A few quick question - help!

Shane732

As some of you may be aware I've recently run into some problems with me Toshiba A660 - 1FM. In the end I brought it back to PC World this evening and they replaced it. Unfortunately they didn't have any A660 - 1FM's so I ended up having to take a 1FH.

I got €100 back but now think I may have made a bad decision. I've dropped from a 1GB Graphics card to a 512 card and from a i7 processor to a i5 processor.

Anyway, I've a few questions that I'm hoping you guys might be able to help me with:

1) Graphics card

The 1FH has a Nvidia 512 Graphics Card, isn't this correct? Yet when I check what Graphics card is coming up on the laptop it's telling me Intel Integrated Graphics Card, is there any particular reason for this? There are Nvidia drivers and utilities on the laptop.

Would it be possible that the laptop has both an Intel and also a Nvidia card and switches between the two? I think I've read that some laptops do this. If this is the case does it switch over automatically?

The Windows Experience Score is only 4.6 due the graphics for Windows Aero Section yet the 3D graphics score is 5.5. Surely this is unusual?

2) RAM

The laptop has 4GB. Would I notice much of an improvement if I upgraded this to 6 or 8GB?

3) Noise

The laptop makes a clicking noise every so often a noise which the 1FM didn't make. I've heard a similar noise before when the hard-drive in my Mac failed.

Any ideas what this might be?

4) Using a laptop on a bed

From time to time I use a laptop on my bed. I'm aware that this isn't good for the laptop. If I use a chill pad/ cooling fan will this help the problem?

Thank you in advance.

Odaise Gaelach

Shane732 wrote: »

1) Graphics card

The 1FH has a Nvidia 512 Graphics Card, isn't this correct? Yet when I check what Graphics card is coming up on the laptop it's telling me Intel Integrated Graphics Card, is there any particular reason for this? There are Nvidia drivers and utilities on the laptop.

Would it be possible that the laptop has both an Intel and also a Nvidia card and switches between the two? I think I've read that some laptops do this. If this is the case does it switch over automatically?

The Windows Experience Score is only 4.6 due the graphics for Windows Aero Section yet the 3D graphics score is 5.5. Surely this is unusual?

I'm not entirely sure, but I might have heard something about that kind of technology... maybe...

The product specification on the Toshiba website says that it has an nVidia graphics card. It's unusual, but I don't think it's anything to really worry about.

Shane732 wrote: »

2) RAM

The laptop has 4GB. Would I notice much of an improvement if I upgraded this to 6 or 8GB?

It depends on what you use the laptop for. If it's for games you might notice an improvement in performance, since the graphics card will use more system RAM if there's more available. For documents and surfing the internet, probably not. If you're going past the 4GB range make sure you have a 64-bit OS installed so you can take advantage of all that extra memory.

Shane732 wrote: »

3) Noise

The laptop makes a clicking noise every so often a noise which the 1FM didn't make. I've heard a similar noise before when the hard-drive in my Mac failed.

Any ideas what this might be?

It might be a noise that the laptop makes by nature. If you're worried though you could run chkdsk on the drive to make sure that it's in good working order.

And you are making regular backups, aren't you?

Shane732 wrote: »

4) Using a laptop on a bed

From time to time I use a laptop on my bed. I'm aware that this isn't good for the laptop. If I use a chill pad/ cooling fan will this help the problem?

What usually happens is that blankets and duvets cover the air vents on the side and under the laptop and it starts to run hot. Just make sure that they're clear when you're using it in bed and you should be fine.

woolymammoth

Shane732 wrote: »

I got €100 back but now think I may have made a bad decision. I've dropped from a 1GB Graphics card to a 512 card and from a i7 processor to a i5 processor.

doesn't sound like a good deal to me. But i don't know what the price was.. Wanna share?

Shane732 wrote: »

Would it be possible that the laptop has both an Intel and also a Nvidia card and switches between the two?

I would find that highly unusual, and i doubt it has the two. There's feck all room in laptops anyway without leaving in redundant chips. Most laptops with dedicated nvidia or ati graphics cards are designed to use motherboards with no on board graphics.

There's a number of tools you can use to identify the hardware you have;
Belarc Advisor, Intel chip utility, System information for Windows (SIW), speccy, to name a small few.

Shane732 wrote: »

The Windows Experience Score is only 4.6 due the graphics for Windows Aero Section yet the 3D graphics score is 5.5. Surely this is unusual?

Thery're just numbers, calculated differently. get over it.

Shane732 wrote: »

The laptop has 4GB. Would I notice much of an improvement if I upgraded this to 6 or 8GB?

not unless you're remastering the lord of the rings, no.

Shane732 wrote: »

The laptop makes a clicking noise every so often a noise which the 1FM didn't make. I've heard a similar noise before when the hard-drive in my Mac failed.

Could be the hard disk, or the fan.

Shane732 wrote: »

From time to time I use a laptop on my bed. I'm aware that this isn't good for the laptop. If I use a chill pad/ cooling fan will this help the problem?

The problem, is air not being able to circulate in and around the laptop, therefore it cannot cool and is not good for the lifespan of the laptop.

rhonin

Shane732 wrote: »

1) Graphics card

The 1FH has a Nvidia 512 Graphics Card, isn't this correct? Yet when I check what Graphics card is coming up on the laptop it's telling me Intel Integrated Graphics Card, is there any particular reason for this? There are Nvidia drivers and utilities on the laptop.

Would it be possible that the laptop has both an Intel and also a Nvidia card and switches between the two? I think I've read that some laptops do this. If this is the case does it switch over automatically?

I recently bough a HP Pavilion DV6 laptop. It has an ATI graphics card. It is switchable which means when I'm using the laptop plugged in, it uses the main ATI card but when I use the laptop on battery it switches to the integrated graphics which uses less power.
There is a setting on the graphics card that makes this switch automatically. It may be switched off on yours.

woolymammoth

rhonin wrote: »

when I'm using the laptop plugged in, it uses the main ATI card but when I use the laptop on battery it switches to the integrated graphics which uses less power.

I think that's bizzare to have in a laptop. I mean, when you buy a laptop, you know your always going to have a power issue. And when you choose a laptop with a high power graphics card, you expect to always use that graphics card, higher power consumption or not! How much does this power saving 'feature' cost i wonder..

Shane732

The price I paid for the 1FM (i7 and 1GB video card) was €1,099. The 1FH was 999.

rhonin

woolymammoth wrote: »

I think that's bizzare to have in a laptop. I mean, when you buy a laptop, you know your always going to have a power issue. And when you choose a laptop with a high power graphics card, you expect to always use that graphics card, higher power consumption or not! How much does this power saving 'feature' cost i wonder..

No more expensive than without as far as I could tell when I was buying a laptop.
It's a handy feature I think and you can switch it off easily if you want.