~V2S Owner's Lounge~

That doesn't mean it's good to have to read reviews to actually understand what are the specifications of a laptop. Back when I was buying my W3J I haven't yet discovered NBR so the only things I was going for were the official specs. I was lucky then, but now it seems that Asus "bends" the specs for most notebooks

 

I think I'm very close to canceling my preorder. I'm getting tired of being lied too. I'm not totally bothered by the release date or the video card, but it's still annoying. The tipping point probably is the battery life. I'm not too excited with a laptop that can barely stay on for 2 hours with light use and possibly has a battery wear problem. There is always the 9 cell, but that just adds weight and cost (plus no one is sure if it even exists). Hopefully some good news can change my mind soon or ASUS might have lost a potential customer for awhile.

 

So who's still waiting? Night? Wuzer? Anyone?

Will the crappy graphics card affect everyday use (browsing/email etc)? I don't plan to game so i'm not that worried about it.

Has anyone been in touch with milestone? Is there any sort of ETA yet?

 

Hey Ants,
I'm not waiting for the V2s anymore as I needed a notebook and so I went ahead and purchased an IBM T61p.
The graphics card will not in anyway affect everyday use like browsing and email. If integrated can handle such tasks, a dedicated card will have no problem whatsoever.

We don't know what the ETA of this laptop will be now. ASUS had said mid-August but that didn't happen. I have yet to ask them again. Maybe you can try emailing them if you're still interested in the notebook.

 

I'm still waiting and already paid a week and a half ago... this is starting to get annoying b/c I probably still want the notebook regardless since i don't plan on gaming much either (although the price no longer looks that appealing given the crappy video card)

I'm really wanting to find an ETA as I need to head back to school this weekend, my calls to milestone are unanswered...

edit:
I see a lot of people switching out, so far I've only seen the T61p as a decent replacement, but in Canada, there is only option of the NVS 140M ... and the shipping is still uncertain... adding a docking station to that puts it well over the price of the V2S as well...

 

as stated before, milestone has been having some on / off issues with customer service due to a family emergency. I do not know if it is still continuing.

however, you can also try other resellers such as GenTech, Excaliber, Geared2Play to see when they will have it in stock. Odds are if they are getting shipments, so will Milestone.

 

I need some advice as to whether I should hold course with my V2S preorder or look elsewhere...T61p maybe. I am getting a bit impatient and given all the recent talk, I am not sure the V2S will end up being worth the wait. Maybe I am overreacting.

As this is my first laptop I would like some advice about which way to go. I want portability (14 in) and I want a docking station, as I will have a monitor and keyboard set up at home. I will use the laptop for business and general life, including some video editing and game playing by my kids. I multitask intensively on my computers and need the laptop to be up to the task.

I went to price out the t61p and some of the choices (screen options and such) were new to me. I am not sure what I am comparing.

Basically, what are the major differences between the V2S and t61p (14 in) that I should consider, given my needs?

Thanks for any advice you can offer.

 

the basic differences between the V2s and the T61p

Video Card
V2s = 8600 GS
T61p = Quadro FX 570m (equivalent to 8600GT but for the 14" model, it is crippled to 64-bit bandwidth)

Build Quality
V2s = looks better, pretty good build quality
T61p = same old thinkpad look, best build quality in the industry, supposedly

Performance
V2s and T61p should be on par for daily uses.

Webcam
V2s = integrated
T61p = none

Overall, both machines are about equal. The V2s will outperform the T61p 14" version at higher resolutions since it has higher memory bandwidth.

 

The video card plays a very little role in daily tasks like you metioned. Here are a few examples.

We know there are laptops with integrated graphic cards like the X3100. They may not be able to game much or at all, but they certainly enough to handle Vista and basic tasks.

Also an FYI, the video card makes no difference in playback of movies, for example if you play a Spiderman 3 DVD on a laptop with a X3100 integrated card, and play it on a laptop like the V2S, you will see no difference.

The video card makes a difference in gaming which the majority of people here are interested in, when looking for dedicated graphics. Or the smaller group are looking for 3D modelling and design, graphic design.

With regards to the ETA, I personaly have no clue, but Danny is still not available. I am sorry for the inconvenience.

 

hey guys just some more data on the GPU from Ales. He ran Everest and got this:
[ PCI Express x16: nVIDIA GeForce 8600M GS ]
Graphics Processor Properties:
Video Adapter nVIDIA GeForce 8600M GS
GPU Code Name G86M
PCI Device 10DE-0425 / 1043-1612
Transistors 210 million
Process Technology 80 nm
Bus Type PCI Express x16 @ x16
Memory Size 256 MB (TurboCache: 1024 MB)
GPU Clock (Geometric Domain) 540 MHz
GPU Clock (Shader Domain) 1080 MHz
RAMDAC Clock 400 MHz
Pixel Pipelines 4
TMU Per Pipeline 1
Unified Shaders 16 (v4.0)
DirectX Hardware Support DirectX v10
Pixel Fillrate 2160 MPixel/s
Texel Fillrate [ TRIAL VERSION ]
Memory Bus Properties:
Bus Type DDR2
Bus Width 64-bit
Real Clock 399 MHz (DDR)
Effective Clock 799 MHz
Bandwidth [ TRIAL VERSION ]
nVIDIA ForceWare Clocks:
Standard 2D GPU: 170 MHz, Memory: 100 MHz
Low-Power 3D GPU: 277 MHz, Memory: 200 MHz
Performance 3D GPU: 500 MHz, Memory: 400 MHz

And yeah, I dropped out and am now considerint the G1S or the V1S (exact same as V2 except better GPU and bigger screen.)

