W3J or A8JM Please help me decide

Hi Guys,

I really need some help in choosing between W3J and A8JM.

I almost closed the deal with W3J when I came across A8JM, similar specs
and lower price with a integrated Camera, extra ports.

I saw a review saying that the A8JM has no bluetooth in North America models, looks like the guy didnt do his research well. The A8JM sold by Portable One
has the Bluetooth+EDR option. ...I also saw a post saying A8JM doesn't have 7200rpm option....again portableone allows us to configure the HDD to 7200....

For me battery life is not the criteria, anything above 2 hours is cool with me but I'm firm on taking the 14" screen models.

And guys who got the W3J, what made you choose it over A8JM ?...Is it the GPU ?.

Hope to get some advice and insight through this board....

Thanks for reading my post.

- Nuke

 

P1 does have the BT but they are not in stock, and won't be for 2+ weeks from what I've heard.

Both W3j and A8jm 'can' be fully customizable from their original factory configuration by ASUS but will void the warranty, however, you can have it at any spec you want(whereever possible), for, of course, a price.

 

I had the same dilemma when deciding which one to go for..but finally i settled with W3J. Why?
- ATI X1600
- Modular bay (for additional battery / hdd)
- Better looking
- Already have better notebook webcam (seldom use anyway)
- No need for DVI, 3 USB ports are enough.
- Comes with bluetooth mouse (not sure about A8JM)

I also considered W7J...kinda tempted with its lightweight form factor.

 

Excuse me, but I did my research before buying. A8Jm is a Canadian model, and when they were first released, none made its way to the US and nobody had it, not even P1. Even the ones that made its way to P1 after that (they import it from Canada, and all the ones in Canada didn't have BT - asked Danny from MilestonePC), they modified themselves, hence voiding the ASUS global warranty and replacing it with dealer warranty.

P1 modifying/adding BT the original A8Jm that came without Bluetooth doesn't change the fact that it came to NA without it, so my original statement is correct.

In any case, here's a summary of main differences to make your decision easier:

W3J:
- x1600 256 dedicated mem, 256 HT
- Better materials & looks
- Modular bay for extra battery / HD etc
- 3 USB ports
- 1280 x 768

A8Jm:
- Go7600 512 dedicated mem
- Webcam
- DVI
- 5 USB ports
- 1280 x 800

Next time, please talk to me first/PM me before making indicting statements

 

The reason why ppl took the A8JM is the DVI port. That's my conclusion. Not sure bout others thou.

 

I can't believe none of you mentioned price...

The difference probably isn't as pronounced for you in the US but I saved>$500 by going for the A8Jm. The main advantages of the W3J are looks and the modular bay. The X1600 may or may not be an advantage, if it is it's not nearly as significant. The things that Darrick listed are spot on but I thought I'd put in my 2 cents. From what Danny at MilestonePC told me the A8Jm also has a better cooling solution.

So really, you just have to decide if it's what's inside that counts.

 

OK, but let's remember that the W3 series is not poor in that regard nor has a cooling "problem" of any kind, and they never have.... yes it tends to run higher when stressed and the vent air is warmer as a result; it just has all that power stuffed into a smaller (and higher quality materials) package. The fact is that the height of the W3 is 1.18-1.28", and the A8 is 1.3-1.45"; that extra headroom makes a large difference in internal air circulation paths, but both units perform more or less comparable to each other.

Price issues are usually self evident, which is probably why no one mentioned them. The main component differences between the chassis' are as mentioned by others above - YMMV on whether these are critical factors to weigh in choice of purchase or not in comparable performing units.

 

Both models are very nice.

Here are 2 links you may want to have a look at.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=28568&page=5
Look at page 5,6,7.

Here's the benchmarks for all models.
http://www.notebookforum.ca/phpbb2/docs/Benchmark.htm

ASUS W3J
13.1" x 9.8" x 1.2"/1.3"
4.8lbs (2.2kg) <- Real Weight 5.5lbs
14" WXGA (1280x768) Glossy

ASUS A8jm
13.3" x 9.7" x 1.38"/1.48"
5.37lbs (2.44kg)
14" WXGA (1280x800) Glossy

This should clear up any difference and the advantages each model has.

Also here is a price difference the A8jm is cheaper that's why many like it, plus it has DVI and more usb ports that some can take advantage of all of that.

 

Is the a8JM coming withthe fixed Bluetooth yet? Last I heard there was no working Bluetooth for it quite yet.

