Here is my experience with my first High performance Gaming laptop...
Picking The Right System
After a year of research on gaming rigs I chose to go with Hypersonic. In the beggining I was going to go with a SFF PC, but then decided I didn't need all that performance. I just wanted to play games and be able to enjoy their wonderful graphics (but not at the highest resolutions possible). The portability was also a major factor, so this was another plus to a laptop. Laptop weight didn't matter all that much to me, but I wanted to at least be able to watch one DVD on battery life. So now I decide to go with a laptop, but which one? There were the intel's and the AMD 64's. I talked to some tech people and they told me that AMD 64's are the way to go for gaming and also the future. I wanted this laptop to last so I went with the proccessor of the future, the AMD 64 DTR 3400+. The best Mobile Graphics Card, ATI MR 9700 128 MB. A gig of ram, 4x DVD RW drive, 60 gig 7200 24/7 hard drive, and the super WSXGA+ screen (I still can't get over how awesome this screen is
.
Hypersonic Itself
Lets just say that customer service there needs inmprovement, because it took almost 2 weeks of me calling them to start paying attention to my questions and concerns. I'm not going to go on about this, because the system is worth it, regaurdless of the customer service (They did give me some upgrades and $200 off the price of the system
.
The System
I have one word for you, "WOW!!!" This computer blows my mind.
The CPU: This thing screams. For example, on my desktop I have an AMD XP that runs at 2 ghz. Heres how I tested. I hosted a Lan game on farcry from my desktop. Had my laptop AX7 join in (WHILE my desktop already started loading the map). The laptop was done when the desktop just got to half done. I literally looked over to my desktop then looked back and I was in the game. My first impression was, "Laptop, why did you forget to load?"
Anyways, I am 120% satisfied with this CPU.
The GPU: In the begging I was hoping to be able to upgrade the card myself, but with the AX7 they say that I should send it to them in the future to upgrade the GPU. Well, now I see that there is absolutely no reason to upgrade as of now. Wow this card is great. I have a 9600se on my desktop and the laptop blows it away. I wasn'y really expecting that much of a difference since the laptop...well...is a laptop. Anyways. The ATI Mobility 9700 pro 128mb goes beyond my expectations. Again I am completely satisfied with this card. Just one problem I have been having is when I play Americas Army. I can start it up, but then aroung 2 minutes into the game it crashes and restarts my computer. It says it is a critical error. I have no idea what's going on, but that's a software issue, so it doesn't apply to the AX7 itself
.
The Screen: Now I'll be absolutely serious with you all. When I opened up the box I was expecting a pretty good screen that was pleasurable to play games on. Was I wrong? Absolutely. I turned it on and almost had to put some sun glasses on. I'm serious, this screen is amazing. It lights up my sun room when it is 12 PM and no clouds. The screen is 50% better than what I had thought it would be. Now when I say "Picture Perfect," I mean picture perfect. My desktop looks like a picture, and when I was playing far cry my wife walked by and asked which movie I was watching. The refresh rate could be just a little more to make this screen Godly. The viewing angle was much larger than I expected and was completely crisp from side viewers.
The RAM: Well, RAM is RAM; the more you have the more you can do at once. My one gig is plenty for now.
Hard Drive: Nice and fast. Everything is basically instant. !00% satisfied here.
The Sound: Here is another mind blowing discovery. Now I'm not talking about the speakers, although they are quite good, they are still laptop speakers so they are not AMAZING. Anyways, I'm talking about the kind of sound you get out of the machine. Here is my first experience is when I installed Halo. I started playing and changing settings and stuff. Just for kicks I set the sound to all the highest quality to see how it would affect the sound. Now, I had no idea a laptop could beat my Desktop in integrated sound. My desktop can't handle anything more than default settings for sound in Halo. So I'm playing with these settings on for the AX7 and come to realize that it can handle it. Not only handle it but it was absolutely amazing (hooked up to external speakers). The environment sound and quality was mind blowing. I couldn't belive what I was hearing. I play music from the laptop now, instead of my desktop
Keyboard: Perfect. That's all I have to say. Even though my left hand get quite warm when playing games, I was expecting this so in my opinion it is perfect.
