Asus W2JB Review --- 56K? Sorry.

Asus W2JB

This is my first review so please bear with me. I'm not the best photographer so these pics don't do this notebook justice. If you have any questions, comments, suggestions, etc. PLEASE feel free to reply. Here goes!

Looks
It's BEAUTIFUL! What more can I say? I have admired this notebook since I first laid eyes on it. Its sleek looks. Its aesthetically-pleasing design. It was the sexiest laptop I had ever seen. The top and inside are black brushed aluminum. The sides and bottom have sturdy plastic parts that don't take away from the elegant design. When I opened the box and removed this beast from its foam bag, I was in love. It met and exceeded my aesthetic expectations. Apple, there's a new notebook on the block that has the power to back up its looks.

Build
This thing is built amazingly well. I've heard good things about the Asus build and I am now a believer. It's extremely sturdy. I think it could withstand a nice bashing, but I won't be the one to test out that theory.

Maneuverability
Is it light? No. Is it heavy? No. It's just right. It's lighter than both my old Dell XPS M170 and my Aviator CX7. The weight is distributed rather evenly and it is not a bear to carry. I love 17" notebooks and weight has never been an issue with me.

Screen
Being a WXGA+ screen, the resolution isn't as high as many would prefer. I don't mind it and I can certainly live with it. The colors are vibrant and the screen is very bright. FN+C changes to different modes depending on the brightness you want. A very nice feature. The viewing angle is very good. Like most new LCD's, you get a good view from many various angles.

Sound
You may be wondering how the sound is..... well..... IT'S GREAT! Whether you're watching movies, playing a game or listening to music, you'll be very satisfied. It has a bunch of speakers and they all make for a very pleasant experience. I was rather surprised when I first listened to a CD on here. I was planning on external speakers when I first ordered. Don't think I'll be needing them!

Keyboard
I'm still getting used to the keyboard. I copy and paste a lot using the keyboard. It's hard with this one. The FN key is at the very bottom-left corner. This is usually where the Control key is. I ALWAYS hit FN+C when trying to copy. As I stated above, that changes the screen mode. All it takes is a little practice but I'd rather this key be elsewhere. Besides that I'm happy with the keyboard. It's quiet and doesn't move. It is mounted very well.

Touchpad
Definitely the best touchpad I have ever used. It's not slippery like some, and not rough like others. It's in between. Soft enough to use for hours on end, but with a slight texture to keep you from sliding all over the place. The buttons work very well. You can push them from any point on the surface, not just the ends as one might expect.

Battery Life
I rarely ever run off my battery and haven't run this thing out, but Windows tells me that a full charge will yield ~2 hours and 30 minutes. This is very good IMO. Keep in mind we've got a dual core processor and a powerful GPU in here. Very, very respectable.

Heat
I'll be the first to admit that this thing runs HOT! 40C idle, and got it up to as high as 68C just setting up a bunch of stuff. This is still well within the normal operating temperature range. I've really just been personalizing this thing so I haven't had a chance to do any gaming or stress tests. Some AS5 will certainly lower the temps a bit. That's in the near future.

Conclusion
What else is there to be said? I LOVE this thing! 10/10. It's everything I expected and more! This is one of the few occasions where what I expected was what I got. It's fast as hell, has a nice graphics card, doubles as a TV/Radio, and looks great! A+ to Asus!

I'll continue updating as time goes by. Something may be awesome one day and then totally suck the next. I'll let you all know how it wears and how it games, and whatever else you want to know. Thanks for reading through and I hope I made you a believer. ASUS!

NOW FOR THE PICS!

Here's the mother, just about to give birth to a beautiful baby notebook.





It's just a box, but it's a cool box!



All of the enclosed accessories. This includes a Windows Media Center Remote (that lights up!), Headphones, DTV/FM Antenna, Media Center Receiver, DVI Cable, S-Video Cable, Software, Drivers, and a few other adaptors. Definitely a nice selection.



And now...... the moment you've been waiting for..... the unveiling of the ASUS W2JB....... after this little note Keep in mind I suck at taking pics, and it was a crappy, rainy day out. There was no sun to aid in lighting up the room, but you get the idea. ANYWAYS....... Can I get a drum roll please?

Top View


Left Side View. Here you can see the slot-load optical drive, a USB port, the open door exposing the Antenna, S-Video and phone/ethernet jacks, DC-Input, and Kensington Lock Hole.



Here's a pic comparing my old Hypersonic Aviator CX7 (top) to the W2JB.





Bottom View.



The CPU is easily accessible. I'll most likely be adding some AS5, as I do to every notebook.



Here we have the TV Tuner, Bluetooth module and something else. Wireless card?



Hard Drive and RAM compartments, as well as the subwoofer.



Shall we open it up? I think that's a good idea. Here is the comparison with my Hypersonic. WSXGA vs. WXGA of the Asus. I don't mind the difference whatsoever.



Look at the sexy touchpad and mouse buttons! Those bumps on the touchpad may look intimidating, but I can assure you it is soft and very comfortable to use.



Buttons in the top-right corner. I completely forgot those were even buttons (besides power) until I accidentally hit one



Top-left corner. These are the status lights. Sexy blue HDD indicator.



