Absurdly Massive Laptop...? 640x480 jpg pic

[Medessec]

sorry about the poor quality of the pic... I can't find my MicroSD card converter, and I ain't got no fancy DSLR cam-cam.

To the left is a T60(disregard the missing keyboard)
To the right... is something that exists only on a whole other plane of "laptop".

It's actually a D900T. Some of you may know what these are-this is actually one of many clones of a super-massive laptop design that can be encountered as: The Clevo D900, The Sager, The Prostar, the M-Tech D9T, and the Alienware M7700. The one in particular I got was the M-Tech.

It's got a 17.2" screen, and putting it in your lap(disregarding your thighs going numb), first thing to notice is that the keyboard... is way over there.

This laptop has a bay good for 2 Hard Drives, that seems like a typical gaming laptop quirk, but... this laptop also has 2 optical drive bays. It also has 4 fans, 2 for the CPU, 1 for the RAM, and one for the GPU. It's also got 4 RAM bays, and whereas a normal laptop has hatches for the RAM and Hard Drive bay, this has hatches for that as well as a hatch for the GPU, and a hatch over the CPU heatsink. Removing the heatsink is merely as easy as unscrewing a few bolts, and you're presented with a LGA775 socket. Mine has the 3.8GHz Pentium 4 with Hyper Threading.

Now... I'd like to show you how it runs-but at the moment I have no power adapter. It's coming in, but I still have to wait for some Hard Drives before I get Windows on it.

[DaKKS]

Jesus, that thing is f*ckin' huge! What the hell is powering it, a nuclear reactor?

LGA775? Any support for DC/QC? Might still be a decent "little" thing if it does.

[IT_Sean]

That's not a laptop, mate... That's a portable desktop.

[Peak2Peak]

WOW! - Does it come with it's own suitcase? - Interested to know just how hot it gets when you get your power adapter.

[Tasurinchi]

They should have put small wheels on the bottom

[Medessec]

That's not a laptop, mate... That's a portable desktop.

Pretty much, heh. And as for the Dual Core/Quad Core support- there's a terribly sad point on this specific model that I ran into after doing some prodding. Ready for it? Well... it's got an Intel 915 Chipset. Which means... no multi-core processor support.

The best processor it can have is the one it already has. 3.8 GHz P4 HT.

And looking at the picture of the power adapter from when I bought it... I can only hope the plug on the other end isn't for a 220V plug socket. lol.

[pianowizard]

I suppose you haven't heard about these 20-inch laptops:

http://www.amazon.com/HP-Pavilion-HDX90 ... B000UBOV4U

http://reviews.cnet.co.uk/laptops/dell- ... -49282212/

Of course, both have been discontinued, although there are still lots of 18.4" laptops around.

[Cigarguy]

Wow. A SFF desktop with monitor stacked on top then place on my lap would also work.

[Medessec]

I've heard of the M2010-that thing is something else. I don't even get how it passes as a laptop... it's more of a monitor/all-in-one PC mounted on a "base" with a keyboard. It would be kinda cool to have one though. And yeah, 18" laptops are pretty big... but the only thing about them being made that big, i'm pretty certain it's just for the screen size. I'm pretty sure the rest of the laptop design is fairly conventional.

The thing about the D900T is that it's probably the most beastly, most ridiculous design of laptop I've even seen... partially because it's so big, but also because of the hardware. I just find the 2 CD drive bays absolutely insane. And all the metal and fans inside the laptop for the cooling... this laptop has to weigh at least 10 pounds... is that even sensible at all for mobility? But imagine 5 years ago, buying this thing, and then taking it to a meeting or a friend's house or something.

[GomJabbar]

I've seen worse. While not exactly a laptop, it was portable (although it weighed ~ 20 lbs).



Source: http://www.thepcmuseum.net/details.php? ... um%29%3D53

The Compaq Portable III is a computer released by Compaq Computer Corporation in 1987. It was advertised as being much smaller and lighter than the previous portable x86-PCs, however it was still quite large by today's standards. Its street price upon its release was 4999 USD for a model equipped with an 12 MHz Intel 80286 CPU, 640 kB RAM, 1.2 MB 5.25" floppy, 20 MB hard disk (type 2), and a 10" amber colored gas-plasma display or 5799 USD with the upgraded 40 MB hard disk. There was also an optional ISA Expansion chassis allowed for 2 full length 16-bit ISA add-in cards for 199 USD. Power is supplied using a mains electricity outlet, no battery exists.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compaq_Portable_III

[Medessec]

Oh wow. "No battery"? So if you brought it to your buddy's house to type up some documents... "Hey man, mind if I plug this in?"

That's pretty wicked though. I imagine it's a tube monitor with "computer" wrapped around it in the back. Diggin that keyboard cable too.

[jdrou]

That's pretty wicked though. I imagine it's a tube monitor with "computer" wrapped around it in the back. Diggin that keyboard cable too.

10" amber colored gas-plasma display

Actually the original Compaq WAS a similar portable with a CRT though.
http://oldcomputers.net/compaqi.html

Those Clevo monsters are basically the modern version of those old Compaqs: a true desktop-replacement portable. Many of them use desktop CPUs rather than the lower-powered mobile versions.

[Cola]

This is nothing unusual. Lots of brands launch and sell both 17,3'' and 18,4'' laptops these days. You really should get more updated.

