Unofficial HP Pavillion ZE2308WM (WalMart BF '05 Laptop) Support Thread

12/16/2005: Added Touchpad Drivers
12/16/2005: Added Recommended RADEON Drivers

This thread is intended to be the start of support for the (soon to be) famous Wal Mart Black Friday 2005 laptop, the HP Pavillion ZE2308WM. An excellent basic laptop on the cheap ($378 for those who got them on BF 2005), this little guy can be upgraded to get some damn decent performance for your buck.

Listed below are the actual specs and a list of items to upgrade the system with for better performance. I'm also including a link to the Service Manual.

Thanks go to Zerocoolok @ATforums for finding the first few recommended upgrades. As he pointed out in his original post, the hard drive is this machine's biggest bottleneck, followed by the memory. Upgrades are listed here in order of importance (with just a hint of price-consciousness included).

To my surprise and joy, this laptop uses a *standard* slim IDE DVD/CDRW drive! What this means is that we can easily upgrade the unit to a DVD burner!! I found a good deal on an NEC slim DVD burner at Newegg for $79.99 and added the link below. Enjoy!

SOFTWARE AND MANUALS:

HP page for all ZE2308WM Software Downloads

Service Manual for Upgrades and Repairs (lists correct ways to upgrade and part #s)

Broadcom Advanced Utility for the wireless card. Thanks NeoPTLD@AT Forums!

UPGRADEABLE EQUIPMENT:

1. Hitachi Travelstar 60gb 7200rpm HD

2. Samsung Spinpoint 40GB, 8MB Cache 5400RPM (a bit cheaper than the 7200, for the budget-conscious)

3. PQI 512mb pc3200 200pin Memory (order 2 of these)

4. PQI 1GB PC3200, CAS 2.5 200pin Memory A little more 'spensive, but the laptop WILL accept 2GB of memory.

5. AMD Turion 64 Mobile MT40 800MHz FSB Socket 754 Processor - OEM

6. AMD Turion64 Mobile MT32 1.8Ghz 800Mhz FSB CPU (A bit cheaper)

7. AMD Athlon64 Mobile DTR, 1MB L2, 800Mhz FSB (Maybe best 64bit bang for the buck at just over $115 as of 12/14/05)

8. NEC DVD Burner

9. Mini-PCI 802.11b/g and Bluetooth Combo Card Straight from the HP manual. A little pricy, but maybe worth it to some.

10. Belkin has a PCMCIA adapter and BlueTooth Compact Flash card that should work great with this laptop. Better, you can find it at the Geeks.com or even on Ebay for as little as $21 shipped!!

11. Hitachi Travelstar 100GB 7200RPM Hard Drive (Thanks CorNut!)

12. Hitachi Travelstar 60GB 7200RPM Hard Drive, just $128! (Thanks CorNut!)

DRIVERS

Video: ATI Omega Drivers If you want the latest catalysts, you'll have to use the Omega drivers, as the default Cats don't support the mobile GPU's. These should boost performance well over the defaults.

Touchpad: Synaptec Touchpad Drivers (thanks to Se7en1ne and ewker!)

FACTORY SPECS:

US Product Number EC205UA#ABA
Microprocessor 1.6 Ghz Mobile AMD Sempron™ processor 2800+ with AMD PowerNow!™ Technology
Microprocessor Cache 256KB L2 Cache
Memory 256MB 333MHz DDR System Memory (1 Dimm, CONFIRMED:it WILL use PC3200 correctly
Memory Max 1024MB (According to HP. The chipset OFFICIALLY supports 2GB, CONFIRMED: this lappy can actually take 2GB)
Video Graphics ATI RADEON® XPRESS 200M IGP
Video Memory 32MB DDR (shared), user configurable up to 128MB
Hard Drive 40GB (4200RPM) Hard Drive (easily upgradeable to 5400 or 7200RPM)
Floppy Diskette Drive Not Included
Multimedia Drive 24X DVD/CD-RW Combo Drive
Display 15.0" XGA TFT Display (1024 x 768)
Fax/Modem High speed 56k modem
Network Card Integrated 10/100BASE-T Ethernet LAN (RJ-45 connector)
Wireless Connectivity 54g™ 802.11b/g WLAN with 125HSM/SpeedBooster support (Confirmed to be a MiniPCI card, we need UPGRADABILITY Confirmation!)
Speakers Altec Lansing Stereo speakers (good sound!)
Keyboard 101-key compatible
Pointing Device Touch Pad with dedicated vertical Scroll Up/Down pad (sucks, of course. Buy a mouse : )

