**Official eMachines M68xx Thread**

[JimW74]

I got my eMachines 6809 about three months ago from BestBuy. They REALLY pushed the service contract on me, and I kept telling them that I was leaning towards getting it from eMachines since it was $100 less and looked to be basically identical. The only upside of getting it from BestBuy was instant turn-around (well, fix time only, no waiting for shipping back and forth.) I told the sales clerk that I'd prefer to get it from BestBuy, but it just wasn't worth an extra $100 to me. They kept trying to say eMachines would not do things like replace a damaged screen, but I had already read all the details of both contracts on-line and knew how they stood up to one another and kept correcting him. Finally he went off to talk to a supervisor and said that they couldn't drop the price of the service contract, but he could drop the price of the computer by $100 as long as I got the service contract at the same time.

Since the eMachines rebate at the time was $100 I was a bit concerned that the dropped price would cause some issues, making eMachines think I had somehow gotten an instant rebate and decide not to honor the mail in rebate. They did return my rebate information, but just saying that I had not properly marked the eMachines 6809 on my sales receipt (NOWHERE does it say to do this in the rebate instructions), so I circled it (was the ONLY thing on the receitp) and sent it all back, which was by then after the original due date, but just three days ago I did finally receive my $100 rebate check from eMachines.

In short (I know, far too late), if the BestBuy clerk will not price match the service contract, see if they will deduct the difference from the notebook instead, and if they still fuss see if there is anyone higher up you can talk to. They REALLY like to sell service contracts, so if you truly appear to be set to get it from eMachines if they don't drop their price they will most likely work something out.

Jim

 

[PDJBoy]

Sounds like a plan, I will see if I can get them to do that for me. I was out tonight and was so tempted to swing over to Best Buy to try one out, but I had solid plans I didn't want to deviate from. Maybe some time this week I'll shoot over and test one out.

 

[MDE]

I'm going to try running Doom 3 on mine tomorrow. Will post benchmarks.

 

[Snowccat]

About the different warranties, Best Buys is a performance warranty that covers all things including the battery, which will come in handy every year or so for your 3 years. emachines is basicly a standard warranty covering the laptop but not the battery and circuit city is the same as emachine's but costs far more. I purchased mine from circuit city (6809) online with $200 rebate and got the emachines extended warranty 91 days after purchase. I was worried that they would go away with gateway buyout otherwise I would have waited to buy from BB.


This machine is on 24/7 and no problems, use the Omega drivers and have overclocked to 2 gigs and is stable, also using updated AMD and VIA chipset drivers. Partitioned drive with partition magic, use a us robotics wireless router (usr8054) with no connection problems what so ever and I have tried both using windows connection manager and the broadcom utility and can't seem to create a problem. No hinge cracks yet but it had traveled very little, soon will be going across country, will see how it fares.

 

[ChuaChua]

Originally posted by: MDE
I'm going to try running Doom 3 on mine tomorrow. Will post benchmarks.

Can you also try benchmarking the different settings? I would like to know how the quality and the performance scale with the different settings.
I would like to get Doom3 too but I am not sure if the game is playable (>25/30 fps) on the m6809.

 

[MDE]

Originally posted by: ChuaChua

Originally posted by: MDE
I'm going to try running Doom 3 on mine tomorrow. Will post benchmarks.

Can you also try benchmarking the different settings? I would like to know how the quality and the performance scale with the different settings.
I would like to get Doom3 too but I am not sure if the game is playable (>25/30 fps) on the m6809.

I'll try, but it'll have to wait. Like the genius I am, I forgot to bring my Doom 3 discs (and my mouse) with me to school, so I get to finish off Knights of the Old Republic today during my downtime.

 

[imported_haris]

I seem to be running into the droppped wireless connection between my m6805 and the Dlink router I'm using. I have been letting windows maintain my network settings, because I connect to a network at work as well as home and I didn't want to have to worry about manually changing any settings (wireless at home, 10/100 at work). Now that I starting online gaming again the dropped connects are becoming really annoying.

I have a basic understanding of networking since I work as a programmer, but I've never really toyed around with hardware enough that I felt comfortable messing around with bridges/tunnels, subnet masks, and default gateways. My question for you networking gurus is what would I need to set/manage if I didn't want Windows to handle it?

 

[jlarsson]

Originally posted by: MDE

Originally posted by: ChuaChua

Originally posted by: MDE
I'm going to try running Doom 3 on mine tomorrow. Will post benchmarks.