I went W3J for build quality I had the same dilema and really wanted an integrated cam. I will just get an 3rd party one

 

I got the A8Jm because of the dvi port, the extra usb ports and the ergonomics. I really wanted a A8Ja with the x1600 video card but it is not available in the US. I am real picky about where the ports are for connecting it to other media devices since that is what it is used for a good bit. The 3-500.00 difference in price was a factor too

 

I also chose the A8jm because of:
-Price is cheaper, this is my 1st priority
-have 5 USB port, maybe I dont use it all but the more the better, when one port is dead...
-DVI, you never know when you will use this.
-Cooling, some people say it cooler, somes dont so I will trust the ones who said it cooler.
-Go 7600 with 512MB delicated, now maybe this is overkill as some guys here said it wont use all of its 512MB but still, 512MB must mean something right, big number too, make me feel safe
-Camera, although it just 0.3MP but it still a camera, people can still see you.
As for bluetooth, there alway a way for that, though it not comfortable but it manageble.
So, what are you waiting for, go for A8jm
Just kidding , think careful and make your choice, its yours decision after all.
Good luck

 

I was going through the same decision and settled on the W3J. Here are my reasons:

1. Memory Upgradability: A 2GB memory upgrade is only about $100 with the W3J refresh (because it already comes with one stick of 1GB ram). The same upgrade would be $200 with the A8JM because it comes with two sticks of 512 MB. Which means you effectively have to throw away all the memory that comes with it. What a waste.
2. Faster processor: The W3J comes with a 2.0 ghz Dual core processor. This is another $100 upgrade on the A8JM.
3. Looks/build: W3J is built more sturdy and is definitely sleeker.

A similarly configured A8JM is only about $100 cheaper than the W3J.

Right now you can get a 5% rebate on the W3J (bringing it to $1710 USD) or a rebate which takes off $70 (two of the resellers on this board are offering these special deals). This brings the price difference to be even less.

Unless you are going to be happy with 1GB of memory, I think the W3J is the best value.

 

I can safely say, either way, you win

 

Asus should have a model that has the look of w3j and the fuctions of a8jm...

 

I'm surprised the W3J got such a higher 3d mark score than the A8Jm. Does anyone know if that is correct or why it was so much higher? Is the ATI card that much better?

I'm trying to decide between a A8Jm and a Z96j but I'm also considering getting a W3J.

 

While we are comparing these machines (something I am having problems with myself!), I have a question.....does the A8JM have the same Power4Gear problems that seem to be plaguing the W3J? As in not waking from standby/hibernate, etc.? Another question......is the camera on the A8JM 1.3 mp or 0.3mp? I keep seeing both figures....could someone please clarify?

I too am going crazy choosing between the two. They are both great machines & they really are quite close in price when you factor in the points that hkarthik made. I found that out after comparing all the resellers prices.

Cheers!

 

Where did you see this huge difference? The A8Jm gets about 2350 stock, while W3J about 2250... overclocked, the A8Jm can get up to 2600+, while W3J only 2450+.... maybe you're comparing 3dMark05 vs 3dMark06 hence the large discrepancy?

The A8Jm has 0.3 MP.. so just regular VGA (640x480) quality shots... and so far I haven't had any problems waking from standby/hibernate..

 

I bought the A8JM over the W3J. I liked the 5 usb, camera, dvi and 7600go. I never had any problems with my machine yet about stand by etc... I think the a8jm runs bit cooler than w3j also. Your getting more bang for the buck.

 

I was looking at that chart that was linked earlier in the thread. The w3j had a score around 4700 which I thought was rather high.

 

I just got my A8Jm today, I'm one happy camper. Left it for a while, thought it was dead, but it came right out of standby and assuaged my fears.

Heat: People have been complaining about W3J heat but this thing just won't get hot no matter WHAT I do to it, whether intensive HD use or gaming (Oblivion)

Looks: The W3J is one sexy machine but the A8Jm looks damned nice too. If the A8Jm is elegant (which it is) the W3J is exquisite.

Performance: 1.83-2.0 is only noticeable in benchmarks. In gaming a Core Duo won't hold a 7600 or X1600 back. I don't personally need 2GB of RAM, maybe you do. I OC'ed my 7600 to 500/420 easily, it almost certainly will go farther (though the memory will not go above 430 for sure). That yielded a 3dMark05 result of 4162

 

Hi everybody,

Thank you all for your insightful comments.

