Hel 80 Owners Lounge

Its promising though. Think about it... 64GB with speeds that can exceed our current storage technology.

Btw, is it just me or is the high-end Merom horrendously inflated?

 

It's the new line of 802.11
270 mbps vs the 54 mbps in 802.11g. Twice the range when paired with a N router

 

I thought 802.11n was the same as WiMax? Or am I wrong there?

 

The high end Merom is the same price as any of the previous high end Intel Pentium M processors.

They have 5 pricing levels that never change. Starting from the lowest the increases to the next 2 levels are always reasonable ($50-$60 per step) and then the 4th level gets a little steeper and the 5th level is only for those with too much testosterone.

 

Hey fellow owners,
I'm new to the notebook world, just purchased my first one (this Hel80 i'm typing on) after letting my desktop slide into outdated oblivion. I immediately love having a portable computer.

My question is and it could be because i'm a newbie, the touchpad is very sensitive, i barely have to touch it for it to activate a tap and inevitably i end up clicking all sorts of crap - i'm feeling like i have to be extra extra careful and i'm not necessarily a bull in a china shop in the first place.

I've looked through all the features in the touchpad control panel but don't see anything to adjust the sensitivity - any clues anyone? Thanks.

 

Hey I'm having similar noise when i hit the Enter button its a fairly annoying plastic rattling noise. If i type as light as you can there is still some small bit of rattling noise on the rest of the keys that's not very noticeable. All the keys around the Enter key, PgUp, PgDn, Shift, etc. also exibit a fairly loud rattling. I'm wondering if there are some screws that could be tightened on the right side - or possibly adding a very thin piece of padding (heat resistant of course) under the keys to reduce the sound?

Maybe i'll get used to it. Other than this i love my laptop.

Thanks
Hel80 2ghz, 2gb ram, 7600go 256mb, bluetooth, tv-tuner...

 

Please call our 24/7 Customer Service team (the number is on the bottom of your PowerPro L 8:15).

There are two screws that need to be checked to make sure they are there and tight.

 

i also feel that im getting excessive flex on the right side of the keyboard, specifically enter, page up, page down, etc. i'll call tech support tomorow to check those screws

 

Thanks... Pretty useless for me then it seems hehe. 54 mbps is plenty.

 

Well, for Internet access it is totally useless regarding speed since the fastest broadband is about 6Mbps, but the extra range will be nice, and of course the extra speed for network data transfer will be sweet

 

Yeah I know. I'm transferring some files right now over my network. *sigh* 4hrs left...

 

Well I only need it for wireless Inet at the appartment and at the campus, not quite for wireless networking.

 

Yeah, like Paladin said, only good thing it has for most consumers is the increased range unless we get faster broadband options

 

Its finally in. ive got it up and running. very excited!! when installing OS, i definately felt hurricane DVDRW's rage, but at is ok. my main complaint as of now is that the keyboard is a bit flexier than i had hoped, though typing on it right now feels good. also, im a little bugged by the behavior of the touchpad at the moment, but hopefully i can smooth that out too. WSXGA+ is definately the right resolution for me, im loving it!

 

Congrats I have a feeling I'll be ordering one of these soon...

 

I ordered an HEL80 from Powernotebooks.

1280x800 screen
1.66 GHz processor
1GB DDR2/667 RAM
100GB (5400 RPM) hard drive

Let the buyer's remose begin! Just kidding.

 

Congratulations to all the new HEL80 owners and soon-to-be HEL80 parents.

For those of you who did check the screws on the keyboards: were any of them loose? I know laptop keyboards are generally bouncy, so I just thought I'd ask. I use an external keyboard and mouse unless I absolutely must use the laptop keyboard.

 

I think I might be the one who found this issue. My keyboard was practically unusable until Donald mentioned that I might be missing two screws. They were there, just under the keyboard. There's still more flex then most laptops I've used, though. He seemed to know more about the laptop then the tech support. Unfortunatly I managed to drop my tool on the top strip cover and now there's a nastly little dent. Wonder if I could get a replacement...

