ASUS W7s?? Buy or not??

I am considering to buy this laptop, however I need some more input from you guys about this product. I heard there hasn't been a lot of people buying this product.. Is there any ASUS portable laptop that you would recommend me ?? I am considering the F9J, however not a lot of people has this laptop also. So what recommendation can you guys give me??

 

The W7 is a decent option, there are a few reviews on the older W7j, and one on the W7s IIRC. It's a big thick but it's quite loaded for a 13.3" with a pretty inexpensive price tag. The 2.5gb RAM may restrict some users and steer them away, but it may not really be a factor to others.

 

you mean the 1.5GB RAM right?? This is a main concern also for me, cause will I be able to upgrade the RAM of the w7 if it is soldered to the board?? Is it heavy? Cause I am looking for a thin and portable notebook. I heard the build and design is not also good.

 

Well, there is 512mb built in with one free slot, so you can buy a single 2gb stick, thus the 2.5gb.

The W7s is a decently weighted notebook at 1.9kg(4.2lbs) which is pretty good considering the m1330 is 4.4lb and the SZ6 is 4.1lb. However, the latter two are about 0.8" - 1" thin at their thinnest(The m1330 has a 'wedge-like' design so it cheats , the SZ6 is pretty thin alltogether, max at 1.2", the m1330 at 1.35" at max), while the W7s is 1.45 at its thickest.

 

if you can wait the asus z37 should be coming out soon..... i think

 

so I can replace the 1 GB ram with the 2 GB stick, is that what you mean?? One main issue that people are having with this laptop is the battery life, how long can actually this laptop hold?? Can it give 4 hour?

I am also considering the f9s, however when do you think it will come to the united states

 

It's been stalled for quite a while, but yea, the Z37 is another option, plus, its a barebone(for better or for worse).

 

when will the Z37 be available to the united states? Is there any link that you can give me so I can see the specs. so now I am considering the Z37 and F9 probably. It depends on how much the Z37 will cost

 

So far, there's been a few delays, so no dealer has listed it yet. You can find some info here:

http://laptopsinc.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=SXS37&Category_Code=P1SX

 

Seems like the z37 will be a very good choice for me.. Will it come in September or October?? The price is kind of high though... What is the 7k200 hard drive difference with today's hard drive??

 

No idea, sorry. It looks nice indeed.

Further down, there is the F9s and F9d on the P1 site. Interesting.

http://laptopsinc.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Store_Code=GC&Category_Code=ASUSF9

 

but I guess it will come out this year right?? I hope the price wont be above $1,600.

I am a little bit nervous of buying the F9 as there are only a few people considering this notebook and there hasn't been any review at this forum yet

 

The F9S looks very nice in that charcoal gray colour; the black/silver combination of the F9J makes it look rather cheap.

 

Having a W7S myself I would have a vested interest to persuade others to buy it. Putting that aside, I can tell that after having the W7S for a few months you can still feel the quality in it. Many people criticize the 2.5GB max RAM capacity but for me i'm still happy with the 1.5GB that came with mine, even with Vista running on it, it just depends what you are going to use it for.

I don't know how the Z37 or a barebone compares but it seems that you get more freedom in choosing your specs than the preconfigured W7S series. Looking at that P1 site it doesn't look like the 2 year global warranty covers the Z37 nor does it tell you anything about the included carry bag and bluetooth mouse that comes with the W7S.

It depends what kind of package you want overall.

 

However still not a lot of people has this notebook... I am going to wait for the z37!

 

if comparing z37 with U3 which one is better?

 

Doesn't the U3 have a leather palm rest and a piano black finish? Sounded nice until I heard that it doesn't have an internal optical drive, although it does come with an external one, I guess it'll be lighter than the W7S and Z37.

 

yeah the U3 doesn't have an optical drive, but the overall design, I like the U3 better, because the z37 are said to be thicker

 

I think i read somewhere U3 had pretty bad battery life because of all the extra stuff.

 

I really want a good 14.1" or 13.3", but almost nothing fits the bill. The M1330 is very nice but is simply too expensive for a dell (and the wait).

I really like the W7S, I was very close to getting a W7J, but two things are really putting me off: one is the battery life. I need good battery life. 2.5 hours barely cuts it. The top end has a 9cell so maybe it'll work better than your review model... but it's hard to be sure.

