Compal EL80 barebone laptop review

[SLATYE]

A couple of people asked me to write a mini-review of this if/when I bought it. I have bought it, so here's the review.

The item in question is a Compal ('Acces') EL80 barebone laptop. Compal's actually the second-largest laptop manufacturer in the world (after Quanta), but you don't normally hear about them because they tend not to sell laptops under their own name (much like Foxconn and ECS are regarding mainboards). Compal make a model called the HEL80 which is then rebadged by a lot of companies. The EL80 is a version of that modified to suit Intel's needs. It's part of Intel's VBI (Verified By Intel) system, which means that it shares LCD panels, batteries, power adaptors, and wireless networking cards with other VBI laptops (like the Asus S96J). If this becomes as popular as Centrino has been, it will mean that laptops are much easier to upgrade or repair. The warranty is two years, handled by Intel.

Differences between this and the 'real' HEL80:

• Real HEL80 has blue LEDs and lots of aluminium/copper. This has plastic instead, and normal green/orange LEDs.
• Real HEl80 ships with a 9-cell battery, this ships with a 6-cell one.
• The proper HEL80 has an option to get a 1680x1050 (WSXGA+) matte screen instead of the WXGA glossy one. This may be added at some later time.
• Slightly different aesthetics (eg HEL80 has wider mouse buttons).

I would have preferred a HEL80, but they're impossible to find in Australia. The EL80 isn't all that much different, so I got that instead.

Specifications of the EL80 barebone laptop:

• CPU: Intel Yonah or Merom core (Celeron-M 4x0, Core Solo, Core Duo, Core 2 Duo)
• Chipset: Intel i945PM.
• RAM: Up to 2GB DDR2-533 or DDR2-667, in two RAM slots (may be increased to 4GB at some point).
• GPU: Nvidia Geforce Go 7600 (underclocked a bit to reduce heat. Performance is much like the Radeon Mobility X1600). This is removable, but it's not a standard MXM card. Compal are apparently releasing a Geforce Go 7700 before too long.
• Wireless: Bluetooth and 802.11g supported by optional modules. Bluetooth is a special Compal one; 802.11g is a standard Intel 3945ABG mini-PCIe card.
• Optical drive: DVD+/-RW is included. It's a standard drive and can therefore be replaced by things like Pioneer's DVR-K06 (slot-load notebook DVDRW).
• HDD: 2.5" SATA drive.
• PCMCIA: One PCMCIA Type 2 slot.
• ExpressCard: One ExpressCard/54 slot.
• USB: Three external ports, one on the left, two on the right.
• LCD: WXGA (1280x800) screen with glossy coating (Compal don't have a fancy name for that).
• LAN: GBE provided by Realtek 8111B chip.
• Sound: HD Audio provided by Realtek ALC883.
• Card reader: 3-in-one (MS, SD, MCC) card reader.
• Other: fingerprint reader, 1.3MP camera from Asus, TPM1.2 from Infineon.

I was considering the Asus S96J. I bought this for a few reasons. First, the S96J has some issues with screen quality. This appears to be related to the GPU used (Radeon Mobility X1600) and may eventually be fixed with a driver update. The issue also seems to affect other Asus laptops with the X1600. Second, the EL80 has so many more options - Bluetooth, PCMCIA, fingerprint reader, and TPM. In particular, I'm expecting TPM to help it remain 'useful' for a somewhat longer period of time than laptops without it. Third, it's got an Nvidia GPU which will be ideal for Linux. Finally, the comments I've seen say that build quality is somewhat better than the S96J. I bought it from Infinity Online Computers (not an OCAU sponsor, but I couldn't find a sponsor selling it). The laptop is apparently distributed by Synnex. The EL81 is a similar laptop, but with Intel GMA950 instead of the Geforce card (and no fingerprint reader, no camera, and maybe no TPM. Unless you're desperately trying to save money, the EL80 is better value).

The first major problem was actually finding out what's included with it. There's not much info available. As it turns out, the Bluetooth module is not included ($30 extra) but it does have TPM (there were rumours that Intel hadn't bothered with that). All other items are as listed above. TV output cables are also not included.