 

So destin5488, did you need to do any tightening or was the flex "normal"?

Thanks.

 

If anyone is feeling crafty, you could put some double-sided tape underneath the sides of the keyboard. It could fix some of the flex.

 

After I screwed the keyboard in place, there's still a little flex. I think I'm goign to try the tape method. I was thinking of stuffing it, but didn't know with that. tape seems a little better. hehe

 

Thanks destin!

I don't think the flex/bounce in my keyboard is unworkable, although it may be a little more than normal. I'm used to the laptop bounce anyway and don't really use the laptop keyboard anyway.

Did tightening the screws do much for you?

 

chrisyano, can you take a look to make sure your screws are there, and tightned properly.

We found that some went out without the screws installed. You will find the screws (they are tiny) in one of the screw bags that came in your accessories box.

 

I am right there with you. I seem to open Windows Movie Maker a lot and have inadvertantly closed a lot of windows trying to find my cursor! I do notice that I am a lot more reliable with the touchpad today (my second full day with the machine) than I was yesterday. Maybe it is just matter of needing more practice.

 

Thanks Donald,

I do seem to remember there being some small screws or nuts in my box...let me check...

Yes, there were two tiny screws in a bag--Phillip head and about 1/8" tall. That must be it.

I'll look into putting them in.

Thanks again Donald.

 

After reading the last few posts, I remembered a 'bag-o-screws' and pulled them out of the box again (there's four tiny screws in the bag). How would I disassemble the keyboard to see if they're for the keyboard? I'm hoping the screws may resolve my touchpad issue.

 

donald ...if there were included screws in the box..does that mean that they were left off the keyboard? How would i go about installing these?

 

I just spoke with Matt at powernotebooks about the keyboard screw installation. They will have the instructions on Monday. He also told me that it is not a difficult "operation"--for those that may be worried about it.

 

It is simple. Just use a screwdriver to carefully lift the top brushed aluminum strip above the keyboard starting at the right or left side. It is held in with tabs on the sides and middle.

Once the top strip is off, look for the two holes where the screws should go...it is pretty intuitive.

 

Let me say that we are really embarrassed and apologize for missing these screws. Unfortunately we shipped way too many before we discovered we were not putting them in.

Our only meager...weak...stupid excuse is that the assembly manual does not mention them. We thought a compression fit was a "new design" that didn't work real well, but by the time we got the answer back from Compal several had shipped this way.


If anyone has trouble with the installation of these screws please let us know and we will bring it back to the factory to install them with a promise that they will go out the same day they come in, and of course we will pay for the Next Business Day shipping both ways.

 

Hey donald,
if i didnt get a bag of screws with my HEL80. ordered it 2 mondays ago, recieved it thursday. do you think i might have to look into this?
thanks

 

thanks for the 1st class service donald..it looks as if the screws were in..but i still got 4 in a small baggie with a bar code on it.

 

Some pointers to checking the keyboard screws:

1) Be careful and I would recommend starting from the LEFT side and moving towards the power button. The tabs seem to be designed to favor a removal towards the left side (IOMP button side). That's not to say that the strip can't be lifted straight up, but there are a lot of tabs to "pop out".

2) Dont' stick your screwdriver in too far. You don't want to risk damaging any of the components beneath. I think I may have nicked something when I took my strip off but I have no idea what it is.

3) Don't use too much pressure either...I put some small compression marks on a few of the keys from the screwdriver, and some marks on the bottom edge of the copper-colored plastic of the removable strip the first time I did it. I reopened it a second time to double check the tightness of the screws--and it was much easier since I now understand how the tabs are designed.

I hope this helps some and doesn't discourage any of you from trying it on your own. It's really not difficult at all.

