AMD64 notebook SHIPPED... arriving in 3 days :) - Page 13

( put the review back here for ppl who are still interested in the mitac8335 )

[Ordering and Shipping Process]
I ordered my laptop from ibuypower on March 25th. I paid for normal shipping and received it on April 1st. It arrived double boxed and packaged very well. Nothing was missing from my order.

[Installing and Setting Up]
Since I ordered my laptop without an operating system I had to do a clean full install of everything. At first I had issues with my copy of windows xp because it wouldnt bootup with it, but that was a problem related with my CD being a copy and not the regular store bought version. I went out and got the real thing and it installed fine.

[Testing devices]
After the o/s install I installed all the bundled drivers that came with the laptop. At first when I was testing these devices I noticed that my laptop would freezeup when playing neverwinter nights. I went and downloaded the latest ati omega drivers and I never had a problem with that again. Another thing I noticed when testing installed devices was the internal wireless lan card. This card could not be turned on using the wlan toggle on/off switch. Further more, the card did not send data to the send/recieve LED's, nor did it have a very stable connection to my Linksys 54g wireless router at my home network. This issue has not been resolved, I am temporarily using pcmcia linksys 54g card to get by with wi-fi.

[Detailed specs]
I downloaded CPU-Z to get a reading on my cpu, cache, motherboard, and memory. Here are the pics to the data I got:

Cpu Reading:


Mainboard Reading:


Memory Reading:


Cache Reading:


After my intial test run I decided to find data on how the computer was running when It was idling and running during general use (aim, wlan, surfing web, checking mail, etc).

laptop idling:
38c cpu - 38c hd

laptop during general use:
41c cpu - 48c hd

laptop on full power idling:
45c cpu - 48c hd

laptop on full power after gaming:
55c cpu - 51c hd

[Benchmarks]
Using directx 9.0B and Omega 2.5.36a drivers (as of 4/8/04) I ran free trial benchmarks of 3Dmark03, Aquamark03, and PCmark04. Here are the results:

3Dmark03:



Aquamark03:


PCmark04:


[Overclocking Benchmarks]
Using AtiTool I found that my video cards default operating core/mem and tweaked it to an OC'ed setting where it ran stable with no artifacts. Cpu is still running at full power and not OC'ed.

Video card default:


Video card overclocked at a stable level (no artifacts, no overheating):


3Dmark03:


Aquamark03:


[to be continued later...coverage on battery life, real game benchmarks of farcry, unreal2, ut2k4, etc]

Here are some pics of the laptop and the battery which I will cover later when I have time.

( disassebly of mitac8335 pics and minipci install )

Ok I received my Intel Pro2200 54/b/g card a little early so I decided to get started on the installation asap!

***note: for those of you who didnt know, I was having some issues with the free internal card that I got from ibuypower. the signal was sporadic bouncing from bad/good and the wi-fi toggle switch would not light up or work at all.***

Heres a little walkthrough guide that I made while doing the upgrade:

Heres the new intel card thats suppose to be really good, only 40 bucks:


Ok on to disassembly. I first remove the 3 screws on the bottom of the laptop that are holding the front face plate in place:


After removing those screws I find and use a paper clip to insert it into the faceplate ejection hole:


With the faceplace ejected from its slot, I am able to slide it out to the left and remove it:


Next, I remove the 2 screws holding the keyboard in place:


With the screws gone, I am able to lift up the keyboard:


Next, I disconnect the cable connecting the keyboard to the motherboard:


With the keyboard gone, all of the internals are revealed, pretty...


I peek under the heatshield and find ram!


Whats under the other heatshield? bingo, mini pci slot!


As you can see this is the old crappy no brand 'free' internal card that I got that didnt work too well:


Removing it was a lil tricky because you had to push the 2 left and right retentioner clips that hold the card in place. but with that done, I went ahead and popped in the new card and attached the laptop antenna to the main port:


I put everything backtogether and press the power button... and well well well, what do we have here... a working wi-fi on/off switch that glows blue!


once i'm in windows it picks up an excellent connection right away and its STABLE... yesssss all done~