Finally ordered my Laptop xi 1554

After looking aroud for the last 3 months i finally ordered the fujitsu siemens xi 1554 (i was going for the a8js but my cousin wasnt coming back from the states he decided the carribean islands sounded just fine! so i opted for this )

and can't wait to get it...

 

Congratulations. Enjoy the notebook. It is very powerful, and when the drivers for the Mobility X1900 mature more, the graphics card should perform very well.

 

wow the x1900 is a great card
and the build quality is gr8 too
congratulations and enjoy your new laptop
cheers,

 

Congrats on your new purchase. Enjoy!

 

Yeh im hoping that they do get better cos from what i've seen on the fujitsu website the drivers are dated 15.11.2006 which is 3 months ago ...so im hoping that the new ati drivers support the x1900...

But before i saw the xi 1554 back ages ago i did really want the xi1546 for so long...but kept spending my money everytime i got it...but im glad i've waited this long...next step when i get it is to buy a good cooler and mouse

 

should be getting it on friday all going well...its shipping tommorow and next day service...so i might ring them up on friday to get an indication of what time they are coming (they say anywhere between 8.30am-5.30pm) dont wanna be at home all that time!

 

Bad news. There's no mention about support for x1900 in the latest Mobile Catalyst 7.2 release. But you should certainly try them, if they work.. http://ati.amd.com/support/driver.html

 

Yeah i checked it yesterday...like you said though should try them...no harm done if it doesnt work...but its shame to have released what they claim as the world's fastest consumer graphics card (im hoping that the drivers have an increase in the performance a lot although what they are now are great) and for them not to include it in their lastest drivers

Anyway here are the specs of the one im getting

Intel Core 2 Duo T7200 Processor 2.00GHz 4MB Cache
2048mb 533 ram
240gb (2*120) hard drive
17in (wuxga)
Vista home premium
Bluetooth
the rest is standard
with the exception of the x1900

kinda feel a little ripped off for the uk...i mean for the price im paying in germany your getting the same one with 320gb (2*160gb)...but regardless i still think its probably the best value for money here!

mind i dunno if anyone has tried it but i went to the dell uk website tried setting up a laptop with t7200...2048mb ram...17in wuxga...200gb hard drive at 4200rpm and 7900gs and it came up to bloody to over £1500 and thats with 1 year collect and return...thats kinda funny cos the xps starts at £1249 and comes with 79000gs t7200 but only one gig of ram but getting two gig is an extra £293.75 so im happy with the price im paying

 

Great job that you get the 2 GB of RAM. We want to see a review!

 

Yeah well i would have done one this weekend but unfortunatly they called to say that it would be delivered on monday well my luck hasnt been good this week at all arsenal lost to psv...missed a penalty in the semi-final of my football(soccer) game... and as a result lost the game...4-5 in penalties...but to top it all off this happens...thought id be getting my laptop for this weekend so it put a smile back on my face but its been delayed lol..i was thinking of doing a dual boot as soon as i get it (installing xp pro/media center) on the second hard drive and comparing the results of the tests? (also mainly to game on xp (cos from what i've read vista sucks for games!) and have vista there for its cool looks ) any thoughts on that?

also one random question if at some point i wanted to get rid of xp and go to vista would a format of the second hard drive do the job or would i have to uninstall it?

As soon as i get it though u'll be sure to get an overall review!

 

If you want to install it on top of Windows XP, then I think you can do that, but a format and then a reinstall is better than installing on a previous OS. At the moment, Windows Vista isn't really worth it, because of driver issues with some things, and also gaming performance may be lower then with XP.

Good thing, your doing a review. It would be great to read up a review, and some more detailed benchmarks and also some pictures.

 

cheers for the advice...

i will get pictures and detailed benchmarking...

zero (or to anyone who is doing this/ done this already) any thoughts on dual booting? (putting xp on the second hard drive) installing the drivers etc and running the test off of there and then compare them to vista?

*EDIT*

They rang to say delivery will happen on tuesday! i think if they carry on pushing it then i will start getting mad

 

Yes, you can dual boot. That is something that I would suggest, if you want to have the benefits of both operating systems. If you already have an OS installed, then you will have to get into the set-up of th new OS, and go throught the procedure. If your installing Vista with an already exsiting XP installation, it should give you an option of installing the new OS, and keeping the old one.

 

Vista Home Premium will already be on there so id have to do what you said in the first part...I was thinking couldnt you jus go into the bios and set it to read to the dvd drive...place the xp cd in and then just install in the second hard drive jus like that? or am i completly wrong

 

Yes, you can do the first part of your procedure. That is, set the boot order, place the Windows XP disc in the drive, and go through the installation process. Then, when it asks you where to install, I would install it on the same partition as Windows Vista. From there, it will say that an OS is already present, and if you wish to continue without deleting/formatting it.

