Notebook Reviews

This laptop is a steal for the price. I have had it a month now and I love it. I did a lot of checking around before I bought a laptop because I didnt know a lot about laptops at the time. If you were to buy a Dell with the same scymatics as this laptop, you would easily pay double. Compaq's are about $500 more for the same thing. Right now I am in Mosul, Iraq and I use this laptop for about 8 hours straight everyday and I havent had a single problem. The wireless internet is definently a plus. I can sit in my tent and get signal off a wireless router 50yds away no problem. The ease of use of this computer is great. Compared to the pentium 4, the Celerion is still a great operating system. If your looking for something cheap yet reliable, this is the laptop for you. Look on epinions.com or pricegrabber.com and read other peoples reviews and you will see how great of a computer this is.

As an owner of a Toshiba S127 and this S157, I can tell you that this thing is pure quality. Dell's laptops have gotten almost pitiful in quality, while IBM are insanely priced. Where's the quality, inexpensive laptops? Toshiba is your answer.

Trust me guys. Get this model. I bought the S127 and ended up giving it to my mom. This model comes with the built in wireless Internet (which is awesome), 40GB of storage, 512MB DDR (XP uses MUCH more than 256MB even doing the simplest tasks), and 2.2Ghz Celeron (you can't tell the difference between 2Ghz & 2.2 Ghz,trust me).

I scored my S157 in brand new condition for $825 off some really nice guy off eBay I struck a deal with. (I picked it up locally)

I'm going to review every single thing about this laptop, sequentally. Please note that this is an unbiased review:

1.) Keyboard: Probably the best keyboard i've ever used in over 18 years of computers. I loved these soft key laptop keyboard. Doesn't have that annoying cursor thing in the middle of the keyboard that some people like to use. (Most despise it, though)

2.) TouchPaD: Works great. Two basic buttons, silver color, and work perfectly.

3.) 15" XGA screen. The screen is nice, bright, and vivid, but I definately could use SXGA (1280x....) XGA is only 1024x768 and is just enough for basic tasks

4.) Speakers: Silver titinium stereo speakers. They work adequately for basic needs. What can I say? They're laptop speakers. Go pickup some Logitech Z-340s for $30 at Best Buy. They will compliment these nicely.

5.) Design: Design is superb. The laptop is suprisingly thin (1 inch) and the colors are perfect. Really great job.

6.) Weight: 6.15 lbs, according to my measurements.

7.) LEDs: The LEDs are great. 5 basic small LEDs that tell you what's going on. Nothing fancy.

8.) 802.11b Wireless (S157 only). This is great. You can save your PCCard slot; you can also disable/enable the device whenever you want. Someone mentioned somewhere that the built-in wireless card means it uses the notebook as an antenna. I don't believe that though.

9.) CD-RW/DVD ROM: Works perfectly. I would've perferred a trayless drive (like the Pioneer 16x DVD drives) but hell, this is great. They both work great.

8.) Battery Life: Battery life is not as good as I would like it to be. I get 2 1/2 hours max out of this computer on a full battery charge, assuming light working conditions. Extra battery costs $150+tax at Best Buy or Circuit City. I'm using my mother's S127 batter. ;)

9.) Noise Level: Both computers are dead silent. There is a fan that turns on once in a while to cool the computers. The fan isn't loud at all.

10.) PC Card Slot: It only has 1 PC Card slot, but that's not an issue anymore now that I have built in wireless internet

11.) Ports:
Serial: Great but I don't use it.
Parallel: Ok, I still don't use it.
2x USB 2.0: Now, this is beautiful. I have several USB devices, some even USB 2.0, that I use with this computer.
Neither models come with S-Video, DESPITE what some specifications say. The model also comes with external VGA for connecting to a projector or external monitor.
RJ45 (Ethernet) AND Modem already installed. What a great value.

12.) Performance:
Hard drive: Works decently. Only 4200 RPM, so don't expect mind-blistering performance, but it's fast enough even for an end user.

