Hel 80 Owners Lounge

Interresting. I shall try that first thing tonite. About the only thing I'd lose then, is horizontal scroll, which I seldom use anyway. So, you're just using the standard windows scroll mouse driver, then?

 

The primary areas are both ways from the lower left and right corners, and along the bottom between the tabs. I'm a bit of a perfectionist when it comes to keyboard feel, so I also put small pieces at the top center and a couple in the center of the keyboard (though there was little to no flex there).

The machine simply doesn't get very hot over the most critical section (lower right corner) for that to be an issue. I might run into trouble in the lower left corner, as that is the one spot that heats up noticably. I intend to pull the keyboard up after a week or so to check the tape, and make a decision then. I used good 3M double sided tape intended for scrapbooking and such (raided my wife's stash). It is as thin as normal Scotch tape, and seems to have about the right tack -- strong enough to hold the keyboard in place, weak enough to allow later removal. To be certain, I reduced the tack a bit by pressing my fingers on the tape before putting the keyboard back in.

I thought of that. However, you would be well advised to make those *very* thin, as the keyboard assembly is thin itself, and I'd be concerned about trading the bounce for actual flex, which could cause future keyboard failure. That's why I went with the very thin double sided tape. The keybord is now *very* solid in feel. Zero bounce, zero flex. The feel still isn't ThinkPad level, mind you, but after a long night of using it, I'd say one of the better I've used. The sharp bevel down to the keyboard is annoying at the bottom edge, IMHO, though. I feel it just about every time I hit the space bar. I much prefer the gentle bevel that the ThinkPad uses.

 

I was thinking about getting this computer from powernotebooks, but i need it before school starts. how long did it take for you all to get your notebooks after you ordered them?

 

I ordered July 13th, and would have received mine on July 21st if I hadn't been out of town. That was with 2day shipping, and a weekend in there. To get a real answer, call them! Really -- they are very helpful on the phone and can explain the process to you. Plus, they may have phone-in only specials available to you.

 

Listen to Sindisil and give me a call 8:30 to 5:30 Pacific Time Monday - Friday. Just ask for Donald.

1-877-711-1777

 

Thanks for the tip! Works like a charm. All I lose is the ability to select other abilities for two and three finger tap and horizontal scroll, the only one of which I miss at all is horizontal scroll. Perhaps, should I work up enough concern to bother, I may try Synaptics drivers. Standard wheel mouse behavior suits me fine right now, though.

 

Can you please post some instructions on how to remove and reinsert the keyboard? maybe a picture or two?
THANKS!

 

It's be done already. Page 33 and 34

 

Might be worth noting, and I don't think anyone's mentioned it yet, that the tabs the strip connects with are all "hooked" to the right. So, while I don't imagine it'll make a lot of difference, it'd probably be easiest to pry from the left first, then sort of "peel" it to the right. Not really peel of course -- just pull to the left a little bit while you're pulling up. I had a slightly hard time getting it out before trying that. (Didn't help that I was using an old credit card to pry for fear of tearing things up with my screwdriver )

 

Credit card...good idea. I'm definetly not using a screw driver on my new baby

 

Or not, if the number of posts per page has been changed by a user (as I have).

It's better to either quote post numbers (look in the upper right corner of the post) or use a link to the post as I did in my reply to the parent post (right-click post number and choose "copy link location" to get a direct link to the post, in Firefox anyway. IE is similar, IIRC).

 

There were some pictures and information posted up-thread a bit; posts 329, 333 and 336 may be helpful.

 

Yeah sorry. Those are them

 

My HEL80 just arrived in the mail . It's at home waiting for me and i'm stuck at work!

(so many emotions going thru me)

 

You have my sympathy! When my PowerPro L 8:15 was deliverd the first time, I was hundreds of miles away in ND. Worse, on that next Monday when made a second attempt at delivery, I almost missed it becase I was out back watering our poor plants that spent 4 days w/o water while we were gone! Ya should have seen me run around front to catch the FedEx guy!

 

Heh. I missed the first delivery attempt, then had them hold it at the distribution center while I went and picked it up that evening.

 

I left work early to go pick up mine...

I just applied the double-sided tape treatment, and I must say, it's quite the improvement. Thanks, Compal forums!

 

I'm sure the forums say your welcome.

 

Wow this keyboard....not too good at all. pretty disappointed with that

 

i thought that when i first got it and although it sometimes bothers me 99% of the time it feels fine it was adjusting to it over my old compaq keyboard which was really really sturdy and secure

 

Yeah same here I guess. My e1505 and old Compaq had great keyboards. Guess i'm spoiled...

 

Try coming from a ThinkPad.

<sigh>

Oh well, right now the main thing that annoys me about the keyboard is the space bar. Actually, it's not the space bar per se, but the bevel around the keyboard that is at fault. The side of my thumb hits the bevel when I hit the space bar. Annoying, but hopefully I'll adjust. Would it have killed them to make the bevel along the bottom of the keyboard more gradual?

