MP993

MP993

The MP993 was one of the last laptop models produced by Chicony. Chicony's sister company Clevo makes laptops, but Chicony only makes keyboards these days.

The MP993 was a Socket 370 Celeron laptop and can only use CPU's up to 466 MHz with a 66MHz Front Speed Bus. Newer Celerons with 66MHz bus, but based upon the P3 core do not seem to work, however one reference does claim that a 500 MHz CPU was available in the MP993. I've not seen one of these laptops and so I don't have an answer as to how the CPU was made to work. There appear to be no switch setting that need to be adjusted as long as a 66 MHZ FSB CPU is used. There si a motherboard DIP switch (labeled S3) that might adjust the FSB speed. IT has 4 switch banks and adjusting bank #4 (to ON) prevents a 66FSB CPU from allowing the laptop to post. It is possible that this switch does something for 100 MHz FSB CPU's? All four banks have been set to OFF in all the MP996's that I've had here in my shop. If anyone has answer please email me.

Experimenting with CPU is a problem because the CPU socket is very brittle and can be damaged easily - resulting in a destroyed socket and motherboard. The socket has the usual OPEN and CLOSE screwdriver pockets for unlocking and relocking the CPU into the socket, but I've found that locking the CPU into place can result in the breaking off of the CLOSE pocket from the rest of the socket. So I've found that using a pair of Channel lock pliers (TM?) works better and that the socket isn't closed until a "pop" is felt in the movement of the socket/CPU. Several CPU sockets, in parts laptops that have come my way have had the sockets broken - including the four mounting points for the heatsink having been broken off. Some have even had their pins bend so that the socket can not work with a CPU. This is a very weak socket and so extreme care is needed when inserting a CPU.

Memory sockets are found under the keyboard and the MP993 comes with zero memory on the motherboard, so one socket must have memory or the laptop won't boot. The two memory slots can only accept modules that are low-profile size, because have not found any 256MB modules that meet the low-profile format, memory appears to be limited to 256MB (2 x 128) because of module physical size limitations.

MP993 LCD's came in 12.1", 13.3" and 14.1" TFT designs. Video transfer boards and video signal cables need to be changed if the LCD lids are swapped out. I do not have complete data on video transfer boards at this time.

Standard optical drive was a CDROM with a DVD being optional. I do not have any spare modules for these laptops.

The CMOS backup battery is a 3.0 volt Li Ion CR1220 and is located under the keyboard. The battery should be changed every few years and a replacement battery can be found at Radio Shack for under $5.00. (US$)

The hard drive module has a weak retainer clip that can fail. I think the springs that "push the carrier against the clip can pop" the carrier out and are a bit too strong and/or the retainer clip is a bit too weak. Perhaps ctting the springs down would be a solution to having too much pressure against a weak latch on the carrier. I have not tested very large hard drives in the MP993 - 12GB is the largest that I've used so far. Drives must be 9.5mm height drives. (most newer drives are 9.5mm)

Here's some data about the MP993 that's been pulled from Chicony's last web page:

Chicony's MP993

Features:

MP993 is a rock solid design, with two swappable SmartBays. It also combines the best of two worlds: High-end design (440BX and NeoMagic) and 14.1" XGA TFT and Intel low-cost Socket-370 Celeron CPU. Since the MP993 uses standard desktop Socket-370 CPU, it's very easy for

to change the CPU by himself to a higher speed. Although the case is very slim (42mm) it still houses both a FDD-bay (FDD/LS-120/ZIP) and a CD-ROM bay (CD/DVD) simultaneously.

CPU:

The easy to change CPU supports all Intel Celeron processors on Socket-370. Currently the fastest available processor is the 466MHz. Intel Celeron is about 2-3% slower than a Pentium II with the same speed, due to it's 128kb cache compared to Pentium II's 256kb cache.

FDD-bay:

Tired of the FDD's low capacity? Agree that 1.44MB isn't quite enough? MP993 have solutions! You can easily change the FDD to a ZIP drive (100MB) or a LS-120 (120MB), this can easily be done by the end-user. You no longer have to run out of diskspace!

CD-bay:

The 24x CD-ROM is also just like the FDD easy to exchange to a higher speed drive or a DVD-ROM for those great quality movies.

HDD:

Do you mind when your kids install games on your HDD? Buy them another HDD, it's easy changed in the MP993. You can also have different HDDs for different purposes, also it's never been easier to upgrade.

Docking and Port Replicator:

High-end docking with two standard 5.25" desktop bays, all ports are replicated and there is one PCI slot as well

Port Replicator with two 3W speakers

Rear of the MP993: