LG's S1 Review

So here is my long waited review of LG's S1. The original massage was posted under the thread " just ordered S1" and was reposted as a new thread.
My laptop Specs can be found here
The laptop was ordered and delivered in Israel - approx. two weeks after purchase.

Build Quality and Design
The LG S1 was awarded with the "Red Dot" design award

The design IS spectacular - its an beautifully designed laptop and the "piano black" colour shines in blue sparkles under lights which makes it even better looking. the down side is that the top of the laptop is very sensetive to finger prints and shows every place it was touched.
The keyboard is well built with a full 99 keys, including a keypad - a very unique feature in a 15.4 screen laptop. however the spaces between the keys looks a bit too big and might collect dust in the future.
the track pad is well located at the bottom of the keyboard with a top to bottom scroll function only - not side to side. it also looks as a place the dust can collect on.
the plastic feels very strong and the screen doesn't bents easy. the only thing I'm missing on the design side is a latch to hook the screen to the body - i sure hope that it will hold.
The laptop feels very solid - more solid than any Toshiba or Sony i had before but not as solid as IBM that i have looked on.
9 out of 10

Screen and Display
This computer comes with a WSXGA 1050X1680 Screen with "Fine Bright Technology" and an ATI X1600 with 256MB of dedicated RAM (no hyper memory in this one ?) although I have heard many good things in the past about LG's screen quality i have seen better screen than this one - it does a very good job but it feels a bit dark, not as good as Sony's screen. however it is an WSXGA screen which are known to be not as good as the WXGA.It offers a huge desktop and it's very comfortable to work with it on heavy graphics and 3D.
8 out of 10


Sound
The laptop comes with a 5.1 "SRS TruSurround" High def card. the 3 plugs are well configurable to every option that the user may desire. the speakers however were very disappointing - the sound was flat and was cut off very low. however the store i bought it from gave me as a bonus LG's surround headset which makes it a pleasure to watch a movie or play a game. i have also bought Logitech's X-530 speakers to use with it and it works perfect.
8 out of 10 (the head set adds .5 to the score)

performance
Now we are talking. as a industrial and 3D designer this is the reason why i bought this laptop - it is equipped with the high end Intel's Duo Core T2500 processor, 1GB 677 MHz of RAM, the X1600 i mentioned before and a 100GB 5400 RPM SATA hard drive. this machine is amazing !!! does everything with a smile plays DVDs and scans for viruses with no problems, 3D desgin in a heart beat. this computer 3Dmark 2005 was 4200+ i believe - more than double the a laptop equipped with the X1400.
the only avarge+ side here is the Hard drive - with only 5400 RPM it feels a bit slow for the rest sometimes but it happens rarly.
13 out of 10 (and it would be 15 if it had a 7200 RPM hard drive)

Noise
The laptop comes with a 3 speed quiet fan and an cooling system. the noise is barley noticed even under heavy applications as movies or 3D gaming.
10 out of 10

Heat
The fan and the cooling system are quiet and works real well. the bottom doesn't heat do a disturbance level at anytime. the far right corner gets warmer at some points but it's usable on your knees the whole time.
9.5 out of 10

Accessories

• X16 Multi DVD drive
• Card Reader - 5 in 1 including Sony's Memory Stick Pro
• Remote Control - full control on the "Direct media" software - DVD, TV or Music
• Fingerprint Reader
• WiFi with dual antenna and Blue tooth(Blue Core™4)
• USB hubs - 3, 2 on the right, one on the left
• 1 year of international Warranty and another 2 in Israel

10 out of 10

Battery and Power
The 6 Cell Li-Ion battery supplied with the laptop was surprisingly long lasting - 2.5 to almost 3 hours surfing the wireless net or 2 - 2.5 hours of DVD playing or gaming. the 9 cell battery was not available to test.
Battery Miser comes with the laptop and makes a very good job.
9 out of 10

Overall
After checking the market for a while before buying this laptop i have came to a conclusion that this is probably the strongest 15.4 laptop out there. after checking it for a while I'm pretty sure i was right. this laptop has no weakness and the only part that is not great and i would rate as only Good + is the screen brightness. The Perfect Desktop Replacement
9.5 out of 10

Please excuse my English
SpeadBall

על צלע הר, ליד ככר, יש קפה של דינוזאורים והם יושבים שם בודדים אחד אחד

 

Can you tell me about keyboard? Can you type on it for long long hours?
Can you compare screen brightness and keyboard with Acer 8204? Or Sony FE590? Or MacbookPro?

 

Wow! 13 out of a 10 IS a good score! I'm glad you're happy with this one.

Btw : 4.2K is a pretty high 3d2k5 mark.

 

I have the same S1 and i got 3950 in 3dmark05.. the darkness of the screen really bothers me have you any tips for it? i have tried to install ATI Tools and fix the color settings but it complains something about my bios and i havent got it installed yet..

