CNET editors' review
- Reviewed on: 11/12/2002
- Updated on: 12/01/2009
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 The slot-loading combo drive. |
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Like your car stereo, this notebook features a slot-loading optical drive, which sucks in DVDs and CDs; there's no clunky, extending disc tray. Buttons along the front edge conveniently operate the optical drive, so you can play audio CDs without opening the lid or powering up the system. Another button on the left edge turns the wireless network on and off easily.
Good looks aside, however, this notebook isn't perfect; we encountered a couple of design elements we don't care for. The 82-key keyboard, in particular, doesn't meet the standards set by the notebook as a whole. It sags as you type, and although the keys look cool in translucent gray, they wobble, feel mushy, and don't provide feedback for touch-typists. Also, the touchpad's two mouse buttons are a case of design over utility; long and skinny, they're hard to find with your thumb and hard to click.
 The CD-control buttons on the front edge. |
 The touchpad and mouse buttons. |
The notebook's metal shell can get pretty toasty on the bottom, too. This probably helps dissipate heat, but if you get sunburned on vacation, don't expect to spend the flight home with the notebook on your lap. And if you still use floppies, you'll need to buy a third-party external drive. This notebook doesn't have an integrated drive, and Best Buy doesn't offer an external option.
Best Buy equipped the VPR Matrix 200A5 with all the hardware it needs to really rip. It runs on a 2GHz Pentium 4-M with 512MB of DDR memory, and its standalone graphics controller (an Nvidia GeForce4 420 Go with 32MB of its own memory) paints intense, saturated colors evenly across the odd-sized, 1,280x854 LCD. The screen's 3:2 aspect ratio isn't a perfect match for 5:3 letterbox movies, but it's close enough to give you a big-screen feeling. We were a little disappointed by its slightly soft-focus look when displaying graphics, and it plays DVDs on the 24X/8X/8X/8X CD-RW/DVD with the same soft touch. But the screen gave us a pleasant surprise by rendering sharp, easy-to-read text.
The notebook comes equipped with a bevy of high-end communication features. It has two antennae for wireless Internet access, a high-speed wireless Wi-Fi network link, a 10/100GHz Ethernet port, and a 56K modem. A single Type II PC Card slot leaves room for additional communication links as you need them. Plus, you can send video out to a television screen on the included S-Video port and attach digital cameras and camcorders to the two four-pin FireWire ports. You also get two USB 2.0 ports.
 The 15.2-inch, wide-aspect display. |
 PC Card slot on the left. |
The VPR Matrix's other notable high-tech feature is its Sonopür up-sampling audio setup, which interpolates between samples to effectively double the quality of sound. We tested the sonics with high-quality headphones and were quite impressed. The great sound system wasn't as apparent on the notebook's tiny speakers, which sounded like typical, muted laptop models.
Best Buy sticks to the basics in its software bundle, however. The VPR Matrix comes with Windows XP Home, Microsoft Works 6.0, and CyberLink PowerDVD MPEG2.
The VPR Matrix yielded very impressive mobile performance in CNET Labs' tests. With its 2GHz Pentium 4-M and 512MB of DDR SDRAM, the VPR Matrix 200A5 scored 143, besting two comparison systems, the Dell Latitude C640 and the HP Pavilion zt1290. The 512MB of DDR SDRAM is one of the main reasons for the Matrix's high performance, especially over the Dell Latitude C640, which has a faster 5,400rpm hard drive but only 256MB of DDR SDRAM.
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MobileMark2002 mobile performance test Longer bars indicate faster performance |
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System configurations:
Best Buy VPR Matrix
Windows XP Home; 2GHz Intel Pentium 4-M, 512MB DDR SDRAM 266MHz, Nividia GeForce4 420 Go 32MB; IBM Travelstar 40GN 4,200rpm
Dell Latitude C640
Windows XP Professional; 2GHz Intel Pentium 4-M; 256MB DDR SDRAM 266MHz; ATI Mobility Radeon 7500 32MB; Toshiba MK4019GAX 40GB 5,400rpm
HP Pavilion zt1290
Windows XP Home; 1.9GHz Intel Pentium 4-M; 512MB DDR SDRAM 266MHz; ATI Mobility Radeon M7-C 32MB; Hitachi DK23DA-40 40GB 4,200rpm
The VPR Matrix 200A5 matched its high performance score with long battery life, surviving in our tests for 195 minutes. Its 11.1V, 6,600mAh battery allowed it to last a little longer than the Dell Latitude C640, and it clobbered the HP Pavilion zt1290 by almost 40 minutes. This is not surprising as the Pavilion zt1290's 14.8V, 3,900mAh battery is less powerful than the VPR Matrix's. It's rare that a notebook scores high in performance and has a long-lasting battery as the VPR Matrix does.
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MobileMark2002 battery-life test Time is measured in minutes; longer bars indicate better performance |
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To measure mobile application performance and battery life, CNET Labs uses BAPCo's MobileMark2002. MobileMark measures both applications performance and battery life concurrently using a number of popular applications (Microsoft Word 2002, Microsoft Excel 2002, Microsoft PowerPoint 2002, Microsoft Outlook 2002, Netscape Communicator 6.0, WinZip Computing WinZip 8.0, McAfee VirusScan 5.13, Adobe Photoshop 6.0.1, and Macromedia Flash 5.0).
Find out more about how we test notebook systems.
System configurations:
Best Buy VPR Matrix
Windows XP Home; 2GHz Intel Pentium 4-M, 512MB DDR SDRAM 266MHz, Nividia GeForce4 420 Go 32MB; IBM Travelstar 40GN 4,200rpm
Dell Latitude C640
Windows XP Professional; 2GHz Intel Pentium 4-M; 256MB DDR SDRAM 266MHz; ATI Mobility Radeon 7500 32MB; Toshiba MK4019GAX 40GB 5,400rpm
HP Pavilion zt1290
Windows XP Home; 1.9GHz Intel Pentium 4-M; 512MB DDR SDRAM 266MHz; ATI Mobility Radeon M7-C 32MB; Hitachi DK23DA-40 40GB 4,200rpm
Sadly, Best Buy's support options for the VPR Matrix 200A5 don't match the quality of the machine itself. The warranty policy provides only one year of coverage for parts and labor, and you'll have to either carry or ship the system to Best Buy for service. Best Buy doesn't provide a warranty upgrade choice, either, although (like other electronics stores) it sells a service plan that covers the product.
Want to fix the VPR Matrix yourself? Its included documentation consists of a stylish but hard-to-read poster that describes the features in pale purple ink on a pale purple background and a 36-page manual that covers a few basics such as how to operate the optical drive and replace the battery. The Best Buy Web site has no documentation or support, but on the plus side, you get free tech support 24/7 on a toll-free line while the warranty is in effect. The company also considers four bad pixels--either stuck on or dead--as grounds for replacement, which is somewhat generous compared to most other vendors.
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