Can you also try benchmarking the different settings? I would like to know how the quality and the performance scale with the different settings.
I would like to get Doom3 too but I am not sure if the game is playable (>25/30 fps) on the m6809.

I'll try, but it'll have to wait. Like the genius I am, I forgot to bring my Doom 3 discs (and my mouse) with me to school, so I get to finish off Knights of the Old Republic today during my downtime.

I'll try running Doom 3 on my m6809 tonight, and post some results. I'll also try doing some overclocking of the processor and video and see how that works as well.

 

[MatthewF01]

i ran doom3 on my m6805 with the GPU running at 425/225, and the 64mb of video ram really hurts...tons of this 'hitching' thing. I ran it on medium quality and it looked like ass, especially since the 1280x800 resolution isnt selectable.


and im comparing visual quality with my desktop running it 1280x1024 on a 6800GT with everything turned on, and 2x antialiasing...and 5.1


not a great laptop gaming experience im sad to report

 

[jlarsson]

Well, I'm having problems running Doom 3 (there is another thread started by amdforever, and i've posted my problems there). It just crashes before it reaches the main menu. So I won't be able to get some numbers for you unless I get this fixed.

Doom 3 runs great on my desktop, and I would have loved to test it out on my laptop for comparisions sake.

 

[TonyBerry]

Does anyone have a source for the 90w eMachines AC adapter/charger for the M68xx series? The eMachines website has them for a whopping $69.95!!

Maybe another brand? I don't care as long as it works.

 

[srodick]

You can buy a generic adapter from any number of sources - just make sure the voltage matches, and the capacity (amperage or watts) are sufficient. Many come with adjustable voltages. The generics typically come with an assortment of tip adapters , one of which will fit most any machine - that is EXCEPT the eMachines.

The problem is the eMachines tip is a bastard. There are a couple international standards for plugs (see, for example, http://www.philmore-datak.com/Page%2063.pdf), but the eMachines doesn't meet any of them. The closest I could find was the "B" tip from Radio Shack. Problem is, it is loose in the jack - makes poor electrical connection with the contacts. So what I did was this: I took the Radio Shack plug tip and squeezed it with vice grips so that it was deformed to oblong. But first I put the shank of a drill bit in the female hole, the same size as the hole (I think 1/16 in), so that it wouldn't get squeezed shut.

The result isn't perfect but good enough, and allowed me to make use of the adapter from my old computer, as well as my car adapter.

If anybody ever finds a source for a tip adapter that actually fits these machines, let me know!

 

[jlarsson]

Doom 3 Benchies:

I've got a eMachines m6809, stock. I bought Doom 3 on tuesday, and have been playing it on my desktop system, and I was curious as to how it would run on my laptop. Far Cry runs pretty well.

Anyway, I wasn't too impressed, here are the numbers...

I ran the first timedemo (demo1) for all these tests.

The first three test I did without overclocking, with the stock m6809 configuration (2ghz, 300 mhz core,200 mhz mem).

640x480 - medium quality

2148 frames rendered in 65.8 seconds = 32.6 fps

1024x768 - medium quality

2148 frames rendered in 130.6 seconds = 16.4 fps

1024x768 - low quality

2148 frames rendered in 129.9 seconds = 16.5 fps

These next two tests, I bumped up the CPU to ~2.1 ghz, 410.79 mhz core, and 223.71 mhz mem.

1024x768 - low quality

2148 frames rendered in 106.6 seconds = 20.2 fps

640x480 - low quality

2148 frames rendered in 50.8 seconds = 42.2 fps

Observations: 1280x800 isn't an option, I'm not sure if that makes any noticeable difference. When running in 1024 x 768, anytime an enemy appears, it becomes a slideshow.

Running the Omega drivers, version 2.5.51.

 

[MDE]

Originally posted by: TonyBerry
Does anyone have a source for the 90w eMachines AC adapter/charger for the M68xx series? The eMachines website has them for a whopping $69.95!!

Maybe another brand? I don't care as long as it works.

To go along with srodick's post, just in case you lost the old adapter, here's the markings off mine:

Input- 100-240V 50\60Hz (I'm almost positive this means it's a universal adapter, and it'll work anywhere in the world as long as you get the proper cord the plug into the wall) 2.4A-
Output- 18.5V, 4.9A

 

[ChuaChua]

thanks for the numbers.
I am actually waiting for the official demo before buying it.