The second problem was the CPU. I bought a Core 2 Duo T7200 from America, but the laptop doesn't work with that until the BIOS has been updated. This, of course, requires a Yonah core CPU. I bought a Core Solo T1300 from wwwww to do the update.

What I used for my one:

CPU: Core 2 Duo T7200. This was bought from someone in America for ~$440AU. It's the slowest Merom which still has a 4MB cache. Core speed is 2Ghz, FSB is 667Mhz. TDP is 34w, up 3w from Yonah - but Meroms apparently do get better battery life.

RAM: 1GB Lemel DDR2-667. This was bought from StoneBridge for ~$120. I don't normally like generic RAM, but this was right on the edge of my budget. Since there's only one stick it won't be running in dual-channel, but that's okay since even one stick can saturate Merom's FSB. The video card doesn't support TurboCache, so it won't care about the RAM. Of course, one stick also means less heat and more upgrade options. I ran MemTest on it for about eight hours with no problems.

HDD: Samsung 80GB SATA2 drive. Also bought from StoneBridge, for ~$150. Samsung drives are supposed to be the quietest; Seagate ones have the best warranty (five years), and Hitachis apparently run fairly cool. I bought Samsung mainly because that was all that StoneBridge sold. The drive seek noises are very quiet, but there seems to be some bearing noise (it must be the HDD because nothing else in the laptop can be making noise when the fan is off).

Wireless card: None. I did order one, but they weren't in stock and after a while I asked for that to be removed from the order. They're about $50. I'll buy one a bit later (for now I can just use a PCMCIA card).

Bluetooth adaptor: Standard Compal Bluetooth adaptor. This was from Infinity Online (like the laptop). It's a Broadcom module, and I gather that it's connected through USB (although with a custom connection to normal). For ~$30, it seems like decent value - although if you read below you'll find out about what installation was like.


First impressions and installation:
It looks far better than you'd expect from the photos. Really, don't look at them and decide that it looks 'plain' or 'ugly' because the photos don't do it justice (especially since I'm the one who took them, and I'm not very good with a camera). It's pretty solidly built, although that's not always a good thing (it makes it difficult to get some panels open). The instruction manual included is on a CD, but it's not particularly useful (there's no assembly guide, only a disassembly guide). After some initial problems figuring out how to connect the keyboard to the system (because they're packaged separately) I managed to get it put together. A lot of people have mentioned that the keyboard is very 'bouncy' - and they're right, it is very flexible indeed. Putting something between it and the laptop helps - I used a piece of 1mm-thick cardboard. Now it's very firm. Alternatively, you can just use double-sided tape to hold the keyboard down.

I also had a bit of trouble because some of the connections and screws are extremely small. Having a couple of small screwdrivers and a pair of tweezers handy is definitely recommended. Knowing how the connections are meant to work helps a lot too (as I found after trying to do them the wrong way).

The GPU and chipset cooling is already installed (and virtually inaccessible). To install the CPU, you just need to drop it in the socket, screw the socket shut, bolt the heatpipe down on top of it, and then put the fan in the remaining space. This is easy - there's plenty of space in that area, and it's very obvious where things have to go. Once this part is done, make sure that you connect the fan power cable and the laptop's main power cable (it plugs in to the same area, and it's unplugged when you get it so that there's space to install the heatpipe for the CPU). It's also worth noting that the laptop uses two completely separate heatpipes for cooling (one for GPU/chipset, one for CPU). This is quite different to companies like Dell, where the CPU's heatpipe cools several other things too (normally the chipset, sometimes the GPU too). The advantage of this is that the CPUs heatpipe is easy to adjust (to get the right height depending on the thermal paste). In other laptops, there have been issues where the cooling system really needs a thick thermal pad between the CPU and heatpipe - otherwise there's no contact because the end of the heatpipe is being held up high by the chipset/GPU.

If you're using a Merom, you'll want to replace the stock thermal pad with thermal paste. Merom's die is huge (I'd guess about three times as large as an AXP Barton die). The thermal pad on the heatpipe is just about the right size for a Yonah die, but it won't cover all of Merom's die. This shouldn't really be a problem anyway - if you're using a Merom, you'll be flashing the BIOS with a Yonah core, and after that you'll need to replace the thermal pad anyway.

