I just joined the 6860 club

Purchased one at BB Friday for $1249 (all I could talk them down). Based my purchase decision on reading threads on this forum. Seems like a great system. So far have only loaded a couple of games (UT3, Titan Quest and a lord of the rings game for my son), plus cleaned up the system a little, organizing because I'm a bit anal...

I'm sure I'll have questions at some point, but I just wanted to say hello. Any gotchas I should watch for, or anything?

 

Play with it for a week or so, then return it within Best Buy's 15 day and get the refresh version for 1450?

It's a very nice machine, but I think you overpaid for it at 1249, especially considering the new model coming in soon.

 

Something most people run into early on is with the mic jack. They will plug a mic in but are unable to get it to work. It's an easy/simple fix:

Start --> Control Panel
Hardware and Sound (Vista View)
Switch to Classic View
IDT Audio Control Panel
Click on the "Jack Setup" icon (3rd button)
Click the image of the mic jack and select what you want as the input device.

That seems to be the most common issue.

Grats on the purchase.

 

Make sure you always wear your plastic gloves when computing. We have another member that swears hes being deliberately shocked by his 6860.

 

And always keep baby oil close!

 

create RECOVERYS disks before anything else. welcome to the club! enjoy it!

 

Most DEFINITELY!

 

Welcome to the club... wonder if we need an offical club name now

Its a good system, and like all of them it has a few problems, but nothing serious. Its pretty much a solid computer. And if you have a problem, someone on the forums has seen it before and we've got a fix for it (you know unless its trying to kill you by electrocution... then your just S.O.L)

Dont listen to the nay-sayers. Even though there is a new system coming out, you still got a pretty good deal on the rig (its still the cheapest way to get the hardware thats included in the system). Just keep a look out at bestbuy for the next week or two and if they drop the price get them to match it for you (can get you a few hundred back)

K_M

 

I've got one! We can be called "Club 6860 Try To Kill Me!

 

You guys can be rivals with the new "Club P-7811FX, We just killed you! "

 

So would that make jehovany8888 the president and founder since that thread pretty much offically started the club?

If so i wanna totally be in that club... i dont exactly have an electrical problem, but i could so totally be the vice president of blotched disassembly attempts

 

i am new here.. still on the fence about which "club" to join! right now leaning to the new model club, unless I can get in on "Club 6860" for 1k or so. this board is so gangsta!

 

You should be able to... but you're going to have to be careful. One day it might be 1099 for the 6860 and the next they might be gone and your stuck paying 1450 for only a few precentage points better of a computer.

They are both solid system, and the 6860 served me well until i screwed it up trying to take the bloody thing apart. If i weren't getting home in late august and the mew model coming out i wouldnt even consider it over the 6860. But it is a slight upgrade and by the time i get back home the 6860's will more than likely all be sold around where i live

 

I'm waiting for the new refresh since it would be future proof compared to the 6860 (1920x1200 screen, 4GB DDR3 memory). The only downside of the refresh is the much smaller HD (200GB 7200rpm).

The 6860 will most probably be on clearance in August while the refresh of the system will go on sale for $1450.

 

I think I am leaning towards just getting the new repacement for the 6860, only because even if I could get the 6860 for the price of 1,000, I would have to buy a new processor upgrade, which I guess I might be able to do, I have done that with desktops before, but it scares me a little bit. I might try and wait a little bit for the new 6860replacement to go on sale at bestbuy though.. I am not in a huge rush to get it, but it sure would be nice. I also have heard the new videocard runs cooler, as does the CPU itself, which hopefully will increase battery life.

 

Thanks to all for the welcome and the tips. I know I didn't get as good a deal as the $1099 price, but I don't think it was a bad price for what this laptop has. I didn't want to wait for the refresh, because I needed a laptop now (I needed it for the vacation I'm on right now, as well as uses once we get back). Plus I plan to upgrade the HDD to a 7200 model eventually, plus upgrade the CPU as well. With the video card this has, I think that should do me just fine for a while.

 

Yea. You got a very capable laptop for a great price. Enjoy!

 

Oh it's definitely not a bad price, and it's always important to purchase technology when you need it, not wait for some future day for prices to drop.

 

welcome aboard!! i'm pretty sure this community can handle anything you throw at us, so feel free to do that. But i probably would have waited for the new model, new M series processor, 9800GTS, DD3 memory + improved hard drive and display for less than 1500$ seems like quite a steal

 

I was tempted. Actually, they had an Asus laptop in stock that was comparable to the specs of the new model, but I decided to stick with this laptop since I'd read so much good about it here in this forum. I've loaded and played UT3, CoD4 and Titan Quest so far and have been happy with the performance. I'm pretty sure this was the best decision for me. If I hadn't needed it right away, I'm sure I could have waited a while to see what everyone thought of the new model, but for what I need it for, this laptop at $200 less seems like a good deal.

 

BTW, what's the best free AV program for this system? I pulled down Avast, but didn't load it because I wasn't sure if it was made for Vista 64. Is there a problem with it, or should this be fine?

 

Avira........

 

There's an Asus in stock with comparable specs? I haven't heard of that one yet.

 

I use Avira on my desktop and I don't really like it. I'd used Avast for a short while and liked it better, but had problems installing and running a couple of games afterwards. I'm thinking of trying Avast again, to see if I have similar issues under Vista.

Not the same specs, but comparable:

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=8906133&type=product&id=1213046768588

 

Grats... this laptop is a monster for such a low price. =)

 

Okay, I have found something I need assistance with. Where do I disable the webcam software? I don't want to uninstall it, as I might want to activate it from time to time, but I don't want it constantly running. I tried going into Run in the registry and into MSCONFIG, but I don't know what the process name is to get rid of it.

 

it should be the chicony web cam driver.

 

Ah, thank you sir. I did find the chicony reference somewhere, now I need to go back and figure out where...

 

most likely msconfig.

 

That was it. Got it removed, thanks again.

 

c'mon...you know you want to hit the button.

 

Ah, think ya lost me...

 

that little white scale icon under my name...

 

Ah, rep, got it...

 

ty. tyvm...