Clevo P1x0em schematics

Hello guys,

I was planning on buying a P150em but the keyboard and audio issues kinda put me off. I even considered the m17x and the GT60, but the AW is too big for carrying it to school and the MSI seems to have the same keyboard design as the Clevo (and is uglier than it).

Given that I don't have that many alternatives for a new notebook I taught that maybe I can alleviate the audio problems without buying an external sound card, so I googled for the schematics and uploaded them on dropbox. Here's the link.

So... The keyboard is connected directly to the ite8518 controller (page 35) and the headphones seem to be driven without an amp from the ALC892. Maybe there are some resistors that can be tuned or we can add an amp between the chip and the jack.

Even if the audio could be fixed there still remains the keyboard ghosting and the key misses. Maybe we can adapt a keyboard from another maker if it is interfaced directly to a LPC controller similar to the ITE one in the Clevo. What do you think?
I am prepared to lose the backlight if that gets me better response and lesser ghosting.

 

Lol, driven without an amp. I didn't even think it was possible. If that is true, such a failure.

EDIT: I found out that when unamplified, the Realtek chip has a whopping 20 ohm output impedance. Horrific if you ask me. Amplified (not sure about voltage/current), the poster said his manual states output would be 2 ohms. I wonder if those with 200+ ohm headphones have good sound, or if the fact that an unamplified base will mean cheap sound for ALL headphones, no matter the impedance. I am guessing it is the latter, since no AMP is, again, a total and epic failure.

NwAvGuy: Headphone & Amp Impedance
Cntrl+F, paste ALC892 and you will see the post.

So going back to the other thread, the X-Fi Go! is OBVIOUSLY going to be an improvement for me. The X-Fi has a 7 ohm output impedance, and has an actual amp inside of it. I won't hear booming bass, but it sure as hell will be an improvement. BTW I have the Sennheiser HD 201, with 24 ohm impedance.

I am quite interested in adding an AMP inside the laptop as you say. Having a 2ohm output would be amazing.

 

The ALC892's headphone out is amplified, the amp is integrated as part of the codec. It also offers non-amplified outputs, for surround. The 'switchable' ports feature manages the amp in software, which is why the headphone out can also be a line out. When I get my NP9170, I'm going to look into the quality problems. Adding some kind of inline amp, or attempting to replace the amp circuitry already there (good luck), will just be making something already bad, louder. It would be essentially the same as plugging an external amplifier, for speakers (e.g. Topping TP21) or headphones (e.g. Fiio E9, O2) into the headphone/line out jack.

EDIT: And if my interpretation is correct, you can see the integrated amp circuitry in OP's schematics, on the ALC892 page, in the red box's area.

 

k0nane, please look at pg 33, 30 and 49. Those seem to cover all the headphones related stuff. The speakers amplifier are on pg 34.
Many desktop mainboards have the ALC892 and I guess the sound isn't as horrible as it is on the Clevo. Maybe the sound can be improved to the level of a standard integrated sound card (still crappy, but you don't need to keep an usb stick plugged in all the time).

 

The speaker amplification is a dedicated circuit, because that function isn't part of the ALC892. As I don't have the unit yet, I can't look into just what the quality issue is - but I do suspect it's not hardware. If it is, I wouldn't have my hopes up for fixing it. I don't use integrated audio for headphones anyway, so it doesn't bother me.

 

Maybe someone could test the linux audio stack on the clevo. If you don't want to install it, I guess running it live from an usb drive should be fine.

Regarding the keyboard... Doesn't anybody know a laptop that's got a similarly sized keyboard so we can check out if it can be wired to the ITE controller?

 

The MSI SteelSeries keyboard can be fit with slight modifications, if you can get the part.

When I have my NP9170, I'll run a few tests.

 

I know the SteelSeries fits, but it's got the same layout so ghosting is the same and from what I've read it seems to get even more key misses. Am I wrong?
It seems that ports D, E and F from the ALC892 are amplified. The schematics from the clevo mainboard seem to match the recommended application notes from the ALC datasheet.
Maybe it really is a software/digital issue. I don't think that poor PCB layout could have lead to such a disaster.

