AMD laptop.......really less stable?

[IHAVEAQUESTION]

I am not sure what's causing the freeze, my guess would be the memory but still it annoys the hell out of me. This is a brand-new laptop with clean installtion of XP, if this is a prelude of what's going to happen in the next 4 years (the length I'd like to keep this laptop), I guess I will have to return it.


Compaq V3000z
everything original...I haven't add any 3rd party memory yet.

UPDATE:

This is what CPU-Z shows:

AMD Turion 64 X2 Mobile TL-50
Mainboard: Wistron Model: 30B5 Rev.: A2
Chipset: nVidia Geforce 6150
Southbridge: nVidia nForce 410/430 MCP

Bios:
Brand: Phoenix
Version: F.11
Date: 8/25/2006

Memory:
256mb PC2-5300 (333mhz)
Manufacturer: Samsung
Part Number: M4 70T3354CZ3-CE6

 

[Brainonska511]

Try a return and then reorder. You may have just gotten a bad machine.

 

[IHAVEAQUESTION]

Nah. This is a CTO, I waited 3 weeks for it to arrive, don't think I want to wait another 3 weeks for a new one.

The thing I am afraid of returning is that they will not refund the shipping fee ($50). That sucks.

 

[tatteredpotato]

Besides the freezing, how do u like the design of the laptop? I only ask because i have one coming myself, except its a V3000t

 

[BladeVenom]

By "clean installtion of XP", do you mean you installed it, or the factory did? If they did you could try removing all the crapware that comes with it, that might help. If you did, did you make sure you had all the latest drivers for your laptop?

It seems kind of soon to blame it on a hardware problem. Have you tried their support webpage?

 

[IEC]

AMD/Intel doesn't matter - it's probably not a hardware issue if you're getting crashes, but more likely a poorly-written driver or a buggy install of the OS. Or just bad software.

 

[IHAVEAQUESTION]

I don't think it's software problem, I try to keep my HD as clean as possible (current usage at 5GB) and I avoided all the bloated software that I am aware of. The driver? Well, I download them from compaq website...so I assume they are the latest.

I've read from people who owns the same laptop reported that they couldn't get their 3rd party ram to work, it looks like this amd chipset is a bit choosy, and that's where my suspicion comes from.

 

[Schadenfroh]

VIA 4 in one drivers?

 

[IEC]

Originally posted by: IHAVEAQUESTION
I don't think it's software problem, I try to keep my HD as clean as possible (current usage at 5GB) and I avoided all the bloated software that I am aware of. The driver? Well, I download them from compaq website...so I assume they are the latest.

I've read from people who owns the same laptop reported that they couldn't get their 3rd party ram to work, it looks like this amd chipset is a bit choosy, and that's where my suspicion comes from.

If it's a compaq I doubt it's an AMD chipset - it's probably an ATI chipset. Having more detailed hardware specs might help us nail down the problem.

 

[IHAVEAQUESTION]

This is what CPU-Z shows:

AMD Turion 64 X2 Mobile TL-50
Mainboard: Wistron Model: 30B5 Rev.: A2
Chipset: nVidia Geforce 6150
Southbridge: nVidia nForce 410/430 MCP

Bios:
Brand: Phoenix
Version: F.11
Date: 8/25/2006

Memory:
256mb PC2-5300 (333mhz)
Manufacturer: Samsung
Part Number: M4 70T3354CZ3-CE6

 

[pkme2]

IMO you don't have enough memory to run everything. XP is a hog when it comes to memory.
512MB is fine until you start running multiple windows. That's why many up to 1GB.
256MB is ok for surfing the net. You haven't noticed that Windows take a while to open?

 

[IHAVEAQUESTION]

I know it's a pig performance-wise. I plan to upgrade as soon as I find a good deal on memory. Let's focus on the stability issue, ok? Is there any known issue with this motherboard or chipset?

 

[imported_miner]

I havent faced with any issues. I have the V3019 which is basically a pre-configured model of the V3000z & have been using it for the past 2.5 months without any issues. I think you got a bad system. If you dont mind waiting you can return it to HP and they will refund the shipping charges as well. I had a dv2000t before and it had issues with the touchpad, I returned it and they refunded my full amount including the 2 BD shipping as long as the laptop is within the 21 day return period.

 

[fbrdphreak]

Eliminate problems yourself. Download Memtest86 and test the RAM. Download Hitachi's Drive Fitness Test (yes, failing HDD can cause freezing). Run Prime95 stress test. If you can isolate it to mem or HDD, they can swap just that for you.

 

[HaroldW]

I have a Compaq V3010us which is the same system but came stock with 512mb RAM and 100gb hard drive. I have upgraded to 2gb RAM. I have not had any problem with mine running XP. Cosmetically I do not like it. I bought it primarily for the components/price ratio. Four weeks ago I got it for $779 - $30 mail in rebate. I have since seen it at Office Depot for $100 less after rebate. Ok cosmetics...it is very glossy and shiny, including the screen, so more glare on the screen most other flat surfaces "collect" fingerprints.

I have done some minimal installs of 64-bit Linux. With Redhat Enterprise or CentOS 4.0 64-bit default install, but installled everything (RPMs) I had no usable touchpad (had to connect external mouse) and the ethernet card rarely worked, audio did not work. I did not test wireless as I know it can be very problematic under Linux. Fedora Core 5 64-bit (am waiting for Core 6 currently due out Oct 19th) touchpad and ethernet worked. The audio worked using the test tone, but not for other things.

When you do decide to upgrade the RAM, do yourself a favor and buy genuine HP/Compaq RAM. I am the systems administrator for a small software company. I was having a RAM related problem with one of our new laptops (it was maxed out with high quality non-HP RAM) I had thoroughly tested the RAM. HP tech support would not remotely consider testing it in their shop until the RAM was replaced with HP RAM.

 

[andrewbabcock]

My X60s has 512 mb of ram and i can open many windows without problem. Its a myth that you need more than 512mb for everyday tasks in XP.

 

[IHAVEAQUESTION]

According to NHC, I only have 45mb of ram to work with once the lappy finishes bootup. If I open google earth, that ram number goes down to zero practically. Unless I do some heavy multitasking or gaming, 512mb should be enough.

 

[Aarondeep]

Originally posted by: fbrdphreak
Eliminate problems yourself. Download Memtest86 and test the RAM. Download Hitachi's Drive Fitness Test (yes, failing HDD can cause freezing). Run Prime95 stress test. If you can isolate it to mem or HDD, they can swap just that for you.

Do exactly what he said. He knows what he is talking about. These programs will help you isolate which component is causing the issue.

 

[fbrdphreak]

I didn't notice you only have 256MB RAM. Having 256MB RAM on Windows XP and even remotely multitasking is pretty bad. Add more RAM.