Hi everybody!
I am freshly off the new ACER8204 crap, and really am looking for a decent desktop replacement, so I have got some recommendations and had a look at HP. There was no info about the newcomer nx9420 so I gave a call to the local HP demo center here and the guys were extremely supportive. They said they did not have any and they are off packing stuff for a special showcase out of the town, but they would see what they can do. They ended up ordering the nx9420 and gave me a call to come - since it is like 20 minutes from my place, I was there in a minute
I am sorry I can not provide any pictures, but if I (most likely) end up buying one I will definitely post some with review.
Well, the 17" rig was just out of the case installing the last poritons of the software and burning the recovery discs.
First impressions
Great! Great and great! Comming from fancy carbon fibre chasis of ACER one can say it is somwhat ordinary design, but I fell in love with this one! It is very nice built, well weighted, really not too too heavy making it the most portable 17" laptop I have seen recently. Very solid build, especially the lid cover with almost no flex and no impact on the screen (no ripples, only with really hard push). Smooth graphit design and polished plastic for palmrests. Absolutely no bend or flex when opening or closing the screen lid and and very fine finish of every detail. All in all packed into very simple but the more practical well known design of HPs nx series. Oh, and it is everything but thick. It definitely is not thick! It is just fine to grab with your hand and carry around, it feels very solid and strong, no squeeks or whatever. 3.35kg and 3.93 mm of thickness is just superfine for such powerful 17" notebook, even some 15" sized notebooks owners could get envious, seriously!! It is just 3 cm longer than my ACER 803LCi with 15" and the same thickness!
What was inside
Okay under the nice and as for me practical looking chassis there was this configuration hidden:
Intel Core Duo processor T2300* (1.66-GHz, 667-MHz FSB, 2-MB L2 cache)
Mobile Intel 945PM Express Chipset with 667-MHz front side bus
17.0-inch WXGA+ display with 1440 x 900 resolution and 16M colors
60GB 5.4K RPM
512MB 667MHz DDR II SDRAM
WinXPH
DVD+-RW
8-cell Li-Ion battery
Intel 802.11 a/b/g
Bluetooth
ATI Radeon X1600 PCI 256MB
LAN10/100/Gbit
TOUCHPAD
modem 56K
Microphone
Ambient Light Sensor
Integrated Numeric Keypad
It was not my desired configuration as I definitely would liek to go for the 80GB HDD and 1.83 T2400 CoreDuo with WSXGA+ VW BrightView screen and 1GB of RAM, but this system still had some nice stuff to offer. Especially the 667RAM and X1600 together with the full set a/b/g Intel chip was very decent offer.
Screen
Well, this was my biggest dissapointment. The screen was somewhat dimm with major light leakage in the bottom and the sides. It also had these famous grey lines as disscused in other forums: http://www.notebookforums.com/showthread.php?t=136500 It appeared to be lower quality LCD with dark corners in the bottom of the screen. Basically every like second row of pixels was bit lighter than the previous one. It is a mojr technique for the production of some cheep LCDs, Samsung is well known for such with their LTN crap used by ACER and some other companies. I mean, for bussines purposes and just MS Office tasks, it is just fine, but you are not buying such lappy for using MS Word only, right? I am sure by some tweaks in the CATALYST Center you can get some more of the brightness but, still, this 1440x900 LCD can not be compare (not even far) with Sony Vaio, IBM nx6610 or even mid range ACER products screen. Plus it is equiped with such a card like X1600 is and that is really a waste of effort to produce 17" screen with sucha poor quality
But let me add, this was the lowes model which is supposed to be the only one with the 1440 x 900 screen and matte finish, so I am strongly hoping that the BrightView and Wide Vienwing Angle technology on the two higher versions will be night and day.
Graphics
Well, HP opted for X1600 this time with 256MB of memory to power up such nice realestate that 17" are giving. It is a second class graphic card with really nice potential but also some initial buggs as I could experience before http://www.notebookforums.com/showthread.php?t=133535 . Well, I had just like 30 minutes for the whole overview of the lappy so there was no way to run any benchmarks but I am happy to say the card does not produce any buzzing noise as it does on some other notebooks, the only time it buzzes is when handling applications like this: (http://www.tokamakphysics.com/demos.htm - get the tokamak demos). But also that timne you really need to get your ears close to the keyboard and need to know hwat to look for.
With ACER 8204 equiped with X1600 there were some discussions of colours and splotches on the screen with the suspect on the screen quality. Actually there can be some like "noise visible" on the screen (like a little grain that keeps its place while moving the textures through, which does not make the black pure black, but bit of noisy black etc...) also here, and I think this might be graphic card related issue. Some people reported it is a driver thing, some say it is a screen, I do not really know, both options can be correct, I would be happier if it was a screen, cause otherwise it would be pretty much a disqualifaying feature for X1600 that is such widespread at high end systems now. You can get some oeverview of the problem here: http://www.notebookforums.com/showthread.php?t=146370
Otherwise the ATI X1600 offers full control interface via Catalyst control center which can be defaultly called up through the display properties. No buzzing with the 3D car demo, no major issues, I can not asses the behaviour of it in the games, all I can say is that it was really powerful within my TM8204 and this should be the same chip. I highly minded the quality of the screen putting lines to the photos etc, but again this was the lowest and the only one priduct line with 1440 x 900.
