A good, sturdy Pentium III notebook with perks to boot
Written: Sep 15 '03 (Updated Sep 18 '03)
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Pros: Great at handling any type of task or application you throw at it
Cons: It does so much, it makes you want to do so little.
The Bottom Line: Internet, movies, music, games...its all handled right here in the N5445. It'll do what you want, hold what you need, and hold up when you might not.
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| chakka26's Full Review: Hewlett Packard Pavilion N5445 (F3941H) PC Noteboo... |
When I set out to buy a new laptop, it was more out of necessity than just a technology upgrade. First, school requires I have a portable, flexible PC which can handle my entertainment and educational needs. Secondly, the entertainment aspect of my computing was put on hold when a friend accidentally smashed my previous notebook. Oh well, it was just a P133 with 16 megs of Ram...but still.
The HP Pavilion N5445 fit the description of the notebook I wanted, with a hefty 1.1 GHz Pentium 3 processor with 196 megs of RAM. Needless to say, if I stopped there, I would have easily replaced any feature I missed from my old P133. But not only was I very happy about the flexibility, portability, and ease of use, it also has a CD R/RW drive that also functions as a quality DVD ROM drive. Being a musician, it certainly allows more freedoms concerning audio management and CD creation of demos or polished recordings.
The audio system handles music quite nicely through its somewhat small speakers. The speakers are made by Polk Audio which is probably why they sound so good. Video via DVD or video games is also quite enjoyable as the solid graphics processor and processing muscle of the CPU provide a smooth experience for the eyes as well. Add to that a 15" Active Matrix screen, and it feels downright wrong not to take this thing wherever you go.
Going is pretty much all I do as a college student. I always need a computer around for online homework, email, or word processing (those blasted lab reports). This Pavilion is perfect for all three, with internet ports for either 56k dialup or ethernet connection. The unintroducable Microsoft Word handles most of my word processing, and I only really use Excel otherwise from the Microsoft Office package. This computer has no trouble handling these programs, as I have rarely experienced any problem whatsoever with them.
Microsoft Windows XP came bundled with the notebook, and it has acted sort of sketchy concerning application and hardware installations. Most of those bugs have been worked out by now, and it has nothing to do with this review really.
The HP Pavilion N5445 notebook has been a durable companion this last year. Man, have I shown it the ropes, but still it keeps doing its job. Though this computer may not be found new in many stores anymore, it is still a good buy as a used machine. This is of course not accounting for the condition the machine was kept before it was available for purchase. If you can find one of these, and I bet you can, you might get a great deal on a great computer for under $1000. Movies, music, internet, academics...this notebook is perfect. Just remember to warn friends of its location at all times, or if you think ahead, just keep it out of sight.
Chakka
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 1000
Operating System: Windows
Processor: Intel Pentium III
Processor speed: over 1000
Screen Size: 15 inches
RAM: 128
Internal Storage: CD-RW and DVD
Hard Drive (GB): 13-20
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chakka26
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Location: Indiana
Reviews written: 81
Trusted by: 71 members
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