**Official eMachines M68xx Thread**

[ShellGuy]

If you are wishin for those other specs y not a 7200 drive???? between that and the more vid mem is where you would get the most gain... IMHO...

Will

 

[Kaido]

Originally posted by: ShellGuy
If you are wishin for those other specs y not a 7200 drive???? between that and the more vid mem is where you would get the most gain... IMHO...

Yeah, definately. I just figured since the other parts were user-upgradable (at least more easily than the video card, if that's possible...hope so!), the vram would be a good thing for them to upgrade. I've decided to hold off for a bit and see what they do...if they do upgrade the vram, I want to get an m6809, 2 x 1gb Crucial sodimms (have BB install em), a Seagate 100gb 7200rpm 2.5" hdd (not out quite yet ), upgrade to Win XP Pro, and drop a mini-pci a/b/g/super-g card in there. Kinda pricey and that's partly why I want to wait to see if they upgrade the vram...so I can save up more $$...lol. It will turn into my desktop replacement of sorts for college, so I want it to have more vram for gaming and graphics etc. If they don't upgrade the vram, I'll probably get a 1gb stick of Transcend off Newegg and one of those 60gb 7200rpm Hitachi hdds. A bit pricey either way but still way better than a similar Dell


Also...I was reading that laptops that have mini-pci wifi cards have the antennas already in there...so if I replaced the Broadcom with an a/b/g card such as the IBM one, would it work right out of the box (after driver installation and setup, of course)?

 

[Kaido]

Originally posted by: fishsauce
This is the only person that I know of that put a 3400+ in their emachines.

Yeah, Wereshark has a lot of good posts over at the notebook forums site...I'm wondering how much hotter the cpu makes the laptop, if there's any cooling issues, and (especially) how it affects battery life.

It looks like the m6809 uses the mobile version of the 3200+ chip, while the chip Wereshark upgraded to was the DTR version of the 3400+ (mobiles = 62w, DTRs = 89w). The good news is that the m6811 says it uses the "Mobile AMD Athlon? 64 3400+ Processor", which I'd imagine is a 62w version of the chip and hopefully will be on Newegg soon (I did a search and could find the DTR versions up to 3400+ on Newegg, but the mobile versions only went up to 3200+).

 

[Brazen]

Originally posted by: oldyellowcat

Originally posted by: Brazen
Man, I can't believe I just bought a M6805 and it's already outdated.

Well, I checked Arima's website and they have laptops that look and have specs just like the M6000s, but they also do not have any downloadeable updates.

I would not say current 680x is outdated --- at least not for another year.
The new 681x has slightly faster CPU (that's all), but the difference is really marginal and I doubt anyone can feel it from day-to-day apps.

If only had they put 5400RPM hard drive, 512 x 1 RAM and DDR400 and 128M video RAM ....

Yeah yeah, that was mostly a joke. It does look like though, that the 6810/6811 are priced the same as the 6809/6805, except no massive rebates so I'm not regretting my decision.

As Kaido had pointed out, I also wonder about the heat differences. I REALLY like that fact that my 6805 is virtually silent (you have to put your ear right next to the exhaust to hear anything) and it only gets BARELY hotter on the bottom than room temperature. I've never used any other laptop that even comes close to these qualities.

 

[Brazen]

Originally posted by: Kaido

Originally posted by: gweilo8888
Anybody else noticed that the M6805 and M6809 seem to have been discontinued and replaced with the M6810 and M6811? Main difference seems to be a step up to the 3400+ processor...

Man! The only big thing I wish they'd replace is the video ram...maybe even make it user-upgradable. If they dropped 256 megs or even 128 megs in there I'd buy it ASAP. Everything else can be upgraded...wireless card, hard drive, ram, etc. Oh man...m6809 with 256mb of vram...*drools*

The m6809 models I see in the store seem to have a dimmer display screen than the other laptops...is that right? It has the Best Buy software running on them and won't let me exit out to Windows, so I can't tell if it's just because the brightness isn't turned up or because it's just not a very bright screen. The viewing angle is pretty good tho, way better than my brother's Compaq laptop. Anyone notice the dimmer-ness when they bought theirs?

