Friday, June 23, 2006, 02:47 PM
The Solo 9500 & 9550 have the following parts in common: Keyboard, Keyboard cover, Battery, Optical drive and Floppy drive.
The Solo 9500 can take one of several speeds MPGa-2 CPU (PIII 700MHz - 1GHz). However, lets face it, no one wants below 1Ghz. To change the Solo 9500 processor (cpu) requires removing three simple components; The first is the Keyboard cover. This is the strip of plastic right above the keyboard, the plastic to which the power button and internet function keys are connected. You can use the flatedge of a screwdriver to remove this plastic. Next remove the keyboard by unscrewing the silver screws formerly covered by the plastic strip and release the black latch to the left of the keyboard. Place the keyboard keys facedown on the palmrest and then proceed to remove the heatsink. The heatsink is held by five screws. Remove these screws and then remove the power wires for the heatsink fan (pull up to remove, gripping the plastic and not the wires). The cpu is now exposed. Remove the cpu by using the flatedge of a small screwdriver to turn the locking screw which holds the cpu in place. Remove the cpu by holding the edges and lifting vertically. Be carefull not to damage the pins of the cpu.
The Solo 9500 comes with the optional modem (RJ-11) or modem/ethernet (RJ-45) combo port. Some units comes equipped with a modem/firewire combo which is rear. If you currently have a modem port, you may chose to upgrade to a modem/nic combo port.Simply remove the existing modem/nic port (located to the back left side of unit) by unscrewing the screw which holds the port. Next, on the the bottom of the unit, open the port cover to the top left. You should now be looking at a mini pci modem card which has one cable connected, remove this cable. The modem card is held by the metal clips on both sides, push clips away from the card to release it. You must now obtain a modem nic combo mini pci card to replcae your old mini pci modem card. Suggested brands of mini pci modem/nic cards; Action Tec or Broadcom. Back to the modem port from which you removed the first screw, pull the port away from the unit slowly. This will completely remove the port from the unit. Now you need to purchase a Solo 9500 modem/nic combo port for your unit and follow the instructions in reverse order.
It is common belief that the Solo 9550 will only upgrade to 512MB of memory (256MB in each slot). However, the unit can be upgraded to 1GB PC-133 144-PIN SO-DIMM. However, for this upgrade the 16 chip memory modules must be used (8 memory chip on each side of the memory bar).
Some Solo 9500 and 9550 laptops after sometime start running slow, taking forever to boot. Even after booting, the unit still runs slow. If you have checked the memory and CPU and none of this makes a difference we have found that its usually the motherboard.
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( 3 / 1355 )Sunday, May 28, 2006, 11:03 PM
The 200ARC can be found with three different speed (CPUs) Processors which all come soldered to the motherboard (systemboard). Speeds range from P4 1.4GHz to 1.8Ghz. However, there is also a Celeron 1.2Ghz motherboard for this unit.
Though it may prove costly to upgrade, the 200ARC will max at 2Gigs of memory (2 x 1000MB units 200pin pc-2100/2700/3200). With maximum memory this unit becomes a nice workstation, able to tackle virtually any personal or small office task.
The Gateway 200STM has two battery options a 3 cell batery which gives approximately 1.5 hours worth of work time and an extended life 6 cell battery which will give close to 4 hours work time
It is true that most 200arc will take up to a 80GB hard drive. However, I have come accross some that will not even accept a 60GB refusing to identify the drive. Even after upgrading to BIOS version 42.03.01.
Should your unit stop booting one day, the most common cause (based on my experience) of dead 200arc units is a deffective dc power board. The part to which the ac adapter is connected is actually a
a detachable part and can be removed from the mainboard (a daughter board). This piece controls power to the unit and if deffective no power will get to the unit, hence the unit will not boot.
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( 3 / 5830 )Tuesday, August 9, 2005, 02:05 PM
The Gateway 450ROG/SX4 are both good units with the 450ROG being the better of the two. Some 450ROG has a 64MB video card whereas the SX4 has a 32MB video card. Also the ROG will accept over 1GB of memory whereas the SX4 takes a max of 512MB.
Both motherboards will fit either chassis (450ROG or SX4) The form factor of the boards are the same. However, as per Joel's entry dated Wednesday, October 4, 2006, 08:53 AM: "The form factor of the boards are the same, but the lcd plug-in is different on the two. The monitors are different from one to another. So you can't interchange monitors between them".
One problem I have noticed, if the fan on your heatsink as started to go bad becoming very noisy but still running. It will cause the unit to shut down. At this point its not cooling the unit fast enough. One of the first thing that will happend is distorted video due to over heating and the unit constantly going into standby.
One major problem on these units are the video on the motherboards. They tend to go bad and as with most Gateway units cannot be manually repaired. This is quite possibly lack of sufficient cooling. My opinion is to buy a cooling pad and this "MAY" extend the life of your unit.
Though an 80Watt power adapter is issued with these units you will find that the unit will function with a 70Watt adapter. However, using a 60 or 50watt adapter will cause problems. The unit will start function for a while then shut down according to usage.
Though the lcd cable connection is different between the 450ROG & 450SX4, one thing some 14.1" & 15" LCD Panels share is the same inverter, Gateway P/N: 8006699, Inverter P/N: 3RUA2IV0003.
