To Compal Owners, how's your laptop holding up?

Saw this in another section, so why not make one for here

Rules: Must have owned/used a Compal laptop for at least 6 months.


Since both the HEL80 and HGL30 are still relatively recent.. this pretty much applies to those who bought the DL76, FL30, CL56, etc. Come on guys, I know one of you out there owns at least the CL56 So how has it been for you? screen, hinges, etc..

 

Mwuahahaha! I qualify. I've had my HEL80 for 6 months now, and only had to wait four months to post in this thread.

So far so good. I have had no problems so far after six months of usage.

The screen is still as beautiful as ever. It runs great, and has been very dependable day after day.

I must say that the styling grew on me over time. When I ordered it, I wasn't sure about it (along with the matte screen and fingerprint scanner), but have come to really appreciate the way the HEL80 was put together.

There are other systems out there with higher performance figures, sure, but the HEL80 still stands up pretty well when you consider the overall package and value. I'd say the HP nc8430 is perhaps the HEL80's fiercest competition (but it is more expensive).

Keyboard flex to me is common and does not bother me (I use an external anyways), and the HD sound is minor to me and easily overlooked. For other nitpicks about the system--check my signature for my HEL80 review.

 

i'll check back with you in 1 month

 

i've had my cl56 for more than 2 years now, no problems at all, no dead pixels or any crap like that.

 

lol, has it been 6 months already!? it really does feel like yesterday when the HEL80 was first released.

glad to see that it's been going great for you guys, and thanks for bringing back this thread

 

I've had mine a week and a half. does that count?

 

I've Had mine for six months. So far No Problems. Love the high res screen. Not as pretty as my wifes Dell, But mine spanks hers in performance in every way. The only thing that bugs me is the DVD drive is pretty noisy. Works good just noisy.

 

It can be noisy. But only when it spins up at full speed to install programs from some CDs. I don't hear anything when it's playing movies or games. So if your drive is always noisy, that's not normal.

 

Add that its quiet when burning too (atleast from my experience) It's just that first spin-up that I've ever noticed (right after you add a new cd/dvd to the drive)

 

My CL56's motherboard has gone bad for the second time. Needless to say, I'm not very happy with Compal right now.

 

I have a Compal CL56 since June 2004, it's my unique pc and I use it about 10h a day, no problems, run Win Vista with no problem and fast...

 

I've had my HEL80 about six months now. Besides the minor sound issue that was there in the first place, it's in great condition. I use it moderately heavily. It spends a lot of time in a backpack, but the backpack is well padded.

 

great to hear! looking at your sig, you own a MB too? do you leave that one at home? I'd reckon you'd leave the HEL80 at home and take the MB to go

 

That is my plan. The macbook's a new addition. I got it to replace my old beloved Thinkpad x24, and to familiarize myself with OS X. The HEL80 is still going to go to work with me though three days a week, since I've already got it set up on the domain there and loaded up with software. (Also, the higher resolution is more conducive to doing coding and things.)

 

I've had my FL30 for over a year now and its been holding up great! I use it heavily, sometimes only shutting it down for a total of 12hrs in a week.

My only "gripe" is that i couldn't bootup with the OSx86 installer cd on it. hehehe.

I would get Compal again

 

Welcome to the forums! And welcome to the Compal forum!

I think I would seriously consider another Compal in the future as well.

 

I've had my CL56 for over 3 years now. I've been pretty happy with it. After upgrading the bios it was much better since the wireless would come on at boot. I am having one problem and maybe one of the experts here can help. I recently managed to get an original internal bluetooth module for the CL56. The trouble that I'm having is that I can't get it to turn on. It loaded drivers just like the internal wireless card would however the EZ Button software doesn't recognize it. I know it works cause it will find other devices however it can't be found by other devices. In addition the wireless light doesn't change color like it should. If I could get this to work right I would be very happy. Anyone have any ideas?

 

Hello,

I have my Compal Ft00 (a 14 incher, 8400GS, 2 gb ram, c2d 1,83) for 2 months, and after having and swithing around 10 or more laptops by now, I have no fear in saying this is the greatest I ve ever used.

It runs extremely cool, no noise, actually I can't hear no sound... I love it, it has been intensively used, the only thing I don't get along with is the touchpad. The rest is super. Oh well, the design is also not so... lovely. But I got used to it, and I really love it. It's just great, and as said, it's my best laptop ever after having these:

Gericom Hummer p4 2,5, Acer Aspire 17" P4, HP Ncxxx series Centrino, Toshiba Satellite Centrino, HP dv6000 c2d, Sony Vaio Centrino, and a few others i don't recall now. I love it!

 

My laptop is fine. I still don't like the screen. There is so much static on the screen and it just attracts so much more dust and hair etc than any other laptop screen that I've ever used.

Other than that, it is working quite well and I'm pleased.

 

My El-80 is holding up good so far, had it for a year. No problems so far, still very happy with my purchase .

 

My HGL30 is doing quite well, too Running a 64bit version of Kubuntu and Windows XP, only problem is a dead pixel dead center in the monitor. But I've never had a laptop without a dead pixel, so I don't mind...

 

About seven and so months now, and it was already 2-3 months old when I got it - my EL80 is doing super!

Other than some design issues I've complained about before, it's really doing a great job. It could be a bit quieter but who am I to complain ;-)

So far so good... Underwent complete disassembly, pasting (liquidmetal on cpu + gfx), fixed the flex... hmm.. It's quite good I must say.

I'm working on servicing pc's now, and it's mostly notebooks that I get - I must say currently, seeing other people's machines, I'm quite content with my compal.

Not that I wasn't before, but it confirmed my feelings nonetheless

 

Recently I bought a second-hand HEL81, removed its bluetooth, wireless and modem cards to install less driver and let the system use fewer resources and possibly to have a bit more extended battery life. I'm using it for a week, and I had no problems at all with Windows XP Professional x64 Edition.

 

If a driver is not used, I hardly think that would change battery life etc. Plus, you can turn off the wireless/bt radio with a wireless kill switch. So that would not drain your battery either ;-) I also got mine second hand, it was 2-3 months old. Pretty cool. Enjoy yours