 

Does it have a Express Card slot? If I remember right this model didn't have it. That's a shame.

 

It seems you didn't get DVI!?
No DVI, washed-out screen => no-go

 

bran: You can get DVI through the docking station.

 

'Fn' button and arrow keys helped me with the brightness problem I did order this from germany so haven't understood a **** of anything. speadbal have you found bios drivers? They are not in the CDs i got..

 

Why LG screens arent good enough when compare them to Sony's Xbrite, Toshiba's Qismo, Fujitsu's CrystalBright,PB's diamondview?

Specs are good but screens are dark,they need to use dual lamb...

 

don't know about lambs or dual lambs but sounds pervert

 

i just evaluated P1 Canada version together with Fujitsu N3530 and here are the findings (2.0GHz core duo, 80GB/5400rpm HD, 1GB/667MHz DDR2, ATI x1600/256MB, :

-P1 screen flexes if you press hard
- screen is not dark, it is as bright as N3530, maybe having x1600 GPU compensates for lower brightness but I could not notice big difference in brightness
-I abused P1 for a couple of hours and it gets hot at the bottom but not to the extent MacbookPro does for example
-I opened a lot of programs and run them concurrently and P1 reacts promptly, maybe the reason is there is not too much of bloatware like on Acer 8204 for example (Acer 8204 screen is really washed-out compared to P1, N3530 and N6410, even Acer 5672 is not that washed out as 8204). So in term of brightness I would rank them like this:
1) N6410 excellent brightness
2) N3530 and P1 above average brightness
3) Acer 5672 good brightness
4) Acer 8204 low brightness

-P1 keyboard is good, you can type on it for long hours. It has same feel as keyboard on N3530, no extensive keyboard flexing on either of these laptops
-P1 palm rests look are similar to Toshibas plasticy look, it flexes when you press on it. But overall it looks sturdy but not to the extent N3530 does (but again that could be because N3530 is heavier). On N3530 you have to press really hard to flex the screen, cover is very sturdy and very ellegant, N3530 is a winner in ellegance amongst these three
-overall look of N3530 is much better than P1 (maybe S1 could match Fujitsu but I didn't see S1 in action)
-in addition to N3530 I evaluated N6410 as well. Screen on N6410 is a class in itself, i.e. if P1 and N3530 are one class then N6410 is another, much higher category.
-N6410, although with average components (4200rpm drive, x1400 GPU), was very responsive, I could not notice difference in speed in handling everyday tasks, even in concurrent fashion.
-Keyboard on N6410 is also fantastic, whole laptop feels very sturdy
-conclusion: between P1 and N3530 I would choose P1. 3 yr. warranty more than compensates on lack of Fujitsu sturdiness. Only if one needs to feel that sturdiness in his hands and have absolute ellegance of the design he should opt for N3530 which have subpar GPU and CPU. Since N6410 is a class in itself with excellent screen and keyboard as well as sturdiness, it all boils down to whether one needs 17" or 15". I guess with the weight of N3530 it makes no significant difference in mobility between two Fujitsas (but of course battery on N3530 is much better). The look IS important. The price of S1 versus P1 is a proof this statement is true. S1 is $300CAN more expensive than P1.
If that is any indicator, then we can take $200 off the N3530 price in order to
compare it feature-wise with P1 and not be influenced by the look. If the remaining bang-for-the-buck justifies the price then one should choose based on that

 

Problem is, there's a substantial price gap between the N3530 and the P1

1544CDN - 2244CDN = You save 700

 

I evaluated P1 in-store demo version with the price $1980can (not more than 20 days of usage, during 4 hours of evaluation only 1 man enetered the shop so based on that I am pretty sure this is as new as any other brand new laptop).

N3530 is priced new $1820can (XP Pro, 80GB/5400 HD, ATI x1400, 512MB DDR2, 1 yr warranty) i.e. similar configuration. If I add $100can to have 1GB DDR2 like on LG P1, then the price adjusted is $1920can.

So it is $1980 for the demo P1 versus $1920 for new N3530, almost same price.

If I take $200 off the price of N3530 for look and elegance I get final price of $1700 with which to compare P1 demo price (3 year warranty on P1 compensates for alleged lack of sturdiness).

Now what is better value, $1980 for faster P1 (demo model) or $1700 for N3530 if it had casing similar to P1's?

Does 0.34GHz more CPU power and ATI x1600 vs x1400 more GPU power in P1 justifies this $200 price difference between the two?

What would you choose and why?

More I think about it more I believe that MSR price for P1 should be exactly $2000can and not a cent more. While P1 is certainly better built than a Toshiba or an Acer it's screen still flexes when you press hard. In comparison N3530 does not flex at all and when you lift it up you have a feeling you have something valuable in your hands. Look really matters!

