how-to block ads
|
| | | | FAQ Revisions | Editor: fire100 
Last modified on 2008-12-02 08:04:38
view: single page · printable | |
What is this for | NotebooksNo questions in this section yet | 5.1 Dell | 5.2 HP/Compaq | 5.3 Sony | 5.4 AveratecNo questions in this section yet | 5.5 GatewayNo questions in this section yet | 5.6 AppleNo questions in this section yet | 5.7 eMachinesNo questions in this section yet | 5.8 Toshiba | 5.9 SharpNo questions in this section yet | Notebooks continuedNo questions in this section yet | 7.1 IBM | 7.2 MedionNo questions in this section yet | 7.3 Asus | 7.4 Acer | 7.4 Alienware | Notebook QuestionsNo questions in this section yet | 9.1 General |
login and you can contribute to the FAQ
|
|
| (back) | We need your notebook reviews, add specs of your notebook, what you like about it, what you do not like about it, and pricing, etc.
This will help those that are looking to purchase a new or used notebook.
If you want pictures, create a new post in this forum with pictures of your laptop.
Be sure to add the link to your post in the FAQ.
 feedback form
 feedback form
by fire100 edited by 2kmaro
last modified: 2005-04-28 16:13:17 |
5.1 Dell·Inspiron 700m
·Inspiron 8200
·Latitude C600/C610/640
·Inspiron 6000D review
·Dell Inspiron 2500
·latitude d810
·Dell Inspiron 9300
·Dell 9300 Review
·Dell XPS generation 2/XPS M170
·dell 9300
·Dell XPS M140 Review
·Dell Inspiron E1705 Review
| | (back) | So far I am impressed by the size and capabilities of the 700m. It is a very tiny notebook at 4.5 pounds, but performs very well!
One main rant but you get used to it, is the placement of the period key. After awhile though I started to get used to it, and could press it with no problems.
The screen on this laptop is amazing: 1280x800 widescreen resolutions and it is very bright! I had no problem using it the other day in the car when the sun was very bright. I used to have a hard time seeing the screen on the HP in the bright sunlight.
Thread on my Review found below:
»My New Dell 700m review
My config and cost is as follows:
Inspiron 700m
Intel® Pentium® M Processor 745 (1.80 GHz/400MHz FSB)12.1-in WXGA, Microsoft Windows XP Professional - For networking with work or school Qty: 1
Unit Price: $2,149.00
Inspiron 700m Intel® Pentium® M Processor 745 (1.80 GHz/400MHz FSB)12.1-in WXGA
Memory 1GB DDR SDRAM 2 Dimms
Hard Drive 80 GB Hard Drive
Operating System Microsoft Windows XP Professional - For networking with work or school
Network Adapters Integrated Network Card
Modem Internal 56K Modem
Adobe Software Adobe® Acrobat® Reader 6.0
CD ROM/DVD ROM 8x CD/DVD burner (DVD+/-RW) with double-layer write capability
Wireless Networking Card Intel® PRO/Wireless 2915 Internal Wireless (802.11 a/b/g, 54Mbps)
Office Productivity Software (Pre-Installed) WordPerfect® 12 - Word processor only
Security Software No Security Subscription
Digital Music Dell Jukebox - easy-to-use music player and CD burning software
Primary Battery 65 WHr 8-cell Lithium Ion Primary Battery
Limited Warranty, Services and Support 2Yr Ltd Warranty, 2Yr At-Home Service, and 2Yr Technical Support
Dial-Up Internet Access 6 Months America Online Internet Access Included
Digital Imaging or Digital Photography Photo Album™ SE Basic
Financial Software No QuickBooks package selected- Includes limited use trial
Dell Media Experience Dell™ Media Experience
Dell Home Customer: Save $750 on select Inspiron™ notebook purchases $1499 or more (before tax and shipping)!
Expires on 2005-04-19 05:59:59 - $750.00
ADDITIONAL DISCOUNTS AND COUPONS
Dell Home Customers: Free Ground Shipping on any Dell Inspiron order greater than $899!
Expires on 2005-04-14 06:59:59 - $49.00
Dell Home Customers: Save 2% when you use DPA! Special offer - Expires: 04/13/05. Save 2% instantly (before tax and shipping & handling) when you purchase online using the Dell Preferred Account as your payment option with approved credit.
Expires on 2005-04-13 23:59:59 - $27.98
Sub-Total $1,371.02
Shipping Discount -$49.00
Shipping and Handling $0.00
Tax $82.26
Total $1,453.28
feedback form
feedback form
by fire100
last modified: 2005-04-28 16:22:48 | | (back) | I've had this notebook for 2.5+ years. It was my first notebook and when buying one I wanted the best I could get and afford. It had a 1.8GHz Intel Mobile Pentium 4m when I bought it along with a 40GB IBM/Hitachi 5400RPM HDD, NVidia 440Go video card with 32 MB RAM, 15" SXGA+ screen (1400x1050 resolution), side CDRW drive and 256MB RAM (never buy extra RAM from Dell when making the purchase, more than likely you can buy it elsewhere and even from Dell cheaper than you can with the system or at least that has been my experience). I have since installed a 2.4GHz Mobile P4m CPU, ATI 64MB Radeon video card, 1GB RAM and changed the HDD out to a seagate 40GB 5400 RPM model. I also added a DVD-ROM/CDRW drive to the media/modular bay which I can take out to install a second battery.
I liked it a whole lot when I got it but I really needed a notebook to take with me almost everywhere I go for various reasons and the i8200 is big and heavy. Not bad if you move it around the house from one room to another but to throw it over your shoulder, along with the bag and all the junk you need or choose to carry with it in the bag, it gets REALLY heavy in a short period of time. The design of the i8200 CPU heatsink and fans leave a little to be desired. The heatsink has a heat pipe going from the plate locked down on the CPU to a fin area where the fans are. It does have 2 fans but these fan only blow air across the CPU heat pipe fins and do nothing for the GPU which sits near the middle of the notebook. At times, when ripping music CDs or gaming, the GPU can get to 60-65 degrees C along with the CPU going over 70C. Once you stop using the full power/speed of the CPU the fans cool the CPU down fairly quickly but the GPU still stays hot. There is a heatsink on top of the GPU with a heat pipe mounted to the bottom of the keyboard to try and take some of the heat away but it isn't that efficient. The battery life isn't bad when you have both batteries installed, about 4+ hours, but with only one battery the run time drops to around 2 or less hours. All in all it has served me well and I have never had any problems with it. It is fast, the screen is crisp and bright and has not failed to run any game I have, including Doom3. I like the layout of the older Dell notebooks more than the new ones. If Dell had kept the older 3 spindle design with the option to have 2 batteries installed at the same time and have a CD drive installed with the newer Pentium M CPU I would of bought a newer one buy now. Look for my review of the Dell C610.
feedback form
feedback form
by Shootist edited by 2kmaro
last modified: 2005-08-14 00:54:00 | | (back) | I have had one of these for about 2 years. I bought one of these because they are light and easy to carry. I first bought a Latitude C600 model but it was slow compared to my Inspiron 8200 so I looked for a faster model and got a Latitude C610 and then bought a second one to run other than MS OS's on and to use for older games on a second HDD with Win98SE installed on it. I have also owned 2 C640's with a mobile P4m CPU. Even though the C640 has a P4 CPU I like the C610 model better. The C610 is a great model. The P3m CPU in the C610 gives you the best of both worlds. Long battery life, low heat output and a 133MHz bus and with a 7200 RPM HDD it loads programs just as fast as any of the MP4m notebooks I've owned. It is different than the P3 CPU's in the older C600 model and goes to 1.2GHZ. The C640, Mobile P4m model, puts out a lot of heat and uses batteries very fast. Where as the C610, with a high capacity battery, gets about 4+ hours of run time with one battery and over 8 hours of run time with 2 installed. It has a slot for a MiniPCI card and I have a Dell TM1350 B/G wireless card in that slot. The one C610 I carry everyday has a Mobile P3m CPU at 1.2GHz, ATI Radeon 16MB video card, XGA screen (1024x768 resolution, it also could be bought with a SXGA+ screen and I have owned one of them but find that resolution on a 14" screen a little hard to deal with), built in 100Mbs NIC and a Modem daughter card. (the C600 needed either a combo NIC/Modem or just NIC card in the MiniPCI slot to use the Ethernet port on the side of it so that limited you to having a PCMCIA slot card for wireless) (The C640 also has a built in NIC and modem daughter card leaving the MiniPCI slot open for a wireless card), S Video port, PS/2 port for a keyboard or mouse, parallel and serial port, one USB port (which can be limiting in to days world but a with a small 4 port USB hub you can overcome that limitation) and I have a Hitachi 40 GB 7200 RPM drive installed. I have not even looked at newer notebooks because the C610's just do everything I need them to do. If you are looking for a good notebook look on the Dell auction site there are still a lot of C610 available and at a good price.
feedback form
feedback form
by Shootist edited by 2kmaro
last modified: 2005-08-14 00:54:43 | | (back) | My main concern when buying a laptop is price. This time around, I waited for 6 months for that time when I actually had the funds, and Dell dropped a great coupon for laptops. The one I used was for $750 off any Inspiron over $1500, total shipped was $767. Config is Pentium M 1.6, 512 DDR2 in dual channel PC3200. Indeed it is running async @200 mhz fsb, with the Pentium M running @133 mhz fsb. 8x DVD+-RW drive, 40GB 5200 rpm 8MB cache hdd. Radeon X300 PCI-E video card for playing even the latest games. On board Intel wireless a/b/g included.
I wanted a laptop for the living room, in front of the couch on a caddy that did the following-
Be able to do distributed computing projects, since I'm a big fan, and do leave the laptop on all the time. The Centrino Inspiron 6000 with a Pentium M 1.6 cpu does the job admirably, while staying cool.
Large screen. Not particularly fond of widescreens, but this 15.4 is acceptable, giving me a wider screen, but loosing some height over my last 15" tft laptop. Just the standard WXGA screen, with res. of 1280X800. Fairly sharp display, somewhat limited viewing angle, I've found.
That's about it for my needs. I generally do all my surfing in the living room while slouched on the couch while the wife watches TV. Any serious work that needs to be done, typically is on the main rig.
On to the review. First impression was great. Solid feel, lid assembly has no flex, which over the years pays off in lid cracking. Keyboard is slightly firmer than the 4-5 older laptops I've used in the past year, refurbbing them, using for a month or two and selling. I like the firm keyboard.
Touchpad. Don't use it, as I have a short cord Logitech optical mouse on the caddy with it. It does have an extensive array of adjustments, however, for those that do.
System feel is sluggish compared to my main rig. Pretty much a given, as no laptop runs the higher fsb's today's desktop systems use, because of heat concerns. You loose that overall system snap and big memory benchmarks of say, a Prescott cpu. Also, hdd response seems rather slow, contributing to the sluggish feel compared to a desktop. Still, it's liveable for basic needs.
DVD Burner. Painfully slow compared to my desktop rig for DVD ripping. It does do the job, though. Movies played on the 6000D without a hitch.
Intel wireless a/b/g integrated NIC. Works perfectly with good range when linked to a USR 125mb/s AP.
Radeon X300 PCI-E graphics. Have yet to play any newer game on it, but is a lot of video card for a laptop.
Battery life for the standard 6 cell battery gave me 3 hours run time. Good enough, as I rarely run it on battery.