I'm not entirely sure if you can install the new OS on the second hard disk, and then run dual boot. You could try it, and see if it works, but I would just back up anything you need, as you may need to format something. Just be on the safe side, you don't want to lose any important documents on the computer.

 

Yeah i think your right about the latter part...if it were possible were to install xp on the second hard drive (whilst vista is on the first hard drive) then i would have to change the bios each time i boot to tell it which hard drive to boot from...mind you i wouldnt mind...if it meant im gonna get better gaming performance...lol

 

If they keep pushing the date im gonna get a angry...they said that they getting it in later on today and will ship tommorow and i will get it wednesday...everyday they seem to want to say its the next day...i hope for their sake that im getting it on wednesday...lol

 

I don't think that it's different from desktop systems, so, you can easily install second OS to the second HDD or logical drive, just choose where, in the install menu. Then, with every boot you wont need to change anything in bios, 'cause, as i remember, any of Windows OS detects if there are more then one OS and lets you choose which one you want to boot (you'll have 30 seconds). This time and order of installed OSs you can change by typing msconfig in command line and then choosing BOOT.INI tab.

 

yeah i see what your saying but i only remember it detecting two OS if my hard drive was partioned (on my desktop that is)...this would be a on two seperate ones so im not sure...the bios would have it set to boot up of first hard drive so (correct me if im wrong) it wouldnt try and detect a second OS on a different hard drive would it??...
also i didnt get a phone call from today...which means there was no delay so i am finally getting it

 

Nice to hear that your notebook is coming. I hope you plan on doing a review of it, as we haven't got one just yet. Are you planning on doing a complete format and installation of Windows when it does come. I don't think it will help all that much, as most of the Amilo range seems to be free of bloatware.

 

Nah im not gonna format it...i will jus get rid of vista antivirus/spyware software and install avg..and any bloatware if there is any..and also install xp (defrag both hard drives)...i wanna dual boot...i will write a review but it may have to be next weekend...i was reading somewhere but i cant remember where that uninstalling vista anitvirus/spyware removed someones drivers anyone recall reading or experienced this?

*edit* found the page i read it here
but has anyone experienced problems...

oh and also ordered a logitech mx518 and akasa 17in notebook cooler...(it will actually fit the notebook well maybe off by 1cm but still )

 

Removing the antivirus or spyware shouldn't have deleted any drivers. Anyway, I don't think that any antivirus or spyware will be installed when you first recieve the notebook. Fujitsu Siemens normally jst package the disc in the packaging, but I don't think they install the software, so that should avoid any situation where thr drivers may get removed.

 

in rwyke's review of the xi 1546 it did...wen you say jus package it and dont install the software...i take it from that i will have to install home premium and all the drivers etc?...

 

No, sorry i didn't mean that. They install all the drivers, so that when you take the notebook out of the box, it is instantly ready to use. You don't have to worry about that. Other things like the Norton Internet Security, they don't install, because it is the user who may or may not want to use that software. When you do get it, Windows will ask for a name, and you will have to install the last part of it, and then from there it is all ready to use. All drivers are installed.

 

lol cool i get ya...im jus being lazy..tommorow i will get it (touchwood) but will be too exhausted to use it cos would have had uni and football match and then my favorite team are playing that night... so i hopefully thursday/friday i can take a real look at it

 

It was long time ago when I used dula boot and, as you said, it worked with partitioned nut only one hdd. So I have no experience with dual boot on 2 hard drives. If this wont work and you'll have to change boot settings every time, then I can advice just one thing: raid-->partitioning into 2 logical drives. Then you'll have common situation in which we all know everything works fine. Be fit for thursday/friday, we all wait for review.

 

i got it..... anyone wanna help with the sound its really lagging...when ever i do something that requires some for of processing power it starts to lag the music...is it media player 11? i got the lastest drivers ...im thinking maybe the codecs but say for example somone logs on in msn sometimes the noise it makes when they log on is lagging/static (not sure how to describe it but im sure you guys get my drift)

 

hmm.. that "sounds" strange.. It's certain that onboard sound codecs suck compared to real soundcards. They eat processor time and the sound isn't the best quality, but i don't think it should "lag" that way. Especially since you aren't running any heavy apps, you got a dual core CPU and windows vista is supposed to work well with multicore processors. Maby some of your soundsettings are set incorrectly? How about directX? Is your acceleration set to max? ...just some suggestions...

Oh, can't wait to see some review and benchmarks of that laptop, especially with Windows XP...

 

Me too Ronkotus! We want a review!

