Notebook Reviews

The case is sturdily built with two zippered closures and an adjustable shoulder strap. The exterior bottom panel is a nobby ruggedized material that probably is waterproof. The remainder of the case exterior is pebble grained leather-looking material.

The main compartment for the camera is easily accessed via the zippered front flap and is padded on left, right, back, and bottom. Top and front padding is thinner. The inside of the main comaprtment flap has a zippered pocket suitable for holding a memory card. Inside dimensions (inches): 6H x 3.25W x 2.5D The main compartment zippered opening is 3 inches wide.

The smaller zippered compartment is on the back of the case. It contains loops for 4 AA batteries, a zippered pocket suitable for a memory card or slim remote control, and a second unzippered pocket that is a little smaller than business card size.

I got this case to house an Olympus D-40 zoom digital camera. The main compartment is far too big for this camera. By itself, the camera would rattle around inside the case. I've filled the extra space by putting a carry case for 4 AA batteries into the bottom of the main compartment and adding a pair of light socks to fill in the remaining space. This leaves the smaller compartment free for the remote control and a small notebook.

I'm keeping the case. It provides more than adequate protection for the camera (with socks installed!) and will work fine for day trips and similar short outings.

A couple of weeks ago I picked up the Olympus D-490 and this was the case I bought for it. I must say that this is definitely a great product. It is extremely well built for it's price and hosts some good solid features. There are 2 compartments of storage: the main pouch and the front zippered accessory area. In the front zippered area there are 3 compartments: the battery elastic band which holds 4 AA batteries and 2 zippered mesh pockets. These pockets are large enough to carry memory cards and accessories for the D-490.

The whole case is sturdy and built rugged with it's soft pading for the camera and durable bottom. I definitely recommend this bag for anyone who has a digital camera with the approximate dimensions of the D-490. You will enjoy this case as it is inexpensive, functional, sturdy, well designed and looks good.

This is a nice digital camera bag, very sturdy and well padded. The interior has a soft plush lining to prevent LCD screen damage. It is a perfect size for a "point & shoot" type digital camera, such as the Olympus D360L. The front of the case zips open on both sides to reveal a flap with mesh pockets suitable for a spare set of NiMH batteries, cables or extra memory cards. It also features a sewn on belt loop and removable shoulder strap. Well made & compact.

I bought this (Sandisk 512 MB Secure Digital) in February and gave it to my mom as a gift in May. She used it in her digital camera and took pictures with it for her college reunion. Afterwards, the card displayed "Corrupt Data" and the pictures were lost! Do NOT buy this card, if you do not believe me, do a search for this card and you will see similar testimonials!
The grief and sadness this card has caused me is not worth its cheaper price!
user be warned!

by the way, the one i have is made in china, i have read these ones are the WORST

I purchased the SanDisk 512MB Secure Digital Card for use in my MP3 player (Rio Cali-256). I had never before seen a Secure Digital card and was surprised at how small the card is.

I opened the package, inserted the card into my MP3 player, and presto. Instant recognition. No need to format the card.
I started downloading my music files onto it, and noticed the speed was equivalent to the memory onboard my player. As a result, I now have an additional 120 mp3 files on my player!

I'd give the product five stars, but the memory size did not appear to my MP3 player as 512MB. It was slightly less than this - not too much less, but when I buy 512 MB, I certainly want all 512.

I bought this Sandisk 512MB SD card to play music in my Palm Tungsten E. I have had excellent results transferring music and playing music on this card. I haven't had one problem and would highly recommend it. It looks like I can store about 120 songs with an average encoding of 128kbps. So it's a bit expensive when compared to the capacity of an ipod, but I didn't want to carry around 2 devices, charge them, etc.

The downsides are not really about this card at all. They are:

1. The Palm MP3 kit that comes with the fast transfer USB device doesn't work with the RealOne 10 sync function. It uses the slow USB cable that's used for HotSync.

2. The RealOne 10 doesn't transfer playlists from the desktop to the Palm. I downloaded the new Real Player 1.1 to my Palm but it doesn't have many new features.

