After spend roughly 4 months looking for a laptop that would suit my needs come fall I decided to go with the Hypersonic CX-5. I must thank rincewind for all the information and photos he has posted, which greatly impacted my decision and piece of mind when ordering.
Pictures are at the bottom.
Ordering:
Before I ordered I knew Hypersonic had a rep for taking awhile to build machines. This was not a problem for me seeing I do not really need it until late August, but if you are considering Hypersonic and need it in a timely manner or you are an extremely impatient person I would suggest you look elseware. My initial order date was 6/18/2004 with an expected shipping date of 7/6/04. The ESD was later changed to 7/8/04. The laptop was shipped out on 7/7/04 and I recieved it on 7/8/04 (I picked 1-day shipping). So it took 21 days from order placed until it arrived. The couple times I emailed them due to getting a student discount added (I believe it was 3%) they replied in a timely fashion and were fairly nice. FYI: you need to fax them a student id or other proof to get the discount.
This is the system I ordered:
MS Windows XP Home Edition SP1 CD & Manual, Pre-Installed & Configured
Integrated V.92 56K Fax/Data Modem
Integrated 100MBit Fast Ethernet Controller
60GB 5400rpm Ultra ATA Hard Drive
1Year 24/7 Toll-Free Tech Support Platinum Service & Lifetime Support
15.1" SXGA+ High Contrast Active Matrix LCD Display (1400x1050)
Guaranteed No Dead or Partially-Lit Pixels
ATI Radeon Mobility 9700 (M11) 128MB for CX5 (w/ TV Out)
Internal 802.11b+g 54Mbps Wireless Mini PCI for CX5 - Promotional Offer
Aviator CX5-11 Laptop (Metallic Navy)
4X DVD +/- R/W Drive w/ DVD Recording Software for CX5
1.7GHz Intel® Pentium-M 735 Processor w/ 2MB Cache (Dothan)
512MB PC2700 DDR333 RAM SODIMM
Price: $1,930.60 after student discount
I am going to add another stick of 512 RAM soon (didn't want to pay $140 for another stick when I can get it for around $100).
Impressions:
Hypersonic shipped the comapl56 box inside a Hypersoinc labled box and filled the rest of the box with packing peanuts, this seems to have done the job well. One of the main draws for Hypersonic for me was their burn in process and dead pixel policies. A carrying case is included. Inside the case was all the software and documentation. The software included a copy of nero, oem XP Home, CL56 drivers, some DVD program, and their oh **** disk ("Custom Disaster Recovery DVD"). They include a binder with information on customer support, your invoice (more to come on this later), their system check, and benchmarks. The only thing loaded on to it when it arrived was XP. They put their burn in results on the desktop along with a wallpaper and windows updates.
Hypersonics benchmarks on my system are as follows...
Benchmarks from Hypersonic:
Video (Direct 3D): 3DMark2001
3DMark 2001 1024x768: 10000 3DMarks
Game 1 Car Chase Low Detail: 109.8 fps
Game 1 Car Chase High Detail: 60.9 fps
Game 2 Dragothic Low Detail: 151.0 fps
Game 2 Dargothic High Detail: 91.8 fps
Game 3 Lobby Low Detail: 163.8 fps
Game 3 Lobby High Detail: 86.6 fps
Game 4 Nature: 48.4 fps
3DMark 2001 1280x1024: 7324 3DMarks
Game 1 Car Chase Low Detail: 87.0 fps
Game 1 Car Chase High Detail: 50.4 fps
Game 2 Dragothic Low Detail: 105.2 fps
Game 2 Dargothic High Detail: 69.6 fps
Game 3 Lobby Low Detail: 106.8 fps
Game 3 Lobby High Detail: 65.0 fps
Game 4 Nature: 31.7 fps
Video (OpenGL): Quake III Arena
Quake III Arena 1024x768:
Demo 1: 2001.1 fps <---I'm guessing thats a typo and supposed to be 201.1
Demo 2: 207.0 fps
Quake III Arena 1280x1024:
Demo 1: 128.6 fps
Demo 2: 133.4 fps
Video DX9: AquaMark3
Score: 22,669
Graphics: 2,607
CPU: 8,666
Display:
My one worry about the compal 56 was the display. The horizontal viewing angles are fine in my book, but the vertical viewing angles are pretty poor. I do not have alot of experience with LCDs, but its a pain to find a sweet spot when you are sitting within about a foot of the screen. I found sitting back alittle further, about 2 feet from the screen, the problem seems to go away. At the current time its kind of annoying since I'm further way from the keyboard, but I'm most likely getting a Bluetooth keyboard/mouse combo soon. The colors seem fine and I do not see any dead pixels. I haven't loaded any games on it yet, but if anything is horribly wrong i'll update this.
