Well, I don't have many posts but have been on these boards for about 6 months. So I felt that it was my duty to review this laptop. 
Background:
I started searching for a laptop back in March. I needed one badly for college. Of course, like many of us, I went to look at Dells, HP's, and Toshibas. But for the $$$ that you spend you don't get much. So I looked elsewhere and found this forum. I looked at the CL56, Mitac8050, Sager 37xx's, and the AOpen. I needed 4+ battery life+good gaming performance. I really wanted to get the Mitac or the Sager. However when all is said and done, it all came down to one thing: I was a broke college student and no credit history. SO, I got a credit card with a $1000 limit and bought the barebones AOpen 1557GLS from MyAOpen. I got the rest of the parts from eBay.
Here is the breakdown:
AOpen 1557GLS+24x CDRW drive - 890.00
Pentium M 1.6 Banias - 80.00
Hitachi 7K60 - 170.00
256mb PC2700 - 30.00
Total - 1170.00
LCD:
I can see why people complain about the lcd, it does have limited viewing angles. This did not bother me because I had an older toshiba that was worse. I love the SXGA+ screen, it is clear and sharp. NO DEAD PIXELS!
Battery:
I get 4 1/2 hours surfing the net with a PCMCIA wireless card and listening to music through the headphones.
Performance:
Amazing! This thing is fast. 3dMark 2001SE: 10567. Once I add another 512mb I am sure it will be even faster. The Hitachi 7K60 is sweet!
Sound:
The laptop speakers just plain suck. No bass. This doesn't bother me since I always use headphones.
Build Quality:
This is the main thing I love about the laptop. It is thin, light, and sleek. It is very sturdy. I have no problems picking it up with one hand. I saw some other people had the silver lcd lid, mine came with a black one.
Overall:
I am glad I got this laptop. I saved a lot of $$$ by buidling it myself. It took me about 20 minutes to get everything put in. I recommend anyone thinking about buidling a laptop, to do it. MyAOpen has great service. I got a call the next day confirming the order. The lady also told me that they were out of stock and that they will get it by the end of the week. Well, next monday I emaled them, they promptly replied and told me that the laptop was shipped directly from AOpen. I got the laptop 4 days later.
That's it I guess, questions are welcome.
Background:
I started searching for a laptop back in March. I needed one badly for college. Of course, like many of us, I went to look at Dells, HP's, and Toshibas. But for the $$$ that you spend you don't get much. So I looked elsewhere and found this forum. I looked at the CL56, Mitac8050, Sager 37xx's, and the AOpen. I needed 4+ battery life+good gaming performance. I really wanted to get the Mitac or the Sager. However when all is said and done, it all came down to one thing: I was a broke college student and no credit history. SO, I got a credit card with a $1000 limit and bought the barebones AOpen 1557GLS from MyAOpen. I got the rest of the parts from eBay.
Here is the breakdown:
AOpen 1557GLS+24x CDRW drive - 890.00
Pentium M 1.6 Banias - 80.00
Hitachi 7K60 - 170.00
256mb PC2700 - 30.00
Total - 1170.00
LCD:
I can see why people complain about the lcd, it does have limited viewing angles. This did not bother me because I had an older toshiba that was worse. I love the SXGA+ screen, it is clear and sharp. NO DEAD PIXELS!
Battery:
I get 4 1/2 hours surfing the net with a PCMCIA wireless card and listening to music through the headphones.
Performance:
Amazing! This thing is fast. 3dMark 2001SE: 10567. Once I add another 512mb I am sure it will be even faster. The Hitachi 7K60 is sweet!
Sound:
The laptop speakers just plain suck. No bass. This doesn't bother me since I always use headphones.
Build Quality:
This is the main thing I love about the laptop. It is thin, light, and sleek. It is very sturdy. I have no problems picking it up with one hand. I saw some other people had the silver lcd lid, mine came with a black one.
Overall:
I am glad I got this laptop. I saved a lot of $$$ by buidling it myself. It took me about 20 minutes to get everything put in. I recommend anyone thinking about buidling a laptop, to do it. MyAOpen has great service. I got a call the next day confirming the order. The lady also told me that they were out of stock and that they will get it by the end of the week. Well, next monday I emaled them, they promptly replied and told me that the laptop was shipped directly from AOpen. I got the laptop 4 days later.
That's it I guess, questions are welcome.
