w3j and a8jc - info from taiwan

i read this forum pretty avidly when i was (and still am) looking for a new laptop. helped me a lot so thought i'd share some info.

im in taiwan right now for a couple weeks and hoping to pick up an asus here. my choices are w3j and a8j, for the 14" widescreen and dual core. i do mostly photo and video editing.

w3j: street price is 48,900 nt, about 1720 canadian. specs are dual-core T2300, 14"wxga, 100G, DVD supermulti, 1024mb ddrII, ati x1600 256mb, 8 cell, xp home, 8 cell batt, 2 yrs global warrenty... strangely, no stores have a floor model but they can order it in. it is apparently "too new". one store that carried it sent back the shipment after several customers returned the machine. apparently it has a problem with overheating and asus is trying to solve that right now. sales dude explained that because the battery is in the back, the overheating problem would effect the screen in the long run. also something about some "parts" on the right side of the body breaking due to design flaws. i still havent seen the actual machine and my chinese is **** as is their english so i don't know EXACTLY what this is about. i dont know whether to take this information seriously either, may not be the full story, may be they are trying to promote other in-store models for easy sell... im just passing on info!

a8j: they only have a8jc here. street price is about 45000 nt for 1024 mb ddrII, about 1580 canadian; or 43500 nt for standard 512mb. specs are: dual core T2300, 14"wxga, 80G, dvd supermulti, nVidia geforce 7300TC 256mb, 6-cell batt,xp home, 2 years global warrenty. it looks nice, feels nice - not great kinda plasticy but still NICE. sony sz is definitely a league above, but also costs MUCH more. im not too fond of the glossy screen simply because the reflections are distracting, but colours are great. perhaps it just takes getting used to. i think i still prefer my old fashioned matte screen tho

i will most likely pick up the a8jc, because there isnt a w3j to play with, and the a8jc has DVI which is pretty important to hook up an external lcd.

for those who may be picking up a machine in asian countries - most stores will provide legit ENGLISH windows os and ENGLISH-only keyboard free of charge.

that's all for now

 

I can't imagine that there are build issues with the W3j (heat is more understandable) since it is so similar to and a basic refresh of the W3v.

Sounds to me like he is pushing you towards something in the store but who knows...I can't help but think something is up given the delays for the US bound units (whether that's part availability - maybe leading to the 4200RPM drives in the UK, or ATI gpx card supply?)

 

if u have relatives there u should get them to translate for u! that's what i did when i went over to taiwan over the summer and wanted to look at some of the asus laptops. i wanted to find asus HQ but my relatives didnt know where it was. =/

 

When I played with W3J, I didn't see heat issue, I played with it for 3-4 hours for the benchmark testing, I did feel hot air from the vent located right-top side, all other parts including bottom were not hot.

 

Thanks for the info. Thats cool you can get an English OS and keyboard.

 

from this thread
http://www.mobile01.com/topicdetail.php?f=159&t=156116&last=1185121
it says that W3J doesn't have heat issue like W3V series but still a little warm
though W3j looks really like W3V there's still some different in them
and 48900 for W3j or 45000 for A8j is too expensive
you can refer this site
http://tw.search.bid.yahoo.com/search/ac?p=W3J&cat=2092073415
and
http://tw.search.bid.yahoo.com/search/ac?p=A8jc&cat=2092073415
some of those have real store in taipei
and u can get there position or tele-number in " 賣方「關於我」 "
like this(just an example not advertisement)
http://tw.user.bid.yahoo.com/tw/show/aboutme?userID=here296
it says he has store in "GUANG HUA shopping mall"
and its A8J only sell NT42000
hope u can get what u want in taiwan , good luck

 

Thanks for the update on the possible issue of the W3J.

We have only 2-4 people report about the W3J, considering they may have the W3J as their first laptop and may not be able to distinguish heat problem from regular heat. Who knows.

none of us have the W3J to say it has no heat problems or structural integrity problems. But it does tells us why there was a 1.5 month delay on such a popular laptop. =\

In any case whatever the problem.

Thanks,

MysticGolem

 

Guang-Hua Electronics Market is incredible! It's a techy's paradise.. it's almost as good as akihabara in tokyo!

 

I'm going to have to agree with Danny based on my experience with it as well... and there is not build quality issues with the W3j.... mainly because all build issues are chassis based and because it's 99.9% identical to the W3v which has been out for a year and hasn't had single complaint in terms of build... not even remotely.

Heat on the other hand is an obvious issue with the graphics card, although through personal experience and tweaking I feel that it's going to be manageable....... If you want to compare this system with something others may understand... It's like getting a supercar for city driving.... but having something like a dual-clutch computerized manul transmission...... when you're in the city, you can basically drive it like an automatic, but it's still not going to be totally practical. You've got a lot of power under the hood of the W3 and the A8 for that matter. My comparison here would be to compare the W3 to a gallardo and the A8 to a vette.... They both have great performance, but the vette's interior is still a chevy... more bang for your buck... maybe..... but everyone still probably wants the gallardo.... But in the end if you're not in the market for power, there's always something else you can get because you're going to have the power and if you don't use it, it could turn into a issue (battery and heat.. and the extra money you spend)... just to surf the web and send emails.

 

I was telling myself the exact same thing yesterday after reading about the delay, except the A8J was a Mitsubishi Evo in my case. I seriously hope they solve the problems with the W3J as I don't want the "Galladro" to blow up like it did in M:I3 (That was probably the saddest part of the movie for me).

 

hey! your wrecking the movie for me, i haven't seen MI:3 lol.

Hey maybe asus TW is purposely making us wait.
They be like "hahaha looks those americans squirm, should we make em wait longer?" "Yes!" "hahaha (evil laugh)"

Ok, im done telling jokes lol.

W/e the case, I re-read the W3J and re-looked at the pics and man! they are so beautiful! I wouldn't mind playing with one for a little while. hehe

Is definately gonna be worth the wait.

Hang tight everyone.

Thanks,

MysticGolem

 

Ok... I'm on your level now..... I've got an S4 and a buddy of mine has an Evo... Last summer I spotted him at the gym and he thought he was just so cool with his new Evo. It's a great car (for the money) and it is pretty quick.... then I took him out to see my car and he was at a loss for words. If we use that comparison between the A8 and W3, I really think that is a pretty darn good real world comparison. After all, my big thing about the W and V series is the fit and finish and that's one giant difference between a Mitsu and an Audi.... You don't need it, but if you can appreciate it, it's nice to have.

 

True justin. But as nice as an S4 Is a Evo is a true sports car. Just basics and is great at what it does. Like outhandle pretty much any car. although im like you id put my money on an s4. time coming soon to upgrade just cant figure out what i want.

 

I hear you....... so is the time coming for a car upgrade... or a computer upgrade?