Here's a front view. Power, Charger, E-Mail, Bluetooth and Wireless indicators all sit up front.



These are the quick buttons above the keyboard. This most certainly IS a multimedia notebook.



Here are the stickers telling what all this beast has inside. I consider them plaques that announce greatness.



This thing has 4 speakers and a subwoofer! Holy crap! The sound is really damn good. Here's one of the 2 speakers (not including subwoofer) found underneath.



Another pic to try and show the sweet finish. Again, this thing is black. Damn you light!



As with most manufacturers, this is all the junk that starts up when you first boot.



Oh yes. Behold the POWER!



Here's a stock 3DMark05 score. 4,125. Is that good? Hell yeah it is!



Did I mention this thing has Media Center on it? I had honestly never used Media Center but now I LOVE it! I can watch and record TV on my friggen laptop! Gotta love The Shield in the off season. Thank you Spike TV!


​

 

Very nice

As for the junk, pretty much only the Norton is blahwear, the rest are BT, wireless, TV Tuner, wireless, sound, video, etc. clients that annoyingly turn on

 

Yeah, true.

 

you may want to edit out those serial numbers in that one pic

 

Wow thanks. I was trying to keep them out of the pic but it looks like they made it in just enough to make out. Oh well... good luck getting it activated Blurred them out. Thanks again.

 

SO DAMN GOOD... i really wanna ask a question. why does your w2j have 2g of RAM? this is weird? lol. i think u just added one more on it..?

 

I think his notebook came with only 1 stick and so he could just pop in the other gig of RAM. Is it true that you only have access to one SODIMM port?

Got a few more questions for you too...

What kind of a 2006 3dMark does this notebook achieve (stock)?

What are the stock core and memory clock speeds on the X1600?

Have you had a chance to get any FPS scores on any games yet?

Does your TV Tuner work well?

Okay, so that was a lot of questions... I hope you're enjoying this baby! I am seriously looking into this one, and I just want to get a feel for where I should set my expectations. Cool. Thanks for your help!

alex

 

Yeah it has 2 slots and came with 1 1024. I added another.

Just ran 3DMark06 and scored a 2094. I'm not really sure what's good in 06 so I ran it on my PC as a comparison. I got a 4926.

Stock core is 425MHz and memory is 475MHz.

Haven't installed any games. Planning on doing some BF2 later this week. I'll post back with the results.

The TV tuner works great. It's not the clearest picture when using cable but it's not too bad.

 

Hi:
There iz no carring case with it ???
its come with bulit in Web Cam ?? http://event.asus.com/2006/nb/fullline/mobiletv/eng/
from where can i get one with wsxga+ screen ??
Thx 4 nice review

 

....

No carrying case.

No webcam.

W2JC has a WSXGA+ screen.

 

W2JC got DVB-T ??

 

How much it cost???

 

$2395 shipped at release.

 

Hi,

Very nice review. Just question I wanted to ask.

Does the W2 have an S-Video output?

If not, are you provided the with an av-out cable?

Thanks

 

Yes it does have an S-video output.

 

wow I'm convinced, I'm defiantly picking one of those puppies up

 

how hard was it adding another stick of memory? I've never dealt with laptops before, only desktops. What kind of memory would you recommend adding to it?

 

why does it say "Wide XGA+ 1440 × 900" on the newegg website: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16834220031&PageStyle=@

and on the Zip Fly website it says "LCD Size & Resolution: 17" WSXGA+ (1680 x 1050)" : http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=262519&prodlist=cnet

 

Because Zip is wrong.

 

what type of 1 GB RAM stick did you buy to put in the laptop to beef it up to 2 gigs?

 

http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16820231069

 

Not sure why you like WIndows Media Center over Windows XP.

 

It's the same thing with some added multimedia functionality

 

cooler looking taskbar ^^

 

I just got a W2Jc & I totally agree with you 100% on your review husky... it's a work of art!
I'm very happy with my purchase.

I also got 2 ASUS PW191 LCD's to go with it & the whole rig works beautifully.

To anyone reading this who is unsure of the W2 series... go for it, you won't be sorry.

 

couldn't agree more!

 

Another big fat vote for this awesome laptop. I started playing F.E.A.R. again when I got this and I'm blown away by how well a portable PC can play a game that brings most desktops to their knees on higher settings.

 

Just got this laptop and so far i love it to death. But i have a few questions for the veteran owners. How do i use the NTFS converter cause i rather not have a FAT32 HDD. Second i am looking at this flash site for the W2V laptop, our lower modeled cousin, and i notice it comes with a remote. Does everyone else have the remote? Thirdly, how do i hook this laptop to my dell 2407fpw through the hdmi? Thanks a bunch for helping. Once again i love this thing.

 

Congrats! It's an amazing machine.

I used PartitionMagic to convert to NTFS so I'm not sure. I know there's a command to do it, but I trust PM over these old shell commands.

Mine came with a remote. It's part of the Windows Media Center package. A remote and a USB are included.

The HDMI cable has a DVI output at the end. Just plug them in and hit FN+whatever key switches monitors.