My 6805 has pletty a bright display. You can increase the brightness on the store display by holding the FN (bottom left) key and hitting one of the F# keys (top row), but I can't remember which one, like F7 or something.

BTW, you can close that Best Buy junk on the store display by double clicking on the top right of the screen, right on top the the four or five random characters (like 0nb7j or something like that).

 

[beyoku]

hey i just reinstalled xp pro and im having a problem with a usb driver. All my usb ports work yet in device manager i have ? mark and explanation point on "Universal serial bus Controller" (notice no "S") - its lised under "other devices" - which is right beneath "Network adapters" - everything seems to work fine and i have installed all the drivers that i know of?
*Note i still have the Universal serial bus Controllers (notice the "S") - at the very bottom right beneath"system devices" - can someboy tell me whats supposed to be there OR post a screen shot of their device manager.

 

[Kaido]

Originally posted by: Brazen
My 6805 has pletty a bright display. You can increase the brightness on the store display by holding the FN (bottom left) key and hitting one of the F# keys (top row), but I can't remember which one, like F7 or something.

BTW, you can close that Best Buy junk on the store display by double clicking on the top right of the screen, right on top the the four or five random characters (like 0nb7j or something like that).

ahhhh, nice! Yeah, I tried hitting the brightness function keys in the store but it didn't do anything, I must have been doing it wrong. I guess compared to the rest of the store's displays it looked dimmer - not the dim but like right in the middle. The viewing angle was very impressive - my bro has a Compaq laptop, and if you're not right in front of it you start seeing the colors all weird.

Thanks for the tip on the Best Buy software...I tried everything I knew from ESC to ALT + F4 and it wouldn't work lol. I'll check that out next time I go, I'm eager to see how the screen looks with Windows

 

[Kaido]

Originally posted by: Brazen

As Kaido had pointed out, I also wonder about the heat differences. I REALLY like that fact that my 6805 is virtually silent (you have to put your ear right next to the exhaust to hear anything) and it only gets BARELY hotter on the bottom than room temperature. I've never used any other laptop that even comes close to these qualities.

Wow...silent is good. How does the m6809 compare? If the m6805 is quieter I might go with that...

 

[Brazen]

Originally posted by: beyoku
hey i just reinstalled xp pro and im having a problem with a usb driver. All my usb ports work yet in device manager i have ? mark and explanation point on "Universal serial bus Controller" (notice no "S") - its lised under "other devices" - which is right beneath "Network adapters" - everything seems to work fine and i have installed all the drivers that i know of?
*Note i still have the Universal serial bus Controllers (notice the "S") - at the very bottom right beneath"system devices" - can someboy tell me whats supposed to be there OR post a screen shot of their device manager.

I wiped mine too and was in the same situation. Just right-click on the USB controller under "other devices," choose Update Driver, and then "install the driver automatically." Put the EMachines restore DVD in the drive before you do this.

WinXP will automatically search the DVD for drivers and install the ones you need. It will update the drivers for all your USB controllers.

 

[beyoku]

it seems like it would work that way...it didnt work.

 

[Brazen]

Originally posted by: beyoku
it seems like it would work that way...it didnt work.

Did you install the latest VIA Hyperion drivers? That is the only other thing I can think of.

 

[turbogolf]

Anyone have problems with burn-in on the LCD? I love the laptop, but I am a little worried because the two 6805s that I have seen at my local bestbuy locations have had very bad burn-in from the program that bestbuy runs on the laptops. None of the other laptops at the locations had burn-in.

 

[ydgmms]

I just got an m6805 today (well yesterday now). Anyway.