Dell included software. Can't say much about it, as I put up with it for a week, then wiped it with a clean install of XP. Dell no longer ships cdroms with OS and apps on it, you can burn one copy of the cdroms from an image on the hdd. You can also call Dell for the cdrom's, mine came in two days. I hear they are charging $10 for them now, but there was no charge at the time. Since the clean OS install, it's been up for 5 weeks, though!
Overall, happy with the laptop. Awesome price for a really nice machine!
feedback form
feedback form
by paul edited by fire100
last modified: 2005-08-14 08:56:56 | | (back) | I first purchased my Dell Inspiron 2500 in March, 2004 for use in some of my college courses that I was enrolled in at that time. I had been looking for a decent used laptop for a while when I saw it on eBay for about $550. I noticed that I was quite a bit faster than a relatives Dell Cpx J 650 laptop they had me pick out for them.
I had never owned a laptop before this one which I have upgraded slightly by replacing the small amount of ram 128 Mb with 512Mb which sped things noticeably.
This laptop has an Intel P3-M 800 MHz processor that works fast and can run on the battery for about 1-1/2 - 2 hours.
In addition to the ram, I added a 24x/8x CD-RW/DVD combo drive, to watch movies and to record to blank compact discs. I’ve watched a few movies on it, and it is much better picture then a regular television. The laptop has a mini-PCI slot that is currently occupied with a modem / Ethernet combo card. The wireless A/B/G PC-card I have gets used mostly at home to connect to the wireless network i've setup.
[My network setup can be viewed here: /metashare/82cc7c .]
The Inspiron 2500 has all of the usual ports like serial, 2 USB, parallel port on it, instead of having to use a USB port replicator. I use a standard Microsoft Optical mouse which is easier for me to use instead of the built-in mouse touchpad. I have had no need to look for a faster laptop since this Inspiron 2500 currently meets my mobile computing needs.
feedback form
feedback form
by AMDUSER edited by fire100
last modified: 2005-08-14 20:12:31 | | (back) | [2kmaro note: submitted by yazdzik - System ate his name!]
Price - 1892.75
Dothan 2.13, ati x600, dvdrw, 60g at 7200 rpm, wuxga, 1024, dell wireless 1450(broadcom chip)
Ordered from refurbished, new machine from cancelled contract.
Observations:
Arrived on date promised, everything ok.
Windows preloaded, worked.
Carrying case barely fits $2k laptop, so is of little value, orth what I paid, to wit nothing.
One call to dell tech support was answered in less than two minutes, the information about a fairly complex partioning issue was answered in less than five minutes, with absolute accuracy.(I slid a partition and needed to fix the hal.dll error)
The case is not Sager(Clevo) or IBM quality, and the keyboard appears to be far flimsier than the Sager I own, on the other hand, the cover near the screen seems to be very rigid and protective.
No dead pixels at all!
For most video apps, ati x600 is more than adequate, for hard core gamers, this box does not enter into consideration.
This is my first centrino box, and, in all honesty, while I am amazed at the ability to work uncabled for almost three and a half hours, there is an apparent penalty is speed of rendering, although until I can run tests, this is just a guess. On the other hand, during non graphic-intensive uses, the response is in every way immediate.
Dreadfully cheap "feel" is offset by genuinely cheap price. Note that for $169 complete care is added to the three year warranty, whereas the same protection is not offered by sager at all, and by the reseller pctorque but at $370.
(the sager 3880 at same exact spec, including three year adp, would be $2309, without windows, which is the big advantage to buying from pctorque, $2184,. Naturally, one has to provide one's own credit. The price above for the dell includes 3 year adp as well.)
My first experience after three weeks with a "major"?
All things being equal, and had Sager the facilities to provide the credit, I would go with the Sager 3880, since my 5680 was so superb.
However, all things are not equal, and given Dell's marketing clout, ten percent or more savings in a business purchase is a massive amount of money, and for a home buyer, I suspect the same only moreso.
As to running linux, the choice of parts being broadcom and conexant is unfortunate, although we all know the workarounds.
The question remains as to whether the flimsiness is real or apparent - I'll update this is six months. My laptop lives in the back of a cabrio, on planes, in recording studios, going from NYC 100% humidity and 98^ F to freezing NYC offices- in short, if I were a laptop owned by me, I would ask for protection from family services. We shall see if the vaunted Dell latitude reliability is for real.
In the meantime, I can say that what is supposed to work works well, the services have been all they were hyped to be ----the price, less than $2k for a laptop with the specifiation noted including three years adp on site service, unbeatable.
Not a bad start.
feedback form
feedback form
by 2kmaro
last modified: 2005-08-15 14:14:40 | | (back) | I recently ventured into the notebook world, knowing what I wanted, and knowing what I wanted to pay, made it a little more difficult than expect. I saw notebooks from Sager that looked promising, but no incentive to buy. I saw a $750 off coupon from dell and decided to look at their notebooks, for gaming and portability reasons.
I came along the Inspiron 9300, 17" WideScreen WXUGA w/ TrueLife ( glossy ). I fell in love with it and configured to purchase and used the incentive ($750 off coupon), and bought it.
Here is my review and specs:
Inspiron 9300
1.6Ghz Pentium-M 2MB L2 cache
1.25GB PC2 DDR 4300
256MB Nvidia 6800Go
60GB 7.2K HDD
IntelPro 2200b/g WiFi
CDRW/DVD-Rom
17" WUXGA w/ TrueLife
Weight: Very light-weight for the size of the notebook, weighted at around 7 lbs, which is very good. 10/10
Size: It's big, but very easy to haul with you. As long as size isn't an issue with laptop, this sucker is big but light-weight to easily carry around. 9/10
Keyboard: Beautiful keyboard layout. Sturdy, responsive, very well put together by Dell. Easy to type on, and very easy to get used to. 9/10
TouchPad: Pretty good touch-pad, though it could be more exciting, it's functional and works wonderfully. 8.5/10
Performance: 1.6Ghz P-M 2MB L2 cache ain't nothing to laugh about. I run Adobe Photoshop CS and multi-task between Photoshop CS and Dreamweaver MX and it doesn't flinch! 9/10
Gaming: WOW! This is where the 9300 shines! I've got the 6800Go 256MB DDR 16x PCI-E, beautiful graphics card. I run Half-Life 2 at 1920x1200 and maintain a good 75FPS. I run Counter-Strike: Source at 1920x1200 with a good 80FPS. I run Need For Speed Underground 2 at 1600x1200 with 70FPS. Very good gaming machine, video card is overclockable. My 3dMark 05 score is 4600+ on a laptop! INSANE! 9.5/10
Screen: Definitely get the 17" w/ TrueLife WUXGA. I have an LG screen and the screen is beautiful! I love my screen, wouldn't trade it for the world. Though, if you plan on using the notebook outside constantly in sunny conditions, then glare will be a problem. highly suggest you make your decision based on what conditions you plan to use the laptop in. 9.5/10
Price: With the discount $750 off coupon, I ended up paying $1303 w/ tax for the above system! AMAZING PRICE!!!!
Final Words
If you're short on money, and want performance and a very well built laptop that rivals toshiba/ibm in build-quality but at the fraction of the cost, go with the Inspiron 9300 or XPS Gen2
-Joe
feedback form
feedback form
by SVTRanger edited by fire100
last modified: 2005-08-24 05:48:43 | | (back) | I've always wanted a laptop but felt there were none out there that could handle my photo editing needs. They simply just couldn't handle the more powerful programs. Well after searching long and hard and with a little help from Dell Coupons I decided to build up a Dell 9300:
1.) Pentium M 730
2.) 17" Wide Ultrasharp XGA display
3.) 512 megs of ram
4.) ATI Mobility 300
5.) 60gig HD
6.) DVD/CDRW combo
and other goodies
. At first I was worried it would be too cheaply made, I have prior experience with dell laptops from work, their C series are good but the newer D600's we got at work seem too cheaply made and flimsy. So needless to say I was a little worried. Well, when the laptop came in the first thing that came to mind was "HOLY *(&(&, this thing is huge". I was very satisfied right off with its build, its way more sturdy than other laptops I've tried and looked at. But where this laptop really shines is the DISPLAY and SPEED. It handles just as good as my Desktop which is what is really important to me. I can edit photos on this baby with ease using Photoshop CS2. I have so much resolution and desktop space coding with Dreamweaver or Visual Studio is perfect. Its also very very quiet you don't even know the fan is on.
PROS :
1.) Display
2.) Speed
3.) Build
4.) Looks
CONS:
1.) Size
All in all I can say I'm 95% satisfied with this laptop, size being the factor that takes away 5%. Finding a good bag for a 17" laptop is hard and expensive.
feedback form
feedback form
by AzzKicker edited by fire100
last modified: 2005-08-24 15:35:40 | | (back) | Well this XPS 2 is the 2nd notebook I ever owned. I got this as my personal entertainment system, and I have yet to be really disappointed in the 2 months I have had it. First off the screen is gorgeous, the Trulife coating makes my old Toshiba look so dim and dirty. I will never order a screen again with a non glossy coating. Regarding the "sparkles", it is a fine coating of dots, you can only see them if you are staring at a solid white background for a few minutes or so. I noticed it when I first got my machine, but you soon get used to it.
Graphically this thing is fast! I run CS:Source, Halo and Guild Wars on max settings and everything is smooth. I also have HL2, it runs excellent at UXGA resolution. For normal web browsing, I run the display at 1440*900, and I use the Opera web browser and use the built in zoom function at 150%.
Audio quality is also excellent, the front mount speakers are pretty loud, and the subwoofer works well, it shakes my flimsy desk. only problem I have is that the multimedia buttons are poorly placed, it is too easy to brush your hands on the buttons, and the volume buttons have no "play" in the settings, if they are on volume 0 and you press volume up, the volume level just jumps up to 4 or 5, there is nothing in between. A manual wheel would of been better.
Case is pretty solid, haven't heard any creaks, screen hinges are stiff as well. Keyboard is crap, sometimes it feels like your fingers get caught under the edges, they could of made the fit tighter. I already scraped 2 keys off, one I got back in but the other won't fit right so I will have to get a new kb from Dell when they are in stock.
I got the 5400rpm 60gbHD. It is pretty fast, now I wished that I had gotten the 100GB for $100 more. Dell installs a lot of crap, but fortunately they include a real XP disc so you can reinstall everything, except a few programs like Cyberlink PowerDVD.
I also have the IntelPRO wireless 2200BG, the bluetooth was extra, but you can buy the modules on Ebay for 1/4th the price. They are simple to install, takes about 2 minutes. or if you can find a good deal on a USB bluetooth adaptor go for it. I am sad to see that Dell does not include port covers, I will have to either put my computer in a case or blast it weekly with compressed air.
DON'T get the XPS backpack, it is HUGE, almost like a camping backpack. If you want a small, nice case get the Booq Powersleeve XXL, although I don't know if it has room for the AC adaptor. Speaking of the AC adaptor, Dell could of made this thing smaller, it is really big, but it is lighter than most I have seen.
Intel Pro Wireless works like a dream, I am picking up my routers signal and also my neighbors, it has a cool autoconfig utillity that lets you make a profile for a certain network, so when you get the signal, it will remember the settings and automatically connect.
Batterylife is good for a machine of this power, with screen at max brightness and wireless on, you can get about 1 and 1/2 hours, turn wireless off and screen at lowest settings you can squeeze out 2 hours. I am rarely away from an outlet so this didn't matter to me much. This system WILL NOT work with an airplane power adaptor, not enough voltage, so leave this in the overhead. I bought a Thinkpad T43 for travelling, and use my XPS for my "desktop".