PC Card Slots

* 1 Type I/II 32-bit card bus (also support 16-bit)

External Ports

* 2 Universal Serial Bus (USB) 2.0
* 1 headphone-out
* 1 microphone-in
* 1 VGA (15-pin)
* 1 TV-Out (S-video)
* 1 RJ-11 (modem)
* 1 RJ -45 (LAN)

Dimensions: 13.15"(W) x 10.80"(L) x 1.29"(min)/1.63"(max)(H)

Weight: 6.51lbs

Security

* Kensington® MicroSaver lock slot
* Power-on password
* Accepts 3rd party security lock devices

Power

* 65W AC adapter
* 6-Cell Lithium-Ion (43Whr)

Click to expand...

I'll update this thread as I learn more. Please feel free to PM me or post here with updates!

Jason

Sweeeeet, this will be a handy thread. I plan to upgrade mine after the holidays

I got a questin, what can use that expansion slot for? Since it has wireless already im not sure what else i can use it for

Have you guys gotten your battery icon in the task bar to display the actual time remaining? And if so, how??

Cold Dark Shadow said:

I got a questin, what can use that expansion slot for? Since it has wireless already im not sure what else i can use it for

Click to expand...

Better wireless,bluetooth, card reader, firewire/usb cards, tv tuner card, midi card, video card(for driving another monitor), legacy cards(scsi, serial, parallel, isdn), etc. Short answer is that most people will not really have a use for the slot but it is real nice to have anyway.

Also I would think the 256 ram would be more of a bottleneck then the hard drive(from DragonMasterAlex post). Other then that nice start.

swatbat said:

Better wireless,bluetooth, card reader, firewire/usb cards, tv tuner card, midi card, video card(for driving another monitor), legacy cards(scsi, serial, parallel, isdn), etc. Short answer is that most people will not really have a use for the slot but it is real nice to have anyway.

Also I would think the 256 ram would be more of a bottleneck then the hard drive(from DragonMasterAlex post). Other then that nice start.

Click to expand...

Err, which expansion slot? You mean the PCMCIA card slot or the MiniPCI slot? In either case, Swatbat's answers are, IMHO, exactly right. Also, I agree that memory is a bit more critical than the HDD, but I have to say that the combination of 4200RPM and 256MB of RAM really does suck, LOL.

I was reading at (I *think) notebookreview.com earlier today that the ZE2000 series, of which this lappy is a part, has an available *video card upgrade* that also will add firewire and...something else (I forget what) to the notebook. I haven't been able to find any info about this, however. If anyone has any news on that, I'd love to add it to the original post.

Anyway, I hope this helps folks out, and I will continually update it in the hopes of helping to make this the best damn budget laptop around (*sniff!*)

Jason

the slot on the left side of the lappy, not sure what its called lol

These have bluetooth aready with the wireless thats in it, dotn they? When i was re-loading everything after i reformatted, i thought i saw soemthing about bluetooth.

Cold Dark Shadow said:

the slot on the left side of the lappy, not sure what its called lol

These have bluetooth aready with the wireless thats in it, dotn they? When i was re-loading everything after i reformatted, i thought i saw soemthing about bluetooth.

Click to expand...

This particular model doesn't have BlueTooth by default, no. The little slot on the left, near the front of the laptop, though, is the PCMCIA (PC-Card) slot Back in the day (OK, OK, so it was only like 4-5 years ago, sheesh!) we used them for modems and ethernet. Of course, those are all built-in nowadays, so I'm not sure what else to use it for. A TV capture card maybe?

Jason

Added a possible INTERNAL Bluetooth option (PCMCIA card from HP, it's a combo of Wifi and BT) and also a-IMHO-MORE promising external option in the form of the Belkin Compact Flash Bluetooth card with PCMCIA adapter. This would go *nicely* into the PCMCIA slot on this laptop and wouldn't waste one of your USB ports or risk voiding the warranty by replacing the MiniPCI card (assuming that would void the warranty, of course, LOL).

