**OFFICIAL W860CU/NP8690 Owners Lounge**

Is the X-Fi pretty big? My main caveat is still that I'm not sure I want to dragging the thing around the house. Maybe that's a dumb caveat.

In other news, I got my Kensington Cargo whateveryacallit yesterday. I can get the exact model, but someone here (I already forgot who!) recommended it I think.

Anyway, it says it fits most 15.4" notebooks, and it doesn't lie. It actually does. It's a snug fit, to be sure, but it fits. I remember SS remarking about something (this bag or a different one) that he couldn't stand hipster gear but he was making an exception. That's how I feel. As far as hipster gear, it's pretty unobtrusive, and I feel like it'll protect my wonderful laptop really well. Haven't tried putting it, my Xpad, mouse, power brick (and eventually X-Fi??) all into it yet to see how it all works.

Some of the things I like best are its contours and balance, shock protection and padding...

Oh, and I got it new for $18 from Georgia. Took a long time to get here, but hey, it's the holidays.

 

It is small. No lugging required.

 

Hey! Is that you from CAG? That's awesome! :-D

(Now back to my dumb questions

At this point I should probably wait until the 32nm dual core systems release at the end of the week, but...

I assume this system has/had USB problems since it's a PM55 chipset. Have they been fixed in this model? Any strange problems with it? (ie Dell's M15x throttles, and Asus' G51J crashes)

Is xoticpc.com safe to buy from? I've always been super iffy on Sager because you can't get it from "normal" stores, and I had a horrible experience with Falcon Northwest years ago, so I don't really trust these small stores. (Dell's a pain, but sooner or later they've taken care of me so far.)

Do these suckers really have LED backlit screens? Are they really that loud? Honestly half the time I'm using my computer at work where I wouldn't be able to hear any noise anyway.

The specs on this appear to be perfect though. Supposedly good cooling, LED backlit, Geforce 280, Core i7 (well, aside from the USB problems that brings), and Blu Ray-exactly what I want!

 

I have not heard of or experienced any problems with USB.

The screens are awesome. The fan sound is not even nearly as bad as some other laptops since it is quite low and not an annoying high picthed whining noice.

 

what usb problems are you referring to?

 

The PM55 has trouble with anything much more complex than a mouse for some reason (iPods, installing firmware on hard drives, etc.) I'm not sure if there any systems that have the issues sorted out or not (not sure if it would take a BIOS update plus Intel's newest drivers or what exactly-the newest drivers by themselves don't do it).

 

i couldnt make a usb speaker work with my 8690. although i think its more a win7 64-bit problem.
my omnia works via usb and can sync with office 07. i can also surf via usb connection thru my smartphone. i can also transfer files and such.
i probably couldnt do that if the pm55 had major issues with usb?

 

Well, that sounds promising. Anyone have an iPhone/iPod touch they use with it? I'd think that device you mentioned might have the same issues, but the iPod is kind of the big obvious thing.

The PM55 does have major issues, but it's possible Clevo or whoever was able to address them through the BIOS, I guess.

 

hey gus, dos the w860cu have TOSLINK? mySN.de said its eletrical digital coaxial only? is that true? im wondering what cable to buy...

 

I've had no problems whatsoever with my iPhone, iPod, many usb keys, 1TB external HD, printer, and of course mouse.

 

Awesome! Thanks! Well Sager or Clevo or whoever it is making BIOS for these must have it fixed. Dell and Asus don't

Dang...then apperently these systems have exactly the hardware I want, excellent cooling, and lack all the problems Dell and Asus have...

Just have to figure out where I'd buy one (Xoticpc.com? Gentechpc.com? Just scared of these little dealers)

 

That's because the problem does not exist for mobile P55 boards. That problem does though for desktop P55 boards. The problem has long been resolved with a chipset driver update from Intel.

 

It does though-at a minimum both Asus and Dell are affected.

I'm super super glad this system isn't though (but...why the heck is Clevo apparently designing better systems than those two?)

 

Only the towers that were pre-built when Windows Seven was launched were affected because they were running with pilot release drivers. The newer ones that are shipping already have later drivers loaded. It was a minor issue that was amplified by anti-Microsoft bloggers and has been addressed relatively quickly.

 

I'm not talking about any kind of anti-Microsoft thing. Dell and Asus (at the least) are affected-there are tons of people talking about it over on the relevant forums. The newest Intel drivers DON'T fix it-as far as I know it takes a BIOS update at the least.

So to just to double check, have you been using an iPod touch or iPhone with this system too?

 

Yes, I have attached several Apple devices onto my notebook, including the iPod Touch and the iPhone, though I have not ran into this issue yet. I will add this to the list of problems that I need to dig up. I'm already trying to juggle a handful of them related to the Calpella platform so it may take me a few weeks to get back to you on that.

 

It is I!

I've had zero USB problems and don't anticipate any.

Nope, not loud at all, unless something is wrong.

Sager/Clevo is great. Touchpad is wonky, fingerprint reader iffy, audio jack and speakers could be better due to wiring. Those are truly the only problems. I haven't even had a single crash. Not one. Best computer I've ever owned.

