Hel 80 Owners Lounge

Yeah the 9 cell is really not noticeable at all. And it can still fit standard 15.4" notebook bags.

 

I agree with everyone else, the nine cell is the best way to go, the 6 cell will only last at best 2 hours, the 9 I get around 3 1/2 under normal load. Heavy load maybe 2 1/2 which is still better then the 6 cell under no load. Also as was mentioned you really don't notice it to much which is true.

 

Since last Monday, i'm a proud Compal HEL80 owner as well

So far, everything looks fine, although I didn't tested the fingerprint yet as I'm probably not going to use that anyway ...

The only question I have right now is the following: When I installed everything I noticed that bios version 105B was installed. Is it necessary to get a newer version, or won't it change many things?

Are there any other things that might be necessary to change, like drivers or so? (As here on the forum I read many different opinions)
I sure will install the windows fix for the black screen, because that is something I did encounter ...

 

boutros,
Unless you are experiencing problems, you don't need to upgrade your BIOS or other drivers. Just be careful if you do and make sure you know what you're doing.

The black screen you are experiencing is a Windows problem.

 

Ok, thx.
What bios version are you using at the moment? (I know you still use the stock drivers as well). Therefore did you have any problems untill now, Chrisyano?

 

I'm still using the stock BIOS, I believe it's 101B. No problems to date.

 

Ok, thank you

This makes me feel comfortable with my version So I won't change anything at all...

 

Got my HEL-80 today.
Wow it runs cool. Been playing Company of Heroes on it, the fan only kicks on every 5 or 6 minutes for about 60 seconds each time, yet the thing stays cooler than my ABS Mayhem, which is currently sitting right next to it, idling, and about twice as hot.
Gonna be running a LAN party fri-sun...gives me a chance to really put this thing to the test. Can't wait to try some Battlefield 2142.
Set up teh fingerprint scanner, and backed up the ID files on a encrypted flash drive. Very cool...and handy! No more typing passwords for every freaking thing. I fully recommend doing this.
My only complaint so far is a single bright pixel in the top center of my screen...*grumble*
I'd like to thank Paladin44 for making this purchase a relatively painless experience, keep up the great work.

 

After three days of purchase. I found one stuck pixel (it keeps shining red).
I heard that with some luck this can disappear again. Can anyone tell me what I can do against it, plz?

I heard about a program (from psp I believe) that perhaps could repair it. But isn't this bad for the other "good" pixels?

It is on the lefthand side of my screen...

 

The "fix" for the stuck pixel is simply to "massage" it. Put a little pressure on it with the pad of your thumb and roll your thumb around. Its kind of a delicate thing, but works quite well usually on "stuck pixels" (red, green, or blue shining, not bright or black ones, like I got ) Google around a bit for methods with pics. I fixed my buddies portable DVD player and a LCD screen at Wal-Mart like this, both had green stuck pixels. Good luck and BE CAREFUL. Getting rid of the pixel is of no use if you have a nice big leak in your LCD.

 

Hi all

I got my HEL80 a few months back and I'm generally happy with it. I've posted comments about the atrocious keyboard and I will be trying the double-sided tape trick this weekend--it's incredibly loud and the keys on the right side get stuck b/c of the flex (yes, the retaining screws are in place). I hope it works!

I do have another question: I get lots of extraneous noise in my headphones or speakers when certain things happen while I'm playing music, e.g. a browser page load or some hard drive access. Is there any way to isolate the sound circuitry better?

Thanks!

 

Hi rogthefrog and congratulations on your new purchase. The sound issue is experienced by many buyers (including myself), and there is even an own thread for it here:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?p=1648303#post1648303

 

Kjetil: thanks for the reply. I will check out that noise thread.

I just cracked the HEL80 open again (the first time was to make sure the screws were in) and did the double-sided tape trick. I put 5 or 6 little strips, mostly on the lower side of the keyboard tray, and it turned a D- keyboard into a B! Thanks everyone for figuring that one out for the rest of us.

For other folks' reference: the biggest bang for the buck is when you put the tape in the bottom right-hand corner and towards the center of the keyboard tray. It takes the flex away, and the arrow and Enter keys aren't getting stuck anymore.

Yay!!!!

 

Woohoo

Future Compal Hel 80 owner here hehe

Just ordered two Compal Hel 80 laptops. One for me and one for my sis.
My Specs:
15.4" WSXGA+ Matte LCD
1GB 667 MHz DDR2
Intel T7200 2.0 GHz Core 2 Duo
120 GB 5400 RPM SATA 8 MB (120 GB 7200 rpm was to expensive for me)
DVD Writer

Sis specs:
15.4 WXGA Glossy LCD
1GB 667 MHz DDR2
Intel T5500 1.66 GHz Core 2 Duo
80 GB 5400 RPM SATA 8MB
DVD Writer

Can't wait hehe

 

Question: Run your finger from right to left along the thin metal caseing bit (above the touchbad, below the keyboard) apply some moderate pressure. Do you notice that the metal dips once you get to under the Ctrl key? Is that just my model I take it lol It has no significance what so ever, im just curious as to why it does that.