3. The in-your-ear headphones that come with the Palm MP3 kit suck. They don't fit in my ear (I'm an average size 5'11" male), they fall out so the music doesn't sound great. I went to the Metreon and got the Sony foldable MDR-G72 headphones and I'm enjoying the music much, much more.

This review is about more than just the Sandisk SD card, but I'll reiterate, the Sandisk card has worked flawlessly for me.

I have had the Vaio for several months, and the software installed on Vaio has finally crashed out completely. Sony now freely admits the cd recovery disk program included with the machine does not work, in fact has never worked, and they still want you to shell out 60 bucks for the cd recovery kit, which takes up to four weeks for delivery.

The Keyboard on my unit arrived with the 'delete' key not working, and Sony told me that since I had purchased it mail order, I would have to send it to them for repair, and it would take three mothns MINIMUM to fix. I have instead learned to live without a delete key.

Overall, a very poor experience with Sony. I will stick to Toshiba or Dell in the future, companies who were far more supportive of their products and customers.

When I first beheld Sony's VAIO PCG-FRV25 Notebook computer, I could see that it was slightly less portable than other laptops in its price and power range. I tried it out in the store, but one rarely gets a 'feel' for a computer without extensive home use. Fortunately, I had a friend who owned this computer, and he graciously allowed me access for several hours. I put it through its paces, including a thorough testing of its DVD, internet capabilities, CD burning, downloading time, embedded software, ease of screen, and keyboard access. This SONY notebook passed with flying colors. What was particularly impressive was the overall speed of its 2.66-GHz Pentium drive. Yet it was not only for this that gave it its zip. Most computer users calculate speed mostly in terms of the often touted drive speed. Certainly there are both desktops and laptops that feature faster speeds than this one, but what may get overlooked is a far more reliable barometer of throughput, the internal bus speed. A speed of 266 is considered fast. This laptop has a bus speed twice that. The screen was well-lit with no fuzziness anywhere. True, the slightly reduced keyboard takes a little getting used to, but I adapted within minutes. For those who like to play Hollywood DVDs, the result is as crisp as one could desire. Generally, this SONY laptop does what it is supposed to do: provide portability and functionality at a price that most of us can live with.

I purchased this laptop from Ebay last week (10/24/03) for $1,125 from a seller who bought it just two months earlier and paid hundreds more. I was tired of maintaining both a home and work desktop, so I decided to make the switch to a laptop. My old desktops had just about the same specs as this laptop (P4 2.6GHz, 512 RAM, etc). Although I expected this laptop to run a lot slower than my desktop systems, I was surprised at how fast this machine actually is. So far, I haven't had any problems with this notebook. I immediately wiped the hard drive and partitions, got rid of all that Sony stuff and Windows Home, then installed a clean copy of Windows/Office XP Pro on a single partition. I now have all 40GB of space to work with and the system is running even faster than before without all that Sony software. I love almost everything about this Vaio and I'm glad I decided on purchasing it after looking at comparable models from Dell, Toshiba, Compaq, etc. I'm also happy I finally made the switch to using a notebook.

My only complaints so far:

1) No docking station?

2) The power cord sticks out of the right side of the system, possibly interfering with your mousing

3) No software CDs were included, so I lost all factory-installed software when installing a clean copy of Windows XP Pro

The Compaq Presario 906US can't quite compare to the HP xt125 (same price) or the Toshiba Satellite 1415-S105 (cost just about 10% more).

Let's compare these three models to see how they stack up:

Compaq Presario 906US
CPU: 1.33 GHz Athlon XP Model "1500+" (I don't like this model number game AMD is playing).
RAM: 256MB DDR RAM - Good
20GB hard drive - Good enough
Graphics Card: ATI Radeon IGP 16MB Video ram - Out of date
Display Diagonal Size: 14.1 inches - Fine
LCD Resolution: 1024x768 - Good for 14"
Summary: Okay CPU, poor graphics chipset, everything else is okay.

HP Pavilion xt125 (same price as 906US)
CPU: 1.6 GHz Celeron (Built on a P4 core with a smaller cache)
RAM: 256 MB DDR RAM - Good
20GB hard drive - Good enough
Graphics Card: ATI MOBILITY RADEON 7500C w/32MB - very good
Display Diagonal Size: 14 inches - Fine
LCD Resolution: 1024x768 - Good for a 14"
Summary: Better CPU, great graphics, everything is the same.

