I have been looking all over the bay area for the compal cl56. I have been wanting to see it in person because I wanted to see the screen mainly, but had no luck for over two months. (PC Club was just too far!!!) Finally I read on someone's post that a company by the name of ChemUSA sells the cl56 up in Fremont. Bingo!!!
I went to the company's website and got all their info. I called them up and told them I was a student looking for a laptop for school, and that I had heard about a laptop they were selling but had never seen it in person. Although they work out of a business building and do not have a show room the lady on the phone said she would take be to where they build the machines and show me what the chembook 2056 (cl56) looked like. I was siked!
The company is acually located in Newark (very close to fremont) and got there in 15 minutes from San Jose. When I came in I checked in with the receptionist, who then gave me a vistor ID. I was then taken into the back by another lady who showed be the laptops they were building for customers.
It was really cool to see almost a dozen CL56's all lined up!!! I think I saw 1 technician on duty while two were just leaving for lunch. All the laptops that were on the workbench, including the non cl56's, were going through an installation, burn-in, etc. I even saw one with a Powernotebooks Logo! Anyways for the laptop itself:
The thing is a beauty. Its almost set in concrete that I will buy the cl56 once I get enough money. The reason I wanted to see the notebook in person was the whole screen issue. Although you can slightly notice the gradient issue it didnt bother me at all. The viewing angles were far better than I was expecting. I just wish I had more time with it, but I didnt want to push my luck since I was taking up their time. They told me to think about it and if wanted to purchase one direct from them I could contact their sales department. They mentioned a 2 year waranty but I wasnt really paying attention because I was staring at the darn thing for too long. It would be good to buy from them since it would be sent RIGHT THERE if anything were to go wrong with it. I just wish I HAD MONEY!!!
I went to the company's website and got all their info. I called them up and told them I was a student looking for a laptop for school, and that I had heard about a laptop they were selling but had never seen it in person. Although they work out of a business building and do not have a show room the lady on the phone said she would take be to where they build the machines and show me what the chembook 2056 (cl56) looked like. I was siked!
The company is acually located in Newark (very close to fremont) and got there in 15 minutes from San Jose. When I came in I checked in with the receptionist, who then gave me a vistor ID. I was then taken into the back by another lady who showed be the laptops they were building for customers.
It was really cool to see almost a dozen CL56's all lined up!!! I think I saw 1 technician on duty while two were just leaving for lunch. All the laptops that were on the workbench, including the non cl56's, were going through an installation, burn-in, etc. I even saw one with a Powernotebooks Logo! Anyways for the laptop itself:
The thing is a beauty. Its almost set in concrete that I will buy the cl56 once I get enough money. The reason I wanted to see the notebook in person was the whole screen issue. Although you can slightly notice the gradient issue it didnt bother me at all. The viewing angles were far better than I was expecting. I just wish I had more time with it, but I didnt want to push my luck since I was taking up their time. They told me to think about it and if wanted to purchase one direct from them I could contact their sales department. They mentioned a 2 year waranty but I wasnt really paying attention because I was staring at the darn thing for too long. It would be good to buy from them since it would be sent RIGHT THERE if anything were to go wrong with it. I just wish I HAD MONEY!!!