 

I gotta get use to the new keyboard layout. I'm not use to having the pgdn pgup end, etc buttons to be to the far right. Gotta get use to this fingerprint reader. I keep hitting that instead of the left click

Only part that really seems bad on the keyboard is the bottom right corner. The arrow keys. But thats only if i look at it. I'm trying not to

 

After a while (7 days), I got used to the keyboard and I thought it was pretty good. You can do that double-sided tape mod I mentioned earlier so it doesn't flex on the extreme right and left. Also make sure that the two screws are holding it down.

It's only the first few days that you'll think about those issues, and then . .well, they won't be issues anymore.

 

*gasp* dead pixel!!

 

Dead pixels are a result of LCD technology. It is much less of a concern today than it used to be because the technology has improved so much. There are 1,296,000 pixels and 3,888,000 sub-pixels on your WXGA screen, so one dead sub-pixel is really quite understandable. The dead pixel policy for PowerPro computers is the best in the industry. If you have more than 5 dead pixels it is a warranty issue and will be replaced.

You can also take advantage of the Return Policy if you are not satisfied. The Return Policy is stated as the first paragraph of the warranty. To read the warranties please go to http://www.powernotebooks.com/warranties.php3.

If you return it for exchange, there is no guarantee that you will get a screen with no dead pixels.

 

I'm sorry to bother, but a max of 5 dead pixels isn't a lot. There are many policies where they don't allow any dead pixels at all. A black or bright dot in the middle of your screen is quite annoying to everyone, even when it's just one dot out of 1,296,000 as you nicely calculated .

 

I am thinking about switching out my S96J for a HEL80.

Does anyone know if the DVD Drive from an Asus S96J would be compatible with the HEL80?

Also, I have heard a lot about the WSXGA+ screen, but how is the WXGA? Does anyone know what LCD model it uses? Would someone mind finding out with AIDA32? I have had some problems with grainyness on my S96J, and I want to make sure they don't follow me to the HEL80. Also, any ideas on where I can get just the shell besides mwave? I am planning on keeping my proc/ram/dvddrive/hddrive/wireless from my S96J. Also, where can you get the bluetooth module and/or tvtuner?

 

Can you point us to any comparably priced laptop that guarantees no dead pixels?

 

Talking about monitors -

I have a slight problem with my wsxga -
there is a dark spot in the bottom right about 1/4 of an inch to the left of the corner and 1/2 an inch upwards, it looks like circular a shadow (you can see through it but it's darker)

Does anybody else have this issue with their hel80 wsxga?

 

*GASP* dead pixel... oh wait... thats just dust. I win! My WXGA screen is just fine. It gets dusty pretty easily, but what screen doesn't. Just bought a Dakine Team bag to store it in. I wish I would have been able to find an Ogio Metroid bag in a store to test if it fit though. It didn't fit in a Metro

 

Well overall im satisfied with the HEL80. Only problem I had was the keyboard being a lil bouncy on the bottom right corner, but i'm already use to it. Still trying to get use to the keyboard layout though.

I LOVE THE FINGERPRINT SCANNER!! Most useful thing ever!
No games to play yet except for Starcraft
Webcam is pretty cool
The copper trim around the keyboard looks much better in person. i really like it.

Can you change the color of the LED lights? I think i remember reading that somewhere...

 

Meh INEEDMONEY you're making me drool.. I can't wait for my HEL80.. ordering this weekend!

 

I received my HEL80 from Powernotebooks last Thursday afternoon, so here are my thoughts after nearly a week of use. I am very impressed with this machine. I originally had some thoughts about going with the HGL30, but now I'm glad that I went with the larger screen, AND the absolutely STUNNING matte WSXGA+. Even though most of the time the print is quite small, it is so crisp and clear that I can read it with no difficulty, even with my ever so middle-aged eyes. I have watched a few DVD's with it. One of them was Passage to India. In this film, the Indian women wear clothing with very bright, beautiful colors- saffon, fuchia, scarlet, etc. and this screen really did them justice. I have not found any dead pixels.

I have pretty well adapted to the keyboard, although I do feel the lack of a number pad. Well, I have my faithful desktop for heavy number crunching. I was a little dismayed to read about the possibly missing keyboard screws, but after two conversations with tech support, and after studying the photos on this forum, I realized that I can see the lower edges of both screws without removing the trim, which, after slightly bending one corner of it, I refused to touch myself again. I have a little bit of wiggle on the bottom right, but that seems to be just the way this keyboard is, and honestly, I do not notice it at all if I am not actually looking at the keyboard. I have made my peace with it.

The touchpad has been another issue. I am pretty steady with it now, but the first few days were very frustrating - opening and closing things I did not want to open or close, losing track of the cursor while scrolling, etc. In fact, I had this mini-review done two days ago only to lose the whole darned thing when I inadvertently closed the brower window. I am glad no one except the cat was watching.

