G60VX Owners Lounge

Got my G60VX today from Best Buy for $979.99 without taxes. I am extremely satisfied. The only ones BB had were ones with Norton pre-installed and ones with their so called "optimization" which is a total scam btw for $40 more. All they do is remove bloatware and say they sped up your pc by 50%.

Felt great as it was my first purchase over $1000 paid for in neatly stacked $100 dollar bills.

Reply 1 : G60VX Owners Lounge

just got mine today. i was in line at best buy since 8am launch day. i was the only one their. i was expecting thousands of people in line and people camping out over night....

Reply 2 : G60VX Owners Lounge

Quote:

Originally Posted by dzuchowski just got mine today. i was in line at best buy since 8am launch day. i was the only one their. i was expecting thousands of people in line and people camping out over night....

doesnt best buy open at 10?

Reply 3 : G60VX Owners Lounge

i wish the res on these werent so lame

Reply 4 : G60VX Owners Lounge

Quote:

Originally Posted by Logitech456 i wish the res on these werent so lame

Screen res might be low for some people but at least it's a very good quality screen.

So all is not lost.

Reply 5 : G60VX Owners Lounge

has anyone updated the drivers? should i update to the new 191.07 drivers

Reply 6 : G60VX Owners Lounge

i went to the 186.81 drivers off the nvida website and those seem fine. I dont know about any other drivers though.

Reply 7 : G60VX Owners Lounge

Quote:

Originally Posted by sfan786 i went to the 186.81 drivers off the nvida website and those seem fine. I dont know about any other drivers though.

Same here. Might try the 191.07 drivers later today.

Reply 8 : G60VX Owners Lounge

Should i go with intels vesion 13 of the wifi card or stick with version 12 that it came with.

Reply 9 : G60VX Owners Lounge

I just picked one up, tossed a T9900 in it. So far so good, I'll post up pics in a separate thread later.

Access files from lock hdd. Have the password.

My E6400 just died and I send it in for depot repair. I want to access my data files but is hdd lock in the bios. Does anyone know how I can access the data inside? I have all the passwords but no laptop. I wonder if there is a program allow .e to read the drive without the laptop. thanks

Reply 1 : Access files from lock hdd. Have the password.

I believe you will have to contact Dell Support regarding this issue, others have had this resolved in the past through their tech support. HDD BIOS password bypass discussion is not permitted on NBR forums, however, so this thread is now locked.

Samsung pn50c7000 image retention

I'm having major image retention issues a couple of weeks after getting my brand new Samsung PN50C7000 50 inch 3D plasma TV. Having something on the screen for seconds leaves me with an image that takes 30 minutes to and hour to wash out with either the scroll or a break in DVD. It's 2011, why hasn't this been figured out. What can be done to correct this?!?! Samsung? Please help me out Samsung!

Reply 1 : Samsung pn50c7000 image retention

Make Sure Pixel Shift is set to mid range.

Reply 2 : Samsung pn50c7000 image retention

I'm not sure I know exactly what you mean by mid range, but I changed the x & y settings from 4 to 2 (it ranges from 0-4). So far it's not doing much but I will give it time to test it out. Thanks for your suggestion.

Reply 3 : Samsung pn50c7000 image retention

pat32382,

Pixel Shift should have been at an ON setting by default.

Are you able to see a difference?

If you're viewing your picture in the "Dynamic" setting, try using Standard or Movie to see if that helps.

--HDTech

Reply 4 : Samsung pn50c7000 image retention

The pixel shift was on from the beginning but did not prevent horrible image retention.

Adjusting the pixel shift hasn't changed anything.

I have also lowered the brightness and contrast in every viewing mode because they ALL have bad image retention.

I haven't scheduled service yet because it's been a nightmare to get anything out of anyone and it's apparently my fault that my 6 week old tv is defective

Reply 5 : Samsung pn50c7000 image retention

pat32382,

I'm sorry to hear that you're still having a problem with image retention.

Why not have customer service troubleshoot or send a technician to inspect your television? I can't diagnose units sight unseen, but they can send somebody out to have a closer look if you're still in warranty.

--HDTech

Reply 6 : Samsung pn50c7000 image retention

Major issue with this TV. They replaced the board twice on my TV. It is still having image retention when image is paused for 60 seconds or when usings apps with boxes and frames. Eventually goes away but VERY anoying!

Reply 7 : Samsung pn50c7000 image retention

nothing wrong with your tv except the fact that your tv is brand new and the phosphorus is extremely potent wait for like 200 hours then it will take atleast 30 minutes for images to stick ,if you wait for a 1000 hours it wil take 1hr . please change channels atleast once in 30 minutes ,dont watch in 4:3 and 21:9 then you will be all right.

Reply 8 : Samsung pn50c7000 image retention

my TV is 9 months old and I am still having this issue... And is is well over 200 hours... Just saying.

Reply 9 : Samsung pn50c7000 image retention

I bought the PS50C7705 a few months back and I still get image retention. The thing is that I have become used to the retention images and I have also experienced that many people don't even notice the retention if I don't specifically point it out to them.

I have never had a plasma-TV before so I don't have anything to compare with but I am starting to think that image retention is a very normal thing with plasmas and that the "break-in" time may be alot longer than 200 hours even up to a 1000 hours maybe more. I know Samsung has stated that their new line of plasmas don't require a break in time, personally I think that is b.s.

I usually get image retention from playing console games that have stats or hud visible in the same position. When I first got the TV it took a really long time for the images to disappear even when using scrolling and watching fullscreen videos. Nowadays most of the image retention disappears after a few minutes of using the scrolling feature.

I don't recommend buying a plasma for watching sports or playing video games, but if you like to watch movies and 3D material plasma might be the way to go. My brother got the the LCD version of the same tv I have and he told me that the 3D looks better on mine especially in fast moving scenes.

