IFL90 impresions (Forcebook Dynamic)

I got the laptop 3 days ago and wanted to point out some good and some bad thing about it.

I got the IFL90 in Croatia where it's sold under the name Forcebook Dynamic, and assembled by the company HGspot. The price was around 1200USD. It comes with 2 year warranty (6 months for the battery).

The laptop comes with:
- T7300 CPU (2x2.0GHz 4MB)
- 2x512MB DDR2 PC667 ram (upgraded to 2x1GB)
- GF8600M GT 512MB DDR2 (475MHz core / 400MHz mem)
- 120GB 5400rpm HDD
- 1280x800 glossy screen
- 80Wh battery
- Intel ABG wireless
- 1Gbps network
- Bluetooth 2.0
- 2.0MP camera
- Fingerprint reader
- and the remaining stuf

Now for the impressions:
General (application) performace:
It's fast, period.
I'm a student and use it regularly for programing and it runs Visual Studio 2005/2008 just fine, and I doubt many people will run larger/more demanding applications than that. For everyday work it's an overpowered machine .

Gaming performance:
IFL90 comes with GF8600M GT which is currently (mid 2007) the most powerful GPU with reasonable power consumption (GF7900 series is certainly not "mobile").
I find it very strange that compal decided to go for 512MB 400MHz DD2 memory and not for 256MHz 700MHz DDR3 memory. The later would draw the same if now lower amount of power and would offer greater performance.
256MB is an optimal size for the 8600GT and currently no game requires more. Additionally the games that will actually require 512MB GPU memory will run too slow on the 8600GT. On the other hand for most laptop buyers 512 is more than 256 so it must be better

All current games run with acceptable framerate (>30fps) on mid/high settings with no AA at native resolution (1280x800). For future games, especially DX10 titles I expect it will be too slow or you will have to reduce the eye candy.
In short: You can play games with it but it's not a desktop replacement!

Screen (1280x800 glossy):
Good:
It's bright, actually one of the most brightest laptop screens I have seen, and it doesn't dim when you unplug it.
It's marked as glossy but the reflections are not so strong as on other laptops (HP/Acer).
Bad:
Horizontal viewing angles are a little better but vertical angles are actually a little worse than standard for laptops. For applications it's OK and you don't notice it, but when playing games it's very apparent since the upper part of the screen appears much darker than the lower part (because of poor vertical viewing angle).
Check this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4fnAU_f0JEk&mode=related&search=
The only really bad thing (it looks like only my display) is the back light leakage on the bottom of the screen (apparently bad assembly). You get used to it but it's annoying and should not happen.

Keyboard:
You probably saw the horror movie about the keyboard flexing of IFL90. Well my "was" (very important) exactly as bad as shown on that clip ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bj9amA0BKYc). The flexing around the F3 key was enormous and typing was a real pain in the ass.
Since it's under 2 year warranty took it to the dealer and they fixed it. They "fixed" it by putting thin sponge (the same as you get with motherboards) under the left part of the keyboard (the part the had excessive flex) and the keyboard is now perfect with no noticeable flex at all
It's comfortable and the only remark is that the placing of the "Fn" key.

I want to point out that my keyboard has Croatian layout, which is slightly different then the US one (most noticeable difference is full sized ENTER key), so I presume that the US keyboard version has a thicker bottom plate that's why it's doesn't flex so much. I'll post the photo of the keyboard later.

Mobility/battery:
The laptop came standard with 11.1V 7200mAh battery.
With maximum screen brightness, high/fast CPU settings, and usual workload (some movies, programing in VS2008, mail, surfing) I got 3h exactly.
If you dim the screen, throttle the CPU, disable WiFi/Bluetooth and under low workload I got 5:15h. Considering the power of the machine thats superb (attributed mostly to the large battery).

Sound:
Clear and powerful sound, much better than most laptops (without subwoofers). Lack of bas is noticeable but for viewing movies/playing games (even in noisy enviroment) it's enough.

Build quality:
The case is sturdy, with no noticeable flex or squeaking. It's doesn't have any screen latches but considering the screen hinges are very sturdy it's no problem.
Finish is in "business black" plastic and at least for me it look like most HP notebooks.
The good thing is that service/disassembly manuals are available at compals site so you can service it yourself if required.

