IBM Netvista X40 $799 + s/h

[regalztt]

These went fast at Buy.com, get em while they last!
http://www.pcnation.com/asp/index.asp

 

[her209]

linkified

 

[DerProfi]

A quick comment since I have one of these. Consider it ONLY IF you don't want to do any gaming. Take it from someone who's been fooling around w/ one constantly for about a week, the video on the SIS630 all-in-one chipset used by the Celeron 566 version of the X40 SUCKS. I believe the more expensive X40i models (the newer ones) use the i815 chipset that runs quite a bit faster video-wise.

Not that it isn't a cool machine, just don't expect the function to be as sexy and cutting edge as the form.

Mine has 2 bad pixels on the LCD too, so if you're bugged by that (or for those who haven't dealt with LCD screens before, if you're the kind of person who really gets annoyed by the wires in Trinitron monitors) then you may want to steer clear. IBM's policy allows for up to 7 bad pixels.

 

[iwearnosox]

DerProfi, I've been playing with mine for a few days as well, and concur with your thoughts. It is a groovy machine, though.

I actually ordered two- my first one from buy.com was defective, having trouble with the cd rom drawer coming down. It had one bad pixel. The second has no dead pixels though, and is running great.

A few questions I haven't been able to resolve yet:

1. bios support for 80 gig drives. Have you located a newer bios for this thing that supports larger volumes? 10 gig isn't big enough for me.

2. legacy ps2 support. I could really use these ports, but it doesn't seem to have these activated, even though they're included.

3. That ethernet port next to the ps2 ports. Why include two ethernet ports on the computer? Curious.

Anyway it's a fun machine, clearly worth $800!

Thanks.

Sox

 

[DerProfi]

1. bios support for 80 gig drives. Have you located a newer bios for this thing that supports larger volumes? 10 gig isn't big enough for me.

I flashed the latest BIOS that appears to be dated 1/2001 so it's very new. Haven't swapped a bigger hard drive into mine--I use a server for file storage. 7200RPM drive might be too hot anyway considering the nonexistent air circulation in the case.

2. legacy ps2 support. I could really use these ports, but it doesn't seem to have these activated, even though they're included.

Ditto. I hate the keyboard on this thing and wanted to substitute a black PS/2 keyboard (IBM) I've got that has a nice built-in Trackpoint. No dice.

3. That ethernet port next to the ps2 ports. Why include two ethernet ports on the computer? Curious.

It has a built-in Ethernet port because that SIS630 chipset includes Ethernet capabilities in addition to audio and video. The NIC in the low-profile PCI slot is an Intel-OEM (IBM branded) NIC. There is nothing to stop you from using the SIS NIC, you just have to turn it on in the BIOS and then download the drivers from IBM. I assume that IBM included their own NIC because it's compatible with their Desktop Management software and with Tivoli, which makes it better for corporate purchasers.

BTW, when did you order from BUY.COM? I put an order in like an hour after the deal was first posted here last Thursday, and they cancelled it. I ended up buying one at PCZone. Also, why don't ya enable private messages in yer profile? That way I won't have to bore everyone else with this stuff.

 

[iwearnosox]

Private messages enabled. (I prefer to post things publicly, ala dejanews. I always know there's someone out there doing exactly what I'm doing and would value the public info if they found it. I surely don't wish to bore others with this, though.)

I'm the one that posted the original x40 deal, and I got one. As I said before it was all messed up, and I'm sending it back. The second one worked great- I got that one from zones.com at the same price. I've got it disassembled on the coffee table right now, trying to get its drive upgraded.

The 80 gig is a maxtor 5400. Do you have a URL for that bios update? I couldn't find it anywhere on the IBM site, and had litle luck tracking it down elsewhere. I'd really appreciate it.

I'm going to continue working on the PS2 issue, if I have luck I'll let you know. Outside of that, I notice the Bios does indeed show 100mhz and 133mhz FSB speeds. Have you tried sticking a P3 in there for giggles? I need to check on the power situation for my P3 800 flip chip, but if it looks to be the same as the celeron 566 I may give it a whirl and see what happens.

Sox

 

[Steve0]

Thanks for posting the messages publicly, guys. I've been lurking this thread because that PC was a temptation...

Steve

 

[DerProfi]

DOH! Right, you posted the deal last week. Now I know why your name is familiar. Like I said, my order got cancelled and when I complained to a Buy.com CSR they eventually offered me the Win2K version for $900 but I didn't need Win2K. So are you getting the one from Buy.com replaced?

Anyway, the 1/10/2001 BIOS is here. According to the text file that comes with the BIOS, it fixes the following:
- Fixed >32GB Hard Disk Boundary Problem
- Fixed Power-on Password Problem
- Fixed USB Floppy Boot Failure
- Fixed International Keyboard Support in Windows

I haven't tried a P3. I've only got a 1GHz flip chip which I could try, and it would probably fry the bloody thing. Seems like one of the slower (cooler) P3 chips might work, though. Let me know if you get the 800MHz chip to work.

UPDATE: Here's a link to the page with all the X40 (Model 6643) drivers
LINK.

 

[FrankRizzo]

I installed one of these for a customer and found it odd that it had two ethernet ports!

The netvista's come with built in 10/100 ethernet. Some models come with an add-on half-height PCI ethernet card and have the built in ethernet port disabled in the BIOS. The PCI ethernet card is supposedly a more robust interface - and so they add it on the 'business' versions....

 

[DerProfi]

FrankRizzo, yeah the low-profile IBM (Intel) 10/100 is definitely more robust. I built a BookPC for a friend a couple of months ago and it had an onboard Davicom "10/100" LAN interface that ran about as fast as a 10mbit 3Com NIC. I'd put the SiS 10/100 interface into that same category. Certainly fast enough for a broadband connection, though.

 

[iwearnosox]

An update on the drive situation: The bios update (thanks for the link) doesn't accomodate an 80 gig volume. It just locks up on boot, unfortunately. Bummer.

Sox

 

[popeye44]

nudge

 

[iwearnosox]

Well the CPU upgrade looked like it had wings. Updated the bios, inserted a P3 800EB. Bios recognized it and posted. Alas, win98 crashed with a registry error on boot. Swapped back to the celeron and it booted fine.

So the MB has voltage issues, apparently. (PC133 ram was installed, so that wasn't it.)

Looks like I've got a 10 gig celeron 566 on my hands, unless I can use maxblast or some other utility to get past the apparent 40 gig drive limit. Or I'll need to buy a 40 gig drive.

Just updatin ya.

Sox

 

[bladerunner8]

*burp ugh*

 

[Diego101]

Anyone tried a 100 Mhz PIII? It may be less demanding than a 133 piece.

I ordered one from PCNation. It was supposed to be the 566 X40, but it looks like I got a 533 X40i which includes a 56K modem. It only has one ethernet connect(the built-in SIS one.) I had some problems getting to play nice on the network, but it just took using a well built cable and rebooting between cable changes. I added 256M of ram and Win2K without incident.

Regards.