Benq - S42

All I have to say this (emote anyway), this could be the best 14.1" laptop of 2008!

http://truzzco.3sulblog.com/link.php?link=154836

Why is there not a Benq forum?

 

Not exactly a major brand....

 

I don't speak whatever language that article is in.

Never have heard of that brand before though.

 

BenQ's famous for monitors, laptops are the last thing I expected them to get into.

 

I created a BenQ forum for you, and this is the first thread in that particular forum.

 

it certainly seems interesting but there isn't much information available, hope we can gather some in this thread.

 

This should of been released by now but I cannot find any details on the BENQ website or any where else.

 

Specs are up on benq's taiwanese website

http://www.benqstyle.com.tw/benqstyle/model_books_temp3.cfm?book_no=2695002591304

Looks like its got a 9600gt with hybridpower and an led screen!

 

A rather sketchy translation : Google Translation

Card is : NVIDIA ® GeForce ® 9600M GT - Therefore the better one compared to the GS below
Processor Cores 32
Gigaflops 120

GS card:
Processor Cores 32
Gigaflops 103

 

BENQ Asia have the link ready but currently not working:
http://www.benq.com.my/products/joybook?product=1373

CNET Asia have the whole thing up on there site!

http://asia.cnet.com/reviews/notebooks/0,39050488,43893077p,00.htm

 

I had BenQ S41 for almost 1 year now. Yes, they are not famous making laptops compare to Asus and Acer in Taiwan. But this laptop have the best price with their specs at the time. Mainly 8600 gs in 14 inch laptop and the HDMI port. The feedback from users are mostly great so far without major issues. S41 with T8100 with 4gb ram 8600gs is only 1000 US dollar.. Not sure if i can get same spec 14 inch with that price..

Biggest improvement for S42 is battery life up to 4.5 hours (6 cell) compare to 2.5 hours with S41. Also they use the Core™2 Duo processor P8400 or above. GF 9600m GT inside and I think you can switch to integrated GPU without reboot to save battery life. My friend already order one in Taiwan for around 1450 dollars after conversion (listing price). Price expect to drop down to less than 1300 after few months.

 

Why link to a Malaysian site when the official English page with full Flash intro is available? [Tried to paste the link in here but it seems I'm not allowed to. Anyway it comes up 1st page on Google.]

[EDIT]
3DMark06 on this set easily breaks 6000. Just got a set recently and tested overclocking. This is what I got.

 

how is the benQ s42 built quality?

 

I just got mine yesterday, so I dont know how easily it can be damaged, but the screen is sturdy, unlike the flimsy ASUS and Toshiba I've had in the past, it doesnt use clips for keeping the lid closed, the screen doesnt flex when pushed in the back, but I can slightly bend the chasis if I try. I'd say very good build quality, especially for the price.

Also, vista is telling me I can get 5:30 battery life with wireless off and just using VC (I only ran for about half a hour, went down about 10%), I'm sure writing up something in MS Word should get similar if not, better results.

 

any news on getting this in america?

 

Don't think BenQ will be selling this in NA anytime soon. Hope they do though as I think this is a very good laptop. I'm in HK for a week and just picked one up for myself. Got it for @ $1390 CDN (exchange rate), got them to put in 4gb ddr2 800's. So far quite pleased with this laptop. Best bang for the buck for a 14.1"

 

Can someone please help? I just bought an S42 and everytime I startup, QDataTrove starts up and prompts me to make a recovery disc. I've already gone through this process twice. How do I disable this on startup into Vista (not before Vista loads)?

Thanks

 

Can anyone who owns an S41 or S42 upload pics or tell how easy it is to remove the back covers if i wanted to upgrade the processor, etc? Also, can the DVD-RW drive be easily replaced if i wanted to upgrade to blu-ray?

thanks

 

From what I can see, there are separate panels clearly labelled for various parets (e.g. ram, dvd drive, hdd, etc.) However, the dvd drive and hdd drive covers have a sticker over one of their screws saying "warranty void if damaged" so you would be voiding your warranty by doing so

 

I just got mine.

wah ..9600m GT idling at 70C!!

 

Does this have a Kensington lock hole?

 

Yes, it does have a Kensington Lock hole on the back left corner.

 

If I bought a benq S42 today, for how long could I expect to have the min specs to play these latest games?

6 months maybe.

I just checked system reqs for Empire Total War which needs screen res of at least 1280x800 so the S42 will only just get by.

I am torn between the good price for the BenQ S42 (approx AUD $1600) against the better graphic card and processor (ati hd HD 4650 & T9550) on the asus N81VP-C1 for AUD $2400.

It is $800 diff and I have read posts about heat problems in the GeForce 9600M GT 512Mb on the Asus. I will use it for gaming (70%) and work.

The S42 seems good value for money but I would like to be able to play new release games in 12 months from now.

 

Actually, I've seen the Joybook S42 for ~$1400. Check this out.

 

Hi,
I'm wondering if any of the owners of the BenQ S42 know what the model number is for the motherboard? I want to buy just the motherboard as I have the S41 but the graphics card has gone so if I can get the motherboard for the S42 then I can just replace the motherboard in my S41.
Thanks

 

You should be able to get it lower if you turn powermizer on, mine idle's at around 60-65 (not much better than 70 though )

It would be awesome if the Intel card supported HDMI, then I could just use intel when not gaming

Also check out static ice for better prices for the S42, it should be available for around $1300

 

Bleh, I already sent mine in for service because of the high GPU temp... If it's the norn, I wonder what they'll do about it..

