Z70V: Will it ever be back?

The Z70V (and its predecessor the M6ne) looked to me like a fabulous notebook that hit the sweet spot in terms of price and performance. It seems a shame that the Z70 hasn't been refreshed for dual core. In my opinion, it's what the Z96J should have been but wasn't: it would have been worth a small premium for the nice magnesium alloy/carbon fibre or whatever Asus made it out of instead of boring old grey and black plastic. I can't think of any good reasons why it got scrapped except maybe it competed too well with the Ensembles...? Anyone know of any plans to bring it back with a Core 2 Duo, even as an Ensemble?

 

If I recall, the M6 series has been retired.

 

Isnt it a Pentium M/ mRx700 notebook? Its already been retired, scrapped because Core Duo came.
They likely didnt go for magnesium or cf on the S/Z96 series because plastic is cheaper, and possibly lighter. The design on the other hand, that is something that should not have become as generic as it did.

 

The V1 series in my mind is the replacement for the Z70 series, although it's preconfigured.

 

That's correct the Z70v/va has been retired, I know many liked that chasis.

There are a few options that may be of interest, the S96J and Z96J, they are both configurable, just like the Z70va but are plastic, silver in colour and use X1600. The S96 has a low res screen, WXGA, while the Z96J has a WSXGA+ screen.

There is the F3 series that may interest you, there are a few variations in models, the chasis is basically the same as the S96 and Z96J. The F3 series are Esembles.

There is also the G1P which is apart of the ASUS Gaming series, featuring a 15.4" WSXGA+ screen, Go 7700, looks quite interesting. <- Ensemble

Then there's the business style V1J, you may be able to see some similarities in design and colour of the chasis to the Z70va, but this notebook is directed to the business user, featuring, Fingerprint reader, webcam, WSXGA+ screen, X1700, spill proof keyboard, multi-bay (modular bay) and more! <- This is also an ensemble unit.

 

Although the V1J is nice, I have to say it would be a tough replacement for the Z70V/Va as the latter was about $600-800 cheaper. In many ways, the S96J/Z96J feels like a disappointment after the high standard set by the Z70...with both worse battery life and an inferior chassis. I hope that when the next chipset refresh happens with Santa Rosa that we could see the Z70 resurrected in some shape or form...I have to wonder what caused its demise in the first place considering it seemed to be successful on the market.

 

The z70 may have been a marvelous design in terms of aesthetics but in terms of reliability it was a catastrophic failure. Not sure if they retired it for that reason. Granted it was asus most popular notebook last year. There were no limits to its problem
1. ghosting on lcd which was a huge issue for 3 whole months on a good half of the units they imported into the states
2. As we all found out sometime later it looks like the audio dj has probably a 100% failure rate if you use it on a daily basis
3. Though it is a bit early for the screen lid and hinges to start parting i belive it will happen more and more once the units reach over the age of 1 years for some people who use the screen often
4. Then you have other small problems like faulty charging mechanisms which were fairly rare. crappy optical drives. both the toshiba samsung version and mat****a version. I may be forgeting some

 

The LCD ghosting wasn't Asus's fault though... it could've happened to any other notebook. I think it's unfair to judge that as a Z70 design flaw...
And the AudioDJ seems to be a recurring problem with MANY Asus notebooks, even current models.
You may have a point with the hinges... but those could have been improved, and the optical drives I doubt are Asus's fault as well...

Personally, I would like to see the Z70 chassis come out of retirement, but I doubt it'll happen.

 

The optical drive is definitely not their fault.
The screen however you can argue about. Its not their fault if weighed by most. To me it is their fault. I (with the help of my tech) diagnosed their issue 48 hours after it was firs time ever. I have them the cause then i gave them the effect. The end result is we had to take out a line of credit to replace over 100 of these lcds over a course of 2 months. We were stuck with bad screens and unusable inventory for a long time. Then sometime later they finally gave and replaced all our inventory. The only good thing that came out of it is that we were recognized as the only dealer that took immediate action while the rest sat around and told the customers to wait for asus which for many took over 2 months. That cost us a pretty penny. We were never reimbursed for many thousands of dollars in shipping charges and labor which we paid for while swapping monitors and keeping inventory becuase asus refused to allow rma until they ironed things out with taiwan. Though i am the first to say that their service to dealers goes above and beyond. That was one of few times where i felt otherwise.