More options=good news

Jason

Here is my memtest results with the single PQI 1GB chip. I know for fact that one single 1GB chip runs at 400mhz. Unfortunately it only runs at CL3 since the bios has no way for the user to adjust timings but it isn't like that really matters, it isn't going to be noticeable. I don't see why 2 512mb chips wouldn't run at ddr400 speeds, I just can't vouch for it since I spent the extra $ on the single 1gb chip. If you decide to do a single 1GB chip, you can run the full 1.25 gigs if you leave your stock 256 chip in there but it will NOT run at 400mhz. If all you do is surf the net it won’t really matter only having 333 instead of 400 but if that’s all you are doing you won’t see a difference between 1gb and 1.25gb’s either 

If you do anything that utilizes the ATI graphics card like gaming or anything, you are better off running ONLY the pc3200 chip since the memory is shared, that way your video runs at 400mhz instead of 333mhz. That will be a noticeable difference. Pretty much, my advice is… If you get a single 1gb chip.. just ditch that pc2700 chip completely..


Close up



I also ordered a 100GB Hitachi Travelstar 7200rpm 7k100 hard drive for under $200 shipped (at the time of this post) here:

http://www.onsale.com/onsale/shop/detail~dpno~624948.asp

a smaller 60GB version can be found for under $130 shipped(at the time of this post) here:

http://www.chiefvalue.com/app/productdetails.asp?item=22-146-046

From reviews I have read about upgrading other notebooks to these drives allowed their notebook to actually run like a desktop. It is a HUGE jump (over 70% faster) compared to the stock drive. Upgrading the hard drive and to 1GB of pc3200 ram will bring the overall price of the notebook up, but believe me it is worth it . So say the notebook cost you $378, you spend $90 shipped for 2 of those 512 sticks of ram, and $128 for that 60GB hard drive, it still ends up costing you under $600 total for a notebook that is faster(easily) than the ones for sell that cost twice as much . The ze2308wm definitely needs upgrades, at $378 for a working notebook, it was a great price. When you look at upgrading it costing a little over half as much as the whole notebook cost you it seems stupid... But when you compare this particular "upgraded" notebook to the expensive ones that compare to it.. You'll see just how great of a deal you got (besides you'll have spare parts (just in case) or you can just sell the old parts on fleabay if you want to help recover the upgrade costs. I personally prefer the comfort of keeping the spare parts in case something happens to my ram or hard drive that requires me to warranty one of them that way I'm not without a notebook while I wait. I highly doubt my stuff will break but "what if". The PQI memory has a lifetime warranty, and the hard drive has a 3 year warranty so you don't really have anything to worry about.

As soon as I install my 7k1oo drive, I'll be sure to come back here and review it for you. I don't know when I'll get around to it, but hopefully it is within the next few weeks. With the holidays here it is hard to find the time but I'll do my best. I might not get it installed until after the new year though

Be sure to install HP's update for the processor so it registers at 1.6 GHz here:

http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/...1145342&lang=en&cc=us&softwareitem=ob-36731-1


Happy modding errr... Happy holidays I mean.


-Cory

oh, and if you care to see





lol


I just thought it'd be funny to run and see what it would do lol.. that isn't "too" bad for a notebook

CorNut said:

Here is my memtest results with the single PQI 1GB chip. I know for fact that one single 1GB chip runs at 400mhz. Unfortunately it only runs at CL3 since the bios has no way for the user to adjust timings but it isn't like that really matters, it isn't going to be noticeable. I don't see why 2 512mb chips wouldn't run at ddr400 speeds, I just can't vouch for it since I spent the extra $ on the single 1gb chip. If you decide to do a single 1GB chip, you can run the full 1.25 gigs if you leave your stock 256 chip in there but it will NOT run at 400mhz. If all you do is surf the net it won’t really matter only having 333 instead of 400 but if that’s all you are doing you won’t see a difference between 1gb and 1.25gb’s either 

If you do anything that utilizes the ATI graphics card like gaming or anything, you are better off running ONLY the pc3200 chip since the memory is shared, that way your video runs at 400mhz instead of 333mhz. That will be a noticeable difference. Pretty much, my advice is… If you get a single 1gb chip.. just ditch that pc2700 chip completely..

