LG P300: Thoughts & Opinions

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I saw the p300 at a FS the other day, its small, thin but a speed demon! I may pick one up if it gets refreshed wih the 9xxx video cards.

 

Uhh..OK. Yeah, sure, 9xxx series of cards. Man, some people are never satisfied. Keep waiting forever.

 

Might as well wait since I'm not even in the market right now(aka. I'm poor and waiting on tax returns and all), and considering the 9xxx series is slowly trickling into the market, it could be something worth waiting. Potential cognitive dissonance at this late in the technology period.

Try not to make assumptions next time, hmm?

 

Is it just a guess that the 9xxx series will be used in the P300?
Or is it for sure and the P300 will come with one in a few months?

And are you talking about nvidia 9xxx series?

 

I am not making any assumptions, coriolis. You will NOT see the 9xxx series in the P300 form-factor. The thermal envelope of the GPU combined with the Penryn with the SR chipset wouldn't permit it. It's AMAZING that LG put this GPU in the P300. However, we really don't know how the P300 will do over the long-term with regards to heat which is the worst enemy of computer hardware.

The closest refresh is that of the Montevina chipset. If you are going to wait for that, it's not a bad idea if you aren't in a hurry since the benfits of the lower TDP are well-worth it.

We both know that if you need to buy the hardware, and the money is there, the best time to buy is now.

 

dude, a 9xxx video card in a 13.3" notebook? thats ridiculous. seriously.
at least in the upcoming months.

 

I'm not saying that it will, technology is what it is, it evolves in such a terrifying pace that I wouldn't be surprised it would happen. However, there are good points that due to heat and possible lack of cooling factors.


It, like all technology, is a crapshoot. If it will stay with the 8600GS for the next few months, then thats what will happen. If it does bumped up, then that will be what will happen. Up'ing it up to a 9xxx series does not mean it will be more powerful, if anything it could be weaker but more energy efficient. Only time will tell, like all good things.

Not a very optimistic person I would think

 

it's not about optimism, it's about letting your laptop not melt away ..

i'm sure there will be 13.3" books with a 9xxx card included, but in my opinion they're not worth waiting ...

but don't take it as criticism, it's just my point of view

 

actually the 9xxx like the 9500 which should replace the 8600 would run alot cooler due to the alot smaller chips, so if you can wait I sure would

I actually do think the P300 looks like a very very cool computer! and if the next series indeed does include a 9500m (just like this did with 8600, in a 13" VERY nice!), I might get my first LG laptop

 

I checked out the P300 again, same comments as most of the posters but I found the lid really flimsy. The keyboard is solid to use, though the left shift button is small and can get annoying.

Other then that and the questionable lid design, it looks to be a nice portable workhorse! Looking forward to any review

 

the small shift key only applies to bilingual key boards (86 keys) i.e. those sold in Canada. the normal p300s have the standard 84 keys so everything is as it should be.

if you still remember the keyboard you tried and compare with the pictures on google, you'll see that they are different keyboards

 

could anyone let me know if this has a SPDIF port? most laptops now have it built into the audio jack, and i couldnt find anything on the specs reviews.

thanks in advance

 

I was looking at a Dell XPS M1530, but further research has shown the build quality to be flaky, what with grainy screens to noisy HDDs. Then this little beauty pops up out of nowhere and has me interested. Unfortunately for me LG does not seem to sell these in the UK market. I would import from Germany but I'm not too fond of the keyboard layout they have.

I'm asking LG UK through their website in hopes of a positive answer, else I may look into importing from the US. Fingers crossed

 

I'm also thinking about buying this notebook. But I'm still not sure about the heat and the form factor.

So again what do the owners say....Can the heat reduced while playing
intensive games by increasing the fan power or is the heat also problematic with a full spinning fan?
And are you satisfied with the 13,3" screen or is this a little too small?

Please tell your opinions, although they might be subjective.

Thanks.

Ah and one more thing: Is the color more red purple or more blue purple or something else..... ?

 

This laptop does seem rather interesting, shame about the hot pink sparkly zeebra paint job though
Oh well, I guess I could probably cover it with a laptop skin or something, or just leave it as it is and bring it with me if there is ever an 80's revival party near by.

I'm wondering a bit about the fan noise though, is the fan running at a constant speed at all three settings or does it still ramp up depending on heat/load like most other notebooks?

 

Well unlucky for me - LG UK have no plans for selling these

Guess I might have to look at the US or China for my P300 goodness, unless something better comes along

 

The fan is running at constant speed. On cool mode, the maximum CPU Core Temp is only 34 Degree Celsius, at silent mode it is only 64 -> and at this level you cannot hear the fan, you will only hear the HDD. It is really great! Even after intensive gaming the GPU is still below 80 Degree!

Greetings, Mythbuster

 

Thank you! That puts an end to one of my last concerns, guess I'll be visiting my local computer store tomorrow to poke and prod this little wonder

 

i noticed something very peculiar about LG prices.. they don't drop much here in canada... e.g. the r200 i guess this means waiting for a lower price wouldn't really happen

 

I have yet to visit my local FS to check out the P300. It looks so delicious in the pictures tho. XD. Also, does anyone think there will be a P500 (or something of that sort) anytime soon? I mean 15.4" IS the most popular size...so it should make sense to do something like that right? Dell added the m1530 after their m1330 took the notebook market (here in north america anyway) by storm.

 

I want to reiterate this request. SPDIF will make or break a purchase for me as I want for my Logitech Z-5500 surround system. Although you can get a Creative expresscard sound card which will have SPDIF but of course it'd be better if it was built in.

 

From these two pictures:
1
and
2
There seems to be no SPDIF on the P300...unless of course I'm a quater blind and needs to see my optometrist!!