I'm tryin to update all the drivers on 'em. And I can't seem to find a driver for the ATI?
I tried the latest catalyst for regular radeons. But it says it cannot find the proper hardware and/or software.
I tried another (i think modified) catalyst and it installed fine. However, I utilize unattended installation disks. And these modified ones are not signed by Microsoft, so they give the 'continue or not' popup. Is there any driver for mobility radeons that will work w/o popping up unsigned information?

I read in this thread that the Catalyst was SUPPOSED to work? But its not for me for some reason.

Anyone? (Or if not - is there a way to bypass the driver signing? I've tried everyway I can think of.)

 

[injunjoe]

Hey everyone again,

I was wondering about the durability of the m6809. We are going to do some work in Africa in the future and I was wondering how reliable and tough this machine is. I am not one who is rough on machines but can the m6809 handle a lot of moving around from car/bus/walking in the extreme African heat and at times in the desert but minimal desert exposure? I REALLY want this machine and am waiting for the price drop when the m6811 comes out any replies would be great.
thanks
injunjoe

 

[Brazen]

Originally posted by: turbogolf
Anyone have problems with burn-in on the LCD? I love the laptop, but I am a little worried because the two 6805s that I have seen at my local bestbuy locations have had very bad burn-in from the program that bestbuy runs on the laptops. None of the other laptops at the locations had burn-in.

Did they have worse burn-in than any of the other LCD? Anytime you have a static picture on 24/7, you are eventually going to get burn-in. As long as you use a screensaver, you should be fine. I don't have any burn-in anyway, but mine is only a few days old.

 

[Brazen]

Originally posted by: ydgmms
I just got an m6805 today (well yesterday now). Anyway.

I'm tryin to update all the drivers on 'em. And I can't seem to find a driver for the ATI?
I tried the latest catalyst for regular radeons. But it says it cannot find the proper hardware and/or software.
I tried another (i think modified) catalyst and it installed fine. However, I utilize unattended installation disks. And these modified ones are not signed by Microsoft, so they give the 'continue or not' popup. Is there any driver for mobility radeons that will work w/o popping up unsigned information?

I read in this thread that the Catalyst was SUPPOSED to work? But its not for me for some reason.

Anyone? (Or if not - is there a way to bypass the driver signing? I've tried everyway I can think of.)

You could use the driver off the EMachine's DVD, but there is an option that you can put in your .sif file if you look through the documentation that comes with sysmgr, or google for it. If I get the time today, I'll try to find it.

 

[ydgmms]

well the thing about the driver on the restore DVD is its 6months old.

I believe the option you're looking for in the winnt.sif is
DriverSigningPolicy=Ignore

or something to that effect.

That works, as far as i know though, only for drivers installed during WinXP installation.
The proper way to get ATI drivers to install is through setup program for catalyst. It works fine unattended if the drivers are signed, but the modded(?) catalyst I found are not signed. Thus causing a slight problem.

Thanks.

 

[Brazen]

Originally posted by: ydgmms
well the thing about the driver on the restore DVD is its 6months old.

I believe the option you're looking for in the winnt.sif is
DriverSigningPolicy=Ignore

or something to that effect.

That works, as far as i know though, only for drivers installed during WinXP installation.
The proper way to get ATI drivers to install is through setup program for catalyst. It works fine unattended if the drivers are signed, but the modded(?) catalyst I found are not signed. Thus causing a slight problem.

Thanks.

The drivers install fine without using the setup program.

 

[ydgmms]

yeah as far as i know you don't get all the ATI tabs in Display Properties.

I could try again (been a year since i last tried)... DVDRWs rock

 

[MDE]

Originally posted by: Brazen

Originally posted by: turbogolf
Anyone have problems with burn-in on the LCD? I love the laptop, but I am a little worried because the two 6805s that I have seen at my local bestbuy locations have had very bad burn-in from the program that bestbuy runs on the laptops. None of the other laptops at the locations had burn-in.

