Cyberpower Inc S4-3200 (ODM Uniwill 259IA) - Page 2

Review http://notebookforums.com/showthread...742#post575742

There seem to be half a dozen threads about this lappy all over the forum.

It would be nice to compress these threads (including the Sager one) into a single review thread.

Can we manage this moderators?

Steve

Well,

I started a small thread whith the different resellers and forum threads are to be able to keep track of all this info. Check it out it the way that I check for updates.

http://notebookforums.com/showthread...316#post578316

I will be putting up my full review on my site later today...
And guides to mods to follow shortly after christmas.

Where is this site?

Captain Al has posted a Uniwill 259IA review at his website which is *** *** **** ***** *** ***.

For some reason, every time I try to put in a link to his website, it gets replaced by *********.

Example link.

Perhaps there is some history between Captain Al and the moderators of notebookforums that I am not aware of.

Just got it today, so i'm loading software.
This is what is actually inside the uniwill 259ia3
Model number is a 259ia1 not a 259ia3

15.4" WSXGA (1680 X 1050) Display *installed*
CPU Intel® Pentium® M Processor up to 2.0 GHz *installed* Running Speed 2200 mhz / low mode 700 mhz
ATI Radeon 9700 with 256MB Video Ram
AGP is 4x max
Battery is a 6 cell *installed* Waiting on status of 9 cell, 2 weeks.
Built in TV Tuner Card *2 week delay*
Bluetooth module * 2week delay*
Centrino compliant platform
Ergonomic Sloped Keyboard
Silent Mode button quells fan noise *Yes, it does turn the fan off*
802.11b/g Mini-pci Intel 2200 BG *installed*
Ultra Slim
8x dual layer 24x16x24x DVD+-/+-RW *installed* sosw-852s / not nec *installed*
Still haven't got it past 4x yet, but then it matters on the dvd's. using fuji 8x - dvd
2 512/400 DDR Apacer Running at 333 MHZ *installed* max 2 gigs
60 2meg 5400rpm Hard Drive *installed* seems they didn't have this 8-meg/7200
2 years parts and labor

Some Info:
Looks like the board is over clocked
CPU = 2 ghz running at 2.20 ghz
FSB = 110 x 4 = 440 mhz
Memory Bus Speed 2 x 183 mhz = 366 mhz data rate
Motherboard supports faster speeds *not confirmed*
Screen looks great cept for the one dead pixel.
We'll run my battery test: full power & power save & dvd mode later

John, if they actually get the bluetooth and TV Tuner modules, please provide the contact info for this store so that some of the rest of us can order from them also. Price for those options also please.

Captain, What's up? I would like to see a close-up picture of the back of the 259IA. I don't know why, but I can't find one anywhere on the net. I don't know why they are munging your web address, but I can't find your review again. I would be great if you or Johnkss or someone who has received theirs would take a post a picture of the rear of the machine. Thanks.

Well, my Shogun from viciouspc showed up last night. I don't plan to do a long review as these get really redundant. I will offer a few points that I have not seen elsewhere and my opinion.

Well, coming from my 5020, this mug is big. I was a bit shocked. It still feels massive, but I will get used to it. At first glance, it seems cheap and generic looking compared to my 5020. It doesn't turn me off, but is noticeable. For those of you who are used to non-big-name, I doubt you will notice.

One thing that I was pleased to see is that the plug for the TV Tuner is on the back of the unit and seems to have a wire (antenna?) that extends to the vacant mini-pci slot. It was not what I expected. It is a proprietary, s-video type connector similar to the one on my ATI All-in-wonder card. It is documented in the users manual, so I won't go on.

I added (2) 1GB So-DIMMs that I purchased from Newegg. I must not have gotten one seated the first time as it would not boot and I had to try again. They function perfectly and we the least expensive at the time. The compartment is a bit tight with a lot of wires running around the area of the memory, so be careful.

Although not addressed in the Users Manual, the one screw that holds the optical drive in is well marked. There is a bracket that attaches to the rear of the drive with two screws that then is held in place in the case with one screw. I was disappointed to see that the faceplates of the drive that shipped with my Shogun and the NEC 6500A that I purchase seperately were not interchangeable. The tabs that hold the faceplate in place are in different locations. If you use the standard 6500 faceplate, you will have to cut a notch and then it will be somewhat recessed as the case is beveled. Not a big deal, but disappointing.

I installed the InstantOn software. I did not like 'A Bug's Life' and said it was the wrong region. Doh! It creates a partition and writes something to the MBR, so my Linux/Grub install whacked it. I will play with it more later.

I loaded MEPIS Linux on it. I have not been able to get the Intel Pro 2200GB mini-pci wireless adapter going yet. Damn. Everything else works well. I edited my XFConfig-4 and have 1680x1050, 32bit working fine. The scroll area of the touchpad was recognized as well.

BTW, my config is:

2.1G PM
2GB RAM
60GB 7200rpm Hitachi HD
w/ wireless and XP Home
I got mine for around $1700

Rather than keep posting, I will come back and edit this thread over the next few days,.

very nice stats, i got a similar setup from cyberpower. could you measure the width on your notebook no one seems to be sure whether the dimensions are wrong or the screen size is wrong

The dimensions as listed in the current specs are correct. As someone pointed out in another thread, looks like Uniwill changed their website. Mine measures 14 and an 1/8th" wide. No wonder it would not fit in the slipcase I ordered. I probably would not have bought this had I know that, but now that I have it, I think I can live with it. The screen measures 8+x13+ for as close as my tape measure will show to 15.4" People need to get their brains wrapped around the concept that a widescreen will produce a large diagonal size in a smaller notebook. The Pythagorean Theorem a^2+b^2=c^2 will show you there is plenty of room for a 15.4" diagonal screen within the dimensions as listed on the website. Good luck with yours.

I am really interested in this laptop but I haven't seen anything conclusive on the battery life. What kind of battery life does this machine get?

Second, I was wondering if anybody sold this model with bluetooth installed as an option.

Thanks in advance.

Ling,

Power to you for getting out a second review on this machine. All the other guys that said they should get theirs last week havent posted anything else.

First off congrats on your purchase. I was wondering about the tvtuner you mentioned, did vicious install this for you or did you get from elsewhere. I am interested in both tvtuner and bluetooth for this machine. When I called vicious they explained that they had neither.

Other was about batter, can you tell what battery it comes with (6, 8 or 9 cell) For any of them what baterry life or you getting?

Thanks again for the review.

So far I know about:

http://www.uniwill.com/products/per...ia.php?HL=1&P=1
http://www.ibuypower.com/ibp/store/...or.aspx?mid=134
http://www.cyberpowersystem.com/high...S43200.asp?v=d
http://www.rjtech.com/r259ia3.htm
http://store.ekm.com/15wsceno25at.html
http://www.viciouspc.com/product/config_shogun.html
http://www.abspc.com/app/config.asp?mono=1884

Are there any others?

i wish people would include these basics in there reviews: is there an on/off switch for touchpad, wireless connectivity? is optical drive swappable with secondary battery? does the laptop come with a traveler's drawer if optical drive is removable? is there seperate volume control for speakers or is this software driven only? this is my first day as a registered member so i hope i am doing this correctly. i love researching laptops online but basically i am in search of my ultimate laptop-usually feature driven not spec driven. in the meantime, i usually buy a laptop every 8 months while still in search. the hardest feature to find is laptop lite built in or a backlit keyboard-i have found these features but not in the lappy of choice. right now i am really looking at asus m6bne and the uniwill 259**. i wish i found this forum years ago, it is great.