When I press keys on the right hand side of the keyboard it is nice and sturdy with no depression of the keyboard as a whole, only the keys i push. However pushing a key on the left hand side will depress that half of the keyboard which shows to be less sturdy. It has no real performance issues towards hindering typing, but I it would calm me to know how I might get that side to be a little bit more fixed. Really minor points, other than one mysterious restart without explanation, and one missing bluetooth device which i paid for, I have had nothing but joy for the 12 hours i've had it...lol.

 

Not unlike a house, there are studs supporting the "wall" of aluminum. The "dip" you are referring to is a space between supports in the chassis. If the chassis were solid plastic, the system would weight more. I guess Compal wasn't counting on anyone running their finger along that line .

As for the keyboard fix, the answers are all in this thread. In my review I linked the 4 key posts that outline how to do it from accessing the keyboard to where to put the tape. Scroll down to the Keyboard Flex section and click #1-4.

 

Hi guys,

I just got my brand-new HEL80 computer and got a strange problem about overheating.

The problem occurred with I started to use my computer with the lid closed since I use an external display at home. After using it, I didn’t shut down the computer and the lid remained closed.

When I came back few hours later (about 5), I pressed spacebar to resume my work session and all of a sudden the computer shut itself down automatically. When I came to restart the computer, all the casing was so hot that I could not event touch it!! I took it with me on another room (which is cooler) and hopefully everything goes fine there when the computer cooled down very quickly and nothing (I guess) burnt.

It is very strange isn’t it? One thing is that I know that some computers are simply not designed to run with a close lid. Another thing is that I set the computer to never sleep and never shut down hard disk with plugged (and when I had the problem, yes I was plugged). The power supply device was not hot at all.

So to summarize,

- I ran my computer with the lid closed for 30 minutes;
- I let my computer on my desk with the lid closed for about 5 hours with no application running;
- My computer never slept and the HD never turned off;
- Room temperature was about 20 C;
- Nothing blocked the computer fans;
- My computer fan was not running when I came back to use it again;
- My computer was so hot that I shut down automatically!
- Power supply was not hot.

So anyone had the same problem? Any suggestion ?

Wandi

Specs :

Compal HEL80
Intel Core 2 Duo T7200
1 G 677Mhz RAM
100 Gig 5400 RPM HD
nVidia Go7600 256 MB
etc etc etc.

 

Welcome to the forums. Can you tell us what temperature your system reached when it was "hot"? Hot is a very subjective word, and a temperature reading would be helpful.

Also, you may want to read up a little in our cooling guide.

 

This has been discussed in this forum already at http://forum.notebookreview.com/showpost.php?p=1595430 Please also see the link in post 7

If the processor reaches a temperature that is high enough to shut it down, it is too hot.

However it is totally predictable that it will reach these kinds of temperatures if you leave it running with the lid closed. It is designed to breath through the keyboard and should never be closed while it is running.

If you want to use an external monitor that is great, but use both screens at the same time instead of just one. Your productivity will go way up when you use multiple screens.

 

Thanks guys for advices!

I figured it out too that notebooks are not made to be used with lid closed, but since there are notebooks that work well with a docking station, I thought it may be the same for all notebooks. I didn’t know what notebooks “breath” through keyboard since they have multiple air holes (in the HEL80 actually, there are 3).

Wandi

 

Even when in a docking station they should still never be closed when turned on. Today's laptop components just produce too much heat to not need to breath through the keyboard as well as their cooling system. As a matter of fact, the keyboard is designed as part of that cooling system.

Just curious though, have you ever used two screens operating from a single computer?

 

When my HGL30 is sitting idle with the lid closed, the casing on the left side of the laptop gets VERY hot. someone else mentioned this in his opinion of his HGL30 as well. It seems that you should not run either the HEL80 nor the HGL30 with the lid closed.

 

my machine runs with the lid closed while I'm at work, but the room it is in is kept at ~62F, and the desk it sits on is metal and glass with holes in it.. the desk stays cold and their is extra ventilation. My system also throttles down to the lowest possible voltage and 1ghz though.

Long story short, if you want to run it closed, keep it in an environment just this side of the arctic, with a lot of airflow, and your all set!

(I have to keep it chilly for the Linux penguin to stay happy )

 

Yes, i usually work with 2 screens (especially with working on Macs on video edition or sound edition softwares).

The thing is, usually i have 2 same size screens side by side, which is easy in my opinion to make one large desktop.

