Buying a Zepto 6224W

Hello,

can someone help me with picking a wifi card. I think it is good to get draft N but which one. the Intel one or Zepto Wpro 300Mbit BGN? They are almost the same price. Which is better?

Here is the config I am looking to get:
SAMSUNG DVD-RW DL Brenner
Tastatur Znote 6x14W schwarz DE
14,1" WXGA+ 1440x900 - 6224W
NVIDIA® GeForce 8600M GT 512MB
2.00 GHz Intel® Core™2 Duo T7300 800MHz
2048MB (2x1024) DDR2 800/PC6400 SODIMM
160GB Hybrid 2,5" 5400RPM - SAMSUNG
6 + 12 Cell Akku
Intel Pro/Wireless 4965AGN
1.241,19 €

Delivery of 25 days is pretty long

thank you!

 

I went with the Intel Draft-N. Its brand new, should be widely supported by routers of all different makes and drivers.

Petrov.

 

I'd also opt of the Intel draft N wireless.

 

I too would pick draft n to futureproof the NB.

 

Yes I know I want draft N. But both are draft N.
I was hopeing to find out what chipset the Zepto Wpro 300Mbit BGN uses. Might be better then Intel.

 

The Zepto Wpro 300Mbit uses an Atheros AR5008X chip.

 

What do you think of this deal from Evesham?
http://www.evesham.com/products/info.asp?e=321AE2F7-FB16-4A39-8BF4-16F60871DA67 Comes with Intel Core 2 Duo T7700 Processor, 256MB NVIDIA 8600 MGS graphics, 1 GB Intel Turbo Memory and Gold 3 year warranty - 1st & 2nd year in-home service (parts & labour). 3rd year return-to-base (parts & labour). All for £1099 inc.

 

I dont like it because 1. it only has a 8600M GS not GT and 2. it is a low res screen. 3. It is 15'4 and more comparable in size and weight to the Zepto 6625 and that is too big.

The Zepto is better for me

 

The GS is faster than the GT according to http://www.nvidia.com/object/geforce_8600M.html

 

yes its faster but has less stream processes to use. they are very similar in grade but the GT is the better model accoring to nvidia...

 

Znote 6625WD: £1,230.16 (customized on the UK site)
Voyager C535SR: £1,179.00
(I chose the 100GB 7200RPM disk for both)

The differences:
- The Znote has 800MHz RAM, the Voyager has 667MHz (with no option to go 4GB or 800MHz)
- The Znote has 1680x1050 res screen, the Voyager has 1280x800 res screen
- The Voyager has Vista Home Premium 32bit, Znote has none. The Voyager does not give the option to get the computer with no OS. (+80£ for Vista with the Znote)
- The Voyager has GS 256MB, the Znote has GT 512MB

Rest of the differences are minimal.
The price is almost the same, and with better RAM and screen I'd deffinatly pick the Znote.

 

The voyager at £1099 inc. comes with the fastest Intel Core 2 Duo T7700 Processor ( £215.19 extra from Zepto ) and 1 GB Intel Turbo Memory (not avaialble from Zepto ), not to talk about the 3 year Gold warranty and 9 days delivery.

Zepto seems a bit expensive for their website specifications. You also have to add the credit card charges!!

Now if only the Voyager has options for a 15.4 high resolution screen and a GT card...

 

there has been some statements on other threads about Santa Rosa Laptops being unable to make use of 800MHz RAM even with a 800MHz FSB (apologies for not referencing i am lazy) , i am wondering why zepto isnt allowing people to have the slower RAM and whether it is worth the additional cost. what does everyone think?

 

The problem here is that most of this forum buyers are blinded by the new technology and placing orders before a full review has emerged. Zepto is not providing adequate specific information about the systems (not on their website anyway) and relying on the consumer urge or desire to possess the new technology before the potential problems or issues are identified and resolved.

The best option is to wait for a full review and further clarification about the systems, including what is included and not included. For example, the lack of DVI is fustrating for a system of this specification in this day and age. This indicates that an old chassis is been used to house the new components, not really value for money.

£215.19 extra for a Intel 7700 processor is hefty sum considering that the Evesham Voyager is offering a fairly similiar design with the Intel 7700, 1 GB Turbo memory and 2 years home based warranty for far less money than Zepto.

