I have had exactly the same experience with a HP/Compaq 6510b laptop: Kalyway works like a charm, nothing else does. So far my $29 SL disk has given me a warm, fuzzy feeling of honesty, sort of, and that's all. I'm also a total nubi on kexts, plists , DSDT & the like.

While I'm trying to learn these topics, I'm also hoping Kalyway 10.6.0 comes along.