Well, after having this Notebook for 6 months i thought i would do a little review on it. I bought it from BestBuy first week of Jan. I didn't know anyone who had one, nor had i read a single review, i just took a chance on it, and here's what i think...
Specs:
E-Machines 6805 Chassis with 15.4" Widescreen WXGA (1280x800)
AMD 64 3000+ 1.8GHz @ 2.0GHz
ATI Mobility 9600 m10 64mb Catalyst 4.6 Drivers
768mb pc2700 Memory (updraded)
60GB 5400rpm HD (got lucky with the 5400, one of the first to buy this lappy)
24x CD-RW
Via K8T800 Chipset
Via Rhine Network (10/100)
Broadcomm 802.11g/b Wireless
Realtek ALC-650 Audio
Windows XP Pro (fresh install)
First Impression of this NB was "what the heck am i thinking, this is an E-Machines". When i bought this as i said, i didn't read any reviews, nor did i know anyone who owned one so i was just basing my buy off of pure stats alone on this machine. After doing some mild research i came across this laptop and for the price i didn't think i could get anything better, and at the time i think i was dead right. I took it at of the box and the first thing i thought was "wow, this is sturdy for a laptop". I had never owned one before in my life but have worked on several, and i thought this one had a nice layout from the keyboard (minus the fn key placment) to the track pad, the screen was a good size, the overall build was pleasent. There are 2 usb ports on the side, and another 2 in the rear, that has worked out really well for me. The touchpad has been awsome, i haven't worked on one that i liked better than this one. I really like the way the scroll feature was designed, rather than a button, you just use slight pressure with your fingure to scroll, that has been very nice while using it in bed. The screen leaves a little more to be desired, not to mention the fact that i have a nice bright dead pixel in probably about the worst spot. That has been my biggest hurdal to overcome. I almost brought it back but decided not to, i'm still deciding if i regret that, it does sometimes bother me when i'm gaming cause it almost looks like it could be a x-hare in some games, yes it's almost dead center =( The weight of this thing is just fine, along with the dimensions, i have traveled with this, have taken it to work many times, used it in the bedroom, the couch, ect and i can't complain about its size, seems to work out fine for me. Overall i do like its design/layout. There aren't any major problems that i haven't been able to get used to, so that's good.
Performance:
Well, right outa the gate i was stunned with the way this thing performed. Once i got XP Home and all the worthless/outdated crap off of my machine and installed Pro, this thing was amazing. I don't know if i could call it a desktop replacment, but it certainly has taken everything i've dished at it. The 3000+ and the 768mb RAM make this machine extremly responsive, and a pleasure to work on. I think if i had a 7200rpm drive, it could almost compete with my PC as far as normal windows tasks are concerned. The memory card reader that is built into this works great, i upload all my photos right onto my NB, making it very easy to use, no software required. For a home user this machine for the price is great.
Gaming:
Well, what can i say, it isn't a 9800XT that i'm used to, but it sure does game. I play games such as RTCW, ET, UT2004, COD and FarCry. The older Quake based games such as RTCW are awsome on this machine. Load times are fast, and FPS isn't an issue at all, it's the newer games that see some slowdown. I will admit, load times aren't the best, and chop is noticable on this machine with FarCry and UT2004, but it truely isn't that bad. I don't hesitate to break out the NB over my PC to play any games, it's really that good. I don't know how this will handle with games like Doom 3, and HL2, but i doubt it'll stack up to those games, time will tell though.
Benchmarks:
I have benched this thing top to bottom and have gotten great reults. For some reason at my time of writing this i can't seem to get the links to all my scores, and my top scores somehow got deleted, but i can assure you they are on par, or slightly higher than comprable notebooks. 3D 2001 score is around 12K, 3DMark is around 3K, Aquamark is around 26.5K. I can get benches later on if anyone is interested and will post them. My max OC on the CPU is around 2.0GHz (200mhz increase) and max on the GPU has been right about 420/257, that is without to much artifacting, although i can't run that stable for more than a bench at a time.
EDIT: Here's a run at 3DMark2001 SE, little under my personal best, but gives you an idea
http://service.futuremark.com/compare?2k1=7945252 (12,418)
And here's a run at aquamark just now, again not a personal best, but a good idea:
http://arc.aquamark3.com/arc/arc_view.php?run=749518557 (26,260)
Portability/battery life:
Well, as i said before, i can take this thing anywhere with me without much hassle. It's a widescreen, so yes sometimes it's a little bigger than i would like it to be, but i'm not complaining. It has the built in wireless G which is awsome. Reception is great, and it never cuts out on me, so that's a plus. Let me say this though, if battery life means anything to you, consider a Centrino. I take this off the a/c to go into the bedroom and by the time i get there, battery is already at only 90% charged, it drains that fast. I haven't taken it to the limit yet, but most i've gotten before i went to a/c was about 2:15 minutes, definetly something left to be desired.
Overall:
Well overall i would rate this laptop a 8/10 for what i use it for. I got this mainly for the fact it's an A64, and i want this to last me well into next gen OS's, software, games. There are some minor things i would change about this NB, but for the price i don't feel like i've been ripped off or anything like that. I would recomend this NB to anyone who wants a nicely laid out laptop, with gamability to boot. If you're looking for a PC replacment, or a super mobile computer, i'm sorry i can't reccomend this to you. And on a side note, have not had any of the "cracking hinge" problems others have spoke of, and i got this thing about 6 months ago.
If anyone has any questions regarding this NB feel free to ask, kinnda a long review, but i've never done one before, so sorry about that. Hope you all enjoy the read. Thanks.
