1280x800, AA and AF off, all other settings at medium or low.

 

You would have a much easier time with GPU intensive games like Crysis with the 8600GT, because of the extra firepower under the hood, with the extra shaders and stream processors and such.

 

Like most, i'm caught in the performance (F8) vs less weight + durability (V2S) argument. I plan on playing UT2007 and Crysis but I'm trying to gauge how far I can take this 8600m GS with decent framerates on medium settings. I'm prepared to buy a 2GB stick of ram to replace one of the existing 1GBs in the V2S (if that really brings the GS upto par with a stock GT). Guess I'll just wait for the reviews and benchmarks before making a final decision.

 

Will the f8sv use the ddr3 version of the 8600GT, because it seems that only asus has these cards?

Also, is the chassis made of plastic or some sort of alloy on the f8sv?

 

macbook pros use the GDDR3 8600GT as well.
the f8sv is made out of plastic.

 

As mentioned, the G1s, G2s and MBP have GDDR3, no one else does in the market.

 

do you mean GDDR3?

 

yeah...i'm pretty sure that was just a typo on coriolis's part

only the G1s, G2s, and MBP have GDDR3

 

Oops, GDDR3, my bad

 

So, the release of the F8 is slated for mid-August? Price?

My apologies if this has been discussed already. I tried going back into the thread but I didn't find what I was looking for.

EDIT: Nevermind, I found it.

But I have another question - when will it actually show up on the Asus website? Is it normal for them to have no pre-release page for the laptop?

 

Yeah, but the f8sv ISN'T on the market yet, is it?

 

Nope. So we may be in for a long wait? I want to see the price.

 

it's supposed to be available in "limited" quantities mid-late august and mass produced early september according to ASUS reps. price is already up on Excalibur PC's site for pre-order. I'd say expect the price to be around that range.

Plus, ASUS did put a MSRP in their brochure.

 

Hehe, I'm surprised there are people who still haven't seen the ExcaliburPC pre-order yet:
http://www.excaliberpc.com/ASUS_F8SV-A1_Intel_Core_2_Duo_T7500/partinfo-id-580899.html

 

Any estimates on the battery life of the F8sv?

 

Price for the F8Sv is $1549, ExcaliberPC has had an order page up for a couple of weeks now.

Battery life on this is going to suck, just like in the A8Js and A8Jm. Over 3 hours is being really optimistic, hopeful even. I would say 2.5 hours is a realistic estimate, with gaming battery life being well under 2 hours. I guess its expected, since its a small(er) laptop with a high powered GPU and small battery. There can't be an extended cell battery for this, since the placement of the battery is under the left palm rest, also like the A8Js, so the 6 cell is all thats there.

 

but realistically, how many people game w/o the comp being plugged in? unless you're on a trip or something, people usually leave their laptops in.

 

Yeah, but DVD watching is almost as intensive on the battery as gaming is, and lots of people watch DVD's on battery. I doubt the F8sv could get through a normal length movie on battery, which kinda sucks. Also, if you're just doing productivity tasks, and are willing to power down the GPU into 2d mode, turn the screen brightness way down, and shut down a CPU core, I'm hoping you'll be able to hit 160-170 minutes battery life.

 

No, I think DVD battery life will be the main place the F8 will outshine the A8Js, primarily due to the advancements in the nvidia 8 series GPU. Supposedly, it offloads the video processing to the GPU (from the CPU) so DVD battery life should go way up with the previous gen A8Js with the Go7700. Gaming puts a stress on the CPU, GPU, RAM, HDD, and DVD drive, whereas DVD will only stress the GPU and DVD drive (or HDD, depending on where you are playing the video from), so I assume the battery life will be over 2hrs in DVD viewing and video playback.

 

I'm hoping that's true as well, but I haven't seen any compelling evidence that any current drivers really help DVD battery life with an 8m series graphics cards compared to a similar notebook with a 7 series graphics card. I'm particularly thinking of the M570Ru, which appears to have similar DVD playback time with either the 8700GT or the 7950GTX.

 

It likely need the right program. Not all Media players support HW acceleration, and those that do may need to turn it on.

 

NVidia was crowing about it in the launch of both the lower end 8 Series for desktops (G84/86 core) and NB8 mobile graphics card line.

