Z96j.... finally arrived..... 15.4" WSXGA+

Greetings all..... well, Asus finally released the Z96j, a model we've been waiting as we were completely dissatisfied with the lower resolution of the I3 (intel interchangable initiative) S96j that so many have hyping....... For our customers, the higher resolution is usually a must, so this model is a welcome addition to the custom lineup.

Asus just got these in today and we have a shipment arriving here in a day or so. I know the guys are going to be getting them up on the site, but if anyone is interested and would like one reserved if you will..... you could drop me an email and I'll have sales contact you along with anyone else on that long awaited email list.

 

do you happen to know a general eta and price of the f3j?

 

That's funny. Why should your customers be so different from everybody else? I guess people intelligent enough to know to buy from you are equipped with the need and the facilities to properly utilize the extra resolution and everybody else is a nuckle-dragging Quake player.

 

Hyperluminous brings up a good point. Its not just vendors but forum leaders and moderators in multiple threads making comments similar to this.

 

Comments similar to what? That gamers and power-users usually tend to prefer higher resolutions than normal Best-Buy-shoppin' folk?

 

Insinuating that anyone who buys the S96J is a dumb schmuck.

 

Ah, gotcha.

Hey, don't let anyone tell you you didn't pick the notebook that was right for you! You've been around these boards, and you made an informed decision, so ignore the hecklers and enjoy your machine!

Cheers.

 

Preach it brotha

 

Actually, our customers may or may not be "more intelligent" but at least 70% of our client base is a graphics professional, or at least headed in that direction. Higher resolution is preferred there.... a lot of gamers are certainly getting into higher res widescreen's in the last two years as well.

There's nothing wrong with a WXGA 15.4" screen..... but I physically can't use one for what I do as an architect and industrial designer in terms of physically fitting all of my tool bars on the screen while still giving me space to work. I also have a huge photoshop need and the higher the res, the more detail I can work on..... If you have *basic* needs, you don't need higher resolutions..... Those "basic" customers could go out and buy anything in the world and it'll suit their needs....... Higher resolution goes hand in hand with higher performance and higher quality..... You pay less for lower resolution, so if you're not going to use it, it would a waste to get, especially if you can't physically handle it.

... I'm more perturbed that you jacked my thread and basically accused me of discriminating against "average people". 90% of Asus buyers are not average though, so the amount of potential Asus buyers needing what I need are drastically higher than the average of another brands. The "S" I3 series is meant for the average..... Personally, I don't like the design of the Z or S96... it's very generic.... but those models are meant for the everyday average business user who has basic needs... simple as that. There's a very good reason we protested the import of the W2's with the WXGA+ screen.

 

Arrgh...must...resist...wallet...getting....light

 

As usual, some part missed, cannot sell now, this time is optical drive, Taiwan forgot to make it for this shipment, needs about two more weeks.

Also, S96J may need 3 more weeks to show up.

 

I agree with you in that there are various uses for each of the 2 and one may not suit YOU or ME.

It doesn't matter what a notebook is "meant" for, what matters is that you are classifying S96J owners and potential buyers of being average or average users. You didn't explicitly say that in your first post, but your second post makes it clear. Understand that this can be offensive to some people, that is all im telling you.

In my opinion it was not at all necessary to say S96J users are average or any such variation.

Regardless, im finished here. I apologize for jacking your thread, i probably should have pm'd you about it instead.

Mods can feel free to delete my posts.

 

If you have, use, want a WXGA screen on a 15.4" notebook..... you're an average user... period. If that offends anyone, they seriously need to put down their computer and get out in the real world..... that's ridiculous. I can call someone's needs or uses average and that doesn't mean they're less of a person. Resolution needs aren't as trival as color or say hard drive size or something like that....... graphics and resolution often go hand and hand and therefore, most people looking at the lower end screens, usually aren't looking for dedicated graphics and vice versa.

 

Justin, how would you rate the screen against the z70va in terms of brightness, sharpness, colours, etc?

 

lol- I currently use a 12.1" 1024X768 screen, and have been for 4+ years now. I have a desktop for normal use, but manage to use multiple dev tools without much trouble on my notebook a couple of days a week. I guess res size is in the eye of the beholder-
....
I'm waiting on delivery of a W7J...

 

What the heck? How is anyone who uses an X1600 average? And resolution/graphics might be true but I personally would take WXGA for text readability and the ability to game at native res; I know many other people would do the same. I know you're the dealer and you see much more than I do but I can't see your logic in calling an S96J user "average"

And that notwithstanding, what is the point of calling anyone "average" anyways...just because you don't find it insulting doesn't mean someone else won't. I'd feel pretty happy if I'd just bought an S96J and getting called "average" would be very irksome.