 

Which store did you evaluate the P1? Was it at a store in Toronto?

 

well to make it easier do this:
Rating ( rate each notebook in each category from 1-10)
- Screen Quality
- Lid Quality
- Chasis Quality
- Keyboard Quality
- Touchpad Quality
- Ports & Layout
- Heat Dissipation
- Sound Noise
- BatteryLife
- Overall Appeal
- Total > With explanations

And then you will see which one is better. lets just say that the P1 is roughly 500-600 dollars more for a brand new one, your still getting a faster cpu, 2x more powerfull gpu, and 512 more ram, plus 3 year warranty. compared to a better looking and better built laptop... which one has more batterylife?

THanks,

MysticGolem

 

speadbal have you tried 3dmark or any other tests?

 

P1
==========
- Screen Quality.....................8 (N6410 really shines and none is close to it)
- Lid Quality...........................8
- Chasis Quality......................7
- Keyboard Quality..................8
- Touchpad Quality.................7 (HP ML-37 82xx has the best touchpad 10)
- Ports & Layout.....................much better then Acers, didn't have time
- Heat Dissipation...................7
- Sound Noise........................8 (in a shop couldn't pay attention)
- BatteryLife..........................did not test in shop, claim 2.5 to 3hrs
- Overall Appeal.....................8
- Total >....................................61

N3530
=====
- Screen Quality.....................8 (big difference compared to N6410)
- Lid Quality..........................10
- Chasis Quality......................9
- Keyboard Quality..................8
- Touchpad Quality..................8
- Ports & Layout.....................don't remember
- Heat Dissipation...................10
- Sound Noise........................8 (in a shop could not notice any)
- BatteryLife........................?
- Overall Appeal.....................10
- Total >...........................71

N6410
=====
- Screen Quality................10 (class in itself, might buy just because of that
- Lid Quality......................10
- Chasis Quality.................10
- Keyboard Quality..............10 (did not try Thinkpads, so amongst those...)
- Touchpad Quality.............8
- Ports & Layout.................????
- Heat Dissipation...............10
- Sound Noise....................8 (see comments)
- BatteryLife......................bad but didn't test (this could influence total!)
- Overall Appeal.................9
- Total >..........................75

Acer 5672
========
- Screen Quality...................7
- Lid Quality.........................6
- Chasis Quality....................6
- Keyboard Quality................8
- Touchpad Quality...............7
- Ports & Layout...................????? not good
- Heat Dissipation.................8
- Sound Noise......................8 (see comments)
- BatteryLife........................????
- Overall Appeal....................8
- Total >.............................58

Acer 8204
========
- Screen Quality......................6
- Lid Quality............................7
- Chasis Quality..........................7
- Keyboard Quality....................5 (strange arrangement)
- Touchpad Quality...................8
- Ports & Layout......................bad????
- Heat Dissipation...................8
- Sound Noise........................8
- BatteryLife..........................???
- Overall Appeal......................9
- Total >................................58

MacbookPro
=========
- Screen Quality...........................8
- Lid Quality.................................10
- Chasis Quality............................10
- Keyboard Quality.........................5
- Touchpad Quality........................8
- Ports & Layout...........................???
- Heat Dissipation...........................5
- Sound Noise...............................8 ??
- BatteryLife..................................???
- Overall Appeal.............................9
- Total >......................................63


Sony 120B
========
- Screen Quality......................8
- Lid Quality............................7
- Chasis Quality.......................7
- Keyboard Quality....................8
- Touchpad Quality...................8
- Ports & Layout.........................???
- Heat Dissipation.....................8
- Sound Noise...........................8
- BatteryLife..........................???
- Overall Appeal.......................8
- Total >................................62


The quality of Fujitsas is by far the best. Which one of those to buy that is the question. Having in mind that P1 is very close to quality of MBP and Sony, with this processing power and demo model price, most likely it is the Smart Buy choice. But while you are testing you find yourself looking toward Fujitsas, N3530 lid and N6410 screen and all of sudden you question your whole evaluation process...
Then you look toward 5672 and see that it has descent keyboard and better screen than 8204, plus DVI, price is good and...
I wouldn't go with 8204 definetely because of keyboard.
I wouldn't go with MBP because Windows performance is poor.
I wouldn't go with Sony as screen is not better than P1.
Maybe the screen of N3530 is better than P1 but I could not notice it.
But when I run a NBA video on P1, N3530 and N6410 I noticed certain fuziness on both Fujitsas (screen and coloring is beautiful but speed movement of basketball players could not be reproduced in the same fashion as P1 - this could be detrimental factor in my buying decision!).
I was surprised by responsivness of N6410 having in mind its subpar CPU and HD 4200rpm. If this machine by any chance had ATI x1600 IT WOULD BE DEFINITE WINNER. Disk can be upgraded to two 7200rpm 100GB disks, 1.66GHz is not that important, but x1400 definetelly sucks. You have a beautifull media laptop, excellent quality, best screen in business and yet just x1400!?
The question is whether to go with demo model or buy a new P1. I did not check for dead pixels. Demo price is $320can less than new one. Do you think it is a good price?