All in all this is the best power laptop for games, if you like to record tv or anything like that without purchasing extras the Qosimo from Toshiba is also a good deal, but it doesn't have a geforce 6800 Ultra, just a 6600.
Make sure you order one with a coupon from Notebookforums.com, I saved $1500. And even though those new Dell M170s are coming out, I think the PXS 2 is a better buy, the M170's are only about 15-20% faster in 3DMark05 (6000+ vs 5000+) and cost twice as much.
Also I suggest you buy your ram elsewhere, Dell will rape you with the prices of ram, and to achieve the speeds others are reaching in games, 2gb of RAM is a must.
feedback form
feedback form
by Iridium edited by fire100
last modified: 2005-10-23 00:31:37 | | (back) | dell 9300 notebook review
I will keep it short, simple and about what i would have cared about if i was still thinking about buying..
Ordered on Dec. 16th around 8pm.
9300 1.8ghz
non-ultra bright 17" widescreen
gig of ram
60gig 7200 rpm
6800go
DVD+-rw
a/b/g wireless
6 cell
extra 9 cell
3 years of McAfee
XP MCE with install CD
dell back pack carry case
1 year warranty.
$1588 shipped with 2 day delivery (after $750 coupon, and free upgrades)
Estimated ship date wasn't until sometime in the first week of Jan, don't remember exactly. Was happy to see they got it built fast, and updated shipping to overnight for free. Got it on Dec 23 as a nice Christmas surprise. Considering i ordered it so late in the day on the 16Th, i thought that was fast.
Having never seen a 17" wide screen in person i was a little shocked when i took this beast out of the box and turned it on. I did notice some light leakage at first but for some reason it has diminished to the point where its almost totally gone and i even use a black background. It's a samsung screen. No dead pixels. I am totally satisfied with the screen. The keyboard took a few days to get used to, but now im typing at full speed again.
Did a format within the first 10 minutes of turning it on and seeing 65 processes running. No problem at all finding and obtaining drivers needed, and burning them to CD before i started.
Since then i have also overclocked the 6800 to 390/790 and played hl2 for a few hours just to see if it was stable and then set it back to default because it was certainly good enough for me. Nice to know when its more outdated i can squeeze a little more out of her though. No 3d scores because it would take to long to DL. But it plays games good enough for me..and when it doesn't I might consider upgrading to a 7800 gtx card ;)
It is a really quiet machine (with the exception of the optical drive). The fan spins up to medium speed every so often when gaming, but its almost silent doing anything else.
Letting the bios control the fans i get temps of about 50 for both CPU and GPU while surfing and listening to music. About 55 cpu and 60 gpu is the highest Ive seen it go after gaming for a few hours. If i let fangui control the fans it would be cooler and also make more noise. I prefer it quiet.
The Intel a/b/g wireless works great. I can steal my dads wireless from down the block with it if i stand in front of the window (great transmission range for internal IMO). I ordered a range extender to extend coverage to the rest of my house.
Haven't bought any DVDs to try the DVD aspect of the burner. I have watched DVD's and they looked good.
I'm very pleased with it, and the price i paid. I've tried re-configuring the same options over the last few weeks to see if its any cheaper and it always comes out to about 2g's with the best coupon codes i can find. I did not use the epp. I would buy it again in a heart beat. If you watch the coupon codes i don't think you can find this powerful of a machine anywhere for even close to the price of a 9300.
feedback form
feedback form
by Phoenix Gold edited by fire100
last modified: 2006-01-11 06:00:54 | | (back) | I’ve been looking for a laptop for quite some time now but finally forced myself to make a decision. My intended use for the laptop will be basic office, internet and DVD viewing. I wanted something I could move about my home and since I am going back to college I needed something light enough to go with me.
I set a budget of $800 max which I thought was fair. That budget would include any extras that I might also have to purchase. The difference between a 4200 and 5400 rpm HDD is noticeable. If a laptop couldn’t be configured with or didn’t include a 5400 rpm option then the price of a drive from Newegg had to be included in the total cost. The same goes for the Compaq/HP AMD systems. HP ships the AMD systems with PC2700 but the ATI chipset and CPU were built for PC3200. A memory purchase would be required and added to the cost of the laptop.
I read reviews, played with laptops in stores and searched many forums for insight. I decided on the Compaq V2000Z with the ML-32 Turion as being the best choice. I was all ready to order but, call it fate or accident, I ended up with something completely different. While I was browsing the Dell Outlet for a friend I came across an XPS M140. I hadn’t considered the M140 since, at the time, it was $999 to start and out of budget. I quickly read reviews and did some quick searches but when I finished and added the M140 to my cart it was already gone. Lesson number one, when in the Dell Outlet move fast.
I ended up ordering an M140 with the Pentium M 740 (1.73/533/2MB L2), 1GB 533 DDR2, 60GB 5400 rpm HDD, Intel 2200 wireless, CDRW/DVD combo drive and Windows XP MCE for $689. $689 was much much less than the new configured price and was certainly with in budget so I was very pleased with the purchase. Warranty time was 1 Year same as new and since it was an XPS I received the specialized XPS support.
The XPS M140 (and its twin the 630M from small business) is a Centrino laptop. It’s using the Intel 915 chipset and includes standard specs as follows:
DDR2 533MHz support, 2 DIMMS
4 USB 2.0 ports
5 in 1 memory card reader
One firewire port
Audio in (Mic), out
VGA connection
RJ-45 Ethernet
RJ-11 Modem
S-Video
One ExpressCard slot
14.1 (wide) WXGA 1280x800 resolution (TrueLife option)
Intel Media Accelerator 900 with up to 128MB shared
Height: 1.5”
Width: 13”
Depth: 9.6”
Weight: 5.5lbs (6 cell battery)
First let’s talk about the XPS name. I have read a good many reviews about this Laptop using the XPS name and they were very disappointed after they received their M140 that it didn’t game well. I would think the integrated GMA900 would have been a huge indication of its gaming possibilities and as such I don’t think you should be too shocked to find it doesn’t game well at all. Regardless of its GPU, it’s still an XPS and as such it receives the same dedicated XPS support staff.
The included software was the basic stuff and to my disappointment it was all in the taskbar at first boot begging for your attention. Start/Run/msconfig and a reboot fixed that and I immediately started uninstalling stuff. I know Dell isn’t the only company who does the bloated pre-install stuff but I would rather have a clean install with a nice software CD for me to pick and choose from. As a computer company I would think you would want the customer to receive the system and be impressed by its speed. Instead you are faced with slow boot time and a busy mouse as you click through all the windows. I certainly would say this was on the Con list for me but like I said, Dell isn’t the only company that does it.
After my order I was a bit apprehensive about XP Media Center Edition. I would be doing a good amount of wireless and XP Pro would have fit my needs better. I was under the impression that MCE was nothing more than XP Home with added media software. Thankfully I was wrong. MCE is based on XP Pro so it contains all the extras that come with Pro vs Home. I can’t comment too much on how I like MCE yet as I haven’t gone much farther than playing a DVD, but it isn’t the resource hog that I feared and stays completely out of your way until you open it.
Those (like myself) that would like to do a fresh install of Windows are going to be surprised to find that you don’t get an Operating system CD like you used to. Dell instead includes a restore partition that takes up about 5GB of your drive. The partition is activated by pressing CTRL + F11 at boot. A DOS based program runs and installs your OS as new, bloatware and all. I have tested it and it does work. The restore partition has a huge Achilles heel though. If anything would happen to the Master Boot Record (MBR) your left with a system and no restore. You can’t alter the partition sizes in any way either and lastly they don’t give you a way to burn the Ghost image to DVD for safe keeping. Fortunately you can contact Dell and they will send you the OS and software CD’s. I used the easiest method by going to dell.com/chat where you enter your service tag number, address and ask a question. I was immediately connected with someone from the XPS staff who put the info through and I should receive the CD’s in 3-5 days. It actually arrived in two via DHL and cost me nothing.
Back to the M140, build quality is outstanding. The shell is plastic but it doesn’t give when you press against it. Pushing on the back of the display does not cause ripples in the LCD like most of the sub $800 systems I’ve tested. The gaps between the different pieces that make up the shell are very tight. The LCD is kept away from the keyboard when it is closed. I’m very impressed with how sturdy the M140 is, big A+.
The design is very modern and pleasing to look at. I really don’t like black laptops. They just seem so dull to me. The M140 has a black bottom with an all silver top. The middle keyboard area has a white border than graduates into silver. The black keyboard looks great against the light colors. On the front there are media keys. One of the coolest features of this laptop is the ability to play music or DVD’s without loading the OS. The system is called Media Direct 2.0. You can access the optical drive and any external drives including memory cards to instantly view pictures, music or video.
I received the TrueLife glossy LCD on my system. Some have complained that the surface is too reflective but personally I don’t think its any worse that the other glossy screens on the market. The default background is XPS wallpaper with black as its main color which causes more reflection to be seen than a lighter color. Switching over to MCE’s default Electric Blue theme removes a great deal of the reflection. Colors are very true and vivid on this LCD. White has a grainy texture to it but nothing you would notice unless you’re really close to the screen. Text is crisp and easy to read and the viewing angle is very wide even at the lowest brightness setting for the LCD.
The keyboard is full sized white text on black keys. Laptop function keys are in blue and stand out just enough to be seen but not become annoying when using the keyboard. The keys make a dull thud when typing, which I prefer over a click. Typing is very comfortable.
The track pad is wide but seeing as this is a widescreen it works very well. The software can adjust the track pad to do just about everything other laptops can do like tap to click and edge scrolling. The scrolling feature works very well with no effort. The buttons are easy to push and don’t make a loud click when they are pressed.
I’m very impressed the thermal qualities of this laptop. The bottom doesn’t get hot, although it does get warm when using the HDD a lot (more on why later). The fan rarely kicks on and when it does its very quiet. I have to commend Dell on the design of this laptop. Since the CPU is located off the keyboard and the HDD isn’t directly under the palm rest neither get hot. It always annoys me to set my hands on overly warm keyboards and palm rests.
Since this is a Centrino notebook it is using Intel wireless. Signal strength is fantastic. Windows controls the wireless by default and since MCE is based on XP Pro you receive the same wireless/networking offerings as Pro.
I received the 6 cell battery with mine but there is also a choice of a 9 cell. With the screen at its dimmest setting you can still read in darker areas or on overcast days. When things get brighter you will want to turn up the screen a bit. Even with the screen set to half bright I can get 4 hours and 15-20 minutes of battery time. With the screen at its lowest, browsing with the wireless and working in office I can get very close to 5 hours. The 9 cell is good for 6-7 hours of battery time.
I discussed this before but it deserves a deeper look. The M140 wears the XPS badge but does not come with dedicated graphics. It relies on Intel’s integrated graphics which can use up to 128MB of system memory. Having built several mATX systems in my life I have come to loathe integrated graphics but I have to say, the M140 is still very speedy. The GPU is using system memory but it is very seamless. As for gaming performance, well there is none. GTA Vice City is my all time favorite game. The GMA will run it, and run it very smooth albeit at very low resolution. It does look good however since it’s only a 14.1” screen.
I have the lowest CPU Dell offers in the M140 but the 1.73 Pentium M 740 is hardly a slacker. SuperPi calculations are 43 seconds for 1 million places and 1:46 for 2 million. The hard drive pulls in a respectable 29/31MB/s read/write in Raptest. This is a very peppy system.
