R700 rant/review/questions

Well it's a post with rant , review, questions, about LG R700 (XNOTE)
and rebranded msi gx700 and whoevere else used the same model/parts.


-Some model comes with tv tuner some has it replaced with usb port.
Guess it's just an internal external usp port that sinked in to the frame.
Some modells come with infra remote controll.

Question is that all models have infrared receiver place in the front,
but the model without tv tuner has no infrared drivers listed in device
manage, or in any device scanner.

Is it disabled in bios level or they manually left/cut it out ?


-Bluetooth internal device is ivt bluesoleil made.
It works with default vista drivers but .. >.<
As I noticed the nevest driver/software pack isn't fully free from ivt,
it has limits as free.
Lg should have taken care about support about the devices that it used.
Anyway google took care about that, using latest 5.x software.
Looks better and more functon as vista def driver/software.


-Webcam. Just can't trace down who ever made them without extracting,
and checking the board for id. And for now can't unlock it full functions.
Should ask 1 with msi gx700 to post it's device hardware info. (since close same modell)

If anyone ever gets his hand on a took apart model please take a lot of
photos from the inside and parts. Not planing to take it apart myself yet.


-In other post ppl say that it's a negative that the fan is always running
and want bios update to fix it.
Well monitoring cpu/gpu temps in normal and gaming use, I would never turn the fan off.
By the way don't trust the cpu temps that gets displayed in most soft,
get one that display the core-s temperatures (10-20C difference possible)
Power functions are controlled nice by vista as good as it can.


-Wireless intel 4965agn. Well stuck with vista default connection manager,
as intel software doesn't have plugin to vista. Can get it working but pain.
Got it installed for the hope of future updates on it.
And there isn't any 3th party manager. Missing that I had on my asus notebook.
Should go and look around if I could hijack from some other nd. makers to this card.
If anyone looking for wifi scanners, there is one for vista sidebar, and inssider
that is free and working fine. Tried wifi-hopper and it failed.
WirelessMon is fine but it's not free.


-Touch pad. Same used in many other notebook, but msi was smarter to
mark the scroll part with a red line, some call it a dead area but it's
just meant for the 3th button for scrolling.


-Sound is interesting as msi could put 2 more speaker in to the front.
The .1 speaker (sub) kinda makes he sound of centered that can be fixed in most
media players.


-Keyboard still have to get used to it, have to type harder that got used from a notebook.
And the layout of the right part >.<


-LG liveupdate, will get rid of that junk l8r at a system cleaning.
Went to all the hardware part makers and got the latest drivers.
Waste of space and ram, it's disabled now.


-Eisa configuration partition, found no info yet what is on the 1Gb in lg-s case.
As it has no file system what so ever.


-Nvidia 8600m gt. It's nice fast and runs hot. The last drivers from nvidia
with moded inf do wonders on performance over the default old drivers.
At least vista can handle the gpu and ram clocking/speed fine since
nvidia removed the powermizer tab from the controll panel.
Could over or underclock in ntune if needed.


... rest l8r

 

And some more

Some sites sell them with "1GB Intel® Turbo Memory" that would explain the
3 ram slot from the everest diagnostic with 1 empty. And the reason he driver is o the cd.
Could only confirm if the slot exist only by opening, not ready for it yet, since
far from home, abroad atm.
(Should have went looking the screen when they x-rayed it at the airports)

So if anyone can get a screwdriver and a camera or better in web searching
since I found no pics yet.

Site selling with turbo memory (and listing as 4Gb ram compatible)

Code:

http://www.gpsystems.ca/index.php?option=com_virtuemart&page=shop.product_details&flypage=product.detail&category_id=50&product_id=2425&Itemid=26

(well everest reports it a 4Gb/slot compatible so 8Gb total)

...more l8r

 

Back to the webcam. It's the same as asus used in their eepc .. >.< el cheap.

LG webcam software sux as it can, camera capable 1.3Mpix or close to it.

Just to get to a higher resolution have to use different software to access it.
Tried kmplayer and setup wdm, well it was made to open tv tuners but can
open webcams too as composite device. And can confirm 1+Mpix resolutions
1280x1024. And yes the light comes on when viewing.
So this proves that the default vista diver can do it all only lg software failed.

Well they may took it out since the max fps I can get is 7-9 at 1Mpix rez.
But still nice for still pics.

Can't recommend kmplayer for new users since it was just sold by the maker
to a bigger company and no clue whatever happens to it in the future.
As for me, it's my default video player, because filter customization ...
Will see if it's going to be replaced l8r.
There is a ton more software for webcam viewing and capture out there.

As for why vista don't list it in "scanners and cameras" only in device manager
as under imaging deices, will see after a few more hours of google.
edit: Because m$ changed that webcams aren't listed there anymore >.<

Code:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/927833

 

On a sub note to notebooks like this (lg/msi/..) that have hitachi hdd inside
they set to work in sata 1 (150) mode by default.

^^

They label them as sata2 but forget to turn the mode support for sata2 on.

 

Could anyone confirm the 8600m GT mxm card version (II./III.) ? Thanks.

 

Installed 4Gb 2x2 ram, bios see it, vista see it, so it's working fine.

Kingston HyperX 4GB (2 x 2GB) 200-Pin SO-DIMM PC2 5300 DDR2 667MHz Dual Channel Notebook Memory Low-Latency CL4 (4-4-4-12) (KHX5300S2LLK2/4G)

As looked inside, there is unused mini pci-e slot free and unused antenna cable, to install tv tuner/..

ps.: I's on 24/7 with a 12cm fan blowing air under it