Some comments/questions about the HEL80

Ive owned my for about 2 weeks and installed windows XP Pro....gotta say thanks to XoticPC for this machine and such a low price...a comment on them....they didn't have their regular HEL80 instock so they sent me a Sager model(HEL80 still) and supposedly the same 3 warranty deal(Haven't gotten papers on them yet)....

Anyways they've upgraded me from the glossy 1200x800 screen to the matte WSXGA+ screen for free....and without telling me too....well Im not sure if I should make that a plus or minus....I mean its nice that it works in the sun and that the screen is at a high resolution....but...with the matte screen, playing games at that resolution seems taxing for the video card and I have to end up skewing the picture to play at a decent frame rate...I also watch a bit of movies and honestly I like glossy better, glossy is just more vibrant...don't think im going to bother returning it..too much of a hassle to send the machine out,wait for a new one and reinstall all my software...Ill just deal with skewing and use my desktop for heavy gaming...and for movies the screen is adequate

Specs
Matte WSXGA+ screen
2 GB of RAM
100 GB SATA
T7200


Comments:I like the machine so far, nothing bad to comment on it. Ive tried to use NHC and basically its told me that I rarely ever use more than 2 GB of RAM outside of gaming(only approximately 800 MB when surfing the web and playing music and movies...I can't tell too much of a difference with 7200 RPM compared to my 5200 RPM drive in my desktop...video card is adequate...had some trouble running oblivion in certain places with fps dropping to around 12-13 at medium settings......weight isn't much of a problem to lug this around in my backpack...heat isn't an issue as long as its well ventilated...


-there seems to be a creaking sound if you apply pressure towards the bottom right of the touchpad.....not the touch pad itself but on the bottom right hand side....where it kinda slopes down...

-After 2 full discharges of the battery and leaving my battery connected to the computer....Ive somehow already obtained a 7% wear on my battery according to NHC which is a little suprising

Some questions/stuff I don't know how to do:
-I can't seem to figure out how to get NHC to tell me my CPU temp....even with the core duo fix...

-I can't seem to figure out the media keys on the left side...i mean ive been trying to tie winamp to it...but I can only detect 4 keys and I can't figure out how to switch between the right and left side....

-after leaving my notebook on, my screen shuts down like it supposed to....but when I go back and move the mouse or type something, it doesn't turn back on automatically....I have to close the screen(go into standby mode) and reopen the screen to have it turn back on.

ill add more if I can think of anything else to say....

 

-Chrisyano

The DVD and Audio DJ Buttons on the left tie in WMP and are for the IOMP-(instant on media player[look in the manual)
How to use the DVD and Audio DJ Buttons on the HEL80

I think you need a MS patch(google KB917332) for the standby problem

And congrats on your purchase.

 

Mine said 7% wear the first day I got it; I wouldn't worry about it, I don't think it's all that accurate.
Heh, I just checked again and the wear has apparently gone down to 6% the last couple months.

 

As iza mentioned...don't worry about NHC's battery wear levels. Mine still reads at 0% after 10+ months . There is some discussion as to why these things are not that reliable in the battery guide.

 

Check a couple threads over to have your blank screen / standby issue resolved.