Processor: 2.2Ghz Celeron is like a crippled P4; nevertheless, it performs almost all basic functions with ease. Gamers apply elsewhere.

Sound: No comments. Sound works. :)

Video: This is my biggest complaint (besides the microphone) about this model. Comes with 32MB Intel Extreme Graphics (Shared). Because it's shared with system memory, people tend to think it's 64MB Intel graphics; believe me, it's NOT. It's 32MB Intel extreme graphics that will let you do only the basic video or gaming. Don't expect any kind of performance from this. I really wish Toshiba had put an ATi Radeon mobility in here, but for the price I'm not complaining. :-)

* Software: I don't use the software that comes with this bundle, but make sure to check the personal cons below for additional details.

* Toshiba Utilities: As with most utilities, I don't like running manufacturer's utility files, but Toshiba's aren't _that_ bad. (I still don't run them, though). They allow you to control most of the function buttons at the topic and assign them different functions.

Build Quality: This is where the laptop truly shines. Putting IBM's insanely high quality and price tag, this is the best laptop you can get for budget-price quality. Toshiba rules.

Personal Cons:

* No built in Microphone. The thing has a port for a microphone, but I really, really wish Toshiba had put one in. I know this isn't an issue for most people, but I use microphones on a daily basis. They're cheap, granted, but that's another thing to lug around.

* Rebates: Ugh, I hate rebates. I got my S127 for $760 (after 8.5% tax) and after $250 rebates. I got my S157 for $825 cash from some guy on eBay.

* One thing that annoys me is that Toshiba has loaded this comp with plenty of useless junk like AOL, Special offers, etc. This is an easy fix. I just wiped the drive and put XP Professional on there and boom, it's done. :) The S157, IIRC, comes with Microsoft Works, which I don't use.

If you want more detailed pictures of this laptop, search on www.newegg.com. They have both models and detailed pictures on it.
I hope I haven't missed anything. :)

Had this computer for 20 days. Its a great computer for the price. The built in wi-fi works like a charm. Screen, keyboard, and size is great. Processor and memory was sufficient for my purpose including a little use of paint and drawing programs. Only thing I didn't like is their touchpad. They have something called Draglock feature turned on which makes it hard for me to do what I normally do with my touchpad. I only found out after fiddling around with adjusting all sorts of touchpad settings that it was the Draglock being turned on that was bothering me. If you having trouble with making your touchpad act smoothly, I suggest you turn this feature off. However it is not easy to get to. It is under 5 layers of menu screens. The final menu you will find it is under "tapping settings". Overall, a super buy when you consider the rebates I got this with.

First of all, I was in the market for a widescreen laptop, so other widescreen laptops were the only ones I compared this to. Second, I bought X1030US refurbished direct from HP Shopping.

Overall, the laptop has a very appealing design and is right up there with other laptops in style, such as the Sony line of laptops. The widescreen display is just candy for your eyes and great for many applications, especially browsing the internet.

The system specs were plenty for my taste, enought to do everyday activities and once in a while a strenuous one, like play games, run CPU taxing programs etc. The HDD size is plenty, though you really only get around 33gb after the OS is installed and etc.

I have not yet ran the computer off the AC adaptor, but the few times I did take it off the power, I really like the feature that tells you (approx.) how much time you have left to run the laptop on the battery. The battery life is great compared to my last laptop. It seems to calculate to over 4+ hours.

Another great feature that I love is the wireless internet. However, it does some weird things when I turn the wireless off and then back on. It finds my network, but won't connect. I just restart the laptop which isn't a big deal. I leave the wireless on most of the time anyway. The button to turn it off and on is a great feature as well.

The feature that I must say I like is the fact that the fan, about 90% of the time, does not come on! My last laptop ran the fan all the time, but this laptop apparently can handle it without running. It's so quiet I don't know if it's on or not. It also usually runs only at around 600Mhz. I rarely see it reach the 1.4Ghz mark. The firewire port is a handy feature, but I really wished they included the 6-pin style rather than the 4-pin. I would really like to try out the infrared port too.

