Laptop Upgrades revisited

[ratdude747]

Re: Laptop Upgrades revisited

Got bluetooth runnign on the linux side... moron here forgot to systemctl enable/start the bluetooth.service... Doh!

(the joys of arch installs... )

[ratdude747]

Re: Laptop Upgrades revisited

F*** you intel!

Looks like no win xp support for USB 3.0... at least on anything intel.

Linux still shows it as working... maybe if I find my lost copy of 7 ultimate (or use the 7 Home premium COA off a dead DV6), I'll put that (32 bit probably to allow 16 bit SW support) in place of XP on this thing. Maybe. IMHO that's BS... but that's just me.

[ratdude747]

Re: Laptop Upgrades revisited

Touchscreen wise, no dice on XP. Linux s finicky, but given that such is the case in ubuntu 13.04 (somebody with a p400 had the same issue), I don't care. Sine it has a "normal" lid hinge (not a multi-axis tablet one), it's not like a touchscreen is all that useful (read: wank).

[ratdude747]

Re: Laptop Upgrades revisited

I think it's a combined driver.

given that under linux, the synaptics xf86 package covers both, I agree.

Working on drivers (posting from the now fully functional linux half).

[shovenose]

Re: Laptop Upgrades revisited

came in today, a day early no less. Yay!

Been working on putting xp and linux on it. That means no EFI (switched it to legacy). Also means I can't install linux by booting from the boot menu (otherwise it think's it's in EFI mode and grub won't install)... not the easiest, but still very doable.

I was able to find drivers for everything xp other than the touchscreen... the only device that LSUSB shows that isn't already accounted for us "synaptics", which makes me wonder if it's a combined touchpad/touchscreen? Any insight on that?

I think it's a combined driver.

[ratdude747]

Re: Laptop Upgrades revisited

came in today, a day early no less. Yay!

Been working on putting xp and linux on it. That means no EFI (switched it to legacy). Also means I can't install linux by booting from the boot menu (otherwise it think's it's in EFI mode and grub won't install)... not the easiest, but still very doable.

I was able to find drivers for everything xp other than the touchscreen... the only device that LSUSB shows that isn't already accounted for us "synaptics", which makes me wonder if it's a combined touchpad/touchscreen? Any insight on that?

[ratdude747]

Re: Laptop Upgrades revisited

Slightly off-topic Question:

I see that the P400 has a 4 cell internal battery. Are they like the modular batteries I'm used to in that I could, say after the warranty is out, get a bigger battery and swap it? Or am I stuck at 4 cells?

[ratdude747]

Re: Laptop Upgrades revisited

...and we have a winner (maybe)

After some mulling and private discussion, I'm buying Shovenose's Lenovo P400. (price not disclosed).

Yeah, it's not exactly what I was originally looking for, but I got a good deal... and if I don't like it, I'll sell/trade it for something else.

[ratdude747]

Re: Laptop Upgrades revisited

Not flimsy in my opinion - if I hold the laptop by the corner it only bends a tiny little bit... and it's considerably heavy.

Yeah... My only real Q is whether this is the direction I should be going with my workhorse laptops. Unless I kept the D630 as a college work laptop and the upgrade a "play" laptop... but I don't like splitting like that.

[shovenose]

Re: Laptop Upgrades revisited

Yeah... My only worry is that I keep readign reviews of it claiming the laptop to be "flimsy". Flimsy won't do...

Not flimsy in my opinion - if I hold the laptop by the corner it only bends a tiny little bit... and it's considerably heavy.

[shovenose]

Re: Laptop Upgrades revisited

Looked into CPU upgrades... I can get a 2.5GHz T9300 for $40... or the slightly better 2.6GHz T9500 for $85. I call BS on the latter... the former perhaps.

Thoughts on CPU upgrades?

Waste of money IMO.

[ratdude747]

Re: Laptop Upgrades revisited

Looked into CPU upgrades... I can get a 2.5GHz T9300 for $40... or the slightly better 2.6GHz T9500 for $85. I call BS on the latter... the former perhaps.

Thoughts on CPU upgrades?

[ratdude747]

Re: Laptop Upgrades revisited

D630? Minecraft? haha...

Those systems aren't up to snuff for Minecraft... laptops in general don't do very well. That said, Intel HD 4000 graphics on the i7-3632QM in my Lenovo P400 can do Minecraft impressively well.

Yeah... My only worry is that I keep readign reviews of it claiming the laptop to be "flimsy". Flimsy won't do...

[shovenose]

Re: Laptop Upgrades revisited

^ may explain a lot... however, other GPU stuff (supertuxkart for example) ran like crap too. Other games (like neverputt) ran well.

D630? Minecraft? haha...

Those systems aren't up to snuff for Minecraft... laptops in general don't do very well. That said, Intel HD 4000 graphics on the i7-3632QM in my Lenovo P400 can do Minecraft impressively well.

[ratdude747]

Re: Laptop Upgrades revisited

^ may explain a lot... however, other GPU stuff (supertuxkart for example) ran like crap too. Other games (like neverputt) ran well.

[Uranium-235]

Re: Laptop Upgrades revisited

J3d is a wrapper, but being Java, it still uses lots of CPU power

[Elysarian]

Re: Laptop Upgrades revisited

minecraft is java, has little video hardware acceleration (last I saw on my cousins laptop anyways). Take a look at your CPU when you play minecraft, he had a single core turion and it was 100% all the time

I know very little about Minecraft but Runescape is also Java, that uses 3D via OpenGL and DirectX...

Maybe something like this is used?

[Uranium-235]

Re: Laptop Upgrades revisited

minecraft is java, has little video hardware acceleration (last I saw on my cousins laptop anyways). Take a look at your CPU when you play minecraft, he had a single core turion and it was 100% all the time

[ratdude747]

Re: Laptop Upgrades revisited

RD wants a replacement laptop whereas I want a D630 to replace my Inspiron 6400. Sorry, but I hate plastic! Prefer Mg alloy from a D630...

I already said I agreed, but I want to expand on that:

My only beef with Mg alloy laptops is that they always seem to be lead bricks in terms of weight. Then again, they're nearly bulletproof...

My main rational for wanting to replace my D630 is the fact that if it costs $100+ to upgrade my RAM the right way (8Gb DDR2), is it economically smart to dump that much $ in a 5 year old laptop? Granted, the Mobo is only 3 years old (2010 manu date) and the 2 batteries have less than 30% wear (maybe 10-15% per 9 cell unit, I lost the beat up 6 cell)... and thanks to a buddy selling me a similar dead D620 for parts (where the 2nd 9 cell came from), I have a good amount of spare parts (not to mention a couple D series docks).

It's mostly been a good laptop but the nvidia GPU just has no go it seems (probably because it's a Quadro designed for CAD and crap). Slow as shit... can't do minecraft (or terrafirmacraft) on it to save it's life (at least under arch linux with 3rd party drivers). Hence why I'm less keen on APU'd/integrated graphics on laptops.

[ratdude747]

Re: Laptop Upgrades revisited

What about ultrabooks?

The local Best buy has an assload of open box ones for not a lot... I'm not as worried about the 2nd spindle so to speak as I happen to have an external laptop HDD, lightscribe burner (slim), and floppy all in USB 2.0... Would such a setup work well or would I regret it?