Everex StepNote XT5000T 17" Notebook PC $699 shipped + tax at officemax.com

[Zap]

Originally posted by: stockjock
When I tried to order online I kept getting the $899 price in the checkout...even though the website stated $699...so I had to call. I tried to use my $30 off coupon too but it wouldn't let me because this was a computer....how did you get it to work?

Dunno, when I hit the site at 2am, it was listed and went into checkout at $699. However, the day before that, and earlier today, it was listed at $899 and the fine print said $200 off instantly. Dunno, but something's going on. They do list it in their weekly ad though, so you should be able to get the $699 price. As for the coupon, dunno. I didn't read the details, I just applied it on web checkout and it took.

Originally posted by: Spike
Man, I wish I had a few more $ I would so jump on this. Especially since the cpu has 512mb L2 cache...

"AMD Turion? 64 X2 Dual-Core Mobile Technology TL-50
(1.6GHz) (512MB L2 Cache) "

Haha. Well, we know it really means 512k cache. Now, the TL-50 has 512k total L2 cache, meaning 256k per core. The TL-52 has 512k per core. Ahh well.

 

[stockjock]

Wow!! the Laptop showed up 1 day after i ordered it. I gotta tell ya...this thing is not too bad. Nice screen and keyboard is easy to work with. Only thing is we are not used to Vista yet so that is the only thing I gotta say about it...but that's just us getting used to it.

 

[boggsie]

Originally posted by: stockjock
Wow!! the Laptop showed up 1 day after i ordered it. I gotta tell ya...this thing is not too bad. Nice screen and keyboard is easy to work with. Only thing is we are not used to Vista yet so that is the only thing I gotta say about it...but that's just us getting used to it.

Right-click on the the desktop, choose properties, select theme, revert to Windows Classic.

That might help a little bit.

 

[ezwithak]

How many RAM modules are present?

 

[RAQemUP81]

Originally posted by: ezwithak
How many RAM modules are present?

I ordered one which hasnt arrived yet but from what I have been reading from various forums of people that have it already, there is 1 slot being taken up with a 1gig DDR2 533 leaving the other slot free.


Hardforum.com thread with a benchmark and close up shot of keyboard and bottom expansion ports exposed.

 

[ezwithak]

Originally posted by: RAQemUP81

Originally posted by: ezwithak
How many RAM modules are present?

I ordered one which hasnt arrived yet but from what I have been reading from various forums of people that have it already, there is 1 slot being taken up with a 1gig DDR2 533 leaving the other slot free.


Hardforum.com thread with a benchmark and close up shot of keyboard and bottom expansion ports exposed.

Once you get the laptop could you post how many slots taken up as well opinion/feelings/ratings?

Much Thanks

 

[Zap]

I also got the unit the day after I ordered. My thoughts...

Haven't opened it up yet, but for everyone who have (more at HardForums) basically got the same configuration (single 1GB Adata DDR2 533, single Fujitsu HDD), so I expect the same.

No camera like my wife's $1100 notebook.

Keyboard is horrid. There are THREE - count them - three backslash keys. WTF? One gets in the way of the left shift, a second gets in the way of the enter key. Keys also seem even closer together than on my Dell Inspiron. Having a real number pad is nice though. There's still quite a bit of space so I don't see why they had to use such a crap keyboard. It has a Windows Vista logo on the Windows key, so I don't know if there's any significance to that.

Gets pretty warm next to the CPU and occasionally fan kicks in high.

Battery life is about 1:30-2:00, so pretty terrible for a notebook but almost decent for a DTR. This is with Vista Aero (I think) and on totally default settings ("balanced").

On "max power savings" DVD playback was choppy.

PowerDVD wouldn't play a Region 1 disc, claiming the drive was not region specified. Device Manager stated Region 1, and Windows Media Player played a DVD fine except for "max power savings."

Nvidia drivers are dated from December 2006.

Touchpad works better than on my Dell which is really nice, however there are no scroll functions that I see, plus the buttons are chromed plastic. First touch left a fingerprint already.

It appears to come with a Vista restore DVD, which is nice since many manufacturers now don't include the disc (OMFG save 20 cents!).

The thing is huge and heavy, but thin.

The built-in speakers sound better than on my Dell Inspiron 6000, FWIW.

All the cool kids at school have fancier, lighter and smaller notebooks with built-in cameras and 14" screens. But I'll likely get better 3DMocks.

Last but not least... The 17" widescreen is absolutely gorgeous. I'd love to have my desktop 22" widescreen look like that.

For just under $707 shipped, probably worth it. I know I'll miss the portability and battery life, hopefully gaming will make up for it.

 

[ezwithak]

I just checked OMax website. They just started the deal again except it's only $100 AIS instead of $200.

 

[boggsie]

Originally posted by: ezwithak
I just checked OMax website. They just started the deal again except it's only $100 AR instead of $200.

Instant savings, not a rebate.

No Rebates Required: Save $100 Instantly!
Final Price After Instant Savings $799.98!
Reg $899.98
Offer Valid WHILE SUPPLIES LAST!