So far I have been very impressed with Compaq's laptop. It's thin, lighter than my old laptop (Gateway 400 series) and it's amazing because it's bigger than that laptop. The speakers are not too good, but it's tolerable. Of course you're not going to get Klipsche quality speakers, but they do their job.

The only other problem I've had is that I haven't been able to burn a CD on the laptop yet. It does have a CD-RW drive, but my software doesn't recognize the drive. I have used Easy CD Creator and Nero, but it can't find my drive. Strange.

One last pet peeve are the stickers that come on the laptop. :) I've tried to get a couple of them off, but they just won't come off!

Overall, you can't beat what you get for the price. I've compared it to the Dell Inpiron 8600, eMachines, HP, and Gateway and the only other close competitor for me were the widescreen series for Gateway. The lower price pulled me to this laptop and I don't regret it!

An Amazing machine, yet again by HP/Compaq, keeping their credibilty at its peak. A user friendly, fully integrated and a robust machine with everything you need for personal computing. As I said earlier, A Perfect Machine !!

This is hands down the best computer i have ever had. The only weakness is the 40 gig hd but a 60 or 80 was too much money. This computer owned my desktop P4@2.0ghz in everything i have done so far. I LOVE COMPAQ/HP heeh. This computer PWNS

I would just like to say thanks to all the great people who take time to write such excellent reviews. I just bought this Lexar JumpDrive based on the reviews it got, and am completely bowled over by this tiny gadget that holds so much stuff and is so easy to use. Thanks, everyone!

I wrote a rave review about this product on 8 Dec 03. I continue to rate this product 5 stars even though the last 6 weeks I had problems with it. I want to share what I discovered with whoever purchases this product....I am an experienced communciations engineer. I work in the field and right now I am in Asia - its always dirty where I work. Second, my JUMPDRIVE started giving me problems and I wrote 8 messages to Lexar support asking for help/advice..I got back 1 message which was a "canned" message and did not even reference my problem. Do not count on their support group for help. I tried everything to repair it (new USB drivers, new USB hardware ports, different computers, reformats...) but the problem was intermittent sometimes it would work and sometimes not. The FINAL day before I was going to end its life with a hammer I discovered the problem. I decided to open it up and look for bad solder joints...but before I did so and as I was looking where to crack it open I realized that the "write protect switch" (which is a very small opening)had collected some dust in/on it. I moved the switch back and forth with a few times with a paper clip to clean the contacts and BINGO! It works perfect again. I have since put a single wrap of black electrical tape over the write protect switch to keep out dirt/dust. I recommend doing this depending on your environment... Nevertheless, it is a great product but very, very bad support for it....probably because it is so good.

I saw someone use one of these and bought one on Amazon the same day. Now everyone that sees mine runs out to buy one! Imagine carrying something on a key change that stores the equivalent of 350+ floppy disks! I have used this to transfer all of my files to a new laptop and to copy them over to my home PC. Our color printer blew up this week, so with a deadline approaching, I put several large files on this JumpDrive and took them to a local print shop. I also had a presentation to give with several other presenters. Rather than swap out laptops during breaks and rewire them to the LCD Projector, we just stuck our oversized Powerpoint presentations on JumpDrives and plugged them into the same computer. You just stick it into the USB port of any computer and you're in business! Can you tell I love this thing?!

I recently bought a Canon Digital Rebel. When considering memory I initially figured I'd stick with the brand I used with my PowerShot S30: Viking Components. But I wanted the best, knowing that my 6.3MP photos would take longer to be recorded.

I looked at the Lexar 40x first. Lexar has a good reputation and "40x" sounds like a snappy number. For some reason, though, I liked the feedback about this [Sandisk Ultra] card more. So I bought this one and am very glad I did.

Little publicized is the fact that the Sandisk Ultra II blazes along at 60x (9 Mb/s) write speed. That translates to being able to record one more whole image per second than the Lexar, and two or three images more than SimpleTech or Viking Components. (Each card reads at the same speed, I believe -- 10 Mb/s.)

