Your opinion on the Compal IFL90

Hello everybody,

I'm new to this great forum and wanted to ask your opinion in the IFL90. I am looking to purchase a 15.4" barebone by OCZ (model OCZNBIS15DIYA) - sorry the forum won't let me post the URL.

After some research I found out that this is a rebrand of the IFL90. My main concern is the 8600gt after reading all the news about the defective nvidia chips.

So I would like to ask the IFL90 owners out there,
Are you happy with this notebook?
Have you ever had any problems with it? in particular the GPU(high temperatures)
How long have you had your notebook for?
And would you recommend it?

I look forward to reading your responses. Thanks

 

i own 3 of them and have never had any issues. when i got them 2 had stuck pixles though. but after getting them replaced i only still have 1 with a single stuck pixel. ive seen a total of 11 and all but 3 had at least one stuck pixel. so if you are as picky as i am.. but after getting them replaced they are great machines. they are just not going to be super great if gaming is what you have in mind. they dont handle heat as well as some others.

 

I am extremely happy with mine, it is quite durable ^^ And I like it's upgradeability potential .
My only problems with it have been a screen that decided to act up but I think it 's more my fault than the panel quality... And after 1 year I've only got 2 heat related shutdown, first was because I didn't put the thermal grease correctly and the other was because I was playing in a room at 100*F and a relatively high humidity, the cooling system got overpowered by the environment ...
When I compare the 8600m GT GDDR2 to the hd3650 that I installed recently I think that the Nvidia card isn't as good as I thought it was... The difference is like night and day. The GDDr2 is seriously holding it back.
I sure has hell would recommend it because it is somewhat cheap for a machine of that level but I never had any real quality issues with it.

 

Thank you zfactor and Ayle for your responses.
I have been looking at this notebook for some time now but have been hesitant to buy it because of all the issues with the nvidia GPUs lately. Your responses will make my decision much easier.

 

It is a great machine, I own it and am very happy with it except with the few things that Ayle and zfactor already mentioned, the screen(yes, I have one dead pixel) and the heat(it does get hot but not too hot, and I'm still on 116BIOS).
Considering all this I would sugest that you should take a look at some Compal's new model with 9600m and Montevina platform. I can see that there is none in OCZ but some other have it and it's no problem in N.America to get it cheap.

 

I bought my 1st laptop in 1995 and I've owned most of the big brand named notebooks. My Compal is probably the best value for the dollar that I've found. I have not had any display or over heating problems yet and I use it daily.
Check out the 1st thread, Compal FAQ, there are sellers listed that can get the new model if you can't get it from OCZ.

 

Mine has been serving me well for 1.25 years. It's a great notebook, and I haven't had any real problems. My screen is perfectly fine (no dead pixels). As for overheating, that's never happened to me except for once when the vent was blocked and Crysis was running. The GPU was fine, but the CPU probably hit 95 (that's when it shuts down). I do, however, wish I had some control over the fan speed, simply because it doesn't do much when I'm doing simple tasks. (The CPU idles in the low 50's, and I know the cooling system can bring it down to the 40's).

So, I like pretty much everything about the notebook, except for the keyboard, GDDR2 VRAM (I'm really considering upgrading to whatever succeeds the 9600 or 3650), the scratch prone lid, and lousy microphones. Other than that, it's an awesome machine. But I do suggest that you try out the newer JHL90 with Montevina and the 9600m GT.

 

Thank you all for your helpful comments. I will seriously consider the JHL90 as many of you have suggested.

 

There is a problem with Compal IFL90.
Its internal microphone will pick up CPU noise when you use it.
So, if Mic isn't something important to you and you are able to use an external mic then the laptop is a good buy.

Compal refused to phase in as it would be expensive to fix such design flaw.
They just claim that the MIC is fine.

 

Cleaning the vents with a can of compressed air helps prevent heating problems.

 

Built in mic is totally worthless. Had 1 weird shutdown. Other than that it's been perfect since august 2007.

And I'm still on v1.0 bios I think.

 

My FL-90 died on me, it starts, but only blank screen of death.. and after 6 seconds it shut off (turn off) automaticaly... :-(

Bought it in 2007..

 

FORMAT C:\ you probably have some trojan/virus that is (are) f***** you system! I've been through this twise.


Otherwise I'm happy with my machine, serving me for 15 months now. I've dropped the laptop on the pavelent from 1,5 meters and it's still FINE! The mic sux, the heat problems - I've reached 100 C with my 8600GT and still ok, it's overclocked now, it's running fine. I also had two shutdowns like Ayle, cause my room temperature was almost like his and the cpu went to 100 when it has to save itself by turning off the laptop. I like the laptop, it price/performance ratio is great!