Trying to figure out which computer to get.

Hello,

I am struggling to figure out which mobile computer is best for me. I am considering getting the Velocity Micro L80x Ultra from Best Buy, this computer is really a Compal (I think it is an HEL 80) with the following specs:
* Intel® Core™ 2 Duo processor T7200, dual 2.0GHz cores, 2MB L2 Cache
* 256MB NVIDIA® GeForce™
Go 7600GS
* 2048MB Corsair™ PC5300 DDR2 SODIMM memory
* 100GB Seagate® 7,200RPM hard drive, 8MB cache
* 8x Dual Layer DVD-RW
/CD-RW/DVD-ROM Combo Drive
Price: $1,999

I am comparing this to the Asus A8JS which looks to be a really super machine here are the specs for the Asus A8JS:
* Intel Core 2 Duo T7200 2GHz, FSB: 667MHz, 4MB L2 Cache
* nVidia Go7700 512MB Discrete Memory
* 1GB RAM, DDR2 667MHz (1x1GB)
* 100GB 5400RPM 2.5-inch SATA Harddrive
* 8x DVD-RW Dual Layer Drive
* Intel PRO 3945 Wireless 802.11a/b/g
* 8-in-1 Card Reader (SD/MMC/MS/MS Pro/XD)
* Gigabit LAN, DVI, VGA, S-Video, Firewire, 5 USB ports, Infrared
* 19mm Full Size Keyboard
* 13.18” x 9.64” x 1.37”~1.46”, 5.25 lbs
Price: $1,598.99

I really like both systems. The A8JS seems to perform much better and has dedicated 512mb for graphics which is not the most important thing for me since I am a programmer. This computer will be used mostly for Java J2EE and Dot Net development not games. I would have to get another 1gb for the Asus if that is the system I choose which brings the price to around $1,740 and I would probably opt for a faster drive but not too sure since I don't really know the difference between 5400rpm and 7200rpm in laptops I assume it is a dramatic difference. I currently run a 10K Raptor drive and AMD X2 Dual Core with 3 gb of OCZ ram for my development desktop which I built myself and yes it has an Asus MOBO which I do love.

I do like the larger screen of the L80x (HEL80) but 1 inch really won't matter that much. I have no idea which is better matte or glossy the L80x is only offered with matte. One thing is I absolutely hate glare and I will be looking at the screen for hours on end.

Does anyone have any ideas to break the tie I haven't used either the ASUS or Compal notebooks? I will say that I am a stickler for quality and as far as I am concerned that is a big deal for me but both systems seem to be around the same quality from reviews I have read.

 

You can get a better price than that on a HEL80 if you look around a bit.

Which screen on the HEL80 are you looking at? If it's WXGA then I'd recommend you get the 14.1" WXGA+. If you want WSXGA+, the HEL80's matte is a wonderful screen. I love my matte screen and previously had a glossy. I feel like the matte is better for eye strain and lack of glare/reflections.

Upgrading the RAM on the Asus may void the warranty--I recommend you look into that. A 7200 RPM HD is a nice upgrade--but not entirely necessary.

Both are quality systems--you can't really go wrong either way.

 

Thanks I am looking actually at the HEL 80 from PowerNotebooks they have a great warranty and for the same price as Best Buy I can get a slightly faster processor. I am looking at getting the Matte screen and I would want the 1680 x 1050 res. Did you notice a performance difference with the 7200 rpm drive?

 

You can probably do better than 1999.. you should CALL PowerNotebooks. Many have stressed that they weren't disappointed. When you say best buy has the same price.. you mean specs vs. specs, not that they have the Hel80 right. Got a link to what you're comparing? Specs aren't the only factor that should matter as the 3 year Warranty, Support staff and build quality at PN is top notch. I would also stay with the Hel80 for the matte screen, because glare is annoying to me when working on graphics applications. The A8js is really sweet too, but I would only buy it if I could assure an extra matte coating would work for me. I guess I'm just sensitive to reflection though.. maybe it wouldnt' be a big deal for you

 

Those who have used both speeds side by side say they notice the difference. If price is not really an issue for you--go with the 7200 RPM HD. Seek/access times will be a little snappier. But if the extra cost is prohibitive and you don't mind waiting a little longer to open files, etc. the 5400 RPM will be fine as well.

