Fast and Nice Laptop
Written: Nov 18 '06 (Updated Nov 18 '06)
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Pros: Pros - 802.11b wireless, three USBs, Fast Pentium 4 - 2.4GHz
Cons: Cons - Battery life, unnecessary Floppy drive
The Bottom Line: In overall I do recommend this laptop. Even when it is 3 years old notebook, it is not going to be obsolete for another 3 years.
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| e_commentor's Full Review: Hewlett Packard Pavilion ze5375us (DC964A) PC Note... |
My office uses HP ZE5375 Laptop for demonstration of Videoconferencing Software. We needed a decent speed Laptop since we needed to show real time video conferencing at 30 frame per second using H.264 codec while the Antivirus kept running in the background. This laptop seems to do the job assigned to it pretty well.
The Laptop was purchased from ebay at a price tag of $450, a decent price for Pentium 4 at 2.40 GHz. It should be noted that the Laptop forms the ZE5300 series and its actual model number on the back of it is ZE5375US. You will see ZE5300 on the topright of the keyboard. That being said, ZE5375US is a less powerful member of the ZE5300 series at a lower price tag.
Look and Feel My first impression of this laptop is that it looks mechanically solid. I had to open it once as its backlight LCD inverter was damaged, and I had to replace it. The LCD hinges are mechanically tight. It looks a bit thicker, about 2" or so, than the usual laptop. At 7.5 lb , it is not big in size like that of zd8000, and therefore, it is manageable to carry around.
Processor,RAM and Speed With 2.4 GHz Pentium 4, it is really a fast computer. We had to do real time video compression that is a computing intensive job. Probably slighly slower speed would have been sufficient, but 2.4 GHz speed seems to be just good even when some other processes are running in the background. The HP ZE5375US comes with 512 MB of DDR memory that is sufficient for most works. It can be upgraded to 1 GB, if required. The memory upgrade may be required if you need to run two Operating systems simultaneously or if you are a developer. In overall, I am impressed with the speed of the laptop. I feel that it will not get obsolete at least for 3 more years. We may, however, be getting better low power hungry dual core processors in future that do the job better.
Hand Disk and DVD Drive The ZE5375US comes with a 40 GB Hard disk and a DVD / CD RW. Its big brother, ZE5300 comes with a DVD burner and 60 GB Hard disk. The hard disk space seems adequate for most practical purposes, however a DVD burner seems is definitely an added feature, as it is easy to keep back up in one DVD rather than having to use multiple CDs. But then it gets expensive.
The ZE5357US also features a 1.44 MB Floppy drive. I Think that they could have done away with the Floppy drive and thereby could have reduced the weight of the system by few tenths of a pound.
Connectors and Accessories The laptop has an inbuilt broadband ethernet connector, inbuilt 56K Modem, three USB 2.0 connectors, a forewire 1394 connector,S-Video, audio and microphone jack. I am impressed with the way USB connectors were placed - two on the back and one on the top right side. When you need to use something that you do not need to take out often, you can use the rear connectors. If you need to plug in and out something for short time, the right USB connector comes handy.
802.11b Wireless If there is one thing that impressed me about this laptop - it is the inbuilt wireless connectivity.
When I opened the laptop for inverter replacement, I could see the small PCB antenna paced under the top right side. Placement of antenna is crucial to optimum signal reception from design point of view. If the antennal is placed in an area surrounded by metallic covers the signal receptivity will be poor. For this reason some laptops place the antenna inside the LCD.The signal quality in ZE5375US was just ok. I am able to receive signal in my home at any of the place I work in "good" quality. I will update more on the signal quality if and when I test it.
Battery and Battery Life The Battery life, as expected, is not too high. For a Pentiun 4 Processor I never expected it to cross 2 hours mark. I have observed it lasting 1 hour 40 minutes or so. If battery life is a major concern, you should like at some more "mobile" oriented processors.
Miscellaneous The Laptop also has infraRed, however, I have not found any application where I could use it. I think bluetooth is getting more common way for wireless connectivity. It also has a Parallel Port which can be used for older printers. It also has a Compact Flash, Type I/II slot that can enhance any add on extension.
My thinking is, with built in 802.11b and potentially a bluetooth, you really do not need Floppy drive, CF slot, 25 Pin Parallel port. The only thing that is required is USB. In future, I think we are approaching towards it.
Issues
Five months after the laptop was purchased, the LCD inverter went dead. I had to purchase an inverter from ebay for $21 ( $15 cost of inverter and $6 for shipping and handling). If anyone is trying to replace the inverter himself I would suggest to download the manual from the hp website and go through it to find how open the Keyboards
The Laptop has a loud fan noise issue. I do find it a bit irritating working is a quite surrounding. There is however a BIOS update available from hp that potentially can reduce the Fan noise. I have however not tried that. I will update if I do it and I will update my review.
System Specifications
Pentium 2.4 ghz
512 mb DDR RAM
15 inch LCD 1024x768
ATI Radeon graphics Card
USB2.0 - 3 Ports
DVD/CDRW drive
1.44 md floppy drive
802.11B wireless
Firewire
10/100 network
Modem
Infared
Conexant AC-link audio
S-Video out
PS2 mouse
VGA Out
Parallel Port
Infra Red
Links
The HP Manuals can be found at
http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/manualCategory?cc=us&dlc=en&product=308217&lc=en&jumpid=reg_R1002_USEN
If you need to open the notebook, and if you are doing it for the first time, make sure you download the maintenence and sevice guide.
You may also like to check review on amazon
http://www.amazon.com/Pavilion-ze5375us-Notebook-2-40-GHz-Pentium/dp/B00008YGMB
Some short reviews can be found at
http://www.reviewcentre.com/reviews5881.html
In overall I do recommend this laptop. Even when it is 3 years old notebook, it is not going to be obsolete for another 3 years. The Thanksgiving sales are nearby and you will like to compare it with many of the notebook sales for about $450 - mostly Celerons and Semprons. If you could afford a bit higher, there are, however better laptops available today - dual
cores from AMD as well as Intel - with lower power consumption, increased battery life.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 450
Operating System: Windows
Processor: Intel Pentium
Processor speed: over 1000
Screen Size: 15 inches
RAM: More than 256
Internal Storage: CD-RW and DVD
Hard Drive (GB): 31-40
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Epinions.com ID:
e_commentor
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Member: Vikas Shukla
Location: Attleboro, MA , USA
Reviews written: 41
Trusted by: 16 members
About Me:
I am a hardware design engineer. I also provide SEO, Social media marketing consultancy.
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