Live from Japan: The FT 8790 Review - Page 5  

From above (same paragraph as the Hypersonic statement): I'm not saying everywhere and everyone is like this- merely what I've experienced.

That's exactly how I determined their CS to be non-existant, spygirl. I've seen others have fantastic luck w/ their CS. That's part of the reason I was willing to give them an opportunity at my $3000- word of mouth.

However, I emailed them in regards to buying a unit from them. I soon after received an automated response email telling me that a *real* CS rep would be contacting me soon in regards to my questions.

That was in March. I'm still waiting.

Well, considering I bought my 8790 from PCT already, there's not much need to talk to Hypersonic's sales. They lost the sale- just that simple.

And yes, the divisions are separate I'm sure between Sales and Customer Service, but when it all comes down to the brass tacks of the matter, anytime you're involved with a customer (or potential customer), anything you do (or don't do), IMO, is Customer Service.

I don't begrudge you for defending your good experience with them. Like I said, I wouldn't have even considered them if I hadn't seen enough stories like yours on the boards. However, they fumbled and lost the ball. Better luck next time. Altho' there most likely won't be a next time. Hopefully someone from Hypersonic reads the boards here and has a little talk with Sales about their thoroughness in Customer Relations. Hate to put a dent in a good company's rep, but I call 'em as I see 'em.

WinDVD 4
So far, WinDVD's been a decent software player. I used to use Cinemaster ages ago and then more recently, PowerDVD on my Sony VAIO. My only issue so far w/ WinDVD is the issue of fixed regional coding. Being an American (with a considerable US-bought collection of DVDs) in Japan (home of Region 2 DVDs- not compatible w/ US's R1 players), it irks me to have to choose which region to use to watch DVDs with.

I'm down to my last chance w/ WinDVD. The next region-coded DVD I play will set the coding for the player. Well, that's just a horse-load o' crap that I'm not willing to pull. I installed a program last night called DVD Region-Free Lite. Inserted a Japanese R2 disc and wasn't greeted w/ the usual Pick Now or DIE screen that usually accompanies WinDVD usage. Played no problem. I think I'll have to pay for it if I want to use it for an extended period of time, but I might do that.

No need for anyone to suggest cracks/serialz/whatever because Yes, I know. I've been around the block plenty enough to know about all of that. I could have a cracked region-free player installed on here in probably less than 5 minutes if I wanted. That's not the point. The point is using what I have. And that works for me (maybe I'm getting old :P )

One thing I've noticed is that backing up DVDs w/ DVD Decrypter breaks the region-coding, so the backups don't have that problem. Just something for ev'one to keep in mind.


Oh, as an added note on DVD playback, I'm currently running on the video drivers that came installed, no GPU overclocking and staying at 1440x900 resolution. I have absolutely no issues with playback at all. I only mention this because I've seen others post recently about problems. None here. Clear as a bell.

I browse through that forum occasionally, but lately haven't had any time for gaming Thanks for the heads up, though! Maybe someone else who hadn't noticed that site will see it due to your post. I'd just assumed that it'd been mentioned enough that ev'one knew about it. I need to stop assuming things...

External Temps
The other day, I had a little free time here at work and decided to check out the outside temps (nice having toys @ work ) of my 8790.

MobMeter was reporting a steady 49C at the time of testing. Room temperature was probably approximately 75F (I'm guessing).

Prior to testing, I'd burnt a couple data CDs and had one burning during the test. Didn't have Nero running- just using the default Windows drag-n-drop method for backing up some pics I had.

Results:
Left Wristpad 39C
Right Wristpad 36C

DVD Drive (near the Eject button) 41C
Top of Left Speaker (nearest DVD drive) 41C

While I was testing, the last CD finished and ejected, so I decided to test it, too. I checked the top of the CD only seconds after ejecting- I can't imagine getting a faster or better result w/o having some sort of internal gauge. Result? 48C.


As of this moment, sitting on a hard surface w/ no support (chopsticks or otherwise), the PCMCIA card slot dummy removed and nothing taxing going on in the background, I'm running @ 44C constant. Original BIOS from the factory, nothing altered. Artic Silver's calling me. Just seems a bit on the high side for my tastes.