 

I think you're blowing that way out of proportion Eddie. First of all, it was simply retired because it had it's 3 years in the sun... that's the longest Asus will continue to make systems on a chassis..... and they only stick around that long if they're still relevant today. Typically a good chassis will get 3 full chipset upgrades before it's retired. The M6 chassis (what finished it's life as the Z70) had it's time. There weren't any problems with the units except for eventual hinge issuse which resulted actually from loosening screws (which could be avoided). I can't speak to Eddie's super unlucky issue with the screens, but that's another thing that can't exactly be put on Asus shoulders, as it was an lcd manufacturers defect and somehow you just ended up with probably 80% of the problem screens for some reason... we all give you a pat on the back for putting up with that.

Regardless though, the M6 chassis is one that lived it's life...... yes it was better than the Z96 - but that chassis is a POS and should not be considered the M6 (Z70) "replacement" but rather the M7 (Z71) replacement - which is really is.

The V6 was basically the "replacement" for the M6n/ne (15.1" SXGA+ models) and the upcoming V1jp will effectively be the replacement for the rest of the Z70 series. Keep in mind that the M6 chassis was the "lightweight, professional, mobile" model of it's day..... it wasn't a gaming machine, although later in life it did have some of the best graphics Asus was offering at the time.

.... the V1 is our collective hope for the future!

 

Justin
We definetely did not get most of the bad screens. These units came in over a course of 2 months. Some good some bad. We didnt just buy them one day. We got just as many bad screens as all the rest. It was a big deal and i made one of it. The only reason we sold so many z70va's is becuase i was the first and as far i know the only that guaranteed ghosting free screens while they were still coming in. We had the same rate of bad screens as any other vendor. Granted we may have sold alot more because we took immediate action and made a promise not to ship ghosting screens and repaired all that were sent before the problem came to light. To this day we are still getting calls from customers from other companies asking about this same issue. The topic was a sticky on our forum while the problem lasted and not a single customer that bought one didnt know there was an issue because i made sure they did once i narrowed down the problem.

 

I don't think the V1 will live up to the M6/Z70 purely because of its price and because it's not a barebone. What made the M6 such a good choice was the fact that it was an excellent chassis of good quality, which is configurable through a wide price range. Because the V1 is an Ensemble, it has a set price which I'm sure many will not be able to afford. So, as far as I see it, there is still no notebook to fill the M6/Z70 gap...

 

Well, the M6 (while it was the M6) was a complete system (before they called them ensembles). You have a point, but the V1 will be a decently high configuration, so I don't think it'll really be that big of a deal.... but it does eliminate those who may want it, but want something lower end to save money..

... but as far as it's ultimate goal of replacing the M6 as a premier business machine... it has. The modular bay is part of that...... the full on docking station is the other... The M6 series had the port bar and as a business machine people were requesting a docking solution... You're looking at a carbon fiber chassis and a magnesium lid... good looks... I know everyone with an M6 is in love with them, but the V1 is a great machine and long overdue at that!

 

I wish I could convince work to buy me a V1... But if I get a notebook it will have to have workstation class graphics, which basically means that I get one of the two Dell Precision Mobile Workstations... M65 or M90... I will be giving my back a huge workout lugging those all over the lab to meetings, that's for sure. Even if I wasn't an engineer, our support contract only covers Dell systems.

If the S7 doesn't come to the states, I may consider replacing both of my home systems with just a V1, depending on how my gaming habits survive (or not) the transition from school to working full time. It looks like an awesome model, the docking station makes it even more attractive for me.

 

I think the S7 is going to replace the W5 for all intents and purposes..... right now the W5 (as well as it sells), it's positioned between the 11" S6 w/ the built in dvd burner and the 13.3" W7 with dedicated graphics and built in dvd burner......

A 12" widescreen with a rotating camera certainly has a place at the table, but it'll distingush itself a lot more by ditching the optical drive... so I think the S7 is as close to a sure thing as it comes....

 

Well, not to get too off the topic of the thread, but Milestone indicated after a conversation with their Asus NA rep the other day that the S7 wouldn't be coming to North America....

 

That's for another day and another thread. The S7 doesn't exist yet, and I wouldn't expect it until June or July at the earliest anyway. The W5 is no doubt going to be pushed with a secondary screen once Santa Rosa comes out.... so it'll be the show case model for the spring and summer most likely. But in the end, demand will go one way or another and it's really too far in the future to comment further than simply giving my own opinion based on experience...

What would be worse is if he said they told him it was coming in and he stated that as fact a forum like this.... that we're all under an NDA not to disclose... and it would hurt W5 sales (even if it wasn't coming out for half a year), but common sense tells me they can't continue to push the W5 next to the W7 and put a rotating camera up against a 1.3" larger screen and dedicated graphics - in the exact same chasis, and for the exact same price. Now, right now the S7 would sell next to the W7 w/ an external dvd burner and easily pull the same price and move just as well.