Finally let’s talk about upgrading. One of the best design features of this laptop is the extreme ease in which you can upgrade. The HDD, modem, wireless mini PCI, Bluetooth card and even the CPU and heat pipe can all be accessed but removing small panels on the bottom of the laptop. Memory slot “B” is accessed on the bottom also but slot “A” is under the keyboard. Despite being under the keyboard it’s still very easy to gain access to. There is one “lock screw” holding the optical drive in place and the drive is of standard size. I’m actually thinking of upgrading my current combo drive with a slot load DVD burner later.
Well it has been a long road but I’m very happy where it ended. I think the M140 is a wonderful laptop with great features, speed and build quality. I would highly recommend this laptop to anyone in the market.
For more info on the M140 you can visit Dell’s page here
For more info on Windows media center, including setup, you can visit Microsoft’s MCE page here
A review of MCE can be found at Anandtech’s site here
See Maranello 's review and pictures here: »Dell XPS M140 Review
feedback form
feedback form
by Mospaw edited by fire100
last modified: 2006-02-03 05:41:47 | | (back) | I recently purchased a new Dell Inspiron E1705 through the Dell Employee Purchase Program (EPP), and I am very impressed with it. Before buying it I had researched a number of different portables, but as with a lot of people, the Dell discounts won me over. The combination of the hardware options and the savings was just too good to beat. The cost information below can actually be brought down even more than what was listed. I purchased an additional power adapter so I could leave one at work all the time, and I also purchased a backpack carrying case. These items came to about $59 extra.
Technical Specs:
Inspiron E1705
Intel® Core™ Duo Processor T2300 (1.66GHz/667MHz FSB)
Genuine Windows® XP Media Center Edition 2005
LCD Panel 17 inch UltraSharp™ Wide Screen UXGA Display with TrueLife™
Memory 1GB Shared Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 533MHz
Video Card 256MB NVIDIA® GeForce™ Go 7900 GS
Hard Drive 60GB 7200RPM SATA Hard Drive
AC Power Adapters 90 Watt Spare AC Adapter
Operating System (Office software not included) Genuine Windows® XP Media Center Edition 2005
Network Card Integrated 10/100 Network Card and Modem
Adobe Software Adobe® Acrobat® Reader 6.0
Combo/DVD+RW Drives 8x CD/DVD burner (DVD+/-RW) with double-layer DVD+R write capability
Sound Options Integrated Sound Blaster® Audigy® ADVANCED HD Audio
Wireless Networking Cards Intel® PRO 3945 and Dell 350 Bluetooth Internal Wireless Cards
Office Software (not included in Windows XP) No productivity suite- Corel WordPerfect word processor only
Anti-Virus/Security Suite (Pre-installed) No Security Subscription
Primary Battery 53 WHr 6-cell Lithium Ion Primary Battery
Carrying Cases Large Backpack Carrying Case
Hardware Warranty 1Yr Ltd Warranty, 1Yr Mail-In Service, and 1Yr HW Warranty Support
Dial-Up Internet Access 6 Months of America Online Membership Included
Mobile Broadband No Broadband Expresscard technology is available in the market now
Operating System Re-Installation CD Genuine Windows® XP Media Center 2005 Edition re-installation CD
Dell Digital Entertainment Starter Entertainment Pack - Basic digital Music, Photo and Game experience
Ports and Connections:
1 x S-Video port
1 x VGA port
1 x DVI port
1 x modem jack
1 x network jack
6 x USB ports
1 x Firewire port
1 x PCMCIA slot
Headphone and Mic jacks
SD/MMC slot
Cost and Savings:
Configured Total: $2144
Dell EPP/FSS customers $750 Off: -$750.00
Dell EPP/FSS Free Shipping: -$49.00
Dell EPP/FSS 6% Discount: -$83.64
Tax $78.62
Total $1,388.98
I had read about several problems on various sites that were a concern in my choice of this portable, namely: heat problems, backlight bleeding, and screen reflection problems. As it turns out I got lucky and had none of the problems other people had mentioned. The temp. sits around the mid 20s when I'm just surfing the Net, and rose to about the mid 50s while running 3DMark06. The 3DMark06 score with all stock drivers was 3477. I haven't yet tweaked the drivers to see if I can improve on the score.
I have not noticed any backlight bleeding. I've watched several DVDs in the dark and have not noticed any bleeding along the bottom edge of the screen. At first I was disappointed in the look of DVDs, everything seemed grainy, but eventually figured out that the brightness was up to high and that by turning it down it really improved the picture. Although I do have to keep increasing the brightness when I want to do anything but watch movies as the screen is much too dark to be able to do anything in Windows after watching a DVD.
As far as the screen reflections, well the Truelife is one of the glossy screens and if you have a black desktop you can certainly see a clear reflection. I have not yet tried it outside in the sun. The viewing angles all seem to be OK, there isn't much in the way of privacy, anyone sitting next to you on a plane could easily see what you're doing.
The machine came with a lot of bloatware on it, a 90 day trial of Norton Ghost, McAfee, Google Desktop, Musicmatch Jukebox, etc. A lot of people choose to completely reformat upon receiving their new Dell laptop, however I chose to just uninstall the bloatware using "Add/Remove Programs", and then I ran CCleaner to tidy up a few things. If people need help reformatting, there is a reformat guide posted at: »forum.notebookreview.com/showthr···?t=42340
One area of disappointment: battery life. I did not purchase any additional batteries, or upgrade to the 9-cell version, so this is partly my fault. With a full charge, using the wireless card, I get about 2 hours and 5 mins of life. I have not gone through and tweaked the machine to improve the battery life. I may look into purchasing a new 9-cell battery and try one of those.
The native resolution for this screen type is 1920 x 1200, which can be a problem for some people bc of the size of the text. I would suggest making a trip it Best Buy or some other store that sells laptops and looking at the various resolutions to determine what you like. While you are there, lift the laptops and get a feel for the weight, around 8lbs the E1705 is not light.
The laptop does feature the MediaDirect option: instead of booting Windows on the machine, you can power up in MediaDirect mode and watch DVDs that way.
I really have nothing bad to say about the machine. It's solidly built, looks great (although some people don't like the white), and performs great. I have only had it for a few days, so maybe later down the road I will find something about it I don't like, hehe.
feedback form
feedback form
by garethsk edited by fire100
last modified: 2006-06-03 16:06:10 |
5.2 HP/Compaq·HP zv5000
·HP DV4170 Review by speedtesterp
·HP Pavilion DV9035NR
| | (back) | HP Pavilion zv5xxx series
The HP 'z' series of laptops comes in a variety of hardware layouts, including choices of either Intel or AMD CPU. Some models can be had at around a $1100 starting price.
I went with a custom build setup that included:
AMD Mobile Athlon 64 3700+ CPU
1 GB RAM
80 GB 7200 RPM HD
12 cell battery vs the standard 8 cell
15.4" (1680 x 1050 resolution) display
nVidia GeForce4 440 Go 64MB video
NEC CD/DVD Reader/Burner
Windows XP Pro with SP/2 Installed
for connectivity it came with
1394 Net Adapter
Broadcom 802.1 b/G WLAN
Realtek 10/100 NIC
Built-in Agere AC'97 56KBps Modem
The price for this package was just under $2000 at $1997. I added in a leather case, docking station, 512MB digital drive (similar to a thumbdrive), and some other goodies for a delivered package price of $2784. That includes a 3-year bumper to bumper warranty that added $350 to the price tag.
It comes ready to go with a healthy software package that includes InterVideo's WinDVD, FilmFactory, iTunes, muvee autoProducer 3.5-SE, Sonic RecordNow!, SoundMax and more. Many of these are only semi-installed: rather than taking up HD space with them already installed, they install on demand the first time you decide to try them out. It also came with a trial version of Norton security, but I elected to use Kaspersky's security tools instead (a separate purchase, not through HP).
Speakers in the laptop itself are Harmon-Kardon, while the expansion base provides Altec Lansing speakers. One expansion cable I purchased lets you connect out to larger speaker sets up to 5.1 easily.
So, how does it work in real life?
First, it's not a lightweight - pretty close to 8 pounds all by itself. I'm guessing that the bag with all the accessories I carry around with it comes in at close to 12 to 15 pounds.
The monitor is very responsive and gives good DVD playback display. I've noticed that it is not quite as bright as my ViewSonic VP-series monitors I have hooked up to my desktops, and the white desktop background isn't quite white. You don't notice this unless you have it set up next to another display, so I wouldn't call this a bad thing, just an observation.
The volume of the speakers leaves something to be desired, though. I consider it pretty low even at maximum settings. It does have a plug for headset speakers and that might be a better deal, especially when using it in public places. I haven't connected it up to external speakers, so I can't comment on that setup.
Connections abound. There are 3 separate USB connectors and HP sells a powered USB extender to turn any one of those into four with their own power to connect power-needy USB devices to.
If you can't get connected with this machine, you are in pretty bad shape. It comes with 56K dial-up connector, 10/100 NIC and it's WiFi ready.
With the AMD 3700+ 64-bit processor and 1 GB RAM (2 GB is max), performance is outstanding. It is one of the fastest machines I have, being noticeably faster than either of my AMD 3200+ desktops, and just about even with my Opteron 150 based system. It's just damned quick.
Being a bit of a speed freak when it comes to CPUs, the reason I went with the AMD 3700+ was two-fold: #1 it is 64-bit ready, and #2 the fastest Intel offered on this line at the present time is a 3.2GH P4. I believe the 3700+ definitely outperforms the ranking available Intel CPU for this line.
Quality of workmanship appears to be good. I haven't noticed any flaws or misalignment or anything. It also has a full-length piano type hinge which should add to the life of that part of it.
The extras: I need to say something about the expansion base I got. There are two types, I went with the less expensive. It connects to the computer through a single connector and provides its own USB ports, and its own NIC/56Kb connections. This frees up the 3 USB connectors on the laptop itself for your use. It also comes with a wireless keyboard and mouse hookup which is a nice convenience.
I've never owned any other laptop, and it's been some years since I used one regularly (a company furnished Dell). But after about a month of ownership and use, I'm very pleased with it and would recommend it to anyone looking for a full featured laptop with a larger screen for "multi-media" use and possibly even gaming.
Since it has the power to run serious applications like MS Office Pro and Adobe's Creative Suite, there's no reason to shy away from it as a true workhorse either.
feedback form
feedback form
by 2kmaro | | (back) | Well i just came back from work and i decided to chill out and write the review on the dv4170ca which i recently got.
My laptop specs
Microsoft(R) Windows(R) XP Home Edition with SP2
* Intel(R) Pentium(R) M Processor 740 (1.73 GHz)2MB L2 cache
* 15.4" WXGA BrightView Widescreen (1280x800)
* Intel(R) Graphics Media Accelerator 900
* 1GB of memory
* 100 GB 5400 RPM Hard Drive
* 8X DVD +/- RW/R & CD-RW Combo dual layer burner
* Intel Pro Wireless 2200 802.11bg WLAN
* 6 Cell Lithium Ion Battery
* Microsoft(R) Works/Money
* Remote control
Overview- Well this is my first laptop , and the reason that i got this laptop was because this September i am going to a University. After doing some research and checking out other laptops i decided to get the dv4170.
My Reasons for getting this laptop-This laptop has everything which i need which includes 3:35 minutes of battery life , integrated wireless centrino card, a very nice high quality screen , sufficient amount of power, and it is also very quiet.
