DragonMasterAlex
2[H]4U
- Joined
- Jun 24, 2005
- Messages
- 2,993
I just bought this beauty March 31st and am starting to go through her, but suffice to say I'm *super* impressed at what you get for the price in this package. I'll be updating this with pics and links as I get more familiar with this sucker but here's where we'll start.
UPDATE:
If you want to repartition, use GPartEd LiveCD to clear out the 4GB resource partition. It's free, fast and verified working on this laptop.
AVAILABLE UPGRADES:
Software for your XT5000T
Benchmarks and scores:
For those who don't know, this lappy was on sale at Office Max until Saturday March 31st for $699, but now it's back to $899. Even at full price you simply WILL NOT find better bang for your buck right now, boys and girls. I've been eyeballing a very similarly spec'd HP at Costco for awhile now, but that one's $1500. The XT5000T has a Turion64 X2 instead of a Core2Duo, which is a shame, but for the price differential the tradeoff is well worth it. I'm listing the specs below for all those interested.
SPECS:
PROBLEMS AND SOLUTIONS (provided by AreEss):
More as I find it! feel free to contribute!
UPDATE:
If you want to repartition, use GPartEd LiveCD to clear out the 4GB resource partition. It's free, fast and verified working on this laptop.
AVAILABLE UPGRADES:
I'm going to post items here that either I or someone else here has tested and verified. Please PM me with anything I should add, there's no guarantee I'll see what happens in the thread as it grows
Memory: Adata DDR2 667 $54 from NewEgg. Just received my 2GB of this last night (though it was $3 less per stick when I ordered it) and it works great. Dual channel enabled, definitely improved the "zippy" factor of this lappy.
Backpack: The SecurePack Notebook Backpack is really nice, quite fashionable, and also secure because it can't be opened while you're wearing it. It also has plenty of interior space and a couple of velcro backed bags that stick to the inside of the pack. Best deal is at Ritz Camera, $50.99 with $6.95 shipping and no tax!!!!
Software for your XT5000T
DRIVERS FOR YOUR OS!:Windows XP 32 bit
Freeware DVD Player
Freeware CD/DVD Burning software
Freeware Virtual CD/DVD (Mount ISO's as CD/DVD drives)
freeware Codec Pack (oodles of codecs for all your video decoding needs)
Windows Vista 32 bit
Freeware Vista Codecs package
Freeware DP CD/DVD Burner (Plugins are supported for extended functionality)
Windows XP x64 Edition
VGA: Get the Driver here, and the Modified INF here. you need to EXTRACT the driver to a folder, copy the INF into the folder (overwrite the existing nvf_disp.inf) and then run setup, it'll find your card just fine.
CHIPSET/NIC/SATA: use the nVidia NFORCE 430/410/405/400 pack for x64.
Audio: The driver from Everex's site also includes the XP x64 driver.
Wireless Card: MiniPCI.Biz has what you need!
HACKED x64 Files so you can use unsigned themes and such.
More to come as I find them, if you have info please PM or email it to me and I'll update this sucker! Let's keep it as complete as possible!
Benchmarks and scores:
WinSAT score is 4.4 by default, I'll do some tweaking and see what I can get it up to. Specific scores by category follow.
Processor: 4.6
Memory (RAM): 4.5
Graphics: 4.8
Gaming Graphics: 4.7
Primary Hard Disk: 4.4
SuperPI Calculation to 2Million score: 000h 02m 07.836s, all by default
DVD Shrink Ripping, with DVD43 decrypting, "Saving Face" region 1 DVD with all defaults, 97 minute movie, took 32m 47s to rip.
User Manual
Drivers for both Vista and XP
Official Web page
For those who don't know, this lappy was on sale at Office Max until Saturday March 31st for $699, but now it's back to $899. Even at full price you simply WILL NOT find better bang for your buck right now, boys and girls. I've been eyeballing a very similarly spec'd HP at Costco for awhile now, but that one's $1500. The XT5000T has a Turion64 X2 instead of a Core2Duo, which is a shame, but for the price differential the tradeoff is well worth it. I'm listing the specs below for all those interested.
SPECS:
Chipset: NVIDIA® C51D (Northbridge), NVIDIA® MCP51 (Southbridge). Uses Nforce 410/430 drivers
Turion64 X2 TL-50 @ 1.6Ghz. Upgradeable to TL-60.