 

Well i doubt you would be able to see it from pictures. the spdif is usually built into the headphones port. you would only ever know it has it by reading the specs, but unfortunately lg makes no mention of it. they only mention something about 24bit HD audio or something. can anyone with the laptop verify a spdif port?

 

I still have concerns about the heat in this tiny laptop. Cause of the extreme heat the 8600 is producing during 3D-games, I wonder how long the rest of the hardware will survive this hot environment. Maybe 2 years and one additional day?

I heart the fan is running all the time, although very quite on normal and quite setting. Is there any possibility to cool down the laptop, maybe by using software and/or hardware changements?

And: What's about whining? My M1330 was whining A LOT! Same problem with the P300?

Thanks in advance and friendly greetings from Germany

 

No whining on mine, with the fan set to normal or silent the hard drive is the loudest component.

 

What an awesome laptop, I've been due for an upgrade the day I bought my current laptop!! Was planning on getting one towards the end of the year but this little beast of a machine might just convince me to dip into my savings early after resisting the temptation that is the M1330.

My question is: has any of the existing owners of the P300 installed XP onto the machine? How available are the drivers? My intention would be to dual boot Vista/xp to make the transition easy.

 

Because LG puts a "downgrade to XP" in P300 package I think neither XP itself nor drivers will be a problem.

 

I really like this machine, saw it in person at FutureShop... Only thing it lacks in comparison to the Dell XPS 1330 is the ability to purchase "Accidental Coverage" insurance...

I am still happy with my Dell, and the honest truth is, I barely play any games on my laptop, but I still would LOVE to have all the power that this laptop has!

 

You can always get accidental insurance through a separate company.

 

Anyone has any information on if and or when the P-300 will come with the new 9500m as replacement for the 8600m ? specially if its a ddr3 version i would be VERY interested

 

Does anyone know the brand and the quality of this DVD drive?

 

Brand: I took a quick look on the back it says Manufacturer: LG Electronics Inc. and Made in Korea

Quality: I give it an A+ extremely solid, quiet, no vibrations or creaks. excellent.

 

Sounds good! The reason I asked is because I heard that slot DVD drives are usually less reliable and prone to breakdown.

 

Wow, it has a dedicated knob (?) for volume! I wish more laptops kept these... The "Fn+button" volume control really sucks nowadays...

And the 8600GS performs like a beast in terms of 13"ers. Very nice, LG.

----

To everyone saying "9 series in this little thing no wai *slap*"

I'm speechless at how you can rule out that possibility completely. With every generation, GPUs only get smaller and run cooler. Why is it not possible to get a 9500GS in it, or maybe even a 9700 if they make it small enough.

No one can be 100% sure about technology; I bet a lot of you also ruled out the 9 series coming out this year, since 8800GTX JUST came out. But look at what happened.

 

Im pretty sure we will see a 9500m in this or a new 13,1" model. Its the direct replacement for 8600m, with smaller chips, less heat and around the same performance. Buttom line, if you can make a 8600m work in it, you for sure can make a 9500m work aswell.

 

actually, we can. asus has announced it's new U6S, a 12.1" notebook with a geforce 9300. shame on me.

 

When on earth is this available in the US? I was going to order one in the next week or so but now I find out that futureshop doesn't ship to the USA and if I have a friendly canadian buy it and ship it to me, there will be massive local taxes (I think canada is GST plus local province tax!).

 

I'm assuming that the external dvd drive uses an ac adapter to get poewr... am I correct?

 

negative.
the external drive doesnt need any seperate adapter to work, power comes via usb.

nice, huh?

 

I actually just ordered one Monday from futureshop and am having it reshipped via a Canadian import/export shipper. They said you can get most if not all the taxes back with a little work. Also, apparantly there's no duty for laptops?

Anyway, my plans are to turn it into an OS X 86 machine since the macbook air was too weak and the macbook pro is too big and heavy for my purposes, this is the perfect laptop for the kind of stuff I do.

 

Which import service did you use?

 

A service I found on ebay actually, reQ-Ship. The guys name is Bill Hamlyn. His email is [email protected].

I took a chance on him because there was a lot of positive feedback for his ebay store:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dl...08&category=50352&rd=1&ssPageName=mem_guide:1

My laptop should arrive tomorrow, and I'll tell you whether he sent me a box of peanuts or the actual laptop, hah.

 

MustaFaH, how much did you pay for the laptop and how much are you paying for Bill's import service?

 

I'm actually going to be buying something in the US (I'm from Canada). Can I get my tax back as well? How would I go about doing this?

 

As good as this laptop looks. I hope it will get a Montevina refresh, with a 25% motherboard shrink they might be able to fit a dvd-drive in there...also the 8600gs is a really old card so a 9500gs or HD3650 would be a nice addition I heard this thing gets hot while gaming.

 

How close are we to montevina...

This laptop is still relatively new, it was only released in korea in dec.

I'm thinking of buying this from notebook.de but I'm just wary that there is the possibility this laptop may get an update soon (Its already got penryn for instance, it wasn't originally released with it).

 

We are less than 90 days from Montevina assuming the original shipping dates stand.

If Asus indeed puts a 9300 GPU in the U6 without any issues, I will stand corrected, as well. Although, the U6 is quite big for a 12-incher.

 

If anyone does not want the DVD burner, I'll buy it!

Respond to my thread here please:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=230683

 

Bla! So, due to compatibility issues with MAC OS X 10.5.2 I'm not going to be keeping my LG P300....it's not even a week old......already imported, if anyone is interested:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?p=3127055#post3127055

It is such a sweet laptop.....I just can't do the whole windows vista/xp thing.

 

I have one for sale too.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=231121