W7J Owners' Lounge

Yeah this is with 7200RPM HDD upgrade. which probably eats some extra battery.

My package also came with a screen cleaning cloth I think this is courtesy of milestonepc.com . although to be honest it doens't work that well, but hey its free cleaning cloth, better than nothing.

Maybe I have oily fingers, but finger prints are really easily left on the laptop.

I haven't had any problem at all working on this machine (well I tried to install the latest nvidia driver and that gave me blue screen of death, but i got in windows safe mode and reverted back the driver, but the one I tried was apparently still beta, but I'm not gonna try again lol) I turned off P4G, only using NHC to monitor the laptop now. brightness is easy to change manually (fn + F5/F6) so there's no real use for P4G when I have NHC.

 

My Asus W7J is supposed to arrive tomorrow. Woo-hoo!

I gather from various threads in the Asus forum that I should do the following steps with the notebook:

1. Back up all drivers
   • Can someone give a list of which drivers to back up and where they're located?
2. Reformat
3. Clean install XP Pro
   • http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/cleanxpinstall.html
   • http://www.theeldergeek.com/clean_installation_of_windows_xp.htm
   • http://www.tweakhound.com/xp/installxp/installXP1.htm
4. Convert to 4 clusters
5. Convert to NTFS
   • http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/system/winpreinst/ntfs-preinstall.mspx
   • http://aumha.org/win5/a/ntfscvt.php
6. Download and install Windows critical updates
7. Install other software
   • antivirus
   • anti-spyware
   • browser
   • email

What steps have I missed?

Also, I haven't read the above links in depth or compared them against each other for any conflicts. If there are better sources of information, please share!

Thanks!

 

To do a clean install of xp pro, you would need your own copy of xp pro (right?). Asus only provides the recovery cd. If you use just the recovery cd, it will revert back to the factory settings (right?).

 

Does recovery CD comes with a cd key? Thanks

 

ya factory settings. be jsut like how you bought it

 

the cdkey is always on the underside of the notebook

 

As I posted in another thread, I'm very happy with the w7j. Getting around 3.5 hours on second from lowest brightness, undervolted to 1.015V at 1.8ghz and enabled nvidia coolbits to underclock the gpu to 100mhz gpu and 270mhz memory.

Cheers!

 

! thx for remind me about gpu!

ok I can get 3:10min (well it jumps between 3:00 and 3:20 for the estimate and this is with 93% left. the laptop hibernates at about 5% and it takes a lil time to manually underclock the gpu each time u go from AC to battery. so I'd say 93% is about how much you'd end up using ne way) or so of battery life with powermizer set to max battery and manually underclock the gpu to 100/270.

 

The OEM product key Asus provides for their install will not work for a retail install of XP. Here's what you do:

Copy contents of retail XP SP-2 cd to hard drive.
Delete I386 folder.

The Asus recovery CD is protected, so you can't copy individual files from it... but luckily, the install created a back up of the I386 directory in C:\Windows (or C:\Windows\System32, I can't remember exactly). Can't remember if it was hidden or not either, but it should definitely be in there.

Copy the I386 directory from your Windows directory to the directory you copied the retail XP SP-2 cd to.

Burn a bootable cd or dvd using one of the many available guides on the web.

You can now do a clean XP SP-2 install, using the standard XP setup... which will allow you to change your partitions and reformat in NTFS, and your OEM cd key will work without any hiccups. ^_^

Just say no to OEM bloat.

 

Thanks Burn, I'll receive my lappy today and will try to your method.

 

Are you using NHC? Can you give a detailed step by step b/c other than using the comp, tweaking it is not my specialty.

 

I just got my W7J.... i'm...sorta lost.

this P4G stuff is, confusing. .. . would NHC be better? or is NHC only good for squeezing an extra 10-15minutes out of the battery? (in which case, im not particularly interested...)

 

I have reinstalled with a clean copy of XP and reinstalled the obvious drivers:
Audio, LAN, Modem, ACPI, Touchpad, Nvidia, WLAN, Card Reader, Hotfix and Live Update.
What have I missed?
The site lists both a Chicony and Liteon Camera driver ??
Uncertain about the following:
Multiframe, IPSwitch, Liteframe, Power4Gear, Splendid and UAA.
What is NHC?
Thanks
Tom

 

na the cleaning cloth comes with the w7

 

Notebook Hardware Control

Be sure to read through the earlier pages of this thread, esp p3-6 including Bamboo's posts for discussion on his/her results of P4G, NHC and Coolbits on the W7's battery life.

