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Notebook Manufacturer vs. Hardware Manufacturer Drivers

post #1 of 13
3/22/06 at 2:55pm
Thread Starter 
Hey guys,
I've had a question that's been bugging me lately, so I thought I'd ask here. I realize notebook drivers are generally customized to work with the specific machines that they are distributed with, but to what extent is that true? I know that downloading and using the video drivers from Intel's website would likely be a no-go, but what about Intel's latest chipset drivers or 2200BG wireless drivers?

I just wanted to get some input on this. There is probably very little functionality to be gained by using these newer drivers, so I'm assuming the possible loss in functionality due to them not being machine-specific is too great to chance their use. Nonetheless, I thought I'd throw this out for debate to see what you all think and which drivers you use or may have attempted to use in the past.

DC
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post #2 of 13
3/22/06 at 5:02pm
DC,
I've wondered about that also. It started when Battlefield2 first came out, my laptop had AW's video card drivers which were too old for the game. Game would crash to desktop and the only known fix was to upgrade to the latest video card drivers directly from the manufacturer (nvidia in this case). it took about 4 months before Alienware officially released and supported the newer version.

Some NotebookManufacturer drivers may include something as small and simple as an icon or graphic, such as the "Alienware" logo within your System properties General tab. I know this isn't a driver, but that's the best example I could think of.

Other times, they may choose to disable a "feature" in the HardwareManufacturer to protect the machine itself. An example of this would be removing the overclocking tab in a video card driver. Overclocking to a notebook manufacturer = void warranty.

In the case of the Intel 2200b/g wireless card, the Intel official drivers are identical to the ones available on Alienware's website. (At least as far as file sizes/versions on the main driver dll's and sys's).
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post #3 of 13
3/22/06 at 6:45pm
Thread Starter 
Thanks for the input, Jay. I hadn't noticed that about AW v. Intel Wireless card drivers...I might just give the new Intel ones a shot this evening. That probably won't do anything a quick system restore can't fix.

For what it's worth, I did try the Intel 910GM video card drivers out just for kicks. They worked, but on-screen text was not nearly as clear. It looked basically like ClearType was turned off. I really wish notebooks had separate video card and monitor drivers like desktops.

Here's a completely unrelated question...which do you guys use, the Intel PRO/Set or the Windows Zero Config for your stock wireless cards?
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post #4 of 13
3/22/06 at 7:02pm
I use the Intel software to manage my wireless settings for the specific reason of being able to explicitly choose which wireless AP's i do NOT want to connect to.

i have a problem in my neighborhood of 8 people running unsecured wireless networks within range. with Intel's software I can choose to connect to only my router through the hardware address.
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post #5 of 13
3/23/06 at 1:58am
Thread Starter 
It does seem that Intel's tool offers quite a few plus-factors over the stock Windows Zero Config. I tried an experiment tonight, since I couldn't take reading any more "Dell acquires Alienware" news stories.

I installed the newest Intel chipset and 2200BG drivers without any issue whatsoever. I actually like the interface on the newer Intel PRO/Set much better than the old. I also retried the Intel video drivers. I still got the awful looking text (basically akin to Gnome Desktop without MS TrueType fonts). I disabled, then re-enabled, ClearType. Next, I used the "ClearType Tuner" powertoy from Microsoft. My text is back to its previous smooth state, with the newer Intel video drivers running just fine.

So...in short, load up those updated Intel drivers in your m3200, if you like! I'll report back if I have any issues...but at this point, everything is working just fine.

DC
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post #6 of 13
3/24/06 at 6:37pm
Let me clear this up for u, System sellers do not have the expertise or resources to do anything but change the name of the driver! While a company like intel may build in something to their driver to allow a custom pic somewhere that is the extent of it. All you get with AWW drivers is official support.... thats it!

AW hasnt release a driver update for my laptop in almost 3 years although the hardware manufactureers continue to release updates.

All AW or even dell for that matter does is slap their logo on the case, other than that an 855gm chipset from AW is the same as Dull's same as an HP etc, and consequently the best driver is the one from the company that made the chipset- Intel
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post #7 of 13
3/30/06 at 11:43am

Agreed

I have the Sentia 244 and have always used the hardware manufactors drivers when they release them, AW is too far behind for my satisfaction!
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post #8 of 13
3/31/06 at 12:47pm
Sorry to go off topic for a second but you 244 guys, have you found a way to fix the sleep on boot problem?
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post #9 of 13
3/31/06 at 8:59pm
nope, it prolly requires a bios fix which will never happeen
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post #10 of 13
4/2/06 at 1:45pm
Please describe the sleep on boot problem, I don't use sleep and have never experienced a boot problem of any description.
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post #11 of 13
4/3/06 at 9:12am
Quote:
Originally Posted by inthekeys
Please describe the sleep on boot problem, I don't use sleep and have never experienced a boot problem of any description.
When I boot my Sentia into Windows XP, when the logon screen appears sometimes the machine decides to go into standby. Also does this sometimes when resuming hibernation. Usually the screen blanks and the after a while the machine sleeps. Powering up the machine from the "unwanted" sleep works and I can login.

When I do a clean install I dont have this problem for a few weeks. I've tried to associate it with drivers/apps but nothing seems to cause this to suddenly start happening.

Its not every boot but probably 70%

Inthekeys - what drivers do you use? Original AW ones or latest from the web?
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post #12 of 13
4/3/06 at 9:35am
If this is the problem Im thinking its defineitely a driver/bios problem.

I experienced this too, except at boot/resume it didnt really go into standby (i think) it just blanked the screen or sort of...

The solution I found was three fold:
1) update to most recent AW released bios
2) Use newest intel drivers for all hardware
This includes chipset and grafix drivers
3) Use a real copy of XP, and toss the trash XP image AW gave u.

This fixed the boot resume problem of blank sceening but even today my 244 has intermittent issues resumeing from standby properly, but they are few and far between.
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post #13 of 13
4/4/06 at 5:36am
Thanks Arch, unfortunately for me I have tried all the latest drivers with an real XP install and I still have the problem I did think about re-install from the AW image disk with the old drivers but I'm guessing thats not going to help.

Its odd because after a clean install it works fine for a few weeks and then suddenly starts the sleep on powerup Not related to installing/updating anything.

(apologies again for taking this off topic)
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