My uses for the laptop- This laptop would be mainly used to browse the internet , research , typing , watching movies , and listening to music. I would not use this laptop for games because of the integrated 128mb Intel(R) Graphics Media Accelerator 900, and also because i wont have any time to play games because of my busy schedule.
Overall impression of the build- Well the build of this laptop seems to be ergonomic , although, i would not drop this laptop on the floor. This laptop does not feel cheap and i believe that there are not a lot of weak points in the build. The only thing i would not do is drop a dictionary on the 15.4 brightview screen :D .
Keyboard,buttons,overall placement of ports- The keyboard is well build and the keys are spaced out effectively even for my big hands. The keys do not feel cheap and they are easy to press and they do not make much noise. There are 4 USB ports , digital media slot reader, microphone slot, headphone slot, ,phone slot, and other various ports which are placed on both the left and right side of the laptop. There is the power button at the front which glows blue and looks pretty cool at night. There is also the DVD,Music,sound,and mute buttons at the front. In the middle of the laptop there is the wireless button which is very useful. There is also s- video out and other various ports.
Audio- the audio for this laptop is actually very good because and the build in speakers produce good quality sound.
DVD and CD drives- Well i have tried out a movie on this laptop , and the quality looks crystal clear on this screen. The DVD drive vibrates a little bit for the first few seconds when you put a cd , but this was not a big concern or a problem for me.
Wireless- Well i don't use wireless yet but i am planning to get it soon. When i turned on wireless it seemed to picked all the neighbors on my street that use wireless Internet, and i believe that this shows that the integrated card can pick up signals from far away.
Performance- Well i got the Intel Centrino , Intel Pentium M Processor 740 1.73ghz 2MB L2 cache 533MS FSB with 1GB of ram. This amount of power satisfies me because i will mainly use this laptop for work,watching movies ,and also listening to music. Like i said i will not play games on this laptop but for anyone who wants to play games i believe that you can play half-life 2 on normal setting. Here are all the playable games for this card »www.intel.com/support/graphics/i···0153.htm.
Positives
-great quality brightview screen 15.4 inches
-very good wireless
-very quiet
-good sound for a laptop
-good battery life - (3:35 hours on 6 cell)
laptop has a remove
quickplay feature
Negatives
-Hp could have included Windows XP professional with this laptop
-integrated graphics card (maybe a good thing because i am going to university)
Conclusion- Overall , this is a great laptop that i would recommends to anyone , especially a student. This laptop has enough power and various features that would satisfy most new buyer.
If you guys want me to add pics or ask questions just PM me
-Thanks
feedback form
feedback form
by fire100
last modified: 2005-08-13 17:40:01 | | (back) | fire100 asked me to review this notebook so I'm going to do just that.
 Introducing the HP Pavilion DV9035NR Notebook Computer.
This is a notebook fresh off of the shelves of Best Buy. Its a bit heavy since there are a lot of gadgets that this notebook has. It gets about two and a half hours of battery life if you use it lightly but if you use it heavily you get about an hour and a half. I know, a bit on the low side as far as battery life but considering the processor, well... you get the idea.
It does it a bit warm when you use it, especially if you are pushing the GHz on it, like playing a DVD.
Performance-wise this thing is a BEAST! Its got all the power you can dream of in a notebook without buying an overpriced Alienware. The video card is a very decent card considering its a notebook. You really don't find a decent video card in a notebook computer, usually you get integrated Intel or ATI graphics.
The processor is a Core 2 Duo, which is my first ever Intel processor. I've never bought an Intel chip before, I've always bought AMD. I feel like such a traitor buying an Intel chip based notebook. I feel as if I should buy some AMD stock to feel right again. 
This notebook has two GB of RAM in it so you have more than enough to work with without having to use the hard drive for swap space.
The hard drives in this thing are great, it has two 80 GB SATA drives in it so you have more than enough room to store your data on the go. Want to install a game with all of the stuff installed? Don't worry, you got the room!
It cost me about $1800 at Best Buy which includes sales tax and a three-year Accidental Damage Performance Service Plan Warranty.
Positives
•Its got a beast of a processor
•Lots of RAM!
•Great video card for a notebook
•Lots of hard drive space
•Full keyboard with number pad
Negatives
•It gets a bit warm when you are pushing the GHz
•A bit heavy (7.8 lbs)
•It uses an Intel wireless card, I like Broadcom better since it has better sensitivity
•Kinda' on the expensive side
These are the specs...
Microprocessor: 1.66 GHz Intel® Centrino® Duo mobile technology featuring Intel® Core™ 2 Duo processor T5500
Microprocessor Cache: 2MB L2 Cache, 667MHz FSB
Memory: 2048MB DDR2 System Memory (2 Dimm)
Memory Max: 2048MB
Video Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce Go 7600
Video Memory: Discrete 256M
Hard Drive: 160GB (5400RPM) Dual HDD - 80GB x 2(SATA)
Multimedia Drive: LightScribe SuperMulti 8X DVD±RW with Double Layer Support
Display: 17.0” WXGA+ High-Definition BrightView Widescreen (1440 x 900)
Fax/Modem: High speed 56k modem
Network Card: Integrated 10/100/1000 Gigabit Ethernet LAN (RJ-45 connector)
Wireless Connectivity: Intel® PRO/Wireless 3945ABG Network Connection
HP Features: HP Imprint finish & HP Pavilion WebCam with Integrated Microphone
Sound: Altec Lansing
Keyboard
•Notebook keyboard with scroll bar and integrated numeric keypad
•2 Quick Launch Buttons (HP Quick Play Menu and DVD)
Pointing Device: Touch Pad with On/Off button and dedicated vertical Scroll Up/Down pad
PC Card Slots: ExpressCard/54 Slot (also supports ExpressCard/34)
External Ports
•5-in-1 integrated Digital Media Reader for Secure Digital cards, MultiMedia cards, Memory Stick, Memory Stick Pro, or xD Picture cards
•4 Universal Serial Bus (USB) 2.0
•2 Headphone out - 1 w/SPDIF Digital Audio & 1 stereo
•1 microphone-in
•1 VGA (15-pin)
•1 TV-Out (S-video)
•1 RJ-11 (modem)
•1 RJ -45 (LAN)
•1 notebook expansion port 3
•1 IEEE 1394 Firewire (4-pin)
•1 Consumer IR
•1 HDMI
Dimensions: 15.16" (L) x 11.65" (W) x 1.57"
Weight: 7.8lbs
Security
•Kensington® MicroSaver lock slot
•Power-on password
•Accepts 3rd party security lock devices
Power
•90W AC adapter
•8-cell Lithium-Ion
What's In The Box
•HP Mobile Remote Control (Express Card Version)
•Mobile Stereo Earbud Headphones (1 pair)
•HP ExpressCard Analog TV Tuner with HP Media Center Remote
feedback form
feedback form
by trparky edited by fire100
last modified: 2006-12-05 19:21:58 | | (back) | Well now I am going to review my dads Sony VAIO FX215 (PCG-FX215)
Sony laptop specs
Mobile AMD DuronTM processor 800 MHz
15" XGA (1024x768) TFT screen
10Base-T/100Base-TX integrated Ethernet
All-in-one design with floppy drive, hard drive, and DVD-ROM drive
256mb of ram
10 GB
NTSC video out
200 MHz bus speed
ATI RAGETM Mobility graphics chip with 8 MB video SDRAM and 3D graphics support
i.LINK® (IEEE 1394) S400 interface supports high-speed digital video, audio, and data transfer capabilities among equipped Sony products
Approximately 6.7 lbs. Light , about 2" thin
Integrated V.90 modem Built-in speakers
Overview- This laptop is around 4-5 years old and I believe that my dad made the right choice when he bought this laptop for himself. At that time 800MHz was a good amount of power and it is still enough to do daily tasks like using MS word, surfing the internet, and checking your mail.
Reasons for getting this laptop- He got this laptop because he is a businessman and because he moved around a lot from one location to another.
Uses for the laptop- This laptop is still great today, and I personally love it. I believe that this laptop is still very functional especially for business people, or people who only use their laptops for programming or typing. This Sony laptop is around 6.7 lbs and I think that it’s not very heavy considering that its 4 years old.
Overall impression of the build quality- I have to say that after all these years this laptop is in great shape, and the build quality is remarkable. This laptop is made from good quality plastic which did not crack in any places. In a way the Sony seems to be built a little tougher than my HP dv4170.
Keyboard, buttons, and overall placement of ports-The keyboard is well built, but comparing it to my dv4170 it is clear to see that Sony’s keyboard is a little smaller. The actual keys do not make any loud noises and even after all these years they still function with no problems. This laptop is very different than my HP because all the main ports are at the back of the laptop. One main difference is that this laptop has only 2 USB ports while my hp dv4170 has 4 usb ports. The laptop includes other ports like Serial, parallel, VGA, NTSC video out, USB, RJ-11 phone jack, i.LINK S400 interface. On the left side of the laptop are ports like the microphone, and headphones while on the right is the DVD drive.
Audio- The audio in this laptop is pretty good, and the built in speakers produce decent quality sound.
DVD and CD drive- Movies on this laptop still look very good, even though, this is an older laptop. The DVD drive makes little noise and it performs a good job at reading cds.
Wireless- unfortunately this laptop does not have a built in wireless card.
Performance- The 800 MHz processor has enough power for surfing the internet, using MS word, and even simple photo editing. This laptop has enough power to satisfy a person who does not use his laptop for gaming, or applications that require a 3-D card greater than 8mb or a processor faster than 800Mhz.
Positives
-very good build quality, even after these years the laptop is in great shape
-good quality 15 inch screen
-the laptop does not make a lot of noise
Negatives
-most of the ports are at the back
-battery life is 1-1.5 hours
-no built in wireless
Some Obvious Things
-this laptop is not for gaming because of 8mb card
-the battery cannot recharge like it used to (15-20 minutes of use now left in the battery)
Conclusion- Overall, this is a great laptop that has lasted all these years with no problems. I recommend this laptop for a student or a person who does need a top of the line processor.
-Thanks for reading :D
feedback form
feedback form
by SkiJunkie edited by fire100
last modified: 2005-08-13 20:40:24 |
5.8 Toshiba·Satellite M45-S331 Review
·Satellite L25-S119 review
| | (back) | Specs:
Processor: Intel Pentium M (1.6GHz)730
RAM: 1 512 MB DDR PC2700 stick/1 slot empty.
Hard drive: Fujitsu 80GB 4200rpm
Optical: Super multi drive DVD±RW / DVD-RAM
Input device: Keyboard, Touchpad, CD controls.
Media Reader: 6in1 Card reader
Weight: 6.2 lbs
Dimensions: 14.2 in x 10.6 in x 1.7 in
Display: 15.4 TFT WXGA (TruBrite)
Max resolution: 1280 x 800
Video RAM installed: Intel Graphics Media Accelarator 900 128MB on chip
Communication: Intel PRO/Wireless LAN 2200BG 802.11b/g
Audio: Analog Devices AC'97 Sound 16bit MIC in/Headphone out
Networking: Marvel 10/100 Ethernet
Modem: V.92 56 Kbps Fax / modem
Ports/Slots: RGB, Svideo, 3USB 2.0, RJ11, RJ45, iLink IEEE 1394, 1 PC card slot
Battery installed: 1 Lithium ion 6 cell
Mfr estimated battery life: 2.5 hours
OS provided: Microsoft Windows XP Home
Service & support type: 1 year
Review: I'm not a laptop wizard but I did carefully compare features and prices before I bought my M45-S331 and so far I'm happy with my choice (I've had it about 2 months.
