I always keep my driver up to date, especially with Creative cards I can not comment on the quality of the supplied driver. With the latest, however, I can confirm that none of the problems mentioned here.
The manufacturer has to disable any power saving modes and the manual when installing it out. This can also be a reason for crackling.
Compared to the desktop solution there are only a sound mode, the Entertainment mode, ie the IMHO clearer Game mode is missing. Power but not really what. Games detect the X-Fi, and offer the best sound. The card also allows the sound through the built-in speaker to play in the notebook. An automatic mute the loudspeaker and switch on the headset profile is also of course when you connect the same.
Attention: In Windows, the output device in the Audio options Manual must set / be changed so that the card is also used.
In short, I can recommend the card for each seeks to promote a modern laptop with 3D map into a fully fledged gaming device.
