Considering M50Vm

First off, let me say that I've been a long time viewer of these and after a couple months of research (and eager anticipation of Montevina) I've pretty much come to the conclusion that the M50Vm is the laptop for me. However, I do have a few questions.

1) I'm trying to decide between the A1 and the B1. I would like to future proof my laptop but also keep it at a good price. Is there really much real-world difference between the two (would it be a waste of money to pay for the T9400 over the P8400)?

2) Which reseller would you guys recommend buying from? I've narrowed it down to GenTech and ExcaliberPC, but since they offer pretty much the same prices I'd like a little input on their service and such. I'm sure I'll be happy with whatever company I decide to go with, but a little info wouldn't hurt I think.

3) When do either of the above resellers expect to have the M50Vm in stock (I notice GenTech has the A1 but not the B1 in stock).

Thanks for the input guys.

 

1) if you do any occasional video encoding/editing T9400 proccesor will help, but if you just want slighly better battery then go with P8400. I would say the difference will not be noticable that much. I went with T9400 because I wanted extra power for video encoding/editing but in reality I may not see any huge difference.

2) Both are great in my opinion.

3)GenTech/Ken said they get it once a week and next shipment comes in on Thursday

 

The P8400 has a lower TDP (25W) than the T9400 (35W). Therefore, you will have better battery life with the P8400 and it will run cooler, as well.

 

Why does your sig have the p8400 at 2.4ghz?
Isn't it 2.26ghz?

I went with -a1 for the fact that the performance difference for me would not be worth the 150$ upgrade and lower battery life and higher temps.

 

Yea, that's kinda what I thought. Still, future proof wise, a couple years down the road, do you think the P8400 will hold up to the T9400? And where did everyone order their ASUS from?

 

Yep, you're right. I must have typed it in error. All fixed now.

 

you could always upgrade it in the future. by then the T9400 would be cheaper, i'd imagine. just a thought.

 

I would suspect it will be fine for most applications for a good while. And then later on, you can just drop in a new chip, if you need to.

 

Hmm, that's good advice. Looks like I'm strongly leaning towards the A1 now; it does also have the advantage of being cheaper and a little more energy efficient (we all know ASUS needs that). Is it as simple as swapping in a new Processor chip, and wouldn't that that void the warranty (although I guess in a couple years the warranty would be used up anyway)?

 

In most cases, yes, you can just drop in a new chip - as long as that generation of chip is supported by the motherboard.

And yes, it will void your warranty. But chances are that you wouldn't drop in a new chip until the warranty is up anyway.

 

It does void the warranty, and yes the warranty is 2years. I am not certain that buying a new CPU will be more cost efficient than getting the better CPU now -- for instance, retail versions of Merom nowadays still go for hundreds of dollars, close to or equal to the original price...

But it is true that unless you do heavy-duty stuff like video encoding or mathematical simulations, you won't probably feel the difference between the two CPUs.

 

Just a little input. I've been looking around and keeping my eye on the Montevina platform for a while now. I'm heading to college in the fall and I wanted to pick up an ASUS laptop.

I decided to go with the A1 over the B1 since I don't see the point in paying an extra $150 for the 0.3 GHz. Yes, you get an 8 GB express card.. but I feel I wouldn't have a use for it. A laptop serves it's purpose, being portable and ready to work. I have an overclocked E6600 at home at 3.4 GHz if I want to do some intense video edit or anything graphical.

Buying mine from GenTech PC tonight or tomorrow morning.. Depending on how long it takes for the bank to verify my money.

 

Why would you get this laptop if you already have powerful desktop at home? This is not really a road warrior with not such a great battery life. If I were you I would look at other options... Personally, I ordered one because I don't have and never will desktop at home, so battery life or weight is not really of high importance to me.

 

Woops. I forgot to say that my university is an hour away from home. The road isn't the best for traveling.. So I'm going to live on campus. But my desktop is accessible when I need it; just not as convenient. So this powerful laptop will do.

 

Yea, I'm not going to be running any intensive applications, just basic college work, so I think the P8400 will suit me just fine then. Plus the extra couple minutes of battery life I'll be getting will probably mean the difference in finishing that one paper or begging the professor for an extension because my laptop died the morning the paper was due...

Also, Gentech seems to have more of a presence on the ASUS boards that ExcaliberPC (although I've seen a fair amount of posts by Excaliber). Also, it seems that they are a little more ASUS orientated, so is it fair to say I've have a question answered quicker by them?

 

GenTech answered my email in less than 10 minutes. I also had a question/answer conversation going with them over email. They respond fast and if you need help, you get it from them.

 

For me cool is key Even though I love the way this C90s performs gaming.