There's a long thread on the topic here:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=59053

 

JimyTheAssasin Best Buy actually has a Velocity Micro laptop that is built on the Hel80 laptop just not called the HEL80 it has its own model number but basically the same machine. I agree that PowerNotebooks will be better to buy from so I am focusing on them if I choose the HEL80 and I am leaning towards getting that machine if only for the 3 year warranty and since PowerNotebooks gets great reviews build quality is absolutely the most important thing as long as the Laptop can also serve its purpose performance wise. Thanks for you input I posted because I am truly conflicted and this is a great expense for me so I want to make sure I choose wisely and that the machine will last me at least through the Vista years. The matte screen does look better to me also I hate glare as I sometimes program for 6 hours at a time at home as well as 8 hours at work and I have got used to LCD screens that have very low glare.

Chrisyano thanks for that information on the hard drives I do mostly Java programming and there are sometimes hundres or thousands of files that need to be processed and so hd speed is very critical for me so thanks this does help a lot.

 

http://www.bestbuy.com/site//olspage.jsp?id=pcmcat103700050034&type=category
Ya..that's it.. I'm flabbergasted! I can actually see the HEL80 in person.. this is on my to do list now!


p.s. Does anyone see the graphics spec as ODD? I have a hard time believing it. 7600 GS..GDDR3! does that even exist? http://www.nvidia.com/page/go_7600.html

 

I'd highly recommend the 7200RPM drive since you're a developer, like you noted.

Also as a developer, I'd go with the 1680x1050 LCD. Don't even bother with a 14". You'll thank yourself later when you want to see more code on the screen at one time, or compare code between files, etc. I'd also say you should get a secondary monitor. It's a lifesaver, especially for a developer. Span the displays and you can get some real work done fast, no more alt-tabbing between windows.

 

JimmyTheAssasin I also think that graphics card spec is odd I know that there is a Galaxy GeoForce 7600 GS but I have never heard of the GeoForce 7600 Go GS. I think that this may be a mistake. And yes if I do buy this machine I will absolutely get the 1680x1050 matte display I was told by Donald Stratton from PowerNotebooks.com that the display is excellent and it seems to be from the images in the review on this site so that is what I am planning on getting. I want to buy this machine more because I like Donald Stratton because he spent the time with me over the phone discussing the features and his experience with the HEL80 and I thought that was an amazing experience, imagine someone who actually knows what they are talking about from the inside out selling computers and backing their machines up with an excellent warranty I don't think I can get that from Best Buy. I will also definately get a 7200rpm drive.

 

Congratulations! You'll love your new system.

Many retailers get the specs wrong on their GPUs. It's the Geforce go 7600 in the HEL80. It's the only GPU Compal puts in the system.

 

No why why???? The HEL80 doesn't have a DVI output I missed that when I read the initial reviews. Why this is so common it has VGA just not DVI but DVI is awesome there is a big difference at least with my 23 inch LCD I have tried both ports with a desktop. Does anyone know if there is any option for this with the HEL 80? I have yet to try SVideo with my LCD maybe that will be close to DVI, has anyone tried this?

 

DVI is unfortunately quite rare in notebooks under 17". The general concensus is that the normal user wouldn't really notice the difference in quality when using VGA on their external monitors.

I agree, it would be nice to have on the HEL80.

 

I am toying with the idea of building my own system and just getting the barebones HEL80. Has anyone ever built one of these systems and if so what has been your experience in doing so? I figure I can save around $200 maybe a little more building it myself (I wish Windows XP Prof didn't cost so much ugh and I am having trouble finding this OS boxed with a free upgrade to Vista I can find it only for the multiple license versions (3 or more) and the Win XP prof 64bit version. Also can anyone recommend a trusted source for the barebones Compal HEL 80 preferably in the US? I am very depressed about the DVI-D not being standard on this system but I guess I can live with it since the matte screen looks so good anyways it is just depressing since I spent a good deal of money on my 23inch LCD and like to get the most from it.

 

Chrisyano have you used or seen the A8JS screen to compare?