 

My prices come directly from PC Village Online: www.pcvonline.com

All the aforementioned laptops are brand-new.

 

Bran, thanks for the helpfull info.

I was definately considering the LG P1, however I opted to wait another 4-6 months for the W3J and V1J.

THe LG P1 has almost everything a person could want. Its only missing a High Res screen, and a DVI port..i know it has a low res screen that's glossy which is nice.

But the P1's overall powerformance and decent quality and looks, make it a winner plus te 3 years warranty is nice.

The price of the p1 is good with the $320 less because of the demo unit, without it, it really is kinda pricey.

So go back to the store and check it out for any other defects on it, like scratches and battery problems, and pixel problems.

Hopefully everything is ok... make sure all ports work...etc etc..

Thanks,

MysticGolem

 

I considered W3J too, but W3J is also WXGA i.e. same resolution as P1, is it not?
It has 100 HD but P1 is 2.0GHz (psychological impact!) and can upgrade to 7200rpm.
W3j has swappable drive but P1 is 15".
I think whoever wants a perfect laptop must go for 15". What's the point to have wide screen and only 14". I would rather then go for Thinkpad T60p 2623D6U (very good deal!, but no "W" in the screen).
I consider perfect laptop which is both business and game oriented, as well as media oriented. You cannot have good media orientation with 14" (even for some business purposes and games it could be insufficient). Only with all there aspects covered one can say it is a perfect rig.
But of course there is no DVI in both of these. Ideally, build quality and elegance of Fujitsu plus DVI like on Acer and this would be a perfect laptop in the moment...

I wonder if fuzziness of NBA broadband video I saw with Fujitsu laptops could be caused by the fact these units have only 512MB of memory installed (P1 has 1G)?
I attributed this to ATI x1400 at first, but maybe I am wrong?

If the memory is the problem I would consider purchasing Fujitsu instead of P1 (there is $125 mail-in rebate right now)

 

Which store do you refer your prices from? I'm a bit confused because I cite prices from a specific store in Ontario.

 

bran, im sry to say but if both fujitsu screen exhibit this fuzzyness you talk about, it has NOTHING to do with the vid card..... now that you know this... im sure you can figure what could be the real problem... the screen.... its ms response time....

A real way to test is a take a racing game or FPS game and play it and if you see even the slightest ghosting or fuziness then you know its the screen.

When playing Movies, it doesn't matter whether you got an X1900 or an X1600 or an Intel GMA 950.... the video display the same quality because it based on the DVD of the movie, not the vid card.

In fact Movies are not GPU intensive, they are CPU intensive, just like music.

Hope this info helps.

Thanks,

MysticGolem

 

Can someone tell me whether the graphics card has hypermemory up to 512mb or not?

Never mind, it is hypermemory up to 512..

Can someone please take a photo of the keyboard so I can see the key layout? That'd be awesome, thanks!

 

mysticgolem, you are right regarding DVD movie have nothing to do with graphic card. But in this case I tested all three with broadband video from NBA web site. I checked the specs and apparently both Fujitsas have higher resolution screen than P1 (WXGA+ or WSXGA+ versus WXGA on P1).
So what happens here is that the video stream comes from internet, through wireless link, into the laptop, so there is no instant stream readiness as in DVD movie. This internet/wireless stream gets processed by the CPU (P1 has 2.0 GHz core duo versus 1.66GHz for Fujitsas - first bottleneck) and then it is sent from memory registers (667MHz in P1, maybe the same in Fujitsus or 533MHz, not sure) to the screen via driver. The screen on Fujitsu has higher resolution so that is the second bottleneck (it needs more time to refresh all of the screen). btw, screen on Fujitsu is its main selling point.
This got me thinking: maybe Fujitsu designers did not have other choice then to put x1400 or similar as GPU. With 1.66 GHz it does not make sense to go with x1600 (processing power is the total of both CPU and GPU, so 1.66/x1600 would not be optimal choice). Instead they went with x1400 and had room to design it with much better screen (300 cd, higher contrast). Now battery power instead of being eaten by x1600 is eaten by higher resolution and brighter screen.
So the question is whether to go with sturdier and higher contrast screen option with modest processing power (Fujitsu) or with less sturdy but higher processing power option (P1).
I think in this moment better option is P1. W3J would be even better but it is only 14" which looses that multimedia/entertainment impact of 15" or 17". P1 is sturdier than Toshiba or Acer and besides have 3 yr waranty included. The screen is sufficiently bright ( I did not notice significant difference in brightness between P1 and N3530! ). It seems P1 found optimal balance of different aspects and features of an universal laptop, which can be used for gaming, multimedia, entertainment and to some extent business. If it had dual GPU approach of Sony 160P/C and some of aluminum iodized chassis approach of W3J it would be the perfect laptop for all three aspects in this moment (it even has fingerprint feature and express card!)