 

yeah i havent got directX installed forgot about that will install it and check it is setting to the max acceleration

 

right i was trying to install xp so i set it to boot from the dvd drive and put the xp cd in then i select to boot from dvd drive but when it goes to the setup it says cannot find a hard mass storage...help? looking in the bios it says the hard drives are raid but in vista it says scsi disk device so when when the xp setup ask u to push f6 if setting on raid or scsi but it still doesnt detect the hard drives...help? i wanna install it in the second hard drive

 

I don't have experience with Vista, but I know that DirectX 10 ships with it and there's no DirectSound in it anymore. There isn't DX9 for Vista or atleast it's not on the supported operation systems list. So I don't think you need to or should install directX. The sound acceleration setting, atleast in XP, is also found in Control Panel/Sounds... Maby your sound problems are just related to Vista... Are you sure you have the latest driver. It's found here.

And this was for post #30,

 

well it definity is a driver problem but im not sure how to install xp because its not recognising the hard drives...

 

Thats because the hard disks are SATA, and they need drivers of their own. If your installing from a normal Windows XP disc, then you will need to slipstream drivers onto the disc, using a program like nLite. Then it should recognise the hard disk. Have a read up on it, on google. Theres alot of information on the method, I believe.

 

hey i found the problem to the sound drivers its not them they are fine its something really simple....on device manager in vista you gotta select the disk drives (hard drive) then right click properties...under the 'policies' tab you select 'enable advanced performance' and hey presto it works...(jus thought id share that just incase anybody else might have problems... )

thanks zero i have read up about it and i have created one with the drivers raid drivers slipstreamed...so fingers crossed im gonna try it tommorow and hopefully it will work...

 

Thats good to hear, sunjhoon. Not the notebook should be working fine then. Anyway, keep us informaed off what happens, and any news on the review that I hope you are doing.

 

Well xp installation isnt going well..i dont know what im doing wrong...it may look like i have to do the review with vista on it...but when i get xp installed i will tell you guys the benchmarks for xp...i encountered some problems which were resolved in a couple of minutes...the drivers that fujitsu gave for the x1900 didnt support opengl...which was annoying because i was hoping to play prey...but i managed to manipulate the new drivers to accept it with x1900...so nw i have the lastest drivers with catalyst 6.8 lol...had a go at prey...the fps is around 40-50 (1280x1024, highest quality, AAx4+AFx8)...mastha got around 65fps and it had 1gb of ram...so the quicker i get xp the better for me

hopefully this weekend i can write the review...

 

hey you guys here is a list of the drivers i have...if any of you know which one/ones specifically i need to put onto the xp cd when im slipstreaming plz let me know

 

Cant wait for review.

 

about 50% done got uni this week so will definitly be done in time for the weekend. Oh i got XP installed ( thanks zero for the insight and everyone else who helped i had no idea what i had to do ) and i forced the new drivers and also forced new catalyst 7.2 jus one question does anyone know what the official code name for the graphics card? is it m59/m58? cos from what i've read its m59 but i honestly dont even think the drivers that FSC gave are still official drivers for it because when reading through the setup files for the drivers (of stock drivers) it had the mobility x1900 tagged as an m58?

 

I thought the X1900 was M58.

-Notebook Solutions

 

My Mobility X1800 is recognised as the M58, and I also read that the Mobility X1900 is codenamed the M59. There certainly not the same core, so I would imagine that it is M59.

 

Hi,

I'm not sure if this is the right forum to place this query but I'm considering buying the Xi1554 and I've been monitoring this forum for the past few days.
The only reservation I have (besides the fact that the notebook comes standard with Vista..) is the 1900x1200 screen resolution.

I'm not sure exactly where I heard it but is there any problem/difficulty with playing some games on these screens. (1900x1200)...especially older games? I heard that some games cannot utilize the widescreen feature and you're therefore forced to play the game in a lesser resolution? Is there any truth to this?

This will be my first laptop and I'm buying it cuz I work at sea but I would like to be able to play the latest games at high settings.

I've only read good things about FS screens and I'm eager to get my hands on the Xi1554 but could someone please clear this screen query up for me or at least direct me to a related forum..

Tx
P.S. I'm dying to see the review Sunjhoon

 

Some old games may not have support for widescreen, but you are certainly still able to run them. Either stretched to the full widescreen (looks bad) or changing display properties so that the game uses only portion of the screen width. Check this site if there's a way to make your game to run at widescreen res.

Actually it's with the newest games you might run in trouble at 1900x1200. In most games, especially only a bit older ones X1900 should be fine. But with the latest ones, you propably have to decrease some of the in-game graphics settings to smooth out the performance (~30 fps). Other option is to decrease the resolution as you said, which gives better performance but interpolation makes the image a bit unsharp (not very noticeably). You just have to experiment, which suits to your tastes. The more you decrease the res, the more blurry the image becomes. In most cases it's better to use higher resolution vs. higher graphics settings to have best image quality. Anti-aliasing is an option you have to lose in most cases when using high res. You don't actually need it at 1900x1200, since rough edges are not very noticeable since there are so many pixels. Most new games should support widescreen res.

