rtag's Area-51m 5500 Review - Page 2

I'd been meaning to take a picture of the 9-cell battery installed.

I updated the review with two 9-cell battery pictures.

The backpack's backside is very padded and the front even more so. The laptop slips into a compartment inside the main compartment of the backpack, which helps to shield it further. It really seems like it does a good job of keeping the laptop safe, though I still wouldn't like to drop the backpack a few feet or something with the laptop in it.

I've had the laptop long enough now that I'm finally getting to take it out with me a bit more. The backpack has been working great for transporting it.

I agree about not wanting to use the 9-cell all the time. It makes the laptop a little heavier, which I prefer avoiding unless I'm using it at a table. Very nice having it for that boost of battery time though.

I can carry the m5500 balanced on my forearm with my hand folding over it just find. That way might make your arm get a bit tired after too long though. I generally prefer to carry it two-handed, but you can carry it with one hand easily enough if needed.

Yeah, I checked it. Thanks!

Yeah, I couldn't see carrying the 7700 in the messenger bag without permanent shoulder damage.

I carry it from upstairs to downstairs in my house quite a bit. I also use it on my lap a lot while sitting on a couch. No problems with it being heavy or inconvenient with those. I haven't had the opportunity to take it out of the house much yet. I used it while waiting in the car though. Worked great there.

I'm going on a three day trip later this week, which will be my first major trip with it. So that will be a nice test of portability, batteries, and wi-fi.

Thanks wantahon! Glad my review helped you.


I just got home from my trip a few hours ago. My laptop sure needs a good charge now.

The m5500 handled the trip great.

I tried wi-fi at my hotel the first night, but it worked on and off and wouldn't stay on long enough for some web pages to even open. As this was my first time using wi-fi, it caused me to worry about the quality of my wireless card. The next day I took my laptop over to a friend's house, who happened to have wi-fi. After finally getting the security code for his connection correct, I was able to get it working. All my wi-fi worries are gone. The connection was perfect. Amazing speed and the connection never dropped. So I know my laptop's wireless works great and it's just the hotel's connection that was bad. I actually got the hotel connection running workably that night, though it still dropped it quite a bit.

While I was at my friend's house, we did a little gaming (Oblivion). We got maybe 30 minutes of wanton killing before the battery (6-cell) started beeping (6% power left). Since we played around with the laptop maybe 20 minutes before starting Oblivion, the battery hadn't started at 100%. After quitting Oblivion, I switched to the 9-cell battery (which was a Godsend to have). We were able to run it at least another hour playing with the wireless internet just using the integrated graphics card (and USB mouse) and only drained the battery (9-cell) maybe 30%.

The backpack was absolutely great for the trip. Fit right behind the passenger side of the seat in my truck. Easy to carry to and from the hotel and to my friend's house. Easily held everything I needed to take with me. It ended up containing: m5500 (with 6-cell), AC adapter, mouse, mouse pad, 9-cell battery, Oblivion DVD, cell phone, cell phone charger, iPod, iPod charger, digital camera, and cables to connect iPod and camera to the laptop. Even with all that stuff in it, there was a lot of empty space in the bag.

Now that I'm home, it's time to go charge my baby. It deserves it. After that test trial, I'm really looking forward to using it at college this fall.

Whoops. Didn't see your question until now. I don't have Battlefield 2, so I wouldn't know.