 

Hi everyone,

I'm new to notebookreview, but I've been looking for a nice all-around lappy for some time already and like Mystic I'm kind of in a pickle...

LG P1, Asus W3J, or Acer 8204?

I've read reviews here and at notebookforum.com which has lots of info on and Acer 8204, but less info on the Asus, and no info at all for the LG.

But since you guys have posted the reviews I am really getting interested in the LG. Mainly b/c it is lighter than the Acer and has a bigger screen than the Asus. Thus, I can play games, watch movies, surf the net, and do some photoshopping all without having to squint my eyes (Asus W3J) or lug around a heavy lappy (Acer 6.7lbs compared to LG 6.2lbs.)

And plus, I think that the WSXGA+ is too high of a resolution for me personally, b/c the pixels would make all the icons very small, and I heard that the Acer has a lot of LCD light bleeding and it seems to run quite hot (~68 celcius!)

So here's my question, how hot does the S1 (which is basically a P1) get after moderate use, and what tempertures does it hit after Intensive gaming? Does it every just restart b/c it gets too hot? I've heard the Acer 8204 is doing that from a few ppl on the other forums. Specific temperatures would be great and how long did you play the game for etc...

I would really appreciate the additional information. It seems that the LG has a lot of potential, just need to wait for all the drivers for this baby to get updated since it is still sooo new =) Oh yea, does anyone know how much it will cost to upgrade the batter to the 9-Cell, b/c I want to be able to get around 3.5-4 hrs of battery time....


Thanks in advance,

Travis

BTW, I will probably get the P1 sometime this summer, maybe in a month or so... If I get it I'll be happy to answer any of your questions and might even provide a review too. Also, I live in Canada, so Mystic the P1 version I plan on getting will be exactly the version you want too.

 

Hello, Y2b_3k.
If yoiu have enough money, I suggest you purchase S1 Express Dual Series. The design is really good. I will test the Twinmos 1GB DDR2 667MHz ram next week. Because I want upgrade to 2X1GB. Kingstone is too expensive for me.

 

Bran, i see what your saying, and yes LG did definately hit the ball outta the field with their P1 and even S1 notebook. I also did wish it came with dual gpus just like sony.

- When do you plan on buying the P1?

y2b_3k - at this point i cannot suggest or recommend the Acer 8204, from now on i will be in favour of the following 15.4" notebooks, LG P1, LG S1, MacBookPro, and a few models to come.

The batterylife is still roughly questionable, expect the P1 to deliver 3.5 hours, the W3J should hit about over 3+.

Unfortunately on both notebooks there's not much info yet. As for the 9 cell, you may just hafta google it. I haven't seen it before.

Currently my personal choice for a laptop are W3J, and P1.

The S1 is definatly amazing, but its price is just too high, for roughly 2700-2800, you can get a MacbookPro and mess around with bootcamp and hope for the best . (talking in Canadian Dollars)

Yes you should upgrade the Ram aswell once you get the notebook, if you want. I do suggest Corsair, Kingston...they are highly reputable ram brands, but really expensive. So the cheaper but also effective solution is something like Spectek, Twinmos. and a few other.

I Also suggest you check out the ASUS forums here and read about the W3J.
I also recommend you visit www.canadasys.com and go to the markham location to view laptops.

I HIGHLY recommend you buy the notebook around school time.
Reasons: Price drops are occuring in the summer, and for back to school time,
- new ASUS models will be out, Z96j a built on ASUS model, V1J an ensemble business/gaming unit.

I personaly am waiting for the V1J, my hope is that it will cost 2300$ Canadian when it comes out.

Expect the Z96j after you configure it, to be roughly something like this:
- Barebone $1000
- Hard Drive $ 150
- Optical Drive $125
- DDR2 Ram $250
- CPU Yonah $350
Total is $1875 + Accessories like extra battery etc etc + 15% for TAx.

These prices are rough.. so you can expect something like that.

Hope this info helps.