Weight:
It is thinner than I expected it to be and is rather like (Hypersonic says 6.25 pounds).
Keyboard:
The keyboard is alittle different than what I am use to on my desktop and I miss some keystokes now and then due to pressing the side of the key down instead of the middle.
Audio:
Poor and tinny, but I plan on using headphones for the most part.
Battery:
I will be using it this weekend and plan on seeing how the battery holds out doing different things, so i'll update this around monday.
Wireless:
I was suprised how easy this was to setup. It really wasn't setting up, more like click on the network I wanted to use. Much easier than getting my desktops on the network.
Noise:
When I was installing Office the DVD drive was rather noisy and the laptop vibrated a bit. Under normal use, webbrowsing and the like, it is quiet.
Misc.:
Hypersonic sent me the wrong invoice, which has the credit card number used to order on it. I have notified them and I am trying to find out if they sent my invoice to the wrong person also, so I know if I need to change my cc number or not.
Pictures:
What it Came in
Packaging
Peanuts cleared out
CL56 Box
Opened
Top View (Protective Plastic still on)
Left View
Hypersonic Logo
Back View
Port close up
Right View
Opened up
Open View From the Left
Keyboard
Touchpad
Bottom
Label
Battery Removed
Laptop Bag
Software
Cables
Conclusion:
Hypersonic was easy to do business with and I would quickly recommend them to others, as long as they do not mind the wait. I'm not to sure about the vertical viewing angles yet, I'm going to try it for a week or so to see if its a problem. If it is I may sadly have to return the CL56. Another perk about Hypersonic is their 30-day return policy, which I hopefully won't have to use. Other than the vertical viewing angles this laptop is everything that I wanted/need. Hopefully after a few days the vertical viewing angle will no longer be a problem. I also ordered a cx-5 for my cousin, which should be coming very soon. I'll see if he wants to throw up his opinnion on the cx-5 when it arrives.
Pictures are at the bottom.
Ordering:
Before I ordered I knew Hypersonic had a rep for taking awhile to build machines. This was not a problem for me seeing I do not really need it until late August, but if you are considering Hypersonic and need it in a timely manner or you are an extremely impatient person I would suggest you look elseware. My initial order date was 6/18/2004 with an expected shipping date of 7/6/04. The ESD was later changed to 7/8/04. The laptop was shipped out on 7/7/04 and I recieved it on 7/8/04 (I picked 1-day shipping). So it took 21 days from order placed until it arrived. The couple times I emailed them due to getting a student discount added (I believe it was 3%) they replied in a timely fashion and were fairly nice. FYI: you need to fax them a student id or other proof to get the discount.
This is the system I ordered:
MS Windows XP Home Edition SP1 CD & Manual, Pre-Installed & Configured
Integrated V.92 56K Fax/Data Modem
Integrated 100MBit Fast Ethernet Controller
60GB 5400rpm Ultra ATA Hard Drive
1Year 24/7 Toll-Free Tech Support Platinum Service & Lifetime Support
15.1" SXGA+ High Contrast Active Matrix LCD Display (1400x1050)
Guaranteed No Dead or Partially-Lit Pixels
ATI Radeon Mobility 9700 (M11) 128MB for CX5 (w/ TV Out)
Internal 802.11b+g 54Mbps Wireless Mini PCI for CX5 - Promotional Offer
Aviator CX5-11 Laptop (Metallic Navy)
4X DVD +/- R/W Drive w/ DVD Recording Software for CX5
1.7GHz Intel® Pentium-M 735 Processor w/ 2MB Cache (Dothan)
512MB PC2700 DDR333 RAM SODIMM
Price: $1,930.60 after student discount
I am going to add another stick of 512 RAM soon (didn't want to pay $140 for another stick when I can get it for around $100).
Impressions:
Hypersonic shipped the comapl56 box inside a Hypersoinc labled box and filled the rest of the box with packing peanuts, this seems to have done the job well. One of the main draws for Hypersonic for me was their burn in process and dead pixel policies. A carrying case is included. Inside the case was all the software and documentation. The software included a copy of nero, oem XP Home, CL56 drivers, some DVD program, and their oh **** disk ("Custom Disaster Recovery DVD"). They include a binder with information on customer support, your invoice (more to come on this later), their system check, and benchmarks. The only thing loaded on to it when it arrived was XP. They put their burn in results on the desktop along with a wallpaper and windows updates.
