G-Omaha's **8790 Review** Now Open To Questions and Comments - Page 4

DVD Writer Observations

OK, I have finally got Nero to work. I erased (full and slow method and then fast method) a OPTDISK DVD-RW. Then I copied my "My Documents" to it and verified that the files were correctly written. This takes a long time as I have over 4GB of data within "My Documents". Everything went A-OK. Then I repeated the process using a RITEK DVD-R (Rated at 2x) and the process again went smooth (an a lot quicker). The DVD-RW is a 1x process and the DVD-R is a 2x process.

OK, How about copying a DVD Movie? I installed DVD X Copy Platinum (the one that 321 Studios can't sell anymore because of the copywrite "break/De-Cass" logic contained there-in) and accomplished an "Express Copy". The "Express Copy" insures that a dual layered DVD can be copied to a DVD-R by compressing some of the frames. Operation successful and the the copy was way better than the one that I made on my Dell 1.7GHz 8100 Desktop. Must say 321 Studios makes an excellant product and hope that they can win "on appeal".

Every this is A-OK with the DVD drive. Now I'll have to try the CD-R and CD-RW on it and see what happens.

Off Topic

It's 71 degrees in Omaha, Nebraska at this time and the Robins are Chirping and are "bouncing" all over the place. Hopefully this is spring. Just a couple of days ago it was snowing. Gotta love the midwest. Don't like the weather - just wait a few hours and it will change.

Rollback

For some reason, after I downloaded and installed 3DMark03, I could no longer access the shared areas on the other three computers on the network. Grrrrr... Yea, I know, nothing to get steamed about - especially since it has nothing to do with this machine. I also inherited a "bridge" that I couldn't get rid of. Rolled back and everything appears to be fine now.

I think I'll call it a day... And start again tomorrow with CD-R/CD-RW validations. Cheers all.

My original assessment may have been too harsh

It is now a couple of days later and the WiFi appears to me more stable. It has "cut out" and resynced a couple of times; however, I don't know why. All things considered, it really isn't all that bad. I suspect (and hope) that the disconnect will be fixed in the future. It does provide for a very speedy file transfers that are over the 54 speed even though is varies up and down between 11 and 108.

CD-R and CD-RW Work Fine

I have tried the data and video writes and reads from this device and appears to be A-OK. CD-R at 16x write and CD-RW at 10x write speeds.

No not yet. The BSD indicates a driver problem. I get the BSD when I ask that the device be disconnected on the "Safely Remove Hardware" Icon on the tray. I have this on my list of things the research and am proceeding on. The important thing is that it works and can be hot plugged in. This issue, along with disconnecting the ALPs touchpad need to be reviewed further after I get pretty much done with everything else.

Burn Baby Burn - Trying to Max out the Temperature

Well, how do you make a 3.4Ghz computer sluggish? I have found out how to do this in an effort to measure run-time temperatures.

Mostly, I have been doing some moderate things and have seen temperatures (using mobmeter) that are between 41C and 58C. After the machince has been on for over three/four hours and using the tuner (and recording DVD Format to HDD) the temperatures are pretty much 57/58C.

Then, I saw GS's post regarding a "WTF" on the temperature that I reported. Here is what I found.

1). On low usage, the temperature can go up to 65C without the "High Speed" fans kicking in.
2). If the CPU and Video Card is aggrressively being used, the "High Speed" fans kickin at about 66C and stay on. After a few minutes the temperature cycles from 59/60C. I made a test and ran it a bit over one and 1/2 hours and the temperature was a stable 59/60C.
3). Here is what I ran for the test:
a). Windows Task Manager
b). 86 Popup Blocker
c). EzTrust Anti-Virus
d). WiFi
e). Instant Messenger
f). Mobile Meter
g). Spyware Guard
h). DVD Copy Plus - DVD Decode/Recode to SVCR
i). BurnIt Test
j). UT2004-Demo

And then just to make sure that the system was saturated, I added

k). Diskeeper - Defrag (set with "Highest Priority" setting)
l). Another 15 iterations of Burnit Test software. (some didn't complete all tests because of insufficient memory and duplicate file names for the HDD tests).

When all of these tasks were executing, the sytem was somewhat sluggish. Can't really see why?

Anyway, the CPU was "pegged" at 100% for both the physical and HT CPUs. The memory usage was about 2.5GB (I only have 1GB real memory).

During this "little test" the heat reported was never above 60C.

Now, when I shut down the test and go to just an active desk top (plus a web connection-Notebook Forums), the temperature has fallen to 41/42C degrees after a 3 minute wait - the fans shut off about a minute later (or are on ultra low mode). The room temperature is now 76F thanks to the test (was 72F before I started).

Temperature now at 49C - fan did a little "burst" and then cycled down. THe "burst" caused the temperature to fall to 46C. Unexpected, because the "burst" lasted about 2 secounds or less.

Now that's hot -- not temperature wish, but performance wise.

I have been monitoring for another five minutes or so and the temperature is a constant 48C.

Temperature is still at 47/48C. Fans are off and ventaliation is through natural convection. Just using the internet and mobmeter.

Can't really compare against the 4780 as I don't have one and have never seen on. From what I have heard, this beast is better engineered and they have taken great care regarding any heat issues. There is a lot packed into a very small amount of space and the heat appears to be well within acceptable specifications and expectations. It get's warm and when it is stressed a bit warmer; however, not too bad IMHO.