Toshiba Satellite 1415-S105 (cost 10% more)
CPU: 1.6 GHz Celeron
RAM: 256 MB DDR RAM - Good
20GB hard drive - Good enough
Graphics Card: nVIDIA GeForce4 420 Go w/16MB - pretty good
Display Diagonal Size: 15 inches - Good
LCD Resolution: 1024x768 - Not great for a 15"
Summary: Better CPU, okay graphics, bigger display but lower quality, everything else is the same.

My vote on the low end is still for the HP xt125. It will probably phase out soon as HP rolls out some new lines for the year, but right now it's a great value. The HP xt125 easily the best low cost notebook offered on Amazon.

Bought this lappie a week ago. DVDs play fine and display is decent. What I did not like is that it has only 1 PS/2 Port which means that either you can connect a mouse or a keyboard but not both simultaneously. Futhermore I noticed that when I connect a mouse the system freezes occasionally for a second completely (the sound as well as display).

If you research well you will get this one for *well* below $... with mail in rebates and other discounts.Overall a decent machine for the price.

Pros:
1. RAM upgradable to 1GB
2. DVD/CDRW is really handy on a lappie
3. S-Video Out
4. Affordable; Good value for money
5. Light for its price

Cons:
1. Only 1 PS/2. Can connect an external keybord or Mouse, but not both
2. System freezes occasionally when mouse connected to PS/2
3. Ctrl key at an awkward location (not the leftmost in the bottom row)
4. Gets over heated if not placed on a completely flat surface
5. Could not find the specs but I suspect that the FSB rating is not really good.

I purchased this laptop just a few weeks ago. I'm not very computer literate. I have an old desktop but after moving to a new house I wanted something simple I could work with without the cords and cords and cords. I love to go online for recipes and travel information, etc. I love sending e-mails.I occasionally may use word processing. My whole point is, I didn't want the most hi-tech thing on the market because I couldn't afford it but I didn't want to ever go to a site and it say I didn't have enough "something". This laptop has been great. I can sit on my bed with it in my lap, unplug my phome, plug in the line and off I go. No heavy mess for the children to get tangled in or touching with dirty little hands. I hope this helps if you are looking for a fun, easy, adequate laptop.

I had a DLink wired router through which I connected my desktop (Gateway), Laptop (Dell) and IMac. I bought an IPAQ 4100 (built in 902.11b) and thought I might as well get onboard the wireless wave and try it out. I nervously tore the DLink out, followed the directions that Microsft sent with the unit and I was up and running in no time. I had a little trouble at first, but a quick call to Microsoft Network Tech support (free for two years with purchase of product)solved the problem. They just had me shut everything down, then resart everything. It all worked - the laptop through the included wireless network adapter, the IPAQ, and the Imac (wired). The shared printer took a little time to figure out, but that too is now up and running.
Great product. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend it.

Im a CCNA and i am a fan of all that is networking, im always setting up workgroups at my house using wired networks for playing Age of Empires and Warcraft. It usually takes me 30 minutes to setup the network, sometimes even more. Since i get this wireless Kit, setting up the network is a first time 10 minutes...... Then... its just enter to the room and all ready to go. The router has a very good performance, i have very goog signal all over the house. Im very satisfaced with this product. The network performs great.
But this product is for a home or a home office network, por medium size business i don't recommend it. It`s better go with Linksys, it has a stronger signal but if you wanted to get wireless at your house, it is better this kit because it saves you money and has good performance. It is of easy installing and easy programing even if your are not a computer geek like me.
A friend of mine has a Netgear wireless card and when he comes home he has 0 trouble to connect to my network (obviosly i had disconected the security on my router)and has full signal.
I haven`t experienced any downside for the time been like some of the reviewers here. First time that Microsoft makes a product that fully satisfies me.

We all have different configurations so some will have problems and others won't but this product worked perfectly for me the very first time and I've been using it for weeks now. The range is amazing. I can walk all over my house and my yard with maximum signal most of the time. I'm impressed and very happy. The price is also less than that of competitors 802.11g products.

