HP zt3000 & Compaq X1000 users conned by HP.

[Yvo]

Well it looks like HP/Compaq has done it again. Well it looks like HP/Compaq has done it again. Some users on x1000forums.com have discovered them ripping off customers again.

Stickers on the laptop it self and specs on the HP website show these laptops to have a Radeon 9200 but in fact have a Radeon 9000.

Evidence collected so far...


By richmlpdx on x1000forums.com

After running the Rage3D mobile mod tool I found this information in the ATI supplied Catalyst 3.10 driver (CX_12924.inf)...

"MOBILITY RADEON 9000"=ati2mtag_M9, PCI\VEN_1002&DEV_4C66
"MOBILITY RADEON 9200"=ati2mtag_M9, PCI\VEN_1002&DEV_5C63

The drivers provided by HP have the following information (CX_08938.inf)

"MOBILITY RADEON 9200" = ati2mtag_M9, PCI\VEN_1002&DEV_4C66&SUBSYS_08600e11

and

I found this link from the Linux PCI ID repository for ATI (vendor 1002)

http://216.239.57.104/search?q=cache:zPV2-DIB2A8Jciids.sourceforge.net/iii/%3Fi%3D1002+ati+4c66&hl=en&ie=UTF-8

of note for mobility 9200...
5c61 Radeon M9+ [Radeon Mobility 9200]
It's based on the RV280

and the mobility 9000....
4c66 Radeon R250 Lf [Radeon Mobility 9000 M9]

Physical picture showing its a Mobility 9000 chip

Also someone called Compaq and apparently the rep on the phone believed the user and that someone from Customer Relations will contact him soon.

On going thread at x1000forums.com
http://www.x1000forums.com/viewtopic.php?t=3412&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0


So what is there to do for us notebook users. Do we have any ground to stand on or are we SOL.

Yvo

 

[MWink]

I have an X1000 and I remember seeing it called a Radeon 9000 somewhere. Before this laptop I had an IBM Thinkpad T40 with a Radeon 9000. The X1000 is significantly faster than the T40. I don't see how the X1000 could be so much faster if it only had a Radeon 9000 (BTW the T40 had a P-M 1.3, X1000 has a P-M 1.5). I could be wrong but I believe the X1000 has a Radeon 9200. Even if it doesn't I don't care because it's plenty fast. For all I care they can call it a Radeon 7000 as long as it performs well.

 

[elanarchist]

Of course, it may be that all Mobility 9200 chips look like that - they are practically the same chips, remember? Just with AGP 8x support and clocked a bit higher, although the motherboard in the X1000 doesn't support 8x (not that it matters). Do you have a picture of a 9200 from another manufacturer?

 

[Pete]

A desktop Radeon 9200 is exactly the same as a 9200, except the latter has AGP 8x support. The difference between AGP 4x and 8x is negligible in such slow GPUs. I don't know about mobile clocking, but I believe desktop 9200s are 250/400, just like desktop 9000s. So the difference should be nothing more than superficial, but don't consider that the final word.

You should more concerned about buying the 128-bit 64MB version over the 64-bit 32MB version if you're a gamer, anyway.

 

[Yvo]

No picture yet but it seems were slowly getting some attention with this issue.

theinquirer.net & rage3d.net have already posted on this subject.