S96J vs. HEL80

I have read through all of 150+ pages of both S96J and HEL80 owners lounges in order to decide.

The conclusion I came up with is: the hel80 has some pros and cons, while s96j has no pros or cons at all (this is relative to s96j and hel80 ONLY, though).

So, I'm trying to prevent the hel80's cons from disturbing me (before I buy it), so I can buy a laptop with just pros.

The fan cycling issue is not an issue anymore, because I didn't see much people complaining anyway, and those who did aren't bothered since it's very quiet.

The keyboard flex issue hopefully won't be an issue if I manage to apply some double-sided tape like others did.

Hardware bugs seem to be much more common in hel80 than in s96j. For example, I have read many hel80 users saying that their keyboard sometimes won't activate. I don't know if this has been fixed, though.

But the headphone jack noise is what really bothers me, since I always have the headphones on my head 90% of the time. My notebook also has that problem, and the noise is annoying. It has no battery (it's a weird case-like notebook). I don't use the headphones on it because it's too slow for games and has a weak sound card, but when I need to, the noise is frustrating.

This issue isn't present in the s96j AFAIK. Or the noise is just way too low to be audible.

Can you compare the sound loudness to something in real life? It's as loud as _______ when ________. I'm being kinda paranoid lol. But I have no chance to test it myself.

 

First off, please create a new thread if you are going to deviate from the current thread's topic.

Read my review (link in my signature). I cover the HEL80 vs. S96J question in it.

I find it interesting that you've read through the S96J owner's lounge and found no pros or cons. If there's one thing I noticed, it's that there seem to be a higher number of little things complained about in the Asus forums than here in Compal. That's not to say one or the other is better, of course.

That keyboard activation issue is a Windows problem, not Compal's.

I wouldn't be surprised if the headphone noise was present in most notebook systems, it's just not that loud. It's akin to the background sound you'd hear when listening to a walkman playing a tape.

 

Keyboard flex is nearly unnoticeable, even without the tape, and the keyboard is actually very easy to type on, a noisy one at that.

If you have your audio on VERY low settings with no music or anything on in the background. Even with master volume on the lowest possible notch with only 1/2 volume in Itunes with music on I couldn't hear it. And at this point I can hear the hum of the computer. Note that even below this point you really have to try to hear it. So it really shouldn't deter you from this computer.

 

I didn't mean to deviate from the topic, as my main/only concern was the noise loudness. But it's fine

I did, already told you in this topic.

I meant relatively to hel80. Yes, it actually has some cons that I forgot: loud keyboard and touchpad buttons touch. The other cons are just fixable software issues. But it has no pros relatively to hel80, which means hel80 is better/equivalent at everything except the headphone jack problem. Both with the same VBi WXGA screen.

Me too, but the z/s96j-related problems are mostly software/driver issues.

Thought so

Good to know, but it is still muted in some notebooks, like s96j.

 

Don't know how much you are following the noise thread... but I know there are people on here that don't have the problem (like me).

Please take into consideration for both machines listed problems...
This isn't the only forum about computer problems that these machines are listed on.
Forums tend to show the dark side of the user-base, because happy people are to busy being happy and not posting about how happy they are =P (Forums are a better measure of support for issues, then number of issues and occurance)

 

Our sales history shows the PowerPro L 8:15 (Compal HEL80) outsells the PowerPro A 2:24 ULTRA (ASUS S96J) by about 5 to 1, even though the ASUS was released almost two months earlier.

That pretty much speaks for itself.

 

Wow. That's an improvement in relative HEL80 sales. I remember hearing it was 3 to 1 HEL80 to 96J sales a while back.

 

If you're talking about the dead keyboard issue I think you are (the one related to resuming from suspend) it is a Windows issue and there's a hotfix out.

I'm always a little confused from that sound thread about which noises are which. The only noise that bothers me is a headphone thing, and I can control it by rebooting, putting the laptop on AC, or turning on the HLT option in RMClock, so that's good enough for me. (Of course, I'm still watching for anyone to come up with a fix. Not actively looking though.)

I think I've got my particular flavor of headphone noise as bad as anyone. It's very noticable, but only in quiet environments. When I hear it it's because I've turned the system volume all the way down, and then hit the up arrow on the keyboard, once. If you have a lot of noise much louder than that, I don't think you'll hear anything.

I'd say my experience with this laptop has been very positive, overall. The screen is great, the battery life is good, and it's powerful enough. I'm finicky about keyboards... this one's alright, after you tape it I'm not sure if this is common to all the newer laptops (other experience being laptops with the pcmcia type wireless cards), but it seems to get pretty impressive wireless reception too

edit: Potentially Useful bit: Using the laptop on battery right next to my desktop with four $1 fans running full steam (and some better fans also making noise), I didn't notice any abnormal sound without really focusing. Put in the sound isolating earphones, and it was clear as day.

 

*not to get people posting on the noises in this thread*

/me hides his two pedestal systems with a combined 27 fans and wonders why he can't hear the noise.

 

Interesting...