When you buy a plasma always remember to:

1. Set the contrast and brightness levels way down.

2. Watch as many fullscreen movies a possible both Full-HD and SD videos. (avoid letterbox or non fullscreen videos).

3. Use the scrolling feature regulary for around 15 minutes per time.

4. Limit your gaming sessions to 1-2 hours (Beware of games that have alot of static images).

5. Try to not get too annoyed about the image retention, it will go away. See it more like a feature than a problem.

I am alot happier with my plasma now than when I bought it, that said I don't think my next TV is going to be a plasma since I do game pretty much and I hate image retention.

Reply 10 : Samsung pn50c7000 image retention

It doesn't have to be that way. IR is inherent to Plasma technology but not all TV sets are made equal contrary to what manufacturers will say. I have 2 plasma TVs at home: A Samsung and a Panasonic. The Samsung will show visible IR in seconds while it will take several minutes (up to hours) to see IR on my Panasonic set (after more than 200h, with low contrast and all the screen protection on). Also the IR is always much less visible on my Panasonic set than on the Samsung. It may not be true for all Samsung vs Panasonic sets but it is at least certain that plasma technology can manage to have very managable (almost non-existant) IR in some cases. Unfortunately on my pn50c8000 image retention is so bad that I can't even pause a movie! So is it because of a technical decision from Samsung (run hotter cells for 3D and marketing numbers) or do I have simply a defective tv?

I'll probably never know. I've tryed asking a Samsung technician to check my TV but tough luck. For any kind of IR issue, well at least in Canada, you can forget about it... Expect no service unless you go to court with them.

Reply 11 : Samsung pn50c7000 image retention

Thank you AnsBjork

Nice to know that your Panasonic doesn't suffer from the same IR as the Samsung. Yes it's very hard to know if the Samsung TV is defective in some way and causes the retention. I have read about the IR issue in a few forums and reviews of 7 and 8 series Samsung Plasmas and it seems to be quite common.

In the very first page of the user manual it clearly states tha IR is not covered by the warranty. Especially one statment in the manual gets me worried.

" Screen image retention
Do not display a still image (such as on a video game) on the plasma display panel for more than several minutes as it can cause screen image retention".

I think that Samsung needs to look at their own statements and always issue a clear warning to their customers that plasmas are not meat for video gaming. They should also be responsible about informing their retailers about this problem so they can inform their customers about both the benefits and the problems with their plasma panels, any responsible company would do so but Samsung seems to have neglected this.

Think I will contact Samsung here in Finland and have a chat with them.

Reply 12 : Samsung pn50c7000 image retention

Just to be fair I wanted to add that the Samsung pn50c8000 is an excellent tv set in all regards excepted for IR. In my case it is a major annoyance, but for all of you who keep your tv turned off at all time and use it as a 2000$ wall decoration then it will do just fine. :P

Seriously, when you experience IR when changing channels (the IR of the channel grid stays for a few minutes) or when going through the menus of DVDs/BlueRays, or when pausing a movie, or when gaming, or when watching weather/sport/news channels or when watching non 16:9 signal or when using the tv menu or when using internet (this is a Wifi compatible tv after all), you can expect to have this problem most of the time. This is especially frustrating since any issue (hover big it may be) related to IR is not covered by the warranty.

It's like having a supercar that you can only drive on perfect roads while it's not raining. It may be fine for well heeled hard core drivers but not fun for the average Joe picking up his grocery.

This is the kind of important information that I would like to have seen in the review by Cnet but the only mention of it is in the 2 pages review is ''If you're worried about burn-in (we aren't)''. Not much of a warning...

Why I returned my T420 after 1 week

Cons.....



(1) Right from the get go, my system was not snappy. Programs (All of them) started up slowly including IE8/9, Battery Extend program/Toolbox, Word, etc that I had to wait and wait for it to open. With the i5-2540 and 6 GB of memory one would think it would open quickly. Watched a few reviews on YouTube and what I saw was some fairly fast load up times for programs, but not mine.



(2) Screen ? Goodness, I gave it a chance. At first I did not mind the lousy small viewing angle, but over time it did bother me, since I use the notebook on my lap in a chair or plane. I had to make sure the angle of the screen was just right, and could not move my head or legs one bit or it would go off the ideal viewing angle and had to keep adjusting. Not good and this is what turned me against the system the most. It was bright, but only if one cranked up the brightness but that took a power drain hit. 13 would be the least setting for me. I like it bright.



(3) Some have reported fast boot up times, but not (55 seconds up to 1 min 5 seconds) for me, even after uninstalling some programs and stopping some process from "Service" which also included a few Start Up programs as well. With the 7200 rpm 320Gb HDD I had and Lenovo Enhanced Experience 2.0, one would think the system would boot up faster. Maybe it would have if I opted for the SSD instead. Unknown, but a disappointment just the same. 10 second boot up that had been anounced by Lenovo was not what I experienced or close to it. Maybe I did something wrong ?



The Shut down time was about 9 seconds, which was the best part, no complaints.



(4) Had trouble with burning the rescue and recovery CD/DVD, but finally got it made. Unknown if it would work or not when needed. Last disk towards the end gave me a disk error, and this happen twice. Finally the third try it went thru. This was not a real complaint, but a concern.



(5) Battery Power program could be better. Too many settings one can opt for and confused me at first and took time playing with it to find the best power setting for my taste.



(6) Price Match. Nothing to do with the system, but I called twice and one email asking for a price match, and was told it would take 48 hours. 7 days later and still Lenovo did not give me the price match and the tech I spoke to could not understand this either. Too late since I returned the system and it is now 8 days and still no price match. Disappointed. It would have given me $166.00 off the original price. Also too bad that I had to pay the 15% re-stocking fee, but its my money.







