Installing new OS

I have just purchased an LW70-J3KA which comes with Windows XP Home and an 80Gig 4200rpm HDD. I want to upgrade the HDD to a 7200rpm drive and install XP Pro. Is it possible to do this and setup the Instant On stuff again (Movies, Music).

Also, there is software that comes with the laptop such as IP Operator and Battery Miser 2005 that I want to put back on there. Is it possible to pull this software off the Recovery CD that comes with the notebook??

Thanks.

 

If its not included on a CD, then you'll either need to make a recovery CD from the HD, or download it from LG's driver site.

 

Well, I managed to fine both IP Operator and Battery Miser 2005 downloads on the LG website, so I don't have to worry about that.

That just leaves me the question of being able to reinstall the Instant On movies/music. I will have to keep researching in to this.

 

If you were supplied with the Instant On cd, you need to create a 204 mg partition on the HDD. Don not format the partition. Boot from the cd, the cd will install the Instant On Linux partition and voila.

 

Really? I hope I get this Instant On CD with the laptop when I pick it up later on today. If it is that simply, I will be one very happy man.

Thanks for your help.

Cheers.

 

No problem. The LW70-J3KA ships with that cd. Have Fun.

 

Fantastic!

 

I picked up my LW70-J3KA last night and I must say I am quite impressed with it so far.

It came with Windows XP Home on it (which I didn't want) so I formatted it and installed XP Pro. This didn't affect the Instant On partition in any way. I can still press the Instant On buttons and everything loads perfectly. The reinstall of XP Pro also went smoothly.

One thing that I really liked is the LG Intelligent Updater. I installed that after installing XP Pro and it ran through and installed all the small programs like IP Operator, Battery Miser 2005 and the graphic drivers etc. It was extremely useful (I think so anyway) and saved me a lot of time installing all the drivers individually myself. 10/10 for the updater!

The screen is beautiful. It is bright and delivers a very vibrant and super clear picture. I am very happy with this!

As for the weight of the laptop, it is rather light considering the size of the screen. I was actually quite surprised and was expecting something a little heavier, not that I am complaining!

The sound the laptop delivers was surprisingly good as well. I played a few MP3s and tested a couple of DVDs (both through Windows and Instant On) and was rather impressed. I am going to hook up to my Logitech 5.1 setup to it tonight and see what sound quality is like then. I didn't have time last night to do any more testing with regards to sound as I had to work the following day and was getting very tired.

As for the Wireless, I have it running at 802.11g, 54Mbps and it’s working great. It detected and connected to a Netgear WGT624 Access Point as soon as the drivers were installed. So far, there has been no problems at all with Wireless.

The laptop itself is extremely quite; unless I am going deaf, but in saying that, I don't believe I am!

Personally, I believe the IP Operator software deserves a little mention of its own. I have three networks which I connect too. Two at home for testing (A wireless network and a standard cable network both running different IP addressing schemes and subnets) and one at work, again using a different IP addressing scheme. I set up these different networks in IP Operator and was able to switch between networks seamlessly. I like the IP Operator software very much and would definitely come in handy for anyone switching networks on a regular basis.

The only thing I can fault so far is the 80GB 4200rpm HDD. It would have been good to have something quicker. Although it is rather good with a clean install of XP, I will be interested to see how it goes over the next few weeks. If it gets really sluggish, I will probably pull it out and add a 5400rpm or possibly even a 7200rpm drive. I will also be adding another 512MB of RAM within the next week or two.

Overall, I personally think it is a fantastic notebook which comes with some very useful software (IP Operator, LG Intelligent Updater etc) and is definitely worth the money. I picked it up from The Good Guys for $2950 on 12 months interest free which I thought was pretty good.

If you are thinking of buying one these notebooks yourself, feel free to ask me any questions you may have and I will try and answer them best I can.

Cheers!