The other thing is the heat. I don't mind heat so much on the top of the laptop, and I very very rarely use a mouse with it so the vent on the side doesn't get me, but what I want to know is what the bottom is like. My G1S drives me crazy because in anything but the lightest use, the bottom becomes and oven.

But nobody ever mentions the bottom of the machine in their reviews!

 

@Everyone

So why didn't you get the z97

 

z97? I haven't heard of it. I was kind of looking forward to the z33 (or was it z37?) but it's been delayed so much I'd given up hope...

I'm definitely looking for something at the top of Asus' quality range though, I'm actually pretty dissatisfied with the build quality of the G1S, so the F8 is out of the question. I want a W or a V.

 

it's said that the z37 will come out within the next following month or so.. that's what I heard.. I am looking forward to it though.. anyone knows the current news about this laptop?? eddie??

 

The barebones should start at $550, thats for the chassis, LCD, optical drive and the 1gb TurboMemory.

 

what?? $550?? Is that suppose to be cheap or expensive??

 

Well, it'll go something like this:

Barebones: $550
CPU: $240~
RAM: $110~
HD: $110~
OS: ??

Total: $1100

 

well that's not too expensive then... i guess it will cost around $1,600.00 for the total

 

The bottom of the W7S ain't bad. Granted I've never tried it resting against my bare thighs (I've always had pants on whenever I've actually used it on my lap). One option is to use the included neoprene sleeve under the laptop...you'll probably have it on you if you're carrying the laptop around.

 

I thing considered bad in w7s I think is the battery life, it is said to only give under 3 hours...

 

Haha, through pants is what I meant. People having their laptop on their lap in the nude are just asking for an embarassing visit to the ER.


The Z37 is definitely something to look at, but it's been delayed so much, and I'm SO tired of notebooks that are being delayed left and right (I love the IFT00... if it ever sees the light of day).

The other problem is that from the research I've done, a lot of barebones share chassis with the budget end of Asus' spectrum. I definitely don't want something in an A, or F frame. I've used both and neither one impressed me at all. I want something super solid. I'd get a thinkpad but god they're ugly. I need at least a little bit of style on it too.

 

So you guys don't think the 2.5gb max ram is a big limitation? If my v2s doesn't come in soon i'll probably be looking at the w7s...but I want this laptop to last at least 3 years...will the 2.5gb ram be okay in the long term?

 

I think so. I had the same worry when considering this laptop, but in the end you can still double the ram it comes with. Vista is quite a memory hog, but you can cut down on some services and stuff to try and make it a little lighter. With a 32-bit OS would have a limit of around (most likely less) 3.5GB anyways, so we're missing about 1GB (unless you want to switch to a 64-bit OS).

As for me, I don't plan on upgrading to any other version of vista that may come. In fact, I'm actually considering just installing XP to dual boot along linux but haven't had a chance to sit down and work it out yet.

 

@Everyone

are you also now looking for an ultra portable notebook?

 

I really don't think that it will be a limiting factor. 2.5gb at this time is really more than enough. 2gb is plenty, I doubt it'll get up close to the 4gb barrier (32bitOS) in the next year or two.

@Equinox: I'm looking at 13.3 and 14.1s. Both are pretty small and I'd take either one really. It just has to be stylish, very sturdy, dedicated graphics (though not powerful, the 8400GS is fine), have very good battery life (I'd like 3.5hours+ at least), and not have any glaring problems.

The w7s has very poor battery life and perhaps heat problems

the m1330 has that rediculous build time, and questionable build quality, questionable screen quality, and a weird DVD drive (noisy and scratches CDs!)

the SZ series has small nitpicks. I've heard the fan is very loud, the charger is VERY slow, it is sometimes hot (though that's mainly older SZs), and it is expensive. the price isn't much of a problem for me though if I paid the premium price, I want no problems at all! Im also leery of sony in general. bad experiences.

the v2s might have poor battery life, in fact it probably will unless it has changed dramagically from the v2j... we'll see how it does on heat... it also has a cruddy screen (unless it's changed since the v2j, which I'd doubt).

the IFT00 was lost in the bermuda triangle...

The U3 is tempting but it is very far out, has the battery life is questionable, and I really don't like the lack of an optical drive.

