M6Ne replacement

So my parents M6Ne finally died. It refuses to turn on. The power led glows dimly but the power ring doesn't light up, nor does anything else happen. I've disassembled the thing completely but couldn't find anything obvious. Anyway, it's lived a fairly rough life (four winters exposed to salt air on a boat) so I'm willing to move on. Which brings me to my question.

Anybody have any recommendations for a replacement? I've been lurking the forums for a couple days and have come to be somewhat dissappointed with the current crop of ASUS machines (build quality and battery life have suffered since I got my W3J+). Nothing seems to compare with M6Ne or the W3J+. The M51va seems nice but questionable build quality worries me. The V1V also looks interesting but I'm not sure if I can get my hands on one in the next 2 weeks (my parents head south again in November). As for non-ASUS laptops I'm thinking about the Dell XPS1530 (battery life is a little low though), the Dell E5500, or a Lenovo T500.

Anyboby have any comments or suggestions?

For the record, the requirements are:

Good build quality, this is not a desktop beauty, it will spend its winters on a (small) sailboat in the caribbean, rough seas and dinghy rides included.

Good battery life. It will live on a boat without consistent shore power. Usually a short charging session once a day when the generator is briefly run.

15"ish screen. It serves as the nightly entertainment (movies). Bigger would be nice but battery life as noted above is more important.

Good wireless performance. Again, boat, no landlines here.

Don't need anything really powerful (looking at P8400's). Its main uses are email and skype for staying in touch with the rest of the world and DVDs for when watching the umpteenth sunset starts driving you a little crazy....

 

Have you considered an Apple MacBook Pro and any of Lenovo's offerings? I think those would fit your criteria quite nicely...

 

What about the HP dv5t?

And yes, Asus really has gone down the **** since the days of the W3/5/7...God, those were fantastic computers.

 

I also recommend against ASUS if battery life is such an essential concern (it has become poorer over the years since the M6/W3). Unless you're willing to go for the subnotebooks/ultraportables with the Atom CPUs. But those have too small a screen for you.

The closest equivalent to the M6 is the M50V I would guess, but it has roughly the same objections that you mentioned for the M51; it may be based on a better chassis though (I remember vaguely someone mentioning that M51 is based on the F3 chassis, which is not a very good thing -- but i don't remember anything more than that).

Some would say that the V1 also has questionable build quality. Also, in some instances the modular battery of the V1 kills the main battery -- in case you were thinking of upgrading the V1 with modular bay battery, it's something to be concerned about.

So probably the best thing for you is an option from another brand, e.g. one of those suggested by AuroraS, with a good battery life, a 9-cell main battery and a modular battery. Something with integrated or switchable graphics would be best, again for battery concerns. You could make a thread in the "What Notebook Should I Buy Forum" (fill in the FAQ).

 

Thanks everyone.

AuroraS

I've considered Apple, it's on the list. Personally I like them but I don't know how my parents would feel about it (they still haven't moved past w2k....).

I've also been looking at the lenovo T500 (maybe a T400, smaller screen but awesome battery life with the LED screen).

Redline

I've been burned by too many HP products in the past (particularly desktops and burners). That said, that was quite a few years ago. On paper the dv5t looks like it would fit the bill, unfortunately I can't seem to find it here in Canada (HP Canada sells a dv5-1000 but it doesn't quite have the same specs...) I'll add it to the short list if I can find it though. Thanks for the suggestion.

E.B.E.

Just did some reading. That modular battery problem is unfortunate....

Right now I'm leaning towards a lenovo. It's a shame as I used to really stand by the ASUS laptops. Is there some rule that the more popular a company gets the crappier their products get....

 

Yeah, well I guess anyone who got a M6Ne tends to stand by ASUS. Just look at my signature, what it did to me.

 

Myrv, so who is the winner in the end?

 

Actually I gave my parents the choice: Thinkpad T500 with LED (~$999), Latitude E5500 (~$1440), or Latitude E6500 with LED (~$1750). Not a real fan of Dell as I feel their consumer stuff (read inspiron) is junk, cheap yes, but still junk in my opinion. The Latitudes however looked ok from what I've read. I couldn't get the dv5t in Canada (apparently only avail in the US) and teaching my parents how to use a Mac in 2 days wasn't going to happen (unfortunately). Given more time (I have to get it to them before Nov 7) I would have widened the search (and seriously considered a Mac) but alas it wasn't to be.

Anyway, they decided to go with the T500 and the LED backlight screen (strangely this model is not available in the US yet). A bit disappointed the LED screen for the T500 only comes in WXGA (1280×800 pixels) but hey, my parents are getting old, the bigger fonts will probably be easier on them anyway . 6+ hours on the 9 cell battery was a definite plus though. And the price was right as I somehow managed to land right between 2 promotions and ended up getting the anniversary price (about 15% off) and an additional 5% off when I was on the phone (and free shipping but doesn't everyone do that these days). Total price as noted above was $999 Cdn

The final specs were:

P8400 (as I said, didn't need a lot of processor)
2 Gigs RAM (DDR3 8500)
15.4 WXGA LED backlight
Intel GMA X4500 (again, not a gaming machine)
160 Gig HD (5400rpm)
Express&Smart Card reader (gotta get those pictures of the camera)
Integrated Bluetooth
Intel WiFi Link 5300
Modem
9 Cell battery
Vista Home Premium (will probably upgrade to XP if I can find drivers)

Not a power rig but it should satisfy their requirements and hopefully the build quality will be decent (haven't received it yet).

Again thanks to everyone for their suggestions. Hopefully when my W3J dies ASUS will be making a good notebook again.

 

Hopefully good build quality, since it's a Thinkpad.

I also like the Dell Latitudes. I used to have "something" against all Dells, but then my sister got one, and I like it quite a lot. It's a no-BS notebook, low-key, just perfect for the surfing/word processing that non-power-users do on their notebooks. Nice business features like a docking port.

I hope so too.

 

Funny. My M6Ne is still working fine, but I retired it anyway to get a dual-core 64 bit machine. Software development in 32 bits just doesn't cut it any more. I really wanted my next laptop to be an Asus too, but I just didn't see anything with the specs I wanted. (15" WSXGA+, AMD Puma, etc...) So now I have an HP dv5z which doesn't quite have everything I wanted either, but it works well enough for now.

 

There doesn't exist the laptop that has everything a (moderately sophisticated) user wants, unfortunately... we all need to live with some compromises.

 

do you still have your m6ne if you have the keyboard may be I would be interrested if it's in good sheap.

thanks

 

Where are you located? In US, have a look at the EStore: this will most likely work:

http://estore.asus.com/shop/item.asp?itemid=3309

If in EU, check www.asusparts.eu or call your local service center and ask them if they will sell you the keyboard.

 

i would go with the m50 it's very solid, i know I've hit it against walls, fans doors and even dropped it. The thing doesn't even have a scratch on after all of that, but the battery life is ok, i get 2 hours in high performance mode and 2 hours and 30 in power saver note this is with the standard battery

hope this helps with your decision