Question:
Help me refine my W3J choice
I did the formal post on What to buy the other day and got a nice recommendation for a W3J ASUS.
I then found out that UNLIKE Dell, etc. I cannot customize a W3J without voiding the Mfgr warranty.
The ensemble dealer who enlightened me to this told me me needs don't really demand a 2ghz cpu or a 7200 HD but when I commit to more than $1900 for a laptop I hate to think I can't drop a little more to jazz up X to what I like. He pointed out that HEAT increase potential and factory warranty loss aren't worth it.. That any dealer who customize may or may NOT be there to honor a warranty they provide. I will use this thing as a bedroom BED pc for my techy wife who also loves specs but I admit it'll be idleing a lot of the 12hrs a day it'll be left on AC.
So I wrote a bit of a loaded email to another dealer who provides his own warranty and customizes to see what HE thinks and I reproduce it (sans names) below..
What do you folks think... I want max spec IF I won't fry the thing.
Is the ASUS so upgraded that much more likely to need service than say a dell that they technically sanction & will service?
Will someone recommend a cooler that'll keep the W3J as safe as possible for 12hr a day typical ontime?
Below see the the note I have penned to dealer #2.. NOTE: I truly respect the ensemble dealers comments & he's right, I AM throwing some $$ away with my NON power user needs vrs wants if I "spec up" the base W3J but doggone it I want those specs if I won't fry it... Any of you ever bought a spec just for braggin rights to yourself? I sure have.. Help me Obi-Wan, even though I can afford to ramp up a W3J I don't want to destroy it?
Dear dealer:
We would really prefer/Want:
W3j 2GigCore2Duo 4L2
2 Meg RAM
80g NCQ 7200HD
Usage: Non travelling bedroom PC On Bed Fan cooler assumed... ON ~12 hrs day - idleing mostly (wife has MS, in bed a lot will use it for light online games (poker, pogo etc), surfing, Quicken )etc
Occasional Dreamweaver Mx, excel/word. Maybe a movie in late PM if I don't wanna crank up the TV/dvd player and wake up wife...
So we are not power gamers but we are historically hdwe whores & we like kick a$$ boxes when possible
We have been using an old Inspiron 4000 on a docking station that has a base separating it from the bedsheet.
Our computer-notebook research has convinced me that the W3J is a good choice but I am worried about OVER-outfitting the W3J And causing heat issues (even with a cooler).
I have corresponded with another dealer who exclusively sells ensembles and he warned me against HEAT, overbuying on a laptop just cause we want kick a$$ super specs, and the fact that if we custom config a w3j we lose the factory warranty.
I am weighing the extra 5-600 expense to satisfy my tech whoriness with the warranty worries and fear of overheating.
Questions:
Will the W3J hold up better or worse than say a Dell 1210 similarly customized. Would you fear adding the options I describe (will this thing melt) How would YOU run it on a bed if it had to idle 4-5 hrs & run lightly for the remainder of that 12P-12AM period daily? (Do you know an ideal cooler for that application)
Is that other vendor scaring me unnecessarily just to make an ensemble sale?
Question to myself: Do I NEED to increase from 1.6 L2=2 and a 5400 HD?
Answer: NO but I kinda WANT it IF I won't fry it, ya know?
IF, you tell me sure do it, does your added $xx charge to your 80G 7200 to spec Seagate get me that Barracuda is it?, NCQ 7200.. I want a great HD if I upgrade from the default 5400
Does the 2.0G Core2 run that much hotter than that 1.6 Core2
Don't forget to spec a REAL good cooler that'll properly fit/work well with the W3J IF you can/know
Thanks for a candid answer!
Answer:
Re: Help me refine my W3J choice
Really I have heard of the w3j getting specked up much higher than that and running fine. Also you might want to look at the previous gen w3j, it comes with a 2GHz core duo, so you could keep the warranty. Try posting this in the Asus forum, you will probably get more answers. For the laptop cooler search the hardware forum, I think I saw a very similar question there recently.
Answer:
Re: Help me refine my W3J choice
Well if U say that U are tech geek U should not have a problem with changing the HDD and adding some RAM. Maybe just buy 2GHz Asus with smallest HDD possible and 1 GB RAM in one DIMM and then just buy the other bits separately and add them :)
Answer:
Re: Help me refine my W3J choice
dose it help?
Answer:
Re: Help me refine my W3J choice
or maybe this one:
http://www.btotech.com/store/product.../W3J-H037P.htm
Answer:
Re: Help me refine my W3J choice
I would buy it as the 1.6 ghz version and plan to buy the last merom cpu on the market in a year or so.
I mean think this out. If you buy a w3j, you buy a t5500. Why not use it lol? If you want better, why not buy a cpu when its way better? Maybe a 3.0 ghz 4 core or something.
why not consider voiding the warranty AFTER youre sure the machine was put together correctly?
upgrade the hd and ram as it became necessary but possibly order the ram with the machine.
that is the smartest purchase, not dealer upgrades.