Overall, I love it. Awesome laptop. Very thin, very light for a 17".
I got the base model, and added a gig of my own ram.
Screen:
Very nice. Crispy, good colors. Slight light leakage on absolute black screens, and the bottom extreme corners go a little dim, but nothing I notice when actually using the laptop. Good brightness that works even in a sunlit room. No flex, I can press on the back and there is no discoloring.
Speakers:
Awesome! Loudest laptop speakers I've had. I thought my z71v had good speakers, but these are as loud at half volume as the z71v is at full volume. Very clear and crisp.
GPU:
This was the most important part of the laptop for me. The GPU runs at 450, and the memory 600 mhz. It runs Prey with everything maxed and AA on 2x (though I prefer AA off) at full 1680x1050. Counterstrike Source runs over 100fps with everything maxed at 1680x1050. So far every game I've thrown at it, it runs at max.
Keyboard:
I like it better than my kensington scissor keyboard for my desktop at work, I like it better than the macbook pro keyboard, and better than the old z71v keyboard. Hands down the best laptop keyboard I've ever used. Zero flex, it feels like it's on a concrete slab, and the keypresses are very satisfying and chunky. It's like a blend between a regular scissor keyboard and a regular desktop keyboard. Best of both worlds in my opinion.
Battery life has been good too, looks to be around 2.5 hours of usable time with wifi on and screen brightness maxed, and longer if either of those are off.
Top runs cool, or slightly warm to the touch, bottom can get a little hot, but nothing too worrisome. I've used it directly on my bare legs plenty.
The laptop is gorgeous, thin and light, super powerful performance, looks to have a bit of upgradability (go up to 7200 rpm from 5400 rpm, 667 mhz memory from 533, and possible cpu upgrade) I love the slate grey color and design, best laptop design on the market in my opinion.
My only problem was reformating. HP has HORRIBLE support in terms of the drivers on their website. They currently do not have restore discs on hand for this model, because they haven't been made yet. Brilliant, sell a laptop and then don't have your support online for weeks. Most manufacturers include disks in the box, and for the .05 cents savings, HP decided not to, bad move on their part. I had to assemble the drivers from various other model pages, the manufacturers of the parts pages, and random internet places. Sucked hardcore. But now I have a slipstreamed copy of XP with all of them integrated. *shakes fist at HP's support*
I don't think there is another laptop out there that is more suited for a 3d artist than the nw9440, it's affordable (the base model) and very well made. I'm glad of my purchasing choice, and I give it a 9.5 out of 10. I'd give it a full 10 if the screen had no dark corners or light leakage.
Ask any questions you want.
I got the base model, and added a gig of my own ram.
Screen:
Very nice. Crispy, good colors. Slight light leakage on absolute black screens, and the bottom extreme corners go a little dim, but nothing I notice when actually using the laptop. Good brightness that works even in a sunlit room. No flex, I can press on the back and there is no discoloring.
Speakers:
Awesome! Loudest laptop speakers I've had. I thought my z71v had good speakers, but these are as loud at half volume as the z71v is at full volume. Very clear and crisp.
GPU:
This was the most important part of the laptop for me. The GPU runs at 450, and the memory 600 mhz. It runs Prey with everything maxed and AA on 2x (though I prefer AA off) at full 1680x1050. Counterstrike Source runs over 100fps with everything maxed at 1680x1050. So far every game I've thrown at it, it runs at max.
Keyboard:
I like it better than my kensington scissor keyboard for my desktop at work, I like it better than the macbook pro keyboard, and better than the old z71v keyboard. Hands down the best laptop keyboard I've ever used. Zero flex, it feels like it's on a concrete slab, and the keypresses are very satisfying and chunky. It's like a blend between a regular scissor keyboard and a regular desktop keyboard. Best of both worlds in my opinion.
Battery life has been good too, looks to be around 2.5 hours of usable time with wifi on and screen brightness maxed, and longer if either of those are off.
Top runs cool, or slightly warm to the touch, bottom can get a little hot, but nothing too worrisome. I've used it directly on my bare legs plenty.
The laptop is gorgeous, thin and light, super powerful performance, looks to have a bit of upgradability (go up to 7200 rpm from 5400 rpm, 667 mhz memory from 533, and possible cpu upgrade) I love the slate grey color and design, best laptop design on the market in my opinion.
My only problem was reformating. HP has HORRIBLE support in terms of the drivers on their website. They currently do not have restore discs on hand for this model, because they haven't been made yet. Brilliant, sell a laptop and then don't have your support online for weeks. Most manufacturers include disks in the box, and for the .05 cents savings, HP decided not to, bad move on their part. I had to assemble the drivers from various other model pages, the manufacturers of the parts pages, and random internet places. Sucked hardcore. But now I have a slipstreamed copy of XP with all of them integrated. *shakes fist at HP's support*
I don't think there is another laptop out there that is more suited for a 3d artist than the nw9440, it's affordable (the base model) and very well made. I'm glad of my purchasing choice, and I give it a 9.5 out of 10. I'd give it a full 10 if the screen had no dark corners or light leakage.
Ask any questions you want.
How's the fan noise? I've also read that the power brick is pretty large, since it's 120W. What would you say about it?