 

[Connoisseur]

Originally posted by: MatthewF01
i ran doom3 on my m6805 with the GPU running at 425/225, and the 64mb of video ram really hurts...tons of this 'hitching' thing. I ran it on medium quality and it looked like ass, especially since the 1280x800 resolution isnt selectable.


and im comparing visual quality with my desktop running it 1280x1024 on a 6800GT with everything turned on, and 2x antialiasing...and 5.1


not a great laptop gaming experience im sad to report

I wanna see someone run this game with 1 gig of ramm on the m680x. I think that's actually the main bottleneck from keeping the game running nicely at low/medium quality settings. A friend of mine is running Doom 3 on a 1.8 dothan with a Geforce4Go (64megs vram I believe) and 1 gig of ram and says it runs great on 800x600 and 1024x768. At low/medium settings the textures are actually very compressed when they're sent to teh video ram. However the 512 megs of ram isn't enough to store all the textures so the game has to do a lot of swapping. I'm gonna invest in a gig reasonably soon and then i'll try the game on the lappie. Should run A LOT better.

 

[ThunderPC]

Originally posted by: Connoisseur

Originally posted by: MatthewF01
i ran doom3 on my m6805 with the GPU running at 425/225, and the 64mb of video ram really hurts...tons of this 'hitching' thing. I ran it on medium quality and it looked like ass, especially since the 1280x800 resolution isnt selectable.


and im comparing visual quality with my desktop running it 1280x1024 on a 6800GT with everything turned on, and 2x antialiasing...and 5.1


not a great laptop gaming experience im sad to report

I wanna see someone run this game with 1 gig of ramm on the m680x. I think that's actually the main bottleneck from keeping the game running nicely at low/medium quality settings. A friend of mine is running Doom 3 on a 1.8 dothan with a Geforce4Go (64megs vram I believe) and 1 gig of ram and says it runs great on 800x600 and 1024x768. At low/medium settings the textures are actually very compressed when they're sent to teh video ram. However the 512 megs of ram isn't enough to store all the textures so the game has to do a lot of swapping. I'm gonna invest in a gig reasonably soon and then i'll try the game on the lappie. Should run A LOT better.

There are several people over on notebookforums.com with m68xx machines that report very nice experiences running Doom 3 @ 1024x768, medium settings with only 512MB RAM. That is the first report of such horrid framerates I have seen out of an m68xx.

 

[oldyellowcat]

PCCLUB has 4x DVD-R media onsale for $19 per 50.
http://www.pcclub.com/product_list.cfm?cat=DVD%2FDVD%2D%2BR%2FMedia&subcat1=Accessories&subcat2=DVD%2DR%2FRW%20Media%20%28Minus%29

I got a box and turned out 6809 can only burn it at 1x, so I took the media back to local store, and they put it in their Lite-on burner -- it burns at 4x, no problem.

Just wondering is there a list of media supported by SDW-431S (my 6809 uses)?

BTW: here is the read out from DVDInfo Pro:
Media Type DVD-R
Media Id Code Speed 4.0x 5540KBps
Available Write Descriptor CLV 1.0x 1385KBps
Write Strategy Speed 4.0x 5540KBps
....

I see the "Descriptor" is only 1x, but what is "Strategy Speed"?

 

[gweilo8888]

Originally posted by: oldyellowcat

6809 can only burn it at 1x

According to Lite-On's own specifications, the drive you have burns at:

DVD+R 4x ( 4500KB/sec ) by Z-CLV
DVD-R 2x ( 2700KB/sec ) by Z-CLV
Re-writing speed DVD+RW 2x ( 2700KB/sec ) by Z-CLV
DVD-RW 2x ( 2700KB/sec ) by Z-CLV

 

[jlarsson]

Originally posted by: ThunderPC

Originally posted by: Connoisseur

Originally posted by: MatthewF01
i ran doom3 on my m6805 with the GPU running at 425/225, and the 64mb of video ram really hurts...tons of this 'hitching' thing. I ran it on medium quality and it looked like ass, especially since the 1280x800 resolution isnt selectable.


and im comparing visual quality with my desktop running it 1280x1024 on a 6800GT with everything turned on, and 2x antialiasing...and 5.1


not a great laptop gaming experience im sad to report

I wanna see someone run this game with 1 gig of ramm on the m680x. I think that's actually the main bottleneck from keeping the game running nicely at low/medium quality settings. A friend of mine is running Doom 3 on a 1.8 dothan with a Geforce4Go (64megs vram I believe) and 1 gig of ram and says it runs great on 800x600 and 1024x768. At low/medium settings the textures are actually very compressed when they're sent to teh video ram. However the 512 megs of ram isn't enough to store all the textures so the game has to do a lot of swapping. I'm gonna invest in a gig reasonably soon and then i'll try the game on the lappie. Should run A LOT better.

