Compaq Presario X1360US Notebook PC (1.4 GHz Pentium, 512 MB RAM, 60 GB Hard Drive, DVD/CD-RW Combo)

Rating:
Summary: Compaq X1360US Centrino an outstanding value
Review: I purchased a prebuilt (retail) Compaq X1360US in late May 2004. The machine that is nearly identical in specifications but with a 1.5 Pentium M (and more expensive) is the Toshiba M35S320. I chose the Compaq as it was 150.00 less with the 1.4 Pentium M (when on sale and with rebates), it runs completely cool and silent when running normally, weighs 6.5 pounds with a very small and light A/C power brick, has an outstanding XGA 15.4" widescreen, and has a very good 3.5-4.0 hour battery life using the built in 54G wireless card. Note that www.x1000forums.com is an excellent resource when adjustments or bios/driver updates are needed for this machine. I really like that the touchpad can be turned off with a hardwired button as this makes it easier to type larger documents without hitting the touchpad. The integrated scroll function is very nice. The keyboard feel is outstanding and you will see this documented elsewhere. The lid is aluminum so the LCD is well protected. The 32mb dedicated graphics are great for normal games and DVD's. This also does not detract from your 512mb RAM like integrated RAM does. All necessary connections including firewire are here. The only small drawbacks are the power plug on the right side and the headphone jack on the front (if you hook up external speakers). I am very happy with the unit in use for mostly wireless wi-fi in front of my 57" HDTV as the computer is silent, has good battery life, and has excellent performance with the 1mb system cache. The new Dohan line has 2.0mb system cache but is priced somewhat higher.

Rating:
Summary: Perfect power portable
Review: I purchased my machine pre-configured from a chain store. I usually do a lot of research on anything I purchase, but this was somewhat of an impulse buy. Luckly I ended up with what so far is a great notebook. The unit seems very well built and durable, and I find it asthetically pleasing. The keyboard has a great feel to it, very positive yet soft keys. The screen is big and terrific. My only complaint was that it came with XP Home. A computer this fast and powerfull should have XP Pro pre-installed. Intergrated wireless is awesome and the battery lasted a good 3-4 hours even with the Wi-Fi running. Very quiet and not hot at all.