I apologize as well for contributing to something off topic but it's just not nice to make abrasive comments like that for no reason.

 

It's funny because he says it's for architecture and industrial design, but I think I'd rather have a WUXGA+ for that and go ahead and accept the extra 1" of width. Oh, what's that? You can't sacrifice portability and neither can any of your distinguishing customers? You frequently need to break out a notebook on your lap on the subway to do some modifications to some plans? Yeah right.

As for gaming that shows how little you know about your potential customers. People who want to game on a notebook want to maximize their notebook's longevity by having it run at a lower native res.

As for why you boycotted I can only assume, given your posts, it's because you're an elitist who's bitter about the tidal wave of S96J sales he missed out for lack of foresight.

Photoshop? What a lousy overused example. What do you work on that 1) would fit on WXGA or 2) doesn't need to be scaled down on WXGA+ too?

You may resent my post, but I don't care. You want to present veiled sales pitches fine, but they're up for scrutiny and rebuttal just as much as any other post in the forum....especially when they use fallacies of argumentation.

 

I don't see why average means bad 75% of American would call themselves average, doesn't mean they're stupid or anything.
Average just means your a typical user, and why is that bad ??

And for me, both the S96J and Z96J is average! They both bland in looks and design. If you want to be special, get the W series or V6/V1 series.

I guess an average person won't mind the 1280x800 graphics, and a picky person will probably want a higher res. If you want a lower res so playing games won't require scaling, then your not average, but how many people who get laptops of wsxga are thinking about that? So the "average" person won't mind wsxga statement is tru, but that doesn't mean if you get a s96J ur average... average accounts for most but not all...

anyways I'm an average person waiting for the z96J to come out too bad its gonna take a few more weeks for Canada...

A semi-related laptop question: If I wait till the dual core 2 is released and get the z96j, can I just get that instead of dual core?

 

It is not Canada will get it late, US also. Asus received them Monday morning and very soon realized Taiwan forgot the optical drive, and it looks Taiwan is too busy now, has no time to make up right away, might be 2 more weeks to get them in. This kind of mistake happened many times recently
what in mind are:

Z96J missed optical drive;
Z83V worng TV cable;
W5F wrong power connector;
Z63A wrong bluetooth module;

I believe more than this, I cannot remember

 

If you live in North America don't keep your hopes up for the F3J I spoke to a number of resellers and looks like it's not going to be released in NA. I would suggest you take a look at the V1J

 

You seem to forget there exists work done with the use of a computer that doesn't involve pretty, nicely-colored hi-res images

Such as coding, writing, simulation. For the first two you don't *need* a high-end notebook, but it helps (compiling / building etc.). For the third, however, you do desperately need as much CPU power / memory as you can get.

So it's not all in the GPU and screen resolution...

Sorry for the offtopic.

 

Actually, if anything, coding & writing would benifit from a higher resolution - can fit more things on screen.
My T30 is SXGA+, I also have a vaio at XGA - and its quite annoying to work at the smaller resolution.

 

maybe he doesn't mean "Average" in the sense of "average vs better", but "average" in the sense of "average person vs elitist c*nt"

you know, the people who, regardless of what they actually need, will always spring for the more impressive sounding thing.

I do tons of photoshop, and if I need to work small, I zoom. I've never once used a screen so large that I said "wow! this screen has such high resolution! I don't even need to zoom!" , but that just might be slack-jawed-old-me.

I'm not saying that higher resolution isn't nice, or even useful to some people, but 800 vs 900, come on.

Now where's I put my animal skin and bone club?

 

I disagree. A 15.4 WXGA was perfect for me, to code & write (in LaTeX, which is also kind of coding). At 15' SXGA+, I need to increase font DPI & font size in apps to be able to actually see those letters.

I am indeed myopic with -.75 dioptry value, though I wasn't when I bought the WXGA one year ago... I think SXGA+ or WXGA+ with default font sizes on a screen of 15/15.4 inches would be suicide for my eyes, given that I use the computer on average 6-7hrs a day. I also believe that it would be suicide for anyone's eyes if they are not gifted with really good & robust vision. If they really do work hours on that computer.

But this is a personal opinion,and the last I express on this issue on this thread, as it's offtopic.

 

higher res isn't ALWAYS better, it depends on what the need or want of the person using it. personally i prefer the res. of my 17" which is wxga, its the perfect size for me, I wouldn't want it any higher than that. but for others, its not enough. to each his own. and if you're in seriously need of some real estate, why use a notebook screen, get a 24"

 

I can't believe there are that many people out there who this hit a nerve with.... I mean come on, now we know who the real dorks and dweebs are, right?