Ports and interfaces
Well, the DVD burner (that runs very very quiet!) on the right side and the fan on the left one, I was happy with this two major things distribution. The TM8240 had it opposite way and it was bit wierd. It comes odd to me that the power cord plug is like in the middle of the left side of the notebook, just following the fan, but, I really did not have any issues with that, just everyday usage will show really. The back side looks really cool as there is just the battery and the screen - giving it just a slim and professional look!
Keyboard
The keyboard is probably well known for the HP users, I mean, for me comming from ACER it has somewhat deep touch but, it is OK. The touch-pad works very nice and there are no loose buttins or cursors flying across the screen incoordinately...
The numpad is actually a nice feature. The calculator button calls up the calculator immediately and that is pretty useful I guess. There are the audio buttons, WiFi button as well. There is hardly a flex on the keyboard and it feels really nice and comfortable to type on it.
Performance
Actually, I can not judge, not even far, thios feature. It was spankin new unit and while trying it out, it sitll was building the recovery discs and that took forever, even for apps to start. Even core duo got some work to do and was not perfectly fluent. But again it is just 1.66 with 512MB of RAM - as for this it was doing very much all right.
Speakers
Quite poor, but crisp clean with lack of bass, but this is the same old song except when using Harman Kardon, which is not that case.
Other stuff
Well, there is this Ambient light sensor, which is suppost to automatically set the brightness of the laptop according to the outside light conditions...I did not get a chance to see this working, but again, the screen was really poor, so I do not mind anyway. Important feature I guess is the chance to disable this thing and that counts
The memory card slots are in the front with speaker and mic ports on the very left close to the front.
Conclusion
Really cool and very decent looking slim 17" lappy woth huge potential- as what I coudl see from my 60 minutes hands on it. The higher configurations with better screen must be making a real beast out of this notebook. The screen area gives a lot of realestate and combined with X1600 it is pretty much one of the high end options for quite interesting price! This is not ment to be a full review just some overview what vibes the machine is giving and what to expect buildwise etc...
Any comments or experience from others very welcome!
cheers
I am freshly off the new ACER8204 crap, and really am looking for a decent desktop replacement, so I have got some recommendations and had a look at HP. There was no info about the newcomer nx9420 so I gave a call to the local HP demo center here and the guys were extremely supportive. They said they did not have any and they are off packing stuff for a special showcase out of the town, but they would see what they can do. They ended up ordering the nx9420 and gave me a call to come - since it is like 20 minutes from my place, I was there in a minute
I am sorry I can not provide any pictures, but if I (most likely) end up buying one I will definitely post some with review.
Well, the 17" rig was just out of the case installing the last poritons of the software and burning the recovery discs.
First impressions
Great! Great and great! Comming from fancy carbon fibre chasis of ACER one can say it is somwhat ordinary design, but I fell in love with this one! It is very nice built, well weighted, really not too too heavy making it the most portable 17" laptop I have seen recently. Very solid build, especially the lid cover with almost no flex and no impact on the screen (no ripples, only with really hard push). Smooth graphit design and polished plastic for palmrests. Absolutely no bend or flex when opening or closing the screen lid and and very fine finish of every detail. All in all packed into very simple but the more practical well known design of HPs nx series. Oh, and it is everything but thick. It definitely is not thick! It is just fine to grab with your hand and carry around, it feels very solid and strong, no squeeks or whatever. 3.35kg and 3.93 mm of thickness is just superfine for such powerful 17" notebook, even some 15" sized notebooks owners could get envious, seriously!! It is just 3 cm longer than my ACER 803LCi with 15" and the same thickness!
What was inside
Okay under the nice and as for me practical looking chassis there was this configuration hidden:
Intel Core Duo processor T2300* (1.66-GHz, 667-MHz FSB, 2-MB L2 cache)
Mobile Intel 945PM Express Chipset with 667-MHz front side bus
17.0-inch WXGA+ display with 1440 x 900 resolution and 16M colors
60GB 5.4K RPM
512MB 667MHz DDR II SDRAM
WinXPH
DVD+-RW
8-cell Li-Ion battery
Intel 802.11 a/b/g
Bluetooth
ATI Radeon X1600 PCI 256MB
LAN10/100/Gbit
TOUCHPAD
modem 56K
Microphone
Ambient Light Sensor
Integrated Numeric Keypad
It was not my desired configuration as I definitely would liek to go for the 80GB HDD and 1.83 T2400 CoreDuo with WSXGA+ VW BrightView screen and 1GB of RAM, but this system still had some nice stuff to offer. Especially the 667RAM and X1600 together with the full set a/b/g Intel chip was very decent offer.
