X31 "issues"

[aamsel]

I just got an X31 today, and am quite impressed as far as first impressions. It is, of course, very solid. I had heard from other members that the X40 is more solid and better constructed. After seeing both, I would have to disagree, although I may not be noticing things I should notice.

Anyhow, my two questions at this point:

1.) When I scroll vertically on a webpage, there is flickering (shimmering) of the text that I don't see on my desktop LCD display. Can this be fixed?? If not, has anyone else seen this on an X31 or X40 ???

2.) I have read other threads about booting an external firewire CD-ROM. I have one hooked up but can not figure out how to boot it from the BIOS (CMOS) settings. Help!

Thanks,
Andrew
Austin, TX

[ychandrani]

I just got an X31 today, and am quite impressed as far as first impressions. It is, of course, very solid. I had heard from other members that the X40 is more solid and better constructed. After seeing both, I would have to disagree, although I may not be noticing things I should notice.

Anyhow, my two questions at this point:

1.) When I scroll vertically on a webpage, there is flickering (shimmering) of the text that I don't see on my desktop LCD display. Can this be fixed?? If not, has anyone else seen this on an X31 or X40 ???

2.) I have read other threads about booting an external firewire CD-ROM. I have one hooked up but can not figure out how to boot it from the BIOS (CMOS) settings. Help!

Thanks,
Andrew
Austin, TX

Your questions, answered in reverse order:

2) two ways to boot from a cd rom. One, hit F12 when powering up the computer and select CD ROM from list of boot devices. Or two, go into the BIOS and change the Boot device priority: F1 to enter BIOS---->Startup---->Boot and then use the F5 and F6 keys to more a device up or down on the list. Use the second method if you are planning on booting from a CD ROM in order to do a fresh install of the OS from a CD/recovery CDs.

1) I am not sure what could be the cause of the flickering. But, do check and make sure you have the latest drivers from the IBM downloads site for the ATI graphics card on the X31. I have version 8.051-040825a-017699C-IBM installed and do not have any flickering when scrolling. To check driver version, Right Click on desktop and then: Properties--->Settings--->Advanced--->ATI Options.

[TPNewbie]

In response to your first problem, if the flickering you refer to is the same as what I would call jerkiness that I was experiencing, what worked for me was disabling "Use smooth scrolling." In IE, try this: Tools-->Options-->Advanced Tab. Under Browsing, uncheck "Use smooth scrolling." In my case at least, that makes the scrolling smoother. Seems backwards to me but that's the way it is.