I finally caved and bought my first craptop.

eMachines M6805:

• Mobile Athlon 64 3000+ (1.8 GHz)
• 512 MB PC2700 RAM
• 60 GB Hard drive
• 15" LCD
• ATi Mobile Radeon 9600 64 MB
• DVD/CD-RW combo drive
• 4 USB, firewire, modem, 10/100 LAN

$700 including S&H & insurance.

Will run "my" full suite of the tests when I get it. I don't expect it to do too well on the gaming benchmark because of video, but *shrug* oh well. Didn't get it for that purpose anyways.

More specs.

I hate craptops.

Yeah, I'm not big on them myself but mine does come in handy sometimes. Down for the moment while I try to find it a new backlight. I've got linux and FreeBSD on my crappy Toshiba a15-s127.

I used to use my laptop all the time, a compaq m700, then the onboard mouse broke, the screen hinges are way too loose, the battery holds no charge at all, and one of my arrows keys are broken. So its now nestled away running a CS 1.6 server.

Although they're not upgradable,its great to have the portability. Going to the local hot spots with a laptop is always a plus.

reasons why I got it:

• be able to run programs on my own system and don't have to wait friggin' 2 WEEKS for the IT department to come set me up (when all I need is a network cable) and they have to enable some things on my account, which they can do from their butt-grooved seats remotely. *sigh* PITA.
• be able to program/learn how to program f95 (see many other threads) on a compiler that supports multiprocessing and develop the code such that I only have to write it once for SMP (with or without SMP) rather than having to develop two versions
• have a little better music playing capability (especially with the search function) than my creative Nomad jukebox zen NX (wow that's a mouthful)

and then, probably when classes start back up, I'd use it to (maybe) start taking notes. going to need to find a really quiet keyboard though (or some way to dampen the onboard cuz I type fast enough that it can be annoying to some people I've learned.

Not my best choice either, but it does beat having to lug around a SFF or 1U + LCD (whatever incarnation that takes). And it's also $100 more than what I would have like to spend, but it is a 64-bit system, (i.e. good for my software development stuff), and that it's completely Solaris compatible.

Now alls I need is a scanner so I can digitize my texts and I'm all set.

laptops arnt that bad at all. mobility is good. Im in college and my laptop has helped me tons! Any any part you can run a cs server!

dit8 sorry

Quote: Originally Posted by WDoG laptops arnt that bad at all. mobility is good. Im in college and my laptop has helped me tons! Any any part you can run a cs server!

<-- already have 6 systems to take the brunt of MY work. It's "work" work that's "inspiring" me to get it. AND they aren't even paying for it either. (hence the low-budget requirement)

Overpriced and under-performing. That's what I always say about craptops.

The 9600 can handle older games just fine, along with some fairly recent titles, just not Bf-2 or Fear... lol

You should be able to OC the vid card with ATI tool , and maybe the cpu with CBID or clock gen...that is why you put this in the OC section I assume, you have not mentioned it so far...

Quote: Originally Posted by $SOLID$ Necro The 9600 can handle older games just fine, along with some fairly recent titles, just not Bf-2 or Fear... lol You should be able to OC the vid card with ATI tool , and maybe the cpu with CBID or clock gen...that is why you put this in the OC section I assume, you have not mentioned it so far...

uh....sure....if you say so.

I did find out that it uses an Arima W720-K8 motherboard (according to Gateway/eMachines, W730-K8 DTR is the closest I've been able to find on Arima's website), so maybe some of you would be so kind to dig up what it can do in terms of overclocking with a mobile Athlon 64 3000+ (1.8 GHz). Preferably without it overheating and/or blowing up. (so much for the bomb sims eh?)

P.S. Would those settings "stick" even when I go to run Solaris? (i.e. if I were to OC the video with whatever tool you guys recommend - I tried Radeonator (SP?) before and it damn well nearly killed my vid card before), would that apply to system-wide, OS/OE independent?

