W3j Owners Lounge

Man... After using this laptop for a week, I can tell you that the monitor is terrible.

I think the monitor and its poor viewing angles bring this laptop down. I get so frustrated trying to sit at the perfect spot to see all the top corners as well as the bottom corners while i'm playing WoW.

Other than this it's all fine.

 

I've had my W3J refresh for about a week now (specs in sig below). Initially, I stuck with the factory default two partition drive, but noticed that startup was slow and I was having wierd issues like the lockups and no wakeup after standby that some people are experiencing. So I reformatted with my own copy of Windows XP Pro, repartitioned to my liking (C: Drive - 11GB and D: Drive - 82GB... both NTFS), and trimmed down the unnecessary processes. Now I'm getting considerably faster startup and it got rid of the issues mentioned above.

My opinions:
I love the build quality on this.. I've used a W3V before, so I knew what to expect. This machine is rock solid and beautiful. The keyboard is good.. though some of the bigger keys like Enter and Space make a bit of a sound, but it's nothing to complain about. Comparing to my ASUS Z70va that I've previously owned (which had the best matte screen I've ever seen).. I must say that the W3J screen is a bit disappointing though after getting used to the Z70va's gorgeous screen. Looking straight on.. the colors are vivid and sharp, but move your head a little and the colors start getting washed out. This is the one real con about this notebook.. the viewing angles need improving. But I can live with it. As for the noise factor.. there is none.. this machine is absolutely quiet. Again, comparing with my Z70va, the W3J controls the fan a lot better. Quite surprising considering the power this thing packs. As for heat, the air coming out the right side vent (another con for me, since I would prefer this was on the left.. but what can you do) when surfing the web, word processing, or listening to music and watching DVD's ..it is just warm. It gets hot when gaming, but nothing to worry about. It's not burn to the touch hot.. just uncomfortable. The touchpad is a bit better than the previous one ASUS had been using. It feels more responsive. The speaker sound is weak, like most of you have heard.. but in the BIOS, there is a setting to raise the volume level to 8 (default at 4).. I'm still not sure if this is just for the bootup sound or if it also affects Windows. It does sound like the volume went up a bit though.. I'll keep testing.

I'll be gaming with Oblivion, Doom3, and COD2 next time, so I can get a feel on how much faster the x1600 is than the x700 that my Z70va had. Overall.. this notebook is an excellent buy. Definitely worth every penny spent.

 

Nice review. That sucks about the viewing anles, though. Yea, get back to us with gaming performance. I can't wait to see what this machine is capable of.....

 

I just got mine today.

first impression, the notebook is very pretty but the screen didn't impress me. not as vivid as some other screens I have seen, so I'm a little disappointed in that.

ALSO, already I have to RMA it. I noticed with a white background there is this line (half cm long, black, looks like a hair or scratch on the back of the lcd screen - when you mouse over it, the cursor shows on top of it...if that makes sense) so they are going to replace the LCD. I just hope it comes back brand new since I've used it for like 1 hour.

so that's a downer when you spend almost 2k on something...sigh...hate rma's, you never know how they are going to treat the machine.

 

LedZepp, what processes do you have running at the present time?

 

I'm at work right now, but I'll list those for you when I get home tonight.

 

Thanks for that. I need to limit the processes, just too many for my taste.

 

I think I'll get rid of the intel software, then. Thanks for the advice.

 

Can anyone confirm that this hotfix is already included in the drivers CD? I know that there are a few in there already, but not sure if one is the fix for this issue.

 

Instead of listing all the processes running.. I'll list the ones I have disabled. To set processes to Auto, Manual, or Disabled...go to Start>Run>type "services.msc"

Windows XP Pro SP2 disabled processes (This is not intended to be a universal guide. I have these processes disabled, because I know from personal experience and preference, that I won't be needing them. This varies from user to user.)

Alerter
Clipbook
Error Reporting
Fast User Switching
Help and Support
Human Interface Device
Indexing
IPSEC
Messenger
MS Software Shadow
Net Logon
NetMeeting Remote
Net DDE
Net DDE DSDM
NT LM
Performance Logs
Portable Media Serial
Print Spooler
QOS
Remote Desktop Help
Remote Registry
Routing and Remote
Secondary Logon
Security Center
Smart Card
SSDP
System Restore
TCP/IP
Telnet
Uninterupt Power
UPNP
Volume Shadow
WebClient
WMI

Startup programs running: Hcontrol, Synaptics, Wireless Console, Intel Wireless, Splendid, and Bluetooth Manager.

 

Hi. I am new to notebookreview and this lounge. I recently purchased a w3j a week ago and I am loving it for the most part. However, I am having one major problem with it and I was wondering if anyone could offer some help.

It seems that I am not able to connect to the internet with my w3j (I'm on a different computer right now). I have tried connecting through a router linked to a cable modem as well as a wireless network connection. In both cases, the w3j registers the connections and says that I am connected. However, no pages will load on internet explorer (or firefox, or aol explorer), nor will AIM and other internet applications connect online.

has anyone else encountered this or know how to fix it?
thanks a ton.