Worried about a trade-off in reliability? It's backed with a 5-year warranty. You can't go wrong with that, folks.

I recently purchased a Sony DSP F828 camera, which uses 8MP per shot, so needed LOTS of memory for it. I also wanted that memory to be as fast as possible, so as not to slow down picture-taking. The SanDisk Ultra II 1 GB CompaceFlash card was my choice (faster and cheaper than the Lexar alternatives I found), and has turned out to be a very happy one.

The only caution for those buying memory for use with the Sony DSP F828 is that its 640 x 480 movie mode is limited to 15 FPS with this memory card, whereas it can do 30 FPS with a MemoryStickPro or a Hitachi CompactFlash hard disk (the other two kinds of memory usable in this camera.) Personally, I don't see this as much of a problem, because if that matters to you, you'll need a lot more than 1 GB of memory. 5 minutes of 640 x 480 at 15 FPS used over 100 MB of memory, suggesting 30 FPS would use up 1 GB in under 25 minutes.

I received this wonderful product as a gift during the holidays. I absolutely LOVE it. If you own a digital camera, this _IS_ the card to use. Lots of room, and fast. I was shocked.
I used this card in a 5 MegaPixel camera, a 3.2 MegaPixel, and a 2.1 MegaPixel. The same results between all three cameras - fast, fast, FAST!
If you need to transfer a ton of files between two computers using a card reader, you'll be glad you've got this card.

This card works perfectly in my 8 megapixel Olympus C-8080 digital camera.

At the camera's highest resolution setting of 3264x2448 pixels with minimal JPEG compression (SHQ in Olympus terminology), I am able to shoot and store 130 pictures. This is approximately 3.9MB per image on average.

At 640x480 pixels with 'normal' JPEG compression, this xD card fits 5324 pictures. It's also very fast and well worth the money and convenience.

I also have the 256MB xD card as a bsckup in case I fill up the entire 512MB xD card before downloading the images to my laptop PC.

In my Fuji F700 camera this card will hold 343 6mp images, and almost twice that at 3.2mp. Can't wait to take my camera on vacation this summer. The nice thing about such a large card is you absolutely never feel like taking a picture would be a waste of space. It'll also hold (not at the same time obviously) about 7-1/2 minutes of 640x480 video with sound.

Transfer rates are blisteringly fast, too. And since the F700 comes with a docking station, I doubt I'll ever have to take the card out.

I use it for my 8 MP digital camera, and I'm pleased with how quickly it receives image data. Its miniscule size is both an advantage & disadvantage: so small it's easy to lose, but it's equivalent to 4 rolls of 36 exposure 35mm film.

So far I am happy with Lexar's Sport JumpDrive. I have the 256mb and the 64mb versions. Once you get the rubber cap off it works well (many people knock the rubber cap but it is there for a reason).

I love the design of this drive. It is slim, and has a rubber cover. You can hang it around your neck, or stick it in your pocket. Very rugged, and as far as I'm concerned, it has the best design of any of the drives I have used. I would not hesitate to recommend this drive, as it has worked flawlessly for me. No drivers to install, just plug it in. I am thinking about getting the 512 Sport now!

I use this thing to carry files to and from work. It works flawlessly with no drivers needed on a PC running Windows XP and on a Mac G4 running OS9.2. I've also loaded it up with MP3 music to play on a portable jumpdrive MP3 player, which also works flawlessly. Unlike another review that I've read, this one works fine in the remote USB port on the Mac's keyboard, I don't have to plug it into the back of the G4. The slim design means it fits in easily beside other USB cables when the ports are spaced close together, as they always seem to be. File transfer is fast fast fast on a USB2 port. The rubber case is really sturdy--I've attached it to my keys so that I can dump it in my pocket and forget about it until I need it, and it's always right there. The "sport" concept is a really good idea--it's sturdy and rugged and can handle bouncing around with coins and keys as I go about my daily life. No special software needed, works on different platforms, rides in my pocket, tough enough that I can forget about it when I'm not using it--what more could you ask for? It's perfect.

