Compaq Armada M300 (124788-052) PC Notebook

Pros: light weight, thin, built in network and modem, add on expansion unit available
Cons: base unit not expandable, poor battery life

Two years ago my company standardized our corporate purchasing policy. Therefore we were forced to buy one specific desktop and one laptop. The laptop that we settled on was the Gateway Solo line. At first, the Gateways appeared to be a good fit.
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Pros: Size, quality, magnezium casing, updated drivers, support.
Cons: Keyboard, battery life.

The Compaq Armada M300 belongs to the subnotebook family, where size matters vs. performance/features.

My model is upgraded to 320 MB Ram (with a Kingston 256 MB module from eCost.com) and has Windows XP installed.


Screen ...

Pros: Light, good keyboard
Cons: Power Saving has never worked right

I have had the Armada for about 6 months now and feel like I can give it a fair shake. It is a company machine, so I did not have to pay for any of the peripherals. I have the floppy drive and have used a USB CD without any problems.

Short...

Pros: Small size, good screen, well built, great speakers, quiet
Cons: Expensive, add-ons limited, memory expansion limited, strange keyboard

I received the Compaq m300 from a client about the time I just ordered a Dell Inspiron 4000 for home use. As much as I liked the Dell, it was rather heavy to carry around every day. I had a clients that used the Compaq m300 and its tiny size really...

Pros: Thin, light
Cons: Expensive need extras

I purchase many computers/laptops for employees at the company I work for as a Computer technician. The Armada M300 is ok for a thin model. Some problems I had:

1. The Armada is not very configurable. You have to choose from predefined...

Pros: Very thin, stable, easy to manage
Cons: Short battery life

I got my M300 a couple months ago from ebay for about uS$1400.
Here's what i got:
Intel Pentium III 500 Mhz
64 MB of RAM
12 GB Hard Drive
11.3" SVGA TFT (800x600), ouch!
DVD-ROM MEU (Mobile Expansion Unit)

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Pros: Well designed; Strong construction; Light-weight; Very Thin.
Cons: Short-life Battery and some minor design issues (keyboard, MEU)

Before I start, I would like to point out that this review is meant to judge the M300 AS A SUBNOTEBOOK; NOT subnotebooks in general. I found that much of the negative reviews confused the 2 issues.

This subnotebook (P3-600, 12.1 TFT, 12G)...

Pros: Price, Size, Weight, Performance, Screen, Touchpad
Cons: Keyboard (?), no CDROM, Expensive Docking Station, Hard Drive not User Serviceable!

I bought the Compaq Armada M300 new on ebay.com from HoustonSales for about $1,000. The specs on my model (the cheapest of the M300 line) are Celeron 333Mhz, 64MB memory, 4GB hard drive, USB/Ser/Par, 11+" XGA screen, 95% keyboard, and 2.9LBS...

Pros: Thin, light, rugged, good keyboard
Cons: Needs extended battery, screen is OK, keyboard area a bit fragile

I've been using a Compaq Armada M300 for about a year (after I retired my Sony VAIO SX). In addition to the new system I went from Windows 98 to Windows 2000.

My system is a 600Mhz PII with 196MB of RAM, Windows 2000 SP2, 12GB drive. I...

Pros: light, rugged, compact
Cons: Keyboard too small

My company leased a Compaq Armada M300 for me recently after I made a complaint about the size of my old laptop, an old Toshiba 486 dinosaur. I said I wanted something much smaller and more portable and that’s what I got. I was somewhat flattered when...

Pros: lightweight, expansion, thin, look
Cons: overheating

Great deal if bought these times, shouldn't be more than 300 bucks; it has good expansion possibility to 320MB RAM, HDD, peripherals (i recommend a USB hub 4slots). If installed latest power save technology from Intel website good gain for battery life (up to 3 hours). If there's also the docking station available (easy and cheap to find on eBay) really you have all the expansion you need. Very good rate for the ATI Rage video card - only 4MB but great view - i am using it quite frequent for DivX movies watch. I also installed a D-Link wireless 802.11g card - works great.