[Ian]

We have another review up today on the ECS i-Buddie 4 Desknote:

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ECS have been touting the new "Desknote" series of computers as a desktop / notebook crossbreed - hence the name. The theory behind this is to bring desktop-type performance to a notebook-size computer, a rather innovative and unique idea!

The lack of battery means that portability is out of the question, unless you buy one of the optional battery packs, or a car adapter. The second differences are the desktop standard components that are used, meaning a wider variety of products and potentially better upgrade options. This unit was supplied with a P4 1.6 CPU, PC2100 256 MB RAM, 15" SXGA+ LCD, 20Gig IBM Hard drive and internal DVD-ROM drive.

Read more here

[mads]

Hi,
Where can I get the nVidia card for the a980? its an nVidia 420 GO
mads

[twmackey]

Lousy Warranty support
I bought a notebook in June of 2002, I want everyone too know that It is a iBuddie 4 928 or a desknote 928 made by ECS. I have had this note book less than five months before the stands broke off. Now yesterday 3/9/03 I was unplugging the power converter from the laptop and the ground peg came out.

I have e-mailed www.pcinfinity.net until blue in the face about the stands breaking off and they say it isn't covered by warranty because it isn't the note book it self. Now the ground wire has pulled out. This computer is an awsome computer but warranty sucks on it.

I reccomend that no one buys this computer, Costco sells as a northgate note book. I would like as many people as can to know this. I also order a part on www.desknote.net and they sent the wrong part, and they say all sales are final.


DO NOT BUY THIS OR ANY OTHER NOOTBOOK from ECS or WWW.PCINFINITY.NET

I have bought over $4500.00 beteen my brother and I at pcinfinity.net



Thomas Mackey


__________________

A+ Certified

[twmackey]

This is the grounding plug that pulled out of the notebook

[neilsheddan]

I bought an i-buddie 4 A928 about a year ago now (P4 2.2GHz, 512 DDR mem, 15.1" screen) and have until now absolutely no problems. The system has been running Windows 2000 wiith no hickups at all and that has also included a lot of work related programs (for which the system has to be fairly reliable). This computer was an absolute dream for me as I was on a tight budget and for the money I cant complain. Or not really - the lack of battery is sometimes a little irritating but then again who really does that much work on a train. The supplier of my i-buddie 4 (a company in Britain) have been nothing short of what I would have hoped for but maybe not expected. Anyone who has any kind opf question feel free to email me and I will give you my honest opinion.

[baser]

A great machine. I have the 2.4G P4 15" 512MB model. I find that no battery is ok as there is pretty much always an outlet somewhere. A bit limiting though in these wi-fi days. What is more difficult is the lack of PCMCIA slots....but everything is available as USB to counter this. Plus the desknote has the network and modem in there already.

PROBLEMS.....

The screen died (sort of went to white-out from the botttom left hand corner) on an intermittent basis. I think it was just a loose cable as did the people in Taiwan. But I had to send it back to my point of purchase (the USA) from Australia to get sorted (many $$$'s).

All great it comes back and is great again......UNTIL....the same problem abour six weeks later. The guy at my dealer tried to tell me it was the sleep function!!!! OR that I was putting 240 volts through an adaptor which was designed for both 110 and 240. Anyway.

BUT...

It went away by itself (must be a loose cable).

So all in all: good

I would recommend buying one but make sure you go through a reasonable dealer as the Taiwan people can't help at all.

[Ian]

What a mixed bunch of opinions we have here! I don't think these 2 errors represent the overall picture of the i-buddies - but it is worth taking into consideration, especially buying from a reputable dealer!

[Vortex-5]

holly crap i thought it was just me but after seeing your post my PEG fell out too...

Actually I've used some instrumentation and the peg in question is not ground... infact it's the negative end of the battery.

As for the two plugs up top for some reason they have connectivity between them indicating they are not negative and positive like you might think...


Now after seeing your post I'm strarting to think that this is a design flaw. I mean what are the chances of two of the desknotes having the exact same problem if it wasn't especually if it is as serious as this?


Sadly desknote would not repair my unit because they claimed that that complonent was damaged by "physical damage"

So I opened my laptop and fixed it with a soldering iron myself.


If you've opened your desknote you realize how bad the problem was the area around the peg had all of it's solder melted.


I have since repaired it but am not sure how long it will last. It's an issue of design and I quite honestly can't figure out how to protect that area from the heat that must be building up from the graphics chipset. As it will blow it's exhaust onto the power connector. But could the miniscule heat that the graphics chipset generates really be the contributing factor towards the soldier melting?


I mean it takes alot of heat to melt your 60/40 but can air heated from the sis 650 really heat that much?

[Ian]

Hi Vortex-5, welcome to the forums!

Please do let me know if the solder you have just added also melts, as I will look into this matter if it is found to be a problem!

If the current solder you have added melts, it will mean that it is probably the problem. Do you have any photos of what has happened?

[Vortex-5]

Well the laptop is working fine after repair however I fear the solder is probably not as strong as the original plastic + glass composite that held the plug in place.

Probably with a few more pulling and unplugging the peg would fall out again.

If it does I'll take a pic and post it here but until then I'd rather not open my laptop again for the time being... it takes me almost 3 hours (2.5 of which is spent opening and closing the laptop) to do the repair job.

However I found someone from another site with similar problems. (peg fell out) so it's most likely a design flaw.