(1) Quick shut down time.

(2) Solid construction.

(3) Great keyboard to work with.

(4) Good support. Used it once only, so unknown if that would be constant.

(5) Not too heavy, but wish it was a tad lighter. At home, no big deal. On the road it could go either way.

(6) FingerPrint reader was a joy to use since I dislike typing in passwords.

(7) Integrated video was just fine for me watching some movies/YouTube. No games played.

(8) Speakers were good, not great. Did not expect better for a notebook, but the sound for movies was more than enough for me.



Others may gloss over some of my complaints and reason for the return. But when you have to view the system and work with it on a daily basis, the system has to be right for the individual.



Hearing more of the X220 IPS screen, I think that one would be best for my 65 yr old eyes. Just hope after some more reviews from users with this X220, I can pull the trigger and get it. No hurries at this time, which I should have listened to myself early on for the T420.

Reply 1 : Why I returned my T420 after 1 week

The screen issue is a valid one and lets face it these crappy screens ruin everything. With a decent screen the T420 would be my first choice.



You may also want to check the E420 which has some kind of new vibrant view screen which is supposed to be somewhat better. Trouble is I haven't seen one in person.



I am leaning toward the x220, but something is telling me to wait. Mostly my wife.

Reply 2 : Why I returned my T420 after 1 week

About the lagging when opening programs etc., did you consider clean installing the OS? Maybe that would have helped. I recently bought a X201 (as in the sig) and it came with all the ususal stuff including the EE 2.0. I swept it all out. Re-installed the OS and my programs. But I do use some of the ThinkVantage software (like System Update and Power Manager), which I also installed. But after doing this, things were just fine - programs opened quickly, startup and shutdown times were snappy and everything - as far as I can see - works perfectly.



But in the context of your other comments/ observations, I can see why you sent back the T420. Hope you have a good experience with the X220 when you decide to buy it.



Cheers!

Reply 3 : Why I returned my T420 after 1 week

dosent win 7 get faster after a week or so? i've certainly noticed large improvements with boot time etc after a week as it learns your usage patterns etc.

Reply 4 : Why I returned my T420 after 1 week

Quote:

Originally Posted by afhstingray dosent win 7 get faster after a week or so? i've certainly noticed large improvements with boot time etc after a week as it learns your usage patterns etc.

Yeah...sorry, I should have mentioned that. I have heard that too. But since I prefer the clean install, I do it anyway.

Reply 5 : Why I returned my T420 after 1 week

btw i've been rather impressed by the lenovo software, other than the popup bug that i managed to solve, its been very frugal with resources, certainly light years ahead of anything i've seen on dell's and acers, not too sure about HP.

Reply 6 : Why I returned my T420 after 1 week

The screen issue(s) are going to hurt Lenovo and the other OEMs. I don't understand why they are making or buying the screens they are today. Every time I fire up the T61p and look at the 15.4" 1680x1050 screen I wonder why they would want to change that.

Reply 7 : Why I returned my T420 after 1 week

Quote:

Originally Posted by SR45 Cons.....Others may gloss over some of my complaints and reason for the return. But when you have to view the system and work with it on a daily basis, the system has to be right for the individual.

what laptops have you used in the past? were there any that you find acceptable?

Reply 8 : Why I returned my T420 after 1 week

also maybe you should check your power settings, some of the profiles are geared towards power saving. even the maximum performance profile on my x201 had some settings that were lower than max, check that.



but i agree, i could not live with a screen that crappy....its shocking really.

Reply 9 : Why I returned my T420 after 1 week

Quote:

Originally Posted by Thors.Hammer The screen issue(s) are going to hurt Lenovo and the other OEMs..

Don't think so... With a forum filled with topics about sub par screen quality and even more topics about how much people hate the new 16:9 screens and X220 1366x768 res, people still seem to line up to get a T420(s) or X220.

Probably "all" HP laptops affected?

I just saw that I have problem in Event Viewer - Error reporting;



GetPanelBrightnessTables() failed : e_BIOS_INVALID_COMMAND_TYPE



Im not alone.. HP support doesen't respond:

HP WA Services Err 0 - HP Support Forum



So check your Event Viewer HP users and report.

Disc drive question

Does anyone know if this drive is sata Amazon.com: Dell slim 8X Dual Layer DVD+/-RW / CD-R Burner Drive for Dell Inspiron 300m 500m 510m 600m 8500 8600 9100 Latitude D400 D410 D420 D500 D505 D510 D520 D600 D610 D800 Presicion M60 M65 M7 Laptops: Computer & Accessories

Reply 1 : Disc drive question

All D-Series optical drive things are PATA. At least, I've never found one that wasn't.

Reply 2 : Disc drive question

Do you know where I can find one under twenty?

Reply 3 : Disc drive question

Don't think you can find 'em new for that price, but right there on that Amazon page it already says "4 used from $4.99"...

Can't use HP Recovery

Hi,

I just bought dv6-6060.

I used windows tool to shrink c: and create a new partition.

Because of that now i can't use HP_recovery (f11).

It gives boot error if i try to use f11.

I think that's because windows tool change hd from basic to dynamic.

Any way i can use HD recovery again?



Thanks

What kind of HDD is compatible with HP 3D Drive Guard?

I'm going to buy a brand new 500 GB from a local store. I notice that my Presario CQ45 has the (v4.0.3.1).



How do I determine that a HDD is compatible with the software?



Thanks

Reply 1 : What kind of HDD is compatible with HP 3D Drive Guard?

3D Drive Guard should work with all drives since it's just software telling drive when to park the heads.



Some modern drive have similar feature built-in, it should not interfere with Drive Guard either. However I'm not 100% certain on that.

