Compaq Presario x6050US
Well recently I had to break down and purchase a new laptop. So after debating the merits of the various styles and types of laptops, I was down to two that were at the far end of the spectrum from each other. One was a Tablet PC and the other a Compaq laptop. After thoughts of trying to work for long periods of time on a 14″ screen, I decided against the Tablet PC. The handwriting would be nice, but screen real estate has come to mean a lot to me since I bought my 19″ ViewSonic flatscreen.
I chose the Compaq Presario x6050US and could not be more pleased with that decision. This is a system that came loaded with:
- Intel Pentium 4 processor with HT 3.0 GHZ with 1MB L2 cache 800Mhz FSB
- 512MB RAM
- 80 GB Hard Drive
- 17.0″ WXGA+ BrightView high-definition widescreen
- 64MB ATI Mobility Radeon X300
- 54g 802.11b/g WLAN w/ 125HSM/SpeedBooster
- CD\DVD ROM
- JBL Pro Speakers
- 6-in-1 digital media reader
- 1 ExpressCard/54 Slot and 1 Type I/II 32-bit card bus
- 1 IEEE-1394 (FireWire)
- 4 Universal Serial Bus (USB 2.0)
- 1 TV-Out (S-video)
- 1 RJ-11 (modem)
- 1 Expansion Port 2 Connector
- 1 RJ -45 (LAN)
The first thing that immediately grabbed my attention was the 17″ widescreen. Crisp and clear, the screen makes it easy on the eyes and a real treat for a portable. Then there’s the full keyboard with a ten key. Impossible, you say – on a laptop? No way! Well, my friends, this is a desktop replacement and this is where we run into what some of you will consider a drawback. At 9.3 lbs, it has some girth. Honestly, this was my greatest concern, but I went ahead and purchased the Targus XL Rolling Notebook Case, as well. My new laptop glides along through the airport and I don’t even notice the weight. It does make it hard to break out in the cattle car section of the aircraft, but it just gives me another incentive to sit in first class. Now I just need to build up some more frequent flyer miles so I can upgrade.
I am truly blown away with all the horses under the hood that make this machine more powerful than my desktop. Editing my podcast and bringing in high resolution pictures are a snap. I love that I can get the images from my new Nikon CoolPix 7600 directly in from the 6-in-1 reader, making transfer cables a thing of the past. Less cable is a very good thing. Speaking of cables, the wireless screams along, as well, and if you have the right wireless access point, the speed boost kicks the speed above the 54 MB mark.
The full keyboard and ten-key pad elevates that cramped feeling you sometimes get from a laptop. Another nice feature is the two push button on/off switches for wireless and the touch pad. I just hate accidentally hovering a thumb over a touch pad and mouse clicking in the middle of trying to write something. With this feature I can tap away with no affect on my verbiage then toggle it back on and do anything I need to via a mouse interface. With the wireless, you can assure when you have a landline connected your Wi-Fi does not kick in.
Okay, you are saying to yourself, this sounds great and I am interested, but I don’t want to drop that much money on a laptop. Well, my friends, this is the best part. I got the Targus case and the Presario X6050 for less than $1,500. For the price, performance, and the screen, I would rate this laptop a 9.2 out of 10. For the girly men out there, I will rate it an 8.7 for the weight. But, really, shouldn’t you be working out a little more, anyway?