I said resolution and graphics often go hand in hand...... yes, you don't need resolution to code and things of that nature, but you do need cpu power and memory.... no one is going to question that, including me... I know this. That's using computing power and not graphics power. 97 times out of 100, Asus won't bring into the US a notebook with more than decent dedicated graphics without a higher resolution screen. The reasoning behind that is because they've done the market research as well and they go hand in hand..... I mean, not like we're pushing super high resolutions on 30-42" monitors, but the higher resolution you go, the more graphics power you need to push them for a long period of time, on top of what ever it is you're working on.

The x1600 is not an "average" card....... I never said that, but I did say that a 15.4" WXGA certainly is and it's unfortunate that your graphics card could push a much higher resolution..... if you're not going to use the graphics card, why pay for it? It's the same with the screen.. if you're not going to use that, you shouldn't get it...... but most of the time they go hand in hand.... and the few people who can make use of a lower res and dedicated graphics correctly....... those people are *****ing..

 

Woww. Correct me if I'm wrong but at any other company this sort of thing would get one fired? =S imagine how the engineers would feel if they knew their products were held up 'cause the guys in shipping can't read labels properly.

 

I was on Justin's side until the comment "anyone who uses a 15.4" at wxga is an average user". His original comments about most of his customers needing the higher res screen was valid. Most of his customers use their laptops for high end design and graphics, and they need the higher res. But to say anyone who doesn't need the higher res is an average user is incorrect. I plan on using my laptop for highish end gaming. For that the wxga is actually better, because while the screen might not show as much, the framerates and peformance will be better since it doesn't have to render as much. A high end audio editor or a programmer wouldn't need a large res either.

but his original comment was valid, since 70% of his customers are designers and do need the higher res.

 

flame war aside, is the issue with the s96j also the optical drive? if so why the two weeks for z96 and three for s96?

 

I'm sorry but what kind of business user would use a S96j for basic needs? Isn't the x1600 the most powerful gpu a 15.4" notebook can have right now? I doubt someone would buy this notebook for business use. Even if you don't have a high res screen its better than having a x1400 or 7300, right?

This is completely true. To each his own. PROportable you were quite wrong for saying its average to settle for a lower res screen.

Just my $0.02

 

hahaha INEEDMONEY, whatever you said reminded me of a guy at compusa, i just needed A laptop, and they had a POS 1.83 ghz sepmron compaq for like $300. he WOULD NOT sell it to me, telling me i would return it within a week and that its not for college, it's really only for elementary school, and that my college required an intel or AMD processor, and this was a sempron. Then he told me that the HP with the livestrong design was "the best bang for your buck". I'm not saying proportable was incompetant, and I get what he was saying, just thought it was a funny story.

 

awww..... *tear*. I don't need anyone on my side... the turn over rate for this forum implies that 70% of the current members will leave after the next big release.... I'd say that's either the V1j or Merom, whichever comes first.... but this thread is ridiculous....

Ok... audio editor...... that's awesome..... you don't need high res and you DON'T NEED a graphics card for that. Ok, so you do "highish end" gaming... whatever..... I like your reasoning behind why you'd rather go with the lower res, but the x1600 can certainly push WSXGA+ and great framerates... yeah, lower res will always push it faster with the same card, but we're in 2006, not 2002... Anyone who things WXGA is going to be acceptable for gaming now, or better yet "the future" - If people are trying to stay current and want a machine that's going to be truely pushing the envelope, they're not going to be gaming in low res.... You have an opinion.. and everyone is entitled to that..... but not everyone can have a point.... and to have a point, a reason like yours simply isn't good enough..... and even if it were - you fit into my 3% that I've allowed for error based on what's out there....... I mean, people are going off because I called them "average" - but you, becasue of how you described yourself and what you do.... you're not even average... you're somewhere else. You prefer faster framerates and gave an explaination..... you at least feel you go what you think works for you, it's not playing by the numbers.

No, in terms of what shipps over here... and to get this back on topic...... Asus produces I think 4-5,000 notebooks a day...... They ship under 1,000 to the US once a week or so. Danny's comments about what was missing or this and that, it's really not all that weird..... and it's really not always the shipping guys problem. Half of the time, it's the US office who doesn't order something because they don't realize they need to. IE: the W2v..... that came with the wrong tv tuner, remotes, and no OS..... mainly because the US forgot to mention the OS on ordering and because they didn't realize we couldn't use the digital tv tuner in the US... With the Z63a, they came over with NO bluetooth module and then Asus dediced to order them and they *thought* they were the same as what was in the Z70va - and they were ordering those for z70's that came with out..... not thinking that the set up in the Z63 was different... However, things like the wrong tv cable in the Z83... that's digital over analog and I can see how that got screwed up... we're talking about the last 50 cents of a $2000 unit.. things happen.

