Help me pick from these four.......

It's really coming down to the wire and am hoping to make my purchase by the end of next week at the latest. I'm going to try and order this Sunday or Monday if possible. I've pretty much thrown out all other brands and am looking forward to owning an Asus, but I am still open to anything that anyone has to suggest for me.

1. Asus G1S-A1 ~ $1900
2. Asus G2S-A1 ~ $2000
3. Asus V1JP ~ $1900
4. Asus W2PB ~ $2000

Obviously the first two are Santa Rosa refreshed while the latter two are not. I was hoping the V1S would come out sooner, but that won't happen so I'm sticking with the older version. All 4 are pretty much priced right around the same so price is really not the big issue. I was wondering if someone could help me categorize these laptops to make the decision as clear-cut as possible. Can you please rank the following four from best to worst in.....

1. Multimedia/Entertainment (Especially movie-watching)
2. Gaming
3. Build Quality (Need this thing to last at least 4 years.)
4. Screen Quality (Resolution, Brightness, etc..)
5. Looks(Subjective I know, but would still like opinions.)

If I can find enough time to do so before school starts, I would like to triple boot my system with XP Pro, Vista, and Feisty Fawn. I've heard that Ubuntu is trouble if you have an ATI graphics card as apposed to nVidia. What's the reason for this?
Depending on how much free time I really give myself when not busy with school, this notebook will be used most heavily for movie watching/video editing, listening to music/editing, followed by gaming. I'm trying to decide if the X1700 is good enough for playing games every once in a while over the 8600GT.

Finally, as far as upgradability goes, in the next year or two, I will probably upgrade either the hard drive if it is 5400 RPM or the optical drive to have either a Blu-Ray or HD-DVD drive. Which notebook would make this the easiest for me to do? How do I go about doing this? Buy myself and user-upgrade (referring to optical drive not hard drive), or send to reseller to do so?

Thanks for reading my long post, but hopefully in two weeks, I will stop pestering you guys with these questions and stick to bothering you with questions about my brand new baby with specific issues.

 

C90S. I am putting Gusty on it right now. Well i would be if i could find my server. Maby its under my bed? Hmmmm
Seriously, the C90 is an awsome machine. It uses the Same screen as the G1, In the future the 2600 HD will be released, hopefully with new drivers from AMD, Everything feels sturdy to me (but im biased ), And doesn't have the wannabe gamer look that the g1 has. its also ~300 dollars cheaper. But hey if you like the g1 look, get it. To each his own.

 

For questions #1-5 I think the G1S and G2S will be about the same. The G2S just has a 17" screen while the G1S has a 15.4". Gaming should be the same experience (from what I've heard)

 

I don't know about elsewhere in the world but I am waiting for a V1S in the UK and have been told by the store i'm purchasing from that it will be available on 2nd august and will be shipped to me direct from asus.

 

W2JP should have an awesome build quality. Much better than the G1S and G2P since i currently have a G1P and previously owned a W2JB. The W2JP also has really nice speakers. It was a nice laptop and I miss it =\

 

Yah I think the v1s is just around the corner, maybe aug 2 or 3 for NA too. I would get that one over the v1jp for sure. Hopefully they will have fixed the battery issues that plagued the v1jp.

 

I love pretty much everything about the W2JP except for two things. First is the graphics card, it's enough for the gaming I'll be doing but since it's ATI I'm worried about Ubuntu compatibility. Secondly, how does the screen compare to the G2S? I can only afford WSXGA+ for the W2 as going higher means having to pay $600 more for the HD-DVD drive.

If the V1S can be delivered to me soon, I would jump on that bad boy.

 

Bump....Still need help guys.......

 

G2S is supposed to have like the best screen, I can also vouch for the c90s screen being pure perfection.

I prefer 15" to 17" slightly but given that you listed the 17" g2s as an option I guess that means you dont mind. So thats what I would go with. It has 1920x1200 resolution so it can show full 1080p HD content, and be great for movies, then for games just play a lower resolution and scale it up.

 

Newegg has the V1JP for $1668. Id wait a week for the V1s, It will be the best of the bunch, And youve waited this long, Your going to be using it for at least 2 years, Whats one more week?

 

G1S or G2S depending on if you want a 17" or a 15.4" screen.

