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Got a Dothan for Xmas & need a lappy

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corpsejockey

corpsejockey

N00b squad Member
​
Joined
Mar 3, 2005
Location
Indiana
I got a p-m 735 for Xmas. I currently have hdd's galore and a 512mb stick of ddr laying around. I have been looking for a good barebone laptop and come up with two possible winners. MSI 1032b 915 chipset w/6600 go and dvd burner for $550 or an Asus z71v without the dvd burner for just under $700 or for a little over $800 with a dvd burner. The MSI uses ddr (nice because I happen to have a stick), and the Asus uses ddr2. I also have heard that the Asus mobos have dip switches to easily up fsb to 533mhz without pin modding. The MSI seems like a better deal, but I don't know if I am missing something. Is the 533mhz ddr2 that much better, and will pin modding work on the MSI? I am looking to do light to moderate gaming, but mostly need a portable work station.
 
Elif, just finished reading up on it. Now I am not so sure. I am leaning towards the Asus now. My budget tops out at about $1000. Are there any cheap Celeron laptops out there with a good gpu that I could drop this Dothan in and pin mod?
 
Doesn't seem like you can get a Celeron-M laptop with dedicated video memory. I might rumage through the Dell system config to see what I can get.
 
Elif Tymes said:
If it uses DDR1, it will not support pin modding.
Click to expand...

This is wrong, my laptop (V2000) utilizes DDR1 and I've successfully pin modded my Celeron M. If you're looking for a laptop that pin mods just make sure that the motherboard uses the 915 chipset because it supports 533mhz FSB.
 
Jdizzle, the MSI laptop has the 915 pm chipset and supports 400/533mhz cpu's. You think pin modding will work on this one?
 
Any thing that is a 915 based will do the pin mod so long as it supports DDR2. I like the asus, they are light, strong, and priced well. The MSI is also decent from what i have been hearing but i dont have any perosnal experience.

edit: O yeah, pin modding guide is now in the Sig :)
 
JDizzle said:
This is wrong, my laptop (V2000) utilizes DDR1 and I've successfully pin modded my Celeron M. If you're looking for a laptop that pin mods just make sure that the motherboard uses the 915 chipset because it supports 533mhz FSB.
Click to expand...

Really? That's unusual... I've never seen that, I guess it's mixxed results. When I was doing my research itseemed that only DDR2 laptops would successfully pin mod.

That' s interesting though.

Anyways, for the 1k level, you may want to look into getting a refurbbed 9300, and selling off the processor, slapping yours in and pin modding it. That will be about 1K there and it should include an X300 64. BUT for $250 more you can get a 7800 GTX Go....
 
Elif, that is what I read as well, but I did see Jdizzle's thread about successfully pin modding his v2000. Interesting . . . I know the MSI is MS-1032 sonoma barebone with 915 pm chipset and nvidia 6600 go. It seems really similar to the z71v except it uses ddr instead of ddr2. I am going to check on a refurb today as well. Thanks again.
 
Looked at some 9300 refurbs from dell, but they are around $1200. I really don't want to front out the money then worry about selling the cpu. I am going to google search for more info. on the MSI to see if anyone has pin modded it. Has anyone else here had any luck pin modding a laptop that uses ddr1?
Edit - Assuming I am carefull and do everything right, will a failed pin mod damage the laptop?
 
id go the asus or a dell 9300 as others say.
http://cgi.ebay.com/Inspiron-9300-P...834593645QQcategoryZ38121QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
$879 +shipping

i dont trust ebay myself that much but you may and you cen buy a 9300 all day long under $1000.
btw once you get 100 posts you can sell your old parts here and use the cash for upgrades on the asus.

i prefer the asus myself but like the dell,i just think it would be better built and also you get to put it together and do it correctly and fix all cooling issues before its ever even fired up the first time.
 
that's a killer deal for a WuXGA and a 60 GB HDD. I would have jumped on that instead of my $900 40 GB and WXGA+ :(.
 
That is a great deal on a 9300. I think I managed to sell my current rig for $800 so I may have a little extra $$$ to play with (7800gtx go!!!!)
 
as much as i love this place, i highley recomend joining notebookforums.com

they are notebooks only but can tell you anything about it upgrade wise.
but id still stick to this place for ocing it.
 
I have checked out notebookforums.com to search for some answers, but never joined.
Thanks again.
Edit - Funny story. . .
While I was looking for a 9300, I think I found an ebay scammer. This person is selling 9300's from Hong Kong for Under $600. I checked up on the %100 feedback (10), and 8 of them were no longer members. On top of that, the item descriptions for the products sold to these members were random keystrokes priced at around $2. Is it me or is $2 a little steep for jiberish? I would'nt have payed more than $1.89
 
Last edited:
New open box item. I may have waited too long because I think it is gone. No matter. I have my eye on an Inspiron 9300. It has the ati x300, but I believe I will upgrade it shortly after I recieve it.
 
Found an xps $1100. Good deal?

Edit - maybe another scam. no payment with recoarse accepted.
 
Last edited:
Ordered a new 9300. I got the crappy x300 and the p-m 740. I am going to pin mod and install the 735 first. I'll upgrade the gpu soon, but I need to get my hands on an xps 2 psu and a 9-cell 80whr battery first. Thanks for all your help.
 
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