It's beautiful! And a good computer, too.
Written: Dec 01 '00
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Beautiful, fast and highly functional
Cons: Recharge often or die
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| Howard_U's Full Review: Fujitsu LIFEBOOK C6557 (FPC040393) PC Notebook |
Now I know what all the other guys felt like when they fell in love with their first car. You know how guys get, when they see a car they just have to have, get it, give it a pet name and wax it every weekend. I've been thinking about buying a laptop for over a year now and never quite could justify it. One look at this machine (calling to me from the middle of a row of similar machines) and I was pushed over the top.
There is no good way to describe it; you have to see it. Large and heavy for a laptop but a beautiful, gleaming silver to die for. Ah, but taste is a personal thing, you either like its looks or you don't. On to the functionality.
Good (outside of looks):
Touchpad -- I expected to hate it. Instead, it actually works quite well once you get used to it. One warning - you can simulate a mouse button press either by pressing the button or tapping the touchpad. The touchpad is very sensitive, so it is very easy to hit the button and the touchpad, and register as a double click when you intended a single click. Either make all you clicks on the touchpad or keep your finger well away from the pad after you hit the button.
Coolview display -- This display area remains visible even after you close the display screen. It contains lots of useful information, such as the charge status of your battery, the track if you are playing a CD, and the current status of keys like the Num Lock. Very convenient. On the minus side, it makes the footprint of the computer very large. As a result, this computer simply will not fit into smaller carrying cases.
Large storage capacity -- Many of us desktop jockeys have been spoiled by the 30-40 gig drives that are routine on our computers. A 6 gig drive on a laptop can fill up pretty fast. My version has a 15 gig drive, which, I suspect, will last me a while.
Connectivity -- This computer has ports for an amazing variety of devices, including two ways to interface with a wireless mouse (if the touchpad is not for you). Hook up your modem, your digital camera, your fancy monitor and your infrared-ready printer and you've got an awesome system. (Okay, I don't have all those things, but if I ever get them, the Lifebook is ready for me.)
Display -- The display is clear and sharp, with wonderful contrast. It does have to be viewed at just the right angle to get the full effect, but I was more impressed than I expected to be by a flat, laptop display.
Nicely functional keyboard -- Not much to say about this except it works for me. The only adjustment was that when I first started I tended to hit below the space bar, rather than on it. Otherwise, the keyboard (which features a fully functional numerical key pad when a control key is pressed) works well for me.
Bad (I guess it's not perfect):
The battery is dead inside of two hours. I was expecting at least three, based on the salesperson in the store. Teach me to trust salespeople. But, then, I'm doing disk-intensive applications (read, games) most of the time & I suppose that puts quite a load on the batteries.
64 meg memory - Hasn't been a problem yet, but I was surprised that a machine with this speed (650 megahertz) and capacity (15 gig) didn't have 128 meg standard. I suspect I'll have to get additional memory down the road.
MS Works instead of MS Office 2000. Between Wordperfect, Word and Works, Works would be my third choice. I have no idea why Works was included here.
All in all, I'm very happy with this, my first laptop. I'll keep you updated as I explore and find more to like and dislike. For example, I haven't tried out the DVD drive. I'll let you know.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID: Howard_U
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Member: Howard Underwood
Location: Fremont, CA
Reviews written: 35
Trusted by: 29 members
About Me: World's most happily married man.
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