My heart surely rests on A8jM coz experience tells me apart from being "future proof" a laptop should also be productive.

I dont want to buy a notebook camera sticking out of my USB port ( with hinges and clips !!! ) for my occasional video chat and would like to have the feature built in. Also, I dont want to spend money on a USB hub in future ( if 3 were less ! ) sticking out of the laptop ports and about DVI port well its always good to have it....no radio shack hardware in future if at all i need a DVI port... 512 MB is overkill but hey what if Vista came up with a Ultra mega Premium version in three years .

So those were my reasons for narrowing down to A8jM. But, I have two more questions.

1. How does the build quality of A8jM feel compared to other laptops...D3ll, HP, SONY, TOSHIBA etc.

2. How was your experience with portableone.com, is there a forum member from that website?.

Also, after I get the A8jM with bluetooth I am planning to write a really good review on it. You guys tell me what you would like to see....

Well, I really feel that all of us did a wonderful choice by choosing Asus, they really are engineering marvels. Did you guys look at their leather finish notebook....OoooooOooh....

Thanks again guys.

P.S: My apologies to Darrick.

 

Ivan from P1 frequents the....Portable One forums

The A8jm is built well, is the best I can say. When I had my hands on a unit, it wasn't as nicely built as my V6va(What IS? ) but it was as expected from ASUS, a solid machine.

 

nucleus: no apologies needed but thx anyway..

 

Thanx for the clarification on the Camera, Darrick.

I see you are still happy with your notebook.

Does anybody have any pics of an A8JM next to a 15.4" Laptop? Say a Dell E1505 or similar?
I would really like to get an idea of the size of one of these babies. Short of taking a tape measure with me the next time I fly .....can they fit comfortably on an Aircraft tray table?
Anybody travel regularly with either A8JM or W3J?

 

Pictures of w3 and z70va at MilestonePC's site here. The A8jm is just a little (insignificant) bit deeper/taller than the W3 series, so this should give you the comparison in sizes you're looking for.

14" flies quite well, although I have to remember not to open the screen too far past vertical or an unexpected deep seat recline can crush the screen between the seatback and the tray.... happened once, and I couldn't get it loose - got a teeny paint chip off the top of the LCD back for my mistake when I finally got it to pop out . I've flown many times with my z63 (the BuiltOn equivalent of the W3v - same chassis); the 14" is a very usable formfactor, and is quite comfortable to work on.

 

Ya that doesn't seem to match up with the #s found in the Graphics section section of this forum. So what's the deal, which one has the better gaming abilities?

Also, does the resolution difference matter? I know the a8jm has a more common resolution than the W3j. Will the W3j be forced to run at non-native resolutions for certain games?

Lastly, is the webcam on the A8jm any good for video chat? Or will I end up buying a better webcam later on anyways? It doesn't seem to have a built in microphone (confirm this anyone?), so that means I would probably have to plug in the mic anyways. Is the average 80 dollar webcam going to be better than the built-in camera?

 

The numbers in the graphics section are for 3dMark05... the 4000 range... the ones that are in the 2400-2600 range are for 3dMark06... so make sure you guys are comparing the correct versions.

They are both good for gaming in real world and very comparable. For benchmarks, in 05, x1600 wins.. while in the newer 06, Go7600 wins... so even themselves out... pick one and you'll be satisfied with either

 

Ic. What would account for the difference between the scores from 05 to 06? Does that indicate the Go7600 might perform better on the more cutting edge games due to the extra VRAM?

Price, etc isn't an issue with me. So in deciding between the W3j and the A8jm I have only a few issues, which are in order of importance:

1. Ability to play the most cutting edge games, some of which are still in beta. Sounds like the A8jm wins or it's a tie.
2. The size, weight and build quality, because I will be carrying this around everyday for law school. Sounds like the W3j is the clear winner.
3. The resolution difference. It seems like the W3j might have compatibility problems with certain games and not be able to play at native resolution, since it has a rather rare resolution. Any experience with this?

Far less importance:

4. The DVI. I have a 24" dell widescreen that I might want to plug this into. Is the DVI that much better than the regular video connection? What's the big deal in other words?
5. The WebCam. I plan to do video chat a lot, but mostly at home, so I want good quality video. Will I be better off just buying a seperate webcam from the store? Or is this webcam about equal quality to the cams I'll find for about $100?
6. The screen quality. Are the screens the same? I know the A8jm is high gloss. Is the W3j also?