My recommendation - if P4G is confusing for you at this point (using the pre-programmed power assignments from Asus) you probably shouldn't be messing with cpu voltages and multipliers quite yet. Do some research and searching around here and elsewhere on undervolting before you embark on NHC or RMC for battery life impact .

 

They're apparently using one of two different cameras... mine used the "Chicony" driver. If you use the wrong one, it just won't install... no big deal.

 

Ok, I've received several questions about this, so I feel the need to clarify some points.

The retail CD you will be using MUST have SP-2 integrated. There are files in the root directory of the CD which are required for the installation to work. These files are created when the SP-2 service pack is slipstreamed into the XP install. If your retail version of XP does not include SP-2, you will need to download the SP-2 service pack and integrate it yourself, THEN replace the I386 directory with the backup from the Asus install.

The easiest way to do this is by installing Nlite, which is an simple to use GUI based freeware program.

 

Got my W7J yesterday! Some photos:


Asus W7J in the ZeroShock 14" notebook sleeve



The 13.3" Widescreen Asus W7J atop the 14.1" Dell Inspiron 4000. It looks like the W7J is wider, but actually the two notebooks are the same width. The W7J is an inch or so narrower.



View from the side. The Dell is waaaayyyy heavier!

 

thanks for the measurement pictures! based on the rulers you put next to it.. its slightly larger than the specs on the Asus page.

how do you find the keyboard? is it easy to type on? the palm rests look kinda short

 

thanks for the pictures icsantos, pleasure looking at em.
where did u get the zeroshock case from and for how much ?

 

Good to see more folks with a w7j. I am running into a problem getting Far Cry to run on my w7j. It simply refuses to play, not even a hint that it will run. The install was pretty normal although it never asked me for my cd key? Any thoughts ?

 

Ordered it from Shinza.com. The sleeve is $29.95. S/H via Fedex to Missouri was $8.31.

 

How well does the 14' zeroshock sleeve fit? It seems a little loose from the picture.

Maybe I'll just spend a lil more and get it from water field. ~_~.

I'm quite happy with the keyboard, I still ocassionally hit the wrong keys (especially hitting ' instead of enter for some reason) but im getting used to it.

palm rest is not too small at all for whoever asked.

 

I have problems hitting the wrong keys too...expecially the backspace and shift of the right side...

 

Hmm. The angle from which I took that photo makes the W7J look bigger than it really is. Let me give it another shot ... Here you go:

I find the keyboard and palm rests agreeable. I know some owners have also had issues with the touchpad but I have no problems with that either.

 

It is definitely not a snug fit. And when I first got it, the first thing I did was to check if it would fit in my eBag backpack, which fortunately it did.

Shinza.com told me they're designing a ZeroShock for the 13.3" Macbook and they hope to have something available in August.

 

thank you very much for the re measurement! it's much much closer to Asus' specs

 

You're welcome, Goren.

Has anyone tried DriveImage XML for imaging and backing up partitions and logical drives? When I search NBR, most members use Norton Ghost or Acronis True Image for ghosting. I'd like to minimize further expenditures at this point and DriveImage XML has the magic word: freeware.

 

Just a little question. When Windows XP got reinstalled on my W7J, they forgot to install one driver. It shows up as unknown. But properties says it is related to: Intel 82801GBM (ICH-7-M) LPCI Interface Controller - 27B9. Anyone know what driver I need for this? Is it something for SATA?

Thanks,

Scratchy

 

Sounds like Intel Chipset drivers. I believe ICH-7 is Intel's southbridge chip.

 

Any idea where I can get them??? Asus' website doesn't seem to have any chipset drivers.

 

Reasons for buying:
I needed a portable laptop for law school. I will be attending in approximately two weeks and would like to spend this time getting accoustomed to my new laptop. I will use this laptop for notetaking, research, and everything else in between. I decided early on that a 13 inch notebook was ideal for me. Not too big and not too small. Currently, the only other 13 inch notebooks out there are the Sony SZ and the Macbook--both with flaws that I could not tolerate.