 

Is it just me or does that look exactly like a 8400M GS? Isn't the 8600M GS supposed to have a 128-bit memory interface? This confirms the DDR2 rumor then, quite disappointing.

I'm still holding out, but this news just brings me one step closer to canceling.

 

the 8600GS is "supposed" to have a 128-bit interface but ASUS probably meddled with it.

 

i think you guys are judging the v2s to quickly from one computer
there might be differing version for NA and EU, as with the F* (NA with gt and EU with gs version of 8600)
for all we know the NA version might have ddr3 instead of the ddr2

 

very good point mrl0ser, however, we are just basing our speculation off of what ASUS has most recently released to the public.

 

Yeah, but Gentech told us that Asus is having trouble tweaking the Nvidia graphics cards so I don't think its the card problem, but tweaking it so it won't overheat, or overload something in the computer, etc.

 

or tweaking it to get the best performance hopefully?

 

Actually, based on what we know right now, the V2s has at best the same memory bandwith as the 14" T61p, and possible lower memory bandwith.

And to whoever asked about the NVS140m, it will be slightly better than the card that appears to be in the V2s.

 

Thats it, I'm cancelling the V2s tomorrow. Haven't had internet for the last few days so I couldn't keep up with the news. Definately disappointed at Asus for doing something like this, its effectively false advertising.

Will probably go with the V1s now, but I'm not too happy going to a larger screen.

 

Well I have finally to decided to cancel my V2S preorder. I was tired of waiting and the concerns over the battery life and video card drove this decision. I've normally never been a fan of preordering. So I plan to weight my options and base them off of solid facts from reviews to decide on which laptop to purchase. Cheers.

 

What are you guys going with instead? I was under the impression that the Thinkpad T61's were taking about a month to ship, is that really any better than waiting?

I'm not going to cancel yet, but if something better is available i'd gladly just get that.

 

the t61's are rolling off the line really fast now since they have the parts in.
i got mines in 4 days after ordering.

 

Unfortunately T61P isnt an option in Canada, as far as I know ordering from the Lenovo site. The only other viable option right now as far as I can see it now for me personally is the W7S-B1B. What gets me is that with tax its only about 100 dollars (even less actually) cheaper than the V2S (and I'd like to up it to 2.5 gb of RAM) but I really cannot afford to wait for the V2S any longer. Reading another thread, even the F9S looks like its coming out in Toronto a week or so from now, should I believe that? What do you guys think of the W7S?

 

Please give some thought before you make statements as you entire statement is pointless, failing to address the core issue 64bit vs 128bit mem bus. I know it has an 8400M GS, but with a 64bit memory interface and only DDR2?

I recommend you pick up some reading comprehension skills. As a matter of fact, next time you have a thought...just let it go.

 

I sent mutliple emails regarding cancellation to MilestonePC, but have not heard back from them. I've been trying to contact MilestonePC for the last 2 weeks to no avail. These guys are not professional. They don't communicate, they don't answer phones, and their voicemail boxes are full. It's disgusting. I will never consider them ever in the future.

Be forewarn, as I think they pay some people on these boards to "promote" them. I bet some "poster" aka salesguy will flame me for this post.

 

That's why I went with the Sony Vaio sz6 series. If we're going to get an overclocked 8400GS, then I'd go with the sony as it's far superior in every way.

 

Now why on earth would that be the case? Sounds like wishful thinking

 

That entire statement was not pointless. He was addressing a previous issue.

Furthermore, please don't criticize members in such a hostile / rude tone (or at least it sounded like it). He was just making a statement.

 

You may be confused between the 8 400M-GS and the 8 600M-GS. The former has a 64-bit and the latter (usually) has a 128-bit memory bus.


And in case you'd actually care to read my post, you'll see that I was not even referring to the V2s, I was referring to the Sony SZ6 which another member had mistakenly said contained an 8400M-GT, which I corrected.

And if you'll read my other posts on the matter of the V2s, you'll find that I have addressed the 64-bit and DDR2 issues, at some length.

In short, please be careful to read the thread before posting a comment (especially a negative one), and if you have a question or are confused by a post, a inquisitive tone will get you much farther than a condescending one.

 

I'm still waiting. By the way, Geared2Play/BTOTech has just announced on their forums that they expect 10-15 units to arrive between the second and third week of September. At this point, I have to wonder if anyone else will even get theirs before then.