I have a 19" display with 1280x1024 resolution and I really don't like to switch my eyes between my two screens since things on my screen (which is a 19" on 1280x1024) is much larger than on my laptop (15" wide on 1680x1080). My eyes get tired very quickly after few minuts because its keep switching between bigger and smaller texts and/or graphics.

The reason why i close my lid is because i want to avoid dust to get inside my keyboard and on the screen. Since at work some people have ducking stations which require the notebook's lid to be closed (there is a CRT on top of the dock), i thought it could be the same for my notebook too.

 

Generally "notebooks" have docking ports located on them, and they are designed to be closed in a manner like you said. Laptops though, are generally larger, more powerful, and don't have the kind of docks that are used closed. Easy way to tell if a machine is supposed to be closed or not, check it for a docking station port... Hel-80's dont have on the back or bottom (Considered a notebook)

 

Consider getting a couple of 20" 1680x1050 monitors at http://www.costco.com/Browse/Product.aspx?Prodid=11177780&whse=BC&topnav=&browse= for $199.99 after rebate. Those are the ones you see in the picture of my setup at the link in post 7 in the thread linked to above.

Problem solved

If you only want to use 2 screens you only need to buy one of them, or you can get 2 of them and have the 3 screen setup that I do.

 

Nice find... to bad I don't need an external screen atm, and I dont have a costco account =P

 

FYI: I just installed the latest sound drivers from the compal site: http://www.compal.com/asp/driver_dnd/

And it seemed to clear up the voice issue I was having in Source games..

 

Greetings all,

Anyone know how this laptop runs WoW? Especially in PVP and Raids? (Please list the specs of your compal, and the video settings).

Thanks!
Steven

 

WoW will not be a problem for the go 7600 in either Compal. It's not a very demanding game.

 

hey all,

i have decided to get a laptop and im seriously considering the hel80. i would most likely build one from the barebone at mwave.com

i just have a couple concerns about the laptop

1. im probably going to get the pioneer dvr-k06 for the optical drive. im assuming it will work but just wanted to know if anybody knows otherwise... also will it take pocket CDs and DVDs, just wonering, not a big concern...

2. im thinking about getting a 100gb 7200 rpm drive but im just a little confused about what it supports... every retailer has a different list about what capacities it supports at which speeds. does anyone know the actual info?...

3. since vista is coming out this month (and is already being sold in some places) i am considering skipping xp and going to vista since im gonna upgrade sometime for direct x10... now i know theres a lot of things to consider with this, but has anyone had any exp with vista and this laptop? is there good driver support? i found compal drivers here http://www.compal.com/asp/driver_dnd/index.htm and here http://www.compal.com/asp/driver_dnd/index.htm at compal's site but was confused about the difference... as one says "vista" and the other "vista for intel" i think the vista for intel might be the for the vbi version but not sure.

4. and finally, if i decide to flash the bios i wasnt sure which version to use. here http://www.compal.com/asp/driver_dnd/index.htm i would think to use the 115b but in the second link i posted it has a 028b that has some release notes in a text for that says it has a bunch of vista specific fixes. so i wasnt sure which would be better for a vista machine...

sry bout the long post
ive read the whole thread and thanks to paladin44 and others, most of my questions were answered.

thanks in advace for the info

edit: sry bout the unspecific hyperlinks... not sure why they didnt work right... anyways the links still take you to the directory so you can find it from there =-]

 

HEL80_81/HEL80/Drivers 20060404/HEL80/01_CHI~1/INTEL9~2.100/XP/SP

Ok... I'm offically confused by this page. I understand that these are the Intel chipset drivers... but how do you use these?

 

i dont follow you...? what do you mean?

here is where i found the vista bios in that driver directory:
HEL80_81/HEL80/Vista For Intel/028B-Bios
and then read the txt file... but im not sure thats what you meant... anyways... heres the vista drivers:
HEL80_81/HEL80/Vista
and the other "vista for intel" one that confused me:
HEL80_81/HEL80/Vista For Intel

 

What i'm getting at is, if you follow the file structure till you get to the SP section there's a list of files that you can download.. do I need all of these? or just the one with the newest date. And to install these, does one just double click on the .cab file?

I just don't want to turn this beauty of a laptop into a paper weight... already had one heart attack when the bios was flash.. lol.. but that's another story.

 

sry man i wish i knew... that is a pretty serious thing to just try... although all those dates are the same so i guess it might be all of them you need to install?

does anyone know if those new draft n mini pci wifi cards will work in this laptop... i heard somewhere they wouldnt because the antenna connectors are different or sumthin, but if they did work that would be freakin awesome!

lol what happened when you were flashing the bios?

 

Thanks for your help

 

Generally, I would advise you to hold off on the jump to Vista until SP1 or so. That should give developers more time to work out driver support and some of the major bugs in the OS. The other questions could be answered by the reseller you're considering.