Did I miss any? I can't remember. :x

 

Macbook! Z37s!

 

@Everyone

You are in the same position as I am right now. I have considered all the options that you mentioned above and the problem I have with those products is similar to your description. The differences is maybe I am looking for a smaller product than yours, I am looking for a 12 or 13 inch.

 

MacOS is the prohibition on a macbook, as hard as most universities try (and mine barely even tries!), their networks are all still windows based and having a mac really ends up being a pain... something I'd rather just not deal with.

The z37 is definitely something to consider... but there has been so little news, other than occasional bits about it being pushed back, that I'm not very confident it'll come out any time in the next few months, and if it waits too long, it'll get close to the 'just wait for penryn' time.

Equinox: I find that when you dip into the 12" range, you start to sacrifice quite a bit in performance. Lots w/o optical drives, ULV processors, etc etc. The keyboards also tend to get a little bit cramped. 13.3" laptops strike a sweet deal to me: they're practically the same as 12" but with all the performance of a 14".

 

@Everyone

That is certainly true, if the z37 won't come out in the next following months then I'll definetly wait for the Penryn notebooks to come out. Is there any news about Penryn notebooks? They are going to come out on the mid 2008 right?

 

mid-2008 is what I've heard, but if the Santa Rosa launch taught me anything, it's that the practical time that you can get a laptop based on the chipset is easily 2-3 months after the actual launch. It's been three months or so since SR launched and the lineups are just now being fleshed out, and there are still quite a few SR laptops that are nowhere to be seen.

I jumped the gun and bought a G1S, which turned out to be not suitable to my needs, as well as much worse in the quality department than what I expected. I might just end up sticking with it 'til penryn unless something really fantastic shows up sometime soon... ie the V2S turns out to have great battery life, or the m1330 gets rid of the long lines and drops 20% in price. We'll see!

 

is the m1330 build quality solid?? I heard that dell build quality seems to be very crappy and seems cheap

 

The XPS line is supposed to be the high-end one, but unfortunately there have been a few issues with the m1330 build quality. A lot of people complained about the overall build of the laptop, including the LCD and keyboard frame, as well as wireless and hdd covers not fitting well (or seemed forced into place) and havig a wobbly laptop on a flat surface. There are also issues with the dvd drive (scratches the media and also stops working for some unknown reason). And the weird cpu whine complaints.

I really wanted a m1330, but those issues and the long wait period put me off and I ended up getting the w7s instead. I think that the m1330 will eventually be a very nice laptop, but dell still needs time to work out the problems.

 

The m1330 is decent, I've played with one it looks absolutely fantastic but once you feel it, the quality is disappointing to what they advertise. It's small and thin, that's for sure, but it feels really plasticy and not very solid. It has thin 'hollow' areas which makes it feel that way, but the rest of it is fine.

 

And what you describe there is EXACTLY what I felt when I recieved my G1S.

I've definitely heard that the XPS line has higher build quality than regular dells, but like edubarr mentioned, it has its share of problems. Perhaps once the manufacture process has matured the issues will resolve themselves, but only time will tell. At the moment, a laptop costing in excess of $2000 has absolutely no room for such basic build issues. Same goes for the SZ series in my book... and is what keeps me from buying either one.

 

That sounds exactly like the Sony SZ. Flimsy.

The G1 isn't like that, in my experience, its a pretty solid notebook.

 

Yeah, I also have a G1 and I feel that it's a solid notebook than what I previously have

 

I wonder if I'm just too picky... but my G1S feels like a tin can to me. Or I wonder if I just got a bad unit. I've posted about it in a few different threads and I definitely feel like I'm in a minority, if not the ONLY one who feels this way.

I mean, I've had the thing since mid-june, and the lid is already covered in superficial scratches from putting it into and taking it out of the laptop pouch portion of the included backpack!!. Seriously. And typing on the keyboard right now makes me feel like I'm going to pop off a key at any moment.

 

I like the keyboard on the G1, I think it's the best keyboard that I have ever used... maybe it's just your feeling about this......

 

This is also one of the other things I enjoy about the W7S...it's not flimsy at all. I suppose that's another one of the trade-offs you get for having a thicker system...the M1330 and SZ series are a lot thinner on their thin ends. The W7S isn't a tank by any means, but it's something you can carry around every day without feeling that you're gonna break it.