Thanks,

MysticGolem

 

How does the S1/P1 screen compare to the w3j

 

I compared P1 screen with N3530 which is considered excellent screen. I didn't notice any significant difference in brightness and quality. When you press really hard you get some flex on P1 screen as opposed to N3530 which has magnesium alloy lid.
w3j is the same resolution as P1 and glossy and I do not expect any difference here either. But all of these screens are far, far from N6410 and that is the fact. If you want to purchase based on screen only I think you can go with w3j or p1 or sc120/160 or n3530 or and no difference.
But if you want sturdiness then with w3j you get aluminum ionized lid, with sz120pb and n3530 magnesium alloy, with sz160p/c some mixture of plastic and carbon etc.
I am not sure what is p1 made of...if I remember correctly screen flexes in the same fashion as sz120b Sony.
P1 heating is acceptable. It never goes to red line or close to it (but I didn't run any games as I conducted the review in a store)

 

Misticgolem, at this point I am not sure what to buy... I'll probably go with hp dv8220 and then switch to wait state and see what future brings, or who knows ?

 

LG is a great buy, as long as you get the warranty just in case. It hasn't established a longer reputation than Asus (well, Asus came out first).

I live in Toronto too! Let me know where you're getting your P1... so it might be possible to get some discounts together xD. My advice? I'd wait until the W3J comes out so you'd get an idea of what bugs need to be fixed, and it'd also give you a price drop on the P1 as well.

I'm heavily biased... but Acer? Give me a break. With that kind of money you're spending, I'd rather go for durability.

 

Yah, I've made up my mind not to get the Acer 8204 even tho it has DVI and a higher resolution screen, but it seems that its quality just is not up to par with Asus and LG.

I think that I'll wait till mid Summer (probably around June) to get whichever laptop. But it seems that the Asus W3J's screen is a bit too small for me because I really want a good "overall" laptop, and it seems that the LG P1 is the best suited laptop b/c it has good components, a decent screen, lots of new tech such as 5.1 surround sound, new bluetooth, Hexa-band wifi, and Figure print security...

Just need a little more time for the price to decrease a bit... Plus, I hope you've all heard that the GST in Canada is decreasing by 1%

BTW, I am in Vancouver... Probably will get my the P1 from canadasys, sonexpc, or NXIC depending on which place gives the best price. And I've heard that the LG P1 in B.C. is still on backorder, so that will give it some time for the price to fall down to around $2100, hopefully

 

The S1 looks soo sexy

But is it worth paying 300CDN extra over the p1 just to get the glossy piano black

Look wise p1 reminds me of a compaq...

 

Great another person from Vancouver
Now i'm a dummy, but what are the estimated price drops on p1? I need (more like want) a laptop before summer classes start. Unless i'm mistaken that the price drop is from an introduction from competeing models (w3j, z96j).

2nd : how come i've never heard of sonexpc!?!

3rd : Lol saving 20 dollars on the GST aint' so shabby. But this is just theory : the money saved from not having to pay PST overcomes shipping cost when you order from a place like canadasys?

 

THNX for a great review!

I just have one question, Is the CD/DVD player external?
(Under Accessories you wrote X16 Multi DVD drive)?

 

Hi, there.

I've just started the hunt for a new laptop and have been swinging between the Acer TM8204, LG P1 and the ASUS V6J. :decision:

Initially, I "decided" the P1 would be the chosen one, then the other options came along... but the more I read about it I find myself back with the P1.

And this post was particularly interesting to me because I found out that many of you are from Canada.

I'm in the UK (no LG notebooks here), but hopefully I'll be going to Canada (Montreal) for a conference in mid-june. So here comes the question: would you know/recommend anywhere in particular to find a nice P1 in Montreal (or very near surroundings)?

Also, any suggestions in terms of other notebooks with similar specs/price range are welcome.

Thanks in advance.

 

mmiranda i highly suggest 2 things, fill out the FAQ, then really consider the following models ASUS W3J, V6J, V1J, also there are BOA models that would be coming out real soon!

The P1 is an interesting laptop, at first I was considering because the Acer 8204 was not that great... it was just hype, then you look at that screen it is just dull.

So cross off the Acer 8204.

So that leaves the P1 and all those ASUS models.

Then you gotta factor in warranty, P1 does not have international warranty, but you may wanna recheck on it, and yes it does have 3 years warranty, but im sure its local.

All asus ensemble units have 1-2 years global warranty depending on what country you buy from and can be extended.

THe BOA models have local warranty but expect them to be significantly cheaper than the ensemble units. About 300-500$ cheaper.

Hope this helps,

Thanks,

MysticGolem

 

:::

No, LG have Global warranty.

Asus have local warranty on barebone system only
& it's not cover the whole laptop, only the Asus part.
You need to remove all the non Asus parts before doing
warranty. So Trouble....!
Their factory build model do have 2 year warranty!

:::

 

Hope i'm not drawing this thread in the wrong direction golem, but at the http://support.asus.com/service/service.aspx?SLanguage=en-us site, in RED text it says something that makes me really go ????


I cannot extend my warranty now ??
I was just about to get a ensemble notebook from canadasys too.