Did they have worse burn-in than any of the other LCD? Anytime you have a static picture on 24/7, you are eventually going to get burn-in. As long as you use a screensaver, you should be fine. I don't have any burn-in anyway, but mine is only a few days old.

No problems on mine and I've had it since January. Just remember to close the lid when you walk away from it and you should be fine.

 

[Brazen]

Originally posted by: ydgmms
yeah as far as i know you don't get all the ATI tabs in Display Properties.

I could try again (been a year since i last tried)... DVDRWs rock

I think that is by design in the modded drivers. The mod doesn't affect the WDM drivers which is what includes all the tabs in the display properties. But you still get all the power of the 9600 with the latest catalyst drivers. I don't see why ATI doesn't just include support for the mobile chips by default.

 

[imported_LosT]

Hello. I recently purchased a M6809 due in part to reading this forum thread. I love the machine. This is what I have done so far, with no problems:

I am currently running Windows Server 2003 Enterprise edition. This OS is MUCH better than XP, but you have to do some tweaking to set it up as a "workstation" OS. So far EVERYTHING works well with this new OS. (NOTE: if you install MS Server 2K3, DON'T install your video card drivers UNTIL you turn on hardware acceleration, and download directX. Because out of the box W2K3 is designed for server applications, direct X isn't installed when you install the system, and hardware acceleration is turned off. If you load the Omega drivers before turning ON hardware acceleration, you get a BSOD.)

I have had NO problems with my wifi.

All of the special function buttons work just fine in W2K3.

Omega drivers work fine in W2K3.

VIA updated drivers work fine in W2K3.

W2K3 has a 64 bit version, but CURRENTLY it is only for the Intel Itaniums. Rumor has it it will be available for the Athlons. (Translation: 64 bit OS *WITH* drivers working for everything)-

No complaints so far with this machine.


LosT

 

[mudboy]

LosT, not to be an A-hole or anything, but aside from its server-specific functionality, give me one tangible benefit of Win2K3 server over XP Pro. Aside from having the ability to say "Ooooh, look at me, I'm running a server OS on my laptop", there's really no daily use differences between the OS'es...all the same things are in all the same places.

Pete

 

[puredoc]

great thread you everyone here has going. i wanted to know if anyone has found software that can monitor the temp of the cpu? i tried several like motherboard monitor, speedfan, etc. but none seemed to detect the temp...any ideas?

thanks

 

[imported_LosT]

Originally posted by: mudboy
LosT, not to be an A-hole or anything, but aside from its server-specific functionality, give me one tangible benefit of Win2K3 server over XP Pro. Aside from having the ability to say "Ooooh, look at me, I'm running a server OS on my laptop", there's really no daily use differences between the OS'es...all the same things are in all the same places.

Pete

First of all, as general rule forums like this are about information, not motivation, ie letting others know what is possible. So asking what's the point in a forum of this nature is amusing at the very least.

Secondly, consider that this notebook is sold as a 'desktop replacement'- So yes, server applications seem quite applicable.

Thirdly, you are incorrect, W2K3 is *NOT* the same. Having certain functionality and features LOOKING the same does not mean they are the same thing. That is like saying dropping a better engine into an econo body car is pointless, because it looks the same as the original econo car.

W2K3 handles MANY things differently, and has vast improvements. According to your logic, anyone running Windows 98 is only going for bragging rights over those running Windows 95.

This OS is infact better than XP- so much that you should try a google search on converting W2K3 server to a workstation; you'll find *many* guides already online for this very reason. W2K3 boots faster, handles memory better (= better performance than XP). Besides, the fact that they are working on the 64 bit (and will most likely finish it BEFORE the xp64 makes it *much* more desirable for this laptop)- The 64-bit Itanium version is already out, and the structure of the OS lends itself to restructuring for 64 bit (read: the chip in these laptops) with less work than XP.

Read about W2K3, you'll see, it's NOT just cosmetic, and its NOT just W2K with server enhancements added.

LosT