-
"Compact, lightweight, good value machine" on by skiabq
Pros: Small, light & affordable
Cons: Not a powerhouse machine
Summary: I have had this notebook for about 6 weeks now. I bought this machine to be a small, lightweight, affordable, portable machine and so far I am very pleased with it. I like the ability to make sure my wireless card is on or off at a glance. It is definetly light weight and compact. I usually get about 3 hours out of the battery using the wireless card and in low power mode. I realize this is not a powerhouse machine, but I use it pretty much for internet, email, word processing, spreadsheets, etc. and it has been fine for me. I have even edited a couple of home movies on it and it did that too. I realized before I got it that the keyboard had a different layout than I was used to, but I have gotten used to that too. I paid $799 for mine at Sam's Club with 512Mb of RAM and the 80Gb hard drive in it. I cannot find anything to complain about with this little notebook and would recommend it to anyone if it fits their requirements.
-
"Great for what I use it for" on by rhwatts
Pros: Light weight and reliable
Cons: short battery time
Summary: I use it on the road and around the house. great for storing photos and transferring to my portable printer. Not used as my primary computer but great so far. I also charge the battery in the vehecle by an inverter off the lighter.
-
"Dont buy: 10 min battery life after 1 year, hard drive clicks," on by hotstartup
Pros: cheap, thin
Cons: poor battery life, hard drive clicks, power connector on mother board loose ...
Summary: I had high hopes about this laptop when i first got it. the reviews seemed good and so i got it.
the first laptop i got went bad so i went back to best buy and got another piece (i bought the 3 year warrenty, although it was covered under the 30 day since it was within 30 days)
it was ok the first year. i did hear the hard drive click a little but overall not bad.
now its got many more problems. i have to have the power adapter connector to the PC 'a certain way' so there contact between that and the mother board.
it constantly clicks (harddrive).
the speakers flaked out.
and the battery life now is just 10 minutes.
totally not worth any $. -
"Bargain - My Best PC Buy Ever" on by cat walking
Pros: Light-weight, does eveything I need it to
Cons: Battery life
Summary: I bought the low end version (3715-ED1) of this notebook in Staples in 2005 as an impulse purchase for under $600 and it turned out to be the best computer buy I ever made. Of course, the first thing I did was go online and check the notebook forums for workarounds for any known issues and update all the drivers to latest stable versions (something all users should do - and which most don't). Anyway, I installed updated hardware drivers (including touchpad driver - touchpad works great by the way), AMD Power Now Driver and Speed Step monitor to beef up the battery life so I could get at least 3 hours. Still not enough for me - and ridiculously low for a light-weight portable. So I ended up buying a 2nd battery. Fortunately, the batteries charge quickly and with 2 I have just enough juice to last the day.
Except for the battery life, the laptop is perfect - the screen is bright and clear, white color makes everything easier to see (I will NEVER go back to a black laptop again), notebook has solid build and is so light weight that I end up taking it everywhere with me - and despite weighing a mere 4 lbs., it even has a built in DVD drive/CD Burner. The processor is not the latest and greatest but it is fine for me - I regularly run 7 or 8 security apps, MS Office Word, Excel and Outlook, ITunes, Foxit Reader, Irfanview, Firefox and a few other things ALL AT THE SAME TIME with no problems. And yes, DVD playback and video is excellent - I watched Burn Notice last night from USA Network website and it looked (and sounded) great - like with mostly all laptops, the sound through the built in speakers is so so, but sound is wonderful through headphones or external speakers. Laptop came bundled with very good Cyberlink playing and burning software for the DVD/CD drive, Norton antivirus and Phoenix backup software - I like the Phoenix and Cyberlink software better than what came bundled with my high end Dell Desktop. I travel a LOT and have never had any trouble connecting to a wireless network using the built-in wireless (which can be turned on and off using dedicated exterior switch - sweet!). I have used ALL the connectors (USB ports, wireless, card reader, card slot, ethernet port, modem, VGA, headphone jack and microphone jack) with no problems or issues. Keyboard and touchpad are comfortable for touch typist - not too small and good layout. And I love the look and feel of this machine. And 3 years of hard usage later this beauty is still going strong. Yes, I'd like to upgrade to a notebook with longer battery life so I wouldn't have to remember to charge and carry a spare every day - but that is my ONLY issue - and that's saying something. And so far, the only notebooks that match the features of this one (built in DVD/CD drive, 4 lbs. or less, truly usable form factor) cost around $1,500 to $2,000 more and NONE have better battery life except the ultra-expensive Sony SX models. Oh, except for the Averatec 2575 which costs around $1,000. Like I said, one of the best buys I ever made. -
"Worst laptop I've ever used" on by mlasser
Pros: Cheap and white
Cons: Slow, no battery life, touchpad and mouse both don't work
Summary: My company gave me this doorstop to use. Touchpad is integrated into the shell so cannot be replaced when it wears thin and loses its glide surface. Mouse drivers also wouldn't behave. Nothing is good about this machine. I see they're selling on ebay for $350. Not even worth that.
Write a Review