 

Please look carefully in your accessories box. If you can't find them, contact our 24/7 Customer Service team. The phone number is on a sticker on the bottom of your laptop

 

Those 4 should be silver philips head screws for the Bluetooth module and the TV Tuner. Save them in case you ever decide to get either of those modules.

While we are at it, the link to the instructions for installing those modules can be found on our website under the Support button. Drill down to the drivers page for the HEL80 and it will be at the bottom of that page.
http://www.powernotebooks.com/specs/PowerPro/l8-15inst.php

 

Thanks to chrisyano who sent me these pictures of the actual screw locations on the keyboard...

 

Both keyboard screws were installed on my machine.

 

Any chance anyone knows how well the TV tuner performs?

 

So *that's* what that bag of screws was for XD

I thought they were just a bonus, like free in-flight peanuts.

 

yeah those peanuts tasted good.

 

So according to this article http://www.notebookreview.com/default.asp?newsID=2983 the core duo should be priced lower today right? Or do I still have to wait a bit longer for new priceing on the HEL 80?

 

Only desktop processor pricing moved on the 23rd. There were no price drops for the Mobile processors.

 

I took delivery of my new PowerPro HEL80 5 days ago, and I'm extremely pleased! The computer's appearance is much nicer than the pictures show. Everything works beautifully, although I haven't had time to figure out the fingerprint reader. The wireless card connects quickly and tenaciously holds onto the connection much better than the PC card in my old laptop. The integrated web cam works quite well in all the lighting conditions I've tried so far. The matte WXSGA+ screen is simply beautiful! It beats by a wide margin the (excellent) matte screen on the MacBook Pro that I replaced. I use it on the road, and I've always found it bright and readable in all lighting conditions. This computer's speed is impressive. I was surprised to find that it beats my home-built (2-yr old) desktop rig in every application and game I've tested so far, including CAD rendering. Without overclocking (yet) I'm running World War II Online with all settings nearly max at 30 to 60 fps. Half-Life 2 is smooth and gorgeous at native resolution with all settings near max. I'll try overclocking it after I've developed a thorough feel for its stock performance. This computer is very quiet. Fan noise is almost unnoticeable, even when running games. I'm able to leave the computer running in my hotel room, downloading files while I sleep. The DVD player is the biggest noisemaker, but only noticeable when installing large files.

The keyboard is a bit bouncy, but not objectionable. I'll probably check to make sure the screws are in place, but I'm in no hurry. Really, the only complaint I have is that the left Ctrl key is in the wrong place. I keep hitting Fn instead. Kind of a pain in a hot gaming session, but otherwise not a big deal.

In short, I'm quite pleased. This computer is a great value. Thanks Donald!

PowerPro L8:15 Force
T2600 2.16 GHz
1MB single SoDimm
100GB 7200 rpm
Dual-Layer DVDR
Wireless and BlueTooth

 

Thanks tweetr...I love it when a plan comes together!

 

Well, I received my PowerPro L 8:15 today. It's obviously too early to actually "review" it, but I do have a few first impressions.

In no particular order:

1. It is much more atractive in person. The copper colored paint on the inner bevel of the keyborad opening is more subdued than picures seem to show, and the brushed aluminum looks nicer than I expected.
2. The keyboard is ... suboptimal. My keyboard screws were in place, but the keyboard bounced around more than a newleywed's ... er, I mean, bounced around a lot. A bit of double-sided tape helped quite a bit. It's acceptable, now. I'll need some time getting used to the feel to comment further. Keep in mind that I'm coming from a ThinkPad T41, so my keyboard standards are set about as high as they can go. After the double-sided tape application, I doubt that anyone who hasn't used an IBM would have any complaints. I'd certainly place on par with or better than most other notebook keyboards I've used (and I've used quite a few!).
3. The screen is quite nice. I have the matte WSXGA+ display. Contrast is *very* nice. Brightness is very good to excelent, though the brightness control still only feels like it goes to 8 or 9, if you understand me. Uniformity of lighting is decent, as well. If I look for it, I can see some uneven areas, as is to be expected given the backlight technology used. When I'm not specifically looking for it, though, it feels quite evenly lit. Colors are vivid.
4. For some reason it feels lighter than I expected. A week or two lugging it back and forth to work may temper that.
5. The case has a bit more flex than I expected, given the descriptions I read here. Not that it is cheaply made, mind you. Quite the contrary. The fit and finish is very nice, and the overall feel is still very, very solid. Again, I'm coming from a T41, which is built like a brick $#@! house. A very thin, light, brick $#@! house. So my expectations of solid build are again, a bit skewed. A few weeks in and out of the laptop bag will give me a better feel.
6. The touchpad is very nice. The brushed aluminum look is killer, and the feel is very smooth. The multi-finger taps are taking some getting used to, but they work well. The scroll implementation, however, is a downer. For instance, it won't scroll the edit window I'm using to write this. The cursor jumps to the browser's scroll bar, and then procedes to absolutely fail at scrolling the main browser window. The wheel on my wireless mouse works fine. I'm using Firefox, so perhaps that has something to do with it. Regardless, it's a bummer.
   
7. My experience with PowerNotebooks.com has been excellent. That shouldn't come as asurprise to anyone who's been reading here at all, but it still bears mentioning.
   
8. The fan intake on the bottom worried me a bit, as it will be blocked when used on my lap. However, while I had the keyboard off (see item 2 above), I noticed that the fan draws in air through the keyboard, as well. So, no worries. I'd still use either a lapdesk or a real desk if you're going to push the machine, but for typical lap use (email, web, etc.) this design should work very well.
   
9. The fan seems to be running quite a bit, here, during the maiden voyage. And all I'm doing is running this one browser session. The only remotely warm aread is just to the left of the touchpad, on the palm rest. Not hot, just warm. I will say that the fan is quieter than the one on my T41, and not annoying yet. Still and all, I'd prefer it not run this much when I'm not even doing anything intensive yet. Once I get some utilities installed, perhaps I'll get a better idea why the fan is running.

That's it for now. I have to get some basic software installed and play around a bit before the night is over.

Short version: I'm reasonably happy so far, and optimistic about how I'll feel in a week or two. I'll likely report back then. There've been several reviews already, but I know I thirsted for all the feedback I could get when I was shopping, so I suppose one more (formal or not) can't hurt!

 

I'm having the same problem as you mention in 6. It's not just firefox, but word, VS2005, etc. Oddly enough it seems to work fine in IE6.

Let me know if you find a solution.

 

tell me about it. As an ex T42 owner, nothing feels as good as a thinkpad.. nothing! IBM has ruined my standards for notebook keyboards

 

It's a driver issue, so unless someone either gets a new driver out of ElanTech or reverse engineers their driver and either fixes their implementation of scrolling or replaces it with a new one, we're out of luck.

If it were just the jump to the right, I'd only be annoyed. As it is, I'm *very* annoyed, since the scroll function doesn't work properly at all in some instances. Hopefully Elan will step up and fix this soon, but I'm not holding m breath.

 

I've found that uninstalling the Elantech drivers allows me to scroll properly, and to still use the two and three finger middle and right clicks.

 

Hey, i seem to get a good bit of rattling noise & bounce from the right side of my keybd and i've checked on the screws that are in place & tightened. I gently bent the metal tabs under the keybd upward thinking that might help - it seemed to help a little. Where did you put the double-sided tape if i may ask? Also won't the interior heat breakdown the tape over time? I was thinking maybe adding some little rubber bumpers under the keybd to lessen the flex & noise. Anyone have any suggestions?

Also on the scrolling issue i've found that using a two-finger tap to produce the software scroller works a good bit more smoothly than the built-in touchpad scroller. Don't know yet what range of applications that works for though.

Hel80 2ghz, 2gb ram, WSXGA+, bluetooth, tv-tuner