Buildilng Clevo M570U from scratch

As you may already be aware, I am keenly interested in the Clevo M570U and am trying to figure out all of my options for acquiring one.

I am looking to buy the whitebook, and then install all the rest of the hardware myself.
Here is the parts list so far:
1) Whitebook (WUXGA w/ nVidia 7950 GTX)
2) Processor: T7200 Core 2 Duo 2.0 Ghz w/ Arctic Silver
3) RAM: 2 x 1Gb Corsair Value Select PC2 5300
4) HDD: 100Gb Seagate Momentus SATA 7200 RPM
5) Optical: 8x DVD +/- RW DL (included with whitebook)
6) Network Adapter: Intergrated GBLan (included with whitebook)
7) WLAN / Bluetooth: ????????
8) TV Tuner: ???????
9) OS: Windows Vista 32-bit

Let me boil this post down to my questions:

1) Anybody see any problems/have any suggestions about the hardware I have listed?
2) Where can I buy the WLAN/Bluetooth combo and TV Tuner hardware for this laptop? I see that R&J has them listed as options to purchase, but I am not sure if they use name brand or generic stuff. I want to stick with good quality name brands.
3) How hard is it to install the TV Tuner yourself? Anyone have experience with this?
4) Any good online sellers you know about other than Newegg?
5) Am I missing any sweet hardware options (other than dual HDDs)? I want to have this thing pimped out.

Thanks again for the help guys!

 

If you plan on building a notebook, I would recommend to get the following with your barebones (since they are not worth finding cheaper yourself):
- good LCD panel
- Video Card (duh)
- Optical Drive
- (optional) TV Tuner
- (optional) Wifi Card w/ or w/o Bluetooth

The rest is easy to find, all at Newegg, Zipzoomfly, Clubit, etc...

As for your questions:
1) hardware specs seems top notch
2) you will be looking for a mini-PCIe (NOT mini-PCI) wifi card, go for the Intel one that is optional, unless if you have a different preference
3) TV Tuner is as easy as the Wifi card
4) i just named them: Newegg, Zipzoomfly, Clubit, etc...
5) no your specs look good, do not got for the dual HDD, since you will lose your optical drive bay. I would recommend to get an external 2.5" HDD (make it yourself) if you want more storage, as well as to save more money.

 

lol. I don't know if I have a different preference for the wifi card. I know next to nothing about wifi other than that's how I'll get the net, and I want bluetooth built in as well. Is there a superior wifi card, or is the default R&J intel card the "best"?

In regards to a TV tuner, is there a superior brand for an internal TV tuner card, or is the R&J cream of the crop?

Thanks for your input Gophn.

 

The Intel 3945ABG card is probably the best [or should i say, mostly configured] 54g wifi card for the current Core 2 Duo notebooks. I do not think that it was bluetooth built-in though. I forgot if the bluetooth module was part of the wifi card or a separate internal USB module [for that particular Clevo M570U model]. You should contact RJtech before ordering to get your answers. Although I am leaning towards an internal USB module for the bluetooth. (so order the notebook with Bluetooth if you want it)

I know that my Clevo D900K can use a mini-PCI wifi+bluetooth combo card (by MSI).

You should also ask RJtech about which card they would put in, I would recommend to get a MCE-compatible card, so that it can be used with Media Center (in both XP or Vista). It should be a standard mini-PCI card. I did not get a MCE-compatible card with mine, but it didnt matter, I never really seemed to watch too much TV on my notebook.

 

Just for completion, I found the TV Tuner model numbers listed in the Clevo M570U users manual (available for download off of R&J). As per the user manual, these are the default choices that can come configured with this laptop.

1. Lifeview FlyDVB-T Hybrid Mini-PCI Tuner Module
- for both analog and digital inputs
- comes with remote control

2. Yuan PVR MPC622-MCE TV Tuner
- compatible with Media Center Edition
- comes with remote control
- must use Cyberlink Power DVD 5.0 to watch TV

 

go for the MCE TV Tuner, true that it costs a bit more, but its going to more "future-proof".

 

for what it's worth, the FlyDVB-T might be more future proof when looking towards vista, it is supposed to work natively with the MCE that ships with Vista Ultimate and Home Premier or whatever.

 

if thats true, then I would go for that.

 

The lifeview works fine in vista as a DVB-T tuner in windows media center. I don't know if it works with analogue or not in vista BUT from what I remember if your in the USA you don't use DVB-T?

Steve

 

dont get the intel wifi card get any other one

either the gigabyte or the atheros.

 

Can you give a reason for this? I've not seen any complaints about the intel wifi card in the clevos, and mine has been working wonderfully since august...

 

I'm seriously thinking about ordering a M570U barebones (also from RJTech) and have about the same parts list as you...

T7200, 100GB Seagate 7200rpm, Intel Wireless, undecided on Bluetooth and TV Tuner right now. I already have a Bluetooth USB dongle that came with my Logitech Dinovo Edge keyboard.

I'm leaning towards the WSXGA+ glossy screen. I have a two year old Sager 9880 (which I'm sick of carrying around with its monster power brick, plus the keyboard ribbon ZIF socket broke so I have to use a USB keyboard) and it has the 17" glossy WUXGA+. Good screen but text is too small. Also I've read that the 1680x1050 panels are manufactured by LG and supposedly are better than the 1920x1200 panels which are manufactured by Samsung.

Right now I have a HP DV9000T (which will be returned to Costco soon) which has a 17" WXGA+ display of 1440x900. I find this really wastes the space of the 17" display, as the text is way bigger than needed for easy reading. I'm hoping the 1680x1050 will be just right.

 

Why dont you just increase the DPI in the Display settings on your WUXGA?

Thats the best way to improve the font size on such a high resolution screen... w/o having to mess with the resolution settings. I love my WUXGA screen for gaming and work.

 

I would also like to know how the WUXGA screen does when you increase the DPI or down rez the screen to 1680x1050. I am in the same pickle, both owning a WXGA+ HP and being not sure which screen to go for WUXGA or WSXGA. I read that the WSXGA and WUXGA screens are made by LG, and the difference is the contrast ratio 600:1 vs 500:1, respectively. Also the brightness is higher on the WSXGA, obviously. I would like the brightest screen, coming from the HP with Ultra Brightview (dual lamp), but I also need better resolution than WXGA+. Seems like most go the WUXGA route, and for gaming I totally understand, but do you feel like you are squinting to read text in say IE or Firefox? Is there a place to find screen shots of these? I read the review of the Sager 5760 with WSXGA and the Widow PC with WUXGA, but the shots dont really compare well.

 

I dont really squint my eyes, I know some that got the WUXGA, and just up'ed the DPI (to get Large Font), the seem perfectly content with it.

As for the web browser, you can set the default size (or ***m) for all sites.

I will pretty much tell you that I will never go back after having a 1080p screen for a year in front of me for graphic work, 3D work, web browsing, gaming, etc...

Just my 2 cents.

-Gophn

 

Well I only know of 3. The other two have much higher range.

People with the intel card buy the other ones and throw their intel 3945 away so it would seem a shame to actually go out and buy one.

 

Can you provide any model numbers for the gigabyte and atheros network cards?

Also, where you can you buy these cards online? I have not found any websites that sell laptop network cards.

Can anyone else confirm that the atheros and gigabyte cards have better range than the intel?