I'm going to cover what hasn't already been written about. So, here are things that make this laptop stand-out or stink-up.

Pros:
- The Centrino Chip clocks at 1.5MHz; I have heard that this translates to a P4 2.5MHz processor. This part is confusing; just know that games and applications work fast.
- Screen checks in at 14.1" which is a good working size - slightly more to carry than those 12" screens, but much more useable and it leaves room in the chassis for a full-sized keyboard.

- Comes with internal DVD/CDRW which I find really cool (as opposed to external, which would be a pain to carry).
- AC adaptor is pretty cool. It's made so you can wrap the cord around it neatly when you're not using it, and then there is a little snap thing on the plug so the cord doesn't get unraveled.
- Lots of useful external ports (2 usb's, firewire, ethernet, modem, PCMCIA slot, video out, S-video out, etc). I especially like the optical out, which I don't use, but I still like it being there.
- Wireless works well. Go Centrino technology!
- Comes with many programs inside (Windows XP, MS Works, Picture It!, Jukebox, etc)
- The battery looks cool. If you take it out, there are some little led lights and a button you press that shows how much battery life is left.
- This is one of the sleekest designs and coolest looking notebooks around. If you want to stand out from all those other black books in the airport or commuter train, you won't go wrong with the 200.

- It comes with a comprehensive hard-copy user manual (yes, printed on real paper -- not a CD or web address).
- The battery is upgradeable.

Cons:
- Yes, battery life and speakers suck. Use the high-capacity battery and a pair of headphones.
- The mouse scroll, while it is useful, takes a long time if you use it to scroll down web pages because it moves the pages down slowly
- While the screen brightness key function works well, the audio volume adjustment is annoying to use. It doesn't respond to (function) (up) or (down) very well. hard to describe, but if you get a chance to actually play around with this laptop before you buy it, try the audio up down function and you will know what I'm talking about. What would have been better is a little manual scroll wheel on the side of the computer that would control the system volume.
-Maybe it's my computer, but the battery life status doesn't seem to be completely accurate. It goes up to 99% somewhat fast, and then stays there for another 10-15 minutes before it finally says 100% charged. It's the same with low battery status, where it doesn't fall below 9%. but it does give me a warning message. (But the LED light doesn't start blinking at low battery, like the manual said it would)
- No floppy drive. I guess buying a USB flash drive will do.
- Two usb ports. While it may be sufficient to some, I wish there were more. I guess buying a USB hub will do.
-Too bad there is only space for one pc card slot
-It would have been nicer if the ethernet port was in the back of the notebook so that the cord doesn't bother my left arm, but it's no big deal.
-I hate support programs. They take up space and I feel like I have a bunch of junk programs running every day. I say if you're confident of your computer skills and can take care of the little computer problems yourself, take them out.

Overall: Yes, battery life is bad. If you need more than 2 hours get a new 6-cell one for 100 bucks. Yes, speakers are bad, but what do you expect from a 4 pound laptop? This is cool looking, good performing system without the bulk. Highly recommended.

This computer is spectacular, it looks great and also runs well. It is very small, but the keyboard is of usable size and has a good feel to it (my old gateway notebook definitely had a bit of a flimsy feel to it).

