Going to buy 6024W

My old laptop died today. Almost like it knew I was going to replace it
It's been giving up on me gradually over the past several months, but today it totally packed in.

Anyway it now means I'm going to be ordering a 6024W on Monday. So this being my last chance to change what I'm going to buy, I thought I'd just post the specs and check I havn't missed an opportunity to get better value for money - or am paying for stuff I don't need.

So - a 6024W because I'm not a gamer, or heavy video user, and I'd like the better battery life than the 622W. All I really need in graphics is vista aero. Lack of a higher res than 1280x800 on most 14 inch notebooks is a bit of a deal-breaker for me though, so the 6024W for the 1440x900 scrreen.

CPU: 2 GHz, T7300
RAM: 2 x 1024 MB
HDD: 120 Gigs, 5400 rpm, non-hybrid.

I would much rather pay for a faster cpu than a faster / bigger HDD, as I'm a relatively light HDD user - and processor speed (or lack thereof) is of greater benefit to many of the apps I run.

And the rest: Intel AGN Wifi, DVD RW, vista home premium, UK keyboard, and a sleeve M.

That comes in at £862.62 with tax, then with shipping: £897.62 - which is getting towards the top end of my budget. The plan is to phone sales on Monday partly to make sure I'm ordering what I think I am (still don't fully trust the website I'm afraid!) but mainly to try and pay by transfer. Has anyone had any success with this? Otherwise, I'll just have to get my credit limit raised and swallow that extra £23.72 credit card charge.

 

That's almost the same as I ordered a few days ago for very similar reasons (I hope it will arrive by Wednesday). X3100 GPU and 14.1" WXGA+ display gives a choice between Dell and Zepto. I was tempted by the Vostro 1400 but it's slightly heavier and I'm not sure if it is shipping yet. The Latitude D630 is another alternative which is slightly lighter.

Note that Iann in Zepto should be office at 07:30 UK time and his phone isn't likely to be very busy then.

John

 

I agree, I don't trust Zepto's web site.
A week ago went down telephone order way ( I dealt with Ian, worked well for me)
Used Pro Forma Invoice approach with Debit Card.
Like to know how you get on with transfer method.

Your spec, and the way you want to use it, do agree

Beware the graphics card.

At the moment I don't know the difference between Vista hype and the truth.
To my mind, new OS new graphics card (DirectX).

To work properly Aero seems to want Direct X garphics card

In the words of the Zepto's web site @NVIDIA® Geforce 8600M GT
This graphics card, which supports Pure Video HD, DirectX 10.0,.."

Hence I chose it. Zepto has some chearer options.

 

The Intel GMA 950 makes an adequate job of Vista on my Q35 and the new X3100 is several times faster so I know it will be good enough for me. Personally, I will be disabling the eye candy because I think it looks better without it.

I recently looked that the Samsung Q70 (link below to my review) which has the 8400M G GPU and I could not get it past 3 hours on a 6 cell battery, which I blame on the GPU leaking power.

John

 

Thanks John. It probably won't be until around 9.30 - 10am that I'm able to phone anyway.

 

OK, I just need some feedback here...I am more than happy to take orders over the phone for customers if they like but can you say specificly which features of the website that you do not like. I cant promise anything but it is important for me to know what our customers are thinking....Just by posting on this forum you can influence what we do @Zepto...now thats power

 

Four improvements I can think of at the moment.

There is the matter of linking the 6024W's datasheet to the 6024W's web page.

I'm not sure if we really need the Norwegian keyboard option on the UK ordering page.

On the contacts page include the UK times (1 hour different than Zepto, ie 07:30 to 15:30).

And I couldn't find anything about the delivery and credit card charge until I got to the checkout.

John

 

Thanks for your honest opinion John. The first 2 things will be easy to fix. I will look at changing the opening times for the phoneline to 7.30-3.30 Uk time which looks a bit strange but thats what it works out too. I can answer some emails in the evenings but not guarenteed of course. Your last point is valid and I can only pass it on to the higher selves of Zepto which I will do


On a personal note I will have a tracking number to you by around 4 o clock with TNT, IB

 

The added charges you cant see till the end lost you a customer

 

My 6024W was delivered 24 hours +/- a few minutes after being shipped. Normally, delivery is two days.

First impressions:

1. Weight = 2.347kg which is consistent with the weight in the data sheet. However, the PSU is 90W (19V, 4.74A) which is oversized for a notebook with integrated graphics and adds to the travel weight.

