*DEAD* Insane BB laptop deals (Compaq x1050 Centrino 1.4 GHz for 800 AR among others!)

[Mazzid]

Man... BB in Manchester CT said they had 2 in stock earlier today, went down there about an hour ago and the Sales guy *insisted* that I could order it online, for $1149 with $350 worth of rebates, and said they were OOS in the store... too bad....

 

[eviltommy]

Troy, MI - Broken Display Model not marked down.
Utica, MI - 0
Auburn Hills, MI - 0

 

[stingygrrl]

someone said there were some in dearborn. did you try that?

 

[Caveman]

Can the Compaq be upgraded to 512 MB RAM???

 

[elanarchist]

Originally posted by: Caveman
Can the Compaq be upgraded to 512 MB RAM???

Yep, it has two user accessible slots. One of them is under the keyboard and is a bit of a pain to access, plus its already filled with 128 MB. The other requires unscrewing a single access panel on the bottom and is by default empty.

 

[Caveman]

Outsatnding! Thanks! For a frame of reference... How would a ATI 9200 compare to a GF3 Ti 500??

 

[stingygrrl]

so you just unsccrew the panel on the underneath and pop it in like on a desktop?

 

[elanarchist]

Originally posted by: Caveman
Outsatnding! Thanks! For a frame of reference... How would a ATI 9200 compare to a GF3 Ti 500??

See this article: http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.html?i=1655&p=8

The Mobility 9200 is nothing more than the 9000 with AGP 8x and power optimazations so it should be similar to the score for the 9000, which in turn is in the range of the 8500 and IIRC the 8500 was about equivalent to a Ti 500.

Originally posted by: stingygrrlso you just unsccrew the panel on the underneath and pop it in like on a desktop?

Yep, thats all there is to it. Screw it out, pop the new memory into place, and put the cover back on. Will probably take me 2 minutes tommorow at most once my memory finally gets here from newegg.

 

[lepper boy]

Better watch out putting more memory into a new lappy.. several places claim that if you upgrade the memory yourself that it will void the warrenty.. which is a pile of crap.....

 

[elanarchist]

I doubt that, Compaq even has a page that offers step by step instructions here: http://h20015.www2.hp.com/en/document.jhtml?reg=&plc=&lc=en&cc=us&cat=&prodId=compaqpres212728&docName=c00035793

They also say that you can "Purchase memory modules directly from Compaq's Spare Parts Store or purchase memory from your local computer supply store."

 

[Caveman]

What about wireless? Will this computer support that?
Okay, dumb question... I just realized that wireless is part of the Centrino architechture...

 

[alluu]

I can't find the Compaq anywhere in the Bay Area

 

[RossMAN]

Originally posted by: elanarchist

Originally posted by: Caveman
Outsatnding! Thanks! For a frame of reference... How would a ATI 9200 compare to a GF3 Ti 500??

See this article: http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.html?i=1655&p=8

The Mobility 9200 is nothing more than the 9000 with AGP 8x and power optimazations so it should be similar to the score for the 9000, which in turn is in the range of the 8500 and IIRC the 8500 was about equivalent to a Ti 500.

Originally posted by: stingygrrlso you just unsccrew the panel on the underneath and pop it in like on a desktop?

Yep, thats all there is to it. Screw it out, pop the new memory into place, and put the cover back on. Will probably take me 2 minutes tommorow at most once my memory finally gets here from newegg.

Good choice, did you buy the Kingmax 512MB for $103?

 

[RossMAN]

Originally posted by: Caveman
What about wireless? Will this computer support that?
Okay, dumb question... I just realized that wireless is part of the Centrino architechture...

Yes it comes with built in wifi but you still need a WAP (wireless access point) find lots of good deals here.

 

[PCPETE]

What can those 852GM graphics do in the emachine and the Toshiba? Can I at least play counter-strike okay on those?!

Any thing to compare against?

 

[nitsuj3580]

hey, quick question, before i open this up. how fast is the hard drive in the x1050? is at least 5400 RPM? or is it slower? I see the memory is easy enough to swap out, how about the hard drive?

thanks!