With the Z96, this was Taiwan's fault as far as I know...... This is one reason I prefered the M series with the modular bay..... they'd ship the drives seperately and although we'd have to wait for the drives, they wouldn't hold up the entire shipment.

In terms of the screen, I've only seen a demo and the screen was more like that of the Z71v....... The Z70va's screen was better. Now, I don't know what the final production looks like, but a lot of times they're better.... so it depends.

 

Maybe I will, GOSH! You know what.... I'm sorry for calling these people average... I should have called them "special" because the only people to really even comment don't even grasp most of what I said.... I'm sort of getting sick of it actually..... But let me clear it up so the entire forum can stop getting their panties in a bunch.....

The "average" user needs no more than a low res WXGA 15.4" screen for "office tasks"... they certainly don't need a dedicated graphics card, which makes the S96 a conundrum..... Highend Gamers, Graphic Artists and Graphic Professionals require a certain pixel size and a certain graphics card...... In some cases, just general photoshop users may need the opposite... a high res screen, without the dedicated 3D card... but far less people need the other way around. There's a reason other companies put out systems like the S96 (low res, dedicated graphics)... it's because that's what the "average" person would buy..... This is not what Asus has been all about and not catering to the average person is what made Asus great. If the V1j comes here with a WXGA screen instead of a WSXGA+ screen, I'll guarentee 5% of the anticipated sales.....

 

IS This As Big As Text Can Get!?
Will The Delays Affect All US Vendors?

 

Hmm...well how bout these "graphics professionals" of yours just get desktops or desktop replacement notebooks? Why would they need a notebook. So they can whip it out while in a taxi and use it? I'm not an average user. Budget user...yes, but not average. I really wanted to get the Z96j myself, but getting this S96 pushed me past my own budget. Maybe if you used "budget" instead of "average" there wouldn't be a problem or maybe that is what you really meant?

I'm not really trying to start anything... calm down with the large, bold font. It's not that serious! Can't we all just get along!!Peace! (^.^)v

Smile

edit: and again...to each his own.

 

Oh, and that "Gosh!" statement, was that because of my avatar? I just got that. haha.

 

Holy Moley.. See, large fonts do freak out dorks...... it's like they think I'm yelling.... I'm actually just writing big enough that those with high resolution screens can read them so they can come explain explain exactly what I'm talking about here.....

But, to push them to desktops.... come on.. .is that seriously the only comeback you've got? This company was started for a reason and it was to show these people they don't need desktops anymore and could free themselves of their desk in a dark room and get outside and find their motivation again.....

A "budget" user isn't average.. you're right.... they need a system for internet, word and email and have no money to spend....... Frankly, the "average" user, doesn't really do much more (they think they do - but they have no idea)...... Average would be..... internet, email, word..... photo/movie editing... light gaming... maybe some light web design.

Not a single thing that can't pyhsically be done with the latest Intel integrated solution, quite honestly...... that's why for Asus anyway, that's the normal for a low res screen and dedicated for high res....

One thing to keep in mind that the S96 is really an Intel system........ it's basically Intel's barebone.... Asus has as little to do with that, if not more, than they do the barebones for us..... and that's how intel ordered them.... Intel wants what they think they can sell..... resolution still isn't a really "known" issue to most computer buyers...... face it, WXGA and WSXGA means nothing to most of them... they'll tell you they're on a 17" monitor using 1024 x 768 still (I can't believe it, but we see this all time with the typical user).

It's a waste of time....... all these S96 owners getting up in arms because they feel like I'm attacking their manhood....... It's a computer and I won't let our company sell S96's...... because of the screen.... I don't care what that makes the people who buy them.... However, I do know that it makes people who want them, not our customers.... so that's really the end of the story.

And finally... if it took you more than a split second to get that ND quote, first.. you shouldn't have him as your avatar, and are only a wannabe dork.... that's ok.

 

I posted a few times in this thread try to say something related with the original topic to save Justin, but didn't work

S96J is facing a global shortage, AFAIK, most of the disti has a few hundred units of customer back orders. I was told the next shipment will be end of July. That is why I said 3 weeks. Z96J's optical drive, from what I heard is: Asus NA tried to get them ASAP, but Taiwan is too busy now, hard to expect it faster than 2 weeks.

Edit: the S96J ETA should be 21st, July

 

All NA vendors

 

I can't believe you would do such a childish naive thing, as attacking the same "dorks" that would buy your products. This is a forum, so those big bold words make you sound obtuse and reek the "elitist snob" scent. Those same "high-end" graphic designers and photoshop/CAD people are dorks also...just more successful.