 

i'm pretty sure that santa rosa laptops support 800MHz RAM but it is true that there is lots of conflicting info on the net.

I also can't believe that the new Znote's dont have HDMI or DVI outputs but for me i will probably never need any of these.

 

While I agree that the missing HDMI output is aggravating, I can't follow your logic concerning the price... as I showed in my comparison BOTH computers had the 2.4GHz processors (T7700). (and with the Znote you can choose to get 2.2GHz at a considerable lower price - maki)
At almost the same price you get more with the Znote...

I just hope I can upgrade the non-HDMI version of 6625 to a HDMI version in august when it's implemented.

I'm not sure where you get the £215.19 extra for a T7700 from... upgrading from T7500 to T7700 on http://uk.zepto.com/ I get the upgrade price £162.72.

 

... the Voyager would cost more

 

I can tell you now that this will not be possible. The HDMI is connected to the graphic card which is on the mainboard. So you would have to change that. In addition the case has to change fit the HDMI shape.

http://www.intel.com/products/chipsets/pm965/index.htm

The official info from Intel states:
'Support for dual channel DDR2-667 MHz memory technology'

no mention of DDR2-800

 

Here's my spec:

Delivery time: Up to 21 days

Total £1,126.34 + £197.11 VAT = £1,323.45

Product Spec:

Znote 6224W
Keyboard Znote 6x14W Black UK
14,1" WXGA+ 1440x900 - 6224W
6 Cell Battery
NVIDIA® Geforce 8600M GT Info Text
Environment Fee
2.40 GHz Intel® Core™2 Duo T7700 800MHz
2 GB DDR2 PC6400 Original Zepto Ram
100GB 7200rpm SATA Harddisk Hitachi®
Intel Pro/Wireless 4965AGN
DVD-RW Dual Layer DVD Burner Slide IN
Microsoft® Windows® Vista Home Premium - UK

300431 24 months pick up & return £72.60


Don't forget credit card charges of £30.00 +

Anyway, is this a power laptop to die for or what. Ye ha!!!

Lets hope there's no problems when it in use for heavy duty gaming.

 

Anyone know how someone in the US would put in an order for a Zepto?

 

Think I saw somewhere that you should use the global site

 

I've read a few benchmarks and most say that GS score ~2900 3dmark06b and GT around 3700p

 

US orders can be processed throught the global website, It can be used for any country which does not have a Zepto website, we had a customer today from Kuwait for example. The 6224 has not been affected by delivery times. 21 days is a lot longer than we usually take because of the fact it is a new model.

 

is it strange that the 800Mhz ram works in these Zeptos or does the faster ram just get throttled at 667Mhz i wonder? we need models with both sorts of RAM in to know for sure, but zepto seem only to sell with the faster variety

 

The Intel Santa Rosa supports 800MHz FSB on the new Core 2 Duo CPU's and therefore need this speed of RAM for those CPU's.

 

FOR THE RECORD:
The new Santa Rosa and Mobile Intel 965 chipset DO NOT SUPPORT DDR800.
ddr 800 will run at 667 therfore performing exactly the same as 667mhz memory.
FSB and memory speed are entirely different things just because the FSB is 800mhz does not meen that the memory runs at 800, dont forget the memory is dual channel aswell.
this is stated on the intel website here:
http://www.intel.com/products/centrino/compare.htm

and strangely Zepto even admit it on there website here:
http://uk.zepto.com/PageControls/Product.aspx?componentid=348

with some confusing and i beleive false information about a 15% performance increase.

Rene S - Zepto, do your research before making false statements, in the UK that could be considered false advertising and technically illegal.
Thiese laptops should come with 667mhz memory which would be signifcantly cheaper.
There is a reason why every other laptop from every other manufacturer uses 667mhz memory.

 

Thank you for the link. It is what many people suspected anyway. The rams run at 667mhz like every other Santa Rosa laptop. Maybe someone knows what timing DDR2 800 runs at? Even if the timing was much better it surely wont increase speed by 15%

 

Thanks for the info peterpanes, looks like i'll be going with another company now...

 

You are all a set of Girls

The Santa Rosa chipset supports 800Mhz Front Side Bus (the bus from cpu to memory, direct access)


I think you've got something mixed up:

The FSB from CPU to MEMORY is 800Mhz variable for power saving down to 400Mhz. The bus speed of memory to the chip-set is 667Mhz, so things like GRAPHICS will talk to the memory directly at 667Mhz, but the CPU will talk to memory via direct access at a max speed of 800Mhz.

