Asus W90, everyones overall Asus experience?

My computer is a whitebook model, which means most of my support experiences were through my reseller and not directly through Asus. However, for the times I have dealt directly with them, things went smoothly.

Speaking from a short historical perspective since I've followed the company, Asus has changed their notebook strategy significantly. In 2004, they were a lesser known notebook manufacturer that made top quality notebooks mainly for business professionals. In 2005 and 2006, they released several whitebook models as well as attempted to expand to other market segments. During 2006-2007, they released several notebooks in the lower-end market and almost dropped out of the high end market. Last year, they were able to better synthesize fairly high quality notebooks that weren't over-expensive, and this year they have been trying to further develop their brand in the high-end gaming market while retaining their integrity elsewhere. The W90 is part of that effort.

Asus likes to be innovative with design, and while many of these innovations work well, some (like the C90 series) don't work out as well as they could. So in light of this, I would recommend reading a few production reviews of the unit before purchasing one. If the reviews are generally positive and meet your expectations, then I would be comfortable buying one, since Asus has a very good reputation for supporting their products, especially in North America and Asia.

I bought my first ASUS about 6 months ago and love it. (MV50-Vx1) No issues at all, and the two questions I had ASUS answered within a coupld of hours.

I have the w90vp model

Hey Gents,
I thought that I would check the forum for any news on the W90 and found this thread. Rather than starting a new one I thought that I would give my two cents here.

I bought the W90VP model, the Quad Core variant of the W90 and I have to say that I am very happy with my decision to buy. The computer is screaming fast, it runs very cool (especially considering that I switched from the Sager 5790 with the AMD Turion X2) and is significantly lighter than the aforementioned Sager. That is not to say that I don't have my complaints. When I received the laptop and turned it on there was a significant amount of Asus bloatware installed. I had to spend the next few hours setting up the machine to my liking (not an abnormal situation for most of us I suppose). My main complaint was with the screen. It was hailed by forums far and wide to have one of the best screen available, but I found the viewing angles, the black representations, and the colors to be very poor. When the screen was not viewed from straight on (normal) the screen was nearly impossible to see. If the screen was tilted back or forward the colors either became very dark or washed out with white. I don't know why this was the case (this isn't my expertise) so I RMA'd it back to Asus in California. They were not very happy that I wanted a new screen but they replaced it anyway. My new screen is much better and I have no new complaints.

My second complaint is not necessarily an Asus problem in that I really like Windows 7 and it does not work with the Radeon 4870 X2 Crossfire cards. In order to get Windows 7 to install on my computer without giving me a bluescreen halfway through the installation I have to disable one of the GPUs. I can't reenable the card after it has installed either or I get the same bluescreen error. So, until Windows 7 allows for the two cards I will have to make due with just one.

My third itme is not hardware related. When I sent my computer back to Asus they appear to have removed the drivers/utilities disk from the sleeve and didn't put it back when they shipped it to me. So now I have only partial useability of my laptop since I haven't been able to install the drivers and utilities that come on the disk. I'm pretty certain that I can get them from the Asus site but with school finals and a host of additional responsibilities upon me I don't have time to fiddle. I spoke to Asus customer service and they should be sending me the disk in the mail tomorrow.

I hope to write a more comprehensive review of the laptop some time in the next month or so. I have to put all of my software back on and see how they perform before I begin my critique, and that is the reason for the delay. I hope that there are a few that will find the review helpful when it comes.

Take care all!
el Don

Wow, thanks for the in-depth experience! I look forward to reading your review!

Update with Asus w90 and Windows 7

Here is an update to the known Windows 7 issues and the Asus W90. ATI lists a Windows 7 driver on their website for the Radeon 4870 X2, however, after installation of the driver and a system reboot the 4870 still does function properly. If you go to the Device Manager and go to Display Adapters the second card still shows the yellow exclamation point that indicates a problem. It appears that even though ATI has provided a good driver that Windows 7 is still the problem. I hope that they resolve this issue soon. I will continue to make short posts as I see problems or solutions.

Thanks!

el Don

I have a W90vp-x2 from Newegg and I'm very happy with it, for the most part. I do have the same complaint about the screen.

Viewing angles seem very narrow and there seems to be severe light leakage when viewing black.

How much better is the new screen and how long did it take to get it back?

Windows 7 is a release candidate which means it's in testing with the general public. Some devices Vista drivers will work but not all and Windows 7 drivers aren't complete yet also.

Hey Folks,
Sorry for the long delay in responding to anyone and anything, I've been in Argentina for the last few weeks (studying abroad) and will be here until the middle of July. As a result of my absence from the country I will have to postpone my review. I do, however, have my Asus w90vp with me here so I have been able to test it pretty throughly. In general terms, it runs really well with Windows 7 at the helm. I don't suffer random crashing or graphical anomalies. It has been able to handle very large 3d models and CAD files that my Sager 5960 had difficulties with. (I believe that this was due more to the Turion X2 limitations than the overall computer). The best aspect with the Quad Core variant is that I can have all of my programs open and running without freezing the computer. Yesterday I finished two renderings while I installed another program, listened to music, and fiddled with Photoshop. To me, that is simply amazing!

Anyhow, I hope that anyone interested in this fine piece of computing hardware will find my random thoughts useful. Upon returning to the States I hope to provide a more quantitative study of the Asus W90VP, as well as being able to get the second 4870 core working under Windows 7.

Until then!

el Don

Sounds good! If you have time to write up a review here, we'd love to read one!