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    Need help regarding compal pbl21

    Discussion in 'Other Manufacturers' started by paulofeg, Jun 2, 2012.

  1. paulofeg

    paulofeg Notebook Geek

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    I just purchased a compal pbl21 barebones off of ebay and i was wondering how hard is it to find a sandy bridge i7 mobile processor unused or perhaps used and do you think a engineering sample is ok or not?
    I'm also thinking swapping out the opitcal drive for a second hard drive but was wondering if anyone else had done somthing similar?
     
    paulofeg, Jun 2, 2012
    #1
  2. katalin_2003

    katalin_2003 NBR Spectre Super Moderator

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    Finding a CPU for it is not hard, depends which one you want.
    There are a number of sellers on e.Bay selling QS sandy if you wish.

    And swapping the optical drive for a HDD bay is also feasible and easy.

    Btw, how much did you get it for if you don't mind telling?
     
    katalin_2003, Jun 2, 2012
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  3. paulofeg

    paulofeg Notebook Geek

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    If your looking for one they have both the low resolution and 1080p on ebay for sale i got mine for about 350 dollars plus shipping
     
    paulofeg, Jun 2, 2012
    #3
  4. FMruss

    FMruss Notebook Evangelist

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    1080p with the GT 540m is a good deal- an i5-2450 would suit perfectly even for gaming and also a much cheaper way to go. On ebay, Jahir Electronic has an i5-2450m, 8 gb ram, win 7, wifi, and 500gb hdd that can be had for $599 which I think is the better way to go than getting barebones (no cpu, no hdd, no os, no wifi, no memory = worth more than $250). And for the 1080p screen and medium gaming card gt540m-that is the best price cost/price ratio that I see on the web for an intel set-up- not unless you go to the A6- A8 APUs with systems with 768 screen. It is definitely worth it.
     
    FMruss, Jun 6, 2012
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  5. loudgas

    loudgas Notebook Enthusiast

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    I too just picked up one of these (Compal PBL21) off Ebay, 300 + shipping + duty, so it came in around 415 CDN.

    I found an i7-2670QM on kijiji for 120, and the rest of the parts I had.

    So far I find it to be excellent value, very fast, quiet, and a great screen. I do have some concerns though. I wanted to buy a second power adapter but wasn't sure which universal one would be compatible as Compal is not a widely known brand. Any suggestions and/or experience in this would be appreciated.

    Also finding an additional battery that doesn't come in around the price of the laptop :)

    Also, I have been monitoring temps while gaming and noticed both cpu and gpu peak around 80c, is this a normal temp for this class of laptop?

    Btw, mine is the 1920x1080/GT540M 2GB version.

    Thanks
     
    loudgas, Jul 4, 2012
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