RAM is similarly easy, once you've gotten the panel open (don't be afraid to put force on those panels - they're pretty solid). Unlike some laptops, one RAM module mounts on top of the other one, and both slots are accessible from the base of the laptop.

The HDD slips straight in, but if you're installing the Bluetooth module then you'll have to install that first (HDD goes over the top of it). The WLAN card installs next to the HDD, and it's secured by two screws. All the cables for WLAN/ Bluetooth are already in the case, with a bit of tape over the end to stop them causing problems.

The Bluetooth module is really tiny (about 1cm x 1.5cm). It's not at all easy to get it into the right position because the cable for it keeps getting in the way (and there's virtually no space to work with). The module comes with an extra bit of wire (an adaptor cable), but that isn't required - the EL80 already has a suitable cable installed. My suggestion is to figure out how the module's supposed to fit in the slot first, organise the cable to make space for it, then connect the cable and try to squeeze the module in. Alternatively, you could just skip getting the Bluetooth module.

Unlike the Bluetooth module, the WLAN card has plenty of space and should fit in very easily.

That's the installation done. Once you've figured out the keyboard plug, it should be easy to finish everything else within an hour even if you've never done it before (maybe a bit longer if you've got the Bluetooth module). Now just have a quick look over it and make sure that all the screws are installed and everything that can be clipped down is clipped down.

<continued below>

[SLATYE]

Other notes on the design:

• They seem to have thought about the USB ports. While there are only three, there's one on the left and two on the right (no more stretching cords around the back of the laptop).
• Battery is actually very small compared to what I was expecting - but it apparently has a good lifespan.
• No DVI port, only VGA output. This isn't uncommon even on new laptops.
• There appears to be an IR port on the front. Don't be fooled by that - it's actually the remote control port for the TV tuner. The TV tuner isn't included in the stock system, but it can be bought separately (in America). Whether Synnex will bring them to Australia is another matter.
• There's a shallow cutout in the lid of the laptop. This is what Intel calls a "customizable notebook panel". Vendors are meant to put a big plastic sheet with their logo (or something similar) on there. Of course, anyone else can do the same. In the proper HEL80, this area's covered by a sheet of aluminium. That seems like a good idea, since it'll make the lid extremely hard to damage. I might try that with this one.
• The fan appears to have two inlets, one on the base and one on the back (pulling air through the GPU heatsink). Air is expelled through the CPU heatsink (on the side). If you're doing a lot of CPU-heavy or GPU-heavy work, it's probably a good idea to use it on a desk so that there's airflow underneath. It'll also pull a bit of air through the keyboard.
• The power adaptor uses a strange 3-pronged plug. I'm not sure why this is. It's the same as the one used on some Dell laptops (probably because Compal made those laptops for Dell).
• Unfortunately there's no shock protection for the HDD - so be careful with it.
• One thing they have left out is a reset button. Not too much of a problem, but I would have liked to have it.

First impressions after turning it on:
My first impression was that the screen isn't as nice as my old laptop (Toshiba Portege 7010CT). This was not terribly surprising - the Toshiba's screen is excellent. That said, the EL80's screen is certainly not bad. The glossy finish might be annoying in bright lights, but at other times it looks very good indeed. The only big disadvantage of the glossy screen is that it attracts dust pretty well, and you can actually see the dust (on matte screens it's mostly invisible). Horizontal viewing angles are decent (I'd say about 60 degrees in either direction). Vertical angles are pretty bad - going more than about 10 degrees off the center makes the colours change quite a bit. The colours seem dull at first, but if you turn on Digital Vibrance Control (in the Nvidia drivers) it looks very good. Light leakage is very low and also very constant (no really bright patches).

The EL80 does use the same BIOS files as the HEL80. Currently they're up to v1.10B. Everything since ~1.05B has Merom support.

Noise is pretty good. There's a bit of PSU noise (that very high-pitched noise that you sometimes get from mainboards), but that seems to disappear once it's been on for half an hour or so. The fan starts very loud, but goes quiet after the first few seconds. It stays pretty quiet during general use (even in 3DMark 2005, I haven't heard it go to maximum speed). The DVD drive is fairly loud, but that's to be expected from laptop DVD drives.