External temp probe type thingie we have here at work. Give me a minute and I'll go see if I can find a name/model/whatever. I'm at work right now

Edit: Survey says...

Rika Kogyo DP-500C

Not that the name means anything, but that's specifically what I used. Took a picture, too, but... I still haven't taken the time to find a pic host. I'm fired.

Edit: 3 Billion years later, link added

Rika Kogyo DP-500C Pic

No prob, Lurking

External Temps Redux
So yesterday I decided to do a little stress test and then measure the external temps of the 8790.

At 3pm, with MobMeter reporting 49C steady (idle) on my desk at work, I started up KOTOR. It's been No-CD patched, so the Pioneer/Boeing DVD was not in use (NWN Play disc was in the drive, though- not that it matters).

As I was busy elsewhere and not usually at my desk, I thought I'd leave it for exactly one hour and come back to test. Work being well, work, I didn't actually get back to my desk until after 5pm. I'd totally forgot about the test because I was so busy.

I'd left my character standing in town on Tatooine (Jolee and HK-47 providing support in case of any errant, rabid Jawas).

At 5:24, I measured the temps.
Results:
CPU 55C w/ fans on HIGH. This is the first time I've heard them on High because I've never heard them like this before. Kind of scary, actually. Even the other guys in the office were concerned (mostly about the temps I was reporting).
Left Wristpad 39C
Right Wristpad 37C
DVD Face (to L of the Eject button) 35C
Top of Left Speaker 39C
Top of the Power Supply (smaller model w/ fan) 40C
Bottom of Power Supply 45C (PS was resting on it's own cable looped under it, so there was a bit of room for airflow)
Enter Key 34C

At 5:30, I shut KOTOR off and due to the excessive fan noise, I threw my little electronic dictionary underneath the rear of the machine to prop it up a little.

5:32 MobMeter hit 40C and the fans kicked down to normal.


Once again, nothing extra for cooling other than the PCMCIA card slot dummy having been removed. No Chopstick solution or otherwise elevating type elements used- 8790 was flat on my work desk. No Arctic Silver has yet been applied to my system.

One of the guys at work's making me a cooling pad, so I'll report on that once it's ready.

Keyboard
So far, the keyboard's been good. Nice touch to the keys for the most part. My Enter key just started clicking, so that makes me a bit grumpified.


Pictures
I took Conpalo's suggestion and uploaded a few pics to a site he suggested. Now I just gotta go through and link a few and make a new thread in the Pics forum.

One o' these days I will...

Keyboard
Last week my Delete key was sticking. Seemed like it was catching on another key or perhaps the silver strip. I was too surprised to stop and figure it out. After pushing it a few times, it came undone. I was able to get it to stick 2 more times by pressing it constantly, but then it was fine. My thoughts are that it's because it's right where the keyboard is bowed. Was thinking that it was catching on the silver piece along the top o' the unit. Not sure. But it grumpified me something pretty good.

Artifacting
Even worse yet, last night I was playing Sacred and the screen started artifacting. As I've already put in 9+ hours of playtime with this game and not had it artifact, it surprised me. Also, right before I started playing, I killed Firefox and WinAmp- things that sometimes I leave on in the background. So if anything, it should've ran better than before. There was no stuttering in the game, just artifacting. And I haven't changed anything, so there shouldn't have been any problems.
The artifacting usually came at the foggy transition between night and day. There was one time when I think I came out of a building and zoomed out and the artifacting stopped. Really not sure what to think.
A few days ago, I had artifacting happen and I didn't think much of it- I don't remember now why I didn't think much of it, but now that a game has artifacted that never did before concerns me.
I kept on w/ the game to see how bad it would get. It was the opposite- it actually got better. To the point of totally stopping. I'm thinking that it was a heat related issue because it was pretty warm when I started the game, but evening soon came and cooled my room down.