 

Oh btw. I was looking at the 05 Benchmarks here:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=50029

It has them listed at:

Asus A8jm: 4134
Asus W3j: 3917

Which doesn't match up with the site linked above at all. Just curious whats going on. Do you have a link to the 3dMark06 scores?

 

fizloki:
1. Yeah, the Go7600 prob makes use of the extra dedicated VRAM in newer games, hence the better marks in 06, but I still say both cards will be enough for the next 3 / 4 years.
2. A8Jm and W3J weight is almost the same, W3J might be thinner at the back, but weight shouldn't be much different.
3. Not sure about this.. might have to ask W3J owners
4. Some ppl say it's not much different than VGA, but some others say that at high res and large monitors, a trained eye would see far better quality.
5. A8Jm webcam quality is just ok, not high quality, since it's only 0.3 MP. So you might still need an external webcam, but the A8Jm has 5 USB ports vs 3 on W3J
6. I believe they are using the same high quality screens, both glossy.

And re: benchmarks scores.... it just depends on what drivers the person is using, what kinda overclocking settings etc etc... so don't worry too much about it, x1600 and Go7600 are in same performance class and in certain games one outperforms the other, no big deal there.

 

The specs state it has a 0.35 /1.3 MegaPixel Camera. Can someone explain what those 2 numbers mean? I looked on newegg for some webcams and it seems like they are also all .35MP or 1.3MP, whatever that means.

Btw, Darrick do you know the FPS for the Camera on the A8JM? Most of the ones I can buy say 30-35 Max FPS.

It seems like maybe the built in camera is about par with the ones I could buy afterall. But, then again, I'm not quite sure what the FPS, MP #s really mean.

Thanks again for all the help.

 

Thanks so much for the link & the comments Clearkies!
They helped a lot. As an Airline Pilot, I need something very portable. However, as a gamer...I also need the horsepower! The W3J or A8Jm fit the bill perfectly. I was seriously considering the XPS M1210, but the GO 7400 just wasn't enough.
Now, I just gotta decide which one I'm going for!!!!!!!!

 

fizloki: The A8Jm has a 0.35 MP camera (640 x 480 pixels) or VGA quality, while FPS I would assume has something to do with Frames Per Second when trying to capture video images. I've never found any fps rates for the A8Jm, can't really help you out with this one sorry

TheCrash: An airline pilot who plays games.. just hope you're not playing LAN games with your co-pilot while controlling the plane

 

An airline pilot who plays games while flying and his nickname is TheCrash.

What airline do you fly (so I know to avoid them)?

 

Ic, so do you know what 1.3 number means?

 

LOL!!
Waddya think the Autopilot is there for??????

 

the real is 0.35 MP camera (640 x 480 pixels) and the 1.3 is software based enhancement
thanks

 

Hehe....good thing the cockpit is not big enough to allow me to play while flying!! I overnight quite a lot & the laptop will be used to keep me from climbing the walls of the Hotel room & keepin touch with the Wife & kids (hence the need for webcam).
Strangely enough, the nickname has nothing to do with flying!! I had a spectacular automobile accident years ago & walked out without a scratch....my friends have been calling me The Crash ever since!!

 

Hey Darrick and other owners of A8jm,

Does A8jM have a built in mic ?.

I completely forgot about this ...please lemme know

 

Don't own the A8Jm.....but in the pics that I have seen, there is a built-in mic on left hand side of keyboard.

 

It's directly to the left of the Fn key.

 

Man this (A8jM) notebook has EVERYTHING !!!!!!!!!

 

Except a brushed aluminum lid and carbon fiber chassis. If it had those...

As I said elsewhere though, $500 can be put to much more efficient use when it comes to satisfying my vanity. Hence my choice of the A8Jm.

 

Now here are the question. Do you need everything? And if you get the A8JM will you upgrade? I am in the same situation.

DVI or not to DVI, that my undying question. *sigh*

 

Hi mythless,

If "everything" is coming at that price then why not..
The only upgrade would be a bluetooth option....i am happy with 5400rpm drives....

Also about DVI....Considering all TV's, monitors and projectors going the digital way...a DVI connector will be a smart thing to have on your laptop...
anyone agree ??...

 

Agree completely..really wish it had internal Bluetooth tho.....Why Asus, why????