DV7Tqe vs ENVY 17

I am building my next laptop. My question is simple....is the ENVY 17 w/ SB worth the extra money over the DV7Tqe w/ SB? After I price each one:



Operating system: Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit

Processor: 2nd generation Intel(R) Quad Core(TM) i7-2630QM (2.0 GHz, 6MB L3 Cache) w/Turbo Boost up to 2.9 GHz

Graphics card: 1GB GDDR5 Radeon(TM) HD 6770M Graphics [HDMI, VGA] edit

Memory: FREE Upgrade to 8GB DDR3 System Memory (2 Dimm) edit

Hard drive: 640GB 7200RPM Hard Drive with HP ProtectSmart Hard Drive

Primary battery: High Capacity 6-Cell Lithium-Ion Battery (standard)

Display: 17.3" diagonal HD+ HP BrightView LED Display (1600 x 900)

Primary optical drive: FREE Upgrade to Blu-ray player & SuperMulti DVD burner

Networking Intel 802.11b/g/n WLAN and Bluetooth(R) edit

Keyboard Standard Keyboard

Total with EPP: 1090



ENVY 17

Operating system Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit edit

Processor: 2nd generation Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-2630QM (2.0 GHz, 6MB L3 Cache) with Turbo Boost up to 2.9 GHz

Graphics card: 1GB GDDR5 Radeon(TM) HD 6850M Graphics [HDMI] edit

Memory: 8GB DDR3 System Memory (2 Dimm) edit

Hard drive: 750GB 5400RPM Hard Drive with HP ProtectSmart Hard Drive

Primary battery 6-Cell Lithium-Ion Battery (standard) - Up to 2.25 hours

Display: 17.3" diagonal Full HD HP Ultra BrightView Infinity LED Display (1920x1080)

Primary optical drive: Blu-ray player & SuperMulti DVD burner

Networking Intel: 802.11a/b/g/n WLAN and Bluetooth(R)

Keyboard: Backlit Keyboard

Total: 1629



I am using the computer for gaming, school and personal stuff (web email etc). No video/music editing, but I will be playing the latest and greatest games as well as lots of multitasking. Is the Envy really worth the extra cash? The DV7Tqe has many free deals and seems to be a great value, but I also do really like a sleek sexy computer such as the envy. At the end of the day, is the extra $$ worth it for the envy?



Thanks

Reply 1 : DV7Tqe vs ENVY 17

I personally made my decision based on two simple things.

I needed the full HD screen and the much better GPU.

So there it is. Whether you need Full HD vs. HD+ (or whatever they call the 900p resolution these days) I can't tell you. That is personal favor. I need it, because the lower res does not give me enough real estate pixel wise on the screen to run my CAD programs.

If you are gaming a lot, the highte end GPU in the envy will be worth it.

Look into HP Academy for some good pricing. In the end, the envy will always be more expensive, but for me, it is worth it.

Reply 2 : DV7Tqe vs ENVY 17

Any coupons out there for either of the two models?

Reply 3 : DV7Tqe vs ENVY 17

Envy 17 (the non 3D version): "NB1977" for $250 off.

DV7T: "NB2688" for $375 off.

Reply 4 : DV7Tqe vs ENVY 17

I would recommend the Envy 17 because it's got the 1920x1080 display. In a laptop as big as 17" that costs this much, you should have the option to get a higher resolution than 1600x900. HP really needs to step up when it comes to the lack of screen options on their DV series.



If you're not set on HP, this Sager might be a better choice: (I recommend Sagers a lot more than I recommend HP's, especially the DV Series.)

Sager NP8170 (Built on Clevo P170HM) Custom Gaming Laptop

It's also got a better graphics card according to notebookcheck benchmarks that compare the NVIDIA 460M with the AMD 6850M.



or a cheaper option that has better battery life but a less powerful graphics card:

Sager NP5170 Custom Laptop (Built on the Clevo W170HN)

Reply 5 : DV7Tqe vs ENVY 17

How's the battery on the envy 17? HP site says ~2.75 hours on 6 cell but it has switchable graphics doesn't it? Should be better.

Reply 6 : DV7Tqe vs ENVY 17

I might also consider that the dv7tqe has better security options than the Envy. The outer casing appears more structurely sound as well and perhaps built to keep things cool. The Envy, no matter which way you slice it, was built for gaming and is configured for this. Better graphics and lighting. I am certain the Envy's bios also have good tweaking options for over-clocking.

Reply 7 : DV7Tqe vs ENVY 17

I'm still trying to figure out which one I want.



One thing is for sure....I would PASS on the Envy 17...as it is a total rip-off. The Envy 17 3D is a much better value than the standard Envy 17. If you configure both computers to the same specs (watch the GPU), and use the coupon...you don't really save much over the 3D version.

Reply 8 : DV7Tqe vs ENVY 17

I too faced the same problem as the OP a month ago and ultimately decided to go with the DV7T.



My reasons are as follows:

1. I owned a previous generation Envy (15") and never like how it works adn eventually sold it. The darn thing burns like a hot patato after a while (reminds me of a certain high end laptop with a fruit logo on its cover), so much so that I couldn't bear typing on it because the metal wrist-rest area is so hot.



2. My favorite game NBA 2K series, constantly crashed on the Envy for whatever reason and corrupted the game file (I have no idea what the cause is, but the game worked fine on my desktop and current ASUS laptop), perhaps the heating was an issue, but it was intolerable to me and I didn't want to take a chance again.



3. The $. HP had a 30% off coupon on the DV7T that can be used on top of the savings, I specced out a $1500 machine (2720QM, 8GB, Blu Ray and all the other goodies) and paid about $1100, taxes included.



