Got my Compal IFL90!!!

Well... after waiting over two months from the time that I ordered it I finally took delivery of my PowerPro J10:15.
My first impressions are this.....

First, it is a sweet looking machine. The lid is very glossy and has a very subtle, yet noticeable metal flake look to it. The gray trim around the lid is very glossy too and has the same metal flake look. My only issue with the lid is it is a finger print attractor, I'm always wiping it down . The lid of the computer is very sturdy and has virtually no flex. You would have to push extremely hard on the back to get the lid to flex and distort the screen. I was looking quite seriously at the Asus G1S and I will have to say that my Compal IFL90's lid is two to three times as sturdy as the Asus G1S. On the Asus, you can push on the back side of the lid and get considerable distortion on the screen. Not so on this Compal.
There are no latches to hold the lid down, as most people know. This also is a non-issue and in fact probably considerably better than one with latches. It takes two hands to open it and it stays exactly where you put it. Some have expressed concern about it opening up in a backpack or such, and I can say, rest assured, it will not open on its own. My only concern is how it will hold up over the long term. It does appear that there may be some adjustment to the hinges though because they are accesible by removing the top cover of the keyboard (more about that in a minute).

The palm rest and keyboard area is all black plastic with a slight texture to it. It is comfortable with decent spacing on the keys. The function and control keys are backwards in my opinion and will create an issue for me during gaming. I will have to map them differently or adapt.

There has been quite a discussion about flex in the keyboard. I will have to say that mine has virtually no flex at all. There is a little around the F10-F12 area but that is about it. I have seen the Youtube video showing the considerable flex and here is my take on it.....
My WOW video and audio cable was not attached at the factory so I removed the top cover where the power switch is in an attempt to attach the cable. Well, when I replaced that top cover I originally did not get it completely snapped down. It is a rather delicate operation and somewhat difficult to tell if it is completely snapped down across its entire length. When it is not snapped down correctly the result is considerable flex in the keyboard, and I do mean considerable. Once installed correctly though, the problem goes away. I will have to review that video again to see if the WOW bezel is installed correctly. I find the keyboard quite comfortable with no spring to it. The ones that do find spring to their keyboard are typing quite hard IMHO.

My WOW buttons were not connected as I previously mentioned. I attempted to attach the wire ribbon but found it quite difficult to do and gave up. Not sure that the buttons would benefit me much anyhow because I am running XP and I have heard that they primarily benefit Vista users. I cannot confirm that though. I just find it interesting that after all the the discussion about this cable being disconnected that units are still arriving not connected. I will send PNB an email tomorrow to give them a heads up.

I have the WSXGA+ matte screen. I find it awesome. Very crisp and clear. Color appears to be dead on too. It is one sweet screen. After seeing this screen now and having lengthy discussions with Ron and Donald at PNB, I am definately sold on matte screens. Need to find a flat screen tv now with a matte screen, Donald mentioned the Vizio series from Costco, gotta go check them out My only complain is that the text is quite small.

Battery life is OK. I have been on it now for about an hour and a half and the battery is at 67% (from a full charge). I could easily see three hours or maybe even a little more if you are just checking email or doing something alone that lines. Gaming will certainly drain it much faster.

I find the laptop very quiet. Virtually no fan noise at all, although I have not had much of an opportunity to game on it. Overall, very pleased with the heat output (minimal) and noise.

There are a few features that I have yet to try out. First is the WOW buttons. As mentioned previously, I have yet to hook them up. There are two buttons on the left of the laptop that I have yet to figure out what they do. One is a USB logo and not sure what the other one is.
I find it very unusual that there was no owners manual included, unless maybe it is stored on the hard drive and I haven't found it yet. I am the kind of person that buys a new vehicle and I sit down and read the manual so I can become aquainted with all of the features (my wife thinks I'm anal!?).

I haven't run any 3dMark scores yet, but I plan on doing that soon.

Hope this helps with any questions any of you may have out there.

 

Congrats, seems you are very excited about your long-awaited machine. You've pretty much written an essay for us, thanks.

 

I believe so, yes.

 

Question, do all WSXGA+ IFL90's are matte? I have a chance to peak up one as Ordi Enduro 7590BF right now, but the problem is that the similar system with VBI WXGA costs 400 euro less and it is without Windows.

(Sorry, I deleted old massage, didn't expect someone answer so soon )

 

Wow Great info, thanks for sharing. I hope myne comes soon so i can Share the same joy.

 

Thanks for the info have been wondering about this laptop cant hear enough. Cant wait for mine to get to me. Excuse me for being a compleat NubNub to laptops but what are WOW buttons. Google brings up to much WoW so I cant find anything...
I hope mine hurries up and gets to me I'm getting anxious because I'm about to have to rip my Mobo out of my desktop and send it back to ASUS. Stupid things acting retarded. All I/O Quits if it sits in standby for a lengthy amount of time, including the reset button on the fount. It has to sit for 30 seconds without power before it works again.

