ZT3000 and Noise Problem

I have been reading some positive reviews on this system. So, now I am considering this one seriously since I can get all I want for my budget price (and my Toshiba choice is now gone). However, there are a couple of things I wanted to know.

1. I believe I read in a few spots of some type of buzzing or whining noise coming from this system in the upper right corner or somewhere. Is this still true from those who recently ordered one of these? I would like to know if it has been corrected or have I read too many forums and thinking of some other system?

2. Any other known problems, that I may have missed reading about?

3. Does anyone know of a 10 percent off coupon somewhere out there that I can use. I am not a student and would not qualify for the academic program. Do they have a coupon or program for IT professionals?



Thanks in advance.

 

I dont own one either, but i'm looking into buying it. I've read in some forums that you get the noise when the bluetooth device is turned on.

 

i can't answer your first two as I do not own one, but for the third one you could check with your employer and see if they have a deal w/ HP/Compaq, or if you know anyone who is a teacher/professional/student you could get them to order it for you and get you the extra 6% off.

zx5000 :: 2.4M :: 512 DDR :: 40gb 4200 RPM HD :: 15.4" :: Radeon 9600 Mobilty M10 :: Aquamark3 22,856

 

I used to own an NX7000 which is the Buisness model of the ZT & X series. It did have the buzzing noise and that was the reason why I returned it. I can't tell you if the new models have this issue fixed or not, but the solution that I was given (put glue on the capacitor/resisitor causing noise) to hide the sound wasn't acceptable to me.
I was only capable of producing the sound when my Power Management setting was put to Always On, if set to any of the other settings, there was no sound. Also, by plugging a USB keyboard, mouse or pen drive into the USB port also made the sound disappear. Someone did post a possible "fix" for this buzzing by disabling Power Management for the USB ports in the Device Manager. I can't verify if this works or not because I already returned my unit.

For point #2, I would probably say the DVD/CDRW drive specs may be slightly misleading. It states that it has a 24X CDR write speed, but when you burn a CD at 24X it should only take approx 4mins with overhead (80min CD / 24X = 3.33mins), but it took anywhere from 6-10mins depending on the CD's being used. Support told me it was because the drive is a Z-CLV drive (Zoned CLV) which increases burn speed in steps rather than starting at 24X or ramping up to max speed. Max speed is only achieved in the last 2 mins of the burn, which makes it completely useless.
Another issue may be the battery life. It's advertised as 5hrs or runtime, but I was only capable of getting 3-3.5hrs max. Other users also got this same runtime. You may have to max out all power management settings, dim your LCD all the way down and not be using the wireless or CD drive, then you may be able to get 4+hrs.

Regarding the coupon, sorry, don't have any info on that.

-Vb-