I'm a user of both the Compaq Armada 300 and the IBM ThinkPad 240. The M300 has a better, brighter TFT screen, the P-II version that I use has more power under the hood and the 95%-of-full-size keyboard beats most of the super-slim notebook competition. However, if, like me, you really a lot on keyboard use you could only wish that the Compaq people had managed to find out how to employ IBM's superior keyboard technology.

The M300 keyboard's travel and key-spacing leaves something to be desired. With one other reservation (noted below), if the keyboard were just a tad more like the IBM's, the Compaq unit would be at the top of my list.

The other reservation? It seems that once the battery is removed from the M300 it takes a devil of one's time to snap it back in without damaging the battery. I had to replace (twice) the M300 unit in order to deal with this breaking-battery problem. The Compaq tech support and customer relations people were superb in handling the replacement issue, but one tech support guy did concede that he had problems with the unit he was working with during our phone call when it came to putting the battery back in after its removal.

Finally, the expansion bay that one can buy with the unit is a fine feature; it's very light and the CD-ROM that can come along with the expansion bay is a delight to use.




Recommended: Yes