Great computer with a few flaws
Written: Jul 06 '00
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Power, ease of use, price
Cons: Documentation, volume controls
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| Lucas67's Full Review: Compaq Presario 1600XL145 (A64028-003) PC Notebook |
I've had my Compaq Presario XL-145 for a month now and have found it to be everything it was advertised to be. First off, let me state that in my area of the country (Tampa Bay), no retail outlets had this machine in stock for weeks and they wouldnot part with their demos. I was set on gettingt his machine, so I went online searching for it. I guess I was lucky that no one had it in stock, because I was able to pick it up online for $1,999. Saved about $200! Anyways, the P3 500 mhz processor has more then enough power to run MS Office 2000 as well as many of the most popular games (Sims and Halflife for example). The display is excellent and the sound is suprisingly good, considering the size of the speakers. I was also very impressed with the playback quality, both audio and video, of the DVD player. The touchpad is responsive and easy to adjust to your liking. I had no problem setting up a free internet account and the built in 56K modem works great. Battery life is anywhere from 2-3 hours per charge. Not bad. I have not had an opportunity to use their tech support, which I guess is a good thing. My machine was ready to go out of the box.
What I wish they did different:
1. The Laptop has TV out capability, which means you can us any color TV as the display. This is good for presentations and for watching DVD movies on your TV. My complaint is that the documentation for this feature is almost non-existent. It merely says to hook up the Laptop to the TV, but it doesn't tell you how. Admittedly I haven't spent much time trying, but in the few minutes I tried, I was unable to get it to work. There is absolutely no documentation on what connections to make.
2. The volume control consists of two buttons (+,-). I would much rather have a dial or a knob, rather then holding one of these buttons down for 30 secoonds just to adjust the volume from high to low, or vice versa (The 30 seconds may be slightly exaggerated, but you get the idea). Guess I'm just impatient and this is a relatively minor inconvenience.
That's it, two relatively minor problems. You'll be hard pressed to find a machine at this price with all the features and power that this one has. I know, I shopped around and did my research. This is an excellent buy!
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
Lucas67
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Member: Luke
Location: St. Pete, FL
Reviews written: 3
Trusted by: 0 members
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