P.S.#2 - if it dies or ends up in an unrecoverable state - unlike desktop vid cards, I am going to be SCREWED.

Quote: Originally Posted by alpha754293 P.S.#2 - if it dies or ends up in an unrecoverable state - unlike desktop vid cards, I am going to be SCREWED.

That would be a good enough reason for me to not try to OC it too much. It's like gambling with money you can't afford to lose (even if it's a high-percentage bet). Plus you'd have to do something about the cooling, I'm sure, since eMachines probably used silly putty as the thermal compound and pulled the fans off of a pinwheel.

I have that notebook's slightly bigger brother, the M6809. I've been quite pleased with it.
Plus the community at http://www.notebookforums.com/forumdisplay.php?f=76 is quite helpful.

Quote: Originally Posted by Peng Lord I have that notebook's slightly bigger brother, the M6809. I've been quite pleased with it. Plus the community at http://www.notebookforums.com/forumdisplay.php?f=76 is quite helpful.

sweet. thanks for the link.

I did look into that, along with it's replacement the Gateway MX7515 and ended up settling in on that one after watching a number of auctions (ebay) go by. Price ended up being too high for what I'd like.

Quote: Originally Posted by $SOLID$ Necro The 9600 can handle older games just fine, along with some fairly recent titles, just not Bf-2 or Fear... lol You should be able to OC the vid card with ATI tool , and maybe the cpu with CBID or clock gen...that is why you put this in the OC section I assume, you have not mentioned it so far...

I can play FEAR on my 9600, ran it pretty good too.

Quote: Originally Posted by alpha754293 if it dies or ends up in an unrecoverable state - unlike desktop vid cards, I am going to be SCREWED.

Reinforcing what someone else said: good reason NOT to OC it.

Laptops have little cooling ability -- they're usually designed to handle just enough heat dispersion as is generated by the laptop under load. OC'ing a laptop, for any significant length of time, will invariably lead to dead parts. Be careful, my friend (he wrote from his laptop.

Personally, I love laptops. Suck a$$ for gaming, usually (though I still play Total Annihilation on my L400), but great for being able to work in environments that aren't filled with the low roar of 4 chillers, twenty-seven system fans, rack fans, heat dispersed by over-crowded fibre modems, and the not-so-soft glow of six 23" LCD's displaying 12 feeds through the fibre'd KVMs.

But that's just me.

-godling

Quote: Originally Posted by godling Reinforcing what someone else said: good reason NOT to OC it. Laptops have little cooling ability -- they're usually designed to handle just enough heat dispersion as is generated by the laptop under load. OC'ing a laptop, for any significant length of time, will invariably lead to dead parts. Be careful, my friend (he wrote from his laptop. Personally, I love laptops. Suck a$$ for gaming, usually (though I still play Total Annihilation on my L400), but great for being able to work in environments that aren't filled with the low roar of 4 chillers, twenty-seven system fans, rack fans, heat dispersed by over-crowded fibre modems, and the not-so-soft glow of six 23" LCD's displaying 12 feeds through the fibre'd KVMs. But that's just me. -godling

you just described your room, didn't you?

well...certainly it would be an idea to TRY to OC it, but there's a very very fine (as in invisible) like between OC'd, and dead.

And I haven't been able to find out enough about the motherboard to jump-start it back up. Now, luckily, I do have a non-DOA clause in the auction, and I am considering getting a warranty for it so that I am covered, but it's one of those things where "I'd rather not" is the still my safest answer. (or if I do, don't be expecting HUGE OCs like you normally find here.)

Quote: Originally Posted by alpha754293 Overpriced and under-performing. That's what I always say about craptops.

It depends on who you buy it from. Frankly I think you could get a similarly specced desktop PC to the machine that fellow PR member Reza has just bought for £800. It has an Athlon 64 3700+, 512mb RAM, decent sized hard drive and an X700 graphics card. With that of course you get a screen and all the necessary other components other than a mouse. And the screen'll be a 1280x800 one as well, none of that 4:3 nonsense. The whole thing weighs 3kg!