4. I don't really think I need the 1080p. Since the DV7T has the 6770M card, it's probably better to run games at the 1600x900 resolution anyway. And with the money saved over the ENVY, I could very well go buy a 22-25" 1080p TV and hook that up to the HDMI port and use it for movies or whatever else I need full HD for.

Reply 9 : DV7Tqe vs ENVY 17

I like recommend the Envy 17

E6520 Owner's Thread

Just ordered up an e6520. I'll post pics when I get it. Any others out there want to post pics and personal reviews? I'm upgrading from a Thinkpad T60, hoping I don't find too much fault with Dell's "Trackpoint" and keyboard.

Reply 1 : E6520 Owner's Thread

E6520 owners, please post some pictures to see live pictures of the laptop and the cooling system!

Reply 2 : E6520 Owner's Thread

Will the USB 3.0 module I ordered with my 6520 work like Native 3.0?

Reply 3 : E6520 Owner's Thread

I plan on ordering a E6520 today with the following specs:



i7-2620M

Win 7 Pro x64

3 Year ProSupport w/ Acc. Damage Prot

2.0GB RAM (8GB to be installed after arriving)

250GB 7200rpm Hard Drive (to be replaced with Vertex 2 240GB)

9-Cell Battery

DVD+-RW

Intel 6300 WiFi

Webcam

Bluetooth

FHD Display

Backlit Keyboard

NVS 4200M



Haven't gotten my quote back, but configured it was $1870. This will also be my first 15" laptop with a FHD display. My eyes are pretty good, hopefully they're this good.



edit: Quoted around $1585

Reply 4 : E6520 Owner's Thread

Very well chosen specs! Especially after the installation of 8GB RAM and ssd. If I were you, I'd choose the quad core cpu i7-2720QM since the price is close to i7-2620M.

Reply 5 : E6520 Owner's Thread

I don't see myself using quad core much, and I'm assuming it will push more heat/less battery life.

Reply 6 : E6520 Owner's Thread

I also had the dilemma between 2720QM and 2620M but i chose the quad core. I won't change this laptop anytime soon so I think that quad core will last more in time. In 2-3 years it will still be powerful enough and more adequate than the dual core.

Reply 7 : E6520 Owner's Thread

Fortunately I have the luxury of pushing down older laptops to other employees, so I have little buyer's remorse.

Reply 8 : E6520 Owner's Thread

I ordered mine on the 30th of March and should receive by the 14th of April. I opted for the i5-2410 2.3GHz dual core because I don't need a very powerful CPU for the work I do. In 2-4 years I could upgrade it to a more powerful quad core cpu if needed. Will post pics of the system once I receive it. Also plan on installing intel 510 series 120GB SSD drive.

Reply 9 : E6520 Owner's Thread

I know this is a double post - but this thread will likely be around a lot longer than the other one.



On Temps:



Look at the screenshots in the review. That is 99c with Furmark AND Prime95 placing synthetic loads on both the CPU and GPU at the same time. This is a worst case scenario and can ONLY be produced through synthetic loading of the machine.



In "normal" use which includes games that heavily load both the CPU and GPU you will not see temps this high. You have to take Furmark with a grain of salt.



Putting the E6420 and E6520 (that both have the Quadro 4200M and both have the 2720QM processor) under the same load does show the tradeoffs between the 14" and 15" chassis. The E6420 heats up and cools down more quickly than the E6520. This is mainly due to the extra mass in the cooling system E6520. The fans are the same, but there are physically longer heat pipes in the E6520. The E6520 also has a larger area of magnesium in the base. Each machine will get into the 80s if you put a heavy processing load on them for an extended amount of time. The E6420 is more "spiky" with temps while the E6520 is smoother with temps but bulkier.



They might be closer to each other with dual core processors since they produce 10 fewer watts of heat. I know they will be closer without the 17 watts of the Quadro. Still, this much processing power in a 14" chassis is nice. Even with the Quadro and Quad core the temps are lower than what I was seeing in the previous Latitude generations.

Authorized service center?

Does anyone have experience working with Asus as an authorized service center? If so, how did you become one? Is it worth it?



There are zero such centers in my state according to the Asus support site and looks like it could be a good opportunity. Getting any kind of response from Asus reps, support phone calls that get escalated to managers, emails to various people, etc has been frustrating to say the least...

Reply 1 : Authorized service center?

i have vast experience working with customers who came to us after they had their notebooks serviced by asus or their asp. I will plead the fifth on this one. At the same time i know plenty of people who had a good experience. I am one of them. If you know what to say and what to expect typically you should not be surprised by any major service center.

Reply 2 : Authorized service center?

From what I've heard, it's not going to be worth it. Asus is EXTREMELY stingy (fact). Pay won't be as competitive as other companies (speculation). They recently had to rework their internal organization and whether it's for the better or worse, I'll plead the fifth as well

Reply 3 : Authorized service center?

Cust satisfaction isn't a problem. Our shop has a very large base of return customers for a reason. I do much work for clients that would rather pay (and void their warranty in the process) than wait for an RMA and all that good stuff.



I'm looking at this as more of a way to expand our customer base. After all... no service centers in my area? Seems like almost-free advertising.



Pay isn't an issue. Plenty of work done for other manufacturers in the past.



Still a bad idea?

Reply 4 : Authorized service center?

i am not sure if you realize it but they pay in peanuts, literally. way back when the oportunity presented it self i declined due to the compensation being far below expectation. what they pay asp to replace the mainboard is 5x lower then average asking price by a pro who has done it thousands of times. that leaves the question... who do they have working on these products if the pay is in peanuts. this goes for most major repair centers. dells gold level support are the exception to what i have found but they cost a pretty penny for the end user

Samsung Nc210 versus Nc110

Hi there. Does anyone know the exact difference between these 2 other than colour (silver versus black). I read rumours about an Intel N570 in the Nc110 but cannot find this product.



