Overall C90 success?

They had very high expectations they where going to release a full line of notebooks of different sizes identical to the C90. First of all they wanted to have ultimate upgrade ability so they added desktop processors a gusty move for heat and battery issues, in the end a very good idea, it made the price of the overall unit lower and of course much more performance I think a good trade off. The MXM 2 format for the graphics card stupid! They should have used MXM 4 that way they would of had a much bigger field of GPU's to choose from since that is the format Clevo uses for all there laptops, maybe more batteries and more heat would have been added but they could have made it thicker to accommodate a bigger battery, and to circulate the hot air. Overall I think they should have left desktop replacements to 17"+ notebooks field, if they had attempted the 17", and the 19" laptop market they could have give Clevo a run for there money. In the end I think Asus knows something I do not know or they do not have an idea of the market the missed out on. There where rumors of C70p which was supposed to have 19" screen and numerous other goodies, I guess the C90s did not sell enough models for them to consider the C70p, maybe a smarter idea would have been to build the C70p, C80p first then think about C90s would have been great if someone other then Clevo was in this segment it would have pulled more companies into the segment.

 

Sorry Sahin, no offense but you need to start breaking your sentences into paragraphs as it would be much easier to read.

Personally I think the C90 series is headed into the right direction. You do bring up some good points as it's definite that the C90 is far from perfect. What I do like about the C90 is it's size, and I think it's a perfect balance between portability and performance on a desktop replacement level. Clevo's to me crosses the line between notebook and desktop as the size, weight, and price gets too ridiculous. For the price you are paying your probably better off building a desktop (SFF perhaps?) to fulfill even greater desires of a much faster gaming machine then get another budget notebook solution for portability and still have money left over.

The c90s's downfall is the lack of upgrades, despite it's greatest selling point. Perhaps the MXM 2 is the limiting factor as we are currently limited to 8600m GT DDR2(DDR3 was a dud) card and upcoming higher end cards currently vaporware as we are awaiting the c90p. However, I would think that the C90 series is a success for ASUS despite it's shortfalls, as they have struck a balance between power and price. No other laptop achieves this performance/price ratio better than the C90 at it's release(I think it's still quite up there even now).

Perhaps the C80 would resolve some of these issues and perhaps introduce a new competitor to the Clevo lineup? It's really uncertain if ASUS has decided to abandon that idea much like the XG Station and other products they announced but ditched later on.

 

ThXS D3X for the advice I had not clue that the DDR3 was a dud. But when we get down to it no body wants to buy a 15 inch desktop replacement laptop to replace there desktop, 17" is small enough. Also i have a completely different view then you for the Clevo's I think they are perfect, for people who need the performance at work and at to work at home on one computer.

 

I think you are wrong. I personally wanted power, but didn't want the bulkiness of a 17" and the weight to go with it nor did I have $3000 to drop into it. So something along the lines of midrange-highend graphics fit the bill, of course when I initially got the c90s I was intending to upgrade to at least 8600m GT DDR3 or greater. There is a reason why the F8(not quite 15 but you get what I'm saying), G1S and the C90 are very popular on these forums and are gaining share on that sector of the notebook market.

Personally I don't think SLI or Crossfire type solutions will ever become mainstream for notebooks unless they significantly reduce the heat output of those high-end cards, it'll most likely be impossible though as "leading edge" powerful graphics will always be a power hog and a heat monger. Ultra gaming notebooks like Clevos will always be a small niche market catered to gaming enthusiasts.

 

I have no problem with my notebook being 15 inches. This is also my only computer, and I bought it specifically to be a "desktop replacement". It really comes down to peoples wants and opinions, and they are different for each person. Just because you think the C90S is a failure doesn't mean everyone else does.

 

I love my C90S. Main buying point was the price. At $1583 shipped & taxed, it was definetely cheaper than everything else at the moment

 

Price I say is the main selling point they are cheap, versus the G1 C90 was and still is a better buy, but with all the other products in the market now and there lower prices...

 

Yeah C90S was and still is the cheapest high performance notebook around, only the new M50Sv has caused any competition and temptation, and still the c90s has it beat in cpu power and thats important now that I do video editing.

This was a learning step for Asus hopefully and the next refresh of the c90 will have better cooling, and perhaps more upgrade options.

 

I use autocad but i find that there is not much of a huge difference between the desktop and notebooks except till you add quad core (for windows at least).

 

I'm sorry but I really fail to see the point in this thread... If you don't like the C90S, and what it has to offer, then you don't need to buy it. Do you even own one?

It really does all come down to personal preference and opinion. Some people won't want a 15 inch desktop replacement, others might find it perfect.

The C90S is about as customizable and easy to work on (ace door) as it gets with a notebook. Even the lousy 8600m GT will eventually be replaced by the next mid end MXM-II based graphics card. Plus, running an E6700 at almost 3Ghz is a ridiculous amount of CPU power in a notebook!

Don't get me wrong the C90S had (has?) plenty of problems with RAM, faulty motherboards that won't overclock, ect. But if you bought from a reliable reseller you don't have to worry about it. A 100% working C90S (LOL!) fully equipped with high end parts is an absolute monster of a machine at a VERY humble price tag!

I think Asus just needs to learn from the few issues they had with the C90S and fix them before they release the C90P. They should fix the RAM issues and they are already going to be using all copper heatsinks to help cool things down more. On top of that, the C90P uses a much new chipset that supports the newest desktop CPUs and 4 gigs of ram instead of 3.