If you aren't going to have the money/incentive to upgrade things such as the CPU (MXM graphics modules should be on sale soon allowing upgrades to the graphics chips), and can't be bothered with the utter hassle of carting around a case, keyboard, mouse and monitor to your LAN parties then laptops are fine. Sure you can't overclock them as much as desktops (although some Notebook Forums members have managed to get their 6800 Go Ultras to 6500 in 3dmark 05)...but then you can't carry a desktop PC nearly as easily can you? It depends entirely on what you want to use it for.

Laptops rock, and they are becoming better by the month.

Quote: Originally Posted by $SOLID$ Necro The 9600 can handle older games just fine, along with some fairly recent titles, just not Bf-2 or Fear... lol You should be able to OC the vid card with ATI tool , and maybe the cpu with CBID or clock gen...that is why you put this in the OC section I assume, you have not mentioned it so far...

I have this laptop and its broken (stupid hinges). Yes the 9600 can actually handle BF2 ive played on it before and it will also handle CS Source. Yes you can overclock the vid card with ATI Tool and i have done so. The cpu can not be overclocked the only thing you can change is the voltage.

Quote: Originally Posted by reflux It depends on who you buy it from. Frankly I think you could get a similarly specced desktop PC to the machine that fellow PR member Reza has just bought for £800. It has an Athlon 64 3700+, 512mb RAM, decent sized hard drive and an X700 graphics card. With that of course you get a screen and all the necessary other components other than a mouse. And the screen'll be a 1280x800 one as well, none of that 4:3 nonsense. The whole thing weighs 3kg! If you aren't going to have the money/incentive to upgrade things such as the CPU (MXM graphics modules should be on sale soon allowing upgrades to the graphics chips), and can't be bothered with the utter hassle of carting around a case, keyboard, mouse and monitor to your LAN parties then laptops are fine. Sure you can't overclock them as much as desktops (although some Notebook Forums members have managed to get their 6800 Go Ultras to 6500 in 3dmark 05)...but then you can't carry a desktop PC nearly as easily can you? It depends entirely on what you want to use it for. Laptops rock, and they are becoming better by the month.

One of the ideas that was suggested by my roommate was to get a 1U system built, and then strap a LCD to it.

I did look into it briefly, and found that the size of it would have ended up being not as practical/feasible as a laptop.

Granted, for the same price, I would have gotten more out of it, but ended up deciding against it.

BTW, at 800 GBP, that's more than double what I paid for the craptop.

*edit*

Quote: Originally Posted by Cpt.Planet I have this laptop and its broken (stupid hinges). Yes the 9600 can actually handle BF2 ive played on it before and it will also handle CS Source. Yes you can overclock the vid card with ATI Tool and i have done so. The cpu can not be overclocked the only thing you can change is the voltage.

I have heard about the hinge issue. I've also read that super glue (or pretty much glue of any kind - with the assumption of anything being anything except for Elmer's and kid's glue) works to fix it. (Sad that an adhesive is sufficient to correct the issue.) My roommates may still have some unmixed epoxy around, so if the hinges on it aren't broken yet or broken, but still in repairable condition, I do intend on addressing that issue the moment I get it.

Do you think that you'd be able to try OCing the processor with CBID?

Quote: Originally Posted by alpha754293 BTW, at 800 GBP, that's more than double what I paid for the craptop.

Yeah, but Reza's laptop would blow yours into the weeds

Quote: Originally Posted by reflux Yeah, but Reza's laptop would blow yours into the weeds

at a minimum of twice the cost, IT BETTER!!! Otherwise....*drops head* sad sad sad....

Read: http://forums.pcapex.com/showthread....%245000+laptop

Tee hee tee hee. That would blow Reza's craptop out of the waters too.

Quote: Originally Posted by alpha754293 Do you think that you'd be able to try OCing the processor with CBID?

I have already tried it doesnt work. You can just change the voltage. I also think that clockgen doesnt support the chipset.