Z96j Advantages Vs S96j

are there any other advantages to the z96j besides that better screen resolution over the s96j?

I also dont believe the z96j is VBI, what are the disadvantages to that now/later?

 

Z96J: Bluetooth, WSXGA+, 1 year warranty, the price is higher, no firm ETA now

S96J: NO BT, WXGA, 2 year warranty, cheaper, available already

 

you can get bluetooth in the z96j and i believe it has a better lid... not sure though

 

Hmm well then i take it the VBI isnt a big deal? or what

 

Games will usually look best at the laptop's native resolution, so the Z96J will have a much more demanding resolution. This will look good for games at the current moment, but future games will be harder for the laptop to handle graphically... thus being less "future proof"

 

VBI just refers to who is handling the warranty. The z96 is warrantied through Asus, and the s96 is warrantied through Intel. This doesn't really matter to you unless you're a reseller, because your actual warranty comes through your reseller, so choose wisely. If i remember correctly VBI is used to lower notebook costs by uniting a few companies and using similar parts. So, for example, if you get a LCD you don't like, there's like 3 or 4 other LCD's to choose from. The bottom line is VBI is not that big of a deal.

 

That's only if you're bothered by the interpolation. But I do agree, native looks best.

 

I'm still a little shakey on VBI. Like, let's say you get an S96J chassis and you get 1GB of ram now and will purchase another gig of VBI ram later (the Corsair Value Select that MilestonePC offers). Will installing this ram by yourself void the 2 year warranty or will it not void it because it's VBI? Hope that makes sense.

 

VBI is a program that Intel and three ODMs (Quanta, ASUS and Compal) have introduced to certain dealers (you must be an IPD dealer to buy the shells) in hopes of encouraging small local computer stores to start building laptops (they usually don't want anything to do with building, servicing and warranting laptops now). The idea is to use the same components for all of the VBI models regardless of whether it is a Quanta, ASUS or Compal model. This will theoretically allow these small local stores to stock fewer parts and make it more affordable to get into building them. The idea is also to be able to build a cheaper laptop, and have cheaper replacement parts.

The non-VBI models from these same ODMs (Quanta, ASUS and Compal) are not building down to a price point so they will almost always be more feature rich, better looking and better built.

Now, as to the VBI warranty there seems to be a lot of confusion out there about it. Here is the way it works for those dealers that will rely on the Intel warranty:
1. Intel only covers the shell, processor and wireless card. That is, only the shell plus any Intel parts. If the motherboard or LCD or any other shell parts fail, the dealer has to take the laptop completely apart (remove the processor, memory, hard drive, wireless card, optical drive and battery) and then ship the shell back to Intel (at their cost) and wait for Intel to send them an exchange shell (or stock a bunch of shells for warranty replacement which they are probably not going to want to do). Once the exchange unit comes back from Intel the dealer has to rebuild, burn in and test the unit before returning it to the customer, and hope the exchange shell doesn't have any dead pixels that weren't there on the original shell they sent in. Also, if the customer has one of those custom $15 LCD panels from Kinkos, they will have to get another one because the LCD panel won't come back with the exchange shell.
2. If other parts like the hard drive, memory, optical drive, AC Adapter or battery fail the dealer has to arrange a warranty exchange with the individual component manufacturer of that part (not Intel).
3. The dealer is actually totally responsible to the customer for the warranty and tech support. The various manufacturer's support the dealer. The customer can actually go to the hard drive, memory, optical drive etc. manufacturers if they like, but if it is a failure of any part of the shell or other Intel part it has to go back to the dealer who then sends it to Intel.

So, if you are buying from a small local computer store that is how the warranty will work.

If, on the other hand, you are buying from a large national OEM dealer that offers their own warranty you will find that the turn around time will be much faster, and you will not have to wait for Intel to return an exchange shell, or other component manufacturers to return a component part exchange. The customer will also get their original shell back because the large national OEM dealer can do the motherboard, LCD or other component level repairs, or will have all of the components in stock for immediate replacement. The VBI program offers little to these dealers.

I would have to say that the VBI program's biggest benefit to the customer is providing them with a lower cost laptop with lower cost replacement parts like AC Adapters and batteries. Otherwise the big deal is for those small local stores that want to use this program to get into the laptop building, supporting and warrantying business. However the perils mentioned in the warranty program would certainly prevent me from getting into it were I a small local store. I just would not know how to explain to my customer why their laptop now has dead pixels that it didn't have before, and no LCD panel after taking sooo long to get repaired under warranty. Nor would I want to stock a bunch of shells to support the warranty repair and then end up with them on my shelves after the model was discontinued and the warranty period was over...what would I do with them?

If I left anything out, or there are questions raised by this post...lay 'em on me.

 

So the 2 year warranty stated with the S96J only covers the shell, processor, and wireless card, whereas all of the other components that I purchase from a dealer such as RAM and the HD is not covered by this 2 year warranty. So, if something fails other than the shell, wireless card, and processor, I would be dealing with the warranty provided by the business I bought it from (such as MilestonePC.com)?

 

No. Please reread my post more carefully.

You look to your dealer for the entire 2 year warranty for all components. You don't look to Intel at all. Now, it is true that if you don't want to go to your dealer for any reason you can go to the manufacturer of any failed component other than the shell. If you have a shell failure, you HAVE to go to your dealer. You may also find that your hard drive and memory may have their own manufacturer's warranties that are longer than 2 years.

 

VBI will make no difference here. The warranty policy of your dealer will control this.

The PowerPro warranty is not voided by any component modification you want to make, it is your computer after all. However if you break something while doing any component modificaiton what you break will not be covered by your warranty.

Check with your dealer to see what their policies are, or better yet, read their warranty.

 

OK, I get it now. Thanks a lot, Paladin!