Other queries: Is there any light 12 inch netbook with MATTE screen and good performance made by Samsung ? Any other ones I should look at ?



PS: John to replace the wife's NC10 was thinking of a N140 but cannot find stock anymore, you once sent a link but cannot remember where.

Reply 1 : Samsung Nc210 versus Nc110

Quote:

Originally Posted by perfectionseeker Hi there. Does anyone know the exact difference between these 2 other than colour (silver versus black). I read rumours about an Intel N570 in the Nc110 but cannot find this product.

You can compare the specs (except the NC110) here .

Quote:

Originally Posted by perfectionseeker Other queries: Is there any light 12 inch netbook with MATTE screen and good performance made by Samsung ? Any other ones I should look at ?

Samsung's current range seems to be devoid of anything with a 12.1" screen. In fact, 12.1" notebooks in current production seem to be quite rare. If you are interested in this size then a refurbished business notebook may be an alternative to a netbook. for example this Dell D420.

Quote:

Originally Posted by perfectionseeker PS: John to replace the wife's NC10 was thinking of a N140 but cannot find stock anymore, you once sent a link but cannot remember where.

In UK the N140 appears to have been replaced by the N145 which share's the N140's long battery life and matte screen (which part of the world are you?).



John

Reply 2 : Samsung Nc210 versus Nc110

John, am in Belgium but buy in the UK. Well the problem is she really loves the keyboards of the NC110 and NC140. The changed it to the N150 ... and she really dislikes that keyboard. So am wondering if the N145 has same keyboard feel/keys as the N140. Thanks

Reply 3 : Samsung Nc210 versus Nc110

I suspect, but cannot be certain, that the N145 is an update of the N140.



Look at the specs here and the user manual here.



You could also ask Samsung support about the differences between the N140 and the N145. I would use the email facility at the bottom of any of their FAQ pages. This link might work.



John

Reply 4 : Samsung Nc210 versus Nc110

There is a refurbished N140 here. I bought one of these last year for a friend in Ethiopia and it was like new.



John

Inspiron keyboard characters

I have a new Inspiron N5030 laptop. Some punctuation characters, when typed, appear as French. For example, quotations show as and the question mark as . Need help soon in order to maintain my Web site. Many thanks.
-- Philip

Reply 1 : Inspiron keyboard characters

Head to the control panels and change the keyboard or region?

Reply 2 : Inspiron keyboard characters

Many thanks. That simple fix appears to have worked.

Linux Mint Julia cf28 black screen again

Hi I am new to Linux, so please be gentle with me!



My toughbook is cf28-p variant with (i assume) intel 830 chipset.



Just when I though I had the video problem resolved by inserting various parmeters within the grub, it has returned to its former unstable state.



After Mint is installed!!!



through bootup either black screen completely, flickering screen with graphics partly resolved, to finally various shades of black and white, screen half to one side and flickering.



Some times a press of Fn+F3 key will provide a rather poor Mint screen (lacking in colour), maybe 1 in 10 attempts!



If I use a second monitor plugged in the rear, things are more helpful... 4 in 10 attempts at the Fn+F3 keys and I might get a crisp sharp and green Mint page, however sometimes the cursor vanishes.



I have trawled through various sites, but am getting nowhere! worse still are those who reference to a fix in X11/xorg.conf.....But this file no longer exists in Mint Julia.



Any clues, anyone... (note, touchscreen doesn't work either, and mouse is incredibly slow)

Reply 1 : Linux Mint Julia cf28 black screen again

Did you look at the Mint Install in this forum? I'll go find it.

TEST site:forum.notebookreview.com/panasonic - Google Search

I used Azrial's search machine above.

Found this.

Toughbooks and Linux

Read the whole thing. The 28 guys are marconi and klonsdale.

I'm more 29 oriented.

If you can get into edit mode I think Klonsdale said use i915.modeset=0. I think.

Read it and see if it helps. If you get stuck, holler.

Reply 2 : Linux Mint Julia cf28 black screen again

That's right, at the boot screen arrow down to stop the automatic boot, then type "e" to enter the edit mode. then at the end of the line space once and type "i915.modeset=0 then hit the enter key. BTW if you use the debian edition of Linux Mint you wont have to do the modeset and debian runs faster on a 28 than main edition. Welcome to the madness.

Reply 3 : Linux Mint Julia cf28 black screen again

Thankyou both for your input.



But still no success,



There seems to be some differences of opinion with regards the i915.modest, some say it should be 1 and others say 0.



I tried (0) this morning, updated grub etc... But that just seems worse.



I get opening grub menu, then all the packages installed etc etc, after a few seconds the screen goes black and then changes to a weird translucent white starting from the bottom and working towards the top.



With imodeset=1, I get like a raster effect and the screen flickers.



I have also tried inserting "device=intel" on same line. (in both modes, still no joy.



Maybe its time to consider the debian edition or having another go at Ubuntu.



Regarding the forum posts, well I thought I had just about read everything, but the new MINT has no xorg.cnf file, so a lot of the former posts aren't relevant.



Anymore suggestions guys.

Reply 4 : Linux Mint Julia cf28 black screen again

Did you try nomodeset?



Looks like the revisions have outrun the thread. Sorry you weren't helped.

Reply 5 : Linux Mint Julia cf28 black screen again

Wow, debian seems to work out the box, as you said,( well so far at least!)



Touchscreen doesnt work, but I suppose I could live without it.



Thanks guys

Reply 6 : Linux Mint Julia cf28 black screen again

Forget the last post, the problem has returned.



After say 4 successful boots, straight til the logon screen (password etc etc).



The black screen has returned!!!!



I get opening grub gui, then some installer lines flash past, then a few seconds of black screen, the wheel comes up for 4 seconds, then black screen for another 4 until I hear the beep to prompt me to login. Where upon it remains black.



