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NC6000 Review

post #1 of 16
2/15/05 at 2:46am
Thread Starter 
I needed a laptop with a reasonable amount of power, a long battery life, sxga+ LCD, dedicated video, and it needed to be solid enough to take a beating! The NC6000 is all of this and more!
Even though the NC6000 is on the way out of its life cycle (the new Business series HP's came out the day I got this one) I still believe it is a solid performer and at least up to par with its replacement the 6230!

http://dentech.net.au/laptop/DSCF0277.JPG
Specs:
HP NC6000
64M Radeon 9600 (stated as 128bit memory in the CNet review)
Pentium M 735 1.8G 2M 400FSB
512 DDR PC2700
SXGA+ (1400 x 1050)
60G 5400RPM HDD
Combo DVD/CD-RW
HP a/b/g wireless (Atheros chipset)
Bluetooth card
dual pointing devices (pad and stick)
6-Cell Battery

All of this came out at $1790 with an educational contract price. That is a few hundred less than the same setup for a T42 (Decided not to when my cousin who works at IBM said she wouldnt trust future support for IBM machines)
http://dentech.net.au/laptop/DSCF0262.JPG
http://dentech.net.au/laptop/DSCF0266.JPG
http://dentech.net.au/laptop/DSCF0267.JPG
http://dentech.net.au/laptop/DSCF0268.JPG
http://dentech.net.au/laptop/DSCF0269.JPG
http://dentech.net.au/laptop/DSCF0273.JPG

Construction:
First thing you notice about the NC 6000 is that it is a very solid machine! The comparible Dell D600 looks like junk compared to this thing! The case is solid, metal on top and a very solid plastic on the bottom, no play at all (there is slight play in the wireless card door on the back).

http://dentech.net.au/laptop/DSCF0276.JPG
Input:
The keyboard is as good or better than the IBM, and absolutly kills the Dell hands down. There is an annoying design flaw where you can only press the spacebar and one other key at the same time, this makes it annoying to play FPS games. (But I did find a workaround, if you use any other key it will work, so program your jump to the left alt button for times when you really need it!) Pointing stick is fast, but not to my liking. The Synaptics touch pad is very cool and you can customize it to do pretty much anything you like (tap the top left to go back in the browser, scrolling zones etc.) The only input problem I mught have would be that the touchpad is a strange shape, but it works none the less.

http://dentech.net.au/laptop/DSCF0286.JPG
Performance:
This machine is fast! Dont mistake that. The video is great and I have yet to find something that it didnt handle. With a little tweaking I was able to play HL2 fine, allbeit not as pretty as it could be (namely using mat_bumpmap 0 and mat_specular 0 made a huge difference). The video chipset is clearly underclocked and may cause some problems for hardcore gamers, but if you are a hardcore gamer you are crazy to buy a laptop anyway, just buy a desktop that costs half the price!
As for office and general use I have never had a slow down. I write programs quite a bit and have never had any trouble compiling, things work through fast and smooth in Visual Studio 2005.

http://dentech.net.au/laptop/DSCF0280.JPG
LCD:
My biggest gripe about this machine would probably be the LCD. The LCD is good when viewed from the right angle, but when you move above or below that angle (especially at lower brightness) things get a little crazy. Going left or right and there is not problem. The most annoying part of this is quite noticable inversion (dark becomes light etc.)
http://dentech.net.au/laptop/DSCF0281.JPG
http://dentech.net.au/laptop/DSCF0282.JPG
http://dentech.net.au/laptop/DSCF0279.JPG

Wireless:
I have never seen a wireless device with such good range. This thing will pick up every access point in your neighbourhood and beyond! Perfect tool for wardriving if you are keen. The bluetooth is just as good as the next and I had no trouble connecting to my PDA.

Battery Life:
With the 6-Cell battery I am getting a very consistant 4+ hours from general use. If I start to go crazy compiling stuff on the battery it will drop down to 3.5hrs. With good power management I have had it last for 5.5 hrs in Gentoo Linux. The 8-Cell battery is supposed to extend this average well above 5hrs and up into 7hrs!?

http://dentech.net.au/laptop/DSCF0274.JPG

Final Impressions
Overall I would give the NC6000 a 9/10! This is one solid laptop that would be hard to beat! It is just as light as the IBM or the Dell, performs just as good as the rest of the pack and exceeds all when it comes to being a solid, good looking laptop. This laptop is the closest thing I have seen to the coolness of a powerbook G4! I would expect to see the price on this baby drop over the next few months and I highly reccomend you pick one up!

One Last Note:
The reason I didnt send this thing back to get the new NC6230 is because CNet's review showed a serious lack of battery performance (2hrs!!!) and I am not convinced the X300 is any faster than the 9600 (same dedicated memory etc.) I am also not convinced that this new HP paint is not just another marketing ploy, the NC6000 would be a hard beast to scratch as it is!

Skeg8
LL
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post #2 of 16
2/16/05 at 7:30pm
Interesting - the nc8000 has an airtake in place of the 3 LEDs of your nc6000.

