Gateway LT3100 @ Best Buy for $399!

The probability of changing out the CPU is very low, since most subnotebooks have the CPU soldered on, and not socketed.

 

Considering how thin and inexpensive these are there is no way the CPU is socketed. It would add expense and thickness. Also, these things are clocked the way they are for a reason in this chassis. If you could manage to somehow get a full-power, full-speed Turion in this thing it'd melt into a puddle the first time you powered it up.

 

Anyone managed to get 1080p (or even the higher rez 720p) running on this in Windows 7, yet?

 

of course! every format you want. need a guide?

 

I would love one, Felix!

I must be doing something right...I could never get them all smooth on the Acer 751 either.

Right now I'm using MPC-HC in Windows 7 with the cyberlink powerdvd 8 H264 filter. The lowest rez 720p stuff is working, but full screen 720p is losing some frames (not many...almost smooth, not quite acceptable) and 1080p is maybe 5-10fps with random freezes.

 

we are discussing this topic right here: viewtopic.php?f=87&t=15466&start=20

sry i´m short an time right now, but try the steps posted. once you get DXVA (hardware decoding) working, 1080p will just work fine.

 

Can you use the super hybrid engine from the asus 1101HA on other gma 500 netbooks?Like the acer 751 or packard bell dot m

 

i don´t know much about this super-hybrid-engine can you explain it or give a link to read?

 

http://www.netbookchoice.com/2009/07/02 ... ng-tested/

It seems that the eee pc 1101HA has a better batch of atom z520,if they can run superpi on the z520 @ 1.66 ghz

 

One thing that I found in Windows Vista is that full-screen seems to throw a monkeywrench into playback when using Media Player Classic. You can play movies almost full screen (but windowed) with no problems, but get major stuttering when full-screen is enabled.

The solution I found was to use PowerDVD 8 (the trial version was pre-installed). For some reason, PowerDVD didn't have the same hiccups when in full-screen mode. There is probably some setting in MPC that will allow this, too, but I don't know what it would be. I'm just pleased that everything works in PowerDVD.

 

Just picked one up yesterday at Best Buy. Wiped the hard drive clean, it runs Windows 7 beautifully, albeit gets the occasional hang ups when one process is hogging the CPU.

Been talking to AMD PR about the Athlon 64 L110 and my PR contacts confirmed the Athlon 64 L110 is indeed a standard Socket S1 processor, therefore you can replace it, assuming you can find something with similar TDP numbers.

So far the only AMD processor I've found to fit in the thermal envelope is an Athlon X2 TK-42 which is 1.6 Ghz, dual-core and 20-watt TDP. The L110 that comes in the system is a 13-watt processor. If someone releases a utility where we can undervolt/underclock the processor, we could most likely get dual-core power in the LT3103u. THe problem, however, is I can't find the TK-42 available anywhere >_<

 

Hmmmmm. What would happen if you put a TK-42 (or something with a higher wattage) inside? Most notebooks, at least, have cooling systems that can handle more than just the processor that happens to be inside them (especially the customizable notebooks that have multiple possible stock processors). Not sure how netbooks work. The intel atom platform is specifically built for super low wattage, but this sounds like it might be a normal AMD RS690E or M690 motherboard. This has a fan as well (unlike the Acer version). If we ramp up the fan, would this be able to handle a 20 or 30 watt processor?

 

OK, I fail to see the logic...
Why on earth would you want to buy a LT3100 for 399,- then use extra money to get an X2 TK-42, void the warranty on the brand new LT3100, and have to find a way to underclock/undervolt the CPU, in order to be safe and not run the risk of overheating the smaller machine which was designed for the lower TDP ?

If you buy an Acer eMachines 17 " G625-6C4G32Mi you have a laptop with the X2 TK-42 cpu, running at the full 1.6 Ghz, and with a chassis and components designed for that chip. OK, it's not a netbook nor a netbook size factor, but then again if you need powerhouse CPU performance, you really shouldn't be looking at a netbook.

The price for the 17" machine lies around 450 € on the side of the pond, so probably somewhere around the $500 mark in the US. $100 dollars for a valid warranty, peace of mind regarding thermal issues, no modding needed really is not that bad a deal.