 

after a lot of research I finally bought HP dv8220ca for $1299can. I think it is best bang for the buck in the moment. Spendid 17" WXGA+ 1400x900 Brightview with Ultra Wide angle is remarkable, somewhere between Fujitsu N3530 and N6410. Two disks 80GB each, 5400rpm, not bad either.
Body is sturdy moulded plastic, design is superb, black piano finish around keypad, excellent sound and multi media control, Vista ready. Lid is thin plastic, no bluetooth nor DVI but for that price...

 

ask canadasys, u should be able to extend the global warranty by paying around $160.

But for Canadasys there is an extended warranty for BOA models which is 140$.

so check that out and also talk with Them and find out some info.

BTW, bran yah the notebook look quite interesting, and your decision did shock me that you ended up going for a 17" notebook. Well aslong as your happy with it, which it sounds like you are. That's Kool, will you be writing a review on it?

Thanks,

MysticGolem

 

Woo... you get a 17" desktop...........like laptop,
totally different animal.......!!??

 

Thanks for the info everyone, and thanks MysticGolem for pointing out the FAQ.

So, here it goes (with some rambling afterwards):

1) What is your budget?
Aiming at about CAD$2000 (about £1000) +/- a bit, if "need be".

2) What size notebook would you prefer?
Mainstream; 15" - 16" screen

3) What tasks will you be performing with the notebook?
Some processor intensive simulations plus general office stuff.

4) Will you be taking the notebook with you to different places or leaving it on your desk?
Definitely on the move.

5) Will you be playing games on it; if so, which games?
Not really (what a boring guy).

6) Are there any brands that you prefer or any you really don't like?
At the moment, keen on LG & ASUS.

7) How many hours of battery life do you need?
Not bothered.

8) Do you mind buying online without seeing the notebook in person?
Fine by me...Adds to the element of surprise (this can swing both ways).

9) What country are you buying this in?
Hopefully, Canada (possibly some 30% cheaper than UK).

Screen Specifics

10) From the choices below, what screen resolutions would you prefer?

WXGA (1280x800), if better, a bonus.

11) Do you want a glossy/reflective screen or a matte/non-glossy screen?
Will do work in office most of the time, and from what I've read, matte seems better, but I'm sure I can addapt the office around my notebook).

Build Quality and Design

12) Are the notebook's looks and stylishness important to you?
It didn't use to, but I think now it is becoming more and more (signs of old age approaching), so yes, I do not want a gray brick.

13) How long do you want this laptop to last?
2 years seems reasonable.

Notebook Components

14) How much hard drive space do you want; 40GB to 120GB?
100GB would be really nice, as I will have a dual boot Linux/Windows. But can live with 80GB and external HD for the "extras".

15) Do you need a DVD, DVD-CD/RW or DVD-R drive?
Yeap, the whole lot, with dual layer & everything.

Now to the rambling:

I would like some CPU power (a dual core AMD64 would be nice, but that will have to wait), but at the same time, with some style - a business number-cruncher.
I currently have a Fujitsu A1630 (DTR AMD64 3700+), 15.4" (1280x800), 80GB, 1GB, 128MB. I'm happy with all these things, but would like a bit more mobility and a bit more style. I'm not concerned about GPU, but would like the 15.4" realstate and some "connectivity" (Bluetooth, yes, DVI, bonus).

Finally, I'm currently in the UK, but moving shortly to Brazil, so the International Warranty will have some weight in the decision.

That's where I get a stuck. ASUS V6j or LG P1?

If the V6j came with a bit more screen, a bit more processor, and was bit more beautiful (especially when open, closed it is really nice), I'd have no doubt. In other words, if it came with the W5f style...

But again, is all that worth around $350? I've also read somewhere (here?) that the P1 is very quiet, which is nice.

From all this and from what I've read in other threads, it seems I'm looking for the V1j, which means waiting...

Well, thats' about it. Sorry for the really long post, and as always, any views are very welcome. Thanks.

 

great thanks for filling out the FAQ, i got one question, when do you want to buy it? Like what's your timeframe?

Your timeframe is now VERY important for getting the most outta your money.

I highly suggest today's newsbit it will clear things up on why timing matters this year.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=51459

So depending on how much time you have i can then direct you to which notebook you should/can buy.

And yes supposedly the P1 is quiet and cool, that's from what i've read and heard, however this is not enough info, we're only talking about 2-4 people that stated this. But nontheless this could be very true. the P1 is a nice notebook.

Thanks,

MysticGolem

 

Thanks once again, MysticGolem.

Now THAT is a question I can easily answer (probably better than most). I'd like to buy it between 18-22 June, which is when I'll be in Montreal for a conference (I thought of going wherever I decide to go to buy it on Sunday, 18).

Back to what you said, regarding the release of Merom and the Turion64 X2, I must say I'm a great fan of AMD. Always had it in desktops and now in my current laptop. I don't know if your remark refers to an elusive release of Vista (apologies for my ignorance in the subject, but is it directly connected to 64-bit hardware?).