 

Some say it's fewer misses.. really a unclear business

 

I'd be very grateful if some owners would tell us more about how their keyboards (default or SteelSeries) are performing.
I'm also interested about the battery life. Reviews on the forum say that the gtx680m gets you 3hours (tops?), but I don't
know much about the hd7970m (does enduro really cut the power consumption?).
It would have been nice if the p150em got a 9 cell battery like the MSI GT60. Are there any upgrades?

 

While there may be less cells the capacity is equal to the MSI so that's not an issue.

 

From notebookcheck:
MSI GT60: 87Wh
Clevo P150Em: 77Wh

The msi seems to have 10% more capacity. Not very much, but still a boost.

Meaker, could you please tell me how good is the keyboard for typing and how much time do you get on battery while surfing the web with wlan activated (no dGPU activity). I'm planning to do some programming on it and carry it to school, so having an unusable keyboard really is a deal breaker for me.

Thanks

 

So long as you use a decent typing position and apply enough pressure to each keystroke it does not miss in my experience.

Never measured the browser only battery life.

 

While surfing around for ALC892 related stuff, the following topic showed up in my search results:
Realtek/Soundmax Modds + SB X-fi MB 1.2 - Discussion
These modded drivers should support all realtek hda codecs. Someone should give them a try and report back.

 

Megaupload is down. So how can we try them?

 

Ups, didn't check the download links in the first post. Maybe there are more recent versions posted somewhere in that topic.

 

Make sure there's no GPU monitoring programs running, as monitoring the dGPU is counted as using the dGPU. You can go to NVIDIA control panel and enable Display GPU Activity Icon in Notification Area and see if your dGPU is being used by anything when in battery mode.

Another thing is for NVIDIA driver earlier than 305.67, the dGPU is powered on to checked the application when an application is launched. This could also result in shorter battery life. However this issue is fixed in driver 305.67 and 306.02, which the dGPU no longer powers on unless the application that's been assigned to use the dGPU is launched.

 

In the OP

The MSI keyboard on the GT60 is a Steelseries keyboard. So if you think thats ugly, just be aware should you decide to put that in a Sager.

 

I know about the SS keyboard (and the fact that it is electrically the same as the Clevo one => same ghosting). I was just expressing my preference for the cleaner looks of the Clevo chassis vs the MSI one.

Does anybody know if there are any higher capacity batteries available for the Clevos? Do you think that anyone would care to manufacture such a product in the future?

 

So... Nobody interested in giving the X-fi modded drivers a try. I'm sure you'll find a valid download link somewhere on that topic [ Realtek/Soundmax Modds + SB X-fi MB 1.2 - Discussion].

Still not sure if I should go with the p150em or with the m17x

 

You're right there are som valid links there, downloading now.

How can I test if there is a difference?

Also I have an HM not an EM, do they both have the ALC892 chip?

 

I'm choosing between the same models as the O.P. and have the same reservations about each. Also interested in solutions for the P150em's sound quality that don't involve headphones or external sound cards.

 

It's a no go, in the X-Fi MB2 I couldn't even select the output mode, became always 2.0/2.1, even though in Realtek it is set to 5.1/7.1, it's still 2.0/2.1 output.

 

ALC892 is pretty standard so I'm guessing that you HM has it. You can check in AIDA64 or other similar software. Even if the HM doesn't have it you can still try the Xfi modded drivers cause they support all realtek and AD SoundMax codecs.

Another thing to try, as I mentioned before, is booting up a live linux session in case you don't want to install it. PulseAudio lets you tinker with a lot of settings if you know what you are doing.

In case the problem isn't software related someone should check the codec power supply stability with an oscilloscope.

Regarding my decision, I guess I'll try to gen a discount on the m17x from a dell rep in UK. Then I'll have something to compare price-wise.