One of my must haves was a DVD+/-RW drive because I experienced how frustrating it was with my old HP computer not being able to write to a dvd. Even if you don't want to make 'movies' on a DVD now, sooner or later you are going to want to be able to write to a DVD, even if it's for nothing more than archiving data. Most models in this price range can only read DVDs.
Another must was the Pentium M 730 processor for its power management capabilities. If you're buying a notebook, don't you want to do all you can to have a longer life battery?
A third must have was a widescreen. True, it's kind of a vanity feature but getting a new notebook with a squarish screen is like getting a new sports car with cloth seats... the day after you buy it you'll wish you'd opted for leather.
One thing that put me over the top in deciding to buy this laptop was seeing how vivid the screen is it is truly amazing. One feature I wanted but couldn't find was a touchpad with a good scrolling capability. You can scroll with this model's touchpad but its kinda tricky.
As for the built-in wireless capability, I got it connected through a linksys wireless G router. I love having the option of picking up the laptop and moving from room to room.
Memory size, 512 MB comes standard which is sufficient for my needs but a good thing is the manufacturer has left a empty slot for an additional memory chip if need be.
The case is sleek and goodlooking. It has little too much plastic feel for my tastes I would have preferred my old HPs clamshell design but overall I am happy with the design.
Weight was a very important factor in my buying decision. My old HP notebook weighed in at a whopping 11 lbs while this notebook weighs in at about 6 lbs with battery.
Reliability has been good so far while I have only owned the notebook for 2 months everything has been working great. Through my research I discovered several issues people had with this notebook. I have since updated the BIOS to 1.6 which in turn has resolved most of the known issues. Mainly the notebook freezing upon connecting and or disconnecting the AC power.
feedback form
feedback form
by dslhater edited by 2kmaro
last modified: 2005-08-14 00:57:50 | | (back) | Toshiba Satellite L25-S119 features:
Processor Intel Celeron M Processor 370 (Dothan core)
1.5 GHz, 1 MB L2 cache, 400 MHz FSB
Chipset ATI RADEON XPRESS 200M
RAM 256 MB PC4200 DDR2 533 MHz SDRAM
Two slots, maximum total RAM 2 GB
Display 15" TruBrite, 1024 x 768
Hard Disk 60 GB 5400 RPM, user replaceable
Optical drive CD-RW/DVD-ROM (CD 24x, DVD 8x)
Communications 10/100 Base-TX Ethernet
Atheros 802.11b/g wireless LAN
Integrated V.92 software modem
Interfaces 3 USB 2.0 ports
Type II PC Card slot
RGB (monitor) port
S-video out
Headphone jack
Microphone jack
Input devices 84 key US keyboard
TouchPad pointing device
CD/DVD control buttons (skip, play, stop)
Sound Built-in stereo speakers
Battery 4 cell, 2000 mAh Li-Ion battery
Power supply 65 W AC adaptor, 120-240 V, 50-60 Hz
Security Slot for cable lock
Weight Starting at 5.88 pounds
Warranty 1 year
Software Windows XP Home Edition
Toshiba utilities
MS Office OneNote 2003
MS Office Standard 2003 for Students & Teachers 60 day trial
MS Works Version 8.0
McAfee VirusScan 30 day trial
InterVideo WinDVD 5
There are also several variations, numbered L25-S119x, developed for major consumer electronics and computer stores, as follows (unlisted features are the same as the base model, above; XGA screen is non-TruBrite):
1192 1193 1194 1195 1196
Processor 370 1.5 GHz 370 1.5 GHz 360 1.4 GHz 370 1.5 GHz 360 1.4 GHz
RAM 256 MB 512 MB 512 MB 256 MB 256 MB
Screen XGA TruBrite TruBrite TruBrite XGA
Hard disk 40 GB 60 GB 40 GB 60 GB 40 GB
802.11b/g Yes Yes Yes Yes No
Warranty 90 days 1 year 1 year 1 year 1 year
Detailed specs for all Toshiba models.
Press release announcing the introduction of the L25 series.
Toshiba Satellite L25-S119 review, December 28, 2005:
The Toshiba Satellite L25-S119 is my first notebook PC. I bought it for occasional traveling and to have a second PC at home. It's a lower-end notebook, as evidenced by its $750 price. It's a pretty nice system, has a 1.5 GHz Celeron M processor, built-in b/g wireless, weighs about 6 pounds, and has a 15" TruBrite screen.
My system came with a single 256 MB memory module. There are two DDR2 SODIMM slots, so I bought a 512 MB module from Kingston to give me a total of 768 MB of RAM. The graphics system uses 64 MB of memory, so I have 704 MB available. The Toshiba spec sheet says the memory can run in dual channel mode; that's incorrect, the system does not support dual channel mode, so don't bother trying to match memory modules. Toshiba recommends using specific Kingston modules, and they're available at a reasonable price direct from Kingston (check-out the special offers).
The supplied battery is only a 4 cell battery, and lasts only about 1.5 hours. Apparently Toshiba provides additional power-management features on their more expensive notebooks, but on this model, there's no way to do things like automatically reduce the screen brightness when on battery power. (The brightness can be changed manually via hotkeys.) I ordered an 8 cell 4300 mAh battery from Toshiba for approximately $100 that should last at least 2.5 hours. The battery has been back-ordered for a few weeks.
I also got a Logitech wireless mini-mouse, since I'll mainly be using the system at home. The mouse receiver plugs into a USB port on the back of the notebook.
The PC can read and write CDs but can only read DVDs. I would have liked to be able to write DVDs, but, again, this is a lower-end notebook.
I was concerned about reflections from the TruBrite screen and was wondering if I should get a PC with a standard non-glare screen instead. It turns out reflections are not a problem. I'd say go and get the TruBrite screen unless you plan to use it in an office with standard florescent ceiling lights.
When you register your new computer with Toshiba, they e-mail a coupon good for a 15% discount on purchases of accessories and service plans. I was very annoyed that it took 3 weeks for them to e-mail the coupon. So be sure to wait for the coupon before ordering expensive accessories or service plans. Also, their web site allows you to enter your model number and get all the compatible accessories. Unfortunately, some of the listed accessories are not compatible. Be sure to double-check compatibility before ordering, even if the Toshiba web site says the accessories are compatible, so you can save the time, effort, and expense of returning any incompatible accessories.
Given the other people in my house, I opted for a three-year accidental damage and extended warranty plan for about $200, after the afore-mentioned 15% discount. These plans have to be purchased within 30 days of purchasing the notebook.
The bottom line is that I'm very happy with this notebook, given the price and how I'm going to use it. I feel it provides more value than the low-end Dell notebooks. I was also able to get a free-after-rebate D-Link wireless b/g router and free-after-rebate Epson color printer with some "bundling" deals.
feedback form
feedback form
by Bobcat edited by 2kmaro
last modified: 2005-12-29 20:01:37 |
7.1 IBM·IBM ThinkPad R51(2883 Series)
·ThinkPad A30 (2652 series)
·IBM/Lenovo Thinkpad T60 2623D6U review
| | (back) | I use an IBM ThinkPad R51. Let me give you the specifications and such first, then I shall give my view of it.
Specifications
•15" XGA
•768mb PC-2700 RAM (256mb stock + 512mb Crucial.com)
•Pentium M 1.5ghz
•2200BG Intel Integrated Wireless (Supports WPA)
•Intel Extreme Graphics 2 - 64mb
•Centrino Laptop
•Upgraded the 30gb hdd to a 40gb 5400 RPM Samsung. This sucker is dead quiet and uses less power than the stock hdd; there were no issues whatsoever with the stock, I just wanted more space
•DVD-ROM/CD-RW (Removeable without tools)
•Parallel
•Integrated ethernet/phone
•Mic/Headphones and built-in Speakers
•Touchpad AND Navigation Stick
•Two PCMCIA slots
•2xUSB
•S-Video
•VGA
•5.5 lbs
Observations, Cost & Support
The stock battery lasts about 4 hours. You can buy a larger battery for the normal battery slot (it will stick out) and even a battery that would replace the DVD/CD drive in that bay (so batteries in two bays) for perhaps 8 hours of solid computer use.
Lucky me, I even managed to grab a spare power supply from a fellow DSLR member for a mere $15 shipped. I use one in my room, and one at my workstation.
Total cost all said and done was a cool $1150 shipped, including the Crucial 512mb stick and Samsung hdd.
The IBM warranty service is also top notch. I have had to call 3x now, once for a new keyboard, once for the recovery CDs (XP Pro), and lastly a small question on hard drives. They kept me on hold for only a minute at most and the techs are in Atlanta, GA. They even DHL overnight me the packages for free and I can call 24/7. (I called about the CDs at 3am EST)
I thoroughly love the look and feel of this laptop. IBM's ThinkPads are black, professional, can take a beating, and are wonderfully smooth. (I did NOT like the look and [cheap] feel of the Dell and HP laptops I had to work with.) The placement of the ThinkPad fan is on the side, unlike some Dells where the fan is on the bottom. The keyboard itself is very sturdy and can take a very serious beating. I did have to get the first keyboard replaced though due to a sluggish 'M' key, but after a painless call and fast installation, all was good again. I also got to see that the IBM keyboards have a metal backing that should stop most crumbs from entering the computer if they fall into the keys.
This laptop is highly expandable given its price range. You can easily remove/replace the hard drive, ram, CD-RW/DVD-ROM, battery, and keyboard without much trouble at all. Each upgradable component has its own dedicated slot that is usually accessible with only 1-2 screws. Mind you, the components are still locked in place and are very sturdy.
The ThinkPad also comes with a plethora of programs that you can remove without too much trouble. One program I left on was 'IBM Active Protection'. The laptop/program can detect when the laptop is being moved, and can be configured in a number of ways to stop hard drive activity when motion is detected to help prevent data loss should the unit be dropped or something. Everything else I removed. (Note: This laptop has no Windows key, but you can configure a key to become the Windows key.)
Personal Review
I mainly use this laptop for school work. I can type my papers, look up words, research assignments, listen to music (both stream and MP3), and even chat without too much aggravation from the noise. Yes, this laptop is dead silent. There is but one CPU fan that rarely turns on. When it does, it is still quiet and almost soothing. I like to concentrate on my work, not on how loud my laptop is, or if my laptop is overheating on the carpet. (I used to worry because the old Dell laptop I used to work with had a fan [yes, it had 2 large and loud fans] on the bottom of the computer. The R51 has one fan on the side.)
But when I'm not doing school work, I watch DVDs and downloaded TV shows with this sucker. Both the speakers and the headphone jack can produce a passable volume. I usually just wear my Shure E2C earbuds as that masks the sound of the DVD-ROM drive reading the DVD. I have casually viewed CSI seasons 1 and 2, Cowboy Bebop, and countless episodes of Family Guy on my ThinkPad in only a few months.
I also sometimes work as 'the computer guy' for non-profits or small companies in my city. My ThinkPad has sometimes come with me to help fix computers on-site. Not only does it manage to impress the people in the office with its "professional look", it whips through applications and runs quieter than most rival Pentium 4 desktops at the offices.
I've also learned to effectively utilize my touchpad so I don't have to lug a mouse with the laptop; I can click, scroll, and manipulate documents and webpages very quickly. This has come in very handy as I like to work in the dark at night.