I hardly use my laptop at a desk. This product isnt that great if your looking to place it on your lap and use your mouse on it. I find that its not very comfortable and the mouse doesnt work very well. If you do use a mouse it really needs to be a mini opti mouse! I mainly use this to set my laptop on to keep cool as I usually have it on the floor, the bed, an ottoman, etc and it can get pretty warm. This product does work in preventing it from getting too hot so that your laptop doesnt overheat.

My Mitac laptop has a fan on the bottom for exhaust so I figured with summer, my tabs on the PC always get stuck to the counter. This item is very nice indeed for a stable platform. Nice for lifting and having the hot air be directed in a different direction rather then just heat up the underside of the laptop. However this item I am sorry to say does not conform to larger model laptops. It doesnt sit on my lap easy and definatly not when I have my Wireless G card on the side. I would wind up if im not careful busting it. However if you find the place to keep it, aside from your lap. (Such as your bed, floor, table) This item will be a nice aide and you wont feel cheated for what you paied. However if your looking into keeping your laptop cool for the summer, I would suggest the one pad I saw that is PS2 powered and dual fans. Seems abit larger and will cool off same time. Dont have it myself, however I may get it.

I LOVE my Targus Notebook Chill Mat! The silver color blends perfectly with it, and it is very lightweight & portatble, and ultra quiet. Perfect for small notebook owners. I was amazed at how cool it actually keeps my VAIO. When I first got my notebook, it was running really hot and my dining table was getting hot too. Now I have a place to put my notebook on to protect my work surfaces and more importantly, keep the notebook cool!

I hardly use my laptop at a desk. This product isnt that great if your looking to place it on your lap and use your mouse on it. I find that its not very comfortable and the mouse doesnt work very well. If you do use a mouse it really needs to be a mini opti mouse! I mainly use this to set my laptop on to keep cool as I usually have it on the floor, the bed, an ottoman, etc and it can get pretty warm. This product does work in preventing it from getting too hot so that your laptop doesnt overheat.

My Mitac laptop has a fan on the bottom for exhaust so I figured with summer, my tabs on the PC always get stuck to the counter. This item is very nice indeed for a stable platform. Nice for lifting and having the hot air be directed in a different direction rather then just heat up the underside of the laptop. However this item I am sorry to say does not conform to larger model laptops. It doesnt sit on my lap easy and definatly not when I have my Wireless G card on the side. I would wind up if im not careful busting it. However if you find the place to keep it, aside from your lap. (Such as your bed, floor, table) This item will be a nice aide and you wont feel cheated for what you paied. However if your looking into keeping your laptop cool for the summer, I would suggest the one pad I saw that is PS2 powered and dual fans. Seems abit larger and will cool off same time. Dont have it myself, however I may get it.

I LOVE my Targus Notebook Chill Mat! The silver color blends perfectly with it, and it is very lightweight & portatble, and ultra quiet. Perfect for small notebook owners. I was amazed at how cool it actually keeps my VAIO. When I first got my notebook, it was running really hot and my dining table was getting hot too. Now I have a place to put my notebook on to protect my work surfaces and more importantly, keep the notebook cool!

I hardly use my laptop at a desk. This product isnt that great if your looking to place it on your lap and use your mouse on it. I find that its not very comfortable and the mouse doesnt work very well. If you do use a mouse it really needs to be a mini opti mouse! I mainly use this to set my laptop on to keep cool as I usually have it on the floor, the bed, an ottoman, etc and it can get pretty warm. This product does work in preventing it from getting too hot so that your laptop doesnt overheat.

My Mitac laptop has a fan on the bottom for exhaust so I figured with summer, my tabs on the PC always get stuck to the counter. This item is very nice indeed for a stable platform. Nice for lifting and having the hot air be directed in a different direction rather then just heat up the underside of the laptop. However this item I am sorry to say does not conform to larger model laptops. It doesnt sit on my lap easy and definatly not when I have my Wireless G card on the side. I would wind up if im not careful busting it. However if you find the place to keep it, aside from your lap. (Such as your bed, floor, table) This item will be a nice aide and you wont feel cheated for what you paied. However if your looking into keeping your laptop cool for the summer, I would suggest the one pad I saw that is PS2 powered and dual fans. Seems abit larger and will cool off same time. Dont have it myself, however I may get it.