 

Check the internet connection settings. I've not done LAN connections, but if you are wireless it's as easy as connecting and putting in the WEP key (if you have one).

 

according to internet connections, all the setting say I am connected. but I don't seem to be sending or receiving too many packets, and I can't get online. Any ideas what's going on? could it be a hardware problem or some flaw w/ my w3j?

 

Check your firewall. First disable it and see if you can use it. If you can than correctly set your firewall.

 

nevermind, the problem is solved. It ended up being norton's fault. the autoprotect prevented pretty much everything from accessing the internet.

thanks though.

now I can go back to loving my new laptop.

 

Get rid of Norton and get Avast! for free.

 

done and done. thanks guys.

 

Bah Norton is really ****y to say the least. However I can't install Avast! because I have to use my college-provided AV when I go in Aug. That happens to be Symantec Coporate edition. I guess I'll keep Norton 'till than.

However I installed Comodo Personall Firewall (free for life), and it's awesome. But be warned, it's not for newbies.

 

I used to use Norton as my antivirus software. I found Avast to be a lot better in general. It's catches more things, even sypware, and it doesn't hog half of the system resources that Norton does, and lastly, its FREE! The home version at least. One of the first things I'd do with a computer, is uninstall the virus software on it, and put avast on it. Usually its just a trial anyway.

 

Guess what.......

Since installing a new Seagate 5400.3 160gb drive (and reinstalled windows with the Asus CDs and Asus drive CD provided) with one partition and a couple of things have happened....

Asus DVD playback is now smooth and does not stutter every 20sec.

Also... It resumes from hibernation and standby NO PROBLEM AT ALL with the HDD timeout on in the Asus Power4gear software.......

Interesting....... I am about to reformat over my original Fujitsu drive and wipe the second partition, I will see if I get the same results.

 

Someone was asking about the CPU Hotfix and if it was pre-installed on the W3J....

I have the answer to that question. I looked up the KB article number on the issue and I looked at my list of installed updates (as seen in Add/Remove programs) and the KB number was listed in one of the updates. So yes, the CPU hotfix is already installed.

 

Wow... thats interesting. I'm also going to put an aftermarket HD in my W3j when I get it. Let us know what you find out!

 

Awesome.. good to know that. Thanks

 

Yup, same here. After reformatting with my own copy of WinXP Pro.. all those issues were gone. I should be getting my Seagate 5400.3 HD soon also.

 

Thats really interesting. Could it be the FAT32 file format that is causing problems? I will most likely reformat with my own copy of XP Pro, and NTFS.

 

I think it has something to do with the factory installation and the recovery disk. I've tried converting to NTFS at first... that didn't work and only slowed down my bootup time. Then tried reformating with the recovery disk with just one partition of NTFS also, and that still didn't solve those issues. Only after a clean install with my own copy of WinXP Pro did the issues disappear.

 

Hey, Im gonna buy upgrade the ram in my w3j via the reseller or myself. How many of you guys bought an extended warranty and why or why not? Thanks

 

Well I reinstalled the Asus recovery CD's over the factory Fujitsu drive as one partition (I left it as FAT) and the system still has trouble resuming from hibernating, so maybe it is a FAT32 problem........

meanwhile my seagate still resumes from standby and hibernation with no problems at all!!

Has anyone else formatted to NTFS on their Fujitsu, if so does your W3J resume from hibernation??

 

I really like what this Notebook has to offer in such a small package!

This is a direct copy from the system specs of the W3J from the Asus website:

-------------------------------------------
Screen:

14" WXGA (1280x768) LCD
Color Shine (glare-type) LCD
Crystal Shine (hoge helderheid) LCD
ASUS Splendid Video Intelligent Technology
-------------------------------------------

Can someone tell me which screen is comparable to the one found in Apple's Macbook? (Crystal Shine?) It's also build from Asus components right? A friend of mine has that Macbook and I was blown away by the quality of the screen.
(compared to the HP's and Acer Notebooks I've been using so far...)

 

I was checking out the global Asus site.. Seems like they cleaned up and categorized their download sections. I noticed that the W3J has a newer BIOS version available (207), but I can't find the update log. Anyone know what this BIOS revision fixes?

 

Hmmm...

I got my W3j last weekend (4th of July weekend, not this past weekend), and I had a weird problem the first morning I went to turn it on. It had gone into hibernate and wouldn't turn back on. After fiddling with it for a while, I finally got it to turn back on. After that, it seemed OK for the next day or two, so I installed the Seagate 160 I got, re-installed from the Asus XP Recovery disk, and haven't had a problem since. I'm now using the OEM drive in the drive bay for music, backups, etc....

 

Eddie has posted various items last month on the 207 BIOS ( one of them here). You can find the others doing advanced search for Geared2play.com user and w3j bios in the search terms.