That's right, I've used my ThinkPad to format/mount/configure a new hard drive on my linux server via SSH, designed a few XHTML compliant webpages, and even made a few touchups to images in Photoshop with my ThinkPad in the dark without a mouse! (Hey, sometimes you get inspiration/insomnia at 3am.) The ThinkPad even has a small built-in light to illuminate the keyboard just enough in even the darkest room or plane, though you really don't have to use it as the keyboard is easy to type on so you don't have to look down... ever. And of course, the laptop is silent so I didn't even wake anyone else in my home. The battery life is also generous enough for me to: chat, SSH, surf BBR, edit about 3 text documents and listen to music all at the same time for a solid 2 hours.
But besides school, work, and watching shows, I also like to play the occasional game. I have played Ages of Empires II: the Conquerors Expansion and Counter-Strike 1.6 on this laptop without a hitch for about 10 hours total; sometimes I don't feel like getting on my main gaming desktop downstairs. (I ordered a spare Logitech MX 510 gaming mouse just for my beloved ThinkPad.) It's amazing how well this non-gaming machine manages to play DX7-esque games on a more-than-playable level. And this is only an 'R-Series', the lowest of the IBM ThinkPad line... I can only imagine what a mid-level T-Series could do...
The wireless portion of this laptop is also amazing and allows me to connect to the world. One of the main reasons for getting a laptop was to do all non-gaming work AWAY from my desktop PC area. I love the freedom of being able to work/play/relax outside in the shade of a tree, in a rarely visited hallway, on my bed, or in a warm couch. This laptop also helped me pass the time while my flight got delayed at O'Hare for 8 hours. The 15" screen is wonderful.
Overall, I love my ThinkPad. Quiet, powerful, and it helps me get things done... whatever it may be.
'Nuf said. ;)
feedback form
feedback form
by freeze edited by fire100
last modified: 2005-08-14 08:47:54 | | (back) | I currently use the TP A30 with these specs:
• 14.1 XGA (1024x768) TFT LCD
• Pentium III-M 1.0 GHz (512KB cache)
• 256 MB (expandable to 1GB)
• 20 GB HDD (upgradeable to 60GB)
• DVD-ROM (UltraBay 2000)
• FDD (UltraBay Plus)
• ATI Radeon 16MB VRAM
• Built-in speakers
• Trackpoint buttons with Trackpoint stick
• Video out
• ThinkLight keyboard light
• 6-cell battery pack
Pros: I've had this laptop for more than a month now. I like this particular laptop over the previous one because the keyboard is large, since I have large hands and long fingers. It has two bays, so I can have a DVD-ROM and a CD burner if I so choose. The DVD-ROM allows me to watch movies. I lucked out finding this one. I bought this from www.geeks.com when they had a Greenlight Special sale. This unit is still under warranty, even though the original warranty has expired. Whoever had this laptop, prior to me, extended the warranty. I particularly like the Internet keys on the left side of the keyboard. The ThinkLight comes in very handy in dark places (like on an airplane) and not disturb anyone. It has separate up and down volume buttons. The 14” screen is adequate for watching movies. The IrDA will automatically detect and install the printer drivers. This model laptop has two USB ports, instead of one, like some others.
Cons: This particular ThinkPad is very heavy for lugging around. This unit weighs around 8 lbs. so taking it around in a college campus is not recommended. When playing a movie, the battery wears down fast, so you may not be able to watch an entire movie. It gets really hot underneath when leaving it on for so long. I highly recommend getting a laptop cooler to avoid having your lap feel the heat. The casing is black, so on a sunny day sitting outside in a wireless hotspot, the keyboard (or anything around it) will get pretty hot. If you can find a shaded area, that would cut down on the heat being drawn from the black case. The LCD screen is hard to see on a sunny day even at its highest setting. You have to be precise in using the IrDA to print documents. It’s preferable to connect to a wireless print server. You have to be careful in not dropping the laptop, or pieces of plastic may break off. The speakers can get covered by your legs, when sitting the laptop on your lap, instead of on a table.
Overall: I recommend this laptop for those that have large hands. It has two USB ports, and you can add on a second battery, a second HDD, a DVD-ROM, a CD-ROM, a CD-RW, a DVD/CD-RW, a SuperDisk (LS-120) or a Zip drive (250 MB) in the UltraBay 2000. If you are a heavy traveler I would advise getting a laptop that is lighter than this one.
feedback form
feedback form
by Boricua65 edited by fire100
last modified: 2005-08-15 19:04:32 | | (back) | I have been using this Thinkpad for about 2 weeks now, and I can say that of all the machines I have used, this is the best. I wanted a T60P, but i couldn't justify the additional $800 right now, I just need something to travel with.
The laptop itself was $1200
I got a 3 year accidental damage warranty for $129
And a worthless "asset tag" which is basically a sticker with my name, for $6
Out the door including tax it was about $1400
The Specs: Intel Core Duo 1.83ghz
512mb RAM/80GB 5400 RPM HD
14" SXGA screen, 4:3 ratio
Radeon x1300 64mb***
Intel PROwireless A/B/G/Bluetooth 2.0 EDR
Type III PC Card slots/Express Card slot
Biometric Security system
DVD-R Ultrabay
Design:
My previous notebook was a Dell XPS, this is a lot more business like. Basic matte black, with the famous 3 color IBM logo on the lid. No fancy color changing LED's screaming STEAL ME.
Keyboard: The keyboard is basic black, with a greyish blue Enter key and the Thinkvantage button, and the famous red Trackpoint in the center. On the bottom of the screen is a row of green LEDs that display pretty much everything. Bluetooth, battery status, wireless, bt, lots of stuff. VERY comfortable to type on, not too loud or soft. The mouse buttons make ZERO noise. Only gripe I have is that the Function and Control keys are switched, so you have to be careful. It also includes the great Thinklight, you press Fn and Page Up. Not as cool as the MacBook Pro light up keyboard, but just as effective.
Screen: I chose the regular screen over the widescreen Z series of Thinkpads because pretty much all the media I have on my HD is for regular screens. The screen is actually pretty good for a "business" notebook, it isn't as sharp as a Truelife or Crystal view, but it is pretty close. All angles are viewable, except from top down.
Connectivity: You get pretty standard ports, 3 USB2, Gigabit Ethernet, 56k Modem, VGA out. No DVI out port, but you can get one on the optional docking station or buy a PC Card adaptor.
Noise and heat: Completely silent fan, you can only hear something if you put it up to your ear, it sounds like rushing air from your car A/C. The vents are located on the left top corner, most of the time just cool air rushes out, if you are playing any games, the air gets warmer, but the noise stays the same, almost nothing. I have had this on my lap with bittorrent running full blast, and it only got a tad warm.
Battery life: I haven't used all the different schemes, running on battery, wireless off, I get 4 hours, with wireless on, 3:45.
Weight: I am simply in awe. Going from a nearly 9 pound "laptop" to a 5 pounder makes a huge difference.
Speakers. Hmm, not the best, if you are in a crowded room, nobody will hear them. They are right on the bottom edge of the front lip.
Trackpad/Trackpoint. Well, you either love it or hate it. I love it, since I was used to the Toshibas Accupoint. You have an incredible 4 different ways of scrolling. You can use the trackpoint to grab a windows control arms, you can use the trackpoint and the keyboards middle mouse, you can drag your finger along the right edge of the trackpad, and, if you keep your finger sort of in the middle right of the trackpad, you can quickly scroll up and down.
Graphics: I am a hardcore gamer, but I decided against getting a gaming laptop again because of their terrible batterylife. But I avoided getting a Intel GMA sysatem, I wanted something midrange. I also am a 3d artist, i run 3D studio max and Maya, I havent installed them yet.
Here is a link to my 3D Mark01 score, [url]»service.futuremark.com/compare?2···85[/url]
***I remember when I ordered my Thinkpad, it was a 64mb chip, but 3Dmark reports it as a 128mb chip.
Software: Unfortunately my laptop didn't come with a WinXP disc, I will need to call them on that issue. It also comes with the Thinkvantage suite, and all those different programs are assigned to the Thinkvantage button, which is near the top left corner of the kb. Security, wifi, bluetooth, automated backup, and lots more functions can all be accessed by this one button.
Security: If you have secrets to hide, this thing is a freakin vault. You have the biometric scanner, along with a password for the HD. Even if someone steals your laptop, and takes the HD and tries to use it on another machine, they won't be able to get in.
Bottom line, Thinkpads rock, they are the best IMO. Yeah other laptops are fancier and include more gadgets, but IBM is the Toyota of the laptop world, a bit ugly and plain, but rock solid and reliable.
5/5 stars
feedback form
feedback form
by Iridium edited by fire100
last modified: 2006-08-10 06:37:30 | | (back) | This is my first laptop. I didn't buy it to replace my desktop, but the more I use it the more I think I can just about get by with out my desktop.
Pictures are in this post.
»Re: [Notebooks] New ASUS G50v
Specs:
•Intel® Core™2 Duo processor T5750
•4GB memory for multitasking power; 667MHz frontside bus, 2MB L2 cache and 2.0GHz processor speed
•15.6" WXGA widescreen display with Asus Splendid Video Enhancement technology and 1366 x 768 resolution
•200GB SATA hard drive (7200 rpm)
•NVIDIA GeForce G9700M GT graphics with 512MB of dedicated DDR3 graphics memory; Azalia audio chip with built-in Altec Lansing stereo speakers; HDMI output
•8-in-1 media reader
•1 IEEE 1394 port and 4 high-speed USB 2.0 ports
•Built-in 10/100/1000 Ethernet LAN with RJ-45 connector; V.92 modem
•Weighs 6.2 lbs. and measures 1.3" thin for portable power; lithium-ion battery and AC adapter
•Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium Edition 64-bit operating system with Service Pack 1
•Also came with Recovery DVDs (something the Best Buy rep said it didn't have)
Vista performance score 4.5
Processor -- 4.9
Memory -- 4.5
Graphics -- 5.9
Gaming graphics -- 5.6
Hard drive -- 5.4
I seen some of the HP notebooks have a smooth and glossy keyboard. The keyboard on this is kind of a flat black look to it. Feels just fine and is easy to type on. The keyboard also does not leave any finger prints behind same for the touchpad. Around the Touch pad is a blue lcd with some brushed aluminum frame around it.
The glossy black on the top cover does get a lot of fingerprints on it. There is also LCDs in four locations on the cover.
The message center (right above the keyboard) has the battery % left along with a note that you want to set, memory and cpu usage, MSN messages, and mail.
I wouldn't want to go to far without having the power cord with me. You can just watch it eat up the battery juice.
I'll try and get some 3dmark / pcmark scores later.
Some of the things I don't like. It doesn't have built in Bluetooth and it does get nice and toasty warm. You could almost use it as a blow dryer while gaming.
Cost:
$1250 @ BestBuy 08-04-2008
Would I buy this again? Yes.
feedback form
feedback form
by chucky5150 edited by fire100
last modified: 2008-08-17 10:01:17 |
7.4 Acer·Acer Aspire 3003 WLMI Review
·Acer Aspire 5003 WLCi Review
·Acer Security Patch - Active X Vulnerability
| | (back) | System Specs:
AMD Mobile Sempron 3000+ CPU
512 Megs DDR 333 (PC2700) RAM in 2 sticks
80 Gig UDMA Western Digital HDD
8X Dual Layer DVD+/-RW (Matsushita)
SiSM760GX Chipset
SiS Mirage2 Graphics
15.4" WXGA "Crystal Bright" LCD Display
Acer Chipset Fax/Data V.92 56K Softmodem
Acer Invilink 802.11 b/g wireless card (Broadcom Chipset)
SiS 900 Ethernet
AC97 Compliant soundcard
Bluetooth Adapter (I think?)
