Just Received new 175B4, Have couple ?long

[flyinbrian]

Just received new 175b4. What a nice computer for the price. I added another 256mg ram and a wireless card and I am good to go. Couple questions what is the program that you can remove from the add/remove area called bestbuy keyboard driver? Second question what is the SENS Keyboard Launcher that shows up in the startup task bar? Can I get rid of this stuff? I don't like anything extra on computer that is not needed.

Thanks for any info,
Brian

[Canuck]

I think you just answered both your questions. The sens keyboard is the keyboard driver, which controls the three hotkeys at the top (one goes to VPR website, another email, and the other is setup to open the calculator). I never use these keys, so I disabled the startup item.

[flyinbrian]

Great thanks, but what is the bestbuy keyboard driver in the add/remove program area. Or is that the same thing?

Thanks

[Angus]

Best Buy keyboard driver typically handles the VPR and FN buttons of your keyboard. You don't want to remove that, even if you're anal retentive like me and like to run a lean computer config. The other driver typically handles the On Screen Display functions of your keyboard. It's not absolutely necessary but it is handy for obvious reasons. I may add a few seconds to boot-time once you log into Windows...but just pick your nose or something during that time and you'll never notice the wait. ;)

[flyinbrian]

Thanks for the reply. I must say I am very happy with this laptop. Like I posted earlier added another 256mg ram for $42 and I added the sony wireless lan card for $78 which looks awesome in the computer you don't even notice it there. The wireless distance is really good also. So basically for $920 with shipping and accessories I have a great light weight laptop. I haven't found any other manufactuer that comes close in this price range.

Thanks again

[clockworx]

Sorry to jump in here, but I've been trying to find another 175B4 owner to ask something.

First of all, for the most part, I love the 175B4. It's a great price, very cool looking and sleek case, and loaded with features. However, I think mine might be defective, which is why I was looking to compare w/ someone else who owns one.

The fan on my laptop is ALWAYS on. Always, as in from the moment I turn it on until I shut it down. I'm sure anyone here who has a laptop knows what it sounds like when the fan "kicks in" to cool off the laptop. It's not extremely loud, but loud enough to be annoying when there's little/no other sound in the room ( again, the same experience I've had with other laptop fans, except those are only on for a long time if I have a runaway program or am doing some heavy number crunching like video encoding. )

I can still exchange the laptop, but the people at Best Buy said it is normal, so I wanted to check on the experience of any other 175B4 owners out there. Is your laptop virtually silent unless you've got heavy CPU usage, or can you always hear the fan running in a reasonably quiet environment?

( I also noticed that the speakers sound kind of tinny, and max volume isn't really that loud. I'm wondering if I got a lemon, or if this is what I get for buying a laptop at such a low price. )

Thanks in advance to anyone who can share their thoughts or experiences with me. I don't know anyone else w/ this model, so it will really help.

David

[Canuck]

Nope you don't have a lemon. The fan runs continuously in the 175B4, 180B5 models and the speakers are a little tinny.

Due to the small size of the laptop and heat generated by the P4-m, it needs to run all the time to keep the temps at acceptable levels.

Here's another forum that is geared more towards the model you have: http://www.infoarena.com/vprmatrix/forum/

[clockworx]

Thanks for your help...Best Buy told me I could return it if I want, so I'm torn between the great deal, and the miniscule little things that bother me....

This is my first P4 laptop, and I've heard stories about the heat that they throw off, so I wouldn't find it all that surprising that the fan runs all the time.

Now I'm stuck asking a subjective question: Does anyone who has one think the fan is unusually loud? I'm wondering if maybe there's a problem with the fan or something, where it's too loud because there's a problem with it.

If I go to a class or meeting,my laptop is the loudest one there. I can hear it if I leave it on at night when I go to sleep, and it's the first noise I pick up on in the morning when I wake up. It just seems weird to me that no one has even mentioned "yeah, the fan is kind of loud", even if it was followed with "but it's not too bad", or "for such a great price I really don't mind". Everyone I know who's seen it has said "Wow, that's cool", usually followed a few minutes later by "That fan is pretty loud...is it going to shut off soon?". I have a friend who works at the help desk at my college ( which is all laptops, so they see lots of laptops ), and she said that she's heard louder fans on the newer gateways , but they only come on intermittently to cool the laptop ( which is the experience I'm used to with most laptops. )

The sound is kind of the same thing...I'm used to listening to MP3's while I do stuff around my room, and I have to max out the hardware volume, windows volume, and media player volume to get it "loud"....nothing like my previous compaq laptop. Again, it just seems weird to me that no one has mentioned it as "well, it's a con, but still worth it" or "I only use headphones, so not a big deal".