Anyway, I think that just like with any "new technology", I like to proceed on the side of caution. I'm certainly not an "early adopter"...I cannot afford a mistake this big (£1000). So I definitely would not be an early user of any version of Windows. I've been "enjoying" a 64-bit OS for nearly 2 years now, in my laptop Linux partition, and I'm not "desperatly" waiting for MS new bugs' nest. But I digress...back to the subject.

With any given budget, I think the prices in Canada would allow me to buy something "better" Intel-based now, instead of buying something "not-so-good" AMD-based later in UK or even Brazilian prices (more than twice as much as Canada).

That's why I'm keen on the P1. The clear alternative would be the V1j, which seems won't be around this side of the summer and even if it were, would it be that much better (the speculated-specs seemed very similar) or cheaper?

As always, if you have any more info on either the P1 or V1j, or a new contender let us know.

Thanks!

 

After reading ur posts, I think it would be for u to go with LG

the reason being is that it's screen is nicer and it has a lot more potential

The bluetooth is state-of-the-art, not many brands even have their model of bluetooth our yet.... most other brands still use V 2.0 or something like that

Also, LG is known for build quality and finish. I think the P1 is a better deal than the S1... so yah...

Hmm, also, it is lighter than most laptops out there and battery life is up to par.

I'm getting the P1 for sure after doing countless hrs of comparison. The 8204 was eliminated first, then it came down to Asus and LG

Also, LG seems to have a cooler running CPU, so that could prolong the life of the laptop and it will DEFINITELY last you for 2-3 years if not more.

 

i needed something quickly (my desktop is Pentium II 300MHz!). if in next 9 days something really good shows up I'll return hp and buy that new rig. but....w3j is an abstraction, as well as w1j etc. 8204 is eliminated by many. P1 is pricey still. hp piano black part is remarkable so s1 should really shine.....but it is even more expensive than p1. for that kind of money i expect sturdiness (like w3j, but it is 14", always something is missing!). no dvi either.
only two things bothers me with hp: touchpad is not very sensitive, and lid is thin, it flexes (but the screen itself not that much). remaining parts is moulded plastic that feels like steel. there is already review for this rig.
if I could be sure i can run heavy Windows applications on MBP i would buy it. at least it is sturdy (but keypad is pain in the ass). anybody run any heavy Windows things on MBP (or heard somebody did it)?

 

well mmiranda, with your timeframe, you do get another option, the ASUS W3J.
14" WXGA with a 1.86ghz, X1600, and good looks, you can see this all at the ASUS forums, everyone is getting one (basicaly). Price is 2050$ Canadian at Canadasys (Toronto).

I still thinkg you should call LG and ask about the P1 having international warranty, make sure 100% that you do and that you have even at least 1 year coverage.

LG is known for making every electronic possible, they are widespread in the electronic industry. In my opinion their notebooks are slightly above quality when compared to Tosh, Acer, dell, but not above ASUS, Fuji and Sager.

The P1 offers the most bang for the buck in your timeframe, if you can get a hold of the W3J (if you want it) then this would be an extremely nice choice too.

Unfortunately from what i have heard, it seems AMD is playing catch up in the notebook industry when compared to intel. Hence intel cpus are better PERIOD, until there's enough evidence to proof otherwise.

Also for desktop we all know AMD leads here, however with the release of Conroe everything changes, and Intel regains dominance after a long 5-6 years of being creamed by AMD.

Bran, i understand your situation, you still got your return policy with a few days left. Well since your considering the MBP, i will suggest it, because bootc camp will always be in fast progress. People are working franticaly to get windows working 100% on it.

Windows on the MBP is only getting better, yes there are still bugs with it. It depends how picky you are. I've read people say it works perfectly. I've heard people say it needs some more tweaks and mods, other than it works like a charm.

However, the price of the MBP is now a big factor, because the MBP can be considered a regular PC (windows) the price is anywhere from 500-1000$ more than its competitors, Speaking in Canadian dollars.

Also notebook prices are going down, however, companies know they can capitalize on selling the same machine for more, alot more. (Alienware theory)

THen other say you can't put a price on the craftsmanship on the MBP, and indeed its the BEST from all notebooks. There some complaints about not enough port variety. However people are still buying them (design!).

Apple has revised the MBP, you will havta make sure you get teh revised one, because the old one has problems in which Apple can only fix.

There are no reviews that i have read that state whether the revised version works flawlessly, however apple did state it was spose to fix the heat and other minor problems.

Hope this info helps.

Thanks,

MysticGolem

 

:::

If you don't play game, get LG LW40.
$1199 vs $2050 ASUS W3J.
Also, LG have much longer Batt life!

:::

 

Is it uncomfortable typing with the keyboard because of the dislocation to the left the numpad causes?