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2.5 stars
"Not quite the laptop I expected from HP"
Pros: Fast processor, nice screen
Cons: bad keyboard layout, fragile screen
Summary: As a current owner of a HP omnibook 500, I purchased the NC4010 from HP, believing this would be a faster and updated version of their excellent omnibook 500.
The NC4010 was quite fast, but had quite a few quirks and one big weakness.
QUIRKS:
1. Sticky Mouse Pointer: One reason I purchased the new nc4010 was because it had the mouse pad and pointer button on the keyboard, but even though the pointer button was my preffered pointing method for windows, the pointer button of the nc4010 had a continuous tendancy to freeze, to the point where I would barely use it anymore.
2. Power supply: The (3 pronged) power supply cord would continously pull out of the oversized adapter and the adapter pin would also continously pull slightly out of the computer, to the point that it was operting more on battery than on ac power.
3. Page Up/Down Keys: The Page up/down buttons were hidden somewhere next to the Function keys on the top of the keyboard, which made it very difficult to use these keys when working in the in darker areas. I had to actually put some markers on the keyboard below the screen to show where the page up/down keys were and be able to find them quicker in the dark.
4.Docking Station: I also ordered the docking station, so I could use the extra battery and dvd drive as I previoulsy did with the omnibook 500. What a waste of money. The Docking station that was shipped with the "ultra portable" nc4010 was humongous. Besides being very heavy and LARGE, it would not even fit in my computer case. From the moment I received the docking station, it got a spot in my "never use again" pile of computer stuff.
MAJOR WEAKNESS - Fragile LCD screen: Even though I normally take good care of my laptops, for one reason or another, a serious crack developed on the display of the nc4010 after owning it for 4 months.
I assumed that this would be covered under the 3 year extended warranty I had originally purchased with the new nc4010. Low and behold, HP wanted $800 for fixing the LCD screen. After complaining about the outrageous price for repairing a 4 month new portable, the customer rep stated that
a. I had not "registered" the system (The user instructions never stated I had to do this) and b. that I had not purchased the extra accidental damage insurance (which was never offered by the hp saleman, even though when purchasing, I asked if the 3 year extended warranty would cover the system completely for 3 years, which is a typical lifecycle of one of these portables).
Instead of spending the $800 to repair the nc4010, I am now shopping for a different portable.
I can not finish this review without at least pointing out the positive items of the NC4010.
FAST:
Since it came with the 2MB of cache, it was a very fast system. Outlook express and other programs would open up very fast and it was a pleasure to have the speed.
Multiple OS:
I had also installed Red Hat Linux on a separate partition of the system and this worked flawlessly besides the standard XP Pro
operating system.
It was quite nice to have the capability to run Red Hat Linux and Windows XP Pro on the same portable platform.
Nice DVD Writer:
The DVD writer had a USB cable with a special plug that allowed the nc4010 to power the DVD writer at the same time. This was a nice feature, since I did not have to carry an extra power supply for the DVD writer.
Also the built-in wireless network system worked like a champ, giving very respectable performance compared to other portables I have used in the past.
