W3j Owners Lounge

well, for now I got my self everest pro, and that gives me some nice info about the temps in my system. It also has an option to do a stess test all the temp we just fine. my hdd was 53 c max after 30 min of hdd activety. I still think it has something to do with the system fan wich should have kicked in while the hdd was running hot for some reson. The positive thing so far is that today after dinner all the temps were still fine

 

Can anyone recomend a good BACKPACK?

 

Wooohhoooo I can finally come and sit in this lounge got my refresh model a couple days ago and loving it!

 

I had a similar problem, but with the CPU, what I think happened is something didnt shut down in the hibernation process.

Basically I shut the lid, went out for 30 mins came back opened the lid to see an error (what I think happened was it started to go to hibernation and got stuck) basically it was hot, the cpu was @ 90deg and the fan was off, I had to shut down restart and then the fan kicked in and dropped the temp to a stable 53deg.

It only happened once, and now I have my new 160GB Seagate 5400.3 in one NTFS partition, it resumes from hibernation with the stock P4G settings no problem. and it also fixed the Asus DVD playback is now smooth. FYI my drive runs @ 39 deg, after copying 15gb images copying solid for 10 minutes, it reached 49deg, but I know the 7Ks run hotter, what sort of battery time are you getting with your drive? I nearly brought one.

 

49degrees isn't that bad really considering the 5400 will reach that if you actually use it on your lap..also with a session of source for about half an hour the hd will get to 49-50 so from what i can tell there's no difference in heat considering how much heat the x1600 and core duo release

 

Hello

I just ordered my W3J yesterday and after 46 wonderful pages I am just wondering if this is what should be done out of the box:

1.Update Xp (Patches)

2. Newest Bios

3. Omega Drivers

4. Convert to NTFS? Reall necessary? Fix any issues or just able to transfer 4gig+ files?

5. Uninstall Norton/get own a/v prog Any other programs?

I am just concerend about the hibernation issue and the freezing during gaming which seems to bother people, anything else that would be easy and wouldnt require an entire reformat?

It would be really cool if someone made a out of box procedure/checklist to do when you recieve the laptop, what to do, download, and uninstall...it would be very appreciated, probably by many

Thanks and I cant wait for the box to be in hand on about thursday

 

Bios should update automatically. Yes I got rid of Norton, mostly because it was just incredibly annoying, so I'd recommend doing that too. FAT 32 is a bit faster than NTFS (I don't notice a difference and doubt you will either) but NTFS can transfer files over four gigs and is quicker at defragmenting. I went NTFS and would recommend doing that as well.

If you like to game get the omegadrivers from omegadrivers.net.

I found a backpack I liked at Urban outfitters, well not a backpack, more like a side pack for $90, has lots of space and fit my w3 perfectly.

 

Hi guys,

I've been lurking around here for a while and have been researching on a new notebook to replace my trusty old T40. It has served me well for the past three years, but it's time to get a new one. I really like want to get Core Duo and the Pentium M 1.5 just doesn't cut it anymore. Plus the HD just died on me recently, so it's time to upgrade. After reading this whole thread and some other reviews, I've almost decided on the W3J. I just had a couple questions for you guys who already has it. I don't remember seeing this mentioned in this thread, but if it's been mentioned before I appologize.

I wanted to see if the W3J supports power on password and HD password upon boot up? This is important as I have important personal data (who doesn't? ) on here and I would hate for that data to fall into the wrong hands.

Also, as any former thinkpad owner would know, I really love the keyboard on the thinkpads. To those former thinkpad owners, how do you compare the W3J keyboard to the thinkpads' ? In terms of noise, feedback, and travel ?

One last thing, how solid is the W3j's case? It seems to be made of strong plastic. When you lift one corner of the laptop when the screen is open, does the whole thing flex ? My T40 is so thin and it flexes when I do this. I've always hated this. Hopefully the W3J is more solid.

Thanks. I appreciate your help!

 

wzhaoca,

The W3J does support power on password (I personally use this) and HD password upon boot up.

