any body know what's the difference between joybook 7000E with the one reviewed here?? I saw from price list that it is selling at RM4799 now!
I saw the price list from here. If it is same model with yours, I think it is a worth buy, right? http://my.hardwarezone.com/priceguide/download.php?action=dl&fid=19243&cat=1
I don't think it's quite the same model. It may be an upgraded model. However, BenQ "upgraded" my model with a 802.11g WiFi module BUT replaced the DVD writer with a CD/DVD combo drive. I'm not sure if that's the Joybook 7000E. You better go check it out. See what it really comes with BEFORE you buy it.
JB7000 & linux Maybe this is interesting for any of you, as linux fitx fine into this nice notebook. More info at: http://tuxmobil.org/ http://tuxmobil.org/benq.html
Buying a BenQ Joybook 7000 at coming PC Fair a good idea? Hello, guys and gals (are there girls here...?). New guy here, in need of some expert advice. Had been looking up on Benq 7000 for the past few months, and given the minimal budget I have, it looks like a very good choice. I've read the reviews and it looks good. I've seen some display units and it looks good. The only question I have now are: 1. After using it for more than 1/2 year, does it perform and "behave" as you had expected? 2. As I had a bad exp. with my previous laptop salesman (and his entire sales team), I was wondering if you all can give me some recommendation which shop to buy from. Really dun want to relive the bad history or exp. Adrian and Ken's fiasco trilogy. Thanks and good job to all of you in keeping us (the uninformed) informed! Keep it up!
Hello Maverick! Yes, there are girls here. 1. Yes, it performs and behave superbly... except for the two occasions where the Intel 802.11b mini-PCI card inexplicably died. 2. Sales people here in Malaysia are usually like that. Once sold, considered forgotten. Forget about the salesman or the company who sold you the notebook. Once you pay them and they hand the notebook over to you, they really don't want to hear from you ever again. If you have any technical problems, you are expected to go directly to BenQ or the support company of HighPoint. So, it doesn't matter which company you buy from. Just go through the article on our experience and try to avoid the problems we encountered. Good luck!!
Noted. Thanks for the prompt reply, Adrian. Will get a benq 7000 soon... Still debating over the s72... but at that price, might as well get the toshiba. How's the performance difference between mobility 9700 and GO 6200 anyway?
Heheh.. That I would like to know as well. If only someone with a Go6200-equipped notebook will let me test it..
nVidia Go6200 versus Ati Radeon 9700 The Ati is going to perform much better under 3D games than the nVidia... I've used one of these for a while and it was horrible (remember that it's using system's memory!). With the Radeon 9700 most games play smoothly. My 2 € cents
New variation of Joybook 7000 Hi everyone. I really loved the review about the Joybook 7000. I live here in Taipei Taiwan. There is a new variation of Joybook that I'm interested in, they call it Joybook 7000-T49. Every specs of this Joybook is the same in your review except these few upgrades/changes: 1. Intel Pentium-M 735 (1.7 Ghz) (Dothan) 2. 60 Gig hard drive (5400 rpm) 3. 24x DVD/CD-RW Combo 4. 802.11 a/b/g Intel Pro/Wireless 2200 (but I guess every Joybook 7000 has this particular component - though I dont know what a/b/g means) 5. 4-in-1 card reader SD/MMC/Memory Stick/MS Pro My thoughts: I really like the specs because I'm a cross between a power-user and a low-end office/casual user. I love the Infrared port, 4-in-1 card reader, and etc. I also like the ATI Mobility Radeon 9700. However, the Joybook 7000 had a weakness which I saw in a lot (if not all) the review websites. They pointed out that the Joybook 7000 is a great buy and great specs but poor in performance. I thought maybe because they reviewed the older version of the 7000 - the one that had a 40 GB Hard drive with 4200 rpm and perhaps a 1.5 Ghz Pentium M. So my question is, is this new variation of the Joybook 7000 a good buy and more powerful? Or does the 60 GB hard drive with 5400 rpm and Pentium M 735 (1.7 Ghz) really don't make a difference? The Joybook 7000-T49 comes with a 256 RAM, but I can afford an extra 512 RAM card to make it a total of 768 RAM (which I think is highly sufficient for me) - more than 768 RAM is pricey and its way too much for my caliber of usage. What do you guys think? I'm really bent on buying it. I have seen a lot of laptops but BenQ is really looking good to me.
Hello there, solon_gale!! Great to hear from you! a/b/g are different WiFi standards. The most common is 802.11b, which is pretty much in use in hotspots all over the world. 802.11g is faster at 54mbps (vs. 11mbps in the 802.11b) and getting more popular. The slow and small hard disk is certainly a disappointment. Only 40GB? That's pathetic IMHO. And 4200 RPM is too slow for such a great machine. It's great to see that you are looking at a Joybook 7000 model that comes with a larger and faster (5400 RPM) hard disk. Just take a look at this review of a 5400 RPM hard disk vs. a 4200 RPM hard disk (from the BenQ Joybook 7000) - http://www.rojakpot.com/showarticle.aspx?artno=240 The increase in processor speed won't really matter much, IMHO. More important is the amount of RAM your notebook has. 256MB is way too little. 768MB is more like it. I'm personally using 1GB of RAM and I find it okay for my work, although I would prefer 1.5GB. Hope that helps you some!