Close up

I also ordered a 100GB Hitachi Travelstar 7200rpm 7k100 hard drive for under $200 shipped (at the time of this post) here:

http://www.onsale.com/onsale/shop/detail~dpno~624948.asp

a smaller 60GB version can be found for under $130 shipped(at the time of this post) here:

http://www.chiefvalue.com/app/productdetails.asp?item=22-146-046

From reviews I have read about upgrading other notebooks to these drives allowed their notebook to actually run like a desktop. It is a HUGE jump (over 70% faster) compared to the stock drive. Upgrading the hard drive and to 1GB of pc3200 ram will bring the overall price of the notebook up, but believe me it is worth it . So say the notebook cost you $378, you spend $90 shipped for 2 of those 512 sticks of ram, and $128 for that 60GB hard drive, it still ends up costing you under $600 total for a notebook that is faster(easily) than the ones for sell that cost twice as much . The ze2308wm definitely needs upgrades, at $378 for a working notebook, it was a great price. When you look at upgrading it costing a little over half as much as the whole notebook cost you it seems stupid... But when you compare this particular "upgraded" notebook to the expensive ones that compare to it.. You'll see just how great of a deal you got (besides you'll have spare parts (just in case) or you can just sell the old parts on fleabay if you want to help recover the upgrade costs. I personally prefer the comfort of keeping the spare parts in case something happens to my ram or hard drive that requires me to warranty one of them that way I'm not without a notebook while I wait. I highly doubt my stuff will break but "what if". The PQI memory has a lifetime warranty, and the hard drive has a 3 year warranty so you don't really have anything to worry about.

As soon as I install my 7k1oo drive, I'll be sure to come back here and review it for you. I don't know when I'll get around to it, but hopefully it is within the next few weeks. With the holidays here it is hard to find the time but I'll do my best. I might not get it installed until after the new year though

Be sure to install HP's update for the processor so it registers at 1.6 GHz here:

http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/...1145342&lang=en&cc=us&softwareitem=ob-36731-1


Happy modding errr... Happy holidays I mean.


-Cory

Click to expand...

Excellent post, Cornut, and thanks! I will add your links to the upgrade options above.

Note for all: I can cofirm that 2x512MB PC3200 works @ 400Mhz with no issues.

Jason

DragonMasterAlex said:

Excellent post, Cornut, and thanks! I will add your links to the upgrade options above.

Click to expand...

when you do... the 60gb 7k100 drive I linked for $128 shipped is actually newer & better than the 7k60 you have linked at Newegg and to top it off... the 60gb 7k100 I linked to is quite a bit cheaper (at the time of this post). The 7k100 series drives are just the new ones out replacing the 7k60's.

*edit*
so just curious.. You say a memory card reader can be added on a spare mini pci slot?? where would it go?? How would I access it from the outside of the notebook?? I looked at it and didn't see like a plate I can remove to show the face with the memory card slots. Also the stock wireless card that doesn't have bluetooth, that is in there on a mini pci slot so I can just replace it with the one that does have bluetooth?? That way I can add it and a memory card reader and not just one or the other?

thanks!


*edit #2*
the PQI 1gb chips at Newegg(and everywhere else) are all out of stock(at the time of this post) wonder how many were purchased by people who browsed our thread(s)

CorNut said:

when you do... the 60gb 7k100 drive I linked for $128 shipped is actually newer & better than the 7k60 you have linked at Newegg and to top it off... the 60gb 7k100 I linked to is quite a bit cheaper (at the time of this post). The 7k100 series drives are just the new ones out replacing the 7k60's.

*edit*
so just curious.. You say a memory card reader can be added on a spare mini pci slot?? where would it go?? How would I access it from the outside of the notebook?? I looked at it and didn't see like a plate I can remove to show the face with the memory card slots. Also the stock wireless card that doesn't have bluetooth, that is in there on a mini pci slot so I can just replace it with the one that does have bluetooth?? That way I can add it and a memory card reader and not just one or the other?

thanks!


*edit #2*
the PQI 1gb chips at Newegg(and everywhere else) are all out of stock(at the time of this post) wonder how many were purchased by people who browsed our thread(s)

Click to expand...

Oh no, I was saying that I read (I THINK at notebookreview.com, where they were reviewing the ZE2000 series) there was a video upgrade for the system. I got into the service manual last night and actually found it. It's a different module for the S-Video output, and it adds a USB port to the assembly. Looking at the laptop itself, it *seems* like you'd have to have a different plastic piece for the side with the DVD/CDRW drive in order to make it accessible, though for all I know it might be part and parcel of the upgrade.

For a card reader, I think your best bet is an external USB card reader, preferably one of the kind with a USB hub built in.