I haven't typed on the Thinkpad's keyboard but I don't think that the W3J strength is in it's keyboard...it's fine but not stellar.

The W3J's case is solid and the overall construction is excellent. The case is carbon fiber chasis if I'm not mistaken and the cover is made from anionidized metal. The thing doesn't flex when you pick it up from its corner.

I think you will be very pleased with the W3J.

 

Thanks for your feedback.

Of course, I don't expect the W3J's keyboard to be as good as a Thinkpad's, few laptops out there are. As long as it's a solid keyboard to type on without sinking and overly loud, I'll be happy. After getting used to a thinkpad's keyboard, one tend to become more picky about these things.

I did not know the chassis is made of carbon fiber. I did know the cover is made from aluminum and sure looks pretty. Can anyone else confirm what the case is made of ?

Thanks again.

 

I am a new owner of a W3J. Just picked mine up last night from my friends house, who brought it to me from Taiwan. I've already gone ahead and formatted it, installed my own WindowsXP Pro and all the Asus drivers. So far all I've gotten a chance to do is to play with the exterior a bit, since my bf and I spent last night installing windows/drivers.

I'm pretty impressed with the build quality, I had been thinking of getting an IBM but the fact that I couldn't game as well on it really forced me to look elsewhere.

My bf's old IBM had an issue where the backing to the LCD screen wasn't firm enough that if you closed the LCD with one hand, you'll cause smudges on the screen side and with enough, you'll actually leave a permanent smudge mark on the LCD.

I tried that with the W3J and didn't see anything odd. The casing is pretty firm and seems like it'll protect the the screen pretty well. The keyboard has little to no flex, though I don't think it lives up to an IBM keyboard.

All in all, it seem more well built than my bf's S96J. The keyboard is more firm and the screen's backing is more solid. Actually I had expected the S96J to be built a bit better and was slightly disappointed. That caused me to be worried about the W3J, and whether or not it was sort of hyped up. So far I am not disappointed. I still like my bf's S96J as his large screen is sweet to look at. And his specs are higher than mine. I guess at the worst, when I need to go on 40 man raids in WoW, I'll just borrow his, if mine can't handle it, though I hope it will.

It's also nice that it came with a messenger bag, Logitech Bluetooth mouse, and an optical drive placeholder (in case I don't want to carry that extra 0.44 lbs on a trip).

Also, has anyone had any problems with the wrist area (the areas to the left and right of the trackpad) getting scratched or scraped? That happened with his S96J so he bought special screen protectors and cut them to fit the wrist area. I wonder if the W3J's will suffer the same problem.

 

Good to hear that you're enjoying your new W3J Lythia. I was wondering about the same thing on the wrist pad. Can you tell if the charcoal black is painted on , or is that the natural color of the plastic ? If it's painted, I hope it won't suffer from discoloration later on, like the white Macbooks are.

Enjoy the new toy.

 

Before you attempt #4 make sure you check out this post.

 

I agree with P8ntballer99.. it would be awesome to have a checklist that i could run through when i get my W3J(ordered and on the way from powernotebooks.com). Basically everything I have learned about the laptop has been on this forum so I will keep reading through, but just saying it would be cool. Wish i knew a little more about computers in general.

 

Thanks Wzhaoca. The charcoal black appears to be the natural color of the plastic. It doesn't seem like it is painted on though I could be wrong. Regardless though, my bf still advises me to apply clear protectors to it. He still has some left over from the ones he applied to S96J. So he'll likely put those on mine for me.

For the gamers, WoW specifically:
Here are some photos from last night's installation of WoW, from the opening cinematics. It looks beautiful. I've logged on last night and turned everything up to highest settings in IF and so far no lag. But it was late so not that many ppl on. I'll probrably give it a run on a 20-man raid next week and then I'll see...

So far the 14inch widescreen doesn't feel too cramped, but when I raided on my bf's S96J, that 15inch wide *really* feels good. Especially if you're a healer and you need to have everyone's healthbar (all 20-40 of them) displayed on your screen.

