I went down to Best Buy today and had my first face-to-face encounter with the Compaq R3000z. And I think…I think…I am ready to buy. On display they had this configuration: AMD64 3000+ (ran at 701mhz when I tried it), 512mb ram, DVD-RW/CD-RW, 15.4”, 60gig hd, 64mb 440go. I got to spend around 10 minutes with this thing.
First Impression: WOW! This thing is huge and then some! The screen is crisp and I loved the left-to-right real-estate. The case is good looking (inside) and funky looking on the outside. The DEMO that BB plays didn’t do it any justice because it wasn’t in it’s native resolution.
The Case (outside): Black with silver accent. Can’t compete with AW Area51m but not too bad looking for the price. I don’t hate the black, but carrying out the silver throughout I think would have been a bit better. (inside): The silver plastic does magic. Smooth design, great lines and clean. When I first saw the keyboard, I was like “no way, this is a dummy with a sticker for a keyboard”. From the angle I saw it, it looked like it was drawn on, no 3d for it at all. The color is pale gray, has a good look to it, makes it stand out from the silver surrounding.
The Screen: All I can say is, it kills the living hell out of my 17” Dell Sony Dot Matrix VGA a million times over. Refreshing and doesn’t strain the eye one bit. The left-to-right room was amazing. I looked at an HP standing right near it with a standard 15” and it made me like the wide-screen configuration a lot more! The viewing angles are superb btw, no longer do you have to face it head on not to lose color.
The Sound: I played a little movie preview on the system to see the picture and sound. Man, it is like my Samsung 5.1 channel home theater system, only MOBILE. The JBL speakers did it justice. I compared the sound in respect to my friend’s ThinkPad and I saw that sound was good. The picture was clear and just excellent.
The Keyboard/Touch pad: Like I said above, this keyboard looks nothing like a keyboard “should look like”. It is creative in it’s own way. I tried to type on it, I have big hands and I felt comfortable on it, almost as good as I do on my full size PC keyboard. The touch pad was a little stubborn with me (or maybe my fingers are too stubby. After all, when I use the PowerBooks at school, same thing happens). The color again is a little off but that is what gives the Compaq that unique look.
Side panels: The front had the conveniently located Wi-Fi button, the opening button (to lift the lid). Nice and clean. The left had 2 USB (2.0) ports stalked one on top another. And I believe the Firewire port. The CD tray was on that side too. The back had the modem jack, a serial port I believe (pink) and I couldn’t see the rest because of the plug best buy was using to keep it on a leash. The right had 1 USB port (for a mouse), the volume +/- buttons and the mute button. And also the PC card slot. On the top right there was a vent. Looks like a comfortable layout but only time will tell for sure.
Overall: People say it is heavy and at 7.8 lbs it is no ultra-portable. For my use however, it is just fine. It is not something you want to log around everyday, but it is perfect for an occasional traveler. People also said that it does not get HOT much. When I was at the store, it was almost 8 PM, they have been running all day long. It was one of the coolest systems on display. I touched a few Toshibas, HPs and Sonys nearby and they were all several degrees warmer. I felt comfortable resting my wrists on area in the front by the touch pad. I lifted it a little and saw the panels on the bottom, one screw and you can stick in more ram ASAP. It is a little warmer on the bottom (doesn’t heat go up?)
than it is on top but still reasonable.
My 2 cents: Overall, my 10 minutes with it were good. I’d like to run some graphics intensive things on it (if the best buy dude will let me) to see how it performs. I want to see the Speedstep, wait, that’s Intel, whatever the AMD power management thing kick in. I want to see it working faster than the 701mhz I saw today. I will go to BB again in a few weeks for Round 2 before I order. So far I am impressed and nothing less. This is clearly the toy for me for the price.
(PS: for you grammar and spelling freaks, I typed the above in MS Word)
First Impression: WOW! This thing is huge and then some! The screen is crisp and I loved the left-to-right real-estate. The case is good looking (inside) and funky looking on the outside. The DEMO that BB plays didn’t do it any justice because it wasn’t in it’s native resolution.
The Case (outside): Black with silver accent. Can’t compete with AW Area51m but not too bad looking for the price. I don’t hate the black, but carrying out the silver throughout I think would have been a bit better. (inside): The silver plastic does magic. Smooth design, great lines and clean. When I first saw the keyboard, I was like “no way, this is a dummy with a sticker for a keyboard”. From the angle I saw it, it looked like it was drawn on, no 3d for it at all. The color is pale gray, has a good look to it, makes it stand out from the silver surrounding.
The Screen: All I can say is, it kills the living hell out of my 17” Dell Sony Dot Matrix VGA a million times over. Refreshing and doesn’t strain the eye one bit. The left-to-right room was amazing. I looked at an HP standing right near it with a standard 15” and it made me like the wide-screen configuration a lot more! The viewing angles are superb btw, no longer do you have to face it head on not to lose color.
The Sound: I played a little movie preview on the system to see the picture and sound. Man, it is like my Samsung 5.1 channel home theater system, only MOBILE. The JBL speakers did it justice. I compared the sound in respect to my friend’s ThinkPad and I saw that sound was good. The picture was clear and just excellent.
The Keyboard/Touch pad: Like I said above, this keyboard looks nothing like a keyboard “should look like”. It is creative in it’s own way. I tried to type on it, I have big hands and I felt comfortable on it, almost as good as I do on my full size PC keyboard. The touch pad was a little stubborn with me (or maybe my fingers are too stubby. After all, when I use the PowerBooks at school, same thing happens). The color again is a little off but that is what gives the Compaq that unique look.
Side panels: The front had the conveniently located Wi-Fi button, the opening button (to lift the lid). Nice and clean. The left had 2 USB (2.0) ports stalked one on top another. And I believe the Firewire port. The CD tray was on that side too. The back had the modem jack, a serial port I believe (pink) and I couldn’t see the rest because of the plug best buy was using to keep it on a leash. The right had 1 USB port (for a mouse), the volume +/- buttons and the mute button. And also the PC card slot. On the top right there was a vent. Looks like a comfortable layout but only time will tell for sure.
Overall: People say it is heavy and at 7.8 lbs it is no ultra-portable. For my use however, it is just fine. It is not something you want to log around everyday, but it is perfect for an occasional traveler. People also said that it does not get HOT much. When I was at the store, it was almost 8 PM, they have been running all day long. It was one of the coolest systems on display. I touched a few Toshibas, HPs and Sonys nearby and they were all several degrees warmer. I felt comfortable resting my wrists on area in the front by the touch pad. I lifted it a little and saw the panels on the bottom, one screw and you can stick in more ram ASAP. It is a little warmer on the bottom (doesn’t heat go up?)
than it is on top but still reasonable.My 2 cents: Overall, my 10 minutes with it were good. I’d like to run some graphics intensive things on it (if the best buy dude will let me) to see how it performs. I want to see the Speedstep, wait, that’s Intel, whatever the AMD power management thing kick in. I want to see it working faster than the 701mhz I saw today. I will go to BB again in a few weeks for Round 2 before I order. So far I am impressed and nothing less. This is clearly the toy for me for the price.
(PS: for you grammar and spelling freaks, I typed the above in MS Word)