 

Are you using left over parts to save around $200?? I was thinking of building my own. So I sorted all the parts and in the end, I would only be saving $15. IMO not worth the time, effort, and troubleshooting for $15. Also, if you build you have warranty periods that range from 1-3yrs.

 

Pie no I am not planning on using left over parts. I was quoted a price of $1900 dollars, it actually is a little less than that but with shipping it will be very very close to $1900. And if I went for that price I could hold my head up high as it is reasonable. I found that I could buy a barebones systems and the breakdown goes like this:

1) CORSAIR ValueSelect 2GB (2 x 1GB) 200-Pin DDR2 SO-DIMM DDR2 667 (PC2 5300) Dual Channel Kit Notebook Memory - Retail $204.99

2) HITACHI Travelstar 7K100 HTS721010G9SA00 (0A25016) 100GB 7200 RPM 8MB Cache Serial ATA150 Notebook Hard Drive - OEM 149.99

3) Intel Core 2 Duo T7200 Merom 2.0GHz 4M sharing L2 Cache Socket M Processor - Retail $295.99

4) Hel80 Barebones system with the following:
15.4" WSXGA "Matte" Screen (1680x1050) HEL80 (I believe this also comes with the NVidia 7600 Go 256mb Graphics Card I am waiting for the reply to this question from the vendor)
Combo Dual Layer SuperMulti 8X DVDRW Drive w/ Software
Built-in Intel® PRO/Wireless 3945 802.11a/b/g
$855

5) I figure $40 shipping an handling for everything and Windows XP Pro $150.

Total: 855 + 295.99 + 149.99 + 204.99 + 190 = 1695.97

 

By my calculations when I've looked into this matter in the past--it came out to be $100 or less in difference between barebones and professionally built. If you are comfortable doing it--then I say go for it. I think RJtech.com has a good price on the barebones. Check resellerratings.com if you are unsure about any resellers.

The reasons I don't recommend building your own HEL80 are as follows: 1) You need to make sure the parts you get are all compatible with each other 2) You don't have a comprehensive warranty covering the whole system like the PowerPro warranty which is 3 years with next-business-day shipping covered 3) You need to worry about assembling everything correctly (shouldn't be too hard) rather than getting a professionally assembled and tested unit.

I'd pay an extra $100+ for that, but that's just me.

The Asus A8Js has only just been released. I haven't seen one in person. The WSXGA+ matte on the HEL80 is definitely superb though.

That wouldn't be a bad price at all. There's a thread here logging the assembly of a HGL30.

 

I agree with chrisyano, the coverage is well worth it, especially the service provided by powernotebooks.com, I've talked to Ron, and couldn't be happier with their line of service.

If you want DVI and Matte with the higher resolution on a 15.4" system, the only one I can think of is the HP nc8430 with docking station (DVI is on the station). However, that will bring the bill to near ~1800.00 and if you need express card slot you need to go to the advance docking station and that would be around ~1900.00, but it doesn't have a 7200rpm drive only 5400 and only 1gig ram. If you want those, the total would be ~$2200.00 (ram/HDD would be self install).

Personally, I do like the HEL80 for the price and features, the screen is great if you can handle small fonts and the warranty is awesome, if you get from powernotebooks.

 

I unfortunately will have to live without DVI if I want a matte display and I may have to live without it simply because the cost of the systems that have it are in my opinion over the top except for the A8JS. I think I can live without it I just feel that it is silly not to have a digital output and even a digital output over an analog one. I would think that the extra digital to analog converter electronics would create more heat and require more energy. I think that the lack of DVI is simply because a lot of business users and home users have CRT displays still but I think that the numbers that have DVI capable LCD panels is growing and will be predominant very very soon as CRT's and older LCD Panels get replaced. I was also looking at the Asus 96J which is also a nice computer with a great graphics card and the right resolution for my needs except I believe it has a glossy screen so it really comes down to glossy versus matte, build quality and weight. Does anyone have an opinion on the Asus 96J?

 

Yes, it has the glossy screen. By what I hear the HEL80 is better built and quality.

 

Hello everyone thanks for all your input I have indeed decided to by the HEL80 over the Asus A8JS. I am very very excited can't wait to get it.