There are several people over on notebookforums.com with m68xx machines that report very nice experiences running Doom 3 @ 1024x768, medium settings with only 512MB RAM. That is the first report of such horrid framerates I have seen out of an m68xx.

Well, timedemo demo1 has a lot of action, it runs smooth when no enemies are on the screen, but it becomes a slideshow otherwise. Now, I haven't actually tried playing the game on my laptop, since Doom 3 runs well on my desktop system.

Sometime this weekend, when i've got more time, i'll double check my frame rates, but i'm pretty sure i didn't screw them up (but anythings possible with me).

 

[ThunderPC]

Originally posted by: jlarsson

Originally posted by: ThunderPC

Originally posted by: Connoisseur

Originally posted by: MatthewF01
i ran doom3 on my m6805 with the GPU running at 425/225, and the 64mb of video ram really hurts...tons of this 'hitching' thing. I ran it on medium quality and it looked like ass, especially since the 1280x800 resolution isnt selectable.


and im comparing visual quality with my desktop running it 1280x1024 on a 6800GT with everything turned on, and 2x antialiasing...and 5.1


not a great laptop gaming experience im sad to report

I wanna see someone run this game with 1 gig of ramm on the m680x. I think that's actually the main bottleneck from keeping the game running nicely at low/medium quality settings. A friend of mine is running Doom 3 on a 1.8 dothan with a Geforce4Go (64megs vram I believe) and 1 gig of ram and says it runs great on 800x600 and 1024x768. At low/medium settings the textures are actually very compressed when they're sent to teh video ram. However the 512 megs of ram isn't enough to store all the textures so the game has to do a lot of swapping. I'm gonna invest in a gig reasonably soon and then i'll try the game on the lappie. Should run A LOT better.

There are several people over on notebookforums.com with m68xx machines that report very nice experiences running Doom 3 @ 1024x768, medium settings with only 512MB RAM. That is the first report of such horrid framerates I have seen out of an m68xx.

Well, timedemo demo1 has a lot of action, it runs smooth when no enemies are on the screen, but it becomes a slideshow otherwise. Now, I haven't actually tried playing the game on my laptop, since Doom 3 runs well on my desktop system.

Sometime this weekend, when i've got more time, i'll double check my frame rates, but i'm pretty sure i didn't screw them up (but anythings possible with me).

Something must be amiss if you are having framerate troubles and most others are having none with the same machine. The general consensus seems to be 1024x768 @ medium settings over there for good gameplay.

 

[ChuaChua]

I guess no playing mp3s and open browsers while playing doom3, huh?

 

[TeejayV]

If i were to put electrical tape to hold the cracks on the hinges, i wonder if that would keep it from falling apart. (j/k) I live in Canada, and it might be a bit expensive to have my notebook sent in to be repaired by E-machines). Is there any other alternative i can take, or any self repair method that one of you guys might be able to point out to me?

Thanks in Advance

Teej

 

[MDE]

Originally posted by: TeejayV
If i were to put electrical tape to hold the cracks on the hinges, i wonder if that would keep it from falling apart. (j/k) I live in Canada, and it might be a bit expensive to have my notebook sent in to be repaired by E-machines). Is there any other alternative i can take, or any self repair method that one of you guys might be able to point out to me?

Thanks in Advance

Teej

I have no idea what you could do other than replace the hinge. My replacement M6805 has a cracked hinge, but I'm waiting for it to get really bad before I exchange it again.

 

[syarost]

I read those tweaks

ttp://www.forumplanet.com/planetdo...733&tid=1438663

which lead to these tweeks.

http://ucguides.savagehelp.com/Doom3/FPSVisuals.htm

It raised my framerate from

39.3 at low @640x480 to 59.5 at high @640x480

I have a stock m6811, used no OC, and am running the 4.7 omega files.

640x480 on high looks better than 1024x768 on low!