 

Zero is right, the M59 is the X1900. I am very sorry, should have searched first beforing posting

Mayer, the X1900 will handle all games but you need to check www.widescreengamingforum.com to check if your game is compatible for widescreen. It is also possible to play 1600*1200. Not widescreen, but still very nice to play at.

 

Sorry? Theres not need to be sorry about that . There appears to be so little information about the Moility X1800 and Mobility X1900 on the Internet, its very difficult to reaearch these cards. nVidia is a bit more liberal with their information, and it makes life a little easier for those who wish to now.

 

Geez, thanks for the quick replies.

The games I am most looking forward to playing are Oblivion, Dark Messiah, CoD2, Prey and HL2 and Crysis. These are all unbelievable looking games but they are obviously all very taxing on any system. The configuration of the xi1554 I'm looking at is the same as sunjhoons but with only 1gig of ram.

The only problem I have now is deciding between the xi1546 and the xi1554. I know this might seem foolish but my reasoning for this dilemma is that the xi1546 has been out for a while now and has probably had all of its driver issues resolved by now besides the fact that it has been proven as a trustworthy and impressive gaming solution. Given that the xi1546 is considerably cheaper and from what I've heard it is possible to install the x1900 into it, would it be a tragedy to settle for it rather than the xi1554 at this moment?

I am very keen to see how sunjhoon manages with getting xp onto his and I guess I should wait for his review to see how it goes but I would appreciate any feedback nevertheless. An idea of what the xi1554 has that the xi1546 doesn't would be most appreciated.

And as an afterthought, are there any xi1546 owners out there looking to get the new model? If not, why not?

Tx

 

The only real difference between the two notebooks is the graphics card. Other than that, they are exactly the same. They use the same processors, same type of RAM and the same motherboard. As an Xi1546, I can say that I really like the notebook, and you will cetainly not be dissapointed with either notebook.

Your decision may depend on price, and whther you need the extra power of the Mobility X1900. there was much speculation on the forum about the Mobility X1900, and when it came out and benchmarks done, it turned out to be a bit of a misperformer. However, we are almost certain that was caused by immature drivers. Give it a few months, and they will get better with every passing driver release, and it should end up performer much more like what we expected it to.

I would like to suggest that when making the decision of which notebook, you choose the right one first . I say this because it is a very costly procedure to upgrade from the Mobility X1800 to the Mobility X1900. Plus, at the end you will be left with a spare card (which I suppose you could sell). As a result, if you want the extra power of the Mobility X1900, I advise you go for that. Driver wise, most of the drivers used on the Xi1546 are used on the Xi1554, so there will be some problems with both I assume on Windows Vista.

I am very happy with this notebook, and in my eyes, the extra speed of the Mobility X1900 is very tempting, but I would just like to stick to my trusty Mobility X1800. Its still a very powerful card, and the notebook does all I want it to do.

 

Mayer,
I recommend you get 2GB of ram if you are planning to play those games. Otherwise you can't use x1900 to it's full potential. I would get xi1554 if I were you and make a dual boot for XP. It's very expensive and difficult to upgrade the GPU in notebooks, but yes, it's possible. You should compare the notebook specs side by side in the Fujitsu-Siemens site. Screen and GPU are the biggest differences. Xi 1546 isn't bad either, especially if you get a good deal compared to Xi 1554. But I don't think it's good idea to take into consideration the GPU upgrade possibility.

I'm not looking for a new model currently. Haven't been owner of this very long and this is good enough for me. I'm planning to use this ~3 years. My next upgrade will be the memory, to 2GB.

 

Thanks for your help zero.

I don't really have an issue, budget-wise, its just that both models are available at the same store, hence the decision making dilemma...and I haven't been able to find any comment on the xi1554 or the x1900 for that matter yet that suggests that it is a totally trustworthy system.

One major difference between the 2 though, is the screens. Is there a huge difference wrt eye candy while gaming between the 2?

Also, how 'future-proof' would you say the xi1554 is? It can easily handle Vista and '64-bit apps' do you reckon it could hold its own wrt future games for at least 3 years or so? Even if playing on 'meduim' settings may be necessary...

Tx

p.s. (zero) I read that you helped sunjhoon to get xp onto his model? Is that with a dual boot configuration where he can choose to boot with xp or vista?
Could you perhaps give me the link to a forum or site explaining how this is done so I can see if I could manage it?