Bleah...I just wish I knew someone else with one to make an in-person comparison with. Thanks for everyone's help, though. It's a very cool laptop....I only wish I knew other people who had one.

David

[Canuck]

The fan on mine and others is actually pretty quiet. If I'm using it in my office (other people around etc) I can't even hear the fan running. If the room is very quiet then yes you can hear the fan, but I don't consider it to be that loud. The noise will increase if you start playing 3d games on it though.

[clockworx]

Well, I don't think mine ever increases, and I guess that's what is leading to my suspicions that something is wrong. I think it's stuck on the "high" setting. I left it on doing video encoding( maxing out the CPU ), and the fan never got louder( which would be a good thing except that it started at "loud" and stayed that way.)

The behavior you describe is more consistent with the documentation FAQ that came with the computer("Why does my fan turn on and off?"), and with what I'm used to in other laptops: The fan is barely noticeable during normal operations, but "kicks in" when the computer is under heavy load.

Does that desciptions sound right to you? The fan is barely noticeable during low usage, and gets quite a bit louder during heavy usage?

David

[Canuck]

Yup that sounds right. The sound should be very low during normal operations and will become louder as the load on the CPU increases. Try running something very intensive like 3Dmark2001 or any 3D game and see if it gets any louder. If not then I'd send it in for repair or replacement.

[clockworx]

All right, I'll give that a shot.

Thanks for your suggestions and descriptions, they've been extremely helpful. :D The laptop is really awesome, the only downfall so far is that I haven't seen anyone else around school with one so I can do a good comparison on such a subjective problem.

David

[Canuck]

I'll try to make a wav file tonight or tomorrow with the different sound levels and then send you the link. I can't guarantee the quality of the recording (just going to use my Ipaq to make it), but it may give you some reference.

Hopefully I won't forget! If I do just PM me.

[clockworx]

Heh...I had thought about that, but that goes a bit above and beyond the traditional help forum question style of "hey, do you happen to know...?"

When I initially noticed the fan noise, I tried to download motherboard monitor 5 to check fan speed and CPU heat, but the 175b4 doesn't seem to be supported. Do you happen to know of any utilities for CPU heat and/or fan speed that support the 175b4? That would probably give a much better "hard numbers" comparison.

Dave

[clockworx]

Just ran 3DMark....fan noise was even throughout the entire test, and didn't change at all when I stopped.

Bleah....guess I'll be calling for an exchange ( I'm glad I have 14 days to exchange it....I've heard horror stories about best buy losing computers and/or taking forever to fix them.)

[Canuck]

The only temperature program that works on these laptops is speedfan: http://www.almico.com/speedfan.php

But it will just give you the temperature reading off the hard drive. It'll also depend on which hard drive is in there though. I've got the hitachi model which has a sensor, others may not have one. Startup temps for me are about 28 - 32 deg C, and they'll stay around 45 deg C during idle and go up to 60 - 62 deg C during heavy use.

[clockworx]

Yeah, I'm seeing about 46C at idle. My CPU speed has also ratcheted down, so maybe there's a temp sensor ( not the one displayed on speedfan ) on the motherboard that is read by the CPU speed controller and fan. Who knows....What I wouldn't give for some better diagnostics :)

I guess I'll send it off for exchange, and hope that what I get back is better behaved.

[sysserv]

there are various versions available some work with other brands that are not listed

Try

http://www.server-parts.com/installspeedfan427.exe
http://www.server-parts.com/i8kfangui220.exe

The first one is a generic one see disclaimer at
http://www.almico.com/speedfan.php

The second is a dell/and many others see disclaimaer at http://www.diefer.de/i8kfan/

Not every chipset has a speed control capability, but most of the newer ones do.

So I suspect that speedfan will help.

Regards
Philip Mc Donald
Sparesweb.com
http://www.server-parts.com

As with all freeware, if you use it and like it it is always nice to go to the relevant programmers website and give a donation if they take them.