1GB DDRII 533Mhz Memory. Nicely, it's a 1GB stick so you can easily just add one. For future benefit, this laptop supports up to 4GB (that's right, FOUR GIGS) of DDR2 up to 667Mhz.
17" Widescreen display, 1440x900. Like higher end laptops this is the glossy screen, and it has excellent brightness and viewing angles. I watched 2 eps of Battlestar galactica on it last night (what a fucked up season finale, yo!) from across the room on my bed, with the lappy on my desk. Nice!
100GB 5400RPM SATA Hard Disk. Nice size, nice speed. Even nicer, it has an additional bay for a *second* SATA 9,5mm 2.5" hard drive. It doesn't support RAID0 or RAID1 yet, but according to the support forums that will be coming in a BIOS update soon. When that comes I'll probably drop a pair of 7200RPM beauties in this beast.
8X Dual Layer DVD/RW, it's a Sony (yuck) AD5530A. 8X burner though, so not too much to bitch about. unfortunately no LightScribe. I'll see if there's a drop-in replacement.
NVIDIA geforce 7600 with 256MB discrete memory. Also shares an additional 256 for a total of 512. If anyone knows how to turn off the sharing, please tell me . this is one of the features that makes this such a great deal, as very few (if any) lappies in this price range have such a good video card. No idea if it is upgradeable, but will find out.
RealTek HD Audio with GREAT sounding speakers and its own subwoofer. In the aforementioned BSG watching session (did I mention, what a fucked up season finale that was?) I heard this *crystal clear* from 8 feet away with the sound at 67 (out of 100). Nice indeed! good base, good treble, all in all the nicest notebook audio I've heard. Take that with a grain of salt though, I haven't heard that many notebooks
4 in 1 card reader (SD, MMC, MS, MS Pro)
DVI and S-Video output, excellent for using with your TV or a second monitor.
3x USB 2.0 ports
1x Firewire 4 pin port (mini)
56K Modem (yay....I guess)
10/100/1000 LAN Adapter
802.11 b/g wifi adapter. Nice because it's in a PCIe slot, making it highly upgradeable. Looking for a module with a/b/g and Bluetooth if I can find one!
2 button "Glide Pad". Meh, whatever, gimme a mouse.
6 Cell Lithium Ion battery. This is mediocre, but hell, what do you expect for the price? I have yet to see a better replacement, but as soon as I do I'll link it for your pleasure. Or something.
1 Year Limited PARTS warranty. Doesn't say anything about labor, but it might be worth it to put out for the warranty at Office Max, it's like $149 for 3 years, and given how cheap this already is, you're still coming out WAY ahead.
PROBLEMS AND SOLUTIONS (provided by AreEss):
PROBLEMS SOLVED:
* Keyboard Enter doesn't work in games
Cause; Keyboard enter is NUMPAD ENTER. Use Sharpkeys from RandyRants.com to remap Numpad Enter (E0_1C) to Keyboard Enter (00_1C). This may be resolved in BIOS at a later date.
* Wireless sometimes does not initialize on boot.
The Broadcom card included with this laptop really is a complete pile of crap.
You could go buy an Intel 3945ABG or 4xxxAGN MiniPCI Express card. The 3495ABG can be found for only $32 on Amazon.com. However, I cannot frigging get EITHER of my 3945ABGs to even show on the PCIe bus!
Atheros AR5418-based Mini PCI-Express cards are known to work superbly with this system. I can't find them online though.
* Vista sucks, I want rid of it.
The recovery DVD is a full recovery DVD. Not a 'recover from hard disk' pile of crap. So go ahead and install XP. Normal ForceWare works for the chipset, but you'll need something like MobileForceXP for the GeForce Go 7600 as it's PCIe and the nVidia official drivers appear to only have the AGP PCIIDs.
Problems Outstanding:
* Don't know of a source for the HDD mounting brackets.
* Extended battery IS AVAILABLE, waiting on source details from Everex forums.
* Accessories and additional parts (e.g. bottom plastics, AC adaptor, etc) must be ordered from Everex by phone right now. You can reach them at 1-510-687-9261. They should be up on the website at everexstore.com sometime "soon."
More as I find it! feel free to contribute!