Have tried editing the grub at the front end with,

915 resolution

915 resolution mode 800x600



the autocomplete (tab) recognises 915resolution, but when I do a crtl-c for a promp, 915resolution -r or-l or -c does nothing.

so I am unable to confirm for sure that the bios has intel830 chipset, but that the machine is a cf-28 p variant.



have also tried:

i915.modeset=0 and 1 and nomodeset (but within grub itself, each time doing an upgrade grub)



Any further assistance would be appreciated.



PS tried Ubuntu10, but that just managed to remove my hdd from bios!!



Nightmare

Reply 7 : Linux Mint Julia cf28 black screen again

You are not forgotten.

How are you loading the Live CD's?

I have no experience with Debian.

I fooled with Xubuntu on a CF-28 but not enough to figure a few things out. Then the mouse went goofy so I dumped it.

Did you look around in the 10.4 Ubuntu thread?

I skimmed the Linux Mint thread and it has become antiquated. Unless you went to an older version of Mint and then it would be o.k.

How much RAM are you running? 128 isn't enough but 256 and above would be fine.

The X desktop (terminology?) of Ubuntu is good but resource hungry.

My use of the modeset commands has been in the the Grub menu only. We are dealing as I think you realize with a chipset issue.

O.K. here's an idea...when you install your Linux version, check the install update box while installing. There have been some changes (daily?) and improvements of Intel resources in Linux. What I am trying to do here is to get the new stuff on the machine though if you get the black screen that's no help either (screams).

Sorry...rambling here and can't help it I just ate dinner. Maybe a brownie would help.

For the record state your model # please. And ram.

Klonsdale stated how the edit should be done better than I could do. See a previous post above.

Hey, if you get loaded (there's an idea) check your xorg.log and talk to us about the contents.



Disjointedly yours,



Jeff

EDIT : i915.modeset=0 goes on the line after quiet splash

Reply 8 : Linux Mint Julia cf28 black screen again

If you have less than 256mb of ram then you are going to have issues such as you are having. 512mb would be better. You did not say but if you are running 128mb of ram then you have a CF-28m which is more difficult to deal with. Right now I do not have Linux installed on my 28 but after I finish this semester I will reinstall it and see if I can help. For what its worth I am running Linux Mint Debian edition on my CF-27 MK4 with 512mb of ram and it runs well and I have had no issues with it.



Jeff just reminded me of something, if you delete "Quiet Splash" then you will be able to get a text output of the boot process and get a better idea of where the boot process is getting bogged down

Reply 9 : Linux Mint Julia cf28 black screen again

Quote:

Originally Posted by KLonsdale If you have less than 256mb of ram then you are going to have issues such as you are having. 512mb would be better. You did not say but if you are running 128mb of ram then you have a CF-28m which is more difficult to deal with. Right now I do not have Linux installed on my 28 but after I finish this semester I will reinstall it and see if I can help. For what its worth I am running Linux Mint Debian edition on my CF-27 MK4 with 512mb of ram and it runs well and I have had no issues with it. Jeff just reminded me of something, if you delete "Quiet Splash" then you will be able to get a text output of the boot process and get a better idea of where the boot process is getting bogged down

Excellent. Thanks for above.



Hey Klon, how about another earlier version of Mint? That would more nearly match the information in these pages if nothing else.

Presario c500 c500t modified

New $199 plus $75 tax and shipping.

Stock:

celeron m 520 @ 1.6, upgrade to T2080 $15

512, upgrade to 2gb

80gb, upgrade to 160gb



Mod: $20

USB hub

Added SD reader

Added Webcam - Acer Crystal

Added bluetooth

Seagate ST9500420AS firmare question

i have updated to the latest 5sdm1 firmware but i can feel my firmware louder now ... worser than before (i didn't had the clicking problems)

i want to ask is there a chance that i can revert to the original firmware which was 3sdm1(where can i find it) ?

or is there a way someone who didn't flashed his ST9500420AS who can make a backup of the firmware or something ... ?

Reply 1 : Seagate ST9500420AS firmare question

Quote:

Originally Posted by mite_jan i want to ask is there a chance that i can revert to the original firmware which was 3sdm1(where can i find it) ? or is there a way someone who didn't flashed his ST9500420AS who can make a backup of the firmware or something ... ?

Unless you can find a Dell update with the older firmware (I assume you installed the update from the Dell site), I think you're stuck.



There isn't a "read firmware" command that will send the firmware from the drive back to you. Only the "write firmware" command (to update the drive) exists. This is so OEM customers (like Sun, for example) with custom firmware can prevent people from reading the firmware from their overpriced custom drive and installing it on a generic drive.



Even if an older firmware is available for download, make sure you have all of your data backed up - while firmware updates generally preserve your data, a downgrade may not. If any control structures were updated when the new version was installed, the older version won't understand the newer format.

GT780R launch date, GT683R...

Hi,



According to my source from MSi, it is going to be late Sept/early Oct. In the meantime MSi is going to 'replace' GT680R with GT683R (nV GTX560M).



Regards,



Brozini

Reply 1 : GT780R launch date, GT683R...

so that means like gt760 and it might be cancelled again why msi taking so long? whats wrong with them? what issues are there?



is it they cant decide or a good RRP or the Graphic card?



clearly a 2nd grader can tell u that gt 555m gddr5 is a bad choice than gtx 460m because it has 96 sps 128 bit gddr5 as its a 17 inch laptop it should have gtx 460m or higher

Reply 2 : GT780R launch date, GT683R...