Here are my thoughts on barebones vs. professionally built systems:

And a video illustrating the assembly of a HEL80:
<object width='425' height='350'><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/LP5vyxXjHuo"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/LP5vyxXjHuo" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width='425' height='350'></embed></object>

 

You like that video eh?

 

Definitely. Great reference material.

 

haha

thanks for the posts guys

ive looked at prebuilt systems and i just think it would be fun to build my own but im just not sure, as i was previously going to build my own desktop, im just into that, but i decided a laptop would be more worthwhile. its also a completely different beast to build though... im going to give it some more time for thought and to see how terrible vista is in its current stage

thanks again

 

Hello,
tell me please
Who is a manufacture of hel80 15.4 wxga screen (what it product number is)?
Is it possible to install in hel80 lcd samsung LTN154X9?

 

This topic already has a 5 page thread at http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=63487

Please use the search feature before posting. You will get your answers much faster that way, and you won't be one of those that asks questions that have already been asked and answered.

 

Avast is the best free ( I would gladly pay for it), if you are still looking.

 

I personally just run the free bitdefender web scanner about once a month or so. I personally what I'm downloading, and where I get it from so I don't worry about the impact of a real time scanner when compared to the system impact it causes for a "could be"...

 

Hi.
Can anyone help me with the maximum RAM speccs for the HEL 80? I've searched high and low but can't findt it anywhere. I know there's two RAM-slots, but what speed and capacity does the HEL 80 support?
I'm looking to upgrade the RAM and I'm wondering if it can handle a 2GB chip, or if I should go for another 1 GB chip.

Ferril

 

Welcome to the Forum Ferril

For complete specifications on the HEL80 go to http://www.powernotebooks.com/specs/PowerPro/l8-15.php

The chipset will not support 4GB even though you could put two pieces of 2GB in it, so you are better off just using two pieces of 1GB DDR2/667 SODIMM laptop memory.

Also, have you checked the price of 2GB pieces of SODIMM laptop memory? They are about $600-$700 each!

 

Thank you paladin44 I've read quite a few posts from you here and they have helped me a great deal.

So it's the chipset that doesn't support higher ram? No chance in getting a bios upgrade that will fix the problem then.

Thanks for a great forum!

F

PS: And yes, the prices are outrageous. Even more so in Norway

 

No, the BIOS can't do what the chipset doesn't support.

 

Well, I'm not quite an owner yet.. but I just placed an order for a HEL80, upgraded with BT, 2x1GB, and a T7200. My first business with MilestonePC, but judging from their reputation on NBR, I don't anticipate an issue like I've had with other online vendors. In fact, I gave up ordering online altogether, but decided to give it one last chance to see if anybody in Canada still cares about the customer and not just the customers wallet.

My requirements were:
High resolution screen (must) matte screen (deal breaker)
Over 3.5 hours of battery life, even on minimal accessories.
Solid build
Atleast X1400 (or comparable)
There are probably other things, but these were the most prevalent in my mind.
Not hideous

For:
Computer engineering, writing


I've looked through countless other laptops, and was about to pull the trigger on an Asus V1Jp w/ extra battery (once it came available).. but then I read the horrors of the battery issue. The battery might be fine, but to disable the notice and play russian roulette with how much time you actually have left is not acceptable to me. Plus, it was a glossy screen which I cannot personally handle at all. Battery life was what I was looking for if the modular battery would be used.

I also considered W3J (low resolution unacceptable), Lenovo (cannot get one due to monetary circumstances), VAIOs, HP, Dell..

but it seemed that for everything I wanted, the Compal was the only thing that satisfied the entire equation. I could have went with a E1505, but it was out of my price range on credit (purposely keeping a low limit saves me from being broke all the time ).

Granted, I'm not totally sold on the pictures of the HEL80. Honestly, I thought it looked cheaper than an Acer when I first saw it. However, once I weighed wants versus requirements, aesthetics took a back seat and I became a "function over form" believer. It doesn't look *that* bad, I told myself.

So, to make a long story short, I hope you all aren't BS-ing about the quality and reliability of this notebook..

(as a side note, anybody know how long it takes from payment processing to shipping for a customized HEL80 from MilestonePC?)

 

Darn, you figured us all out!

Just for the record I think the system looks MUCH better in person then in photo's. I'm not much into looks when it comes to systems, but I do think it's got kinda a cool uniqueness to it that makes it stand out from most notebooks around.

As far as sturdy and reliable and all that, mine is everybit as good as the day I bought it. Hinges aren't going or anything and my notebook is opened and closed probably 2+ dozen times a day since it lives on a slide out tray.

If you are a heavy typer you might want to look into the keyboard flex fixes. Aluminum touchpad is nice since I don't think it will wear with usage like the more common plastic ones.

Other then that, happy computing!