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BigDaddy0004's HP nc6000 Initial Thoughts and Pics

post #1 of 45
3/19/04 at 2:05am
Thread Starter 
I really like the size and weight of this notebook. Trim but very usable at the same time.

The screen size pleasantly surprised me. It's larger than what I thought a 14.1" would be. Very bright and clear with no bad pixels noticed so far.

Wireless a,b,g card works very well from one end of our modest ranch home to the other. Have not had a chance to try the range outside. It found our wireless network easily and was up and surfing the net in no time.

Keyboard is firm. Touch pad and eraser head pointer and buttons all very responsive.

DVD/CD combo plays DVD+R backups fine.

I'll put together a more formal review after spending more time with my new nc6000.

Here are some photos.
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post #2 of 45
3/19/04 at 9:09am
Thanks for the pics BiGDaddy0004. I was just wondering, in your pictures, it almost looks like the processor label is that of a pentium 4 m. I thought the nc6000 was a Pentium M based notebook. Did HP just stick the wrong label on the notebook or is it really a Pentium 4 m in there.
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post #3 of 45
3/19/04 at 10:44am
Thread Starter 
I was wondering if someone was going to notice that.
Yeah, it looks like they put the wrong sticker on it. It says pentium 4M on the sticker, but when it boots up it says pentium M.
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post #4 of 45
3/19/04 at 1:10pm
lol, that interesting. They put centrino on mine (cant accidenaly replace that) because i got the intel a/b card. BigDaddy, are u planning on upgrading the processor down the road?
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post #5 of 45
3/19/04 at 6:04pm
Thread Starter 
I guess it's a pretty small price to pay considering the exceptional shipping/delivery time I received.
It's still annoying, though. I paid my $2K+, gimme my correct 2 cent sticker that I'm going to remove anyway.
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post #6 of 45
3/19/04 at 6:43pm
Thread Starter 
Yes Jmanjohns, I have considered upgrading. It's always nice to have the "Latest & Greatest". I nearly upgraded my desktop, again, to an Athlon 64 FX 51. More XXX, better YYY, faster ZZZ. But I chose a notebook this time around. I may let another brave soul blaze the trail first to see how big a deal it turns out to be. If the performance increase is substantial, why not?
How about you? Are you that brave soul?
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post #7 of 45
3/20/04 at 1:18am
I believe that I am. Provided that it doesn't explicitly state in my warrant opening the computer voids it, I will upgrade the processor. Even if it does, If i need a repair, ill swap the old CPU back in when I send it back and still keep my warranty, not entirely honest, but the warranty shouldn't be voided unless I actually break it while Im working, not if I open it and then it breaks a year later.
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post #8 of 45
3/21/04 at 6:11pm

Benchmarks Please...

Could you benchmark your nc6000 in 3DMark 03 and PCMark 02? I want to get an idea of the performance difference between the 1.6 GHz and the 1.4 GHz PM.
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post #9 of 45
3/21/04 at 10:19pm
Thread Starter 
Sure, I just downloaded and installed them both. This is the first time I've used these benchmarks, so please be gentle with me. How did you overclock for the non-default scores?
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post #10 of 45
3/22/04 at 1:58am
Thread Starter 
Keep in mind these are stock default scores.

PCMark 2002 Results
CPU: 5214
Memory: 4743
HD: 552

3DMark 2003 Results
1593

That being said, I played the demo version of UT2004 and it rocked! I was very impressed by the lack of any artifacts, pixelation, or frame jerkiness.

I bought this notebook with the primary requirement of wireless internet surfing on the patio while the kids play in the back yard. It excels at this. I thought the 64MB ATI Radeon 9600 might give me a fighting chance at playing FPS types of games which can be pretty tough on a graphics card. I subjectively favorably compare this to my desktop ATI AIW 9700 Pro 128.

I don't know how to really interpret the benchmark scores. I'm happy with the performance the way it is.
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post #11 of 45
3/22/04 at 9:54am
You can either download RAD linker, part of the Omega Driver and Catalyst Driver Sets, or download powerstrip. If you do overclock it, be careful that you don't go too high over 350 MHz core/ 300 Mhz Memory, if you even go that high.
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post #12 of 45
3/22/04 at 6:50pm
Thread Starter 
Thanks for the info. Have you found a stable OC you prefer, or do you leave yours at default?
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post #13 of 45
3/23/04 at 3:00am
jmanjohns,

You wrote:

"be careful that you don't go too high over 350 MHz core/ 300 Mhz Memory, if you even go that high."

Where'd you get those numbers from? Are those the max on your particular notebook? Or are they recommended guidelines from ATI?
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post #14 of 45
3/23/04 at 3:07pm
350/300 is my number that I derived from ATI's specifications. the maximum spped shipped thus far are 350/270, but can go up to 350/300. This seemed to be the safe "upper limit" to me. I prefer using 300 core 250 memory. Only problem is it interferes with powerplay, so if you overclock, shut off powerplay.
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post #15 of 45
3/23/04 at 9:37pm
Thread Starter 
Thanks again for the info Jmanjohns.

Does anyone know if the Synaptics touchpad is configurable for taps or other commands like some of the AW's?
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post #16 of 45
3/24/04 at 12:30am
Regular synaptics drivers are very complete in this sense. They do allow for all sorts of congurable features, such as corner taps with all sorts of macro-like behaviors, as well as scrolling zones and things like that. Also if you have a 4-way pad on your notebook, they are usually part of the synaptics device, which means the same sort of funcionality configuration is available for it too.
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post #17 of 45
3/24/04 at 7:22am
Thread Starter 
Thanks, NSiNSiNSi. That's sounds like good news.
I have not seen any instructions on how to configure it, though.
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post #18 of 45
3/24/04 at 5:17pm
No problem BD0004.

There's actually quite a lot of explanatory text in the synpatics configuration panel. Go to your mouse control panel, go to hardware, select "synaptics device" , and hit the properties button at the bottom. That should bring up the configuration panel for the touchpad. You can select which features to enable, and there's a pretty good explanation of each at the right side of the window all the time.
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post #19 of 45
3/24/04 at 5:33pm
Thread Starter 
I'll look as soon as I get home. I had no idea the config panel was there.
Maybe I should read the manual, huh?
Thanks again.
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post #20 of 45
3/24/04 at 10:05pm
Thread Starter 
Works as advertised!
I owe you one, NSiNSiNSi.
Thanks.
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