The MiniPCI device I mentioned above is a card that has both BlueTooth AND Wifi aboard. Should work fine with this laptop, if I read the service manual correctly (and I better, I read them fairly often where I work, LOL : ). The PCMCIA bluetooth card might actually be a better way to go, though, as it's not only cheaper but easier to do the upgrade, and after all, what the hell else are you going to use the PCMCIA slot for?

Jason

Can you adjust ram timings with A64 Tweaker?
The sempron has ondie memory controller, so it should work.

What temperature monitor works with it? Does SpeedFan work?
Were you running memtest off flash,cd, or external floppy?

Can you overclock the video card with ATITool?
I will squeal if you can!

What video drivers are you using?

*edit* that DTR processor probably puts out too much heat. The Sempron has a much lower TDP and I doubt HP over engineered the heatsink that much

DragonMasterAlex: What happened over at anandtech with your thread? Were you banned for some reason?

se7en1ne said:

DragonMasterAlex: What happened over at anandtech with your thread? Were you banned for some reason?

Click to expand...

Yeah, but I don't know exactly WHY. Here's the overview:

I was arguing some some ass in P&N (I know, I know...stupid waste of time, LOL) when he decides to come off at me with a personal attack. So I said OK, called him a worthless boob and proceeded to demolish his nonsense point. Well he, of course, being a crybaby, went to the MODS. One mod emailed me, said hey, I get it, but you need to chill. I said no problem, he told me the other guy was warned too, and that was the end of it--I thought.

Several hours later *another* MOD PM'd me, saying "you're fvcking lucky I didn't see that post first, I would have banned your ass!". I PM'd him back and asked why, and what the need was to threaten me. I said it seemed like he had something against me because he obviously didn't look at the other dipsh1t's attack on me, which was in fact what initiated the whole thing.

Next thing I knew, my account was locked and the prissy-bitch MOD wouldn't reply to my emails. Of course, the MODS at Anandtech are a bunch of flaming cowards who hide behind an anonymous "Moderator" account so you don't know who they are. At least ONE of them is decent and reasonable, but the other is a worthless prick who's pointless to attempt to reason with.

IMHO, fvck Anandtech and its LAME MODS.

Not that I'm bitter or anything, LOL

Jason

vapb400 said:

Can you adjust ram timings with A64 Tweaker?
The sempron has ondie memory controller, so it should work.

Click to expand...

A64 Tweaker?? I don't know what that even is.. Is it a program that runs inside windows?? I assume it doesn't permanently change the timings, does it? I have always adjusted that sort of stuff in the bios but there is no way to do it with this notebook that I saw. Assuming it is a program that runs in windows.. does it "really" work?? Or is it going to just change it to 2.5 but take away more performance from running than I'll benefit from the change?? Is there benchmarks that show it actually working?? This is my first notebook.. I'm a desktop PC guy working on expanding my knowledge.

vapb400 said:

What temperature monitor works with it? Does SpeedFan work?
Were you running memtest off flash,cd, or external floppy?

Click to expand...

I don't use one, think I should?? if so, why? I hate running more programs in Windows than I have to. Think the new hard drive and ram will create more heat to the point I need to worry??

I ran memtest off of a bootable CD.

vapb400 said:

Can you overclock the video card with ATITool?
I will squeal if you can!

What video drivers are you using?

Click to expand...

What sort of boost do you think I could get from OC'ing it?? lol..

I just use the drivers supplied by HP.. Is there better drivers out there?? I looked on ATI's site a while back but I couldn't find anything for the 200m on there?? What ones should I get??

CorNut said:

A64 Tweaker?? I don't know what that even is.. Is it a program that runs inside windows?? I assume it doesn't permanently change the timings, does it? I have always adjusted that sort of stuff in the bios but there is no way to do it with this notebook that I saw. Assuming it is a program that runs in windows.. does it "really" work?? Or is it going to just change it to 2.5 but take away more performance from running than I'll benefit from the change?? Is there benchmarks that show it actually working?? This is my first notebook.. I'm a desktop PC guy working on expanding my knowledge.




I don't use one, think I should?? if so, why? I hate running more programs in Windows than I have to. Think the new hard drive and ram will create more heat to the point I need to worry??

I ran memtest off of a bootable CD.




What sort of boost do you think I could get from OC'ing it?? lol..

I just use the drivers supplied by HP.. Is there better drivers out there?? I looked on ATI's site a while back but I couldn't find anything for the 200m on here?? What ones should I get??

