Giving serious consideration to MX...

The Portable One MX, from everything I can tell, seems to be the best value in the A8Js. After selling both of my existing laptops, I plan to get an A8Js w/Bluetooth and 1GB extra of RAM. But first, a few questions:

1. Does the P1MX include the free USB mouse from ASUS, or just the case? The website is unclear.
2. Is the free RAM slot user-accessible? I don't see why it wouldn't be, but you never know.
3. Is there tax to Florida? Dell, HP, Gateway, et al. all charge tax here, so it scares me a bit.
4. And the one everyone's wondering, I'm sure - does anyone know when the P1MX will be upgraded to the new A8Js with 120GB HD? I don't see why it should be a problem since it's the same price as the old ones from ASUS.

Thanks for your help, and I hope to soon be a proud ASUS owner.

 

1) Yes they do come with the Asus bundled gear, as well as some P1 addictions such as some thermal improvements on cpu & gpu and Inspice Trace, Recovery & Data Protection.
2) Yes there is an unoccupied memory slot for future expansion and unit is upgradeable to 4GB.
3) No sales tax outside of California.
4) Currently only the std 100GB drive units are available and heavily allocated we did ramp up for the holidays so have no problems filling any amount of orders.

 

Alrighty then. A couple more questions...

First, I hadn't really planned on buying until after the holidays, so any chance the 120GB models will be available around the turn of the year? Or shortly after (say, any time before February)?

Also, does Portable One participate in the "Vista Express Upgrade" program? Sorry if that's redundant since I also asked in the other thread, but I'll ask here too because...why not? lol

 

Ivan can you please clear up a discrepancy for me.

You say the a8js can accept 4gb ram. The asus site says 2gb max.

On 3dmark it does say in system information that my system can have 4gb ( I mean if it were just theoretical you would think it could say 8gb or whatever)

Does the a8js accept 2gb dimms right now, is it ready to go?

 

Yes the 2GB SODIMM's are just starting to come out and very expensive, over $500 per module. Asus states 2GB because currently 1GB modules are the largest they have. We use Kingston mobile memory only, going on 2 years and never a single memory failure; they have working modules: KVR667D2S5/2G and lifetime advanced replacements etc...

Looking at your signature...I thought you already had an A8JS?

 

yes I already have one Im making sure my machine is compatible with the 2gb dims.

other asus models say there is a 4gb maximum even though its not available from them.

My system info says 4gb is maximum on the motherboard.
Anyhow what Im trying to see is if someone has a 2gb dim in a a8js.

I feel pretty certain ill buy 4gb over the life of my machine

 

It may need a BIOS update, that is all. The 945PM chipset certainly supports up to 4GB of RAM, and the A8Js bears a Centrino Duo sticker (meaning it must fully comply with up-to-date Intel specifications for the motherboard, BIOS, chipset, processor, and WiFi), so you're set.

 

I was looking on the P1 site and does the MX-A8Js come with a 1.3mp camera or the standard vga camera already made for it? It says 1.3mp on your site but a friend of mine bought an MX-A8js but it still said VGA camera on his lappy where the camera is installed. *Just something off topic* He also got the Transreflective screen and the viewing angles are way better compared to the original screen. I haven't seen how well it looks under the sun yet though. But I think it's a great option for an upgrade. Oh, and I guess those thermal upgrades are really worth it because i noticed when he was playing FEAR for about an 2 hours on it and it was only ever so slightly warm on the bottom and always stayed quiet. I never heard the fans run but you can feel them working if you place your hand underneath. Well, anyway, just my two cents. Hoping to get one soon.

 

If it needs a bios update then that is bad news because there might never be one.

some of my system info says each dim has a max 1024 mb.

the motherboard says it has max 4 gb though.


What Id like to know is if any system has had a 2gb dim in it and recognized it?
Very hard information to come by ivan may be one of very few people that may know this because as he stated not a lot of people are buying 500$ 2 gb dimms to test

 

Yes that Kingston part number I referenced earlier works great, but very expensive currently...once they start ramping up production prices will start coming down on them and more places will start offering them.

 

I was just wondering again, since the holiday season is winding down, if there are any estimates to when the MX will begin using 120GB hard drives (as the A8J series now does)?