Wireless Card: Heres where I am having problems. I have a D-Link DWL-2100AP turbo G Access point and everything is working fine except for the range I am getting. I can barely make it 15 feet from the access point without losing a signal. Neverming if I am 5 feet away I have a low signal. Now if anyone can help me here I would be quite happy. I've read in other posts that it is a problem with the internal antennae, but I dont want to risk the chance of hurting my PC, nor do I want to ship it back to Hypersonic. If some one could show me EXACTLY how I would be able to fix it (I am also considering the internal part if someone shows me exactly how to do it without hurting my computer it would be greatly appreciated) then please let me know. Otherwise I'm stuck 1 foot away from the Access Point
Battery: A little longer than I expected but not too long. Probably watch 1 whole DVD, and maybe 50 Minutes of Gameplay, and 1:30-2:00 of web browsing or word proccessing. Nothing I didn't expect.
The Heat: Yea it gets quite hot when playing games but nothing unbearable. If you are a gamer, you will be fine because you will be too amazed by the screen, speed, and graphics . If you are not, then you won't have to deal with it anyway you won't be playing games and getting it hot.
The Fans: Again, themajor one only kicks in every so often when playing games. Other than that, I wouldn't recomend the machine for colledge students. Noticeable to others, not you.
Overall: I love this machine and I will have it for quite a long time. Anyone interested in a gaming laptop should go with the AX7, or something with similar specs. Anyone who sees it in my house are amazed, they never knew they made laptops like that. My AX7 sitting next to a Dell 9100 all upgraded blows the Dell away. The glossy screen on the AX7 is a must see for everyone.
Hope you enjoyed my review. Don't forget that this is all opinion so don't base a full buying experience on this review. I hope this will guide others through making their choices. Any questions would be welcomed, although I can't gurantee a quick response, I will get back ASAP. I am a busy man, and do no not have too much time to spare, so I will do my best. Thank you, and I hope I have helped you as you all have done for me.
Also, any questions are welcome, and incouraged
Picking The Right System
After a year of research on gaming rigs I chose to go with Hypersonic. In the beggining I was going to go with a SFF PC, but then decided I didn't need all that performance. I just wanted to play games and be able to enjoy their wonderful graphics (but not at the highest resolutions possible). The portability was also a major factor, so this was another plus to a laptop. Laptop weight didn't matter all that much to me, but I wanted to at least be able to watch one DVD on battery life. So now I decide to go with a laptop, but which one? There were the intel's and the AMD 64's. I talked to some tech people and they told me that AMD 64's are the way to go for gaming and also the future. I wanted this laptop to last so I went with the proccessor of the future, the AMD 64 DTR 3400+. The best Mobile Graphics Card, ATI MR 9700 128 MB. A gig of ram, 4x DVD RW drive, 60 gig 7200 24/7 hard drive, and the super WSXGA+ screen (I still can't get over how awesome this screen is
.Hypersonic Itself
Lets just say that customer service there needs inmprovement, because it took almost 2 weeks of me calling them to start paying attention to my questions and concerns. I'm not going to go on about this, because the system is worth it, regaurdless of the customer service (They did give me some upgrades and $200 off the price of the system
.The System
I have one word for you, "WOW!!!" This computer blows my mind.
The CPU: This thing screams. For example, on my desktop I have an AMD XP that runs at 2 ghz. Heres how I tested. I hosted a Lan game on farcry from my desktop. Had my laptop AX7 join in (WHILE my desktop already started loading the map). The laptop was done when the desktop just got to half done. I literally looked over to my desktop then looked back and I was in the game. My first impression was, "Laptop, why did you forget to load?"
