new to Qosmio F15

hi,

Sorry for my entery level questions for Qosmio.... i am a MAC user and jus
bought Qosmio F 15 a few days ago. cuz of its screen colours

.... i have some questions in mind >> may be u guys will help me..

1... how reliable is F15 as a notebook and multimedia center.

2... Ram upgrade:: how many sticks of 1GB memory can it take..... and what is max. upgrade limit of memory.

3... do this memory is 184 pin or 200 pin.

4... do we have to use memory with spec.. pc2700 and 333mhz only or we can use higher memory as well.

5... Fan noise ::: i feel the fan is on most of the time and is noisy as compared to Apple powerbook i have..... this noise is just when browsing internet.... i have not used its multimedia functions yet.

6.. Heat:: do all Qosmio get hot while just browsing ... i mean when u put hand on fan vent. air is too hot... anyway to keep Qosmio cool.

7... is it possible to record TV programms without dropping frameswith only 512mb memory. what is the best memory size to run this machine smoothly.

8... any other suggestion that i should take care while using this Qosmio f15

 

I currently have a Qosmio F15-AV201 (don't know if this is the same as you)

1. Personally, I love my laptop. I think I made a great choice and I wouldn't have it any other way. One problem is that recently, my hard drive failed (excessive downloading and I disconnected the comp while it was on are top reasons for why it happened) and i was about a week past my warranty (how do they know!!). It was quite easy and cheap to install a new one, and mine works like new again.

2. The max upgrade is 2 sticks of 1GB (= 2 GB max)

3-4. It is SODIMM PC-2700 RAM and very easy to install. I *think* that pc 3200 memory will downclock itself to 333 MHZ but its not worth it since it will NOT work at higher speeds than PC-2700 (as far as I know)

5. Yeah mine is on most of the time too but thats because I set it to Max Performance in the Toshiba Power Savings menu. You can change the fan setting to "optimal battery" to reduce fan noise but I recommend against it if you can take the noise.

6. Yeah I guess it gets kinda hot, nothing to worry about though. Mine hasn't fried yet (cept for hard drive but I think thats for other reasons)

7. Sorry can't help you there, I dont really use the DVR function too much.

8. I suggest turning off all the stuff that starts up with windows to increase performance that you don't use, and theres a lot of it. Click run and type "msconfig" and then click startup to see whats starting up. I have also had many problems with the DVD drive, it seems to be very picky on what types of DVDs it can burn. For me, DVD+R works but not DVD-R for some reason. Also battery life is quite short, but most of that is due to the small 6 cell battery. Other than that, this laptop kicks ass. PM me if you need anything else.

 

thanks dear for ur great reply.....

i did msconfig and there are about 2 dozen things starting up......... u want me to disable all.........

other thing is about memory upgrade is it worth to upgrade from 512mb........
most of the laptops have half memory built in ( 256mb ) and only other 256mb can be replaced.... is it so in F15.....

> or there are available 2 memory slots in F15 ??????????

 

no, dont disable all the things in msconfig, only the things you dont need. I would suggest searching the name of each exe file in google and if you think you don't need it, disable it. For example, I never use the Notebook Maximizer or the Toshiba Touch and Launch utility so I unchecked them since I don't need them. Remember, if you do uncheck something, it won't work (until you check it again), so do so only if you know you're not gonna use it.

Yeah there are 2 slots in the F15, but the only way to tell if you have 256X2 or 512X1 already in is to use a free program called cpu-z (google it). Both slots are replaceable. I would suggest increasing RAM to 1 gigabyte as it really does help performance, especially in windows xp where the system takes up about 300 megs of that memory upon startup.

 

thanks dear...........
CPU-Z is a great utility..........

is there any other free utility that can also show the temerature at which

cpu and other things are running >>> for notebooks

 

It also should be noted that Toshiba has had a silent recall of all their Qosmio notebook motherboards and GPUs from the F15 and G15 lineup (my dad has a G15, so I know). If you experience any problems at all with your graphics card, or your screen begins to pixelate, contact Toshiba for a replacement GPU and MOBO at once.

 

thanks for letting me know this .......... is it possible to check with Toshiba for recalled Qosmios by serial number .

 

I don't think Toshiba will do anything until you have a problem. A friend of mine tried to call in to see if he could get his parts changed out, but Toshiba refused.