Building First Notebook I Have Questions About a Compal Can Someone Help? Thanks!

Hi I am looking into building my first notebook using a Compal chassis. I do have some questions in regards to this ..I hope to get some criticisms and/or feedback. First the chassis I am looking at is a Compal CEL81..I am not sure about this as I can only find information about a HEL81 I assume they are the same...the info is (CEL81945/75UL/KUS) there is also a more expensive model that is a 90ul instead of 75ul is that the power adapter? how much of a difference is that?.

I plan on putting the following components into it.

Intel Merom T7200 2.0ghz Core 2 Duo 667fsb cpu
2x1GB Samsung PC-4200 Ram
Toshiba 100GB SATA 2.5" mobile drive EDIT: I believe this model of Compal chassis only supports a PATA HD so I switched to a WD Scorpio 120GB Pata drive
Intel tri mode a/b/g wifi card

My second question is for the optical drive I dont know much about interchanging the optical drives asides from what I've read and about matching brackets....if someone could comment on it I am particularly looking at this specific drive (Toshiba SD-R6572 OEM) to put into this Compal but I don't know anything about matching brackets etc etc. If anyone could help me out with any of these issue and give me some help or what not it would be really greatly appreciated! Thanks,

Shaun

 

Welcome to the forums.

My first question to you is this: How much are you saving by building your own notebook? In my opinion, it's usually not worth the hassles and the loss of a comprehensive warranty to save a few bucks.

I'll quote myself:
Here are my thoughts on barebones vs. professionally built systems:

And a video illustrating the assembly of a HEL80:
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You really should sticky that video somewhere..

 

Well I did ask for feedback so I do appreciate it but I would also like to hear some thoughts about putting together this machine. Its off to a wrong foot on this forum when the first thing one hear is to not bother and just buy a prebuilt machine. As far as the warranty portion...yea i would prefer a factory warranty but this is the breakdown of why I didnt choose. If you say the difference between a factory built and my own is $100 to $150...i couldnt disagree more. Here's the breakdown:

1. Components HD,CPU,Ram and ODD cost me $700cdn ($590usd)

2. The Chassis I'm looking at will cost $500cdn ($420usd) (these are all taxes in as well)

I still have not an OS yet...I was hoping Vista but may settle for XP pro so XP pro oem here can probably be had for $150cdn ($126usd) or less bringing the total too

Total: $1350cdn ($1150usd) now I dont know about other places especially in the U.S. but here in Canada (southwestern Ontario) A comparable unit with same specs here will run one about $1799.99+tax =$2050cdn ($1730usd). For a total savings to me of approx $700cdn ($590usd). Now is almost $600usd worth having a warranty??? maybe to some but for the savings I'll take the gamble.

Anyways looking to hear more from more people on this unit

Thanks,

Shaun

 

That UL difference is probably because the VBI version of the notebook doesn't have the nice NV7600 GPU, so it's been given a weaker power supply. Might mean it uses a fraction less power then the normal HEL80.

Can't comment on the PATA vs SATA drive, would seem odd to me that the chipset is so different they don't offer the SATA on both versions.

If you are in such need of a cheap system why not downgrade to a T5500?

Other then that.. if this were a desktop I'd definatly say build it yourself to save a few bucks... but as for notebooks, the all in one warranty really is the way to go, there are simply to many points of failure for a system that travels around and has more opprotunity to take a fall, be in extreme weather, get wet, get crushed, get smacked around, and have 'bad power' run through it.

 

Hi thanks for your input. I know all in one warranty is a nice piece of mind...but i knew the gamble beforehand. I've built a few systems myself without major problems but I am still an amateur and wanted to try something new so I figured to give the whitebooks a shot. Yes I do agree the ul difference you mentioned is true..I believe this specific compal chassis only makes use of the Intel GMA950 embedded video...gaming is not important to me so the gpu didnt make a difference to me. As for the PATA/SATA situation yea..still a mystery...The compal website makes only reference to the HEL81 which states clearly a S-ATA connection....but when I google the ID # (cel81945/75UL/KUS) it shows me a bunch of models that have only a PATA connection...the chipset is still Intel 945GM.

I was hoping someone could give me more insight into the optical disk drive compatibility issue...I am interested in using the Toshiba SD-R6572 drive but am unsure if it will work..the company which is selling the Compal chassis lists a VBI DVD+-RW DL drive for the HEL80 (w/ide interface) which I have discovered is actually a LiteOn SSM-8515S optical drive. I was just wondering if someone can check the differences between the Toshiba SD-R6572 and the LiteOn SSM-8515S and give me their opinions on compatibility issues it would be greatly appreciated thanks,

Shaun

 

I'm not sure if this company ships to Canada, but they have the HEL81 for $399.
http://www.mwave.com/mwave/Skusearch.hmx?scriteria=ba22797

 

Thanks for your reply....that is essentially the exact same model as the one I am looking at with the exception that that one states S-ATA connection and I am unsure whether or not the model I am looking at comes with built webcam. The price is very good but if its in USD and being shipped from the states after taxes and delivery the price would be the same if not more....but thanks for the headsup good site.

Shaun

 

http://powernotebooks.com/specs/Crown/p10-8.php

Maybe this can enlighten you some more? I trust Donald's information for it's technical accuracy. Maybe you can even check with him on that part number / SKU that you have?

 

http://www.asimobile.com/notebook_vbi_support.htm
http://www.asimobile.com/notebook_specs_el81.htm

Seems that for VBI they made it PATA.

Ah, found the chart I was looking for:

http://www.intel.com/reseller/mobile/vbi/matrix.htm
http://cache-www.intel.com/cd/00/00/28/42/284265_284265.pdf

 

Thanks for those links it helps alot. Can anyone comment on the optical disk drive situation I have mentioned above?

Shaun

 

Not sure about the VBI, but the ASUS shell I had originally ordered came with the mounting rails specific for that model. From there, you can purchase any of the standard optical drives. If you want to be safe, you can order a SKU which is specific for the unit you're ordering. But if you look at the PDF file, it has a list of all the models which should be compatible with your shell.

 

Sorry, didn't mean to knock the wind out of your sails. With the savings you're looking at, even I would think long and hard about building my own notebook.