Click to expand...

Just grabbed the first SS i found, you can see A64 tweaker there. He has it open to show the details of his timings, but you set the timings, and close it and they stay til you reboot. Of course if you drop the timings too low, things will lock up, so just keep that in mind. But you can definitely drop some timings for a little bit of performance improvement. But maybe I'm just obsessed with the little things. It looks like your PQI sticks have a CAS latency of 2.5, so you could definitely decrease your 3 CAS (as seen in 3-3-3-8 on your Memtest screen) to 2.5 CAS.

I was just wondering about speedfan, I'm weird and must know my CPU/HD/Chipset temp at all times regardless. That would give us an idea as to how powerful of a processor could be put in there though, if we know the current temperature.

It looks like some guy on the 3Dmark Orb overclocked the 200m core to 409 mhz from 300mhz, that would be a decent score boost. 150/200+ points in 3DMark and several FPS in games.

I have no idea about the drivers. Would we use the normal Catalysts? the integrated graphics Catalysts? or use the Omega modded Catalysts, I dunno. I was wondering if anybody had any experience in that.

Regarding graphics drivers, I highly recommend the Omega Drivers because the default Catalysts don't support mobile GPU's. Fortunately the MODDED Omega drivers do, and they're usually up to date within a couple of weeks of release of the latest Catalysts.

I don't have the laptop in front of me right now (I'm at work), but I do plan to do some benchmarking and stuff this weekend, as I'm heading to Arizona for the weekend to pick up another of these babies from Layaway for a friend's Xmas gift. I've got to upgrade the HDD and RAM before I give it to her, so I will run 3DMark before and after each set of upgrades, and post the results here. I also plan to photographically document each step of the upgrade process, and I'll make guides available in PDF format for everyone.

Oh, I'll also go through the rest of the drivers and find out which ones are the latest and greatest in all the major categories!

Jason

Originally Posted by Salman Khan
Hey there,

Just have a few questions regarding a reformat and fresh clean install.

Today I finally added 512MB of PNY to the existing ram. Though it sped it up considerably, I decided to reformat the drive. I partioned it into two 20GB drives and installed the oem xp disc that came with it and it took care of everything except the modem, video, wlan & audio. I installed the modem & audio from the HP website.

When I popped in the drivers & application disc that came with it, it wanted to install a bunch of unnecessary stuff. What should be installed and what left out. Does the walmart lappy have the integrated HP bluetooth module (since it has a driver for it in that CD) and is the CDRW/DVD "lighscribe" enabled?

1. How much better are the omega drivers vs. the video drivers on HP ?

2. I removed Internet Explorer and am using Firefox, but it will not let me "windows update" from microsoft without IE. Are those critical updates really necessary if you are not using IE ?

3. Should I leave the virtual memory pagefile at "system managed" or put it a better value to increase system performance.

4.My combined RAM now is 768MB, would I benefit significantly by upgrading the memory to 1gig?

Sorry for the long post. Any comments are appreciated.

Click to expand...

1. Omega drivers are usually good for a small speed boost over stock drivers, but more importantly they are usually *up to date*, whereas the HP drivers are hopelessly old. When the drop support for this laptop, they'll probably never update the drivers on their site again.

2. YES. Windows Critical updates are, well, *Critical*, quite often. I use Firefox as my primary browser, but I do leave IE installed just so I can use Windows Update. Of course, there is always the Windows Update Alternative, which DOES work with Firefox. The only real downside is that it's usually a few weeks out of date.

3. The pagefile is a matter of continuous debate. On my home system I set it to a static 512MB, but then, I've got 2GB of RAM. On the lappy I've been leaving it System Managed, and it has 1GB of RAM on it. Seems to work OK, but again, this is a topic of much debate.

4. Of course! More RAM is always better. Bear in mind, this laptop can take up to 2GB. HP's site is, simply enough, wrong.

5. As far as I know, the DVD/CDRW drive does NOT have LightScribe. If I'm mistaken, someone please correct me

6. This laptop does NOT have BlueTooth installed by default. See the OP.

Jason

Jason,

Thank you for so eloquently answering all of my questions. I truly appreciate your time and effort.

When you get a chance, just let us know what stuff you believe should be installed from the "drivers & application" disc.

Thanks again.

