Z33 / M5 Series Owner's Lounge

Allright, I know there are at least three of us here!

How are these 12" beauties treating everyone?

I find that mine goes very well with my collection of older games and a Logitech V450 notebook mouse I've been playing through Red Alert 2 on 'Hard' over break, and it sure isn't easy.

 

haha
dude no offense but between me and you there are not too many peeps here that bought one and come back here. It was not the most popular model however very reliable. The only issue that i was able to record thus far was a few cases of the expansion memory bay failing. This happen a few times to our customers. I dont know if it happen as a result of them removing the uso-dimm but i do know that anyone who does not know how to put one in and take one out can definitely break the module or the port becuase of the cumbersome mounting mechanism. You probably will not see to many replies here. But i am with you. the m5 chassis is awesome. Surprisingly the most trouble free right up there with the w3 chassis. Currently typing on my gf's s5n which is basically the m5n but thinner becuase there is no optical drive.

 

I've been watching eBay for S5ns, not much luck though. There was one in Canada a few days ago but they person put no reserve on the auction then pulled it when it only got up to $270 and relisted it with a $500 buy it now. No original external optical drive, obvious cosmetic damage to the touchpad area, blurry pictures, and a 256MB/1.0 Ghz model.... It's still up there, maybe they will drop the price.

I agree mounting the memory is not the easiest thing. It just sits right in there nice and soft and you have to screw it in at the corners. It doesn't really 'snap' or anything like a regular DIMM or even a SODIMM does, it just lays there. An elegant package but somewhat misleading if you are used to the normal idiot-proof connectors that are used in most electronics. You have to just line it up, put it in, and trust it, no force involved at all.

I'd be interested to handle a Z35 sometime, but based on your video and the photos I have seen, it seems a bit lower quality. Especially the small details like the touchpad and the power button, and the lid is a bit more angular around the edges rather then smooth.

I literally had a spreadsheet with about 10-15 different 12-13.3" models on it to arrive at the Z33 though. IBM lost out because of the expense involved in getting an Ultrabay + Optical Drive just to be able to load software; Sony was too expensive and only had ULV P-Ms in 12" models; Clevo and Compals 12" models were based on out of date chipsets, as was the Dell 700m; Apple didn't have Intel models out yet....

Actually my final decision was between the MSI 1012 and the Z33... Weird because they are polay opposites, the 1012 was actually used by Averatec for a while. I just wasn't willing to risk the build quality on the MSI, and the battery life is horrible, 3.5 hours on an 8-cell...

 

I actually loved the z35f. Much better battery life then its twin w7j and it feels very well made. Nothing wrong with the touchpad. Its a bit large for my taste. I typically dont own anything larger then a 12". In the family i got the m5n(mine), z33a, z33ae, s5n, s5a, w5f. I hand em out as gifts here and there to people that deserve them. I ve never needed bigger. Some people say you cant do this and that on your 12". I do everything on it. Obviously its a little more cumbersome then a full sized desktop but i only use my laptop an hour or more a day. I despize folding desktops and frankly i have no desire to own a 6lb laptop.

 

Ahhhh, an appreciation and love for the products you work with. Now that is the true sign of quality workmanship in a reseller.

 

If ibm was our bread and butter then i prolly would use their laptops. I only appreciate asus products. THeir company hierarchy, management, product planning and marketing i almost hate. Infact i cant stand it. They had plenty of opportunity to get it right. Still not even close to a happy medium between products and customer satisfaction. Just becuase people are satisfied with the product you make does not mean people are satisfied with the decisions.

 

Does anyone know if the M5A has any Vista drivers?

This model was fairly popular here in Australia.

 

I haven't tried it yet.... There should be generic Intel drivers for the platform at the very least.

The GMA900 won't do Aero. It worked in in Beta 2 but MS and Intel got together and decided to disable it to sell more new laptops.

If anyone would know, it's Eddie... He has like 5 of the things

 

Technically, people claime the GMA 900 WILL do Aero Glass, but Intel just refuses to release a WDDM driver for it...

 

Yes, exactly, hence:

 

Yeah... it really pisses me off. I want Aero Glass on my Z63A!

 

I expect a hack within a month, tops.

 

just another z33a user
well not technically, im more of the tech support to the person who uses it, my sister
i assembled and maintains
it is still running strong after a year
one thing i did notice that the fan seems to be on quite a bit and the notebook do tend to warm up a bit
other than that, everything has been peachy