3 USB ports, 1 external VGA Port and one PCMCIA adapter
Price: $1039 CDN taxed and shipped including 5 year on site North America Wide Warranty.
Unit shipped with a preinstalled copy of WinXP Home. That lasted all of half a day after I got it before I installed SuSE Linux 10.0 on it.
Unit is average sized and weight for a 15.4" WXGA, weighing in just above 5 Lbs. with battery installed.
Battery life is abysmal with the stock battery. Acer claims "up to" 1.5 hours operation depending on configuration. Actual run time with this battery is exactly 1 hour. Good news though, an aftermarket 8 cell battery with 4400 mAH is available for about $100 even to replace the stock 4 cell 2000 mAH battery. I'm waiting for one to arrive tomorrow and it should, in theory more than double the stock battery runtime.
Display is very nice and bright, with brightness and sound volume controlled by special keys on the keyboard. No contrast control though, which I would have appreciated.
Fit and finish seem very slick, with soundcard jacks and bluetooth and wireless control buttons/indicators on the front panel. One warning about these buttons though. Their placement makes them easy to accidentally turn off and lack of tactile feel to let you know which state they are in can be confusing. Fortunately though, the buttons illuminate when they are active.
For those interested in putting linux on one of these, I can say that everything I tested on it works well with SuSE 10.0 except for the SiS900 ethernet ( a known bug with the SuSE kernel ) and I haven't tested the PCMCIA or Bluetooth yet for lack of compatible hardware. Complete info on the linux install can be found at these links
»My New Toy :) (Acer Aspire 3003 WLMI)
»linux-laptop.net/hosted/acer-3003-suse.html
All in all I have no real data on durability at the moment, but as I said, it seems well built from the look and feel of it and the fact they were willing to sell it with a five year warranty gives me hope that it will prove to be a functional and reliable machine for years to come. Other than the few minor annoyances I mentioned in this review, I'm willing to say that this machine is a bargain for the money and recommend it highly for those looking for an entry level notebook and/or mobile Linux machine.
[ADDENDUM] 8 Cell battery arrived today. Upon testing after a full charge, the unit gets over 2-1/2 continuous hours of useability with the new battery. If you buy one of these notebooks, expect to pay an extra $100 for an aftermarket battery, or else you will end up chained to a power outlet.
feedback form
feedback form
by Happyrat edited by fire100
last modified: 2006-03-29 06:36:08 | | (back) | System Specs:
AMD Turion 64 Mobile Tech ML-32 Processor
512 MB RAM
60GB HD
15.4 WXGA TFT Crystal Brite Display
8X DVD/24X24X24 CD-RW Combo Drive (Phillips)
SiS M760GX Chipset
3D Graphics support
Realtek AC'97 audio
56k Agere Systems Modem
Wireless LAN 802.11b/g
10/100 Ethernet
8 cell battery
Bluetooth capable
Windows XP Home
Weight 6.17 lbs
I purchased this notebook on April 7, 2006 from CompUsa. Original price: $799.99. Final price: $599.99 after a $50 instant rebate and a $150 mail in rebate. I also purchased a 3 year extended warranty, a carrying case and an optical mouse.
Being new to laptops (this is my "other" computer, not my main one), I wasn't sure what to expect. I am happy to say that this laptop seems to be first rate. The weight is perfect, and it feels nice and solid. The outside is a very nice "brushed" finish.
The display is bright and crisp, even in bright light. The sound from the two speakers on the front is "ehhh", but I am used to a top notch sound system on my regular computer, so I'm probably not a good judge of quality laptop sound.
Different user settable "launch" buttons are laid out nicely above the keyboard. There are three USB ports, one on the front and two on the right side, along with a network jack, a modem jack and a Type I/Type II PC Card slot. The left side is the optical drive. On the front is the Bluetooth and Wireless buttons/indicators as well as the line in jack and mic jack. On the back is the power jack, the external display port and a security key lock connector (optional). Everything is laid out very nicely.
The battery life is good, lasting a solid 2.5 hours (although the specs claim 3). At home, I mostly use it with the power adapter. It has taken me a little time to get used to the smaller keyboard, as I'm used to a full size one, but that is just an adjustment issue on my part. The keyboard keys have a nice, soft touch.
It came shipped with (surprisingly) very little software installed, nothing like I was expecting. Norton Antivirus was there, but not installed, so I was able to install my AV of choice without the hassle of uninstalling Norton.
I am thinking of getting a cooling pad. It doesn't run hot enough for it to force me to not place it on my lap, but it's probably a good idea to have one anyway.
Only having had this laptop for a month, at this point I would have to say it completely met my expectations and I am very happy with it.
feedback form
feedback form
by La Luna edited by fire100
last modified: 2006-05-08 07:57:33 | | (back) | Acer has an official security patch to remedy the Active X vulnerability found on their laptops.
This was addressed by members in our Security forum
*Thanks to fatness for locating the patch.
feedback form
feedback form
by lilhurricane edited by fire100
last modified: 2007-01-11 09:46:32 | | (back) | Here's my modest review:
Area-51® m5500
Processor: Intel® Pentium® M 740 1.73GHz 2MB L2 Cache 533MHz FSB
Operating System (Office software not included): Microsoft® Windows® XP Home Edition with Service Pack 2
Warranty: 90-Day AlienCare Toll-Free 24/7 Phone Support
Display: Alienware® m5500 15.4" WideXGA 1280 x 800 LCD - Xeno Grey - Xeno Grey
Motherboard: Alienware® Intel® 915GM + ICH6 Chipset
Wireless Network Card: Intel® PRO/Wireless 2915 a/b/g Wireless Card
Memory: 1GB Dual Channel DDR2 SO-DIMM at 533MHz - 2 x 512MB
Hard Drive: 60GB 5400 RPM ATA100
Video/Graphics Card: 128MB NVidia® GeForce™ Go MXM 6600
Sound Card: Intel® High-Definition Audio
Optical Drive: 24x10x24 CD-RW / 8X DVD Combo w/Software MPEG2 Decoder
Ethernet NIC: Integrated High Performance Gigabit Ethernet
Modem: 56K Modem with V.90 Technology
Mobile Transport : Alienware® Premium Messenger Case
Mobile Power: Belkin® AC Anywhere 300W
Alienware Exclusive Offers: GameFly - Unlimited Game Rentals for 15 days - FREE TRIAL
Alienware Exclusive Offers: Gamespot Complete - Free 90-day Trial (a $20.85 value)
Desktop Enhancements: Exclusive AlienGUIse Theme Manager
[1] Special Financing Offer; 6 Months Same As Cash Financing with the Alienware Credit Card
[1] $100 Mail-in Rebate; On Select Notebooks
SubTotal: $1,431.00
Shipping: $111.12
Discount/rebate: $100.00
Tax: $0.00
Order Total: $1,442.12
I ordered the above on Feb. 19 and it was delivered on Feb. 25
This is my first laptop, one that I'll use for work and home.
I shopped around at Dell HP etc. but noticed that AW had a rebate going and a free carry case. Needless to say the deal was better than Dell at the time.
The ordering experience was quick and painless via the telephone after playing around on-line a few days.
I was very impressed with Alienware's packaging. The first thing I noticed was the screen, it was beautiful. I've been a desktop CRT man for a very long time and to finally have a display like this was really exciting. Kind of in between glossy and matt finish.
I loaded it up with all my software, tweaked it out and ran it very hard for at least a month. I'm not a gamer or anything so I pushed it by running multiple apps/movies and for long periods of time with frequent re-boots etc.
The silver/grey color is neat and the lighted Alien head and Alienware logos make it unique.
I wish it had a separate number keypad although some letter keys can function as numbers. Most of the time I use a mini optical mouse instead of the pad.
Ports? Lots on this lappy, 3 USB, an S-video, an audio line-in jack, an Ethernet port, a headphones / SPDIF-out jack, a microphone jack, a firewire port, AC adapter port and a VGA port. It came with a 6 cell battery but I soon ordered the 9 cell one too.
Also, it is a very thin, very quiet machine that weighs about 6 lbs.
Don't know what else to say other than it works flawlessly.
I use it in the car sometimes with IGuidance and MS S&T mapping software and a mouse GPS which works real well.
I use it all over the house and outside the house as the wireless feature works quite well with my 5.0/640 DSL connection.
I have two passive »www.keysan.com/ksu1358.htm cooling stands, and an air desk »www.airdesks.com/laptop_desk_stand.html for this lappy. I made my own auto mount for the car.
I am very satisfied.
feedback form
feedback form
by Hiker 2 edited by fire100
last modified: 2006-07-12 10:30:35 |
9.1 General·How to Clean My LCD Screen
·Where is the Technical FAQ?
| | (back) | What does LCD stand for?
Liquid Crystal Display, mostly used in flat screen monitors and laptop screens.
Why should I worry about cleaning my LCD screen?
One of the most expensive components of a computer system or laptop is the LCD monitor or screen. LCD screens are easily susceptible to damage and scratches, so it's a good idea to make sure you clean it correctly.
Can I use any type of cleaning solution on my LCD screen?
No, using alcohol or ammonia - based cleaners repeatedly may cause permanent damage to the LCD. Over time using these types of cleaners could cause the surface of the screen to yellow. It can also make the screen brittle and eventually cause cracking on the screen surface.
NOTICE: The following cleaners are unacceptable:
[*]Acetone
[*]Ethyl alcohol
[*]Ethyl acid
[*]Ammonia
[*]Methyl chloride
What types of cleaners are acceptable?
[*]Water
[*]Vinegar (mixed with water)
[*]Isopropyl Alcohol
What are some of the basic supplies needed to clean an LCD screen?
A soft cotton cloth. When cleaning the LCD screen it is important to use a soft cotton cloth, rather than an old rag. Some materials, such as paper towels, could cause scratches and damage the LCD screen.
Solution of water and isopropyl alcohol. This solution can be used along with the soft cotton cloth.
Computer wipes. Only use these if they specifically state on the package they are designed for LCD laptop screens. Computer wipes can come in handy for fast clean-ups or when you want to avoid mixing up a cleaning solution yourself.
How do I clean the LCD surface properly?
Do not spray any liquids on the LCD screen directly, and do not use paper towels, this can cause the LCD screen to become scratched.
Always apply the solution to your cloth first, not directly to the parts you are cleaning. You want to avoid dripping the solution directly into your computer or laptop.
Stroke the cloth across the display in one direction, moving from the top of the display to the bottom.
Added: Make sure to not use much pressure against the screen when doing this: Thanks to the tip by johnsea66
»www.vetmed.vt.edu/is/
Added: Member Voyager2K2 stated that Screentek sells a really good cleaning kit. Member also stated that they personally rely on the Windex microfiber wipes because they leave no smudge on the screen.
feedback form
feedback form
by lilhurricane edited by tmpchaos
last modified: 2008-12-02 08:04:38 | | (back) | The DSLR/BBR Notebook technical FAQ is here:
»Notebook and Laptop FAQ
feedback form
feedback form
by 3SGTE edited by fire100
last modified: 2005-08-14 08:58:11 |
|