 

Congratulations on making your decision!

 

Thanks a lot Chris I also appreciate the link and review. I am also getting my computer from PowerNotebooks I also liked XOTIC PC a lot they were also excellent. I ordered it today and did the wire transfer which honestly makes me nervous but I understand that it does help PNB a lot to know they have the cash before building. I received my email that they received it so hopefully in 10 days or so I will have it. They gave me the arctic silver and they gave me 2nd day shipping upgrade which I thought were nice touches. I sold my desktop and 23inch screen so that I can't be disappointed about the DVI-D. Also I doubt I will use them enough for it to make sense not to make some money while I can before it is outdated. This will defer the cost of the laptop by more than half I paid a little under $1840 and I could have built it for around $1690 but I also feel that is too little margin $150 to make sense not to get the 3 year warranty.

 

Hello I just got my PowerNotebooks PowerPro L 8:15. I have two questions is there any type of adjustment to increase screen brightness? I have tried the FN + F5 key and I am at the max. Has anyone had any issues with getting the OmniPass software to recognize your fingerprint? One observation for Compal in the future would be to make edges rounded that is the correct design so as not to hurt the wrist. The keyboard does have a lot of flex on the left side of the keyboard if you are looking at the screen, however it doesn't bother me at all. The keyboard is wonderful for typing I like this part of the laptop other than the left edge of the case where I rest my left wrist. The matte screen is wonderful but needs to be just two clicks brighter I am going to use the computer a lot over the next two days to make sure I can live with the current brightness. The computer is wonderfully fast and is running all my Java development software very quickly as fast if not fast than my AMD X2 desktop with 3 gigs of OCz ram and a 10Krpm drive.

 

I usually use 3 or 4 levels above minimum when on AC power, and the lowest setting on battery. It's sufficient for me.

The OmniPass can be a little tricky until you get the feel for how it wants you to swipe your finger. With practice, it will get easier.

I actually like the contour of the wrist rests, and am also not bothered by the keyboard flex--I don't notice it when typing.

 

If you have problems with the wrist contour, your laptop is a bit high for ergonomic use and the greatest sloping keyboard in the world would still get to be uncomfortable.

 

Yes the laptop is a little high right now I am getting an adjustable tray to put it on and that will help out some. I have used other latops at this height however and they really didn't bother me at all. I don't think this is a real big deal the brightness maybe a little harder for me to overcome. The computer is excellent I must say and very fast and not loud or too hot a little heat but I expected that. PNB sent me the correct configuration in the timeframe they said I would get it.

I see there are graphics card brightness and digital vibrance controls I increased the digital vibrance up a little and it is a little brighter, the brightness and contrast just bleach out the image.

Has anyone noticed/observed that the right side of the screen is a good deal brighter than the left? The right side of my screen is very bright nearly perfect the left side is pretty dark in comparison I wonder if the screen just needs to break in or something. I think that the screen simply needs to burn in a lot of people think that this doesn't happen but I have an LCD screen downstairs that took two days before it reached full brightness (or where I couldn't tell it was any different). It appears that the right side of this screen is brighter and so I will leave it on tonight and see if it is more evenly lit in the morning.

 

Could it be the angle you're looking at the screen from? I haven't heard anyone else mention that particular issue and mine was fine right out of the box.

 

Chris I am checking this by looking straight ahead and then just looking at different parts of the screen and the right is brighter in fact it just the perfect brightness for me. I sent an email to Donald at PNB and he said if it didn't clear up they would help me with it. If I lower the brightness using the F4 key then you can very cleary see the difference I won't say it 's dramatic but it is very noticeable. It could be the lighting in the room I am using it I will be taking this to work tomorrow and using it on the train and at work maybe it will be different with differing lighting conditions. This is a great notebook though I gotta tell you I think Donald, PNB and the computer are wonderful. I can't wait to get a usable set of prints for the OmniPass I keep on trying . Yea I haven't seen any other posts maybe it is just me and my eyes are picking up something that is barely perceptable to most. Also my computer is working perfectly in every other way, it comes out of sleep mode fine without issues. I don't hear any noise whatsoever from the headphones or the speakers and I spent a good hour trying to find it after I got out of sleep mode. The keyboard is great and the flex has no impact on my typing.