Since the C90S and the C90P "appear" to be identical, we can probably just upgrade the heatsinks and motherboard and have the exact same machine. The parts will probably be interchangeable. Keep in mind though, a lot of us have had this machine for awhile now, so that's the price you pay for being an early adopter.

Still, even if you didn't upgrade ANYTHING to "C90P" specifications, an E6700 at almost 3Ghz and 3 gigs of ram is awesome. Also, you would still be able to upgrade with the C90P graphics cards, or any other MXM-II cards.

I'm pretty happy with this machine, but it's not for everyone. Now that I've just rambled on about stuff most people already knew... What is the point of this thread again???

 

Problem is when is these MXM 2 cards going to come out? If they ever will? Asus has a problem the promise something and they do not even say that it is off the drawing board they just say it is still up in the air.

 

You didn't answer NightWalker fully yet..just saying. It seems that you're being pretty biased on this issue too.

 

Exactly what Pablomancan said. You seam pretty biased. Why?
Are you planning to buy a C90 or you can't decide between the C90 and another laptop and you just want to get some opinions?
Or do you just want to find out why ASUS still sells whitebooks knowing there could be potential incompatibilities and issues regarding user defined hardware and future upgrades?

Please tell us!!!
Who knows, maybe we can help you.

I am still happy with my purchase and 15" is enough for me.
I think 15" might actually be a main selling point to some people.
That's why I chose it over some other 17" desktop replacement behemoths.
Did you ever wonder why the G1 sells better than the G2?
And regarding ASUS's choice for MXM II and the "old" 945 chipset I can just say I am 100% sure that's another reason why the C90 is so VERY competitively priced and I am willing to live with that knowing that I can use that extra cash to spend on future laptops.
If somebody ever thought the C90 can take Intel's new CPU's and 8800GTX's than those people just didn't do their homework regarding chipset and MXM II limitations and that's not the C90's or ASUS's fault!!!
The only thing I blame ASUS for is for not releasing better MXM II upgrades a lot faster. We've been waiting for too long, now!

 

Well as far as the cards are concerned, we will definitely have an upgrade when the C90P is released. Pretty much as long as the C90P stays MXM-II based, we will be able to use the cards from it.

We can still use any other manufacturer's MXM-II cards probably with just a V-BIOS flash. The problem is right now the 8600m GT is the highest mid end MXM-II card out right now. Everything else is either MXM-III, IV, HE, or just plain soldered to the motherboard.

I think we are still going through growing pains when it comes to the MXM format and the manufacturers are STILL very hesitant to use it often.
I know you don't want to hear this but, give it time. The C90P will bring us an upgrade, and I'm sure someone else will eventually release a better MXM-II based card as well.

For the price the C90S is still a killer. If you don't like it though, or you don't want to wait on new cards from Asus or someone else, buy a different laptop. You could spend a LOT more and get something with an MXM-HE connector on it and have a bunch of cards to choose from.

 

I am actually quite happy with the 8600m GT but I just got my hopes up for some nice GPU upgrades.
I actually wanted to sell it at some point and I even posted it in the "Buy, Sell, Trade" section but then I tried out a few other laptops and they didn't even come close to the C90's CPU performance.
To me processor performance is more important than a good GPU (I do a lot of compiling in Gentoo Linux) and in a 15" laptop my overclocked e6600 can't be beat.
I think I might even try to install a q6600 and put some watercooling in it but that's gonna be a different thread.

 

You would need to figure out how to hack the bios, the Q6600 is supported in the chipset, but locked in the bios...

...a notebook with watercooling...that sounds sooo cool!

 

Hey Ranger,

Where did you get the info about the Q6600 being locked in the bios? Last I heard it was being sold with the C90S by a few unknown resellers but nobody knew if it actually worked. Very curious lol.

 

Are you sure it is locked in bios? How do you know that?
Some resellers were offering the C90 with a Quad-Core.

Whops, NightWalker was first. I just saw that

I downloaded an AMI BIOS editor and it is recognizing the 902 bios and lets me change things but I don't really know what I'm doing so I'll read up on that first before I really mess something up.

 

Nightranger.. lol

 

I honestly do not know if the Q6600 works with the C90S, but ask yourself this, there are only a handful of retailers selling the C90S, so few infact that right now I can't find a single one and there is no one on this forum, a place that has pulled in alot of C90S owners trying to solve the inherent problems of the C90S. Don't you think if some folk bought a C90S with a q6600 someone would have shown up here sooner rather then later. Plus I think (I believe, sorry if I'm putting words in their mouths) Ken (GentechPC) and Eddie (BTOtech) have mentioned in the passed that the q6600 is not officially supported by the bios, not the chipset.

 

Sorry I meant NightWalker. I watched an American Dad episode today and they said something about the band "Nightranger".

I think there is only one way to really find out if it works. I am bidding on a q6600 on eBay right now.
If it doesn't work I can always sell it again but I just have to find out.
I also bought some low-profile watercooling parts which are intended to be used in 1U server systems.

 

Kudos for having the courage to try it out chris! Let us know if it works. I think we all know it will run WAY too hot for the C90S, but if it boots it leaves the possibility open to use it with some more extreme cooling mods.

 

The only thing I remember hearing is that the quad core is not officially supported for thermal reasons, I do not remember any official announcement that its locked in the bios or unsupported by the chipset.

However the chipset is rather old and without a bios new enough to properly support it you may get mixed results.

 

I think the worst that can happen is your bios not recognizing the CPU. If it does and successfully boots, the high temps from the CPU will be detected and automatically shut down the system.
Either way, I'm guessing it won't works since as Vicious said, it uses the old 945G chipset. As I recall, they can utilize core 2 extremes, but not the quads.