Anyways, I am 120% satisfied with this CPU.The GPU: In the begging I was hoping to be able to upgrade the card myself, but with the AX7 they say that I should send it to them in the future to upgrade the GPU. Well, now I see that there is absolutely no reason to upgrade as of now. Wow this card is great. I have a 9600se on my desktop and the laptop blows it away. I wasn'y really expecting that much of a difference since the laptop...well...is a laptop. Anyways. The ATI Mobility 9700 pro 128mb goes beyond my expectations. Again I am completely satisfied with this card. Just one problem I have been having is when I play Americas Army. I can start it up, but then aroung 2 minutes into the game it crashes and restarts my computer. It says it is a critical error. I have no idea what's going on, but that's a software issue, so it doesn't apply to the AX7 itself
.The Screen: Now I'll be absolutely serious with you all. When I opened up the box I was expecting a pretty good screen that was pleasurable to play games on. Was I wrong? Absolutely. I turned it on and almost had to put some sun glasses on. I'm serious, this screen is amazing. It lights up my sun room when it is 12 PM and no clouds. The screen is 50% better than what I had thought it would be. Now when I say "Picture Perfect," I mean picture perfect. My desktop looks like a picture, and when I was playing far cry my wife walked by and asked which movie I was watching. The refresh rate could be just a little more to make this screen Godly. The viewing angle was much larger than I expected and was completely crisp from side viewers.
The RAM: Well, RAM is RAM; the more you have the more you can do at once. My one gig is plenty for now.
Hard Drive: Nice and fast. Everything is basically instant. !00% satisfied here.
The Sound: Here is another mind blowing discovery. Now I'm not talking about the speakers, although they are quite good, they are still laptop speakers so they are not AMAZING. Anyways, I'm talking about the kind of sound you get out of the machine. Here is my first experience is when I installed Halo. I started playing and changing settings and stuff. Just for kicks I set the sound to all the highest quality to see how it would affect the sound. Now, I had no idea a laptop could beat my Desktop in integrated sound. My desktop can't handle anything more than default settings for sound in Halo. So I'm playing with these settings on for the AX7 and come to realize that it can handle it. Not only handle it but it was absolutely amazing (hooked up to external speakers). The environment sound and quality was mind blowing. I couldn't belive what I was hearing. I play music from the laptop now, instead of my desktop
Keyboard: Perfect. That's all I have to say. Even though my left hand get quite warm when playing games, I was expecting this so in my opinion it is perfect.
Wireless Card: Heres where I am having problems. I have a D-Link DWL-2100AP turbo G Access point and everything is working fine except for the range I am getting. I can barely make it 15 feet from the access point without losing a signal. Neverming if I am 5 feet away I have a low signal. Now if anyone can help me here I would be quite happy. I've read in other posts that it is a problem with the internal antennae, but I dont want to risk the chance of hurting my PC, nor do I want to ship it back to Hypersonic. If some one could show me EXACTLY how I would be able to fix it (I am also considering the internal part if someone shows me exactly how to do it without hurting my computer it would be greatly appreciated) then please let me know. Otherwise I'm stuck 1 foot away from the Access Point
Battery: A little longer than I expected but not too long. Probably watch 1 whole DVD, and maybe 50 Minutes of Gameplay, and 1:30-2:00 of web browsing or word proccessing. Nothing I didn't expect.
The Heat: Yea it gets quite hot when playing games but nothing unbearable. If you are a gamer, you will be fine because you will be too amazed by the screen, speed, and graphics
. If you are not, then you won't have to deal with it anyway you won't be playing games and getting it hot.The Fans: Again, themajor one only kicks in every so often when playing games. Other than that, I wouldn't recomend the machine for colledge students. Noticeable to others, not you.
Overall: I love this machine and I will have it for quite a long time. Anyone interested in a gaming laptop should go with the AX7, or something with similar specs. Anyone who sees it in my house are amazed, they never knew they made laptops like that. My AX7 sitting next to a Dell 9100 all upgraded blows the Dell away. The glossy screen on the AX7 is a must see for everyone.
Hope you enjoyed my review. Don't forget that this is all opinion so don't base a full buying experience on this review. I hope this will guide others through making their choices. Any questions would be welcomed, although I can't gurantee a quick response, I will get back ASAP. I am a busy man, and do no not have too much time to spare, so I will do my best. Thank you, and I hope I have helped you as you all have done for me.
Also, any questions are welcome, and incouraged
