JHL90 reliable?

So I've been getting lots of recommendations for other notebooks recently, and I still think the JHL90 is a great deal - but is that all I'm getting?

What kinds of problems have you guys had with this laptop? Anything unique, irritating, or strange? Please report your experiences here!

 

I've had no issues with it except for the annoying battery jiggle. There's flex on the back of the LCD panel, but no rippling happens unless I press very, very hard. The touchpad is the best I've used, much smoother and more sensitive than what's on the HP Pavilions. As mentioned above, the 9-cell battery jiggles a little bit in its slot, which bugs me whenever I try to grab it from the back. The battery does not come off easy and I have no fear of it's dropping off for any reason. It's just irritating. But overall the laptop stands up to my student/backpack manhandling very well. I've heard report that the JHL90 screen is dim, but I haven't found that to be the case for my WSXGA+.

The UPEK fingerprint reader and software are very cool and handy, but the rest of the provided Compal specialized software (like WoW Audio/Video, Program DJ, etc.) suck imo. Green Charger is useful, but the ugly UI and the grammatical errors throw me off.

 

I agree with archer7.. a great notebook!

As archer stated one of the most annoying things is the battery jiggle yet you get used to it. It is very securly fastened and will not come out even under strain. I found the keyboard was a bit... cheap feeling because in the corners you can press down and make the corner of the keyboard move. If you get one I RECOMMEND THE 1680x1050 resolution it is quite nice.

You should also know it gets quite hot... it idles at 60°C and can get up to 90°C after an hour of gaming... unfortunately that is just the way it is. If you plan on doing some heavy gaming then perhaps a cooling pad would be a good investment. I have also bought a vx nano mouse which I find much more satisfying than the touchpad... though as archer said it is a pretty decent touchpad.

 

not so much gaming as I will be video-editing and other things... that should make it hot too I guess.

 

The 60-degree idle temp sounds kinda high, but the JHL90 just seems to have been designed that way. The machine is absolutely silent at that temperature. As for where it tops out, the ambience has a lot to do with it. On a moderately cold day, I max out under 85 degrees after 7 hours of Oblivion. On a warm day, I hit 90 easily. The cooling could definitely be better, but it's not horrible. A cooling pad might be a good idea, as splashpants said. Just make sure the fans line up.

 

for video editing I don't believe it is as intense as gaming. Video editing is not as constant a strain on the GPU as a game would be.

 

perfect machine...........
if you want video editing get 7200 rbm hard drive+wsxga screen.
try to get good deal....all sellers are great go with the cheapest.

 

i agree with all.
-The temps can get up to 95C while gaming. But if not its just a little bit worm. And then it lowers by itself
-Battery jiggling and its big so it makes the laptop a little bigger. But the life is preety good. You should get between 3 and 4hours.
-USB ports suck: you just have 3 and all cramped in the same place. I also got about 3BSOD while conecting the cooler pad and mouse (logitech G9 =D ). But maybe its my peripherals fault.

That things are pretty much the ones that bother me.

I havent tried the fingerprint reader... i dont know what software to use XD

 

check out compal.com and look for their drivers... the touchpad driver is bundled with the software.

and you got 3 bsod's when connecting usb peripherals??? are you running the latest chipset drivers??