P6860FX Annoyances!

I bought my refurb 6860 from tigerdirect back in August 08 but only received the unit when my GF came to visit me over in Holland in December, naturally while she was here I didn't get much time to play with the laptop as I had better things to do of course

Now that I've been using the laptop for a month or so i've found a few niggles with it to be honest.

Brightness control: Dim or bright - what's the deal here? This is a crap solution

3 USB ports - I'm used to 6 with my Dell Inspiron 9300

Ethernet Port: Positioned on the right hand side along with the speaker outputs, stupid design - most folks are right handed and that the side where a bloody mouse gets used what's wrong with the back of the machine out of the way?

LCD Screen: This is a very cheap screen - viewing angles are bloody awful (compared to the Dell)

Sound Card: Speakers pop and click each time I change a webpage or bring a new window up when using external speakers and the headphone port.

Keyboard Colours: Whose idea was it to use orange for secondary funtions = how the hell do you read that in lower light conditions?

New Gripe

Camera Lighting: The cam often goes very dark with very slight changes in light levels - need to stop and restart to get the full illuminated image back. You can actually see the dimmed image though

On the positive side it is a nice snappy machine and I'm very happy with the overall performance.

I'm sure I'll find more and report back - any solutions to any of my gripes above folks?

 

instead of FN+F8 for brightness control, use FN+Up or Down arrow.

usb ports--use a usb hub

there is a guide around here for upgrading the screen. most people went with either 1680x1050 or 1920x1200 screens.

i dont know about you but the only orange keys i have on my keyboard are the top row numbers. my secondary functions are in blue.

 

Ethernet Port: Positioned on the right hand side along with the speaker outputs, stupid design - most folks are right handed and that the side where a bloody mouse gets used what's wrong with the back of the machine out of the way?


It's a laptop, use a wireless connection

I only really get annoyed by the sound card, but i put an x fi soundblaster into my express slot and all of that changed.

 

Excellent point on the screen brightness now sorted!

Hubs schmubs....

Why couldn't they have done the numbers in white like the numeric pad?

 

True, but it's a desktop replacement for me - I really don't see why they need to be at the side - tucked away at the rear is much more sensible - no?

No fixes for the soundcard annoyance?

 

As a desktop replacement wireless is still a good choice.

As to the sound issue. Have you tried the newest drivers to see if that sorts out the problems? Because the speakers should not "pop" when you do anything. And if they are its an actual problem with the machine if the driver cannot fix it when updated.

 

So much for that - gateway driver site won't scroll down for some reason

 

Well I've donwloaded and installed the latest driver - same as the one I already had installed - still the same problem when using external speakers - no clicks or pops when using the internal speakers though.

Must be something to do with the headphone jack - will test with headset and see...

 

Well this is a bit strange.

Internal speakers - no clicks or pops

Headset - no clicks or pops.

External Power Speakers (Altec Lansing XA3021's) variable popping and clicking but there's no problem with them on other systems

 

Does that mean you had a similar problem to me then?

The sound card works very well while playing games/watching movies etc to be fair - as far as I can tell anyway

 

i've never had the speaker problem, the only time it makes a small "pop" is when i first turn it on, but thats the internal ones. Have you tried a different set of speakers?

You can always buy a usb hub, or cooler/stand with extra usb ports.

and you can bend the ethernet cable so i doesn't get in the way, maybe bend it and leave a rubber band on it overnight so it will stay. or just use the wireless.

 

I've just loaded Firefox and no clicking or popping sounds - but it doesn't appear to make any sounds when clicking on links like IE7 anyway?

 

I agree on two points:

1) The viewing angles and max brightness level of the stock lcd are indeed lacking. Sadly, I do not have the guts or technical know-how to swap out a laptop lcd screen.

2) Speaker output is tinny, but I do not have any "pops". I did adjust the equalizer settings somewhat, gets rid of the "empty" or "hollow" sound somewhat.

 

I'm not sure I've found the equaliser settings so far?

I really can't go back to built in speakers, as it is, I'm stuck with a "mere" 2.1 solution after the past few years of using Cambrige Soundworks speakers via a 5.1 Audigy 2 PCMCIA card.

Fortunately, the Altecs provide excellent sound quality

It's just this annoying popping etc with IE7 and Windows Explorer

I'll probably give Gateway a call tonight when I get back from work but I do realise it will be an excercise in futility

 

isn't that the standard sound they both make when you click-open something?

 

yes it is. standard sound theme for windows vista.

 

The click is standard yes but the speaker pops arn't - right now I'm on my Inspiron and the clicks are correct.

However, on the P6860FX I get this additional pop - it's something to do with the amplified speakers and the headphone jack.

It even happens with Windows Explorer...

 

Which XFI Express Card did you put in it? The older silver one with the Speaker Doc connector (which I heard sucks for games) or the new black one with the wireless audio? I am trying to decide which one to get and both have mixed reviews.....

 

If we're going to talk annoyances, then my major annoyance with the entire line-up of FX laptops is the lack of a docking station/port. I would like to use an eSATA port multiplier w/multiple hard drives, HDMI/DVI montor, external mouse/keyboard/speakers, and multiple USB devices all without having to disconnect everything whenever I re-locate the computer.

This is something I really got used to with my old Compaqs and Dells. I could take the machine to work, drop it into it's docking station (connected to my KVM) and go!

(End-of-Rant)

 

From what I understand you still can't use true 5.1 with Vista 64 bit or something like that?

Why couldn't they just have kept the PCMCIA format - that's what I originally hoped for and was ulitimately disappointed

 

I don't have an issue with the USB or ethernet ports like you mentioned, and honestly, I use the FN keys so little that the orange color is not a problem often enough to even think about.

I agree with you on the screen though--the standard screen doesn't have very good color representation, which makes editing Photos a frustrating experience. The viewing angles are pretty poor too. I'll have to upgrade this at some point, but haven't bothered yet.

Besides the screen, the only real annoyance for me is the placement of the FN key in the lower left, where I expect the CTRL key to be.