Both the 450SX4 & ROG uses Pentium 4 CPUS. However, the SX4 uses a P4 Processor-M CPU (400Mhz FSB, 512Kb L-2 Cache & core voltage of 1.30V) whereas the ROG uses a Centrino P4 (400Mhz FSB, 1mb L-2 Cache & core voltage of 1.484V)
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( 3.1 / 1476 )Saturday, July 23, 2005, 01:50 PM
The 200STM can be found with three different speed (CPUs) Processors which all come soldered to the motherboard (systemboard). The three speeds are; 833MHz, 933MHz and 1GHz. The 1GHz systemboard is the one hardly found but should you have need for an upgrade, this would be your best option (may not be cost effective depending on price of the motherboard).
The Gateway 200STM, like most PIII Notebooks will accept a max of 512mb of memory (512mb pc-133 144pin so-dimm).
The Wi-Fi capability on this unit is one of the more significant features apart from its lightness and size. For these units I have mainly used the Broadcom wirless mini pci cards. However, it is possible to use other mini pci wifi cards, so long as drivers are available.
When purchasing a 200STM replacement optical drive, the best option is to stick with Gateways listed drives for this unit. I have tried several drives and found success with only one that was not listed on Gateways web site; Torisan CD-R/RW CDW-U4424. This drive the unit picked up immediately.
One thing the 200STM, Solo 3400 & 3450 have in common is the 42WATT AC adapter. Most of the ac adapters fits a three prong power cord. However, there are some which uses a two prong (double barrel) power cord. Both works just fine.
If the video on your 200STM starts giving problems then unfortunately the only solution is to change the motherboard as the video chip is soldered on to the board. Remember, a dim screen does not mean bad video but more so points to a bad video inverter. Additionally, no image on the screen is typical of a bad video cable, especially when the screen lights up and there is no video.
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( 3 / 1472 )Tuesday, May 31, 2005, 10:23 PM
Use this information at your own risk.The Solo 9300 can take one of several speeds MMC-2 CPU (PIII 400MHz, 500MHz, 600MHz, 650Mhz, 700MHz, 750MHz, 800MHz & 850MHz). The MMC-2 PIII 800/850MHz is a rear one and if found you can expect to pay top dollar. However, I have heard that with this CPU installed the unit tends overheat..In my testing I have installed two bars of 256MB PC-100 144pin SO-DIMM in a Solo 9300 laptop (Total Memory 544MB). The memory upgrade was picked up both by the bios and the OS. The Solo 9300 comes with a sound card that is not integrated with the motherboard. The card is located under the right palmrest and can be easily replaced. Also, located directly on top of the sound card is the slot to connect a mini pci modem or modem/nic combo card (compatible brands Action Tec & 3com). The question is, "Do you have a modem/nic port or just a modem port"? The ports can also be replaced since the port is not molded to the chassis or the motherboard. The port is slotted on to the chassis and a wire connection goes from the port to the modem which is directly on top of the sound card. Easily removable.It is particularly difficult to find a optical drive (cd,dvd,cdrwdvd) faceplate that not only looks similar but fits the Solo 9300 Laptop. Solution! Use the existing optical drive caddy (plastic that surrounds the drive) and use the old faceplate as template to carve the notched out section onto your new drive faceplate. Laslty reconnect the caddy.The caddy is removed by first removing the optical drive from the unit. Next remove the screws located on the right and left sides of the drive. These screws secures the black plastic to the drive. However, the drive is also secured by a bit of glue (try using a flat edge to help with the removal of the plastic). Next remove the two screws holding the plastic at the back of the drive. Easily remove the two pieces.
One frequent problem with the Solo 9300 laptops is a damaged power bar or status bezel connection cable. This is the cable that connects the status bezel (plastic strip directly below screen with the button to turn the unit on/off) to the motherboard. If this cable is damaged you will not be able to turn the unit on and will not get a light when the unit is plugged in. To replace this cable you must first remove the keyboard held by little metal hooks in between the lower first row of keys. When the keyboard is removed a screw holding the status bezel is uncovered. Remove this screw along with the two other screws holding the status bezel (one on each end). The cable is held by clips carefully push clips up being careful not to completely remove them from their respective places.
The 9300 comes with four different screen sizes; 14.1", 15" & 15.7" inch. The respective lcds are as follows; 14.1"-LG LP141XA (A1), 15"-LG LP150X1 (C2QT), LG LP150X2, HITACHI TX38D85VC1CAA and 15.7"-LP157E1 (A2TS). The lcds & corresponding inverter P/N are; 14.1"-3RE4U22600240 & 3RE4U2260034; 15"-3RE4U22600340, 3RE4U22600250 (LP150X1) and 15.7"-3RE4U22600350 & 3RE4U22600300.
When using an MD3 Docking station with the Solo 9300 it is possible to add a Video card, TV Tuner or network card to the docking station via the desktop pci port located in the docking station. To the right of your docking station is a slot that is at times covered but if viewed closely you will see the cover is removable. The pci slot is located under the top cover of the dock which is only held by one screw to the top left of the rear. So far I have had success adding a video card. With this second video card installed I have been able to connect an external monitor to the Solo 9300 for a dual monitor function. This gives me the ability to use the laptop's LCD screen and an external monitor to view images from the laptop (watch a DVD on one screen and browse the net on the other). The only setback is I have to connect to the docking station with the system already booted for it to connect successfully.
When connecting a network (nic) card to the unit via the PCI slot this requires no additional changes but for you to install the drivers for the card.
Adding a TV Tuner will require no further adjustement but for you to install the drivers and software for the tuner card. Also remember that it is necessary to have atleast 256MB of ram to run a tv tuner card and process other applications without freeze ups.
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