No problems with heat. The area around the HDD stays cool; the power adaptor gets warm but not hot; the air coming out of the fan is also warm but not hot.

I haven't tested the battery life yet. Most people seem to be getting around 2 - 3 hours with the 6-cell battery.

Operating Systems:
So far I've tried Ubuntu 6.06, Kubuntu 6.06, Solaris 10.6, Windows XP, and Windows Vista RC1. All seem to work fine except for Solaris (the installer just pauses at random places and doesn't seem to recover. It also doesn't accept any key inputs). The only problem with the other OSs is that the bluetooth module defaults to being disabled. You have to enable it from a switch at the front, but that switch is under software control - and only the Windows XP software is provided. Other people seem to have gotten everything working with Linux, so presumably someone figured out how to enable it there too. Vista drivers should be available before too long. The other issue with Vista that I found was that it doesn't automatically detect the GPU as a GF Go 7600; you have to force it to install the driver (but after that it's fine).

I did also try it with Windows 3.1, which ran fine (and rather fast).

Benchmarks:
I don't really have much to compare this to (except my desktop, but comparing a Core 2 Duo T7200 to a Pentium-D 805 is not really very fair). For now, I've just run the basic 3DMark 2001SE/2003/2005 tests and SuperPI. If people want specific benchmarks, feel free to ask in the thread (it'll help if the benchmarks are free downloads. I don't own BF2/HL2/Doom3, so I can't benchmark those). I haven't run 3DMark 2006, but I'll try that if people want it.

3DMark 2001SE: 17964
3DMark 2003: 7462
3DMark 2005: 3091
SuperPI 1M: 26.046s

Photos:
If you want specific photos, just ask. I'll just provide a few basic ones.

Top of the laptop.

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Bottom of the laptop. Middle panel is for the RAM; bottom one is for the HDD, Bluetooth, and WLAN card; upper-right panel is for the CPU. The little vent you can see next to the HDD panel is directly over the GPU.

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Left side of the laptop. The PCMCIA and ExpressCard slots are virtually invisible here, but they're just to the right of the network port. Moving left, there's the Firewire port, USB port, fan exhaust, and panel for the TV tuner.

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Front. Again, everything here is pretty much invisible. There's a speaker on either side, a card reader, the wireless switch, IR port (for the TV tuner) and a few LEDs.

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Right side. From the left, there's the headphone socket, microphone socket, two USB ports, DVDRW, and VGA output.

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Back. From the left, there's the TV output port (no cables provided for that), a hole for a security cable, the battery, the modem port, and DC input.

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Open and running (although it's hard to see; unfortunately this camera doesn't seem to like taking photos of LCDs).

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Those pictures really don't do it justice, but they'll have to do for now.

Conclusion:
It's a nice laptop. I can't really compare it to other options (because I've never used them), but I think you'd have trouble finding one with equivalent specs for the same price (this one's cost about $1900 so far). Hopefully Intel will continue to release more VBI laptops and options for them; it'd be nice to see 12.1" models and maybe 17" ones too.

For those who don't want a 15.4" model, Compal's HGL30 is also on Intel's VBI list. It's a 14.1" laptop with very similar specs (Geforce Go 7600, support for C2D). As far as I know, it just lacks Firewire. I haven't seen them in Australia yet, but that might change.

Good points:

• Geforce Go 7600 @ 350/400
• Merom support (with an updated BIOS)
• PCMCIA and ExpressCard
• Fingerprint reader
• TPM 1.2
• Bluetooth support with optional module
• Part of Intel's VBI program - it uses the same battery, screen, and power adaptor as the Asus S96J and various other 15.4" laptops.
• 1.3MP camera integrated into the LCD.

Bad points:

• Keyboard flex is a bit of a problem.
• Bluetooth and 802.11g not included in price.
• GPU is underclocked by default.
• Merom support requires a new BIOS.
• Heavy (~2.9kg, which is almost as heavy as the light-weight 17" models).

[jlccarv]

impressive spi score for 2.0GHz... impressive bechies in general

[SLATYE]

Originally Posted by jlccarv

impressive spi score for 2.0GHz... impressive bechies in general

Are they? I haven't really kept up with what SuperPI scores should be, but if it's a good score then of course that's a good thing. It certainly beats the Pentium-D by a huge margin.