Specs:
E-Machines 6805 Chassis with 15.4" Widescreen WXGA (1280x800)
AMD 64 3000+ 1.8GHz @ 2.0GHz
ATI Mobility 9600 m10 64mb Catalyst 4.6 Drivers
768mb pc2700 Memory (updraded)
60GB 5400rpm HD (got lucky with the 5400, one of the first to buy this lappy)
24x CD-RW
Via K8T800 Chipset
Via Rhine Network (10/100)
Broadcomm 802.11g/b Wireless
Realtek ALC-650 Audio
Windows XP Pro (fresh install)
First Impression of this NB was "what the heck am i thinking, this is an E-Machines". When i bought this as i said, i didn't read any reviews, nor did i know anyone who owned one so i was just basing my buy off of pure stats alone on this machine. After doing some mild research i came across this laptop and for the price i didn't think i could get anything better, and at the time i think i was dead right. I took it at of the box and the first thing i thought was "wow, this is sturdy for a laptop". I had never owned one before in my life but have worked on several, and i thought this one had a nice layout from the keyboard (minus the fn key placment) to the track pad, the screen was a good size, the overall build was pleasent. There are 2 usb ports on the side, and another 2 in the rear, that has worked out really well for me. The touchpad has been awsome, i haven't worked on one that i liked better than this one. I really like the way the scroll feature was designed, rather than a button, you just use slight pressure with your fingure to scroll, that has been very nice while using it in bed. The screen leaves a little more to be desired, not to mention the fact that i have a nice bright dead pixel in probably about the worst spot. That has been my biggest hurdal to overcome. I almost brought it back but decided not to, i'm still deciding if i regret that, it does sometimes bother me when i'm gaming cause it almost looks like it could be a x-hare in some games, yes it's almost dead center =( The weight of this thing is just fine, along with the dimensions, i have traveled with this, have taken it to work many times, used it in the bedroom, the couch, ect and i can't complain about its size, seems to work out fine for me. Overall i do like its design/layout. There aren't any major problems that i haven't been able to get used to, so that's good.
Performance:
Well, right outa the gate i was stunned with the way this thing performed. Once i got XP Home and all the worthless/outdated crap off of my machine and installed Pro, this thing was amazing. I don't know if i could call it a desktop replacment, but it certainly has taken everything i've dished at it. The 3000+ and the 768mb RAM make this machine extremly responsive, and a pleasure to work on. I think if i had a 7200rpm drive, it could almost compete with my PC as far as normal windows tasks are concerned. The memory card reader that is built into this works great, i upload all my photos right onto my NB, making it very easy to use, no software required. For a home user this machine for the price is great.
Gaming:
Well, what can i say, it isn't a 9800XT that i'm used to, but it sure does game. I play games such as RTCW, ET, UT2004, COD and FarCry. The older Quake based games such as RTCW are awsome on this machine. Load times are fast, and FPS isn't an issue at all, it's the newer games that see some slowdown. I will admit, load times aren't the best, and chop is noticable on this machine with FarCry and UT2004, but it truely isn't that bad. I don't hesitate to break out the NB over my PC to play any games, it's really that good. I don't know how this will handle with games like Doom 3, and HL2, but i doubt it'll stack up to those games, time will tell though.
Benchmarks:
I have benched this thing top to bottom and have gotten great reults. For some reason at my time of writing this i can't seem to get the links to all my scores, and my top scores somehow got deleted, but i can assure you they are on par, or slightly higher than comprable notebooks. 3D 2001 score is around 12K, 3DMark is around 3K, Aquamark is around 26.5K. I can get benches later on if anyone is interested and will post them. My max OC on the CPU is around 2.0GHz (200mhz increase) and max on the GPU has been right about 420/257, that is without to much artifacting, although i can't run that stable for more than a bench at a time.
EDIT: Here's a run at 3DMark2001 SE, little under my personal best, but gives you an idea
http://service.futuremark.com/compare?2k1=7945252 (12,418)
And here's a run at aquamark just now, again not a personal best, but a good idea:
http://arc.aquamark3.com/arc/arc_view.php?run=749518557 (26,260)
Portability/battery life:
Well, as i said before, i can take this thing anywhere with me without much hassle. It's a widescreen, so yes sometimes it's a little bigger than i would like it to be, but i'm not complaining. It has the built in wireless G which is awsome. Reception is great, and it never cuts out on me, so that's a plus. Let me say this though, if battery life means anything to you, consider a Centrino. I take this off the a/c to go into the bedroom and by the time i get there, battery is already at only 90% charged, it drains that fast. I haven't taken it to the limit yet, but most i've gotten before i went to a/c was about 2:15 minutes, definetly something left to be desired.
Overall:
Well overall i would rate this laptop a 8/10 for what i use it for. I got this mainly for the fact it's an A64, and i want this to last me well into next gen OS's, software, games. There are some minor things i would change about this NB, but for the price i don't feel like i've been ripped off or anything like that. I would recomend this NB to anyone who wants a nicely laid out laptop, with gamability to boot. If you're looking for a PC replacment, or a super mobile computer, i'm sorry i can't reccomend this to you. And on a side note, have not had any of the "cracking hinge" problems others have spoke of, and i got this thing about 6 months ago.
If anyone has any questions regarding this NB feel free to ask, kinnda a long review, but i've never done one before, so sorry about that. Hope you all enjoy the read. Thanks.
I think the worst (best?) I ever managed was about the same number (18-20+/-) over the course of about 10-12 hours sitting in the hot sun all day at Charlotte Motor speedway waiting for the 600 to get going. I was so out there by race time, I didn't drink a single one during the race. You da man! 