A few things:
1) GET THE HIGH CAPACITY BATTERY. The stock battery is awful, but such is life. Don't order it from gateway though, check out other places, such as a particular online warehouse with a three letter name. I got mine for almost 1/2 the price Gateway was charging there, and the service was a lot better.
2) The speakers suck too. The computer is less than 1" think. What do you expect? They're finally beginning to come out with wi-fi products that will use your connection to stream music from your computer to your stereo. I can't wait to get my hands on one, until then, plug it into to your stereo or use headphones.
3) Adding more RAM is highly recommended. I added an additional 512MB that I got from a well-known auction site for $50. The difference is immediately noticable; XP devours RAM.
4) Download iTunes. Seriously, even if you don't want to download music from them, it has to be the most user-friendly (not to mention free and visually pleasing) music library managment software on the planet.
5) STAY UPDATED. Every time you read about an attack, its because people don't update their OS, antivirus, and firewall software/hardware. It takes a few seconds every few weeks, and any decent company will alert you to the updates automatically. This will also eliminate 99% of problems people may experience with their wi-fi connections; the software updates usually fix glitches that weren't anticipated when the product was manufactured (I use a D-Link DI-624 router, and it's been phenomenal).
6) You'll want to get a USB drive if you need to move files off-network regularly. They're compact, hold a lot, and have become really inexpensive. I ended up buying one and couldn't be happier. Or you can do as I used to: just email files to yourself and access them at your final destination (I had a habit of losing/leaving behind floppies when I was in college).

All that said, for the price, this system simply can't be beat. Even without all the extra BS I bought for mine, it's still a great notebook. It runs cool and fast and looks great. You won't find many other notebooks with these specs and functionality.

I wanted a sleek looking little laptop with a decent size screen and 512mb of ram... and I got all that and more! It does everything I need, never hiccups, it's lightweight... I'm really glad I bought it. It's beauty is not only skin deep, have a look at the specs :) It's great. The only complaint... buy a backup battery... the standard one runs out so quickly.

I bought this bag because i needed to haul my laptop out of the country with me. I found it to be very comfortable and i loved the million pockets to put every little thing i could think of in. However the zippers don't move smoothly, one is already completely broken and a few more are a struggle to get open and shut. Other than that the bag is well built, nicely cushioned, and well balanced.

This is a terrific backpack. I walk a mile or so to and from work, and I recently bought a Dell 600m midsize notebook, so I decided it was time to get a computer backpack.

This is a terrific bag -- it's extremely comfortable and well-balanced, with excellent build quality. The computer compartment is really well padded, and I'm pretty sure I could drop this bag or even toss it across the room and not damage my notebook. My notebook is only a 14", but the compartment appears to be able to hold one much larger.

It has a ton of pockets, and organization freaks will find a place for most anything. It has a decent-sized main compartment with little pockets for notebook accessories, and it has a separate file/paperwork compartment. This makes it really easy to pull out whatever it is you need without sorting through a mess of things that are jumbled together, even if you're as disorganized as I am.

In addition, it has a phone pocket on the strap (for easy access), some side pockets, a top pocket, and a back compartment with a whole bunch of little pockets inside it. Like I said, there's a place for most everything. I'll also be using this as a carry-on bag when I travel, and I've already found some good spots for toiletries and things like that to live.

The only reason I can think of not to buy this bag is if you need a full-sized travel pack or a really tiny mini-pack. For a normal-sized backpack, and for one that can double as a bookbag for college students, you can't do any better.

I like the fact that the bag is well padded and there are adequate pockets on the inside to put your notebook accessories. It has a nice rubberized bottom and the upper-end of the back straps are a continuation of the bag itself, not just some strap sewed on to. It also looks like a normal backpack so it's an inconspicous way to carry around your precious notebook.

I needed a card reader for the proprietary XD memory used in my digital camera so I bought this reader. It is a great value for this price because it reads 8 different formats of memory cards. Great if you use several formats of memory cards or have friends with other cards.

It hooks up via a USB docking station and is backward compatible with the older USB standard. It also comes with a short USB connector if you do not want to carry around the docking station. It just plugs and plays in Windows XP. It creates 4 removable disks in my computer for each memory format because there is 4 slots and each slot fits 2 different memory formats. This makes it possible to move data from one format to another very easily with some obvious limitations.

