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Max memory in the Sentia?

post #1 of 10
2/16/04 at 6:43am
Thread Starter 
I've decided that i'm going with a Sentia if I can get it with wireless a/b/g and that I can use 1gig SO-DIMMS in it to give me a max of 2gig.

Anyone know whether this is the case, will probably call AW later and work through these issues but thought a heads up might be good.

Thx
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post #2 of 10
2/16/04 at 6:50am
The wireless card can be replaced with Alienware over the phone. The site does not give this option. But there are reports with the Gamer Area-51 with problems with the A/B/G card which "was" an option up until yesterday. So far I have not been convinced of the real reason for the problem. It may be bad hardware, driver, or even placement of antenna and components. Looking at the site now does not have the wireless option for that model.

The wireless card that comes with the Sentia performs with good wireless signal distance and speed. Granted that it is 802.11b 11Mbps, this is more than adequate if you do not plan on transfering large files between computers in your network. Personally I do find myself transferring large files, and if speed is a must for the transfer, I plug in wired through the built in wired NIC.

The card can easily be replaced with 3rd party mini-PCI. and a replacement can easily be found on the internet and in most cases less cash.

The order site gives option of up to 1 gig only, but I don't see any reason 1 gig sticks to make up 2 gig total would not be supported.
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post #3 of 10
2/16/04 at 7:20am
Thread Starter 
Wow, quick reply there, thanks booga. Are you in the UK?

I guess I'll find out how much a mini-pci 802.11a/b/g card will cost me and see what AlienWare charge for the extra, if its more i'll source it myself (like the memory). Will buy a 256MB Sentia and buy a 512MB from Crucial (the 1gig seem quite pricey atm - and I can swap the 256MB for a 1gig at a later date).

Then it's the lengthy waiting period
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post #4 of 10
2/16/04 at 2:22pm
Some desktop wireless PCI' can be taken apart to reveal a mini-PCI inside. The smae drivers are used if you put this mini-PCI in your computer.
If you search for mini-PCI, you will not find much of a selection and they are over-priced. The desktop PCI are a lot less, and peforms just as well.

The cards with the mini-PCI inside will have the large casing screwed on the card instead of just a small chip soldered to the board.

More pictures of one that I took apart on another laptop in the link below.
http://www.slacker.net/alienware/Wireless/

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post #5 of 10
2/18/04 at 12:40am
A 2nd tier rep said that although minipci connection fits that there is a size difference between b and g cards (g being bigger) and that g will not fit in the limited space of sentia. *awaits boogs"s in depth review of g installation*
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post #6 of 10
2/21/04 at 3:52am
max is 1G of RAM to my knowledge
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post #7 of 10
2/21/04 at 6:02am
Feels like the "tier 2 " rep is wrong.

Mini-PCI slots and space surrounding it is based on a "standard" which means one card will fit as well as the other. I have seen G cards with smaller chipset than the B.

But I will give the "tier 2" rep the benefit of the doubt and I will request for a mini-PCI G card to test.


Quote:
Originally Posted by archalien
A 2nd tier rep said that although minipci connection fits that there is a size difference between b and g cards (g being bigger) and that g will not fit in the limited space of sentia. *awaits boogs"s in depth review of g installation*
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post #8 of 10
2/21/04 at 6:43am
Quote:
Originally Posted by booga
Feels like the "tier 2 " rep is wrong.

Mini-PCI slots and space surrounding it is based on a "standard" which means one card will fit as well as the other. I have seen G cards with smaller chipset than the B.

But I will give the "tier 2" rep the benefit of the doubt and I will request for a mini-PCI G card to test.
My thoughts exactly! but when he was talking about limited space in the sentia It gave me a moment of pause. God why? Why cant alienware employee competent reps?
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post #9 of 10
2/22/04 at 6:21am
I tried to get my QA guy from SMC to send me a G card, but it seems he is out of the country until March 16.

Maybe someone with the Area-51m2 can get measurements of the card and I can compare it to the one in the Sentia.

Length
width
Thickness

I still think the Tier 2 rep is wrong.
Me thinks that archalien was pestering him for an answer and the rep pulled one out of his butt.


I suspect that the real reason is that they are somehow bound to stay within the Centrino guidelines to offer a computer with the Centrino badge.
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post #10 of 10
2/22/04 at 6:43pm
me thinks reps dont know jack shat and will say anything to get you off the phone so they can go back to watching Miami Vice.
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