What kind do you use?

Toshiba has been having a problem with that recently. I think there is a class action going over it. I knew about it and have been on the lookout for any problems but havn't had any so far. Well not any that weren't caused by vista anyways. not sure if I like vista yet or not. I know it eats the ram. I'm considering another gig but money is tight right now so I may wait. I basicly bought the toshiba for the 17 inch screen for watching movies plus I can work on two documents side by side on it.
I won't buy a HP. there software is super glitchy and majory intusive on the system

 

I have an Averatec 6200 series (actually a 6210xh80, which is basically a 6200 series with an 80 gig hard drive). I've had this machine for more than 2 years now--and the warranty is long gone.

Some of the modifications/upgrades I've made are (post warranty, of course):
>maxed the RAM out to 2gb -- and changed the BIOS setting to share the maximum memory with the graphics accelerator
>wiped the hard drive, eliminated the useless preinstalled software, partitioned the 80gb hard drive into two drives and dedicated more than 15gb to Windows XP
>replaced the faulty DVD R/RW drive (it first lost the ability to write DVD-R/RW discs and eventually failed completely) with a brand new DVD R/RW DL (dual layer) and added a matched bezel
>replaced a failing cooling fan
>disassembled the entire laptop and replaced the power board containing 2 USB ports, RJ-11 and RJ-45 connectors, as well as the DC power jack (the look on my brother-in-law's face was priceless when he came in my kitchen and my laptop was totally parted out)

This honestly has been a great machine with the exception of that power board issue but after 2 years and all of it on-highway use I wasn't too put out. It worked hard and I'm sure this power board will work equally as hard. I'm not so much of a movie buff on my laptop but I do work it relentlessly for tracking operating stats and keeping up with life outside the walls this Freightliner. Personally this is the best notebook I've owned and the ease with which the disassembly/reassembly went was nothing short of amazing. All things being considered this is quite a nice notebook and it has performed very well (my former Sony Vaio kept breaking the LCD screen mounts--but it serves very well at home now as an audio network machine).

On the other side of the argument is the heat situation with this machine. It tends to get rather hot. I wind up frequently doing an air blast cleaning of the heat sink as it clogs easily with dust and debris from my nearly constant use. Any laptop will exhibit somewhat similar behavior given enough time. Regular cleaning of the heat dissipation system is recommended on any notebook and really any computer. However, keep in mind that damage to the delicate fan (on this model it was a "maglev" type fan and quite a bit more sensitive) is VERY easy to accomplish when cleaning with compressed air. Care should be taken to keep the fan from spinning under the direct air application (this, actually, was how I inadvertently damaged the fan I replaced). I use my air gun attached to my air seat for cleaning--however I installed a pressure regulator so I can control the air flow.

Something else I will recommend readily to anyone who has a laptop on the road: pick up a Rubbermaid wire mesh laptop stand at Wal-Mart (appx $16.00 or so). It not only alters the angle of the laptop to various degrees but it also increases the air space available to the cooling fan (for those models with intake ports on the bottom). This has been well worth the cost so far--far outweighing the benefits of the Targus Chill Mat I purchased for quite a bit more at the time.

Sorry to run so long... But I hope this helps point some computer users in positive directions with their notebooks!

 

I agree, I'd like to max the ram out on this machine. From what I am reading and finding out Vista is a MAJOR ram hog. I don't use this laptop for heavy work though, just play. Emails, movies, web cam with the family. I have a real nice desktop I had built a year ago for business applications. This laptop doesn't have a web cam built in but from the built in ones I'v seen they are junk so I wanted to buy my own. I looked at an HP in the same price range with the web cam and non of the instaled software even recognized the webcam. I'm about as anti HP as you can get though. And that's a shame as they make nice printers but I just wil not tolerate there software isues and the way they twist there way into every system on the computer boging down the entire thing and constantly locking it up.

 

Panasonic CD Receiver.....I'm so old I still call them FM/AM radios.... At any rate, I have a 2001 KW 900. It has a factory Panasonic CD receiver. Does anybody know if the factory radio harness is compatible with other brand in dash receivers. I wouldn't mind changing brands but would like to know about the harness interchangeability before I tear this overhead dash apart and for that fact I wonder if the new model Pansonics are also compatible with the wiring harness from the older models. Thanks Gang.

One more thing, do any of you know if anyone makes any compatibility harness plugs to go from one brand to another.