I think I'm gonna try an XFi to plug headphones into and circumvent the audio wiring.

I've been meaning to ask, what do you guys use to defrag your HDD? Windows 7's defrag seems quite improved. I used to use Defraggler, which is also improved.

And I get weird noises on my desktop. Sometimes even during gameplay. Windows 7 or a gadget or a program... or something... makes like a clock noise once every so often. Like... CLICK... clock.

It's not loud or annoying, but it's kind of odd.

 

Cool! (And cool for finding a fellow CAGer! :lol: ) Well I guess USB works then!

What's this about the audio though? I've been (surprisingly) happy with whatever the heck it is my Asus has. I didn't even install any audio drivers under 7, and it's static free and the like and seems fine in games. (What a difference that is from 10 years ago!)

 

The onboard audio is servicable, no crackling and works fine in all games. However it is not that great sound quality with poor bass response (at least on mine). If you are not fussy it will do the job. Other than that, great laptop.

I have no problems with an ipod touch BTW.

 

Excellent! Thanks for the info on that!

 

Guys, is it possible to send the Audio Signal from my Clevo via HDMI Cable to my Samsung P2470HD and then via Optical out to a Hifisystem with DTS and Dolby Digital coming out from my HiFI System?

 

I know that the the temps are already nothing to really worry about, but does anyone use a notebook cooler? And if so what kind? Thanks.

 

Even under extreme load the base of the W860CU does not develop any significant hot spots, so I cannot see any value in a notebook cooler. The packaged cooling system is very efficient.

 

I took some pics for ya to see how the X-Fi fits the W860CU. I still think that this card should be able to play through laptop speakers (which it doesn't), but it doesn't matter to me as I plug it to external speakers anyway.

In casing:



Card not plugged in compared to right armrest:



Plugged in:



Comparison to laptop (bottom right is the X-Fi):



Sorry about the mess, been having some rashes lately hence the bottle of rashes eradicator thing

 

Anybody here uses an ES (Q3B8) version of the 920XM?

 

Lamp, I'm convinced!! That's a lot smaller than I was thinking. I agree that it would be nice if it worked with the onboard speakers, but then we might not circumvent the wiring issues anyway. Oh well.

I gotta make sure I get the correct X-Fi now. I was looking at the non-card version, oops. No wonder I thought it looked unwieldy.

Thank you kindly for the pics!

Darn, $79.99 on Amazon. I'll hold out a while. I'm cheap.

It's not staticy or anything. As I understand it, the wiring shares a path for the external mic and the speakers, so the audio-out and speakers just don't get the power they deserve. I theorize the speakers are better than they sound, but I could be wrong. In fact, I could be wrong about any/all of this.

It does not sound bad, but there's not much lower frequency. It won't sound as good as your ASUS, and plugging in with headphones probably won't help a ton.

 

Darn, yeah, I normally use my headphones when I'm actually doing anything with sound. Oh well, I guess I could track down one of those elusive X-Fi cards if need be.

Would just need to decide what store to buy it from, and if it's worth it to me to spend basically double for exactly the hardware I want versus something cheaper from Asus... (Me are super indecisive )

 

Ah actually, the Creative software that was included had the option of playing through notebook speakers...but apparently it's not reliable (doesn't work).

And I had a choice of getting an X-Fi when I was ordering from Xotic, not sure about Malibal though so I didn't have to track the 24 bit card from ebay or anything.

@Wolfpup: Well I particularly love the X-Fi because the quality of the sound = mind blasting .

Normally onboard soundcards are decent (Realtek usually), but for a music/gamer geek like me, I prefer the X-Fi because it does surround sound very clear and crisp.

 

Guys, one question. Do you consider the sound quality that bad? It does only apply to analog like headphones and inbuilt Notebook speakers, does it?

For devices connected via HDMI or SPDIF ( both Digital outputs), there shouldnt be any problem right with the bass and so right?

 

I have the X-Fi Extreme notebook (bigger silver card - no longer generally available, but can be found) and it plays through my notebook speakers flawlessly (M570RU). I think that the sound quality is better, but that may just be my imagination...

I also have its 7.1 speaker docking module and it spends most of it's time plugged into my surround system, but when I'm out and about, I usually take the card with me anyway.

 

I don't care about surround, I just need static free, 'normal' audio. I've heard notebooks with static before (!) so...that's always worrying.

 

Aww you have the more expensive one

@Wolfpup : Static? Mmmm never heard that one before Only weird sounds I experienced were from my desktop, where the waves travel from the satellite to my house, through my speakers, to my phone , then a new SMS comes out Makes that tut tut tut noise.

 

Hey guys ---

I am thinking about buying the np8690 from xoticpc this weekend. I will outfit it with the i7-820, 4gb ddr3, 280m gtx, and 500gb 7200rpm.

Has anyone played Empire Total War with it? I've been trying to get FPS/benchmarks for this game all over the internet but I haven't found anything.

