Usage Impressions : El Cheapo Laptop...

[Evildead666]

yay, bought a laptop (finally) to replace my Main PC whenever it decides to crap out on me.
The laptop is great since i can't really overclock it etc, and make it unstable...well the thoughts there, but I have the will so far to resist....

HP 6735s
Dual Core AMD Turion X2 2.0GHz
2Gb RAM (x1)
AMD 780G chipset, with HD 3200 integrated graphics.
160Gb 2.5" HDD SATA/PATA (not checked yet)
SATA DVD-RW
1280x800 glossy screen.
4xUSB, VGA, Stereo out, Mic in, RJ11, RJ45, and a power connector.
No HDMI, which is a bit of a downer, but at this price.....

i immediately put Windows XP onto it, standard XP, not HP XP.
Got the drivers from HP's website, and only balked at the video driver, catalyst 8.5...
Soooooooooo last year

So I installed the latest catalyst driver, only to find that it breaks almost everything, and refuses to install due to the driver not finding the hardware.
After a LOT of searching the web, I found that the driver 8.5 is the last good driver for the HD3200 chipset.....
(This has also helped for me to get the right drivers with my NAS...same chipset)

So, The machine is very quick in XP, plays back HD 1080p no problem with MPC-HC.

I actually bought the laptop to cover my Internet/video player/audio player needs more than anything else, so i'm not bored whilst the main PC is "resting"...

Have just ordered a Slim BluRay drive to go into it, and will then be going for an ASUS external 5.1 USB sound card. Not the best, but all that can be done to get the 5.1 audio to the amp...


The laptop cost me a whisker under 500euros delivered, and BD drive 150euros delivered.

One downside, the uptime is 3h30mins, without WIFI/Bluetooth........its drops to 1h30 if you activate WIFI/Bluetooth !!!!!! Holy F'ing Sh*t !!!!!

Apart from that, it does everything very well....

I specifically chose the cheapest 780/790G laptop I could find with a dual core processor...

[UtwigMU]

I recommend you go with HP windows (download HP OS restore XP from the Internet if you don't have restore CDs or ask HP they generally are nice about it) since it doesn't require any activation. HP recovery media usually consists of two disks for laptops: one is the OS CD/DVD and the other is drivers CD/DVD which fails at different point on same models (but you can install failed drivers by hand). If you install just the OS from OS CD you get plain Windows without any HP drivers or software and can install them at will, always get lattest from HP site, search for model on HP frontpage.

Otherwise the s denotes cheapo line in HP though I'd say among new cheapo laptops HPs are best, I've handled quite a few of the s and they are good for the price (For 500 Euros I'd rather get used 14" T60/T61). Also note that all cheapo laptops don't have much structural enhancements and flex if picked up by the edge which translates into broken traces and problems. They really weren't designed to be carried arround on a daily basis.

I also have new laptop on the way, I'll tell you what it is when it arrives .

[dZeus]

Just curious, why didn't you get a second hand Thinkpad with non-glare high resolution IPS panel for less money? 'cause that's what I've done twice now and I want to hear the rationale for not doing it

[UtwigMU]

Well, the IPS Thinkpads are:
A31p - P4M based, this one will have no battery life ~300 EUR
T42p/T43p - good but no 64-bits, no SATA, problem with flexing and GPU BGA solders - this is what happened to me, at this stage might be too old ~350-500 EUR
T60p - no 64 bits but otherwise great rig, still costs ~800 EUR
X61t (SXGA+ model) - ultraportable, intel graphics, great rig, tablet ~1300 EUR
X200 tablet - only WXGA, otherwise great, tablet, ~1650 EUR

[dZeus]

Well, the IPS Thinkpads are:
A31p - P4M based, this one will have no battery life ~300 EUR
T42p/T43p - good but no 64-bits, no SATA, problem with flexing and GPU BGA solders - this is what happened to me, at this stage might be too old ~350-500 EUR
T60p - no 64 bits but otherwise great rig, still costs ~800 EUR
X61t (SXGA+ model) - ultraportable, intel graphics, great rig, tablet ~1300 EUR
X200 tablet - only WXGA, otherwise great, tablet, ~1650 EUR

I just bought a T60p with IPS panel from ebay USA for 427 USD incl P&P + insurance. They can be upgraded to a Core2Duo (64-bit) for less than 50 USD when buying a suitable CPU through ebay.

edit: this is not a normal price for such a T60p though. I'll have to wait and see if it arrives in satisfactory condition, and it comes w/o an OS and AC adapter.

[UtwigMU]

Please tell me more about this 64-bit upgrade, the 64-bit IPS T60p would be the perfect Thinkpad. You're still limited to 3+ GB though due to chipset, right?

[dZeus]

I think you can just plug one of the CPUs mentioned in this link into the T60(/p). Make sure the Sspec matches with the list for the right FSB and socket (FCPGA?). On forum.thinkpads.com appearantly more people have done this.

You'll indeed be limited to the 3GB chipset thing.

Once the T60p arrives that I've bought, I'll try to perform this upgrade and report if it was successful.

edit: just ran into this from forum.thinkpads.com:
"download and run CPU-Z and verify your motherboard revision (ONLY rev 3 and higher can run C2D, if you are rev 1 or 2 you are SOL. Make sure you are running BIOS 2.01 or higher"


I have no idea about the motherboard revision of the T60p that's being shipped to me atm

[UtwigMU]

Good to hear, i might get a T60p and do this. Otherwise my new IPS Thinkpad is still closer to your part of Europe than my part of Europe.