My need
I needed a laptop for various reasos. Internet, (some bit of) programming, (lots of) gaming and as a learning resource. My basic criteria was a descent processor with at least 1MB L2 cache(an AMD also could have made me happy), at least 1 GB of RAM, min. 120 GB HDD. good graphics card(strictly not any of those intel GMA cards), WinXP Pro SP2(ideally) but definitely not the Vista home edition, and any other feature will that will add to the fun.
The choice
During my month long research on various brands, I zero-ed in on Dell Inspiron 1502, HP dv6602AU, dv2601tx. Of all these 3, finally I decided on 2601tx because, it had all my basic needs(Intel Core2 Duo 5250 1.5 GHz 1MB L2 Cache, 1 GB RAM, 160 GB HDD, Nvidia GeForce 8400M, Intel ProWireless, Windows Vista Home Premium). In addition, it has a webcam, fingerprint reader(lately I found that very useful specially the software that came in the bunde), the IO ports, backlit button panel, remote(really a useful tool when u watch movie and your mobile shouts!), and lots of other things(which I am still discovering). And yes it looks great with its 2 tone color and stylish body graphics.(This was never my criteria). I bought this notebook on November'07.
Performance
Prima facie, I was really surprised by its good look. The initial setup is brief and it took me hardly 20 mins to have it running. All the stuffs come preloaded but it needs a little time to set it up in the first boot. I am never a fan of Microsoft Vista, but I must admit that their aero interface is stunning and it performs flawlessly in this notebook. The performance also is great. I tried the games(as it hogs up a lot of resources). NFS Hot Pursuit 2 with maximum possible resolution and effects ran without a hitch. The only problem I faced here is the heat dissipation. It virtually toasted my lap. But my friends told me that its quite common to have it while you play games. The screen size is 14.1" and display is crystal clear. This is ideal for a laptop for my purpose. 12-13" would have been to small for games and 15"+ would have been too big for a laptop. Fingerprint reader is a good feature for people like me who are too lazy to key in the passwords. The webcam though not of great resolution, but it reduces the burden of having an external one if you are chat savvy. The laptop also has mic(near the webcam), but if you think that it will help you in ur VoIP calls, then you can stop dreaming. These are effective only when shout out so loud that your neighbours starts complaining. Battery life is fair with a 6 cell battery. It lasted 2 hrs sharp(till it displayed the warning at 20%) while I played songs all the time and wmplayer displayed its graphic abilities. But this varies greatly upon the usage.
*The Goofs
*1. A lot of software came bundled with the notebook. It had Microsoft Office 2007, Norton Internet Security protection Suite, Muvee director, lots of games(kept under HP Games), Mediaring IM but wait, befor you charm yourself, all these are evaluation versions. That means after sometime of usage they will ask you your credit card. With a price tag of 53k+, HP definitely could have managed some OEM versions of these softwares.
- HP reserves some amount of space for its recovery jig. and rest all it put under a massive(about 148 GB) partition where Windows is installed. And they shamelessly expect you to put all your files there. This I found totally ridiculous. Though Vista has a feature that can create new partitions out of the space but call the cust supp, they will tell you that this is not "HP reccomended" practice. And be aware before you install your favourite linux on the notebook that HP's 1 year warranty is valid only with the OS they gave you.
Regarding support and service, its too early to tell anything. But will surely update this space once I have something concrete.
Now the main thing that is the deciding factor with almost 90% of the buyers, price. You might think 53k is too high for a laptop at these times when Dell is happy to give you a laptop in 40k with almost similar configs. But this laptop is still a good buy. To me its pretty future proof(at least for next 2 years), unless you are a game freak who would try any game the day it launches. With all the features and all its definitely value for your money in a long run.
(P.S.: For those buyers who would still like to negotiate, avoid the fancy showrooms that will display these beauties. Instead go for those low profile wholesellers. They can offer you what they call the "best price". You can get a cool 2-3k waiver on the price. And dont worry about the warranty, its still valid. Just make sure that you have the purchase invoice)
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