I got the OmniPass to work hopefully I will remember how I did it tomorrow

 

That doesn't sound normal, unless there's some sort of unique lighting that you have. Donald will take care of you if there's a problem though.

OmniPass can be tricky at first. Hang in there and you'll get it .

 

Chris I got a usable set of prints and I am convinced that the computer just needs to have some voltage running through it for a little while and for the user of the fingerprint reader to simply rub the sensor a bit maybe there is a thin film from manufacture that initially makes it difficult but I got it working wonderful for two fingers and it works every time now. Maybe I am just rubbing the sensor correctly now who knows but I love the OmniPass and the fingerprint reader I have things locked up tight The screen is still dim on one side even at work so I don't think it is the lighting other people can see it I got a few different opinions it takes a few seconds to notice the difference only because initially it appears to be an angle thing but if you look at it carefully you can clearly see a reqion where the brightness is different. The cool thing is even though it is a little dim to my liking I have noticed that I don't get a headache from using the computer. My wife has a Toshiba with a very nice glossy screen but I get a headache after using it for around an hour, I think this is from the glare. If you dim the Toshiba screen it looks awful if you dim the Compal screen it looks pretty decent still.

 

Chris, I took a look at your review to see what your screen brightness looked to me and I think that your brightness is much greater than what I am seeing. Basically your 4/7 brightness looks like my full brightness.

 

Since this LCD is lit from the corners in, perhaps one of the corner light sources is not working on your notebook.

Also my photos were taken in the dark (if I remember correctly), so that does eliminate any lighting interference.

 

Chris I got a usable set of prints and I am convinced that the computer just needs to have some voltage running through it for a little while and for the user of the fingerprint reader to simply rub the sensor a bit maybe there is a thin film from manufacture that initially makes it difficult but I got it working wonderful for two fingers and it works every time now.


^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Now THAT... ladies and gentlemen.. is a long friggin sentence!

 

Good call Chrisyano I do think that is the case. I think it is working but not at full brightness. I sent pictures to PNB and I am confident they can help me. Thanks a lot for the critique of my extra long sentence Pyro9219 I feel like a school child once again Pyro how is your screen for brightness and do you have a region that is brighter than the rest of the screen?

 

My screen is beautiful... I will comment that I originally had cold zones in each corner when I got it.. but after about a week they left... (This wasn't new to me, I was expecting it)

Just to help you out.. I always "use" my laptop at the lowest brightness, but I play games and fullscreen video at full brightness because it helps the colors saturate much better.

I also normally dont have much lighting at home though, at work in the lab I used the 3rd from lowest.. and in my cube (almost forgot I've got one!) I use it one from brightest..

Could you find a way to share those screen shots here for us? I'd just be interested to see how your screen looks.

 

I took a few pictures with my digital camera to show PNB at their request it is very difficult to see with these pictures but I will post anyways. In person it is far more dramatic and I have showed the screen to 5 people and they can see it very easily. Also these were taken at max brightness unless there is a setting I am unaware of.

 

Here are two more. Maybe I am too picky and I realize on picture is at a slight angle from the previous batch but that only makes a small difference. You can see the deviation best by looking at the difference in the blue background and the upper left corner of the screen. Also it is a little harder to tell the difference over the last day it was more obvious when I first go the computer even my wife was like what's wrong with that. Does it appear to have the same brightness as yours? If I dim mine it gets dark enough that I can't read text very well but I must admit the differences in the brightness scale are very small in comparison to what I have seen on other laptops I have used. I wonder if the lamps simply have a coating that needs to burn off or something like that. I want to give it more time but I am fearful that I will run past my 15 day trial, although if this is something that is a big problem I will most likely try to downgrade to a 1280x800 screen instead of totally returning it.

 

Ok, a few notes... First off.. dont give up on the Matte that easily.. What I can see are called "cold zones" in the corners, which if you notice I mentioned I had... It does take time to burn that in. Mine was less dramatic then yours, but it was there.. All LCD's have hot/cold zones when they are new, some just burn in faster then others, and a few never fully burn in..

