considering on either Z70v or Z71v

Hi,

I am a current college student. I recently started to do my research project. I will be developing a software/program to manipulate speech signals to produce sound signals and waveform graph in various channels and frequency. Sound card is very important in this area. I will be using MATLAB and C++ to develop this project. I need a laptop that can perform those functions.

At this time, i don't have a laptop, and I am currently researching for a laptop that can meet my needs and specifications. It will be all sounds/music and compiling programming codes. I really don't need a computer that is designed for games. I don't play games at all. If I feel like playing games, I'd rather to play it via Website's java. My main need from the future laptop is excellent speed to compile programming codes and able to pick up and produce very high quality sounds and display crystal clear waveform on the graph. I like the picture to be in a 3D form. Also, it should do basic business functions such as word processing and finance management.

Here is my specifications for my prospective laptop...

*Processor: Intel Centrino.. perferably the M series
*Memory: 512 MB RAM or more
*Hard Drive: 60 to 80 GB Disk Space (2 GB free space is must!) will be storing many sound files
* Type 2 PCMCIA slot... for Soundblaster Audigy 2 ZS Notebook.. this sound card meets my criteria for sound card below...
Very High Quality Sound Card with following specifications:
- signal-to-noise ratio of 95 or more (higher means less background hiss)
- 0.06 percent or less total harmonic distortion (THD).. (less means greater fidelty to orignal sound at varying frequency)
- excellent microphone port and able to detect sounds from human voice
*CD Burner (CD-R/RW) and DVD player for DVD movies
*Excellent video drive that can produce very crystal clear display of graph of sound waves on the program (such as ATi or Nvidia GeForce)
*Professional version operating system
*High Quality Wireless card that can pick up sounds/signals

I will be carrying around often since I will be travelling often. Also, I want the laptop to last for very long time. eventually can last up to 5 years. I'm looking into a long term.

Battery Life: very important.. I'll spend most of time at labs and home working on this project. Also, I'll be traveling once in a while. Battery life is important for travelling especially by car and airplane. I want to be able to work for 4 hours before battery dies.

Price Range: around $1500 to $2500.. cheaper is better, but I'm still flexible. I want to get what I'm paying for.

Since I already posted the same thing in the Hardware forum, I became very interested in Asus products after hours-long research. I am really interested in Z70v and Z71v. I thought that they would meet my critera. What's the difference? Which of these is better for my needs? HOw good are the internal sound card in those laptops? Do they have Type 2 PCMCIA slot for Audigy 2 ZS Notebook? I appreciate your inputs.

 

get the Z70V
better screen, better build, better sound quality, longer battery life, lighter

 

Thank you for your help..

Also, I am looking at Asus W3V too. For now, I am comparing between Z70v and W3v. It appears that Z70v has more features and is much cheaper. Whereas, W3v has build-in bluetooth. I saw on the review that Z70v will get a build-in bluetooth. However, it is no big deal to me. I can live with the USB adaptor. By the way, Does Asus still offer 3 year warranty for free on W3v laptops?

 

For all Ensemble Asus notebooks, the 3 year warranty is valid until July 31st, lots of time [ ]

The z71v is actually cheaper by by around $30-$50. For the bluetooth for the z70v, you'll need to wait a bit, or send it back as its not ready yet I believe.

 

The W3's going to be a great system... I'm not sure if you might enjoy a larger screen though for most of your programing.... so something in the M6 series would probably be best. You don't need dedicated graphics, but you would want the higher res, so the Z70v would be perfect.

Thanks,
Justin
PROPortable
800-474-2296
www.proportable.com
[email protected]

 

Z70v! Z70v! Z70v! Z70v! Z70v! Z70v! Z70v! Z70v! Z70v! Z70v!

Gee, maybe I'm just a shade bit biased?? I'm glad my review has been helpful.

Oh wait, here's another suggestion...

Z70v! [ ]

Asus Z70v | Pentium M 1.6GHz Sonoma | 15.4" WSXGA+ | 1 GB PC4200 | 60 GB 5400 RPM | 8X DVDRW DL | ATI X600 PCIe | Intel Pro 2915 | Linksys USB BT100

 

The Z71V is BIG and UGLY! The Z70V is pretty big too (due to the speakers built into the display panel), but it's not UGLY...

 

hey now, some people prefer the rounded edges of the z71 to the sharp edges of the z70 tho i personally like the z70 better too [ ]