Overall a Keeper

In my opinion this is the best memory card reader you could get. The price at Amazon is a good deal, plus with the free shipping you won't make a mistake. Here is the summary:

Pros:
1. It looks elegant. The colour combination of silver and black makes it look like a serious tool you could display even in an office environment.
2. Comes with a bonus stand to enable the display at an upright position. Saves space in a cluttered environment.
3. Comes with another USB cable to you could position it horizontally (flat) on a table. You will have to keep the stand, in this case.
4. USB 2.0 speed which means faster transfer speed.
5. No drivers needed if you use the latest Windows XP or Mac OS X operating system. I use the Mac and there is nothing to install.
6. 8 in 1 memory card reader. Try finding that in othe products at that price and design. You connect as much memory cards that could fill the slot and they will appear individually in your desktop. This means you can transfer files between memory cards without having to transfer and use your desktop as a holding place.
7. Each slot has its own individual lights to indicate correct installation and file activity transfer.
8. Light and portable.

Cons:
1. Light - plastic construction. Feels fragile, but I guess SanDisk knows better on making it sturdy.
2. The cable for the bonus stand is long, but the extra cable supplied to lay the product flat is short - and I mean short! This is a plus for those who bring this with their portable computers and don't need the extra long cable. A big minus for those who wish to forego the stand, but decide to use with their desktop on a desk. You will need to connect it to a hub if your USB plug is nowhere close.

All in all a great buy for the price.

I got this reader to read my Compact Flash, IBM Microdrive, Secure Digital, and XD cards. I've had it for a few months now and it has transfered all my image and video files from all my cards without any trouble at all.

The nice thing also is that it doesn't require any drivers - just plug it in and it's ready to go. Has lots of pretty LED lights too!

It adds 4 drive letters to your computer. Unfortunately they only have generic names ("Removable Disk" in WinXP). The manual tells you which slot each drive letter refers to, though. It also came with some bundled software (Adobe Photoshop Album) but I haven't tried it.

The docking base has a cable that is approximately 42 inches long. It also comes with a USB cable that's like 3 inches so you can hook up the reader to a laptop without using the docking base.

It's definitely a very handy reader. The fact that it can read 8 types of cards seemed like overkill to me at first, but when I got a new camera that required Secure Digital cards, I was relieved that I didn't have to purchase an extra card reader.

This is a great laptop. It's light and sleek with tons of great features. I especially like the built-in Bluetooth, which lets me connect to my printer and PDA without wires. I highly recommend this PowerBook!

Finally retired my Sony Vaio (850Mhz) and made the switch to a powerbook--wanted to do that ever since I realized that Mac OS X is pretty much BSD Unix with a killer desktop. What a great machine this is. Much better than the comparable IBook...twice the processor cache for starters...and none of the problems that have plagued the 1Gz iBook. Weighs just 4.6 pounds and is very portable...aluminium case is very scratch resistant. I get GREAT range with the add-on Airport Extreme card going to a LinkSys 11g access point (there's an antenna in the lid of the unit). I'm very happy with the battery life, the operating system, and the apps I use on this machine (Office X mostly). About a month after getting and using this machine I got a G5 for my desktop and I'm quite happy. If you're looking for a gaming rig, forget Apple but if you're looking for a business-oriented machine that fits in very smoothly with a PC-based office, this is the ticket. Networks much easier than a Windows machine!

A fantastic ultra portable laptop. I bought the 12" Powerbook G4 1Ghz, and have been blown away by it. It has a good metallic design and its size is very easy to carry around, this is the major disadvantage of larger bulkier notebooks. I have had mine upgraded to 1.25 GB Ram, and the performance of applications like Microsoft Office and Adobe Photoshop is great. You can even play games like Halo on it pretty well, if that is your thing. You can have up to 80GB of HD, and my advice is to buy the largest you can afford. I also have an Airport (802.11g) card installed, and it allows wireless connectivity with a pretty good range. In addition, Bluetooth built-in allowed me to use a very nice wireless mouse with it. The Keyboard is of good quality, an important feature if you have to write long documents in Word! The LCD screen is of good quality too. All in all it made a pleasant switch from my previous bulky Sony Vaio Lap. I would recommend this computer very highly.