Solid new business notebook choice from HP
Written: Sep 04 '05
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Pros: Excellent fit & finish, relatively sturdy, good keyboard.
Cons: Display and speakers are only average.
The Bottom Line: Business users who want a well-built notebook computer with 3-years standard warranty coverage will find the nc6230 a good choice.
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| KarsinTheHutt's Full Review: Hewlett Packard Compaq nc6230 (PU984AW) PC Noteboo... |
I recently had the opportunity to test out an HP Compaq nc6230. It's not a perfect machine, but its excellent fit & finish, good durability, and pleasant keyboard make it a fine choice for a business user.
System Specifications: HP Compaq nc6230
Intel Pentium M processor, 1.86 GHz (2MB L2, 533 MHz FSB)
Intel 915PM Express chipset
512MB DDR-II SDRAM
60GB 5400RPM HDD
ATI Mobility Radeon X300, 64MB
14” XGA display, 1024x768 resolution
Intel 2200BG wireless (802.11b/g)
Dual pointing devices (touchpad+trackpoint)
Lock slot, LAN, modem, 3xUSB2, PC Card slot, SD slot
DVD/CD-RW combo drive, swappable bay
SoundMax audio chip
Approx ~2.23kg (4.9lbs), 25-30.5mm (1-1.2”) thick.
3-year warranty.
General Construction (4.5/5): The nc6230 is a well-manufactured machine. The top cover (lid) that houses the LCD is composed of magnesium alloy that feels solid and cool to the touch, and the surface of the cover has a pleasant matte finish that makes the notebook easy to hold on to. On the top edge of the lid one can find a single sliding latch that controls the two hooks responsible for keeping the lid secure to the base when the machine is closed. This single latch system makes it easy to open the lid with one hand. The interior of the lid, the area right around the LCD panel itself, is an ABS plastic bezel. Rubber feet strategically placed on the bezel keep the panel from coming into contact with the keyboard. After two weeks of use, the rubber feet seem to have done their job – there are no key marks anywhere on the LCD. Unfortunately, the TrackPoint still makes contact with the display, leaving a mark that one can see on the LCD upon close examination.
HP used standard ABS plastic for constructing the exterior of the nc6230’s base. From what I could see of the interior structure by removing the battery from its bay, it appears that the internal structure is some sort of composite that looks and feels like the structural materials in the IBM ThinkPad T40. The hinges that connect the base to the LCD housing feel fairly solid and keep the LCD in place, but they too are composed of ABS plastic as opposed to more advanced composites.
Overall, the fit and finish of the nc6230 is superb. I examined the nc6230 closely, checking all the joints and areas where pieces connected. I am pleased to report that the components are precisely placed and connected.
Input Devices (4/5): Keyboard quality is one area where notebooks have suffered in recent years. Thankfully, the nc6230 has a good keyboard. The keys have a rough but pleasant tactile feel and plenty of travel. Keystrokes are moderately solid, and the keyboard as a whole feels stable. Some flexing did occur with the keys to the right of the ‘L’ key, leading me to believe that the keyboard needs a bit more support in the area over the optical bay. The one thing I did find annoying about the keyboard was the small size of the function keys.
The nc6230 has an excellent touchpad courtesy of Synaptics. The pad itself has the usual scroll zones, and two rubber textured buttons. The buttons have satisfying travel depth and good feedback. Unfortunately, the nc6230’s TrackPoint is less than stellar. The blue cap is made of rubber with small bumps on it, and has a nice tactile feel. However, the movement of the pointer itself feels stiff, and the buttons are mediocre. While they have the same rubbery texture as the touchpad buttons, the TrackPoint buttons have shallow travel depth and poor feedback. The lack of a scroll key is also a disadvantage.
Output Devices (3/5): The 14” XGA display on the nc6230 is nothing to write home about. With its 1024x768 resolution and matte finish, it’s not a showstopper, and its mediocre brightness (looks about 150-170 nits) may not be enough for some people. Horizontal viewing angle is poor, and the display washes out quickly if one moves to the left or right of center of the machine. Vertical viewing angles are also poor, and the bottom of the display seems a bit washed out compared to the top. Response time was mediocre, resulting in moderate ghosting in some games and DVDs. Despite these deficiencies, the nc6230’s panel is adequate for doing work: coding, word processing, spreadsheets, and that sort of thing. It’s no better and no worse than displays on most business class machines, but if you want multimedia, there are better notebooks out there (like the HP dv1000 series).
One innovative feature on the nc6230 is an ambient light sensor that automatically adjusts the brightness of the display when the machine is on battery power. In a dark room, the sensor will reduce the backlight brightness, and in a sunny room, the sensor will increase the backlight brightness. The user can override the sensor using the key combination fn+f9/f10 to increase or decrease the brightness.
Speakers are mediocre, but that’s unfortunately par for the course in business notebooks.
Battery Life: Using Centrino Hardware Control, I observed power consumption at 11-12W with display at absolute minimum and light usage (word processing, etc). With a 48Watt/hr battery, this translates into 3.5-4 hours of battery life, and probably 3-3.5 with WiFi enabled.
Noise, Heat, Other Problems: In general use, the fan kicked in a lot, and did make a bit of noise. However, the noise is fairly even and continuous, and I did not find it annoying. The best I can describe it is a present, but gentle whir.
I noticed that quiet, but high pitched noises would emanate from the nc6230 when I was running it on battery power. Unfortunately, I was unable to track down the source of the noise on the nc6230. I should note that I have sensitive hearing and that some people may not notice the noise.
Other Comments: The right hand palm rest on the nc6230 can get warm because the hard drive bay is located directly beneath it.
The system fan intake is on the underside of the machine and could get blocked if the machine is sitting on a bed, lap, or anything else that that isn’t a flat desk. Machines with bottom fan intakes may also get clogged up with dust more quickly than machines with side fan intakes.
Conclusion: The HP Compaq nc6230 makes a good business-class notebook. It is meticulously constructed, sturdy, and has a great keyboard. Though the multimedia capabilities are nothing to write home about, the nc6230 should serve extremely well in most work environments, and compares favorably against the IBM ThinkPad T and Dell Latitude D series of notebooks.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 1500
Operating System: Windows
Processor: Other
Processor speed: over 1000
Screen Size: 14 inches
RAM: More than 256
Internal Storage: CD-RW and DVD
Hard Drive (GB): Over 50
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Epinions.com ID:
KarsinTheHutt
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Member: Karsin Eng
Location: United States of America
Reviews written: 83
Trusted by: 19 members
About Me:
I am a part time computer hobbyist and moderator at forum.thinkpads.com
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