 

hehe fast response...i will look into partitionMagic...I also have that remote but the remote i was referring to is the one that comes out of the expresscard slot like in the flash on that asus website. Man i love this laptop...Runs BF2 nicely at 1440x900 resolution...but when i hook it up to my 24" and run it at 1920x1200 i need to lower the setting =). Anyways i was leaning towards a macbook pro...when i saw this notebook couldn't resist. I knew i would be using windows most of the time on the macbook pro so that made it easier to choose this over the macbook pro. I also got a killer deal on the laptop so 1 more point for the Asus. The Asus is better speced than the Macbook pro. So with all this i had to get the Asus right =). Oh one more thing. Do you know where the ram that come with this laptop is located...i opened the ram slot but i don't see any ram...

 

Never heard of an Express Card remote for this laptop.

There are 2 RAM slots. One is underneath that plate, the other is under the keyboard.

 

man i am so glad you are around to help =) i was wondering do i have to buy a specific type of ram in order for it to be dual channel? or can it be any 1gb ddr 667 ram? SOrry first time laptop user/buyer.

 

Hi (I am new here)
Husky - you said in your initial posting that w2j runs hot. Could you elaborate a bit? How hot does it get - is it somehow uncomfortable?

 

It's not uncomfortable, it just runs hot. It's not uncommon to see 80C+ temps when doing intensive work.

 

Thank you for your answer - I have been twisting my head back and forth between v1j, w2jc and w1jc the last month or so. One problem here in denmark is that - at least at some point only w2jc was available. My favorit would be w1jc. Now I just discovered that w1jc exists here with T7400 2.16, X1600, 2048Mb 120Mb, firewire and 3usb. Screen is 15.4 1680x1050 ZBD-gurantee. I think this must be an updated version as I recall there being no firewire before. I guess that most of what goes for w2jc (in terms of heat etc) also goes for this one - I suppose I will be ordering this tomorrow or by Monday. I think you and this forum is doing a great service.

 

How loud is it? My unhappy Presario 2570 experience is that a hot notebook is a loud notebook.

I'm considering buying a W2JB and noise is the only thing that gives me pause.

Thanks.

 

It's not loud at all. I've owned quite a few high performance notebooks and this is by far the quietest.

 

How do you get under the keyboard? I'm confused. I bought 2 gigs of OCZ and wanted to auction off the old RAM. I installed one gig but I can't find the other slot for it.

 

Pull the battery. Unscrew all the screws underneath that spot and the keyboard should come off. The RAM slot is under it.

 

Thanks for the quick reply. I unscrewed all those screws that the battery was covering up. The keyboard is still stuck. Is there anything I'm missing? Am I supposed to do it a certian way?

 

This summer I am upgrading my W2J with a new 7200RPM HD and a merom T7600 Core 2 Duo. I also have the stock 1 gig and a gskill 1 gig stick in there, I don't think it's worth it to upgrade those to performace RAM

 

Very nice notebook! Shame about the GPU though. They really should have put something in that's a tad faster.

 

Hypersonic = Wortman Terra?
At least it looks like a copy of Terra.

 

the laptop looks awesome well i guess you get what you pay for eh?
asus at its best
if im not mistaken this is one of asus high end models along with the V1
if they wouldve put in a better GPU it wouldve been awesome but i guess one cant have everything one wants
again given that this is aimed at mostly business users the X1600 is sufficient
nice pics BTW thanks!! i hvnt hd the chance to c one up close personally as yet as they arent available anywhere where i live but the pics gimme an idea of how good its build is
oh yeah u aint as bad as i am at takin pics

 

Thanks for the review. I ended up buying the newer version of yours, w2pb with sxga+ slot load, etc. I bought the 72k 200gb hitachi as un upgrade, but after removing the 2 hard drive screws close to where the finger indentation is I could not for the life of me get the cover to pop off. It's as if there is another screw yet I can't find it. I gave it a little tug but I am now backing off so I dont break it. How did you remove it??? I can't wait till I can play with it more!

Thanks.

 

Turns out I just had to use more force. I am being real careful with this laptop. My rule of thumb is if it's not coming off easy...I probably missed a screw or something.

So far the laptop is great, a little slow with all the bloat-ware. Going to image the original install onto the new drive and uninstall all I can. If that doesn't help going to go with a fresh install of Ultimate. Thankfully ASUS had 1gb stock under the keyboard and not 2x 512s.

 

wow, this is an old thread! I also bought the w2jb after I saw the review. back then it was a T2500 with a 100GB 5400rpm drive. The res was a bit on the low side, but definitely no issues with it. laptop is extremely well made with a lot of brushed aluminum. I do believe this and the mac book pro were designed by the same team.

 

I gotta say, though this laptop's a year or so old, I like how that thing looks! If it only had modern equipment in it, I'd consider that as a contender to my Sager!

That mousepad and buttons, I like how that's designed, minimalistic with style!

 

The W2w is coming sooooon!!!!

 

Yeah it's still the coolest looking laptop out right now IMO. I like the high-end Sony notebooks but they're plasticy and cheap. My W2J is still running strong, but now with Vista