Questions on the 6224w!

I am in the market for a new computer and have decided to make my next one a laptop. Gaming is important to me so I have been extensively researching as many gaming rigs as i can over the past few days. It seems to me the Zepto 6224w fits what i want best out of any notebook i have looked at, but I have a few questions. I am from the US btw.

1. Are there any significant differences between UK keyboards and US keyboards?

2. If you opt to purchase an OS from Zepto with the notebook is it preloaded, and is the UK version of vista significantly different from the US version?

3. I notice a lot of people talking about how the 6224w lacks DVI and HDMI, what realistically does this prevent you from doing?

4. In terms of gaming performance is it worth it to step up from the 1.8 Ghz CPU to 2.0, 2.2 or 2.4 for the associated increase in price?

5. Another notebook I have been looking at is the ASUS G1s. Looking at the specs between them it seems the 6224w has an edge (and that sexy 14" screen), but I am no guru, so I was wondering how more knowledgeable people think they stack up compared to eachother.

6. I don't know much about the company so how are Zepto products quality wise? I notice they use their own RAM in the 6224w, does it perform well?

These last questions are for any Zepto reps, not sure if they are easily answerable, but i figured i would ask just in case.

7. Around how much should I expect to pay in shipping to the US (Pennsylvania specifically if that helps)?

8. Is the customer service/RMA/warranty stuff easy enough to take advantage of if needed given the geographical differences?

9. Why is 667MHz RAM not available as an option (cheaper) when the laptop cannot take advantage of the 800MHz?


Sorry for the long post, I realize I have a lot of questions. Any help is extremely appreciated.

Thanks Again!

FlamingRug

 

1. UK keyboard: Basicly the Alt Gr keys. They are keys you can reach by pressing alt gr and the key at the same time. So the keys have a 3rd funktion.


US keyborad:


2. There is no real differance since you can change the way Windows displays dates and currencies and things under the Windows language options.

3. A DVI or HDMI is need to connect to LCDs with DVI. Many LCDs have vga in but this is analog and the pictuer quality is less. Also many HD TVs only have a HDMI in so you cant use them.

4. Games will not gain much by the faster CPU. I think the 2.0ghz is worth the relativly cheap upgrade because the 2.0ghz also has 4MB cache and the 1.8ghz only 2MB cache.

5. The performance will be similar. It seems the G1s is using 256MB vram but it is gddr3 and might be faster then the Zepto. In real games this performance differance wont be much but you will be able to see it in benchmarks i think.

9. I would like to know that too!

 

Thanks for your help wave! Much appreciated! If anyone else has any more info it would also be appreciated :-D

 

1, I bought a US kayboard of Ebay once by mistake and i didnt like it, i found the at symbol (@) and double quote (") being in the wrong place was very awkward, could never get used to it, so i threw it away in the end.

Yes you can change the buttons in XP and Vista but then the symbols on the button will be the rong way round. you could scratch of the paint on these buttons to avoid confusion.

Most people could probably live with it but I am very hard please.

2, I dont know if Zepto preinstall the OS you will have to ask them, i would guess not.

3, If you plan on pluggin a tv or monitor into the Zepto then check if it has a VGA port. I think nearly all CRT monitors and LCD TVs have a VGA port at the moment but newer TVs and future monitors may not.

I think you will notice very little difference in quality, ive tried myself switching between VGA and DVI on my 32 inch LCD and i cant tell the difference.

4, I agree with Wave that the 2.0ghz is worth the extra money as you get a higher clock speed and twice the cache of the 1.8ghz

I personally wouldnt go any higher than 2.0ghz unless I win the lottery.

5, I would have thought the GFX cards would be the same but with Zepto having twice as much memory, but i havnt looked at the Asus yet.

Either way gaming performance will be pretty much the same.

Asus have a very good reputation for making quality products, I have owned an Asus laptop before and i couldnt fault it.

6, I have never owned a Zepto but ive heard nothing bad about them except for the guy who couldnt get World of warcraft game working.

I can say they are extremely quick at responding to emails (minutes) and are always hovering around these forums helping with peoples problems.

The Zepto brand memory does however scare me a little.
They probably dont make it them selves, its bound to be a cheap no unkown brand.
In the past I have had nothing but problems when purcahsing cheap rebranded memory every time. Now I always by Crucial or OCZ, and the Zepto memory isnt even that cheap.

I will be going with the 1GB option and replacing it with 2 x 1GB DDR2 667mhz sticks of my choice, and ebaying the DDR800 as mentioned by Wave on another thread on this forum

9, I also like to know.

 

just so you get a balanced view, try searching for "zepto overheating" in the search box in the top right hand corner of this web page.

edit: and dont forget this or this

 

Crucial, Micron Technology, Inc & OCZ technologies make their own stuff but major computer manufacturers like computer manufacturers LG, ASUS which have big reputations buy memory chips from china, from one of the biggest manufacturers of chips (Citt Industries ) I don't think companies like Intel & AMD to mention only 2 would settle for second best memory in their products as they are customers too, now even if Zepto buy from here is it any lesser memory than that used in, Intel or AMD products ? NO

Don't be scared

 

Crucial & OCZ do not make their own ram! These enthusiast company buy a batch of ram chips from Samsung (the largest DRAM manufacturer), Hynix, Micron, etc... Then they test the ram quality and have it go through stress test. In the end, the rams are sorted into their quality level.

 

Plz read

http://www.crucial.com/Company/companyinfo.asp

http://www.ocztechnology.com/aboutocz/

 

They do not manufacture it. They buy DRAMs from DRAM manufacturers and then rebrand it according to their quality.

OCZ have less than 100 employees! How can they run a memory module fab? It takes billions of dollars to construct a memory fab. OCZ have $67.8M of sales last year. Not even near Samsung or Hynix running one memory fab.

http://investing.businessweek.com/research/stocks/financials/financials.asp?symbol=OCZ.L

If you have an OCZ memory module, you can look at the chips. It says some other company. Crucial is a sub-division of Micron so you do can say they manufacture its own rams, but it is just doing what OCZ do in terms of their operation (test, and sort them according to quality).

 

Thanks for the help everyone, and thank you for pointing out those threads radditz. They definately make me stop to think about getting a Zepto...especially since I am in the US, any problems and it is going to be a gigantic hassle to get them solved. Anyone have any opinions on whether or nt you feel it would be worth the risk buying a laptop from across the pond without any local support options?

 

Wait for review first. Look back at few page threads regarding video card problems. There are a lot of bad comments for their bad support.

 

just a quick suggestion about the keyboard problem on the australian zepto site you can get a US keyboard so im sure you could order a US keyboard because australia uses the same keyboard as the US version. i have also been looking at this same computer very closely for a while, but i want to wait for asus to launch its 14.1" with a 8600m gpu, hopefully not too long.

 

Yeah I think i am gonna wait for the ASUS A8j santa rosa refresh to see what it's specs will look like too. Main thing is I want the 8600M GT, and so far the 6224w is the only 14" to have it.

 

About the threads about overheating 6214W's; The outer design might be the same on the 6214W and the 6224W, but the interior has been completely redesigned, and this includes the cooling solution.

 

I guess we shall have to see when the 6224 is in mainstream use. It has been reported in this thread that normal temperature is 80C and the highest see was 91C.

Am I the only one concerned when a laptop runs at 80C when not gaming?

 

Was that when it was over clocked at 700Mhz + on GPU core and benching 3Dmark 2006 ? looked like it to me.

I think your statement about a pre production model running at 80C is miss leading. Just a thought