 

Thanks for checking out the wristpad Lythia. Sounds like I'll need to keep any ey e on the wristpad. I've never had to apply protector on my old T40 since it's black plastic and wasn't painted. Any idea where I might be able to get these clear protectors ? My W3J should be here soon!

Nice pictures of WoW. I won't be gaming much on this, but it's nice to know that it handles games well. That screen looks great too!

Bill

 

nah, its not the natural color. If you remove your battery, you may be able to see the parts that didnt get enough paint. there is also one of the sharper corners of the charcoal plastic right next the power button - the color has already worn off on mine.

 

here's what bf the said:

___________

Thanks for the info Arvin. So are the areas that the color is wearing off at main wrist rest areas, or in other places too?

 

You'll do fine even in Ogrimmar in peak hours. My x700 can only go up to medium when in Ogrimmar with about 150 people in the auctionhouse

 

edit :: nvm

 

Is there a way to have a shortcut on the desktop that goes directly to the powerplay settings?
thanks
Dan

 

As far as i can tell, there is no wrist wearage yet. I've been using this laptop for over 1.5 months now.

 

im confused, dont you put thermal compund between the chip and cooling plate to improve heat disapation, I would think it already has it appplied, and you would void your warantee if you pulled the cooling plate off you processor to re-apply thermal paste??

 

haha im currently using the stickers to prevent wear..ok ok i just haven't gotten around to taking them off yet

 

Sometimes you use a pad, sometimes it's thermal compound. Yes, it's already applied, and yes if you pull the plate to do something else your global Asus warranty is null and void.

 

What have been your experiences using this thing outside. Does the glossy screen provide too much glare, or is it difficult to see stuff on the screen?

 

As with any laptop it is difficult to see outside. If you get under some shade it will certainly help.

 

Not sure if this question has been asked before...

What sort of gain I will have by upgrading my W3J's RAM to 2GB?
Does it worth the upgrade at all?

Thanks.

 

It really depends on the programs/games you going to run. If you have many big programs open at the same time, then it can be an advantadge to have 2GB. For most people (myself included) 1 GB will be plenty, although some (myself included ) just thinks that 2 GB is "nice to have".

 

How can I tell whether my W3J RAM is 533MHz or 667MHz?
I used CPUZ tool ( http://www.cpuid.org/cpuz.php) to check and it gives me the following info

DIMM #1
Memory type DDR2
Manufacturer (ID) Nanya Technology (7F7F7F0B00000000)
Size 1024 MBytes
Max bandwidth PC4300 (266 MHz)
Part number NT1GT64U8HA0BN-37B
Serial number 02DA2213
Manufacturing date Week 71/Year 05

Attributes
Number of banks 2
Data width 64 bits
Correction None
EPP no

266MHz??? Am I missing something here?
Thanks

 

Memory chips don't report their frequencies to reporting software in the numbers that are used for sales/marketing. It's always @ 50% - I think it's because of the 2 banks issue (but I could be wrong).

Your memory is operating at 533Mhz.

 

266Mhz is the same as 533Mhz DDR(or Double Data Rate). because DDR and DDR2 RAM transmits on the up and down half of a cycle the effective speed is double the actual speed.

266Mhz = actual operating frequency of ram
533Mhz = effective speed due to DDR

333Mhz would be the actual speed of DDR667.

 

Hm... my RAM is running at 332 according to CPU-Z, therefore it is the 667MHz variety. I guess they threw different ram chips into some notebooks.

 

If I'm not mistaken, the W3J models the older ones with the 1.83 ghz core duos had the 533 mhz RAM. The W3J+ models I guess you'd call them that, the ones with the 2.0 Ghz processors have 667 mhz RAM.