 

Above the keyboard there are a row of buttons. These buttons consist of the Power button, a browser launch button, Wow Video, Wow audio and a speaker mute button.
My understanding is that the Wow buttons allow a number of options. For example... the Wow audio switches between "pop", classic and jazz, whereas the Wow video swithes the screen between Photo, theater and office which changes the color of the screen somewhat I guess.
It's something that I don't really miss at the moment but if I had them I might find the browser launch button rather handy.

 

Ah. I noticed it after I downloaded the 100mb TIFF's for the thing. Just found a guide for it too.
http://www.bizcom-us.com/support/TechSupportDriversDownloadPage.htm#FL90
or Direct Link
http://www.bizcom-us.com/support/IFL9091/UManual/030/IFL90-030_UM.pdf

 

Thanks for that link s1ay. I was looking for that earlier.

BTW....I just ran 3dMark06 and my score was 3063. Not too shabby IMO.

 

Argh, I want my laptop. It feels like I'm one of the few left waiting from the pack that ordered 2+ months ago. Hopefully it ships Monday, your first impressions are making my drool.

 

I just saw Bioshock and now I'm starting to tap my foot in antispation. I dont have shaders and all. I'm at 2.0 on my desktop.

Just wondering Peter5897 why are you having Vista 32 installed instead of Vista 64?

 

32-Bit has better driver support. I figure I'll upgrade to 64-bit if and when I upgrade to 4 gb of ram.

 

True the WHQL is BS but there's a workaround for that =D. Besides what drivers do you need? Printer? If it's any common brand if you B*&^ enugh to them they'll make you one. ^.^ So much fun tearing the tec support around. Just dont take now for an answer and demand to be transfered to a higher up. Only try it with big companys though like Dell HP...

 

When did you order exactly?

 

I have a zepto znote 3415w which is based upon this same computer (same looks, buttons, the WoW panel etc). And I can say I'm very pleased. I also got all the parts (WoW panel, webcam, etc etc) of the laptop working on XP, so you know that is very possible (i would even recommend it, vista kinda sucks :|)

 

User's Manuals come on CD's these days...check out your CD's and you will find it.

Glad you like it...sorry about the cable not being connected...get in touch with our 24/7 Customer Service team and they will help you with that.

 

I ordered the first or so of June. It might have been the 4th but not sure exactly.

That is excellent news. I will certainly be giving all of the features a try then. I did find the "Smart Watchdog" program and tried that. Rather neat, and at least I know the web cam works!

DOH! I feel like an idiot. I didn't think I had a driver disk but I went back to the box and sure enough, there it was. I must have been so excited that I overlooked it!
Speaking of the technical support.... I did have to call them shortly after I received my laptop because I could not get the wireless card to work. I ended up using Windows to hook up to the internet instead of the Intel program.
Utilizing the tech support was great. Answered the phone right away and was great in helping diagnose the issue. A+ for the support team.

 

For anyone whose Power Panel buttons do not work there is a great pictorial instruction to connect the cable at http://66.44.201.29/FL90/powerpanel.htm

 

Yep, I did take a look at that before. The pictorial however fails to mention that there are two grayish tabs, one on each side of the connector that must be pulled out a little ways (1 mm or so) before you can slide the ribbon cable into it. Once the ribbon cable is inserted then those tabs are pushed back in to lock the connection in place. Took me a while to figure that out.

 

Thanks jurassicjet...we are now complete!

 

Dear lord. Early June is just now getting their computers. I guess I'm going to call up Xotic tommorow and tell them to either switch me to the Sager if it will come sooner or the Asus G1S. I thought 2 months would have been enough but guess not.

 

I may have missed someone saying this, if so, I apologize. Why are the cables disconnected in some of the laptops?

Do the ones from Xotic/PNB come pre connected or will I have to do this mini-hack when I get mine?

Not a big deal really, just curious.

 

The cables are disconnected for no reason aeauvian. I think it is pure chance whether your cable is connected or not. I did send an email to tech support from PNB letting them know that the cable was disconnected. They replied that they were going to notify the appropriate personnel to be more vigilant. It appears to be a case of somebody falling asleep on the assembly line

It wasn't very hard to hook it back up other than the fact I didn't like taking a cover off of my new laptop a day after I received it. It all worked out though.

 

You guys recieved the high-res screens back in Aug??? Aww, man! I guess the backordered screens is a current thing. Oh well - the 1200x800 glossy screen looks pretty good, too. The fonts just a tad on the big side for me as I am used to 1200x800 on a 12" wide screen.

The panel was connected when I got it.

I have to RMA mine because it failed to power back on after the initial reboot during the install of WinXP. Didn't seem to be a software problem though as the computer doesn't respond at all to the power button (though the light-up pads still light up when you touch it ONLY when the AC adapter is plugged).

I dunno if they are just gonna fix the one I have or replace it with another IFL90 chassis. If they replace it, I hope the new unit's panel is connected as I don't like opening it up. After seeing the guide, I'm sure if I tried that, I would scratch something up.