Actually, that may have been for HD content (so thats Bluray and HD DVD plus any 720p/1080i/1080p videos). Don't remember anymore...If that is the case, then yea, about 2 hours max for DVD playback.

 

i'd say you should be able to at least watch a DVD movie w/o having to change batteries. just might have to turn the brightness down a little bit.

 

Probably, but any way you slice it, the battery life is going to be pretty crappy. I mean, c'mon, this laptop is about the video card/performance and not a whole lot else

Has it been confirmed that it has DDR2 VRAM, or is that still up in the air? I would like it to be GDDR3, since it would have slightly better performance and run cooler at the same time.

 

it's not confirmed yet, but odds are favoring the GDDR2

 

WOw, I like the specifikations.
Anyone know if they are gonna release a 15,4" with these specifikations???

ATI IS THE ULTIMATE CARD FOR DESKTOP AND VIDEO USAGE!

 

Well, the F3S has similar specs, not quite identical though.

I'm gonna say no on the ATI ultimate thing, cause their desktop cards suck atm.

 

Yeah , I know, but the FS3 are using an AMD Cpu. I'd liked one intel t7300 instead.

I had one nvidia before and the 2d and video out is nothing comparable as ATI graphicc cards.

ATI graphic cards deliver more strong brilliant and beautiful color, especially sharpness. Meanwhile nvidia cards deliver powerfull 3d and good drivers but lesser 2d and sharpness.

 

The F3sv and F3sa both use Intel CPU's to the best of my knowledge. At least the north american ones do.

 

Yeah, but asus have included a geforce 8600 gt instead in the europe version:/.
Thanks anyway.

 

A bit late, but I want the girl too. Now I know where asus is putting their money with the recent decrease in quality of manufacturing.

 

i dont know if this has been addressed but is there ANY chance current A8JS owners will be able to use the new round of 8xxx series cards in our laptops? I know its a long shot but their is possible hope, its been done with Dell models and the A8 Mac owners have successfully seperated the nvidia card bios from the system bios so if the cards physically fit into the MXM slot and lineup with the heatsink which i also have hope for then we could run the 8xxx series cards on our laptops.

They really should do it, make it somewhat hard so hopefully like in Dells case they had the XPS Gen4 with the 7900GTX go and the Inspiron9400 on which it was based with the much much slower 7800GO. Savvy 9400 users found a way to hack the bios and use a 7900GTX card, (they also did this with the 7800GTX on the XPS Gen1 to Gen2) they didnt really (its hard to tell) detract from their sales because it was somewhat hard to do and the XPS's had much better looks and warranty. But to the smart users, a Dell became a good deal.. buy a used 9400 and then buy the 3dcard... which they still charged a huge amount for... a 7900GTX GO sold for $5-700 from Dell, i really wish ASUS would do the same.

 

You do not have an MXM slot in your notebook, nor do I believe that you have a dedicated VBIOS, which means you will not be able to upgrade, sorry. There's not a chance in hell that Asus would release a new BIOS supporting hacked cards from the newer F8 series, even if they did fit.

 

I believe they fit physically, as the A8's have this "reverse MXM"-thing going on and the F8's look the same (could be wrong though). But as Odin says, No way in hell that asus is gonnna release a bios that allows you to use one of those cards.

 

i figured that, but Dell owners did the same thing, they removed the vbios from a system bios update for an XPS and applied it to their 9400's. MAC users trying to get the A8JS working on OSX have successfully split the vbios from the systembios. they did this to update/overclock and mod the bios so they could use it for osx but we could almost as easily overwrite the 7700 bios with the 8600 bios. then we would have to flash it back and hopefully bootup our laptop.



http://forum.osx86scene.com/viewtopic.php?f=74&t=2224

 

The difference is that Dell users actually have a dedicated VBIOS. The A8JS doesn't. Yes, you can "split" the vbios from the system bios, but that vbios is incompatible with any other system. You need someone to either write a whole new vbios for the 8600 to work on the A8JS, or for Asus to supply a whole new BIOS supporting it. Neither of which will happen. There are very few users that have the programming knowledge to correctly strip the 8600 vbios, and then mod and integrate it into the A8JS bios.

 

damn.... they make it seem so easy in the movies!

 

im still not giving up hope,i will try once an 8600 becomes available from asusparts.