Glad They Were Out of Stock!
Written: Jul 12 '00 (Updated Jul 19 '00)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: impressive design, latest configurations, ease of use
Cons: Some problems with swappable DVD
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| nmptpa's Full Review: Compaq Presario 17XL260 (180381-003) PC Notebook |
I have been looking for a laptop for sometime with many hours of research through epinions, consumer reports, and newsgroups. However, when I saw the new Compaq 1700-xl260 in a local computer store ($1999.99), I was impressed by both the beautiful design and the great configuration. I decided to purchase the laptop, but the clerk said that they were out (he implied that they had been selling quickly). He encouraged me to go ahead and “purchase” it and I would be guaranteed one when the new shipments came in later in the week. He also—strongly—encouraged me to purchase the “three year warranty” and gave plenty of warnings when I did not. I was uncomfortable making the purchase without taking the computer home, plus I wanted to check the Compaq web site and other sites to see what others where saying about this specific model.
I am so glad I did! When I went to the Compaq’s “build your own” site, I was able to configure the model more to my wishes with the total price only being about $80 more than the store model. For example, I was able to double the hard drive to 12G, increase the CPU from the Pentium 500 to the Pentium 600, and purchase the 3-year warranty for $100 (instead of the computer store’s $300-400 offer). Compaq also had a free built-in network card offer at the time (which I was going to have to purchase extra with the 265 model.). The total for the new configuration with tax and shipping was just over $2200.
I placed my order about 5 days ago and I’m not sure how quickly Compaq will assemble my order. I certainly will share my experience with this “special order” with everyone at epinons!
Update 07/13/00
I inquired about the status of my order today. The person who answered the phone was very polite and informative. She stated that the 1700 series was taking approximately 12 days to assemble and an additional 5 days for UPS delivery(my order was verified and sent to be assembled on 7-10-00).
Update 07/20/00
Sorry for the delay in writing this update regarding my purchase of the Compaq 1700. I wanted to use the computer for a few days before I made any comments. In general I have been very pleased with my purchase.
The computer arrived one week (almost the hour!) after they had confirmed my order. I was able to track the shipment via the FedEx website and even took a longer lunch break from work and was able to receive the package on the first delivery attempt.
The computer arrived in great condition with no signs of any defects. The documentation provided with the 1700 was informative enough to get me started.
As I mentioned above, I am pleased with my purchase. I am very happy that the local computer store did not have the retail model in stock: it forced me to look at the web site and special order one that is superior to the one that I would have purchased that day. I must admit that it was a bit difficult to resist the urge to “impulse buy,” but waiting a week for a better processor, double sized hard drive, and a free network card was WELL worth it! I would encourage all who are considering this model to check out the web site after you take a look at it in the computer store.
When I saw the 1700 in the store and experienced how it felt in my hands, I knew that I had found a design that I liked. As I type this, I find the keyboard easy on the hands and without any discomfort. The monitor is bright, crisp, and clear for a laptop and I have found no dead pixels. I quickly became accustomed to the touch pad (the secret is using both hands: one on the touch pad and the other for the two buttons). The only way that I can see to connect an external mouse and keyboard is through the USB port (there are two on the 1700, which I like).
The swappable bay drive has been the only difficulty that I have encountered so far with the 1700. On one hand, I prefer to have this option, especially if something should ever happen to the DVD or floppy drive (I could just send in the component, not the whole computer). However, I still have yet to discover a graceful way of swapping the DVD and floppy drive. The release button is on the bottom of the computer and the bay is on the side; I always feel like I’m getting ready to drop the laptop or break the drive, so I think there is some room for design improvements in the future. This swappable drive also highlights the only real problem I’ve had with the 1700 at this point. Several times, the computer has not recognized the DVD drive at all, even when it has been “in” the computer for sometime. The only remedy for this that I have found so far is to tell the computer that I’m swapping out the drive and then pop it out and then snap it back in again. After this routine, it seems to work fine. On a couple of occasions, the computer has locked up and I’ve had to turn off the computer by unplugging the laptop and disconnecting the battery.
The DVD option has been a dream. I’m looking forward to using it on vacation trips to the cabin! The quality on the screen is amazing. I did purchase another viewer program called, WinDVD, because I believe that it provides a better, smoother picture and has a few options that I wanted. Even though the sound on the 1700 is respectable for a laptop, you definitely want to have speakers near by. With all the models that I looked at in the computer store, none had adequate sound for the DVD players; for some reason the volume was quite low. The 1700 is adequate on it’s own for sound, but the improvement with external speakers was significant.
For now, that’s about all I have to say about the 1700. To say, however, that I am please with my purchase is saying a lot for such (for me) an expensive purchase. It certainly runs circles around my Pentium 200 desktop (which has been sorely neglected as of late!). I do plan to increase the RAM at some point, but for now things are going along quite well.
Nathan
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
nmptpa
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Member: Nathan
Location: Tampa, Florida
Reviews written: 1
Trusted by: 1 member
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