G756

G756

The Micron VLX-Enhanced, Trek-Lite and Trek plus the NEC 320T/330T/340T are all versions of the G756. I use this number to identify these laptops because that's the model number shown on the motherboard. I believe that none of these laptops were sold as Green 756's.

Overall, the G756 is a strange beast in that it has the looks of the Green 755 but the overall specifications more closely match the Green 735.

When compared to the Green 755, the G756 contains a vastly updated motherboard shoehorned into the general Green 755 case layout. The additional features includes a case cooling fan, a USB port, use of 144 pin EDO SODIMM's and use of AMD K6-2 or Intel Tillamook CPU's. Overall, under the plastic case, the Green 756 is more closely related to the Green 735 and shares many electrical boards with the Green 735. It also shares the Green 735 batteries and AC adapters.

G756 CPU's come in two types, both on custom daughter board CPU carriers. This is the same daughter board that is used in the Green 735. This CPU daughter board is located under the heatsink metal plate that is located under the keyboard. New keyboards are not available and so care should used when working with the keyboard ribbon cable.

The first type has an Intel Tillamook CPU, not the reported PII as first reported here. Seems some people are stating that these modules contain PII's to push the resale value of these laptops. The speeds for these Intel modules are the normal 233mmx and 266 mmx Tillamook speeds. These modules have no switches and are auto ID'ed by the BIOS.

The second type of daughter board carrier is a Socket Seven adapter carrier. This carrier has four DIP (small slide switch assemblies) to control the CPU's Vcc voltage and the CPU multiplier. I believe that an Intel MMX CPU could be installed, but the AMD K6-2 CPU family has a much faster top speed and are the only CPU's that I've seen installed by the factory. I've seen K6-2 CPU's in the range of 300 MHz to 400 MHz installed in Green 735 laptops.

If your G756 has a Socket Seven module then I see no reason why you couldn't pull a slow AMD CPU and install a 400 MHz K6-2.

Be sure to reset the voltage and multiplier switches to the correct settings for any new CPU that you install.

I also believe the AMD K6-2+ CPU (again at 400 MHz) would be a natural if it will function correctly in this machine. I plan to conduct an experiment to see if it will be ID'ed by the BIOS.

To replace the CPU you need to gently pry the out CPU up and out of the socket that is just a set of metal wells soldered to the daughter board to form a female socket. Pry straight up in several areas until you can remove the old CPU. Don't break the daughter board when inserting a new CPU.

The hard drive is located under the palmrest and shares the same hard driver mounting carrier kit as the Green 755. This kit differs slightly from the Green 735 kit. So if purchasing a new carrier, do make sure that it is marked for the Green 755. Again this model is a mixture of Green 755 and Green 735 components plus a few of its own - like the motherboard.

There is 16 MB of EDO RAM on the motherboard and there are two expansion memory sockets under the hard drive module for more memory. The only type of memory that can be used is 144 pin EDO SODIMM modules. I've installed two 64 MB EDO modules and had no problems. But I haven't determined the maximum memory limits of the Green 756 because I haven't found a source for (cheap) 128 EDO modules.

I did experiment and install some 144 pin SDRAM modules into a G756 but they didn't report the in with the proper size.

Note: The Micron version of the G756 is painted satin black and so many replacement parts that are in common with the NEC version of the G756 plus the parts shared with the Green 755 or Green 735 all need to be painted to match the Micron laptop color. I will do so for you if you ask.

Also, the Micron LCD lid has a special oval pocket molded into the plastic for the Micron "jewel" logo - the NEC and Green 735 lids have the more generic rounded-corner rectangular pocket. New Micron style plastic lids are NOT available. So you will need to repair your old lid or replace it with a standard lid and not reuse the Micron jewel.