Salman Khan said:

Jason,

Thank you for so eloquently answering all of my questions. I truly appreciate your time and effort.

When you get a chance, just let us know what stuff you believe should be installed from the "drivers & application" disc.

Thanks again.

Click to expand...

Will do, man. Like I said, I've got to set one up and do some of these upgrades this weekend for one of these that I bought for a friend for Xmas, so I'll be taking pics and documenting the entire process, right down to the software level. My intention is to make PDF formatted guides and host them on my site and link to them from here for all to use. I have to say, I'm really impressed with this lappy overall, and can't wait to explore it 100%! The first one was practice, this one is for real documentation purposes!

Jason

is anyone else having problems getting the vertical scroll bar on the touch pad to work in firefox? it seems to work in everything else.

yea, ive noticed that as well, i think its a Firefox issue

It's not only a Firefox issue but an Opera issue as well. If you uninstall the Synaptics driver and use the XP default mouse driver, the vertical scroll works.

i'm a n00b to laptop's. is there a reason that the screen gets brighter when you unplug the ac adapter? it seems to me, that if anything, it would be brighter when you have ac power and dimmer when unplugged to save the battery.

Go to Control Panel then Power Options.....and make sure you have it selected as a portable/laptop. Adjust the screen brightness to one setting both with and without the adapter, and see if it does it again.

I was thinking about getting a wireless router. Never had one before so I'm clueless about them. I see the network card in this supports speedbooster. Is it worth the extra cost of a modem with speedbooster? 802.11 g is rated at 54 Mbps right? I have a 3 meg cable connection so wouldn't that be overkill? Sorry for the silly question.

Also, to the posters above having trouble with the vert scrolling in firefox, I had the same problem then installed the new synaptics driver off their website and it works for me now.

Link to the updated driver?

se7en1ne said:

I was thinking about getting a wireless router. Never had one before so I'm clueless about them. I see the network card in this supports speedbooster. Is it worth the extra cost of a modem with speedbooster? 802.11 g is rated at 54 Mbps right? I have a 3 meg cable connection so wouldn't that be overkill? Sorry for the silly question.

Also, to the posters above having trouble with the vert scrolling in firefox, I had the same problem then installed the new synaptics driver off their website and it works for me now.

Click to expand...

Excellent news. Can you give us a link to the driver you used, please?

On your Wifi question, yes, 54Mb/s is WAY more than plenty for your 3Mb cable connection

Jason

DragonMasterAlex said:

Excellent news. Can you give us a link to the driver you used, please?

On your Wifi question, yes, 54Mb/s is WAY more than plenty for your 3Mb cable connection

Jason

Click to expand...

So what is the purpose of the speedbooster or buying a router with seedbooster if most people's connection is nowhere near 54 Mbps? If you had a T3 connection or something?

Better place to ask networking questions
http://www.hardforum.com/forumdisplay.php?f=19

i just noticed this, but after installing the newest synaptics pointing device drivers i can scroll horizontally as well as vertically!

yea, you could do that in IE but until upgrading the driver you couldnt do either in FF

anyone else have this problem or had it and knows how to fix it.

Every time i boot up, i get the new hardware install wizard thing poppin up for some SCSI device? if i try to install it, it locks the lappy up and i ge the blue screen, something about not being able to release memory/ram or something?

anyone else come across this?

se7en1ne said:

So what is the purpose of the speedbooster or buying a router with seedbooster if most people's connection is nowhere near 54 Mbps? If you had a T3 connection or something?

Click to expand...

It would be important if you had a LAN setup in your home and, say, copied files from one PC to the other, streamed movies, music, etc. For internet access, even a 10Mb ethernet card from the early 90's is *more* than plenty Hell, even a T1 line is only 1.5Mb up/down, LOL.

Jason

awesome... gained almost 30 points on 3dmark with the Omega driver... that's awesome

thanks for the link

this thread really rocks

Thanks for posting those omega drivers that I recommended. They're much better than the Hcr*P version drivers. . Even better in battery life options and general 3d acceleration.

Yea i'm new to the HardOCP forum...but anyways, yea i got one of these laptops aswell, aswell as waiting a ridiculous amount of time to get one..well since this thing can have up to 2 gigs of ram in it, any suggestions?..anyone have a particular brand?..oo

can this thing play WoW?..can someone tell me what games are able to run on this laptop ...smoothly lol. List games that you've played on the ze2308 so far, if you could.