According to Asus, 207 adds "Support Yonah D0 stepping CPU T2700", and is also supposed to address the standby issues that some have experienced. Others have noted problems with hibernate recovery - various solutions have included clean installs or adjusting the hibernate timeouts in P4Gear - details can be found through searches.

 

Can somebody suggest a heat and memory probe program that works with the w3j? thanks. Preferably one that allows you to monitor the heat of the gpu also, thanks.

 

A realy stupid and annoying behavior have apeard on my w3j. Say evrey 5-10seconds it minmizes a game or unmarks the window im in so i cant type and have to mark the window i was working in again to do what i want. I havent made any big changes and my antivirus havent found anything. What could it be becouse the notebook is such a pain in the ass to use at the moment and it would be nice to avoid to have to reinstall everthing but at the moment i dont see another soulution.

 

You're not by any chance typing and grazing the touchpad when this is happening? That can make strange things like that occur, and might explain it. If so, try adjusting the sensitivities and disable the minimize shortcut in the Synaptics touchpad control (click on Mouse in Control panel - the tab should be on the right side).

 

The only time I experienced these types of things was with windows firewall and a game trying to connect to the internet. Doesn't seem like that is your problem though.

 

Ive used the kill touchpad button on the side try without and im not so clumsy so i dont know where i have my fingers.

I dont think its a firewall issue either becouse i have not changed a thing in my firewall since i put it up.

But you have to love windows that has these exelent random foults in it or maybee the hardware is playing a prank i dont know and hopefully it will dissapear overnight since it came overnight.

But how does the recovery partion/cd work. Will it restore evreything to what is was like when it shipped or will it put a new install of windows on C and leave D untouched.

 

Ah yes I have the window minimizing thing also. My touchpad is disabled. Windows update is disabled. Windows Firewall is disabled and I installed Comodo Personal Firewall. However I disabled that too to test. The only other thing I have is the built in Norton AV/Anti-Spam/Internet-Security (Firewall is off), and the Toshiba Bluetooth stack for my mouse. Last night I turned on a game on full screen and waited for a while and it minimized by itself without me doing anything. Also at random times I can see something pop-up in my taskbar and than dissappear which makes me think it's that. It flashes by too fast and I can't make out what it is though.

 

Tegis,
Any word on whether or not the restore partition overwrites the "D:" partition?

 

I restored with the Asus CD, it gives you 3 options

1. install windows over first partition C: and leave D:
2. Install one partition over entire drive (wipes partition and you just get a big c
3. Install over entire drive but it in two partitions (wipes and replaces C: and D

so it is up to you and it installs windows, pop in the driver CD and it preloads all the drivers and Asus apps back to the condition before you first set it up.

 

That soundns good that i can rewrite only the windows part if i go that way.

I set up a new user account and the minimize problem doesnt exist on the new acount but offcourse it still appears on my main account. I dont understand how such a stupid problem can appear from nowhere but its windows so. But i think i will move my important stuff over to the new user account and delete the ****er that aint working properly.

 

Tegis, I have that same problem on my desktop however. I do not think it is a notebook issue but something to do with windows. It is mostly likely a program that you've installed thats messing with windows (refreshing itself every 10 seconds-ish or something liek that)

I don't actually remember how I fixed mine but I know for sure its a program that you've installed thats making windows act that way and its not a notebook problem (but then again, i could be wrong)

 

Hi All,
Just wanted to say after a long time lurking I bought my W3J last week, received it yesterday.
After 45 pages and some many people already with one I don't know if there is anything more to say, but let me know if you want some comments on the unit, my impression, photos, etc.

 

Hi

Well, again an other happy w3j owner!! I ordered it with two gigs of ram and and upgraded the hdd with a travlestar 7k100 (yesterday). reinstalled the machine with the asus restore cd's and upgraded to bios to the latest version (207). but today when i came back from dinner the machine was blody hot. when i checked everest (trail) and hd tune my hdd was 65 C!!! It was running on 220 and was on stand by i guess. as soon is i started working on it the system fan kicked in and it cooled down again. everything is still fine but i'm a bit scared now to leave it alone.
Has anybody any idea how this could have happened?

 

Booyeah! Guess who got their W3J today? Everything seems ok even the standby and hibernate issues that I was fearing. I converted FAT to NTFS right away without a glich thanks to that handy program that they provided. Mine is the stock setup.

 

nice, enjoy your machines

 

My current bag is too big. Can you guys suggest a good BACKPACK?

 

All I could think of is maybe you had a program in the background that was running and demanding a lot from your HD while you were away. 65C is quite high for a HD when idle, so I don't think it was idle. If you'd like.. put your other drive back in, install everything you currently have in the travelstar to the stock HD, and test it to see if it reaches the same temp.

 

Does anyone know if the Merom processor (Core 2 Duo) will work in an Asus W3J?

 

if you're really worried that the lappy will be roasting while you are away you could just hibernate it instead of having it on standby, thats what i do