I think the reason that MSI is making two models of the 780 and 680 is one to be a gaming laptop, GT680 460m and the GX680 with the 555m to be more multimedia based like the Dell XPS model. I figured that they want to compete will the multimedia notebooks out and decided to try it this way. As for the longer date of release, I don't have a clue. I was hoping for June, maybe July. But we just have to wait and see, As for the 555m, they are getting some really great overclocking numbers off that card with the XPS. I dont think it will be all that bad to tell you the truth.

Reply 3 : GT780R launch date, GT683R...

@Riddhy: I think you are underestimating your knowledge. You are not an average buyer. This forum is full of very knowledgeable people but imho that is still a VERY small sample (relatively speaking). Many people out there still think bigger number => higher performance.



@Lurch: I agree. I think MSi is making a strategic shift in their portfolio. I tjink that they are just being careful and that is a very smart move at this point imho. Ivy Bridge is coming much faster than originally projected due to SB fiasco. Furthermore, I agree that they are making some fine adjustments by creating a virtual segmentation to gaming and multimedia/casual gamer categories.



I know, it can be very 'painful' for people who are waiting but in my humble opinion, very good for their bottom line

Reply 4 : GT780R launch date, GT683R...

I was looking on the XPS thread because I wanted to see what kind of performance the 555m was getting since XPS 17 is the only laptop I have found that has this card in it and I was kinda impressed with the numbers they where getting overclocked. And that card for the XPS has VGDDR3 RAM in it and MSI is using VGDDR5 RAM so it might be alittle better than what they are getting with there's overclocked. 14981 in 3Dmark 06 is pretty impressive to say the least with a overclocked 555m and 2720qm i7 and the new BETA driver for it.



Overclocking the GT 555M card.:-)

Reply 5 : GT780R launch date, GT683R...

well as an avg knowledgeable person gt 555m gddr5 will be 96 sps 128 bit gddr5 which means oced gt 540m/550m using gddr5 not 144 sps/192 bits gddr5 chk nvidias site as well as do some googling. lenovo y570 already released in china and they are posting gpuz and other reviews



so if gt 555m gddr5 gets in gx780/gt780 and msi even charges usd 1299 its totally a waste



whats the specs of gt683r?

Reply 6 : GT780R launch date, GT683R...

I don't expect the 96sp GDDR5 version to be much slower, if at all.



It has more bandwidth than the 192bit version, and significantly higher core/shader clocks:

Reply 7 : GT780R launch date, GT683R...

Deal is though the video of the GT780R at CeBit showed 144 cores with a 128-bit bus using GDDR5.

Reply 8 : GT780R launch date, GT683R...

Well then, there's four versions of the GT 555M. But what's with GT 555M "slash" GTX 560M? It's obviously not the latter.



Clocks look like 675/1350/1250.

Reply 9 : GT780R launch date, GT683R...

in china theres a laptop called k580p it used gt 445m with 144sps with 128 bit gddr5

April 19, 2011, release date for ThinkPad X220

Or so claims a rep in Atlanta who says a sheet is circulating the Lenovo sales floor with said date.

Reply 1 : April 19, 2011, release date for ThinkPad X220

Starting from today we have it available for preorder (Canada)! Our website should get updated shortly to reflect the new models.

Reply 2 : April 19, 2011, release date for ThinkPad X220

April 19 has been the order state since the roadmap's release in Jan or Feb.

Reply 3 : April 19, 2011, release date for ThinkPad X220

Quote:

Originally Posted by Aikimox Starting from today we have it available for preorder (Canada)! Our website should get updated shortly to reflect the new models.

Now I just need me some coupon codes and we're good to go

Reply 4 : April 19, 2011, release date for ThinkPad X220

So, in the US we have to wait 10 more days, no pre-orders?

Reply 5 : April 19, 2011, release date for ThinkPad X220

Quote:

Originally Posted by rishu_pepper Now I just need me some coupon codes and we're good to go

Hehe, good one!

Our prices are by default lower than those on lenovo.ca. In some cases we can even apply ecoupons



BTW, at this time we have only limited preconfigured models available. I'll post the complete list later on.

Reply 6 : April 19, 2011, release date for ThinkPad X220

Not that I'm interested in pre-ordering, but where are you doing this from if not from lenovo.ca.

Reply 7 : April 19, 2011, release date for ThinkPad X220

Quote:

Originally Posted by vinuneuro Not that I'm interested in pre-ordering, but where are you doing this from if not from lenovo.ca.

We are an authorized Lenovo business partner and have access to most of their products. We have lower prices and faster processing times. Additional discounts apply for corporate orders.



Regards

Reply 8 : April 19, 2011, release date for ThinkPad X220

They are sold in Japan too.

Reply 9 : April 19, 2011, release date for ThinkPad X220

Quote:

Originally Posted by Aikimox Hehe, good one! Our prices are by default lower than those on lenovo.ca. In some cases we can even apply ecoupons BTW, at this time we have only limited preconfigured models available. I'll post the complete list later on.

Please PM/contact me with possible e-coupons regarding a X220, I am very interested.

Toshiba Satellite A305

Q#1- I bought the Toshiba Satellite A305 several years ago and lately I notice it is taking a fairly long time to open and shut down.

I checked defrag but defrag does not need to be done.

Any suggestions on how I can improve the opening and closing (shutting down) procedure.



Vista 32

IE 8



#2- I also notice the the hard drive LED light seems to be "going crazy" at times - always flickering. I've read somewhere that other people have noticed the same thing.

Is this normal? If not, can it be corrected, etc.?



#3- Anybody using CCleaner with their Toshiba? If so, any problems with the new CC version which now seems to be reporting a lot of files after the Registry scan.

Please advise and thank you

Alice

Reply 1 : Toshiba Satellite A305

#1 This is a classic sign of dying hard drive. Test it with SeaTools for Windows (Long Generic). Also, clean it with Spybot. Do this before trying CCleaner which I don't think will help.