Just posted some benchmarks on the review, will add my desktop p4 2.4 sometime next week.
http://www.cformatdesign.lunarpages....557Review.html
To answer some questions:
Quote:
| How does it appear relative to the 505X next to it. The 505X just isn't sharp enough or bright enough for my tastes. |
The screen is very bright, but I think the 505x was as well. I'm not sure what the response time is, but from the programs I've tried, I haven't noticed any ghosting, none is apparent when running Need for Speed Underground.
no dead pixels! I was worried about that the most because, I just have that type of luck.
Quote:
| Ditto on the speakers being crappy. They borderline the WORST laptop speakers I have heard. Previous laptops include Toshiba Portege, Hitachi VisionBook, Compaq Presario 2810T and frankly the F2 is almost as bad at the Portege, which is an ultra portable. |
They didn't seem too bad to me, but I suppose the laptops that I'm used to using are more of the business type ones like latitudes and armadas, in which case, I'm just happy that its stereo. While the sound on my roommate's 505x is probably the best sound I've ever heard from a notebook, If I travel, I always use cans (headphones) , and at home there's a 1/8" plug that feeds right to my stereo system, so I rather have whatever gains in weight and size I get from not carrying around bigger speakers and a subwoofer.
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| Just wondering, what happens when you press the wireless button guys? |
Absolutely nothing at all since our 802.11g cards aren't supported by the drivers of the launch pad. Lights don't function either.
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| BTW, this may seem like a stupid question but does yours have a normal mouse plug or do you use usb? |
no ps2 ports, you'll have to use a usb mouse
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| To understand what the AOpen 1557 is and isn't, I think it may help to know what market it was designed for. AOpen laptops have not been designed for the U.S. market. They have been designed for and are largely sold in the Chinese clone market. |
So the AOpen 1557 was NOT designed FOR Americans but other laptops ARE? No wonder the Inspiron 8600 is wide enough to fit both your hands, a Double cheeseburger on one side, and a super-sized diet coke on the other.
Quote:
| So supposedly there will be an update that will enable the wireless button to work, is that correct? |
Well according to the tech at ABS, if it was going to work, it would be from a driver update from AOpen, but to me that doesn't necessarily mean it will ever materialize. Just a personal theory but: also since the gateway 505x seems very similiar, it may explain why the high end 505xl only comes with 802.11b. It may also be a possibility to use the gateway driver when the 505x/xl supports it because , not only are the panels very similiar, but the 505x and 505xl is distributed by Wistron which is division of Aopen.
Anyway..... The laptop absolutely rocks so far... I would get rid of the whole cd playing thing along the top and make my wireless button work just for the peace of mind that everything works, and then it would absolutely perfect. OOps... almost forget to mention... making a label that says "notebook" and putting it on the screen in place of a manufacturer's label is really retarded. They should at least have used chinese characters or something.
. Been waiting patiently for your review Devast as you've done quite a bit of research for this class of books. Gotta give a few nannas for this 
