Try using CoreAVC to play that video. It's the fastest H264 video software decoder. If you don't know where to get it, PM me.

Can someone do a benchmark on the eSata port? HDTach, HDtune, whatever.

After much deliberation I finally bought a CQ40-125AX over a CQ45-107AU for RM2099 from the HP Store at Lowyat. No Official HP freebies cause' I opted for the easy payment plan. Some shops such as CZONE and ALL IT charge a handling/processing fee though.

Got rid of the 1GB 667 RAM and replaced it with 2 sticks of Kingston 2GB 800 from Viewnet (RM93 each). I'm running Vista Ultimate 64 bit. So far so good. The heat on the left side of the touchpad is not that bad as far as I'm concerned.

The front part (touchpad area) seems to be susceptible to scratches, as do the lcd lid... maybe I should skin it. Do you guys happen to have any pictures of a skinned 125AX?

Do you guys actually charge the battery 8 hours for the first charge?
I haven't used the battery at all since the day I bought it.

btw I think the bluetooth driver is called 'ENE Receiver Driver' on the HP website. I got mine from the seller though.

Yup.
Read the first post. It's there.

That's what the seller told me, charge it 8 hours for the first time in order to get the most out of the battery.

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Added on October 27, 2008, 2:33 amTo those who have updated their ATI driver to the latest one from AMD's website (via some modification to the setup files since it won't work directly), do you actually get better benchmark scores, fps, etc?

This post has been edited by cannavaro: Oct 27 2008, 02:33 AM

Really? Which store?

btw shady, it's about time you update the first post. maybe you can also include the best deals in town.

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Added on October 29, 2008, 11:27 pmCoupon no longer works. Damn. Where did you get the code? What a sweet deal.

This post has been edited by cannavaro: Oct 29 2008, 11:27 PM

wow. mine is only 4. I'm on Vista Ultimate 64 bit though.

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Added on October 30, 2008, 6:26 pmeh on second thought... it's not possible to get a 6! AFAIK the max is 5.9

This post has been edited by cannavaro: Oct 30 2008, 06:26 PM

I'd say very good. I particularly like their service centre in Bukit Damansara. Very comfortable, good location. Better than Teledynamics (Toshiba) in Glenmarie. I've no idea about Dell and the rest though.

You can, but be prepared to pay premium price.

What's the difference between these 2 drivers?



I was thinking that one includes Catalyst and the other doesn't, but then the size is pretty close, unlike the 'with catalyst' and 'without catalyst' drivers in AMD's website.

I'm already using the latest CCC from AMD's website, thanks to Mobility Modder. I was just wondering about the difference between the two drivers that I posted.
btw the AMD RAID driver (part of catalyst 64) is not necessary right? I already removed it. No noticeable difference so far.

Nope, same scores.
Haven't tried any other benchmarking tools though.

I only have COD4 installed. Played it briefly for the sake of testing. I let the game choose the optimal settings. The training level was okay, but the first mission (raining ship) was laggy. IIRC the optimal settings were mostly medium, and the resolution was 1024x768.

I'll play around with the settings some other time.

1. That depends on your bargaining skills.

2. Read:
http://zone.ni.com/devzone/cda/tut/p/id/5709
http://blogs.zdnet.com/hardware/?p=1354

3. Intel is better, but for the average user the AMD cpu will suffice.

4. One stick of DDR2 800 2GB Sodimm is about RM90. 1GB is about RM55. The 667s are even cheaper. About RM45 for 1GB, and RM80 for 2GB.

..and the shell is different as well. The CQ45 looks sexier.

Yes, SODIMM = laptop ram. You can never go wrong with a Kingston.

Just mention you want "1GB/2GB Kingston laptop ram, the 800 version", I'm sure most frontliners at lowyat would understand. Make sure you check the packaging, when I bought mine the staff mistakenly brought out a DDR2 667 (PC2-5300) version instead of DDR2 800 (PC2-6400).
Here, use czone's pricelist as a reference:


Yes you'd have to install the OS yourself.

The heat issue is subjective, but I can assure you it's not as notorious as the 'dragon', older generation Pentium D series from Intel.

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Added on November 6, 2008, 3:27 amQuoting shady:

This post has been edited by cannavaro: Nov 6 2008, 03:27 AM

It has been mentioned several times in this thread, yes it can run 4GB.

This should answer your question:
http://hardwarebistro.com/index.php?option...DDR2-CL4-Review

As you can see there's improvement, but the price-to-performance gains ratio isn't much. I'd say it's not worth it.
AFAIK 4.0 is like the standard score for this model. It seems everyone gets that, even with 4GB 800mhz.

Vista Ultimate is around RM700.
As for you second question... the answer depends on which non-original version that you're gonna use. Let's leave it at that.