- Average user rating:
- My rating: 0 stars
Full user review
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3 out of 3 people found this review helpful
4.0 stars
"Best laptop for the mony. Take care of her, and she'll take care of you."
Pros: Very feature rich. 3 USB, firewire mini-port, S-Video out, VGA out, 6(?) in one media reader, etc....
Cons: Screen IS a bit on the dim side, but only when compared to much more expensive laptops. Hinges feel flimsy even though they're not (I've droped this a couple timesto no ill effect.
Summary: I configured this laptop in the following way, with explanations as to why, and why you should as well.
Turion ML-40 (2.2gghz)
Trounces any intel offering in this pricerange, hands-down. The 64bit extension are priceless if you're a *nix user or a technofile like me
Also, the low-voltage version of this processor can be purchased for a 200mhz loss in speed, but that's personal preference.
Radeon Xpress200M
This chipset is among the best available for laptops, the only better option being a dedicated card (or for dual-screen goodness, Xpress200M AND a dedicated card
Also, it supports advanced memory timings for things like hign-end ram...
256 MB ram
Why? Because much better, bigger, and faster ram can be purchased from any online retailer for a fraction of the cost of maxing this thing out at 1 GB. I purchased a 1gig stick of high-end OCZ performance ram that makes this laptop SING. The ATI chipset doesn't hold my ram back, AND I don't have to worry about wasting that 256mb I purchased. The dedicated card is more than happy to use it all up for a nice 256mb of dedicated video memory, something that lets this laptop play counterstrik Source at full-on graphics and 60fps with no problems.
80 GB, 5400rmp drive.
Why? The 7200 rpm is too small and too expensive, and the 4200rpm drive is just stupid. 80 will be enough for a laptop, and if it's not, don't give up performance just for an extra 20gigs. You can get an external HD for under 130$ that makes that 20gigs seem like pocketchange.
Lightscribe. Awsome. Dl-DVD burning on the go. Nuff said.
12-cell battery. 5.5 hours, easy. A little under 3 hours of strait gaming or ~5 DVD's ripped and burned (DL-DVD) without recharging. Very Nice. Also, the battery elevates the back of the laptop a little, making it a bit easier to type while it's actually in you're lap The extra under-space also keeps the air flowing, so you'll notice the fan a LOT less than a laptop with only that 1/4 in of clearance.
Finally, *Nix support is great. Suse 10.1 installed all by itself, and the wifi drivers work almost out of the box. You'll need to do a bit of tweaking to get it to work with a secured wifi network.
Misc.
The AC adapter is TINY. The cords bunched together take up more room that the power brick.
Get Brightview, or whatever they call it, very nice text.
The keyboard is well spaced, even for the hands that came with my 6'4" frame.
Cons? The screen is a bit dark compared to a top-end Dell 9000 series or a CRT.
The up/down viewing angle is a bit shallow, but the screen's got a wide tilt range.
Get a keyboard cover cloth. If you clamp down tightly on the lid when it's closed, you'll see a line across the screen where the keys where touching it. A $4 microfiber cloth from wallmart's sandpaper (irony?) dept. will solve this.
Remember, it give you the best performance PERIOD for this pricerange. So if glossy plastic, bigger footprint, and more blinking lights is worth $400 to you, go with the HP version of this laptop. For us college students on the go, this can't be beat. A dedicated video card option and better screen would have warranted a perfect 10.