 

[stingygrrl]

Originally posted by: RossMAN

Originally posted by: Caveman
What about wireless? Will this computer support that?
Okay, dumb question... I just realized that wireless is part of the Centrino architechture...

Yes it comes with built in wifi but you still need a WAP (wireless access point) find lots of good deals here.

but do you need an access point if you are a college campus or somplace where they're beaming out wireless stuff? Isn't that like a router where you plug in the broadband and then it beams it out via the access point to the laptop?

This is for someone else and is all new to me. If they need to get something else to make the wireless work, please let me know

 

[elanarchist]

Originally posted by: RossMAN

Good choice, did you buy the Kingmax 512MB for $103?

*EDIT Linked fixed, oops!

Nope, got the cheapest PC-2100 256 module instead for $38 although on second thought I just noticed that the Kingmax 512 MB PC-2700 is only $89 now, d'oh!

 

[elanarchist]

Originally posted by: nitsuj3580
hey, quick question, before i open this up. how fast is the hard drive in the x1050? is at least 5400 RPM? or is it slower? I see the memory is easy enough to swap out, how about the hard drive?

thanks!

The HD is a 4200 Hitachi that is easily removed, in fact there are instructions in the manual. Here's a thread with more details: http://www.x1000forums.com/viewtopic.php?t=152

I just benched my stock HD using Sandra and its actually really decent for 4200 RPM's - it got 16977 kB/s which is a little more than half a fast 7.2 rpm drive and just a little slower than the 20000 kB/s that Sandra reports for a generic 30 GB 5400 RPM HD.

 

[metalmania]

If $38 is for generic ram, why not buy from kingston for the same price?
I bought one 256M DDR2100 for my laptop two weeks ago for $40, the price is $38 this week. It' s kingston value ram.

Originally posted by: elanarchist

Originally posted by: RossMAN

Good choice, did you buy the Kingmax 512MB for $103?

Nope, got the cheapest PC-2100 256 module instead for $38 although on second thought I just noticed that the Kingmax 512 MB PC-2700 is only $89 now, d'oh!

 

[PCPETE]

what about those intel integrated graphics? Do they at least play counter-stirke?

 

[elanarchist]

Originally posted by: PCPETE
what about those intel integrated graphics? Do they at least play counter-stirke?

I couldn't find any official benchmarks for the Intel 852 integrated graphics in the emachines and Toshiba. Here's Intel's official site: http://www.intel.com/support/graphics/intel852gm/

Just for kicks, I looked it up on the online result browser at 3dmark. Kinda painful to look at - 1900 at the high end and 1300 at the low end, and this is 3DMark 2001! That's in the range of the Nvidia TNT from 5 years ago!

 

[elanarchist]

Originally posted by: metalmania
If $38 is for generic ram, why not buy from kingston for the same price?
I bought one 256M DDR2100 for my laptop two weeks ago for $40, the price is $38 this week. It' s kingston value ram.

Originally posted by: elanarchist

Originally posted by: RossMAN

Good choice, did you buy the Kingmax 512MB for $103?

Nope, got the cheapest PC-2100 256 module instead for $38 although on second thought I just noticed that the Kingmax 512 MB PC-2700 is only $89 now, d'oh!

Where'd you find the Kingston for that price? Newegg is $43 and Kingston's own site is $45.

 

[PCPETE]

Thanks for looking up some mad onion benchmarks! That stinks the graphics are that bad, but I would still want that emachines lappy!

 

[corey76]

I posted this deal over a week ago and no one, and I mean no one seemed to care. Granted it was $50 more when I posted it but jeez!! I got nearly zero replies. Anyway I bought the X1050 and boy am I happy I did!! I have had no issues at all with it and with updated drivers and a few optimizations I'm cranking out 7500's in 3dmark2k1! I also happened to get lucky not only did I get the $300 in rebates from best buy but there was another $100 cash back or $300 in Marriot Inn's gift cert mail in coupon in the box. Of course I chose the cash back, and I got $60 in reward gift certs to best buy as well. Did I mention this thing has an insane battery life approaching 5 hours? DVD's on the widescreen are phenomenal!