Part of the reason powernotebooks.com holds you notebook for burn-in is to avoid these kind of little quirks (all hardware needs burn in time). As for your 15 days, I think you just need to get the RMA number within that time if you seriously can't wait or dont want the matte. If however, this is a "serious" problem aka malfunctioning screen, I would think that its covered for the full 1->3 year warranty that comes with your system. Donald can work with you on that, since I know LCD's are a little quirky in that area.

If you really want to think crazy... I remember when dual scan LCD's came out (before active matrix or anything else decent) and the majority of the notebooks life was spent with uneven lighting and seperate refresh rates on the left and right, so your display could actually be slightly out of sync.. fun times!

Like I said though, all I see are cold zones on your screen from the photo's you provided, give it a little time...

Try running this for maybe 15 minutes at the each brightness level...
http://www.jscreenfix.com/#JScreenFix
(this is used for stuck pixels, but the point is to work your LCD hard)

 

Well the good thing is that you've already started talking to Donald. But since it seems to be getting better, I think it will get better as pyro has gone through the same thing as you. Let it burn in and see if it goes away.

I wouldn't worry about 15-days either. I believe PNB gives you a 30-day return period, but you also have a 3-year warranty so don't forget about that.

 

Oh don't get me wrong I am definately going to try and I am confident will work this out with PNB. I was listing all my options. I am trying the 15 minutes per brightness level now. The camera images are a little on the difficult side to see exactly what I see but the fact that you can see that the corners aren't lit as well is good, the camera tends to "fix" the image and it evens poor lighting. If you could see it in person the light is dim all the way down the side.

 

Hopefully that will help even the lighting a little faster if it truly does need to burn in..

I just used that program to fix a hotzone on an older LCD I've got that had burned in an image.

 

Pyro I tried the application I ran it at every brightness level but it didn't fix the issue. I am sending it back to PNB for them to look at they sent me an RMA. I am very unhappy but it is not PNB's fault they have been very good. I am very nervous that the contrast and brightness are just going to be too dim after seeing some images posted by Justin comparing the Hel80 Matte screen with the Asus Z96. I think they must be compared within a lit room as that is the normal for most laptop users and in a lit room the Z96 looked much closer to the way I expected the Hel80 to look. I am thinking that maybe I should return for an Asus model do you have any experience with any of the Asus screens have you seen them in person? Also could you send me a picture of your HEL80 screen in a lit environment so I could compare. The balance of light is one issue but ultimately it is the contrast between text and background that MUST be easily distinguishable for the work that I do. Also I was considering getting the 1280x800 resolution glossy screen but honestly the compal version of this doesn't look very comparable to the Asus A8JS or Z96 it looks far to reflective. Since I have purchased the HEL80 I have had a chance to check out Asus A8JS screen and it is honestly very bright, not very reflective and had good contrast for text.

 

The only camera I have is built into my sony cellphone, and it wouldn't help you at all..

The pictures in this review are identical to how my screen looks at full brightness from my cube at Intel (best lit place I ever go... ggrrrr lights! )

http://www.notebookreview.com/default.asp?newsID=3060&review=Compal
(I chose this review for the colors..)

Chrisyano's review also has very good shots that I feel are accurate and he even lists the brightness from his screenshots..

My eyes are fairly light sensitive, so to me the darker screens are best because I get headaches from this and most other screens above half brightness. As I've said, gaming and full screen video's are all I use anything but the lowest for any lit environment. For reading pdf technical papers, web browsing, IM's, software development.. anything.. I use the lowest.. I also personally made the decision to buy the Matte screen because I'd say 70% of my time I'm coding or reading documentation/websites, and I really like the extra crisp display that the matte gives.

I think you just got a bum deal for a screen.. I'm suspecting its the backlight which powernotebooks may be capable of just replacing and sending back your system. Otherwise, looks like you get a new screen..

The colors at higher brightness settings are much better (true for any screen), plus, you can force a little more color out of the screen playing with the digital vibrance setting.

 

Something i will say I can "see", but I know its an optical illusion...

The center of where I'm looking is visually brighter then the surrounding area, if I move my head around so other parts of the screen are the main focus in front of my face, the "bright spot" shifts to.. At max brightness I dont get this effect.