 

I can wait, my school can't. I've been passing the time by working and raising money to buy this thing but I move in on the 18th and would prefer to have 2 weeks before I left to play around with it and make sure there's nothing wrong with. The V1JP on newegg is cheaper because it has XP Pro which I was going to use as my main OS anyway so kudos for finding that. I've heard about the battery issue with the V1JP so I'm still hesitant about buying that. I don't really care if the V1S has the 8600GT DDR2 or DDR3. It will be good enough for me. The most important thing for me is to have the best screen possible. After hearing about the graininess and other stuff on some models, I'm still unsure.

I know I'm going to be happy no matter what I get, but I just can't find myself ordering already!

 

Id go with the V1S, WSXGA screen which is truly beautiful. Its a amazing machine.

 

v1s for sure

 

Where can I get the V1S if I want to have it by August 10th?

Other than the V1S, after the night I have ruled out the older V1JP because I've read that it has a mediocre screen to save battery life? Is this most likely going to be true for the V1S or will it be better? I've also taken out the W2 because not a lot of people have it and I'd feel safer knowing more people own it in case I ever need support or help for a specific issue.

It's down to three now.....in order of most to least wanted

1. G2S
2. V1S
3. G1S

Yeah, the W2 might go back on the list if I can find it with WUXGA without the HD-DVD drive.

Yeah, I know, I'm annoying.

 

Waiting is always will be the best choose for you.

 

The G2S is not a portable machine, If you plan on taking it to lectures I wouldnt bother with it, Its to heavy and like most 17" machines get lousy battery life. The latest you would get the V1S is August 16th, Possibly alot sooner. The G1S-A2 comes out at the same time for a few days difference I know which one I would be getting.

 

I'm not worried about portability at all. I don't plan on taking the notebook anywhere except to my dorm room or on the train heading back home. I seriously doubt if it will move much more than this.

Been real busy with work and still unsure of what to get. I really appreciate all the comments and help already, but I'm asking you guys to keep tolerating me. Just write anything, suggestions of any kind. I just need answers because this will be my first ever major purchase and I do not want to feel buyer's remorse or regret when I am done.

Thanks.

 

Update after two days....

Been real busy with work and still unsure on what to buy. I'm getting really desperate for answers right now. I'm asking you to tolerate me for a little while longer. You guys have been really nice and helpful so far and I hope you can keep it up.

Thanks so much.

 

If only know the G1S and G2S,

Pretty much the same, G2S score a lil bit higher i believe in 3dmark06 because its got better cooling and run a couple mhz faster.

I chose g1s simply because i like protability and when i have it at home its hooked up to a 22" screen

so portability is important for me, what you like ?

1.G1S
2.G2S
3.the others

 

I'm starting to think that a 15'' is going to be better in the end when coupled with a good monitor for movies. I started looking at monitors on newegg and just realized I have to learn a new language to understand some of the technical specs. Right now, the G2S is first because it combines both portability(not much, but only need to move it maybe 50 feet at any given time) and a great screen for watching movies. The G1S is good since it's smaller for traveling and when I add a bigger monitor It'll be better for watching movies and such. I would like to watch hi-def movies and want at least a 24'' inch monitor. Does anyone have any specific suggestions or where to look for getting monitors?

My budget is capped at $2100 including taxes/shipping and whether it be the G2S or something smaller with a big monitor. I do not want to spend more than $300 for the monitor however.

Thanks for the responses once again.

 

well I know you have already turned it down but the more you talk the more it sounds like you need a C90 the cheaper price tag will let you get an external monitor, its a 15.4" so its easy to carry around and you are not concerned about battery life so... you can get a good c90 for about 1700 (with os and extra guarantee) and the rest can be blown on accesories (monitor, express sound card (creative lab's Xfi), a media remote?, etc).

th c90 has the hdmi port so you are covered there... and the promise of future upgrades such as bluray/hd-dvd and better gpu specifically designed for the c90...

maybe you could reconsider the c90???

 

Thanks, I'm actually going to reconsider the C90S because I still have absolutely no idea what I want. I'm not much of a DIY kind of person yet so getting the C90S would be a great place to start. I have yet another week to wait as my last paycheck came up $100 short of where I want to be so I'm working really hard to go through my options.

My biggest concern with the C90S was the turbo engine. I've heard from some people that it's not loud while others say that it is. Also, can you measure the dimensions of the turbo engine sticking out from the back so I know how big it actually is?

Thanks.