Screen
Well, this was my biggest dissapointment. The screen was somewhat dimm with major light leakage in the bottom and the sides. It also had these famous grey lines as disscused in other forums: http://www.notebookforums.com/showthread.php?t=136500 It appeared to be lower quality LCD with dark corners in the bottom of the screen. Basically every like second row of pixels was bit lighter than the previous one. It is a mojr technique for the production of some cheep LCDs, Samsung is well known for such with their LTN crap used by ACER and some other companies. I mean, for bussines purposes and just MS Office tasks, it is just fine, but you are not buying such lappy for using MS Word only, right? I am sure by some tweaks in the CATALYST Center you can get some more of the brightness but, still, this 1440x900 LCD can not be compare (not even far) with Sony Vaio, IBM nx6610 or even mid range ACER products screen. Plus it is equiped with such a card like X1600 is and that is really a waste of effort to produce 17" screen with sucha poor quality
But let me add, this was the lowes model which is supposed to be the only one with the 1440 x 900 screen and matte finish, so I am strongly hoping that the BrightView and Wide Vienwing Angle technology on the two higher versions will be night and day.
Graphics
Well, HP opted for X1600 this time with 256MB of memory to power up such nice realestate that 17" are giving. It is a second class graphic card with really nice potential but also some initial buggs as I could experience before http://www.notebookforums.com/showthread.php?t=133535 . Well, I had just like 30 minutes for the whole overview of the lappy so there was no way to run any benchmarks but I am happy to say the card does not produce any buzzing noise as it does on some other notebooks, the only time it buzzes is when handling applications like this: (http://www.tokamakphysics.com/demos.htm - get the tokamak demos). But also that timne you really need to get your ears close to the keyboard and need to know hwat to look for.
With ACER 8204 equiped with X1600 there were some discussions of colours and splotches on the screen with the suspect on the screen quality. Actually there can be some like "noise visible" on the screen (like a little grain that keeps its place while moving the textures through, which does not make the black pure black, but bit of noisy black etc...) also here, and I think this might be graphic card related issue. Some people reported it is a driver thing, some say it is a screen, I do not really know, both options can be correct, I would be happier if it was a screen, cause otherwise it would be pretty much a disqualifaying feature for X1600 that is such widespread at high end systems now. You can get some oeverview of the problem here: http://www.notebookforums.com/showthread.php?t=146370
Otherwise the ATI X1600 offers full control interface via Catalyst control center which can be defaultly called up through the display properties. No buzzing with the 3D car demo, no major issues, I can not asses the behaviour of it in the games, all I can say is that it was really powerful within my TM8204 and this should be the same chip. I highly minded the quality of the screen putting lines to the photos etc, but again this was the lowest and the only one priduct line with 1440 x 900.
Ports and interfaces
Well, the DVD burner (that runs very very quiet!) on the right side and the fan on the left one, I was happy with this two major things distribution. The TM8240 had it opposite way and it was bit wierd. It comes odd to me that the power cord plug is like in the middle of the left side of the notebook, just following the fan, but, I really did not have any issues with that, just everyday usage will show really. The back side looks really cool as there is just the battery and the screen - giving it just a slim and professional look!
Keyboard
The keyboard is probably well known for the HP users, I mean, for me comming from ACER it has somewhat deep touch but, it is OK. The touch-pad works very nice and there are no loose buttins or cursors flying across the screen incoordinately...
The numpad is actually a nice feature. The calculator button calls up the calculator immediately and that is pretty useful I guess. There are the audio buttons, WiFi button as well. There is hardly a flex on the keyboard and it feels really nice and comfortable to type on it.Performance
Actually, I can not judge, not even far, thios feature. It was spankin new unit and while trying it out, it sitll was building the recovery discs and that took forever, even for apps to start. Even core duo got some work to do and was not perfectly fluent. But again it is just 1.66 with 512MB of RAM - as for this it was doing very much all right.
Speakers
Quite poor, but crisp clean with lack of bass, but this is the same old song except when using Harman Kardon, which is not that case.
Other stuff
Well, there is this Ambient light sensor, which is suppost to automatically set the brightness of the laptop according to the outside light conditions...I did not get a chance to see this working, but again, the screen was really poor, so I do not mind anyway. Important feature I guess is the chance to disable this thing and that counts
The memory card slots are in the front with speaker and mic ports on the very left close to the front.
Conclusion
Really cool and very decent looking slim 17" lappy woth huge potential- as what I coudl see from my 60 minutes hands on it. The higher configurations with better screen must be making a real beast out of this notebook. The screen area gives a lot of realestate and combined with X1600 it is pretty much one of the high end options for quite interesting price! This is not ment to be a full review just some overview what vibes the machine is giving and what to expect buildwise etc...
Any comments or experience from others very welcome!
cheers
