4530GZ Memory speed...

Thanks to $200 worth of mail in rebates at comp usa, I recently got a 4530gz, and am pretty happy with it. I've realized that despite the fact it has PC2700 (DDR333) its running it at 266Mhz(PC2100 speeds).

I've used CPU-Z to do all of the detection and sandra to verify it. The memory is running at 266mhz, and the bios appears to give me no way to select the speed.

Has anyone run into this before? Is the only way to get this fixed to send it in?

Thanks.

 

Images...

http://www.hayenga.com/mitch/temp/cpuz.JPG
http://www.hayenga.com/mitch/temp/cpuz2.JPG

 

I don't think there is any way to even fix that. Even the BIOS is locked out for any of those settings to be changed. Have you tried running a BIOS update utility from Gateway itself? Usually sometimes that might work [ ]

Fujitsu S6210: PentiumM 1.6Ghz 1GB DDR333 RAM 7K60 Hard Drive DVD RW Drive...
What more do I need for this thing?

 

I purchased a 4530GZ at Office Depot two days ago for $800+ tax (due to $550 of mail in rebates). I couldn't pass up such a deal.

So far I have been very happy with it. The wi-fi reception appears to be excellent, and the battery life has been very good. One dead pixel, which I am told is not bad. When the fan goes on, it is a bit louder than I would prefer, but by no means noisy. I am planning to upgrade the system to a 7200rpm Hitachi hard drive, and perhaps even more RAM. I called customer service this morning, and they were very helpful, although they weren't able to find an additional power adapter for me to order, and said they would call me back (the catalog # is 6500920, but the sales people couldn't find it).

I am obviously concerned about the memory speed issue, so please keep us posted as you find out more. If there is no fix, I think it would be very serious.

This morning I noticed that the glare from the screen is actually tremendous. When the screen is black, it's like looking into a mirror. Even when the screen is white, I can see myself typing. I assume that this is a result of brightness technology. Can someone summarize the benefits of having such a glossy screen, and any solutions for it?

Thanks!
Josh

 

I just spoke with customer service and the customer service manager at Gateway. The customer service manager (Chris Gallaway) basically told me that he doesn't think it's unusual for a system to clock down its memory, and that just because a computer has a certain speed memory in it doesn't mean that it is necessarily intended or designed to run at that speed. The computer will run, he explained, at the speed at which the weakest part of the system will allow it to go. So basically, he suggested that this is just the way this system is designed, and not to expect that there is anyway to fix it.

What does this say about the overall speed and robustness of this model? Are most other laptops running their memory at full speed, at least when plugged in? If I want a fast machine, would I therefore be better off going with another system? Is this an unusual or usual situation? Most importantly, do you think that Gateway is at all misrepresenting this machine by indicating that it has PC2700 RAM?

I explicitly asked several times that the Gateway engineering department look into the issue and get back to me. The manager flatly refused that as a possiblity. The original customer service rep. suggested that I could send my machine in to have them take a look at it, which of course is the point I asked for the manager.

I will say that I am impressed that both the customer service rep and manager understood the issue and seemed to have a very good knowledge of how computers work. This is in stark contrast to an attempt that I made with Gateway online chat help, where the representative didn't seem to have the faintest clue what I was talking about, and kept suggesting I check for viruses and allocate more virtual memory. Finally, she told me that she didn't have a record of my computer in her system, and I would have to call Office Depot directly. A very frustrating conversation.


Although I am happy overall with the machine, I am now thinking about returning it because of this memory issue and also because of the extreme glare. Unfortunately, at Office Depot, they will only take technology back for an even exchange. I wonder if they will accept it in this case?

Any thoughts on this experience would be appreciated.

Josh

 

I did a bit more looking around out there, and of course there is gobs of info on memory issues. If the speed of front side bus (FSB) is slower than the speed of the memory, the memory will clock down. Perhaps this is the problem here. It just strikes me as strange that it was designed that way. I suppose you get what you pay for.
Josh

 

But if a person doesn't do ANY gaming at all, is this an issue ?

I ask because I am looking at this very machine, and I am coming from a PC133 fsb desktop, I have never owned a laptop before, 90% of what I will be doing with it is Web access, E-mail access, and some Office apps, nothing speed or graphics-intensive.

I also found it interesting that you cannot seem to get accidental gamage plans from anyone but Gateway on laptops (meaning: Best Buy doesn't have them, they just have the 'normal' extended warranties)

 

Kemprr - what Office Depot did you get this at ? I was unaware OD sold gateway.......... they don't have them on their website.......

 

The $550 rebate was a promo at 14 "Grand Opening" office depots Dec. 5 and 6th. I got mine at store 489 in chicago. The laptops were not on display, they were being kept in a back room. Each store had 24 laptops to sell-- in the afternoon of the sixth my store still had not sold most of them. As far as I heard, they still have them in the back, and will sell them, but are not offering a rebate anymore.

 

By chance, can you be a bit more specific as to which 'new' stores in Chicago, and I will call a few of them ? I am 500 miles west of Chicago......