 

Just spend $800 and get the 13.3" Acer Timeline if you want portability, but great power, at an affordable price. It has a Core 2 Duo processor, 8 hours of battery life, and only weighs 3.5 pounds. Sure it's a little bigger, but man it would be a way more reliable and better solution.

Plus, you have other issues to think about, beyond swapping the processor. You don't know that the motherboard BIOS will recognize and accept the new chip! Or if it would be compatible with the hardware even if you were able to flash a working BIOS onto the motherboard. Talk about a complicated solution to a simple problem!

But hey, I'd love to find you if you are successful with your modifications. It would be a cool (but very hot-running) little machine. I'm not optimistic for you though.

 

Because for approx. $450, you'd have a relatively well powered ultraportable. The Acer 13.3 is larger, heavier, and much more expensive (that's the important part). And a cheap 17 or 15" laptop is too big for my purposes. Its essentially a $350 gambit. And the dual core Acer is $900, from what I can find. That's well past second laptop territory and into replacement laptop territory. I don't know that it will or won't work. But if its impossible because of socket or motherboard issues, i'll still have a perfectly good netbook, which I guess I'd be OK with. Of course, if I fry the thing, I'm left with a $400 brick. Which is why I'm trying to as much research as possible beforehand. But a $450 dual core ultraportable? That would pretty sweet.

 

Instead of running the risk of ending up with a $400 paperweight/doorstop, my advice to you comes in the form of paraphrasing the sentence spoken by the voice in Kevin Costner mind in the movie "Field of Dreams" : "If you wait, they'll build it..."

 

Will they? Doesn't seem like a wise pricing move. There's gotta be a lot of tension already about making such cheap 12" laptops. Isn't intel supposedly pissed about the whole 12 inch netbook thing? Isn't that why intel isn't releasing dual core atoms for netbooks?

HP does sort of make the kind of thing I want, with the dv2 with the Turion Neo dual core. Unfortunately, it's like $800. I can't imagine that level of performance coming down much in price.

 

Intel, like any other business, is looking out for their bottom line, which is understandable. As long as they still have the Celerons and old Dual Core chips (not the Core 2 Duo) selling for the low-end consumer laptop market, where the profitmargin pr. chip sold is higher than for new chips such as the Atoms, they'll hold back on releasing Atom chips with similar performance and features. But eventually they will, thats the way free enterprise and force of the market works.

As for the price on systems coming down - That will also happen. Just look at the pricing for laptops. I recall when laptops had a hefty premium added to their price compared to similar or even higher spec'ed desktop machines. Today laptops are outselling desktop machines in the consumer and So-Ho market and at a equal or lower price for similar spec'ed desktop machines.

Mind you, I'm getting to the point in life where everything more than 5 years ago ain't that clear in my memory anymore (Except for the 1980's - That century is totally gone in a blur, mainly due to a mixture of living in the fast lane yuppie-style, partying and drinking every weekend, marriage and other things best forgotten ) so its not because things have taken a long time to change.
What comes at a premium price today, will be priced at the budget level "tomorrow". It's just a question of when "tomorrow" comes, and in this day and age, with regards to IT, "tomorrow" comes faster than it used to.
Look at our "beloved" AAO's.. We have a very portable device, with a far better screen, and a cpu that can handle most tasks the ordinairy So-Ho user actually use their PC's for, and which still has the power to do more advanced stuff such as minor video editing etc, at a cost far lower than a similar spec'ed laptop had just 2 - 2½ years ago. And it is also a more poltical correct device, in this day and age of CO2 awareness and green power mindedness. Just imagine what we'll then have in 2 years from now - So the Dual-Core atoms will come, and they will also be used in our netbooks.

 

I'm having trouble with Skype video quality on my LT3103. I had absolutely no trouble with the AO751. Could it be the different processor?

The transmissions are delayed a few seconds, video freezes for minutes at a time. I'm using Skype 4.0.0.227

Anyone else having trouble with Skype, or any ideas?

 

I've purchased this laptop and enjoy it.
I've created as site with forums dedicated to it at http://www.gatewaynetbooks.com.
I hope that the site can create a community up to par with this one.