Heat
My unit's been idling at around 47-48C lately. The other day after work, I took it out into the shop and blew it out w/ compressed air. Big ol' dust bunnies. Idles about 5C cooler now, but still in the 42-43C range. Still too hot for my liking. Gaming kicks it up to 60C and there it sits. I still haven't done the AC mod. Probably should.
Also, one of the guys at work made me an improvised aluminium cooling pad. At first, the temps dropped 1-2C, but not long afterwards, seemed to fall back into their normal range. There are no fans in it and the design isn't the best (IMO), but it was worth a try.
Still using the chopsticks at home. Actually put a couple stacks o' CDs (2 50CD spindles) under the unit to raise it up as it was quite hot the other day. Seemed to help it cool of a bit. Enough to get it to kick down to low fans, anyways.

Wacky Windows
I don't know what XP's problem is, but it wacky. It doesn't seem to like being put in standby from my apt, where there's wireless internet, and taken to work and turned on, where I hook up to the internet via the LAN cable. What's happening is this- I'm getting a small collection of Local Area Connection icons in my Systray (all disconnected). I just counted 13 of them! One of them is a Bluetooth Network icon. Eh? What's that all about? Also, whenever I do a Shutdown and bring the machine back up (which isn't too often), I get the G-Link error messager about 108.g and WPA not being enabled. I had that msg originally and fixed it immediately by installing the G-Link drivers. Just makes me wonder why it's back now when there's nothing that I can think of that has been changed. And why do I have a Bluetooth Network icon (disconnected) in my Systray? It says a Network Cable is unplugged. ???

Other than that, everything seems to be fine. The artifacting, though, is a serious worry. The keyboard issues (Enter and Delete key) are also a worry.

And I noticed over in G's review that Mobile Meter seemed to be causing his TV Tuner software to hang. I don't have a TV Tuner, but I do have Mobile Meter running 24/7. Don't think it'd be related to anything, but just mention it as a fact to be noted.

AzN, I use the same power adapters as Canada/US. However, 3-prong wall outlets are pretty much non-existant here (at least I've never seen, nor heard, of one). My home adapter's plugged into a power strip (which are just like the States and have 3-prong holes) and I bought a 3-to-2 prong adapter for carrying with me in my bag.

G, I checked the bottom fans w/ a receipt and sure enough, only 2 are intake. I'll have to get out the screwydriver in a bit and do some house cleaning down there. I'll try the BT/WiFi on/off bit, too. Thanks for that. Never even occurred to me to do that.

Never said I was a rokut syuntist

Day off and had a bit o' time for once, so decided to get a little gaming in since it's been awhile.

Got KOTOR started up and MASSIVE artifacting. In fact, it was so bad, I couldn't see to escape correctly. Shut down. Let it sit for a bit, started back up. Tried again. I was pretty much able to view the initial movie and get through the character creation part (altho' there was some slight artifacting there). Once the actually game started, though, it was impossible to play. Couldn't see anything. When I finally got the game shut down, my desktop was FUBAR, too. Had to do a complete shutdown in order to get the desktop back to normal. Mobile Meter reported 62C at time of exiting from KOTOR.

Next, I tried Age of Mythology: The Titans. Played vs. several other computer players (7 I think) on a large map. Slight artifacting throughout the game. Otherwise, no slowdowns or any problems like that.

I'm very grumpy about the artifacting that's going on. I was thinking that maybe the card was too hot, thus the artifacting. I've had KOTOR run reliably at 60C for hours on end, so it doesn't seem likely that a 2C difference would cause it to fail like it's been doing. There haven't been any changes made to the system that I can think of that could be contributing to this. However, a reinstall of XP is overdue, I think. Not really excited about that. Once I try that and try different drivers, if nothing changes, then I'll assume that my card is going bad. I'm not really excited about the prospect of having to deal with something like that from Japan, if it is indeed the case.

Not happy at all with the artifacting that seems to be getting worse as time goes on.

Played Age of Mythology: The Titans last night. Minor artifacting during the game and then full-blown artifacting deep into the game. Looked just like what KOTOR ran into. No escaping it; had to be restarted in order to get back to normal.

Right now, it's idling at 46~47C. Room temp is 26C. If I get time, I'm going to try to blow the fans out when I get to work. Running way too hot, IMO. Gaming pulls it up to 62C. Apparently my machine can't take 62C for very long. I haven't done the AC application yet. Probably won't anytime soon as I'm headed out of town tomorrow for a couple days.

Frustrated and ticked off that this is a problem. Pretty bad when I can't even run a simple RTS w/o artifacting like crazy.