Does it help you?




http://australianit.news.com.au/articles/0,7204,21716148^39525^^nbv^15309,00.html

http://australianit.news.com.au/articles/0,7204,21716148^39525^^nbv^15309,00.html

http://www.pcpro.co.uk/reviews/113175/intel-santa-rosa-centrino.html


viiiper

 

Not according to INTEL,

I will also mention that in the first Australian article you posted (i didnt read the other 2) it says the following:

"The Merom chips now run faster and have a frontside bus, an important data highway linking processor and memory, that storms along at 800MHz, rather than 667."

Whoever wrote this doesn’t know what he's talking about or he worded it very badly.

He says "Merom chips now run faster and have a frontside bus"
Well they’ve always had a front side bus every processor has an FSB he speaks as if the FSB is a new thing that’s been introduced.

He has also made no references or sourced any third party material so I ask you where did he get his ideas and data from...... Maybe he made them up.

For these reasons I will dismiss this as valid, useful information anyway.

Also INTEL WOULD NOT CLAIM THEIR PROCESSORS ARE SLOWER THAN THEY ACTUALLY ARE, WOULD THEY.

Come on guys, don’t believe everything you read

 

I think you're misreading the English in the sentence you quote. There is a comma after the first "bus", not a fullstop. So the article writer is saying that the Memrom chips now run faster and have a frontside bus that runs at 800Mhz - the part between the first two commas is merely an explanation of what the FSB is for the benefit of the average/uninformed reader of the article (i.e. it's "an important data highway linking processor and memory").

Should try to avoid misquoting. I am not saying anythng about the technical content of the original article - I am not informed enough to comment either way on it.

Petrov.

 

QUESTIONS TO BE ANSWERED:

Why is this and previous laptops from Zepto the only laptops in the world that come with DDR800?

Why does it say on the intel website that all Core 2 Duos support DDR667 max?

Why are Zepto admitting that the DDR800 registers as 667mhz

Why do the desktop Core 2 Duo have an FSB of 1066 but only support a max of DDR800 if the FSB and Memory speed are the same?

Common sense and logic my friends.

 

All good questions - PP did you try calling the Danish line and speaking to one of their technical (not sales) guys?

Petrov.

 

How come we, international buyers, get charged with GST. I thought sales tax is only charged to customers who reside in the company's country (at less that is how US and Canada work).

Zepto should really include DDR2-667 as an option since not everyone wants DDR2-800

 

I’m going to buy the 6224W anyway and there is no option for DDR667 on the UK website so I dont have any choice Im getting DDR800 whether I like it or not.

Im really mentioning this for the others who are buying different models which do have the choice of DDR667.

And also in the hope that Zepto read it and put the option off 667DDR on their website before i place the order in 2 days.

 

Sales tax is different in every country,

As an international supplier Zepto must specify their prices before any kind of tax and at the point of purchase they will add on tax depending on where you live.

Here in the UK we pay 17.5% sales Tax called VAT (Value Added Tax)
therefore I will pay an extra £175 tax on a £1000 laptop.

 

PP, may be this will help you

http://www.directron.com/fsbguide.html


FSB is not the system clock speed nor is it the memory speed it is the actual CPU to memory link speed !!

CPU with a 1066 FSB means it can talk to the memory with the effective speed of 1066Mhz !!

DDR Memory works at a diffrent speed to FSB always, memory is double or quad clocked so in a system with FSB 1066 memory can run 1066/4 = 266Mhz
or 1066/2 = 533Mhz

Santa rosa FSB is 800Mhz from cpu to memory, so memory runs 200Mhz quad piped to the CPU or 400Mhz Dual piped..... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DDR2_SDRAM

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/01/16/intel_centrino_roadmap/

please read links

clear ?

 

To clear up a couple of other issues on this thread:

GFX CARD:
The 8600GT will be noticably faster than the 8600GS as its pipeling is much better. The GS although slower will probably consume more power because of its higher GPU and memory speed (probably).
8600GT = deffinately faster and probably better power consumption.
8600GT is currently the fastest mobile GFX GPU available in laptops with a 15.4 screen or smaller.