[killer]

This was reported here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-20510267

If someone is that big maybe they need a huge laptop?

[Neil]

So...what's the display resolution on this monster?

[Medessec]

I'm pretty certain it runs at the 1920x1200 res... which I believe is, WUXGA if I recall correctly.

[ajkula66]

I'm pretty certain it runs at the 1920x1200 res... which I believe is, WUXGA if I recall correctly.

If memory serves me you are correct.

I worked on one of those a zillion years ago, had an AW badge.

As grotesque as this item may seem, it actually sports pretty advanced architecture for its day and age. I always had a soft spot for these monsters...

[MacAoidh]

Looks like a microwave with a keyboard attachment

GT-S5830 TAPATALK 2

[Medessec]

Indeed-looking up the stats for this thing, really makes me wonder what sort of price tag was slapped on these things. Or how amazing they were to use.

And if you think it looks like a microwave now... I saw in some pics the panel on the front, where the 8 silver buttons are, the middle of that is a display panel that shows numbers in a similar fashion your old calculator/microwave does. It shows a clock and a temperature reader I assume. I can't see if mine has that right now because... I still can't friggin power it on. Ergh.

[Medessec]

Update on this: I got the Power Brick(emphasis on the "Brick") in, and I've been able to successfully power on both machines. I probably should have mentioned before that I got two of these things in.

Since now they're not gargantuan paperweights, I guess now would be a good time to say: One is in very good condition. Very few scuffs, looks like brand new. The other has some residue and is a bit dusty, it looks like it's seen some use. The keyboard still doesn't show much wear, and everything else looks ok.

Of course... FIRST plugging them in and powering them on, I encountered numerous issues. The dusty one initially showed no video at all, not even through an external monitor, although the lights and indicators flashed and everything. After reseating everything and moving the RAM into different bays(there's 4 bays to play with... ), the machine then posted just fine, but then powered off after a few moments of being on. I attributed this to overheating, and after taking the heatsink hatch off and powering on the machine, I found that for some weird reason, the heat is condensing right above the die, and not going to the heatsinks in front of the fans.(To test this, I volunteered a finger that right now I can't feel. ) This is where I stand with the dusty one...

The other one in pristine condition powers on no issue, posts no issue. Both are missing Hard Drives and HD cables, I'm getting those soon.

What I like about these is that they're M-Tech and not the Alienwares, so they're crisp and modern looking, but not flashy or decorated in badges.

Another Update, because I don't want to spam. I may bump later.

The pristine one is actually suffering from a video issue(red tiled glitch marks on the screen... characters in BIOS appear odd/distorted), and after taking these things apart further and testing the parts between them(how brilliant of an idea is it to get two of the same exact laptop...!) and after some deducting, the video card turned out to be the issue. However, I peeled off the card's heatsinks and casing, the one in the scuffed up one is a GeForce Go6800, and the one in the pristine one is... oddly enough, a QuadroFX 1400. Quadro line is for workstation machines... what's it doing in a gaming laptop...?

Anyways, I'm reflowing the Quadro as that's the one causing the red-glitches and distorted characters issues. If that doesn't do anything, then I might keep it in the laptop just to give it a video card, as video cards are EXTREMELY hard to find for these things, and they're super pricey.

Actually, it turns out I can part these things out for a lot more than I got them for. A lot of the components work, and parts aren't easy to come by... and people who still have these things paid high dollar in the first place, so they're willing to pay high dollar for parts. I really want to get one 100% working though.

[jdrou]

the one in the scuffed up one is a GeForce Go6800, and the one in the pristine one is... oddly enough, a QuadroFX 1400. Quadro line is for workstation machines... what's it doing in a gaming laptop...?

They're basically the same chip I believe (probably with a different BIOS). I used a Quadro FX Go 1400 in my Precision M70 for gaming for several years. Maybe the builders were able to get a Quadro cheaper than a GeForce.

[Medessec]

Hmm... still seems sort of odd. And I thought Quadros would be generally more expensive, but... hmm.

Also-I did a reflow on the Quadro chip, and the red-tile glitchyness and character glitches are all completely gone! It's just little things like this that make me feel like i'm a genius... lol. Or I just happen to have a busted gfx chip, the internet, a heat gun, and an oven. Yay me.

Also the machine's got a feature where you can play CDs through the 4.1 Surround sound speaker system even though the machine is powered off, it just has to be plugged in. I've been listening to all my dad's old CD albums. Sounds excellent though.

[Medessec]

Update: got Windows on one and it took forever to find the drivers, but it runs very well. Mostly interesting is that it uses so much power, it charges very slowly when on, and drains the battery in just under an hour.(This battery is about the size of a small bible, and weighs twice as much as one. At least.)

After a bit of Hard drive swapping- so far what i've found out is that:
-both screens are amazing. One's a 1680x1050, the other's a 1920x1200. I can't find any info on them being IPS, but they're probably the closest it gets to IPS as a non-IPS if they are non-IPS.
-The QuadroFX 1400 doesn't support Aero(at least on the driver that works), but it's better and more stable than the Go6800. Glitches do show though when I block the fan to the video card
-This(these) laptops are capable of playing Call of Duty -WaW on midrange settings, a game that was released nearly 4 years after these laptops were made.
-The battery charges best when the laptop is off.
-The sound on the speakers of these laptops, is freaking amazing.
-The 3.8GHz P4 flies compared to the 3.2 in the other unit.