By the way, MentalMiracle.. quadruple posting? Is that truly necessary?

 

Furthermore, please don't criticize members in such a hostile / rude tone (or at least it sounded like it). He was just making a statement.[/QUOTE]

If he was addressing a "previous issue" and not my issue/post, then why quote me? Unbelievable...absolutely astonishing, both of you.

So...he was just making a statement? Well, so was I. I am amazed, simply flabbergasted.

 

You tell me...It's called hitting the quote button, four times for four different posts. I apologize, is that hard to figure out?

 

Yes, I was addressing your post. You claimed that the Sony SZ680 had an 8400M-GT, I was merely correcting you, as it comes with an 8400M-GS. And while you're most recent posts may have been statements, the tone used makes them seem like attacks, and such hostility is not needed or wanted on these forums.

We understand, however in general multiple posts are not appreciated, if you have multiple things to say please say them in the same post.

 

It's not hard to figure out how to use 'Multi-Quote' either. It allows you to select multiple posts to quote when you finally hit 'Quote' or reply. And whether you consider them to be 'statements' or not, the tone of some of your posts is decidedly unpleasant and uncalled for.

 

Calm down. Wow.

 

Apparently it's too hard for you to figure out the correct way to do it.

Agreed.

Nope, not that hard to figure out


Oh, I forgot to mention, on the BTOTech forums, they said anyone who signed up for pre-order is supposed to place their actual orders by Saturday night. It's almost tempting to cancel my order from GenTech and just go order from BTOTech. They have the better price and they seem somewhat confident that they'll get the laptops between the 2nd and 3rd weeks of September. Right now, no one else seems sure of an ETA...

Here's the link for anyone who wants it.

 

I think we are all just a little agitated that the V2S is delayed

 

I'm cancelling my preorder as well; just ordered a t61, visaperks.ca had a decent discount for it too.

 

I talked to an Asus sales representative yesterday (a really b****y one at that) and was told that the V2S are now on their way after delays and they (Asus NA) should receive the notebooks by mid-September and should be in the hands of resellers pretty much a day after that...

She was also saying that the resellers should not have been pre-selling them b/c they were not confirmed before. Not sure if she was lying through her teeth or not since we've seen that a number of resellers had the same information for a while and pre-sold at the same time in mid-August...

Seems this is only for small business visa card holders? Do you have a more specific link otherwise?

 

Yeah, there is also a separate discount for regular visa card holders. Visit visaperks.ca and select Lenovo from the pulldown menu on the left titled 'Shopping Deals'.

http://www.visaperks.ca/visaperks/o...7070029&clear=y&CFID=8632002&CFTOKEN=84911586

http://caipsgws001.can.ibm.com/store/home?aud=EA1VISA&target=home

 

wow yeah... that really puts this over the top in terms of price... now i really don't know whether to wait for the V2S anymore...

 

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=166912

cursed

 

Too bad the T61p is not included

 

I never claimed the sony SZ680 having an 8400M GT. My point was that they don't do false advertising. The SZ's spec sheet says it has the 8400M GS by which it does. The FZ, shows an 8400M GT, also by which it does. That's my whole point. But I can understand where the confusion may have arised.

Regarding the multiple posts: I find it more convenient to reply on quote as I read them... that's all.
As an individual, I chose to exercise a discrete decision on how whether or not to use single or multi-quote.
With all due respect, some of you may think that one way is better, in particular, the multi-quote function. That's fine, do as you please. Live and let live. Perhaps one day when you' are more intellectually matured, you shall find it idiotic to shove your "style" down someone else throat given such a minuscule and petty issue.

 

You stated:

To which I replied "that laptop has an 8400M-GS." You chose to respond to me with hostility.

That's not a matter of style, it's a matter of forum courtesy. And again, if you don't like the way people respond to your posts, all you have to do is loose the condescending tone.

 

The T61 is quite a nice deal. $1700CAD taxed and shipped to me, but I can wait so I'll see how is F8S.

 

Jesus Christ grow up. On every message board I've been to in the last ten years double posting has been frowned upon. Get over yourself.

 

I am thinking about pre-ordering this notebook but I am wondering about the battery life on the Asus V2S. If anyone can comment on the battery life or what it is expected to be, I would be very grateful. Should it be similar to the V2je? I am trying to decide what my next notebook should be and I am having some trouble deciding between the V2S, Sony SZ680, and the Dell XPS m1330. If battery isn't to bad on the Asus, it would definitely be the better choice for me.

 

The battery live is expected to be the same or similar to the V2JE.
I'm sure you have read my review of the V2Je in my sig.

 

Why is the battery life expected to be similar? The battery life on the V2j was quite poor, and the V2s does not share the same motherboard, BIOS, or ACPI with the older V2j, so what makes you think it will have similar battery life? Wasn't the whole point of crippling the video card to improve battery life?

 

how much could it actually improve battery life though? maybe by 15-20 min max i'd think?