 

[ezwithak]

Originally posted by: boggsie

Originally posted by: ezwithak
I just checked OMax website. They just started the deal again except it's only $100 AR instead of $200.

Instant savings, not a rebate.

No Rebates Required: Save $100 Instantly!
Final Price After Instant Savings $799.98!
Reg $899.98
Offer Valid WHILE SUPPLIES LAST!

Thanks, my fault. Edited the previous post.

 

[RAQemUP81]

Laptop came in on Wedseday and so far I really like it. It seems pretty fast and it runs World of Warcraft great. The screen is just great to look at and I recieved no dead/stuck pixels.

It's super easy to upgrade since everything is basically accessible from just 2 bottom compartments (I installed a 1gig DDR2 667 ram which downclocked fine with the current 1gig DDR2 533). The recovery DVD that it came with is a full recovery disc and does not rely on any info on your harddrive. Atm I am not really liking Vista so will prob install XP Pro and get rid of the 3 partitions while I'm at it (2 partitions of 44 ish gigs and 1 hidden partition of info). The company website conveniently has Win XP drivers in case anyone does choose the same route I did.

There are 3 cons I have.

1) Though this laptop has great specs and a Turion X2 64 processor, Everex decided for some reason to ship Vista 32 bit on the laptop instead of Vista 64. I find that odd since this laptop is more then capable.

2) The keyboard could have been made much much better. There are a total of 3 "\" keys which in turn are placed very oddly, making the L Shift and Enter keys smaller then they should be and making it really easy to mistype with those 2 keys as well.

3) The cooling fan spits out extremely hot air which is located on the right of the laptop. Extremely uncomfortable hot air. This placement is bad for righthanders if you have limited deskspace and use a mouse (like myself). I do not recommend placing the laptop on your lap without having something inbetween such as a lapdesk. On a plus you can tell the fan is doing the job at least.

Overall for roughly $730 shipped though I am extremely happy with my purchase. For the included hardware and upgradeability you just cannot go wrong.

 

[boggsie]

Originally posted by: RAQemUP81

1) Though this laptop has great specs and a Turion X2 64 processor, Everex decided for some reason to ship Vista 32 bit on the laptop instead of Vista 64. I find that odd since this laptop is more then capable.

I wonder if there are 64-bit Vista drivers available for all of the hardware. They may not have invested in driver development - presuming you must have 64-bit drivers in order to run Vista/64.

 

[xvdarkyvx21]

Hey what are the max power saving options and how do i access them? I know you can get to some of it from the battery icon. Also what FPS are you getting on World of Warcraft? I turned all the settings down and an only getting like 20-30 fps, which is kinda iffy. =\

 

[Jank]

The deal is still alive, just got one.

 

[boggsie]

N 4 1

 

[weirdichi]

I'm thinking of this laptop. Can we use OM coupon codes in conjunction with this offer also? The coupons the keep sending me via email says can't use on comptuers, but are there coupons out there that work with computers?

 

[boggsie]

Originally posted by: weirdichi
I'm thinking of this laptop. Can we use OM coupon codes in conjunction with this offer also? The coupons the keep sending me via email says can't use on comptuers, but are there coupons out there that work with computers?

I bought a $30 off of $150 from an e8ay seller and it worked on this very notebook.

 

[RedBeard]

Boy, this really is a good DTR....

 

[weirdichi]

I think I just might have to skip out on this. The Inspiron 6400 looks like a better deal even without the 17" screen.

 

[Zap]

Originally posted by: weirdichi
Can we use OM coupon codes in conjunction with this offer also? The coupons the keep sending me via email says can't use on comptuers,

Eh, I applied my emailed coupon and it worked. YMMV.

 

[weirdichi]

Originally posted by: Zap

Originally posted by: weirdichi
Can we use OM coupon codes in conjunction with this offer also? The coupons the keep sending me via email says can't use on comptuers,

Eh, I applied my emailed coupon and it worked. YMMV.

Yeah, I just applied it also and it worked. Came out to about $717, which isn't bad. Another 1GB of RAM will make it as much as the Inspiron 6400 I was looking at, with a 15.4" screen and x1400 video instead of 17" and 7600 video.

 

[LukeMan]

the $30 promo code works well, $703.48 after tax here.

 

[RedBeard]

7600 destroys the X1400 (3dmark 05 scores should be ~1700 vs ~2700)

17" vs. 15.4"? These really aren't comparable. They are different classes. DTR vs. Mid size...

 

[weirdichi]

Originally posted by: RedBeard
7600 destroys the X1400 (3dmark 05 scores should be ~1700 vs ~2700)

17" vs. 15.4"? These really aren't comparable. They are different classes. DTR vs. Mid size...

Yeah, I know the specs of the Everex is better than the Inspiron. I've read mediocre reviews on the Everex though and if I'm not a hardcore gamer, then x1400 should do the trick (although having a 7600 wouldn't hurt either).

 

[1EZduzit]

Anybody got a coupon they don't need / aren't going to use?