Compal HGL30 just arrived!

Only had a couple of hours with it so far, and I've been spending that loading Windows + Drivers (BT, TPM, fingerprint reader, remind me to set up a recovery DVD when I finish all this!). I have to say I find the touchpad tolerable enough to give it a go (though I miss my Trackpoint a bit) and the keyboard...well, this thing is nearly as good as my old Thinkpad T42!! Not NEARLY as bad as I was worried it might be...there's some flex around the Enter key, but I think it's intentional, given that that key will be subject to a lot more stress than most other keys. It's light, the screen is beautiful, the CD drive and fans are SUPER quiet, it's plastic but it doesn't feel like plastic...so far so good, as I sit here gushing.

I DO notice that the speakers are fairly quiet, and there's no "hard" volume control, just a function-key combination. Not that it's going to be much other than maxed. And the hard drive light is in the VERY wrong place, but I found an app called DriveGleam that will put an HDD activity light in the Windows tray.

To be continued....

 

Woohoo! Grats on the new gadget/toy! Unfortunatly, for more reasons then I can fit into a post, you should send your notebook to me for xmas!

 

Hey, you've already got the 15 inch version. No fair!


What I'd REALLY like to see if Compal make a 12 inch gaming machine now. Then start selling these machines in stores...they're real good.

Now everyone at work wants to know where I bought this thing.

 

hmm, I don't think I ever seen Compal release a notebook outside of the 14-15.4" range

 

One the the many reason's I didn't list, is that you haven't updated your signature to say you got it...

so... who's to say you aren't making this up... and you really didn't order this thing for me?

 

You were saying?

 

Who did you get it from ? And what was your final deliver price. Am thinking of getting either this or the Asus 8JS

 

I got it for $1600 from Powernotebooks.com...they had free Arctic Silver 5.

I've never touched the A8js...I'd actually like to though, to do a direct comparison review. I'll have to see if anyone in my area has one, so we can hook up and do some evals.

 

Won't give a guy a nice xmas present when there is evidence to make him think you are giving him a nice xmas present and you think someone will meet up with you and let you contaminate, I mean interact with their system?

 

Congratulations! I know you were eagerly awaiting the arrival of your new HGL30.

I also like the keyboard on my HEL80 (not that I use it much though). Interesting comparison to your old ThinkPad's KB.

 

I wasn't going to comment on the thinkpad.. because as I'm writing this at work I'm using a T40 and the keyboards are in no way the same. This keyboard is more like my logitech ergonomic cordless wonder super duper... I forget what they call it, but its very firm like a good desktop keyboard.. I do however not mind the way the keyboard is on the hel80... I'm basically happy as long as it doesn't use membranes instead of mechanical switches.. I hate keys that dont click letting you know you hit them..

 

No, they're not the same. But I do have to say it's NEARLY (keyword NEARLY) as good feel-wise. The Dells and HPs I've used had very little travel, very little feel...even HP keyboard, which are pretty good for consumer laptop keyboards, just don't feel that good. The keyboard on the HGL30, on the other hand, comes closer to the Thinkpad overall feel and travel.

So no, it's not as good as a Thinkpad keyboard, but it feels miles better than the keyboards on many consumer machines.

 

I just got my HGL30. My fan keeps turning on every 30 secs even at idle and sitting on a chillpad with the fans on. I tried BIOS 103A (original) and 111A (latest). Do you have this problem and which BIOS are you using? The CPU temp is 44C when the fan turns on and 38.5C when it turns off.

 

The fan turns on, but I usually don't notice. I don't think a chillpad is going to help much, since the fan intake is placed in a spot where it can draw air just fine so long as it's not sitting flush on something. Make sure your pad is blowing air UP instead of down (down would hurt) but up isn't going to help, since that air isn't going to get in there unless the internal fan runs.

I've noticed it turns on less often when the CPU is not under load. Install rmClock (RightMark's utility) and set it to "Performance on Demand" or "Power Saving" and the fan won't turn on so often...the CPU only heats up a lot if it's under quite a bit of load.

Dunno which BIOS I'm using, but I don't think it's the BIOS, just the CPU power management.

 

I second RMclock for your needs. Performance on demand cuts my fan time to the point that its only on if I'm running games. Ambient room temp for me is 62F though, so your results might not be quite and clean.

I know on the HEL80's that in one of the newer BIOS versions they changed the temp zones for the fan speed controller, not sure about the HGL30's. For me, upgrading cut the fan from cooler temps making it quieter. Perhaps someone with a HGL30 can comment on that for you.

npaladin2000 is also right about the cooling pad.

I'd also suggest since a lot of people on here are college students, make sure you don't have a desk lamp cooking your notebook a little, that might help with the temps, and hence the fans.

 

I think I can meet you half-way on this...

They 'keys' are very crisp and responsive for both systems, and in that sense they are nearly identical. However, the only bounce in my T40 here at work would be if I dropped it and it bounced a few times before combusting into a glorious inferno! /me laughs like an evil genius, plotting against his T40...

(I can dream of getting a faster notebook at work if I want to! )

 

Is the RM Clock program something that must be run at startup forever? Is it (easy) intuitive to use? Is this the right link to it: http://cpu.rightmark.org/products/rmclock.shtml ? Whats the difference between the .rar and .exe? What version should i use? the latest version (2.2)?

thanks in advance for your help guys!!

 

Use the latest version, and get the EXE...that'll install automatically. You'll find it pretty easy to use if you're using the basic features.

Pyro, I finally figured out why the keyboard feels so good...it feels like an HP business-class keyboard. Which makes sense, since this thing looks like a similar design to the HP standard-aspect machines some of the guys at the office have. They're probably Compals.

 

If you check my posts more recent posts in the "noise" thread, there should be a fairly detailed bit of information on how I suggest using it on a Compal. Feel free to start a thread, ask here, pm me, or message one of the messengers listed under my name if you need help figuring the tool out.