Thats just the LCD technology though, traditional style LCD's are the exact opposite..

Also remember there are "glossy films" you can get for LCD's to make Matte screens glossy, or vise versa.. They are non-perminent, and fairly inexpensive. I've thought of buying one for turning this screen glossy while gaming or video's, but I've been so happy with the screen I've sort of lost interest. (I have something more perminent on my desktop LCD to make that matte screen glossy because I use that screen for watching movies or TV, does the trick perfectly, makes for a better screen then my flat-CRT beside it) One advantage I found with the thing on my desktop screen is that it makes the lighting perfectly even since it traps the light into a prism above the screen. Colors are more vibrant, while keeping the sharpness that LCD's are great for. Again, why I went with this matte screen. I personally didn't feel any of the glossy screens I've looked at (even the HEL80's) were as sharp for text.

 

Okay the review screen looks way way brighter than mine that makes me feel much better because I know that the build quality and angles of viewing for this computer are excellent. I am also a programmer and get headaches from displays that are too bright since I stare at the screen ALL DAY AND NIGHT LIKE TONIGHT. I really wanted the matte for the crisp display myself. What development environment do you use? I use Visual Studio and IBM RAD and the thing that worried me was that the text is very very light and blends a little into the background (not really just the effect you get with your eyes). I tried to lower the brightness but that doesn't correct the contrast difference or lack thereof. Okay hopefully I will know by early next week if it is simply a lamp in the screen that has failed or is emitting a lot less light than it should. Also at max brightness I still do get that effect that you mentioned where the center of viewing is brighter, but the right of the screen is much brighter so the effect is totally not their on that side and I can read text fairly well on that side. Where can I get the non-perminent glossy coatings, any recommendations would be appreciated. I also like this computer because I will be putting Linux on it (Ubuntu also) and I know this computer will run it without an issue. Asus scares me because people have a wild array of issues and dealing with Asus seem to be a real pain. Dealing with PNB is very pleasant. This was the link that scared the hell out of me http://forum.notebookreview.com/archive/index.php?t-65819.html. The first picture of the HEL80 listed shows a screen that looks like the left half of my screen all the time in any light (dim and muddy) but your pictures in your review are extremely bright.

Thanks

 

I've used command line Basic, Visual Basic(before VS), CodeWarrior, Visual Studio(all versions), probably half a dozen python IDE's (currently like SPE).. uhh.. plain text editors with and without color syntaxing(ASM/scripted languages)... probably half a dozen html editors.. I've used HDL editors that use pure algebra with basically nothing that resembles a language.. HDL editors that use propietary languages, and HDL editors that use python.. I've used the a few "code blocks" style programming applications that I thought were so stupid I don't even remember the names.

I dont have any problems with contrast for text on this screen, but the text is crisper with the matte when side by side to the hel80 with glossy. Make sure to enable "Standard" Font smoothing, and not None, or cleartype... That might have been the missing feature, or it could be from a malfunctioning backlight/screen.

As for the coating.. the one I was looking at and posted on a few threads about when making my buying decision was this one:
http://shinza.com/product_info.php?products_id=50

 

I'd say post #24 of that thread is what you need to be looking at. The first series of photos are unintentionally biased in favor of the Z96J's screen.

 

Chrisyano, yes I read the whole thread but the first pictures look exactly like my screen as far as brightness all the time in any light. I did send my laptop back to Donald. He is a wonderful person really very intelligent and just excellent I wish more people in this business were like that. Anyways they are going to take a look at it I will update this thread when they get back to me. I have my fingers crossed that it will be much brighter and hopefully improve the contrast of the display. I am actually hoping that the lamps failed because the computer is awesome in all other ways. I tried using the screen for about four hours last night and when I looked away from the display I literally was straining so hard that I couldn't see much of anything for around 5 minutes freaked me out. If the worst should happen and it is just that my eyesight stinks what should I do? I would value some opinions on the worst case scenario.

 

What should you do if your eye site stinks? Write less run-on sentences!

Other then that, there are filters you can buy (I'll let you do the search) for enhancing contrast that you could give a shot... they normally are also linked to privacy filters.. Same kind of stuff I was talking about with the Matte vs Glossy... they make filters for just about anything..