Sager 2092 Super Slow in Transcoding

Hi folks,

I received my Sager NP2092 couple of days ago ... and I thought oh well with T9300 (2.5GHz), 4GB RAM (I relaize with my XP Pro ... only 3GB usable) and a FSB of 800MHZ, Dedicated nVidia GPU w/ 512MB, and 320GB 5400RPM HDD ... I should be smoking away ...

Well few items of disappointment for this Compal unit ... from Sager ... now I might be wrong at my "un-educated" conclusion ... but here I go ...

1) I Transcoded a 4464MB of file with my Fujitsu Laptop that has only a T5750 (which is 2.0GHz and not even 667Mhz FSB) and 3GB Ram and NO Dedicated GPU ... using Intel onboard ... and it did the job in 21 minutes and was buffering about 65MB ...

With this Sager 2092 it took almost 20 minutes for the same file ... and what it really disappointed me was I was seeing the same rate of processing of this data ... approximately 65MB buffering ...

Q1: Why are both machines ... performing the same with this Transcoder? So, where is the benefit of a "faster" machine?

Q2: Can someone tell me how can I speed up the process of Transcoding? Is there something I can do with this Laptop?

2) I could not believe my eye when I went to the Device Manager and saw that I have a "Fujitsu MHZ2320BH G2" hard drive ... no teh great Western Digital that it has been so talked about.

3) The 4 GB of Ram that I got is made by Apacer ... P/N: 78.A2G72.9K5 ... so this kind of put a damper on my mood also ... who the heck is "Apacer Technology" ... I never heard of them. I checked online and it says this part number is for 667Mhz DDR2 2GB SODIMM.

Q3: When I was trying to figure out why my new fancy laptop Sager 2092 is not working Faster ... I ran the "CPUZ 1.45" program and when I checked under SPD Tab for Max Bandwidth it says "PC2-5300 (333MHz)" ... what is with 333MHz ... shouldn't be 667MHz?

4) The DVD/CD-ROM that it came with this Compal/Sager unit is "MAT****A DVD-RAM UJ-850S" ... Which I specifically tried to Steer Away from MAT****A (someone told me they are also known as MATSU****A) ... because I have read Nothing but BAD stuff about this unit. So, I am only crossing my fingers on this. (Oh btw the Forum automated Speller blanks out S**T ... thinking that I am being impolite ... actually those letters are part of the name of the company!!!

Overall ... so far I have a So So feeling toward this Compal JFL92 machine ...

OK, that is enough griping for tonight ... I have to run out the door now ..

Thanks,

G!:rolleyes2:

 

the ram is ddr2 so 333 x 2 but it will read as 333..

yes the matsu****a drives imo suck bad. i highly recc samsung and pioneer for notebook drives. with lite-on/optiarc (same drives) besing second

tough to say why you are not seeing better performance. i have the jfl92 with a t7700 and i can transcode faster than that..

btw your t9300 is 800 fsb not 667 the ram operates at 667 on that mobo

thereare only a few companies making the actual chips on the ram stick today. honestly it doesnt matter for anything more than warranty what brand they are if they have the same chips. most current notebook ram use powerchips ic's or micron..

im sure you could prob speed things up but it may require a bit of tweaking ..

 

2) mine came with a loud fujitsu also. i bought WD's after the fact.
3) haven't heard of apacer either. wouldn't worry about it though. 3.1.- the ram is double data rate. that's what ddr stands for. if you double 333 you get 666. i guess they use 667 cuz whoever made the standard is superstitious? i don't know.
4) i got an optiarc. supposedly it's only marginally better than matsusheta. i am looking for a samsung currently to replace it. i wouldn't worry about it until you have problems burning media. should be alright i guess. anyways if you do have problems you can get a samsung for less than 50 bucks on newegg.com. it's an easy swap. that's one of the benefits of the 2092. easy swaps of parts.

as to your first question. i don't know what transcoding is. what other programs and processes do you have running in the background? would a 64 bit OS trample that program? i forgot what xp has for power saving options but make sure you're running full performance/ac power or whatever it's called. vista64 is slower if you don't have it on high performance setting from power options.

 

Hi zfactor & pukemon,

THANKS for your answers ...