If you have SXGA+, then your resolution should be 1400x1050

Out of curiosity - how does it perform noise-wise? Is it completely silent when idle?
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post #3 of 16
2/16/05 at 9:21pm
Thread Starter 
The NC6000 is completely silent when idle. The fan kicks in full spin from the time you turn it on until control is passed to the OS, but other than that it is virtually silent. When the fan is on full blast it is clearly audible in a silent room, but that is very rare.
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post #4 of 16
2/17/05 at 10:41pm
I noticed that the Intel sticker on your laptop has a Pentium 4 icon, with an M next to it, iv never seen that when it comes with a dothan processor. Does it just have that because u didnt get the whole centrino set or is that normal now?

kmarshal
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post #5 of 16
2/18/05 at 5:07am
Thanks for the review and pictures. I actually like nc6000's port layout much better than nc6230. I can't help wondering why they put two USB ports so that the stuff you plug in them gets in the way of your mouse hand. I prefer nc6000 and nc/nw8000 over HPs new Sonoma lappies.
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post #6 of 16
2/18/05 at 1:53pm
Thread Starter 
I dont quite understand the Pentium 4 M sticker either. I have seen one of these with the full centrino setup and it had the normal blue pentium M sitcker, not the centrino one. I guess there is a reason somewhere along the lines....
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post #7 of 16
3/27/05 at 1:49pm
BUMP for the NC6000
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post #8 of 16
3/28/05 at 11:44pm
I would just like to add that I have an nc6000 (2 ghz., 60 gig 5400, 1 gig RAM, 64 mb ATI 9600) and I also have a Dell D610 with similar specs. I've never seen a D600 so I can't compare it to a D600, but in comparison to the the D610, I'd have to give the nod to the Dell. I think the Dell is slightly lighter and built very well. I would also give the edge to Dell when it comes to speed, LCD, and keyboard. It's very close and the nc6000 is a very good laptop. These are just my opinions and they are very subjective.
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post #9 of 16
3/29/05 at 12:04am
Quote:
Originally Posted by skeg8
I dont quite understand the Pentium 4 M sticker either. I have seen one of these with the full centrino setup and it had the normal blue pentium M sitcker, not the centrino one. I guess there is a reason somewhere along the lines....
Pentium M sticker is for computers with just Pentium M, centrino is when the Pentium M processor is coupled with Intel's wireless chipset. The whole thing is called centrino. So, if they use some other wireless card, they are not supposed to say centrino, they can only put the Pentium M sticker.
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post #10 of 16
3/29/05 at 11:00am
Quote:
Originally Posted by arsw1
Pentium M sticker is for computers with just Pentium M, centrino is when the Pentium M processor is coupled with Intel's wireless chipset. The whole thing is called centrino. So, if they use some other wireless card, they are not supposed to say centrino, they can only put the Pentium M sticker.
I think he is referring to the Pentium 4 M stickers...

Intel used to make these before they released the Pentium M, I suppose

http://www.intel.com/products/proces...m4-m/index.htm
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post #11 of 16
3/30/05 at 8:33pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by miner
I think he is referring to the Pentium 4 M stickers...

Intel used to make these before they released the Pentium M, I suppose

http://www.intel.com/products/proces...m4-m/index.htm
oo ic. I didn't even understand the question I guess Sorry about that.
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post #12 of 16
4/19/05 at 3:47pm
So, how are things two months later?
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post #13 of 16
5/4/05 at 3:05pm
Thread Starter 
I still think this laptop is top notch. The speed is just as good as anything else I have seen and it is still in perfect condition (despite getting thrown in my bag a lot!) There are no scratches, the HP case is very nice. I have played with a few new machines with the X300 video card and I noticed very little change in performance so I am still happy that I bought this and didnt wait for the NC6230.
The battery life has degraded a little bit, now I am getting about 3.5hrs per charge with brightness at about half way. But that is with almost constant use for 3 months, so I expected that. I just got a deal on a multibay battery so that will solve my problems there.
I still highly reccomend this laptop. If you can pick one up for a good price, it is well worth it!
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post #14 of 16
5/6/05 at 2:29am
I just recieved this laptop and wow, I already love it. This is my 2nd laptop I've owned but have had experience with several other laptops as well. This kicks the shit out of all of them, literally. What everyone posted here is true, it is SILENT after it boots into windows, only time the fan seems to go on is when it loads windows. The keyboard is solid and beautifully made. I personally really like the screen, yeah if your at the wrong angle it brightens or dims a little bit, but nothing that bothers me at all. I love the size of this thing and the battery life is long as I could of imagined. I kept hearing 5 hours 5 hours, well, yeah mines 4 1/2 hours!!! Compared to my last computer with 1 hour of battery life, this machine is the best laptop I have ever worked with! If you are interested in getting a laptop thats top of the line, great graphics, silent and great battery life, THIS IS FOR YOU! I bought mine off ecost.com for $800. What a deal, I was skeptical at first, but I had sales people contacting me asking if I needed any assistance when I emailed them a question, they gave me their phone #'s w/ the extension and we're very nice. So even after the crappy reviews I've read about ecost.com, I would definitly buy something through them again. A+ laptop.
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post #15 of 16
5/12/05 at 12:47am
Just an fyi, as an nc6000 owner, I would say if you are a Software Engineer who utilizes Java's Swing or any 2d libs (or does any work utilizing the Java 3d Api) this system is -not- recommended.

Very problematic.

Also make sure you have a bios F.0E or later (as prior bios versions had a bug that caused the system to overheat).

Other than that, it's a great system I will agree. The video is defiantely underclocked, but correct, does not affect me as I'm not big into 3d games. I play old ones now and then but definately not a 'gamer'.

But due to some system 'bugs', it has issues with Java (known issue by Hp apparently).
---
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post #16 of 16
5/13/05 at 3:11pm
Thread Starter 
Just an update. I just got the multibay battery and some smartcard security. The battery life is now up around 8 hours with moderate use! I have to do a lot of network setups and it saves me lugging around the power cables.
The smartcard security is pretty good, I would prefer if the smart card didnt stick out so far, but its still a minor thing. The HP Protect Tools software is good, sometimes the SSO part of the software goes a little crazy, but I just turn it off. If you are concerned about security and want to have a two tier security system, get a smartcard system! I use a simmilar HP system on my servers and so this is very convenient.

This is still a very nice laptop, I have never done any programming in Java on this machine (I stick with C#) so that hasnt been an issue.
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