Build and Design:
The build is good. the casing around the LCD does not stick onto the LCD panel. I don't know if this is a deliberate design element but I am not too worried about it.

Design wise, it is subtle. I do like the blue lighting on the power button and between the touchpad buttons. The lighting will definately make my laptop stand out among the Dell's and HP's of my law school. Although it probably will not stand out as much as the w3j's power button.

Screen:
Screen is a-ok. No problems whatsoever. You do see the slightly darker corners with the v-cut technology. The darker corners become more apparent with a lower brightness level but it doesn't bother me the slightest. I popped in my Phantom of the Opera DVD and it played smoothly and was very nice looking. Clear, crisp colors with no sign of lag.

Speakers:
Meh. What can I say, they're laptop speakers. I will echo what everyone else has said about the w7j's speakers though--at it's highest volume, it isn't very loud.

Performance:
Check out the other reviews. The performance is good enough for what I need the laptop for.

Heat and Noise:
Somewhat hot, especially on the wristpad area. I can put the laptop on my lap for prolonged periods at a time but I prefer to have cool legs. The vent is somewhat noticable if your fingers are right next to the vent. If your hand is say...four to five inches away from the vent, you won't feel the heat. Rest assured, this laptop is not as hot as any Macbook.

There is virtually no noise on this laptop. The keyboard is quite, the fan is not noticable, and the only time this laptop makes any significant noise is when it boots up a CD.

Keyboard and Touchpad:
The keyboard is ok for the most part. The "Enter", "Shift", and "Backspace" key are all smaller than usual and that is throwing my typing off somewhat. Pressing the right "Shift" key while trying to hit the right "?" mark is a difficult task to master. Like I said earlier, this is a quite keyboard.

The touchpad is giving me some problems. It is made of the same material as the wristpad area and if your finger is somewhat sweaty, it will drag against the touchpad surface. I have the touchpad at it's most sensitive function. Furthermore, the vertical scroll is not recognizing my strokes about 50% of the time. I haven't tested the horizontal scroll enough to get any accurate feedback but I hardly use the horizontal scroll anyway.

Wireless:
I'm using the intel wireless setup and have had some issues with dropped connections but it isn't bothering me too much. I don't know how to setup the windows wireless utility so the intel one will have to do. I don't have any bluetooth products so I cannot comment on that. I have disabled the bluetooth function.

Battery:
Wireless: On.
P4G: Battery saving.
Bluetooth: off.
Powermizer: max savings.
Camera: off
Functions: Web browsing, typing, email.

Battery start time: 6:20
Battery end time: approximately 9:20

I am convinced if I used NHC and low voltaged this laptop, I would get maybe 10 to 20 minutes extra.

Conclusion:
Good value for the price. Lightweight with good quality materials.

Pros:
Design and build quality
Good performance
Portable

Cons:
Heat
Annoying aspects about keyboard
Vertical touchpad scrolling not responding all the time.

Pictures to come soon.

 

I'm 95% positive Far Cry doesnt use a CD Key unless you want to play online. Check the Far Cry website, I'm pretty sure I read about it there.

 

contrary to most, i have had NO problems getting used to the keyboard. if that is a negative aspect people looking into purchasing the w7j keep seeing, dont be bothered. just a little fyi

 

@Mikeoo17
The CD key is for online use. I figured out the Far Cry issue, after a video card driver update from laptopvideo2go and making sure my hardware accelearation for the 7400go was on high, the game runs beautifully on high settings. Pretty hot air blows out the right side and mobilmeter shows cpu temps around 76C.

So after a few bumps, I can say the w7j is running pretty darn well.
I opened it up to find the 3495 card, and compared to how my sony vaio S380p is built I can say the Asus notebook is a large step up in build quality. Sony used a considerably larger number of plastic support pieces under the keyboard whereas the w7j has a metal support all around. This has to be why keyboard flex is so minimal on the w7j. The other thing that is neat about the w7j on the inside compared to the sony is how accessible all the major components are from the bottom. The hard drive, and cpu on the sony requies removal of the keyboard, and an inner series of plastic and metal plates. The fan for the sony looked less efficient and the heat pipe system was much smaller. The W7j has a much more well thought out inside as well as outside.

