Is Compal IFL90 still a good buy?

Hi,

I've been reading a lot about IFL90 because I'm considering it as a laptop to replace my old laptop.

It sounds like this laptop came out about 6-7 months ago. For those who have it, is it a good laptop?

I'm really interested in:

1. Build quality, how much flex does the screen and body have?
2. I read reports about disconnected cords for the Wow buttons. Is that a common issue?
3. After 6 months is the laptop still performing well?
4. Anyone have other issues?

I heard that a revision of the IFL90 will be coming out soon to support the penryn cpu. Is it a good time to buy IFL90 given that a new model is coming out soon?

 

Is going to be 4 months I have mine and I'm very satisfied, I have not gotten a blue screen yet. I don't have problems with the WoW buttons at all. If you have problem with the wires, then it is not hard to fix them, although I'm not the expert, you may remove the bar where the buttons are and work with the wires.

With regards waiting for penryn, It seems that the 0.2GHz higher will not buy you much more speed compared to the current IFL90 using a T7700 processor (2.6GHz vs 2.4GHz). The nano chipset based platform is the same than the current technology but smaller, no new platform or technology, the next chipset from Intel will be very different, that one is worth to wait for.

 

Still a good choice, and still a good notebook in performance and it's stable.

 

One thing really staggering me is the weight, I used to have a 17" Hypersonic lap and it was heavy, very heavy, the IFL90 is a pleasure to bring it everywhere wihthout getting a backache.

The temperature in my IFL90 oscillate around 50C, which is the best I have seen in laps these days, especially when you are using a 2.4GHz dual core processor. Battery wise is reasonable, I have not gotten 4h yet, just around 3h light usage, no games.

The keyboard is kind of cheap quality but it serves its purpose, and it is easy to replace.

I have installed several programs and all have worked right away, which is an excellent sign of good compatibility.

And as RePaRaQu said, it is very stable.

 

Agreed with above. My IFL90 isn't flexible, it is very sturdy and seems like it could handle a fall. I had an Acer Aspire 5000, and that thing was crap; you could bend it, and the screen bent, even when closing the lid. My new IFL90 seems like it has a metal back on the lid or something, because it is very very sturdy, and doesn't bend at all. It isn't too heavy either, it was the same weight as my Aspire 5000 (slightly under 7lbs) and has good battery life. I'd say go with the IFL90 instead of the new one that will support penryn processors, because it's not really that much faster, and the IFL90 will get deep price cuts.

 

I also like by IFL90. Any complaint I have is with vista, not the IFL.

Oh wait. 1 thing that bothers me is that I always press the mouse pad with palm. So I'll be typing and it'll suddenly click cause I pressed it with my palm. I don't like the positioning.

 

I've been looking at this notebook as well, but one of the things that really bothers me about it is that it doesn't have a DVI port.

 

Well come February i believe the new version of the IFL90 will use Penryn, and considering it will be the same price and with the new WSXGA screen, i think this is a good buy... what are the temps like with regards to gaming on this machine?

 

What exactly do you mean by new version? Do mean it will simply be the currant version with Penryn, or do you mean a whole new model?

 

I'm going to have to put my input in here, because I love this laptop, agree with what others say, keyboard is a piece of crap, but i dont mind, screen is wonderful, 1680 x 1050 on a 15.4" is AMAZING. And as far as gaming, thats why i bought the thing, I needed a laptop that could game at home and go with me on the road with decent battery life, I played Superbad through VLC and still had 45+% left (2 hour movie), I've gotten close to 4 hours on the battery, and gaming on battery, not a good idea, but go figure. However, I've played a few emulators off the battery and that wasn't bad at all. Nothing to brag about but doable on a trip. Hmm what else, oh, so I really love the camera, it's very good quality in my opinion, my girlfriend goes to college in Utah, and its nice that I don't appear as some pixelated freak. I'm going to get the internal bluetooth as soon as I can. When plugged in, I play the following games on settings something like...

Half Life 2 - 1680 x 1050 (sometimes doesnt show up as a resolution, but I get it most of the time) everything high

Bioshock - 1440 x 900 - most things medium, a few highs

Need for Speed Pro Street - 1440 x 900 - car stuff high, world off or low (doesnt really matter when it is wizzing by)

CS:S - 1680 x 1050 - everything high

Crysis demo (had to try it out, wasn't too fun for me) - 1440 x 900, everything medium

Gears of War - 1440 x 900, most high, few mediums

Max Payne 2 - 1680 x 1050, everything high (great game by the way, never played the first, but I think i will after playing this)

I use XP SP2 if it makes any difference, all the games are playable to me on those settings, I use fraps to make sure I'm getting 30 fps at all times when first playing the game....

Anyways, I'd recommend this laptop to anyone, I think it is a steal in terms of price and performance, I have 2.4 ghz duo, 2gb ram (have 4 but cant use it) and all the goodies for ~ $1350.00, which I think is amazing.

I'm hoping this laptop is futureproof, although it seems it can't upgrade to penryn as of now, but I'd have no problem paying some money to make that work, and I think the video card will be fine for awhile, and maybe that'll be upgradeable too (its MXM type 2 I think)

Hope some of that helps you in deciding what / when to buy.

-TNK

 

I mean exactly same as IFL90 but with WSXGA screen, i.e. supporting 1680x1050 resolution, although it seems the US already have that screen on the current IFL90, i can only see it in UK with the 1440x900 resolution only. Also supporting the new Penryn chips. so basically everything the same apart from screen and cpu.

@theneighborrkid:

What do you mean the keyboard is a piece of crap? could you explain further?

 

yeah no problem, most of the fn keys flex a lot when u press down on them, although its no big deal for me, and sometimes it seems like the letters get out of order when i type, again, rare and no big deal, unless there is a murderer or burglar in my house, don't need to type to well, and even if tehere (example for you..) was , don't think grammar would be an issue. IMHO, they keyboard should be one of ur smaller concerns, you can get it replaced, and to me, no biggie, so I'm still using the stock one.

-TNK

 

What makes me want to get this is that it will support Penryn and has the higher resolution screen, and for the price you can get this for, it's quite good value. I was mainly concerned with the graphics - being a 8600M GT, is this upgradeable? I mean even if it is, will they produce one that was compatible with the IFL90 without having overheating issues, does the 8700M or 8800M fit in this? or will it just overheat?

I mainly play CS:Source, seems you can play this on max settings then? do you have HDR on when you play this game theneighborrkid? what are the temps like when you play this?

 

You may want to read this thread before thinking that Penryn will work on an IFL-90, most cases point out that it is NOT the situation.

 

I didn't mention it in my earlier replies, i was talking about the FL92, which has practically the same specs as the IFL90... seems they have done something which has allowed Penryn chips to work with the "Revamped IFL90" ?