 

Ive got the w3j with a 1.83 and I have 667

 

ok hahahah guess i'm wrong then

 

im more bothered that its not in 1 stick than the processor boost..though i probably won't be upgrading till 1gb sticks are really cheap

 

haha I think you are right in some respect EQualizer- maybe the non-North American ones are 533? Just a guess tho cuz it could be just completely random

 

Cheap is a relative term. It's always going to be cheaper the next week, and the next week, and the weak after that. In my opinion, a 1gb stick from newegg is pretty "cheap".

Word of caution: Patriot works flawlessly, and G-skill has failed me.

 

Same mine came with 1.83Ghz and 2x 667mhz, actually I am considering upgrading my W3J, because I always wanted one with the 2.0ghz, I do large Photoshop work and 3D Vis, AutoCAD, and recording and encoding music, so looking for the fastest I can get, I am back in the UK till the end of next week, then heading back to the US for another 3 months.

Anyone wanna buy a W3J? 1.83Ghz 2x512gb 667mhz ATIX1600 256, you all know the deal, I got mine in the first shipment from proportable I work near Oxford Circus London, I asked if the warantee is transferable and apparently it is, I have a girl at work that is interested but it might be too powerfull for her (I don't think she games).

Pm me if you are interested.

Are their any comparisons between the 2.0ghz & 1.83ghz models around?

 

I don't have this laptop, but my current laptop is not much larger than this, maybe only 1 inch in every dimension except thickness. I have had two targus backpacks so far and I have loved them both, the build quality of them is outstanding. I carry my laptop on campus along with other books and papers and the bags really work well for it. i would highly recommend my current Targus 15.4" CityGear Chicago Notebook Backpack for any laptop around this size. The best part is, you can most likely see it in person if you shop around. The laptop pouch won't fit the laptop very tightly, but it will hold it in place and keep it safe. It also has seperate compartments for the laptop and other stuff so you don't have to keep your binders in the laptop compartment.

 

Got my Refresh on thursday, got it patched, updated, and cleaned and i love it

 

Hey guys. Just a quick question. How often do your fans come on when you are using your laptops? I've noticed that mine is coming on a bit more often than usual. Is that indication of a potential problem or should I not worry about it? and is there any way to control the fan?

 

It's on often when plugged in, but not when on battery. The W3J is a bit of a powerful machine in such a small chasis.. it's expected that the fans will be on a lot. Having a Z70va before this.. I'm real impressed at how quiet the W3J is compared to the Z70va.. especially since this has an x1600 in it. The W3J controls the fan a lot better. There's the speedfan program if you really want to mess with the fan control, but I wouldn't recommend it.

 

Welcome to the club Enjoy this beautifully designed machine.

 

Hey, can anyone tell me the dimensions of the ac adapter? Also, I'm looking for a sleeve for this laptop and have been running into trouble, any recommendations? Thank you

 

its large for a 14" lappy since its 90W..might want to look at larger bags if the brick doesn't seem to fit..im currently using a thinkpad bag from before

a side question: whats the lowest you guys can underclock the x1600 for battery/heat consideration..the lowest i can get is 350/350 before it gets unstable at 300/300..this is with ati tools .25 beta14 btw

 

At a curiosity, would it be a bad idea to mix and match brands of RAM?

I was thinking about getting a stick of this PQI RAM:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820141067

and putting in a stick of this Transcend RAM:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820208037

The only reason to mix and match is rebates are limited for each product (one per household/invoice/person...etc...).

Also, is all that is involved in upgrading the RAM is unscrewing the two screws on the bottom marked "K" and pushing away the tabs on the keyboard with a screwdriver in order to lift off the keyboard?

 

I'm assuming that you have the non-Refresh model that came with 2x512MB of RAM? I don't know what the official concensus is on this, but I would never mix memory if I had the choice. Of course if the laptop already had a 1GB stick, I would only buy one more, but you might just save yourself a headache by getting matched memory. I know this laptop runs dual-channel memory and that typically runs best with identical modules. As for the installation, I know nothing of that, so someone else will have to respond.

 

Lythia, where are you from? I'm wondering if my W3J will come with a bag and bluetooth mouse too, but I'm from the US....