 

Did you take pictures?

 

@icsantos: Sorry no camera

 

Full version XP Pro
In case anyone is wondering if you can get a CD of the full version of XP Pro that was installed on your W7J from Microsoft or Asus, the answer is no. Microsoft said to request the CD from Asus, and Asus said they provide only the recovery disk.

I haven't tried the procedures but here are some websites that tell you how to create a full version XP Pro CD using the recovery disk:
http://www.pcworld.com/article/122487-1/article.html
http://www.easydesksoftware.com/recovery.htm

 

I'm getting the w7j. any last things i should know?? known problems not specified in this thread? anything that i should buy extra to enhance my experience with my new machine? any inputs? thanks guy.

 

Not really, everything has been pretty much covered in this thread. From battery life (and how to optimize it) to keyboard, to screen, and to the conversion from FAT32 to NTFS. Honestly, you really don't need to do a clean install. I just used the add/remove program to get rid of Norton Antivirus, used Cr@p Cleaner (CCleaner) to dust off floating registries, and used msconfig to turn off some startup programs. Voila.

 

what are some essential programs i need for w7j? i know there is a thread about how to optimize general notebooks. but any essential ones i need?

 

There is nothing essential specifically for the w7j. It's a laptop. Having said that, there are some good freeware things for any computer, namely virus protection, firewall, and spyware protection.

What I use:
Avira AntiVir -- Good, not a system hog
ZoneAlarm Firewall
Ad-Aware
Spybot Search and Destroy
Spywareblaster
Notebook Hardware Control (NHC) -- for all you control freaks
CCleaner -- cleans registries, caches, temp folders, etc.

And the best part about these programs are that they are lightweight. They won't destroy my system's performance.

 

Hey all. After a LOT of lurking around here, I finally decided to pull the trigger on a W7J (bought it from milestonepc). Though you didn't know it, you were all a huge help in my decision making process.

This will be the first laptop I've ever owned (after years and years of building my own desktops.) If all goes well, I should receive it sometime next week. I am very, very psyched.

I look forward to lurking around here even MORE now, looking for hints and tips on how to tweak this thing!

 

hmm so you had the guts to pull the trigger. i sure haven't gotten the w7j. i think milestonepc has the best price but justin over at proportable seems to have a good service too.

 

Eclecticdoode, you mentioned having trouble with the vertical scroll part of the touchpad not registering your input about half the time. Actually, I noticed similar problems with my vertical scroll, but then I realized it's usually a window focus problem.

It's not enough for the cursor to be hovering over the window you want to scroll. The window actually needs to be "selected" by clicking on it. Whenever my vertical scroll doesn't register, I can usually get it to respond by giving a light tap on the touchpad (which moves the focus to that window or pane).

Hope that helps!

 

anyone besides icsantos have any luck with a case? i'm still looking, but havent had a chance to check out the radio shack that has tucano cases yet

 

I received my W7J last week from Milestone and they customized it (and reinstalled the OS) with great results. Updated CPU / HDD / RAM with *really* good pricing.

Performancewise: top notch piece of kit. I had been using a Toshiba Portege (maxed out) for about 3 years, and had gotten used to the form factor. The W7J blurs through applications (MS Project / Visio / .Net Studio) which I use heavily for work and easily compares with my dual-core desktop.

The W7J's widescreen 13" is a *perfect* combination of portability plus viewing area (especially coming from a 12"). I almost wish I had more reason to use it.

...

Less bloatware than other brands is a great bonus (although I did need to remove/uninstall some startup apps).

 

Yea, I realized that too after a few more hours.

Here are some pics:

 

Here are some more pics:

 

electicdoode has asked me about the vga output from the w7j. as i've said before the tv out was horrible but i was using svid out at the time. this time i tested the din out to my 17" monitor and it looked great.

can you other owners test the vga out using the din connector and compare results? i do not have a spare connector to test on my 20". but i am now thinking that the video out on the w7j is perharps quite good. and i was wrong on my earlier conclusion.