WIRELESS CARD:
I would deffinately go with the intel 11N over the Zepto 11N.
I dont know what the Zepto one is but the Intel is bound to be more compatible which is the cause of most wireless networking problems (except user error). Plus the hardware wireless button will work.

HDMI
I agree with Wave, putting HDMI on any of these laptops would meen changing the GFX card and laptop body etc. when that happens they will probably be different laptop models altogther.
Personally I dont see the problem, almost all HD ready TVs and monitors have a VGA port on them, and i bet you wont be able to tell the difference.

 

I am 99.9% sure these laptops DO NOT support 800mhz memory.
Unless someone with first hand experience or proof of some kind can post then my mind is made up.

Why doesn’t someone who has a Zepto laptop with DDR800 actually tell us what the memory runs at.

How to check memory speed:
Download SANDRA:
http://www.benchmarkhq.ru/english.html?/sandradl_e.html

No need to run any benchmarks just open system information and it will tell you.

Everything points to 667 not 800, 800 sounds like an assumption made on the basis of the 800 bus.

once again i will post the link to the Intel website:
http://www.intel.com/products/centrino/compare.htm

You are saying the opposite of what Intel are saying about their own CPU and chipset, if you are going to do that then you need some proof.

 

PP/Viiper, I don't think you guys are actually disagreeing. PP - check out the wiki link viiiiper had in his message above, it shows that PC2-6400 memory, which is the stuff that I think Zepto is using in the new laptops, is a DDR-800 chip type, which utilises a bus clock of 400mhz and memory clock of 200Mhz.

Petrov.

 

Customers outside the EU will not pay tax on their Zepto notebooks but will have to sort out and customs Tax or charges that they may have

 

As a potential customer I am very disappointed that Zepto, the retailer of these advanced systems, cannot provide more detailed and clear information about the products they are selling.

All indications from Intel are these laptops do not currently support 800 mhz memory yet Zepto is forcing us to buy these expensive ddr2-800 chips when the cheaper ddr2-667 mhz memory will do. More distressing is the fact that there is no option for a dual channel 2 x 1 gb which is up to 50% faster than a single channel 2 gb.

I am not quite sure why Zepto is charging £0.87 on the UK website for the Intel n wireless since the Intel platform comes with it anyway.

Taking this and other issues brought up in this forum I propose that we all go on strike and boycott Zepto products until they get their act together.

 

The wifi draft N only an option for all Centrino laptops including Santa Rosa. Intel says that to get the Centrino logo you need to use a Intel chipset, Intel CPU and Intel wifi chip. Intel does not say which wifi chip you have to use.

Zepto has the cheaper ABG chip as standard and the ABGN chip as a cheap upgrade. I dont seen anything wrong with that. I assume that if you get the Zepto wifi you will get a Core2Duo sticker instead of Centrino Duo.

The rest I agree with 100%!

 

Haven't you notice? They specifically left out those 800MHZ ram question unanswered. That should tell you something. They screw up. They ordered the wrong rams and now they have to get rid of them fast.

 

Anyone knows if the 6224 model is anywhere sold in US ?

 

This is not only intentionally misleading, it is obviously and blatantly false. Clearly the CPU doesn't "need" the 800mhz ram, or all those other Santa Rosa laptops selling with 667mhz ram wouldn't work. 667mhz ram is already plenty fast, as the CPU is quad clocked (800mhz FSB = 200mhz clock speed) and the RAM is dual clocked (667mhz FSB = 333mhz clock speed). Therefore the CPU has not reached the full potential of the memory, so the memory is not the limiting factor here. If you really wanted to speed up the laptop, you should use low latency DDR2667 ram, which is already being sold, which would speed up your timings much more than increasing the FSB would.

 

Yes so I found out later on, and has also talked about this with our sales team ect afterwards. We have also changed the machines accordingly so people are able to choose the 667MHz RAM for the machines also.

 

Not available on the UK site, I pre ordered 6224 with PC6400 because there is no option for the 667Mhz ram, will this be rectified, and will I have to contact Zepto to rectify my order and lastly, What is the price diffrence ?? 10% 50 %


ASAP.


viii

 

Good point... But in your case it wouldn't matter as you've ordered 4gb of the same ram and this is the maximum you could fit in your system, obviously you wouldn't need to upgrade as the others are talking about. Unless 4gb sticks appear that is...

 

You could contact ZeptoUK on the site. He would be able to change your order.