- Average user rating:
- My rating: 0 stars
Full user review
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4.5 stars
"Excellent value"
Pros: 3 years old this month, no major problems. If you're looking for a used notebook, I recommend one of these. I have never had to replace any parts because they were defective, no OS reinstalls yet.
Cons: Factory 512MB RAM is insufficient when you lose 128MB of it to the shared video. I upgraded to 2GB within a month of initial purchase. Reduced-size keyboard is awkward at first, but you will get used to it.
Summary: I can't really think of any real negatives to this; the 'cons' listed above are easily remedied- RAM is cheap. Some say a Dual-Core CPU is a little light on processing in the age of quad-cores, however most programs and even your OS aren't fully thread-aware and can't make use of them anyway. Battery life diminishes slightly with the added RAM, but this is expected- if you power more hardware, you use more power.
For me, that's not an issue really. For the last 18 months it's been plugged in and turned on 24/7. I reboot about once a month, and it sees fair usage- MySQL server runs on it, and I frequently use it for compiling software (usually C++). An IRC Bot runs on it 24/7, and I use it to watch movies when I'm working on my desktop.
It's not ever truly idle, yet it keeps going with no problems.
I don't like touchpads, but that's what almost every notebook ships with- so I can't consider that a 'con' for this model vs any other model of notebook.
Sound quality is good, however max volume is lacking.
Air intake will be blocked by your left leg if you operate it on your lap; heat will build up after extended sessions,. This, too, is a common notebook problem- and is easily remedied.
Synopsis: this definitely gets my endorsement. No real cons, no problems, still works as well as it did when it was new.
