WoLaS Sentia Review

Hello everybody! today is a beautifull day.....
It has been 2 weeks since i recieved my new sentia. if you are interested, it arrived on time and in perfect state.

1) ORDERING PROCESS:
you all know how it is.... very comfortable and very usable. i would like to have a go at the guy who invented mail-in rebate. the biggest pile of marketing crap. so you save $250, why dont they avoid charging it in the first place??? crap crap crap.

2) PHASES AND MORE PHASES:
the hardest time.... waiting waiting.... my order was ready in 10 days roughly, just as they predicted. with fed ex there were no problems, tracked my order till the last minute.

3) ARRIVAL
the happies moment. i had to wait nearly 1 month between arrival and getting it, as i live in spain and this computer was shipped to miami. i asked for an alienware backpack (which has many pros and many cons) the computer was nicely fitted in the bag, with all the extras(cables and extra battery) carefully placed in individual pockets, i consider the foam protection in the bag to be more than enough protection. the documentation is extensive but does not have enough content: the battery issues are not extensive enough and the
troubleshooting sections are quite obvious (check cables, reset) i think someone buying theese type of computers can do that without reading this section, hence, put something more helpfull here, for real solutions.

4) TESTING
i had read in many posts here that the wireless card gave sometimes bad overall performance, i was a bit worried about this, so i was decided to check every little detail. as a surprise, the first thing i get when i turn on the coputer for the first time is "wireless network detected". this would not be a surprise if i had a network set up, but i dont, and i live 100 meters away from the nearest building. ie: the network issues are a defect of some systems, and theese issues cannot be generalized. mine works fine. it boots up in under 1 minute. Eclipse (all written in JAVA) works surprisingly fast. and i burn CD's while doing all this with no considerable slowdown in performance.

5) BATTERY
i amd working right now with the power cable, the first time i used the battery it took over 5 hours to run out (7%). the secondary battery however, was not fully charged and it only lasted 3 hours. however, the battery management options are quite extent, and fully customizable. for those who cannot be bothered reading the manual before posting here.... The options can be found in ControlPanel -> Power management.

6) COMPONENTS
a)
the processor, memory, hard drive, DVD, speakers, modem, LAN, ect... work just fine, the speakers are quite good. (obviously this was not the selling point of the machine, but they play music, and that is what i need)
b)
the screen is not very big, but the quality is comparable to a sony xbrite screen. if oyu want a rough figure, the screen is 3/4 the length of an A4 paper and more than 3/4 high.
c)
the keyboard could be the annoying part, the control key is not at the end, and the american keyboard layout sucks a bit (im a fan of UK keyboards). i have no problems with the space key (as mentioned in other reviews) but the mouse keep jumping around when i write, i have seen this problem in other laptops, so i think is just a matter o getting used to it.
d)
ONLY 2 USB's ?????? crap crap crap. i will do with 2, but i know it will become annoying at some point.
e)
the power button light switching on and off is not a problem whatsoever.

7) NOISE
when using maximum performance, the fan is working sometimes, but it is a very quiet fan. when optimizing battery, it could be one of the most silent computers ive had, the only noise is the hard drive tics,and you hear them if you make the efort. it doesnt heat up like my old toshiba used to, working with it on my lap is just as good. no complaints in this section.

8) Q&A
i am using an american voltage laptop in spain (form 120 v to 220v) it works fine, no tickling because of electricity leakages (as i dont have the earth cable plugged) and it has not burnt yet.
i cannot use the european branch for repairs and/or Aliencare telephone support. this is very annoying, as i would like to make use of the warranty part of the deal in europe as well as the US. if its the same company, they should offer the same products here, in the states or in mars.
please! please get the respawn cd. listen to a guy that has learnt from f***ing thing up all the time. things do f**k up, the cd is a good way of savinga lot of time.

9) COOLNESS
yes, yes yes. very very cool.

10) SPECS
1.7 Ghz 2Mbcache Pentium M processor
1024 Mb RAM
40 Gb 7200 RPM 2Mb cache hard drive
integrated wireless
intel extreme graphics
CDRW/DVD...
a lot more, if you are interested.


11) RECOMENDATIONS
dont replace your desktop with this computer, as there are things it will not cope with. (hard-core graphics, 3d and gaming)
get, at least, 1024MB RAM.
get the 7200 RPM hard drive, for the love of god.
get a spare battery.

overall i am very pleased with my computer and i expect to buy an Area 51 soon or later as a desktop replacement. pictures with screen ratio and other cool features will be posted as soon as i get hold of a digital camera.

first, i am not making that up.
second, i am not quite sure to how i answer, unlike other people who talk out their arses, i measure my words quite carefully. if you have a sentia, then MAYBE, you can have discrepancies with my statement, which was not "it lasted 5 hours" it was: it lasted more than 5 hours and it still had 7%. now if you would like some proof, go to the airport, take a plane to spai, find me and you can sit and watch while the battery runs out.

EwoK: two things,
first, thanks for that tip! I just found it out, i still cant open the lid, but ill keep trying.
second, sorry for my reply, maybe it was a bit harsh, i just hate christmas.

enlighten...
i am logging the battery performance for this post and so far is doing quite well
2:17 switch from ac to battery (100%)
3:43 87%
5:31 53%
6:18 26%
6:34 16% writting review...

so far i have used: eclipse, winamp, windows media player, firefox, spy-bot, ad-aware and notepad

i have the battery settings (obviously) to max battery in windows and havent touched the BIOS settings. the wireless card disabled gives a good 15 extra minutes and the brightness of the screen set to minimum (which gives another 10 mins)i have the laptop on a cold surface and i hardly hear the fan. the applications i use aremosty text editors so maybe i dont demand as much from it as other users (who use it as a dvd player) so MAYBE it is the case that using the computer for work instead of fun makes the battery life longer. i do believe though, that this computer makes an exccellent usage of its battery.
i have a question though, is the spare battery different from the standard one? i ask this because my spare battery lasts far longer (about 30-40 minutes)

i would like to make a piont here (although this is not the proper thread) concerning alienware being far more expensive than other brands. point made by Onyunn http://notebookforums.com/showthread.php?t=57415
i agree that alienware computers could be more expensive than other computers with the same specifications. this sometimes is not true, as sony computers proove. Now, Alienware give QUALITY something not very much appreciated nowadays. I recieved a high performance computer, compact, and with all the warranty of it. the difference between alienware and other brands is that alienware gives you warranty on basis of their testing, while other companies give you a computer that they "think" works and are very quick to replace it if it doesnt. I would rather have security than backup: Alienware gives both.

the battery finished with this post .
by 6:49 the battery got to 7%, it would have probably lasted 10 more minutes or so....
that makes from 2:17 to 6:49 . that makes 4:32 minutes. using it quite extensively