Thermal/acoustics:
Under normal usage the fan is off and you can only hear the hum of HDD. Under mid/high CPU load the fan turns on but it's quiet and non obtrusive. When playing games fan turns to max speed and is clearly audible, but not unpleasant (no whining noise).
In the worst scenario the keyboard gets only mildly warm, and is usually could to the touch.

Other extras:
2MP camera - like most other cameras it actually has 640x480 hardware resolution but the picture is bright with good colors and very little graining.
WiFi/Bluetooth disable button - very practical if you want quickly/simply to disable wireless connectivity because of security/power reasons.
Fingerprint reader - works perfectly (login to windows with a finger swipe).
Browser/mail/mute buttons - more practical than you can imagine.
USB power button - 2 USB port deliver power even if the laptop is turned off (practical for charging phones, wireless mouse, mp3 players, etc..).
Q-charge button - with compals tool you can set the battery to charge to 50 or 75% of full charge and by doing so lengthen the lifespan of the battery. In case you will need a full charge, just press the Q-carge button and the battery will be full charged.

My take:
The laptop is a good bargin, sturdy, very powerful, large battery (long battery running time), very bright display, with some useful features (no schnick-schnack), for much less money than the competition.

The only bad things are poor viewing angles and light leakage (at least on mine) on the 1280x800 glossy display.




That's it for now. I wrote this review for ppl from Croatia since the IFL90 version we have is slightly different than the US version (keyboard, screen) and the retailers in Croatia give very sparse, inadequate information.

 

Sounds like a great laptop, Are you happy with it in general?

 

Yup I confirm that I like it. Actually I like it so much that I use it as a desktop replacement/my primary PC (CPU/mem/HDD combination makes it as powerful as a dektop PC). I play games only occasionally so the GPU power is not so important for me.

The only bad thing on the IFL90 is the 1280x800 screen (backlight protruding problem / poor viewing angles for games). Maybee I should have gone for 1680x1050 screen since people here say only good thing about is (but so did they about the current display).

 

well, the wxga is not a BAD display so you can't really say bad things about it apart from what you mentioned (and the light leakeage is mostly a matter of installing the screen in the casing I'd say, I guess someone goofed perhaphs, just like with your keyboard - if you did see that video on youtube, do see a response by some Polish dude who owns one from bluemobility.pl I think - and shows how a PROPER installing of the keyboard can make a difference), but yes, indeed, had you the chance to go with WSXGA+, man, you definetly should have

the matte screen rocks real hard compared even to the not so bad wxga.

 

nice review, i have the NP2090 version from Sager.

here are my gripes: the keyboard flexes a bit which is annoying if you look at it but typing is quite and comfortable so thats OK. didn't like that the fn and ctrl keys were switched, whats the point of that? i wished the speakers were better quality (ok, so they aren't altec lansings!) but they are clear and loud. also, the interior is lacking in the style department. the plastic looks but feels more cheap. but it also feels durable. i would have preferred a hook and latch type thing for closing the lid instead of relying on the hinge to keep it shut but nothing major. under normal use, the laptop stays fairly cool, maybe just a little warm. but it does heat up quite a bit, especially in the back near the exhaust vent. your table will be burning hot! then again, this applies to almost all laptops of this graphics capabilities so is expected.

its seems like a lot, but having this laptop for almost a month now makes you notice things and i guess i like to point them out. overall though, this laptop was a great deal for it's specs. hopefully, it will last me through the next 4 years of college.

 

I admit that the light leakage is probably because of poor assembly, but It's still a problem because no retailer is gona go and try to fix it, and I don't want to void my warranty because of it.

Vertical viewing angles are definitely bad. I checked other laptops (even some sub 700USD models) and not a single one had so bad vertical viewing angles.

On the bright side the panel is very bright (the most brightest among all laptops I have seen) and looks very responsive, with no apparent ghosting in the games.

You have to consider that it's normal that the producer changes the panel during the production lifespan of a product because of various reasons.

 

yeah, the viewing angles are poor indeed. it doesn't show as much on the matte I think, but then again I only worked with it for a few minutes, in a shop, and in console (text mode). seemed decent.

as regards changing the panel, I'm not sure if I read you right, but probably you refer to different panels depending on particular samples? Well, as for that, I guess it might be possible, but so far afaik compal's been using the same WXGA screen for a while.

It's not bad, just not tops. I rather get a WSXGA+, if I got the possibility... sad that VBI doesn't come with it so you have to void warranty and replace it yourself