I have not set up the finger print scanner as of yet. Maybe next week.

One thing I found to be really annoying was the lack of a printed manual. Yes, I realize that on-disc documentation seems to be the norm these days, but I really prefer a printed manual, and not at the expense of my precious printer ink.

One strange thing. Firefox did not seem to like the wireless program at first; all I could get was "can't find server" messages. My settings were exactly the same as on my desktop. If I opened Internet Explorer, that worked fine. Mysteriously, after about half an hour of bewilderment and two reboots, the problem went away and has not repeated itself since.

Other than that, the machine has been a pure pleasure to work with. Now I can surf the internet from my confortable easy chair in the room. One of our TV trays makes a perfect little desk. If I see something funny or interesting online, I can now very conveniently share it with my elderly mother. She thought the Nintendo 64 video was a real riot, BTW, as did I.

I am also more than satisfied with the service I have received from Powernotebooks. Anyone in the market for a laptop, please do yourself a favor and check them out. They've got a good spread of quality products and the prices really are very reasonable. And nobody pressured me to close the sale or to spend beyond what I wanted to.

And while I was in the mood to buy stuff, I even gave my faithful desktop a memory upgrade and a graphics card of its very own. It has been a very full and exciting week.

 

random question..
had my HEL80 for a week now and im loving it. one thing that i am a little worried about is that the plastic covering over the brushed aluminum (around keyboard and the lid) seems to be peeling off. is this normal? am i supposed to have peeled this off? it already seemed to have a few little bubbles here and there when it came in last week.
thanks

 

Hi all!

I wanted a S96J at first but after all the grain issues I'm looking at the Hel80/81. My question: I don't game at all, but mainly use the laptop for graphic (webdesign, photo's etc) work. Should I get the 80 with the 7600 video card or is the 81 with the integrated videocard enough?

Thanks!

 

Umm. My HEL80 had plastic all around the keyboard. You're suppose to peel that off. Plastic on the lid too if you want to peel that off

Yes, the touchpad does seem to be a bit sensitive to taps. I usually use a mouse though

It's really neat. I think I've encrypted all my folders in My Documents

well if you're going to be working with alot of 3D applications then the 7600 may benefit you.

I'm already over the keyboard. I opted not to get the matte screen, but this one is very very nice. I personally don't like where they put the USB ports on the right hand side. I think they should be closer to the back of the machine and not towards the front. USB cords get in the way when opening the optical drive (which runs loud when installing something from disc ) Volume control could be a little better

 

I don't really know where to find such policy for laptops, except voor some Asus laptops: http://event.asus.com/notebook/zbd/. And there are some regular TFT manufacturers who allow less dead pixels.

 

I am sooo so happy! Thanks Sindisil for the tape advice! I put in the double stick tape and even before fastening down the keybd screws the keybd was rock solid. No more rattle, no more flex. It's awesome.

Thanks,

 

How do you go about removing the keyboard to apply the tape?

 

Read my post # 329 and # 336 in this thread.

 

Yes. Once you remove the two screws just roll the keyboard carefully back toward you and lay it on the palm rest. You can then install the doubleback tape and reverse the process to reinstall the keyboard.

 

Donald,

I know that you sell both the S96J and the HEL80. Do you sell just the barebones? And do you know if the parts are compatible between the two?

 

K, thanks Donald. I'll be sure to do that when I get home. No screwdriver or tape here at work. Mmm...is there any special type of tape I should get?

 

I used Scotch double sided - it seemed to be decent quality. Sindisil, i believe used quality 3M. I found it easiest to remove the keyboard keeper by starting in the middle of it, popping up those tabs then popping up the far left, then the far right, and lastly at the hinges. I used a large paperclip to pry it up - take care not to insert very far so you don't risk hitting any components. You could also put down some padding - paper, thin cardboard or such - over your keys while you pry to keep from marking them. I ended up putting some grooves in my ESC key the second time i opened it up to apply the tape fix (really small grooves though - didn't use any padding).

 

i applied double sided tape and what a difference! no bounce, no more plastic sound... i used permanent double sided tape (scotch, 3m).

 

Yay...i'm now taped down
scotch Permanent Double Sided Tape works wonders!!!

 

We do not sell barebones.

The ODD and battery will not be interchangeable, but the processor, HDD, memory, and AC Adapter should be.

 

Thank you, Donald. That is what i needed to know.

Does anyone know where you can buy the HEL80 with just a DVD Drive?

 

I just got my hel80 today, it's great. So far everything seems to be working fine, and the fingerprint scanner is a very nice feature. However, when i log into windows a message pops up that says there was an error with omnipass and it has to close. Does anyone else have this problem? What should I do?
Other than that, the laptop is great.