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Questions from someone considering a Sentia

post #1 of 11
4/3/05 at 5:27pm
Thread Starter 
Two questions:

1) Can the optical drive be removed and a modular bay battery be put in for times when I want/need longer battery life and don't need the optical drive? I seem to recal a review that mentioned a modular bay battery but I am not sure if it is still possible.

2) I am debating between the 100GB 5400rpm harddrive and the 60GB 7200rpm harddrive. Both have 8MB caches. Is there any difference in power consumption or quality of the actual drives offered?

Thanks in advance for your replies.
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post #2 of 11
4/3/05 at 5:42pm
1. The old sentia's I beleive had modular bay ability, the new ones do not.
2. With the Hitachi drives offered for the 7200 RPM drives, there is no difference in power consuption, a faster drive will make things run quite a bit faster, but if you're not a heavy gamer, I would not bother with one.
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post #3 of 11
4/3/05 at 9:34pm
Thread Starter 
It's still a "Smart Bay" though. Would another battery that can go into another notebook's smart bay be able to work in it?
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post #4 of 11
4/3/05 at 10:48pm
I havnt seen my bay described as modular on any of the literature when i bought it, and i cannot see a way to remove the drive without taking the machine apart really..
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post #5 of 11
4/3/05 at 11:02pm
Hi,

I did a detailed Sentia review here:

http://notebookforums.com/showthread.php?t=72765

I did the 2Ghz Processor and the 7200rpm HDD, and still get over four hours battery life. The 5400rpm drive will be slower, and the battery life difference is effectively nil.

Go for speed, take the 7200rpm; the Sentia configured like that is VERY fast.
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post #6 of 11
4/3/05 at 11:19pm
Thread Starter 
Will they partition the drive for you? I would want a 20GB main partition for windows, programs etc and then the remaining space left open. I was wondering if Alienware would partition it like this before they send it and make the recovery DVD from the 20 GB partition.
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post #7 of 11
4/3/05 at 11:23pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by aqua
Will they partition the drive for you? I would want a 20GB main partition for windows, programs etc and then the remaining space left open. I was wondering if Alienware would partition it like this before they send it and make the recovery DVD from the 20 GB partition.
The only way to find out is to ask.

By the way, the disk made from your system build is Respawn, which is a Ghosted image. The Recovery CD is the OEM Windows XP CD.
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post #8 of 11
4/3/05 at 11:25pm
Thread Starter 
I know its not a recovery CD but I couldn't remember the actual term that Alienware uses. If I am still considering a Sentia when September approaches, I will ask them.

Can anyone confirm for me that the Sentia is able to play Warcraft 3 without any problems? Let me know what settings you can run it at too if possible.
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post #9 of 11
4/4/05 at 9:46am
Warcraft III, 1024x768, everything else maxed, not a hitch.
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post #10 of 11
4/7/05 at 8:13pm

battery

When you are on the alienware web site and configuring a sentia, hit the info button about the dvd/cd drive. In the information window that pops up it states that a second battery can be utilized in place of the dvd/cd drive


Gunner
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post #11 of 11
4/7/05 at 8:35pm
And yet, no modular batteries are for sale, either as you configure, or in the gear shop...
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