Joybook S53W and Joybook 7000 Hi again. Wow, that's fast response. Thank you, I'm very happy to have joined this community. I like your website because you review things in a practical way - you hate bad things, you like good things; as simple as that. I admit that I had my eyes set on another laptop before the Joybook 7000-T49. It is the Joybook S53W-T02. The S53W is smaller (13 inch screen) and has all the married characteristics of Joybook 7000 and Joybook S52. You can check www.benq.com.tw S53W is BenQ's latest Joybook model. In addition to the combined specs of 7000 and S52 (but still at 256 Ram - which is easily upgraded), here are the changes/specs of S53W-T02: 1. 13 inches screen - 200 nits brightness 2. Intel Pentium M 750 (1.86 Ghz) (Dothan) 3. Optional built-in Bluetooth 4. 60 GB 5400 rpm 6. 5-in-1 card reader (SD/MMC/MS/MS Pro/xD) 7. 802.11 b/g Intel Pro Wireless 2200 8. Trendy bright white casing - that screams "I look like a Mac I-Book! Buy me, I'm a fashion laptop! You'll be soooo poh-puh-lerrr!" My thoughts: I am also a semi-fashionista. If I'm going to buy a fairly powerful laptop then I'm gonna do it with style. I want to be unique and separate from those usual black/silver/grey laptops. I want people to stare at me/it when I use it. I want them to take a quick glance and subconsciously mistake it for an I-book. Haha. Everything looked pretty good until I saw one spec that I really hate. To say it to me is like cussing me... That spec is the integrated graphics. I have experienced Intel Extreme Graphics 2 and I don't want to use something like that again, ever. However, the S53W uses a new generation of integrated graphics called Intel GMA 900. It is also configurable up to 128 RAM (shared). But still, new generation or not, I really don't like integrated graphics. And its also a good thing that I checked a lot of websites - Intel GMA 900 utterly lost to ATI Radeon Mobility. It even lost to older, less powerful, dedicated videocards. Maybe I'm giving too much thought about graphics since I'm not a pc gamer at all. The only pc-game I play is Ragnarok Online. However, I am still greedy enough consume memory and video RAM for other uses. Thanks to your clarifications, I am looking forward to buy 7000-T49. I will also follow your shopping advice as to not replay the 'Adrian and Ken's Laptop adventure' to yet another consumer. I don't know, so far the only notebooks I got attracted to is the Joybook line. Dell, HP, and Toshiba failed to impress me when it came to the designs of their notebooks. Fujitsu and the new colorful FS Sony Vaios cost way too much. I too had bad service with Acer in the past (back in college when I had an Aspire Desktop circa Pentium 3). But maybe the S53W is worth the glance from you guys. I may be bashing it too much coz of its single flaw. But I would also like to see what you/others think about it. Lolz. More power to your website.
BenQ vs Asus Hi Guys I'm new here. Am on the verge of getting a laptop, probably making a decision in one or two days time. I've kinda narrow my search to 2 model, the 1st naturally is BenQ, specifically the 7000-E18. The other being Asus A6VC17DL. Does anyone have any comment on which brand is generally more stable (I'm not sure if this is the right word to use) & reliable, as you see I intend to use it for more than just a couple of years & I dun wish to see it die on me in juz matter of 2 to 3 years (or worse, dying of a prolong agonising death that warrant repeated visit to the 'hospital'). I was told Asus is quite hardy & reliable, got a friend had been using one frequently for 5 years & it's still functioning. It would help me a lot if someone could also comment specifically on the two models. I like BenQ 7000 for the design & from what I read here, it seems a pretty good piece of equipment. As for Asus I'm incline to it for it's reliability. If there's enough folks here who swear by BenQ's reliability, I'm ready to be converted. The following are the spec:- BenQ - Pentium M 725, 512MB, 60GB HDD, 14"WXGA, MultiDVD+RW, ATI Radeon 9700 64MB, 1 year international warrenty. Asus - Centrino 1.7-M, 512MB DDR, 60GB HDD, 15.4"WXGA, DVD dual layer, 64MB dedicated graphic card (sori dun have the exact spec for this), 2 years international warrenty. Also can any explain to a novice like me the difference between a Multi DVD+RW & DVD dual layer? Incidentally they both are priced at the same price.
Hehe.. I know what you mean. Well, personally, I would also avoid integrated graphics where possible. Intel just can't make them fast enough to be useful for more than office work. Even my Toshiba M30's slow NVIDIA GeForce Go5200 is still faster than the Intel Extreme Graphics 2. If possible, go for a notebook with discrete graphics.
Honestly, I can't comment on the ASUS since I have never been able to afford one! But I've been using this BenQ Joybook 7000 for almost a year now. Still running strong. Of course, the WiFi card died TWICE.. but that's made by Intel. Can hardly blame it on BenQ. Ken had some problems with his battery, but mine's fine. He should have no problem getting it changed - it's just a matter of taking the effort to do it, I guess. BTW, a Multi DVD+RW drive is just a DVD writer that doubles as a CD writer. A DVD dual layer writer allows you to write DVDs on single-layer DVDs (about 4.7GB) or dual-layer DVDs (about 9GB). Incidentally, no matter which you go for, check and see if the DVD writer supports the +R/W format, the -R/W format or both. That will limit the type of DVD it can write. Hope that helps you some!