Hypersonics benchmarks on my system are as follows...
Benchmarks from Hypersonic:
Video (Direct 3D): 3DMark2001
3DMark 2001 1024x768: 10000 3DMarks
Game 1 Car Chase Low Detail: 109.8 fps
Game 1 Car Chase High Detail: 60.9 fps
Game 2 Dragothic Low Detail: 151.0 fps
Game 2 Dargothic High Detail: 91.8 fps
Game 3 Lobby Low Detail: 163.8 fps
Game 3 Lobby High Detail: 86.6 fps
Game 4 Nature: 48.4 fps
3DMark 2001 1280x1024: 7324 3DMarks
Game 1 Car Chase Low Detail: 87.0 fps
Game 1 Car Chase High Detail: 50.4 fps
Game 2 Dragothic Low Detail: 105.2 fps
Game 2 Dargothic High Detail: 69.6 fps
Game 3 Lobby Low Detail: 106.8 fps
Game 3 Lobby High Detail: 65.0 fps
Game 4 Nature: 31.7 fps
Video (OpenGL): Quake III Arena
Quake III Arena 1024x768:
Demo 1: 2001.1 fps <---I'm guessing thats a typo and supposed to be 201.1
Demo 2: 207.0 fps
Quake III Arena 1280x1024:
Demo 1: 128.6 fps
Demo 2: 133.4 fps
Video DX9: AquaMark3
Score: 22,669
Graphics: 2,607
CPU: 8,666
Display:
My one worry about the compal 56 was the display. The horizontal viewing angles are fine in my book, but the vertical viewing angles are pretty poor. I do not have alot of experience with LCDs, but its a pain to find a sweet spot when you are sitting within about a foot of the screen. I found sitting back alittle further, about 2 feet from the screen, the problem seems to go away. At the current time its kind of annoying since I'm further way from the keyboard, but I'm most likely getting a Bluetooth keyboard/mouse combo soon. The colors seem fine and I do not see any dead pixels. I haven't loaded any games on it yet, but if anything is horribly wrong i'll update this.
Weight:
It is thinner than I expected it to be and is rather like (Hypersonic says 6.25 pounds).
Keyboard:
The keyboard is alittle different than what I am use to on my desktop and I miss some keystokes now and then due to pressing the side of the key down instead of the middle.
Audio:
Poor and tinny, but I plan on using headphones for the most part.
Battery:
I will be using it this weekend and plan on seeing how the battery holds out doing different things, so i'll update this around monday.
Wireless:
I was suprised how easy this was to setup. It really wasn't setting up, more like click on the network I wanted to use. Much easier than getting my desktops on the network.
Noise:
When I was installing Office the DVD drive was rather noisy and the laptop vibrated a bit. Under normal use, webbrowsing and the like, it is quiet.
Misc.:
Hypersonic sent me the wrong invoice, which has the credit card number used to order on it. I have notified them and I am trying to find out if they sent my invoice to the wrong person also, so I know if I need to change my cc number or not.
Pictures:
What it Came in
Packaging
Peanuts cleared out
CL56 Box
Opened
Top View (Protective Plastic still on)
Left View
Hypersonic Logo
Back View
Port close up
Right View
Opened up
Open View From the Left
Keyboard
Touchpad
Bottom
Label
Battery Removed
Laptop Bag
Software
Cables
Conclusion:
Hypersonic was easy to do business with and I would quickly recommend them to others, as long as they do not mind the wait. I'm not to sure about the vertical viewing angles yet, I'm going to try it for a week or so to see if its a problem. If it is I may sadly have to return the CL56. Another perk about Hypersonic is their 30-day return policy, which I hopefully won't have to use. Other than the vertical viewing angles this laptop is everything that I wanted/need. Hopefully after a few days the vertical viewing angle will no longer be a problem. I also ordered a cx-5 for my cousin, which should be coming very soon. I'll see if he wants to throw up his opinnion on the cx-5 when it arrives.
I was having issues too, the switch wouldn't turn on at all and when I hit the ezbuttons iTouch would come up. I turned off iTouch and it worked like a charm. I usually have it on when it's on my desk and I'm using an external keyboard, but turn iTouch off on the road and it seems to work fine. Try it out see if it works.