I LOVE my Targus Notebook Chill Mat! The silver color blends perfectly with it, and it is very lightweight & portatble, and ultra quiet. Perfect for small notebook owners. I was amazed at how cool it actually keeps my VAIO. When I first got my notebook, it was running really hot and my dining table was getting hot too. Now I have a place to put my notebook on to protect my work surfaces and more importantly, keep the notebook cool!

I hardly use my laptop at a desk. This product isnt that great if your looking to place it on your lap and use your mouse on it. I find that its not very comfortable and the mouse doesnt work very well. If you do use a mouse it really needs to be a mini opti mouse! I mainly use this to set my laptop on to keep cool as I usually have it on the floor, the bed, an ottoman, etc and it can get pretty warm. This product does work in preventing it from getting too hot so that your laptop doesnt overheat.

My Mitac laptop has a fan on the bottom for exhaust so I figured with summer, my tabs on the PC always get stuck to the counter. This item is very nice indeed for a stable platform. Nice for lifting and having the hot air be directed in a different direction rather then just heat up the underside of the laptop. However this item I am sorry to say does not conform to larger model laptops. It doesnt sit on my lap easy and definatly not when I have my Wireless G card on the side. I would wind up if im not careful busting it. However if you find the place to keep it, aside from your lap. (Such as your bed, floor, table) This item will be a nice aide and you wont feel cheated for what you paied. However if your looking into keeping your laptop cool for the summer, I would suggest the one pad I saw that is PS2 powered and dual fans. Seems abit larger and will cool off same time. Dont have it myself, however I may get it.

I LOVE my Targus Notebook Chill Mat! The silver color blends perfectly with it, and it is very lightweight & portatble, and ultra quiet. Perfect for small notebook owners. I was amazed at how cool it actually keeps my VAIO. When I first got my notebook, it was running really hot and my dining table was getting hot too. Now I have a place to put my notebook on to protect my work surfaces and more importantly, keep the notebook cool!

This just didn't work out for me. First, the on/off button kept getting hit while in my travel bag, leaving me with no Palm on one trip and virtually no power left on another. On top of that, blank notes kept being left due to this issue. The leather flap is constantly in the way when you try and enter something. I gave up and bought the hard case as a replacement. It's smaller and much sturdier so shouldn't have any of the above problems. Plus it opens up all the way for easy use.

I've used this case for my Palm 500 for several months now; it suffices, but could be improved upon. Here are a few things that bug me: Over time the slots that hold the expansion cards loosen and the cards fall out easily. Since the case isn't completely closed, this could be a problem. I've also found that the design of the case causes the front buttons to be depressed if only a little pressure in applied to the case, for example, I couldn't put it in the cargo pocket of my work pants - I'm a RN and a paramedic - without hearing the distinctive clicking from a depressed button just from the movement of my legs. If you're a bit less active with the Palm, then that's probably not a big deal.

Aside from those concerns the case looks great, protects the screen quite well (I usually just toss it into my backpack and it's been fine) and does hold all that Palm claims. My biggest problem has been the expansion card slots loosening too much. I'm ordering the closed zippered version; that should resolve my concerns.

This is -the- case for the m50x series. Not only does it have plenty of space and slots for SD cards, credit cards, and ID cards, but it has a zippered closure that protects the Palm from lint and dust. Your screen will be less likely to be scratched. It also contains a tiny notepad that attaches to a leather flap. A nice touch, but I would recommend that you just discard the notepad and use the plain leather flap as a buffer between the Palm and the SD and credit cards. You lose a bit of functionality with the loss of the paper, but you gain tons of additional screen protection. When most wallet style cases are closed, the edges of your credit cards are pushed up against the screen. This is bad. This case actually provides the much needed added protection with that leather flap. The Palm is held in by a slide-rail, this allows the Palm to connect to the cradle while still in the case. It is somewhat ackward, but less ackward than taking it out of a case. And to top it off the case is a nice quality leather. If you have a m50x, get this case!