Steve,

I have the 8 Cell battery. I want to run another test that would be more representative on how I would use the laptop in "real life (like I'm not real now??). I'll post the results when the test has been completed.

I am beginning to believe that the interference factor on the WiFi is caused by some "external interferences". I will play with all of the "channel options" and see if that improves/degrades performances. Right now I am using channel 6 and that one is prone to interference from some wireless phones and wicrowaves. My neighbor's kitchen (wicrowave) is closer to the laptop than the router is (line of sight that is). When they are not at home, I have absolutely no problems......go figure.

I tried downloading Far Cry for about a day and gave up. The transfer rates dwindled to near zero and I lost tolerance for waiting....Good luck...

Sorry, the anatomy lession and bisection is reserved for a future date. I want to make sure that the patient is alive before I get a chance to "kill it" (Just kidding). So far, I have not even connected headphones to this thing. Waiting for my new ones to come in the mail (Monday or Wednesday). The only "look see" that I have done up to this time is to see what type of HDDs are included. "Lots to do and little time to do it".

Sadly, I will be somewhat delayed in reviewing efforts because my Grandmother passed away a few minutes ago. She was 93 1/2 years old, smart as a whip, and will be missed by all that she touched. Sorry - just had to say that and get if off of my chest.

Need to go now....

This one is for Beachbum

Beachbum has observed that there is a subwoofer "slot" located on the left side of the 8790 and wonders why we can't have the subwoofer and TV Tuner on at the same time.

Further research reveals the following:

Yes, that is a subwoofer "slot". Clevos, allows a factory choice between the 7-in-1 reader or a subwoofer for slot 1. Then it allows for either a Subwoofer or TV Tuner for slot 3. Sager apparently determined that the 7-in-1 was a better option than the subwoofer for slot 1 and offered the subwoofer as standard equipment for slot 3. Then, if someone wanted the TV Tuner, they are given the option of replacing the subwoofer with the TV Tuner or have both (swap out as needed).

The 7-in-1 option is a factory choice and can not be changed by Sager, As far as I know. Personally, I wanted the 7-in-1 reader so that I could read the XD card; unfortunately, it does not seem to be supported. I would rather have the subwoofer than the 7-in-1 card; however, that was not an option.

WiFi Update - A Case of Yellow is NOT Orange

Well, after doing everything possible in an attempt to get this thing working correctly, we accomplished the absolute "last step". Yep - RTFB!! The Bluetooth was disabled; however, was not off. The right light (on LCD trim panel) was green and orange (looked like an off orange/yellow). When we used the Function+F12 the light turned to a "real" orange. Rebooted the machine, to lock in this setting, and haven't had a disconnect problem since.

This morning I transfered a few files between my son's desktop and the laptop. My son's computer is connected to the router with copper (10/100) and the connection between the router and the laptop is via WiFi.

7.13GB of MP3s (1,902 files) was started at 8:34 and completed at 9:41. This appears to be a bit slow to me. Signal strength was going up and down like a yo-yo. I don't know what is causing that and it really doesn't matter as the transfer was much quicker than that provided by the old -b WiFi in the 3363V laptop.

Rendering Test - DVD to SVCD -

I converted the Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets DVD (2 Hours, 40 Minutes, and 47 seconds in length) to 5 SVCD's written on 80 Minute CD-R's at 16x speed. The sound encoding method selected was AC3 6 Chanel English Sound.

12:35 started the process.
18:50 rendering completed and writes to CD-R's started.
18:57 Disk 1 completed
19:05 Disk 2 completed
19:13 Disk 3 completed
19:20 Disk 4 completed
19:26 Disk 5 completed

CPU usage was approximately 63/65% during rendering and 1/2% during CD-R writes. Temperature was generally 57C during rendering and 46C during writes (took a minute or two for the temperature to drop after rendering was completed).

I reviewed the output (jWIN DVD player) and the results were very impressive. No grain or artifacting. I had expected both as that was the norm using my other computer (1.7Ghz Dell) and the same software.

So, the DVD/CD writer is a keeper and performs very well. Wen looking at the write times, above, please remember that this time includes "Disc Swaps", Mounts, and Finilization for each disk.

Edit: Added some dialog contained in other threads (from yesterday)

3:24 PM (Yesterday)
OK, I have been here rendering videos for over two hours and the temperature is a pretty flat 64/65C. That seems to be a bit hot to me. CPU Frequence displays at 3.43Ghz. Fans are odd. There is one fan on that is running constantly and another that continually cycles up and down. I just added BurnIn to the mix and the fan "kicked into high gear" at 66C. Temp is now falling. The cycle up and down that I initially thought was a fan was actually the DVD reading to get more data to be rendered. Windows task manager displays system at 100% CPU Usage. Temp now at 59C. After about 5 minutes temp is now 58C - CPU is still Maxed out and so are the fans. Temperature goes up and down between 58C and 59C. BurnIt finished it's 15 minute test and CPU is now at 60/63% with minor dips into the 25/30% range when the DVD is accessed for a secound or so. Temperature has fallen to 53C and started rising again to 57C.

6:06 PM (Yesterday)
The fans have not "kicked down" from my earlier post. The temp hovers between 52/57C - mostly around 56C. I know that it is busy, the only concern I have is when/what temperature the fans "kick up". I guess that I will monitor it and see what happens.