I was also a bit shocked at how well the 7600 did - after all, it's got just over half the RAM bandwidth of my 9800Pro, but it scores almost as high.

[MunDo.O]

hey SLATYE

totally off topic but can you help me out here in the following thread ..

http://forums.overclockers.com.au/sh...16#post6453216

[SLATYE]

Originally Posted by MunDo.O

hey SLATYE

totally off topic but can you help me out here in the following thread ..

http://forums.overclockers.com.au/sh...16#post6453216

Interesting place to ask (rather than PMs), but I guess it'll do. To be perfectly honest, I wouldn't bother with that card since you can get 7900GTs for $363 brand new (not Leadtek ones, but I'd prefer a new 'Sparkle' card over a second-hand card).

Quite apart from that, the 7900GS isn't much slower, it overclocks very well, and the cheap 7900GS cards are $280. If you're folding then it'd be worth considering an X1900GT (because they can help with folding too now) for ~$310 (about half way between the 7900GS and 7900GT).

[MunDo.O]

shit i copied and pasted the wrong link :P

http://forums.overclockers.com.au/sh...d.php?t=512713

thats what i was seeking a answer for. i need a lappy guru to help me out

thankss !

[SLATYE]

Originally Posted by MunDo.O

shit i copied and pasted the wrong link :P

Yes indeed. I just found the other thread, and it makes much more sense like that.

EDIT: Replied.

[jlccarv]

gr8 write up btw!

[wwwww]

Oh

I was about to buy a few of these - did you get it from rjtech? If not, can I ask where you got it from? ('cause rjtech charge USD120 for shipping )

[SLATYE]

Originally Posted by wwwww

Oh

I was about to buy a few of these - did you get it from rjtech? If not, can I ask where you got it from? ('cause rjtech charge USD120 for shipping )

As in the original post, it's from Infinity Online Computers (http://online.infinitycomputer.com.au/). They're one of two shops I could find in Australia (the other one was in Perth and about $100 more expensive).

I had considered getting a "real" HEL80 from RJTech, but the shipping cost and the possible issue of warranty worried me (and there's not all that much difference between them).

[MrSmith]

Nice work, been waiting for this. Just hoping I wouldn't see it in a dirty asian net cafe in melbourne. Ohwell, you win some and you lose some

[chedder&cheese]

Hi SLATYE, awesome review. That was really easy, pleasant reading and because of that i'm now considering buying one. One small thing though, the link to infinity doesn't seem to work. Thats probably them, but just asking if you'd linked it properly.

[Scotty_DDR]

i have a question as you seem knowledgeable, if i purchased one of the asus barbones systems that has the x1600, would i be able to use the cpu (centrino 1.73ghz), ram (2x512 400mhz, in bios it says DDR2?) and hdd from my dell inspiron 630m? also maybe salvage the internal bluetooth and wireless, ive never peeked inside my dell so i dont know how any of its connected. with that proccessor would it severly limit the graphics card to not make the switch viable or usuable for games say WoW, BF2, HL2?

[SLATYE]

Originally Posted by chedder&cheese

Hi SLATYE, awesome review. That was really easy, pleasant reading and because of that i'm now considering buying one. One small thing though, the link to infinity doesn't seem to work. Thats probably them, but just asking if you'd linked it properly.

Fixed. I had an extra 's' in there.

i have a question as you seem knowledgeable, if i purchased one of the asus barbones systems that has the x1600, would i be able to use the cpu (centrino 1.73ghz), ram (2x512 400mhz, in bios it says DDR2?) and hdd from my dell inspiron 630m? also maybe salvage the internal bluetooth and wireless, ive never peeked inside my dell so i dont know how any of its connected. with that proccessor would it severly limit the graphics card to not make the switch viable or usuable for games say WoW, BF2, HL2?

You can't use the CPU (different socket - both mPGA479, but with a different electrical configuration). You might be able to use the RAM, if it is actually DDR-2 - but at 400Mhz it'd limit the CPU a bit.

Bluetooth probably can't be swapped over (that tends to be a custom thing). Wireless probably also can't be swapped (I think the 630m uses a mini-PCI card. The S96J/Z96J/EL80 all use mini-PCIe).