It's kind of funny because when I told the guy at the BenQ Service Center that it was idling at 70C, he said that it was quite high..

 

What ended up happening with this? Did they get it to run cooler?

 

I still haven't got my computer back yet.. and it's been just over a month now because there was a mix up of parts that were needed.

 

When I got the computer back, the guys changed the motherboard, and the new motherboard died on the first day (didn't get a chance to check temps), so on the second day I went back and they swapped the motherboard again (back to my old one? I'm not sure) in like 20 mins... and now the temps are higher.. idle at ~75C and load at ~100C. So, if you don't have any REAL problems, don't bother sending it in and my fan is still acting up a little bit.. (tapping and humming noises and sometimes loud vibrating hoover action, during which airflow is slower..)

Unless the computer dies... I'm not going to send it in again this year because I really need a/this computer for studies right now.

 

Woa, BenQ support sounds really bad :S

I have 2 friends with this same laptop. We all also have that fan noise when the fan reaches full speed (usually tapping the side or lifting up the laptop stops it tho)

If you dont use your laptop on the intel card very often, you can flash the BIOS and load on newer drivers, mine seemed to run much cooler and the battery lasted much longer with those drivers (I think it just underclocks more)

you can get the newer BIOS from http://benq.com.au/products/joybook/?product=1373&page=downloads&dtype=B
and the original one from http://benq.com.sg/products/joybook/?product=1373&page=downloads&dtype=B

 

The service is really good, but the parts are slow to get...

btw, can you run Vista (without re-installing) with the updated Windows XP; NVidia 9600M GT only BIOS?


Also, could someone with an S42, run FurMark under Stability Test, Xtreme burning mode, not full screen, res 640x480 and tell me the highest GPU temp, or the temp after about 20 mins?

 

Yeah, vista just picks it up as a normal 9600M GT, and you can install any other graphics card drivers that support it

I think they are working on new hybrid drivers tho, so i'd wait out a bit longer now
http://www.laptopvideo2go.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=23700&st=20
(its broken at the moment, keeps both cards on all the time )

I'll try fur mark when i get home

 

lol is it possible to install the XP BIOS when I'm inside Vista? The program says I have the wrong operating system..

I just found a 1.08 -> 1.20 bios on the taiwan site; gonna try it.
The bios updated successfully but I don't notice any difference..

 

1.20.. i havnt heard of that one
I wish they would put in a switch to switch from hybrid graphics to just 9600 in the bios

with normal switchable graphics drivers and original bios, GPU leveled out at about 96*, maximum of 97*, before running the temp was 71*, so idle wouldve been around 71*

I dont have powermizer enabled which wouldve made idle temps lower (its disabled for AC by default)

I had to install XP to flash the bios, you can run in compatiblity mode, and it will go all the way to restarting, but wont actualy install

is 1.20 in english?

 

1.20 is in english, and my temps are about the same as yours.

My CPU's max is ~80-85C and GPU max is ~104C..

 

can any of you report your best lows and highs for battery life after updating bios, drivers etc?

thanks!

potential new s42 driver in Cairo....

 

Updated hybrid graphics drivers (Dox; Hybrid Graphics 185.68 - BETA; Apr 13 2009) - link.
Not tested by me yet... but there are reports that both graphics adaptors are being powered at all times, so I guess I wouldn't use them at this stage. :/

 

I tried them and they used heaps of power, I was getting better battery life from just the 9600

 

has anyone tried the win 7 RC on this yet? also if i change os to xp/win 7, do i have to install any drivers for the Fn keys to work? cause i didnt see drivers for that on the benq page. thx.

 

AFAIK, most vista drivers work on win7.

I installed the beta and the graphics drivers worked, I'm pretty sure all the others did too, but cant remember for sure

 

Dox 185.85 supports Joybook S42 hybrid graphics; drivers are for Vista and Windows 7. Gonna try them out now.

Appears to be working perfectly. Just a warning that when I installed the drivers, there are 4 monitors when you are in 9600m mode, and at this time, the laptop's screen is screen 3. You have to disable screen 1 or you wont see anything.

edit;
TL;DR: Properly uninstall your old drivers first!!

 

How do you disable screen 1? I just get a black screen when I boot. any ideas?

 

What colour is your background? What I saw was my background but darker; after a restart the colours go back to normal.

What I got was 'multiple monitors' but only seeing screen 3; so move mouse to the right so it goes to the screen that you can see, and then right-click, and click personalize. Right after that, press alt+ space bar and then m and then use the right arrow to move the personalize window to the right screen. And from there you click Display settings, and press alt+spacebar and then m and then use the right arrow to move the display settings window to the right screen.


edit: On this page it says:

 

I just get a completely blank screen after windows loads, so i never actually see the desktop.
Are you using the 64 or 32 bit win7? in using 64bit, maybe that's the problem

 

I'm using Vista 32-bit.

The only thing that's annoying with the drivers is that the graphics mode isn't linked with power profiles yet. The cool thing is that CUDA is working, though I only use it with CoreAVC, but it won't help with improving battery life...

edit: I am experiencing random freezing of the screen only... I'm gonna revert back to stock drivers for now.
edit2: confirmed issue for intel graphics processor crashing using dox 185.85 drivers on the Joybook S42

 

There is a sticky on the procedure for 64-bit.

-Install procedure for hybrid graphics x64-

 

So with this i can install win7 and use hybrid graphics as well?

 

Read the post below... I guess not..

 

I tried installing them in Windows 7, following that procedure, but just kept getting a black screen.

Had to boot into safe mode to uninstall the drivers

I don't think the drivers work well with Win7 x64 yet