I am using DVDShrink to compile and squeeze my home-made movies ... actually converted home-videos from VHS to dvd ... I like Shrink format because I can add and delete in View pane and chop off stuff all in one ... anyway ...

1) zfactor ... can you tell me more about the "Tweaking" that you are talking about for DVDS application ... or point me to some place that shows me how to do it ... or PM me.

2) Actually I don't plan to use the Mat****a cd/DVD player for burning ... strictly reading and scanning ... I use nothing but the BEST for burning my Trusty BenQ 1640 ... to me the Best Burner ever ... and they had to go and close shop ... go figure.

3) What is the sense of buying a darn Compal ... if I have to go and SWAP parts ... like CD/DVD Burner and Hard Drive and even Memory ... heck I might as well bought a Shell and added the stuff myself to begin with ... might have even been cheaper ... WHAT IS YOUR THOUGHT on this.

Thanks guys,

G!

 

Is it possible that you've hit a transcoding speed barrier inherent in the software?

 

Are you transcoding straight off a DVD? If so then to read a full (single layer) dvd at 8x takes 10 mins...add to that the processing and you've probably hit a bottleneck.

 

the point of buying a compal based computer is upgrades/swapping/part buying. we bought a sager. i've only changed my hdd twice but 160 gigs wasn't enough and i wanted a little more performance. i think you expected way too much physically from your 2092. but try another big name brand and see how much tweaking, deleting, uninstalling, calling, aggravation you get. and why complain about the name brand of the dvd burner? i think you should have a problem with it first before complaining about the bad things you've about matsusheta. yeah, they're subpar to samsung pioneer toshiba.
i bought sager for the fact it was a working prebuilt notebook. i am considering buying a couple of barebones since zfactor led me to a much better price than the other guys. buying a barebones @ ~$700 doesn't really give much savings when you accessorize it, but it does allow you to get the best parts or better parts factoring your own personal price/performance ratio. but on the other hand, it's only recently i learned through research and this website how easy and how hard sometimes it can be to go the barebones route. some are easier than others. and usually you don't get the warranty of buying a prebuilt.

 

Hi folks,

@ pukemon ... I think you are right. THX!

@ Shyster ... no it is not the software speed limit barrier ... since the same software and file runs on my desktop with only a Pentium4 @ 2.80GHz and only 1GB RAM ... XP PRO, SP2 ... the file is transcoded at about 7 or 8 minutes ... but my DVD reader/burner can run all the way to 48X. THX!

@ theriko ... I think you hit the nail right on the head ... I guess that is why my desktop runs like there is no tomorrow. I guess I have to then look for an internal DVD Player Burner with a higher speed than 8X.

Q1: theriko ... would you suggest upping my dvd reader speed to 12x or even 16x if I find one ... or would I be asking for problems (heat & all)!?!?

Q2: theriko ... what about if I use an External Burner thru USB port ... you know put my BenQ in External case and run it that way ... would that give me the results that I want!?!?

BTW, Wishing You 3 bandits and the rest of NBR folks who help out with my dumb Q's
A Great & Happy 4th of July Holiday!

Thanks,
G!

 

Assuming there is no speed degradation in the change from sata (or ide) to usb then yes, as usb transfers at up to 480Mbps and 20x DVD (the max available) is ~211Mbps. Might be worth a try if transcoding from disc is important to you

 

Hi theriko,

I just noticed your SigLine ... x9000 ... wow and also noticed you had opted for 7200RPM HDD over the 320GB 5400RPM ...

Theriko ...

Q1: So my 16X dvd ... if I run it externally thru a USB should be faster?

Q2: Do you know any good laptop internal dvd reader with 16X speed and what brand do you recommend?

Q3: Do you think with 16X internal DVD reader in my 2092 would I be asking for major heat or other problems?

Oh BTW, your posts #6 & #9 desreve a +rep. THX!

Thanks,
G!

 

1: I would think so

2: I don't think there are any...(someone correct me if I'm wrong)

3: If you can find one, try it out...

Oh, and I got my laptop in january before the 320GB was available (thinking of upgrading when the 320GB 7200rpm becomes more available

 

THANKS theriko!

G!