2. The touchpad is almost square (60mm wide x 47mm high) compared with the wide touchpads (69mm x 38mm) on my Samsung notebooks. There's no obvious reasons for not having a wider touchpad.

More comments after Vista has got itself set up.

John

 

Good news John, looking forward to the comments.
I'll just give an update on my order -

I found out on Monday morning that my local government will be covering a portion of the cost of my 6024W, when I previously thought they wouldn't cover any of it - so in light of this, I bumped my order up to a 160 GB hard drive (instead of 120 GB) and Vista Ultimate instead of Home Premium.

After excellent service from Iann B, my order is now at invoicing, so should be getting built fairly soon now.

A quick note on paying by bank transfer: I paid by SWIFT, and this may depend on your bank, but the cost seems to be roughly half that of paying by card - depending on the size of you order. I suspect that if the UK and Denmark both used the Euro instead of their own proprietory currencies, then much of the cost would disappear. But anyway, not to worry.

 

One concern about my 6024W is that the battery life is being projected at about 2.5 hours which is well down on where it should be. Perfmon (Windows Performance Monitor) is showing that the CPU is never going into the C3 deep sleep state. I've already passed this issue back to Zepto.

John

 

Will you be doing a review of you Zepto John?

 

It's in the plans but it is likely to be a few weeks away.

Meanwhile, some results:

Windows Vista Experience Index: 3.4
PCMark05: Around 3950
3DMark05: Around 850 (only about 50% faster than the GMA 950)
3DMark06: Around 550 (about 5 times faster than the GMA 950)

(The new Intel beta driver raised the Experience Index to 3.5 but I saw some strange colours in the 3DMark tests so I have gone back to the supplied driver).

Battery life is the main worry. I hope Zepto are trying to figure out what is happening.

Here's a photo of the 6024W between the 12.1" Samsung Q35 and the 15.4" Samsung X60 plus. It gives a good impression of the size difference. The thickness of all three is very similar.

I had a problem with the fan getting stuck on full speed. I eventually fixed this by resetting the BIOS to the default settings. I've just heard from Zepto that it is a known problem and they are currently testing a modified BIOS.

John

 

Hmm... appearance wise, your 2 Samsungs still look more pleasing to the eye. What do you think of the build quality and sturdiness of it? It looks quite "plasticy" but does it feel it? I'm basing them on your pictures and other pictures I've noticed on this forum and external reviews.

 

The 6024W build quality is good overall. The chassis is very rigid (they say there is some reinforcement somewhere) and the display back is quite solid.

The one build quality issue is that the right side of the keyboard feels a little loose. This is because the optical drive prevents any fixing screws. I have suggested some sticky tape under the keyboard in this area as part of the assemby process.

Regarding appearance, it's OK. Neither beautiful nor ugly. The touchpad should be wider and given a slightly more prominent edge. It looks and feels much the same as the palm rest and is almost flush with the palm rest. The Samsungs are similar but the touchpad is slightly more recessed so it is easy to feel the edge. Most of the black is matte except for a shiny area behind the keyboard.

As I've said before in a few places, one cannot compare the 6024W with the M1330. I was planning to use the M1330 as a second notebook when I wanted portability. The 6024W is a compromise between large and small which I hope will become my only notebook.

At the moment, the 6024W's power management and battery life are my worries. It makes me realise that Samsung got that right on the Q35.

John

 

Please post a review of the 6024W.

I'm interested in the battery life and Vista experience index.

I hope the battery life will be better then mentioned above.

I would like to buy the 6024W also but it is still not on sale in the Netherlands/Belgium. When ???

 

If you dont use the 6224w for gaming wont it give you the same battery life as the 6024w, as the graphics card isnt being put to use?

Saxdave, did you go for the standard dvd drive or the slot in one?

Where is the built in mic on the 6024w/6224w?

 

It says on zeptos website the 6024w has a max battery life of 3.5 hours, and ive read online the the samsung q35 has max battery life of 3.25 hours. What did you mean by that comment?

 

I have already posted the WEI somewhere but here it is again (for T7300 / 2GB / 120GB / X3100).

1. The more powerful GPU leaks more power, even when it is not being used.

2. The microphone is on the front palm rest next to the indicator lights. Download and browse the User Guide from the Zepto website.

In my review of the Q35 I complained that I couldn't reach 5 hours. That was with XP. Vista (and changing the HDD from Hitachi to Samsung) added some more time.

John

 

Just went for the standard one.