n00b with some questions

Hello all, im new here with a couple questions about the S96J. But before i get there, i just want to say that this is a fantastic forum with tons of useful information and helpful members. I still need to spend many more hours reading through all the information here.

Now onto the questions:

My dilemma is that i need to have a laptop in my hands by the 1st week of august. It was said previously that august is a very busy month for laptop sales and i don't want to wait that long to order. Unfortunately, this means i can't wait for laptops to ship with merom (which according to intel's roadmap will release in august) and who knows about markups and other such rubbish once it does start shipping.

My question is, how easy is it to replace the Core with the Core 2 later on in the S96J? Is it easy enough for a non-professional to do it? I understand that warranty might be thrown out the window, i just need to make my laptop future proof (as much as is possible)

My other question is regarding AMD. Im trying to get a grasp of where AMD is going with the S1 socket, what kind of future upgradeability it might have.

I apologize if this has been answered before. Im trying to find time to search and read as much as i can.

Thanks to all.
AJ

 

SagerSephiroth...welcome to Notebookreview Forum

First...never believe anything on Intel, Microsoft or any other computer manufacturer's roadmap...they almost NEVER hit those targets.

Second...the smart buyer waits until the first price drop after Intel releases any new processor. This is usually about 4-5 months later.

Third...it will be easy to swap the processors once it becomes important to do that (that is after VISTA has been released...and updated with at least Service Pack 1...which is at least a year away). Since the S96J is NOT an ASUS Ensemble laptop it does not void the warranty to do upgrades.

The AMD upgradeability is fuzzy right now, so it is difficult to comment on that...keep reading and researching and IF you can come up with some clarity, please start a new thread about it here.

 

You should be in pretty good shape to upgrade the processor. Just spend a few minutes looking around and reading on how to do the upgrade and then do it. My view is that the S96j is going to be "futureproof" for a wihle anyway. Buy it with the lowest processor that you can for now, and wait for Merom and price drops, then upgrade to the processor you want. THe current procesors are amazing as is, and you are unlikey to need more than the cheapest core duo, but then when you upgrade, getting what you can afford will be easier on the wallet, and keep you happy. Just my opinion, though.

 

CalebSchmerge, I agree. That is a good strategy.

 

Welcome to the forums

Firslty, lets say Intel does hit the target of releasing Merom in August, many beleive that there will be extremely few Merom notebooks out on the market, if not any.

All we really did care was that if Merom will work 100% in the NAPA platform and it does, cos even Intel said is plus Core 2 Duo will be using the same components. The only other thing that is needed is a bios update for most laptops. The manufacturers should supply that.

For the S96J read these threads plus others.
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=56094
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=56420
http://www.notebookforums.com/showthread.php?t=150573
http://www.notebookforums.com/showthread.php?t=152934

That should take some time , but will give you a lot of info.

Just an update, the S96j will now come with a 2 year Intel warranty, im not sure how it will be taken, when you put merom into it, void or no void, but we will see.

Also as Caleb suggested, go for a 1.6 or a 1.8ghz Yonah, and then when your ready (Vista SP1) go and get Merom (2.0+)ghz and your set.

As for AMD, don't worry about it yet, here on the ASUS forums no one is really craving for them, and from what i've read Turion 2x is not any better than Yonah. Merom is expected to blow away all AMD and previous Intel CPUs.

Hope this helps.

Thanks,

MysticGolem

 

If you buy the S96J as a PowerPro A 2:24 ULTRA you will get our 3 Year Warranty with Next Business Day shipping paid both ways. This will provide much faster warranty turnaround time, and a year longer warranty than the typical Intel warranty service.

The Intel Core Duo processor pricing just came down on May 28th, so you won't see any more drops for several months.

 

^ Yes, i went to your website to look at what you have and that is what caught my eye. Seeing that it's Asus based, i decided to come to this forum and post some questions. The S96J and the PowerPro are essentially the same right?

It's good to hear that transition to Merom won't be much of an issue, even better that the warranty won't be affected.

Its true that Vista will probably have some kinks that need to be ironed out. I hadn't thought of that.

Since prices have dropped already, i suppose i've got the green light to purchase a laptop now. Im not ruling out Turion X2 yet, but im leaning more towards Core at this point.

MysticGolem, i've just started reading through each of the links you've posted. Thanks.

OK. So now thats settled. I've decided to spend some time doing research tonight, and it occured to me that i need to know what the competition for the S96J looks like. Is there any other laptop that offers features like this one at reasonable prices?

I was looking at the Sager 5750, but it is slightly more expensive than the S96J.

I would like to thank all of you for taking the time to give me a response. You have all been most helpful.

 

All Built on ASUS and VBI laptops are supposed to be re-branded and not sold using the ODMs model number, but for those in the know (most people on the forums know, or else learn pretty quickly once they start reading on the forums) still use the ODM model number so we all know what we are talking about. Just think what a mess it would be if we talked about the PowerPro A 2:24 and then every other custom builder's "branded" names that are different when we are still talking about the same ODM model. So, to answer your question, the PowerPro A 2:24 ULTRA IS the ASUS S96J Verified by Intel (VBI), and the PowerPro A 2:24 SUPRA and FORCE are the ASUS Z96J NON-VBI model.

Sheesh...did I really say all that...I hope it wasn't too confusing

Also, to answer your question about competitive laptops with similar features and pricing...the only other one I know of has not been released yet. It is the Compal HGL80 that will be a 15.4" WXGA w/nVIDIA 7600 256MB, Core Duo, SATA hard drives with a fingerprint scanner and 9 cell battery standard, and Bluetooth and TV Tuner options. It will be about $75-80 more than the S96J.

 

this is a bit off-topic, but will you also be receiving the compal hgl30?

 

paladin44, not confusing at all. Do you have any idea when you will start shipping the HGL80?

 

The HGL30 will be released after the HGL80 by a few weeks. Could be anywhere from 2-4 weeks from the information we have right now...but that could change.

The HGL80 should be shipping by mid-June.

 

does the HGL80 have dvi-output ?

 

No, it is VGA.

We are actually introducing the Compal HEL80 (sorry for the confusion with the HGL...it is actually HEL) as our Crown P 15:2. It will be up later tonight.

 

damn, so no notebooks 14/15" with dvi around $1300 price-range? Excuse me if this is considered "thread hijacking." i think this is important discussion that could help out the maker of this thread regarding the notebooks "rivaling" the s96.

 

^ Thanks for your concern. Fortunately for me, i don't use dvi and i've also completed my purchase of the S96J.

 

I've just configured the HEL80 on powernotebooks just the way my S96J is configured and the price comes out to be slightly more. I really don't need the fingerprint reader and it doesn't come with the 3 year warranty, but the 9 cell battery is nice.

 

yea... i'm debating if warranty is more important to me than the 9 cell and blue tooth ... congratulations on your purchase!

 

Thank You.