Decent laptop 289.99 for first 250 cust [CLOSED]

GibsonSt19

GibsonSt19 wrote:

ahaaaaa, found THIS on the AMD website. If any of you have done a format and reinstall, you may wish to download these

Not sure which of the two I need though ????
Hooorahhhhh

Have a look

Also have a look HERE for more on this PowerNow feature

GibsonSt19

OK ladies and gents. Here are my findings, and if you've done a format and reinstall....pay attention

The laptop comes with AMD PowerNow installed, which is a processor throttling utility, allowing for better battery life per charge etc.

When I visited THE AMD SITE I was confused as to which of the top two programs I needed to install. Firstly, I installed the PowerNow program, however after a restart this seemed to make no difference to the processor speed, and processor throttling wasn't in place. I then downloaded the 1st program on the page (which for some reason is entitled as being Athlon 64 related, however as it was listed on the mobile Sempron page I decided to trust it), and installed it.

One restart later, voila, clever processor throttling in place! :T

To make things even more fun, you can download a demo of AMDs PowerNow Dashboard software for a visual look at how the processor is operating, and how the battery is being saved

You can get that little utility HERE and read more about it HERE .

For further reading, on all this clever energy saving and battery life elongating stuff, have a look HERE (but please make sure you understand what you're doing with the stuff of that page!).

Now I'm a happy bunny. Battery charging will be a little less often, and that darn fan isn't on constantly!

Hope that helps guys and gals!

* Obviously, if you've not decided to do a format and reinstall, there's no need to download this stuff, as PB include it in their build. I've gotta say though, after formatting (thus getting rid of some of the PB poop and Norton stuff), reinstalling XP Home and installing some less processor hungry AV and Firewall software...oh and with the RAM upgrade....it's a pretty nippy little thing

djrobmac

GibsonSt19 wrote:

ahaaaaa, found THIS on the AMD website. If any of you have done a format and reinstall, you may wish to download these

Not sure which of the two I need though ????
Hooorahhhhh

Have a look

If you had looked at the E6 Drivers page on the packard bell website https://www.packardbell.co.ukyou wouldve seen the correct AMD software there:

Core Device

Description Version System Date
AMD K8 (Athlon 64) Driver 11.01.18
WinXP
24-12-2004

So just to sum up ALL you need to get your laptop up and running happily after a fresh install of XP is there for you on one page at the Packard Bell website (look in downloads, E6 series)

Tojo_Ralph

edinburghlass wrote:

Just a reminder for any new owner of a bargain laptop that Lidl are selling a usb, optical laptop mouse tomorrow for £7.99

http://www.lidl.co.uk/gb/index.nsf/pages/c.o.oow.20050331.p.Cordless_Notebook_Mouse

Had to copy and paste the whole link as I haven't got used to the touch pad yet, guess who is going to Lidl tomorrow at 9.00

Well I popped by at 9-15am ... Grabbed 2 of only 7 left ... And the 256MB memory sticks already all gone.

---

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showpost.html?p=390756&postcount=252
(Removal of Nav + Nis From E6100)

GibsonSt19

djrobmac wrote:

If you had looked at the E6 Drivers page on the packard bell website https://www.packardbell.co.ukyou wouldve seen the correct AMD software there:

Core Device

Description Version System Date
AMD K8 (Athlon 64) Driver 11.01.18
WinXP
24-12-2004

So just to sum up ALL you need to get your laptop up and running happily after a fresh install of XP is there for you on one page at the Packard Bell website (look in downloads, E6 series)

This is the only item I didn't download from the drivers list at the PB site...not sure why.

Anyway, there's gratitude for you.

MyUserNamesTaken

calibrax wrote:

This certainly sounds like a hardware problem. Try removing the extra RAM for a while, and see what happens. Dodgy memory sticks can cause all sorts of weird problems. And I'm pretty sure it can't be a software issue or we'd all be experiencing the same problems.

My laptop is working fine so far. But I have some extra RAM and a wireless card/internal antenna on the way, so fingers crossed!

Steve

What I don't understand is that it runs fine for hours....yesterday, it ran for 10 hours solidly before crashing. Wouldn't dodgy ram make it crash straight away? Also, on the old one, it first did it when I installed my PCMCIA wireless card. Microsoft (on receipt of the serious error reoprt) said it was caused by a device driver.

My new internal wireless card arrived from euyer today. It says it's only for use with intel centrino laptops. Think I should send it back, or will it work on this AMD Sempron machine? There are drivers on the PB website for the E6100 to run an internal wireless card, too (antenna drivers).

On the plus side, my £50 gift voucher from PC World arrived today. That makes this laptop £239 now.

amit_1

amit_1 wrote:

are these internal or external cards???

so are these external or internal if they are external and will work with laptop i will buy the £20 1

£10 + postage for this one from ebuyer:
http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/products/index.html?rb=6433694449&action=c2hvd19wcm9kdWN0X292ZXJ2aWV3&product_uid=52909

My brother's using it in his laptop and it's running fine.

If you want to spend a little more (no need unless you're going to be file-sharing really) check this one out for £20:

http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/products/index.html?rb=6433694449&action=c2hvd19wcm9kdWN0X292ZXJ2aWV3&product_uid=45581

MyUserNamesTaken

External PCMCIA cards, Amit.

amit_1

MyUserNamesTaken wrote:

External PCMCIA cards, Amit.

are they worth buying do they work on this laptop? + can i use the internet any where in the world any place with this thing?

MyUserNamesTaken

amit_1 wrote:

are they worth buying do they work on this laptop? + can i use the internet any where in the world any place with this thing?

They should work on this laptop (although I think the laptop doesn't like my D Link PCMCIA card!). You can surf where there's an open wireless network (i.e. not secured), or in wifi hotspots. There are some free hotspots around still, but most require that you pay to use them now. Do a google search for free wifi hotspots. If you were to sit outside my house right now, you'd be able to surf for free, as I've yet to secure my network.

My laptop just crashed again after being on for 30 minutes. Wifi card's out now. Will see if it crashes again. If it does, I'll uninstall the wifi card drivers, as I think that's more likely the cause of the problem. Did a recovery using WRC again, and no serious error message appeared on reboot.