Great Low,price laptop
Written: Jan 09 '04
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Pros: Light, great options for the price, wonderful screen, and still cheap!
Cons: Wireless card will give trouble if left on during shutdown, shared video RAM
The Bottom Line: Don't want to break the bank but want a good, powerful laptop? This is the one. I haven't seen another with similar specifications and similar price.
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| bloodline23's Full Review: E-Machines 2400+ (m5310) PC Notebook |
I purchased this laptop in September, 2003 and have been using it daily since then. The options that came with the system considering the price are wonderful. The built in wireless networking card works well, although if it is left on when you shut down the computer, the laptop will freeze on the first boot but boot normally (and turn off the wireless card) on the second boot. It freaked me out the first time, but once I figured out what was happening, it didn't bother me and I just remember to turn off the card before I turn off the machine.
The widescreen is beautiful! I can watch movies well, play games, or have multiple windows open with tons of space to move around. I do a lot of work with Adobe Photoshop, so it is nice to be able to have something running full-size and still have an internet explorer window open on the side.
Only a couple of things are lacking. The first is the issue with the wireless card that I already mentioned. The other is the shared video memory. The system has 256MB of RAM, but 64MB go to video. That means that if you are running a program that requires both a lot of RAM and a lot of video card power (like a lot of the newer PC games), you may see some decreased performance. I've run into a couple system crashes because of a piece of software being too big of a drain. Finally, the built-in software is a little weak (WindowsXP Home, Microsoft Word, Power DVD, a 3-month Norton Anti-virus 8.0 membership), but if you already own some software, it shouldn't be as big of an issue, plus, what could you expect when the laptop is priced about $500 less than other laptops with similar design (a Toshiba widescreen laptop was about $1599 when I bought this laptop).
The laptop is truly light. I can barely feel it in my bag (it weighs about 6.5 lbs.), and the only other thing I carry with me is the AC charger. Setup and use are very straightforward, and the customer service is better than I expected (they use a 24hr. live chat system that gets you support in minutes, so I guess if you can't get online, you might run into long telephone waits). The laptop is also nice looking, with a chrome, black, and blue scheme. The keyboard is quiet and full sized, which took me a few hours to get used to (my old laptop had the compressed keyboard).
Overall, it was an excellent purchase for my money.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 1100
Operating System: Windows
Processor: AMD Athlon (K7)
Processor speed: over 1000
Screen Size: Greater than 15 inches
RAM: 256
Internal Storage: CD-RW and DVD
Hard Drive (GB): 31-40
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Epinions.com ID:
bloodline23
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Location: Chicago, IL
Reviews written: 115
Trusted by: 1 member
About Me:
A gadget guy on a budget.
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