 

i play etw
no aa and medium shadows.
havent benched it but plays quite well.

 

Everything else on high/ultra? What res?

 

all ultra except particles which is set on high. but i believe it can go on ultra though. just not so important to me.
1980x1080

 

hi guys, just got my 8690 together with my brother, going to spend my weekend tuning it and installing the s/w ^^

 

Guys, one question. Do you consider the sound quality that bad? It does only apply to analog like headphones and inbuilt Notebook speakers, does it?

For devices connected via HDMI or SPDIF ( both Digital outputs), there shouldnt be any problem right with the bass and so right?

 

theoretically there shouldnt be but i havent personally tested this yet

 

It's bad, bassless and tinny. Don't have anything that does digital to try out for you, sorry.

 

Well, i just tried again. i connected my clevo via HDMI to Samsung TFT P2470 and connected normal headphones to the screen via headphone jack. Much better bass/sound than putting the headphones straight into the audio jack from clevo. But there is also a difference between using different headphones with clevo, using Sennheisser there is much more bass!

So it definitely helps using HDMI. I didnt check SPDIF yet but since its digital too, it should work the same.

Well, could it be the driver, the onboard audio chip or simply the use of the combination of SPDIF / Analalog Audio Plug?

 

I tried my Sony Erricson Bluetooth headphones!!!! AMAZING Sound, its definitely the audio Jack and the Notebook Speakers.

SoundChip seems to be ok! You guys think there could be an upgrade of better speakers or Audio Jacks?

 

Tinny sounds bad, although I guess that's different/better than static/crackling.

You'd think on a system like this they'd really want to get the headphone jack decent. I mean I don't even care as much about the speakers, since I can just hook up external speakers or headphones.

 

This just happened to me after setting up windows. The only thing I changed was to set my desktop background to a solid color. Caused my boot to stall for about thirty seconds at the welcome screen. Changing it to a picture caused the welcome screen to go away in about two seconds.

 

Yeah ur right, dont care so much about speakers but headphones would have been of much more priority...

Well at least there is digital like HDMI and SPDIF....

And you can always use BLUETOOTH Headsets, great quality too...

Is there a way to change the headphone jack?

 

ok, so iv had this notebook for 5 days.

Im comparing this with my 2 year old acer laptop that costed half as much cash to buy..

Fan noice: the fan noice is anoying, since it runs even when just browsing the web.
My old acer was dead quiet under low load.

Speakers : Terrible, you cant watch movies or play music or anything really.

Keyboard: Randomly decide you have pressed enter or tab when you are not even close to those keys, space bar is unresponsive.

Gaming performance and screen is outstanding quality.

Right now im thinking about sending it back? Or buying a new keyboard and monitor, and jack it into my stereo.This would solve all issues except the fan noice..

To sum it up : if you plan to use this without external keyboard, speakers etc i would not recommend this product.

 

With the analogue headpseaker output, AGREE. But you can use HDMI or SPDIF or even Bluetooth headphones!!! Great quality!

Keyboard I didnt encounter anyproblems.

Fannoise even me, I get annoyed quite easily,accepted a cooled device rather than a DELL that burns out.

Also there is hope for a better Bios regulating the fans.

Acer, I never touched one...

 

Hi, I recieved my w860cu yesterday xD However, I cannot install the latest driver from the nvidia website. It says my hardware is not recognized. I searched around but didnt find a solution. Can someone tell me what to do pls xD

p.s. I'm using the driver in the cd I got. The version is "8.15.11.8647"

 

I think you guys are being whiny about the fans, but whatever.

I've had zero issues with the keyboard...

When people mention the fans and keyboard, I always have to wonder if their unit is different than mine.

I'm going to look into SPDIF or Bluetooth headphones. Since the X-Fi is already $70, maybe it would make more sense to get good headphones if I can find some I like.

 

I also dont have problems with the Keyboard.

Secondly is the bluetooth headset im using. I bought it to use it with my Nokia E71.
http://www.sonyericsson.com/cws/products/accessories/overview/hbh-is800

But today my left fan made a loud rumbling noises, like its gonna break (after a cold start). After a while it was ok.
Not sure why his happened. So I made 2 recordings, one with and one without that noise that definitely wasnt normal.

About the fingerprint:
One more problem I have with the fingerprint is, that if activated, itunes and loads other programs take ages to load. once i deactivate it its fine.
Maybe it has to do with trying to use fingerprits to login into a few programs.

I have also noticed, that the fingerprint reader itself works fine. Launching the Fingerprint Control Center from the taskbar always works, and in case it doenst read my finger the first time it definitely does the second.

Fingerprint Reader Issues after starting the Laptop from a Hibernated status

Sometimes, or most of the times when I had Fingerprint activated, hibernated the laptop and startet the laptop again,
it said "Too Fast" when swiping my finger over the sensor. And then it always said Fingerprint sensor in use and I wasnt able to swipe again with success. I needed to restart and then it worked.

I only encountered this problem after I hibernated. Restarting always works...

That should be a driver or software problem.

Coudl anyone confirm this?