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- My rating: 0 stars
Full user review
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6 out of 6 people found this review helpful
4.5 stars
"A Great Machine for the Price"
Pros: Great Design; Lots of Ports; Fantastic Keyboard; Clear, Crisp Display
Cons: Small Mouse Pad; Short Battery Life
Summary: MY CONFIGURATION:
Intel Pentium M Processor 715 (1.50 GHz/2MB Cache/400MHz FSB)
Display 15.4 inch WXGA LCD Panel
Memory 512MB DDR2 SDRAM 2 Dimms
Video Card 64MB DDR ATI's MOBILITY? RADEON X300 PCI Express x16 Graphics
Hard Drive 80GB Hard Drive
Network Card Integrated 10/100 Network Card and Modem
Combo/DVD+RW Drives 24X CD Burner/DVD Combo Drive
Wireless Networking Cards Intel PRO/Wireless 2200 Internal Wireless (802.11 b/g, 54Mbps)
Battery 6-cell Lithium Ion Battery
I have had this notebook for about 2 weeks and I am extremely happy with it. I started hearing about display issues with this model after I had already ordered mine and I was a bit nervous that I had made a mistake, but so far, I am extremely pleased with the quality of the display and I opted for the standard WXGA screen. It is crisp, clear and I can easily see it even if I am not looking straight at the display. Prior LCD's that I have owned could only be viewed from straight on. The display does dim considerably when using the battery, but you can adjust the setting so that does not happen if it really bothers you. I prefer to let it dim to squeeze some more life out of the battery.
Definitely spend the money to upgrade the battery. Other people who have done so have said they get 5+ hours on a charge. I did not upgrade the battery when I bought the machine, but I will be buying one in the next few days. I am only getting a little over 2 hours on a charge with the standard battery.
The mouse pad is a little small for such a large display and is a little slow to respond. I prefer a USB optical mouse anyway, so I don't mind carrying the extra piece of equipment.
The wireless card is fantastic! I have never lost a connection, and it finds wireless networks around my neighborhood that my PC has never located. The built in speakers are a bit weak and tinny sounding, but it is a notebook. I didn't expect to get Bose quality sound from it. If I want or need that kind of quality sound then I use my Bose headphones.
If you want or need a machine that can handle a lot of multi-media tasks and software, but you are on a budget, this is definitely the machine to get.