Wannabe dork (okay, whatever that means), it sounds to me like you're the poser...you try to identify with the high-end dork/clintel base to make sales and have lost touch with the "average" user. Don't get me wrong, but aren't average users the people that buy more laptops...maybe if you tailored more to them you would've got S96J sales. You're just butthurt from not remembering to jump on the bandwagon, and now try to personally attack potential S96J buyers to buy your "new, big, bad, pretty screened" notebook to make them feel better about buying Asus quality vs. Intel quality. You have no right to make fun of those dorks that are trying to make you back up your statement, justify why more resolution is better, and make intelligent buying decisions.

 

I really don't see an x1600 playing current gen games at wsxga+. The mobile x1600 is only about as fast as a desktop 6600gt. games such as fear and oblivion can put desktop 7800's on their knees at just 1280x1024. And if your thinking of the future there is no way that an x1600 is going to run UT2007 or Crysis at wsxga+; so if your a gamer and want to stay at native res, then there can be good reasons to stick to a lower res. screen. It is more efficient to crank up the AA then to up the resolution anway.

 

Guys, lets all calm down and wait. Yet again. You guys should know the drill, it'll be here....when it comes

 

Lol...funny post Justin (well the first and last paragraphs). I was just skimming thru your post so I skipped the quote. I'm not a dork nor am I a wannabe.

Well again it all depends on the person. Some people think $2000 is alot of money and others think $1000 is alot. I had a laptop with 1680x1080 before the S96j myself, but I just couldn't afford to get another to replace it but I need a new laptop right away, so I went with the next best option in my opinion, the S96j

Well you said it right here. A person, a smart person, wouldn't get a S96j if they didn't plan to do more than just email, surf, or light gaming wouldn't you agree. So the S96j isn't for the average user, but its not for the super hardcore graphics professional either and i'm not saying it is.

 

Good post...

 

Big fonts and excessive use of the word "dork" are going to make my intestines burst from excessive laughing. I go to page 4 and this HUGGEE block of text is just staring me in the face. I'm petrified and just can't take my eyes off it. And then a (hopefully good-humored) dork-flame-war. This is too good...

I can easily agree with Justin that higher resolutions are for above average users and the whole average/not average thing, in retrospect, doesn't really matter. But what IS annoying is his insistence that it doesn't make sense to pair up an X1600 with a WXGA screen. Like the guy above me said, an X1600 will have a helluva time trying to run Oblivion at 1680x1050. It probably could seeing as my 9800pro'll do 1280x1024, but personally (and many others will agree) I'd rather turn on settings like HDR than run at a higher resolution. PLUS there are lots of people out there (myself included) who are perfectly comfortable with WXGA. There's also alot of people who aren't. To each his own-so stop making generalizing statements that seem to imply that people who aren't like you don't know what they're doing!

That said, peace like you said I'm probably not going to be here for much longer. Then again I might because I think God hates me and my laptop just isn't arriving.

 

See, there's one huge difference here..... I run a company that sells these systems and the company has made as many years as it has because of my generalizations and my knowledge of what *our* customers need and want. Again, PROPortable may just mean.... we target the portable professional.... We target them because today's graphic professional requires something like a V6..... super thin and yet sexy powerhouse, with the ability to chill with some gaming on breaks and after work..... Our target, and Asus' for that matter has NEVER been the "hardcore gamer"...... I mean that's a fact and I acknowledge that even a 256mb x1600 is not the best thing in the world.... but it is the best thing in the world that you can fit into a sub 1" system with a tiny screen.....

The bottom line is, I think everyone who's responded to me... even those who say they understand me... don't have a clue. I'm not saying you don't know what you're doing, I'm saying you don't have a clue as to what I'm saying. You're right, to each their own, and those aren't our customers and at no point do I want to attract them. I'm "keepin' it real" and by doing so, those who buy systems from us know what we're all about and it's not just about selling computers, it's about selling great computers and the right one for that person. I'm not saying we force anyone into buying anything because there hasn't been a customer in more than five years that could ever claim that...... we'd simply tell them to go somewhere else if we think what we have is "too much" for them. With that said, the S96j has outsold all other Asus systems this year... combined..... It's not about money or making a sale..... or we'd sell them.

 

yep yep yep

ok, let's just end that, and get back to the topic of........

um.. yes the z96j

 

any news on the V1J (when it will be released, etc?)??

 

Why cant you leave ProPortable alone all he said was that you are just average? Why are you letting that bother you?

 

Instigator....it's over.