LaptopLounging.com

Compaq Presario V2565US

The Compaq Presario V2565US is a great laptop for someone that’s looking for something on the budget side. It weighs only 5.4 pounds and is a thin 1.29 inches. It has a 14-inch screen with BrightView technology (makes it viewable even in direct sunlight).

Let’s check out the features. We got a 1.8 Ghz AMD Turion 64 ML-32 processor. Yeah I know that was real long – but it means you can handle 64-bit applications. 80 Gb hard drive (*cough*), 512Mb of RAM (it has a 2Gb maximum though which isn’t bad), 54g wireless, and a dual layer LightScribe DVD burner (cool little burner for such a budget laptop).

Most of the laptops reviewed here have been Intel Pentiums so it’s interesting to review an AMD. Of course, like any technology, there’s a bunch of "features" that have these "power names" dreamt up by their marketing department. LaptopLounging.com is here to bring some sense to these "features". This AMD processor has HyperTransport – which supposedly improves communication between the integrated circuits – which means absolutely nothing, so let’s move on. The next technology is PowerNow! which gives this AMD the ability to give you longer battery life and reduces the heat generation. Ok, so that’s pretty useful. Enhanced Virus Protection is a technology that works with Microsoft Windows XP Service Pack 2 so you have added protection from virus attacks. Of course, always have your software anti-virus running!

You’re definitely going to want to upgrade the RAM on this baby. Only 512Mb? Get out of here! Upgrade this thing to 1 Gb MINIMUM as soon as possible.

By the way, when I earlier mentioned LightScribe I just realized I didn’t explain what that is. It lets you laser-etch silkscreen quality text and pictures onto your DVDs and CDs (that are LightScribe compatible). What you do is you burn your disc and then open up your drive, flip the disc, and the burn the label.

So you may be concerned with the display size – 14-inches. It has a 16:9 aspect ratio with 1280×768 resolution. The video card is an ATI Radeon XPress 200M IGP card which gives you some decent 3D graphics with its 128 MB of video RAM which is shared with the system memory.

The Compaq Presario V2565US brings the following connections:
* 3 USB 2.0 ports for connecting a wide range of peripherals–from digital cameras to MP3 players
* 1 FireWire (also known as IEEE 1394 or i.Link) port for connecting digital video camcorders and other peripherals
* 1 VGA monitor port
* 1 S-Video port for connecting to a TV
* 1 PCMCIA (or PC Card) slot (Type I/II, 32-bit)
* 1 headphone jack and 1 microphone jack
* 1 notebook expansion port
* Integrated 56K modem (V.90)
* R
J-45 LAN network port (for a 10/100 Ethernet connection to networks and DSL/cable modems).

The Compaq Presario V2565US is currently selling for $839.99.

Toshiba Satellite U205-S5022 12.1″ Notebook PC

Next up for LaptopLounging.com is the Toshiba Satellite U205-S5022 notebook PC. The 12.1 inch widescreen display brings TruBrite technology. According to Toshiba, this gives you optimal image clarity for a 1280×800 resolution and they assure us it has nothing to do with Rainbow Brite. A cool thing about this is that you get the control buttons on the laptop, so you can easily control CD/DVD playback.

Power, we’re talking about an Intel Core Duo T2400. Multithread is there, yes. It runs at a 1.83 GHz processor speed, it brings a 120Gb hard drive, and 1 Gb of RAM. I LOVE the fact that this is upgradeable to 4 Gb. So many laptops out there have a pitiful 1 or 2 Gb of RAM maximum and that just doesn’t cut it nowadays. The Toshiba also brings tri-mode 802.11a/b/g wireless connectivity and an ultra-fast 10/100 Ethernet port so you can leech off other people’s wireless networks in speed and comfort. Leeching also will last a while because this baby’s battery runs up to 5 hours.

The DVD combo drive included does burn double-layer discs. So yes, you are free to burn all the non-copyright protected movies/music you want. ::Cough:: Check this out though. You pop in a DVD/CD, you don’t have to wait until WinDoze loads up. The Toshiba Express Media Player starts your movies/music up immediately!

The Toshiba U205-S5022 has the following connections:

* 3 USB 2.0 ports for connecting a wide range of peripherals–from digital cameras to MP3 players
* 1 FireWire (also known as IEEE 1394 or i.Link) port for connecting digital video camcorders and other peripherals
* 1 VGA monitor port
* 1 S-Video out
* 1 PCMCIA (or PC Card) slot (Type II, PCMCIA R2.01, PC Card16, CardBus)
* 1 headphone jack, 1 microphone jack
* 5-in-1 memory card reader (Secure Digital, MultiMedia, Memory Stick, Memory Stick PRO, xD Picture Card)
It also has an integrated 56K modem (V.90) and an RJ-45 LAN network port (for a 10/100 Ethernet connection to networks and DSL/cable modems).

The Toshiba U205-S5022 is currently selling for $1,249.99.

Sony VAIO VGN-SZ220/B 13.3″ Notebook PC

So I just got my mitts on the Sony VAIO VGN-SZ220/B notebook PC. Sleek baby, real sleek. It has a real nice finish – very modernish. It’s about 1.5 inches thins and has a 13.3 inch display (widescreen). It does have an integrated 802.11 wireless LAN that can keep you connected.

I thought this was very cool. It has a Hybrid Graphics System. What the heck is that, you may ask. I’ll tell you. It lets you toggle between using the integrated Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 950 (with up to 128 MB of shared video RAM) and the nVidia GeForce Go 7400 graphics card (with 128 MB of dedicated video RAM). Using the Intel Graphics gives you optimal power consumption while using the nVidia GeForce gives you excellent performance.

Power-wise, we’re talking a 1.83 GHz Intel Core Duo T2400 processor (with Centrino Mobile technology). The Intel Core Duo has two execution cores in one processor. This gives you great system response when you’re running multi-threaded applications simultaneously. This processor is optimized for multitasking and yes, it’s ready for the next version of Microsoft Windows coming out, named Vista. Storage-wise we’re talking a 120 GB Serial ATA hard drive (with G-Sensor shock protection). Serial ATA has a higher speed transfer of data available when compared to standard ATA hard disks (this one runs at 5400 RPM). Memory-wise we have 1 GB of installed RAM (with a 2 GB maximum). The Sony VAIO VGN-SZ220/B has Bluetooth wireless and about 6 hours of battery life.

The Sony VAIO VGN-SZ220/B includes a DVD double layer burner, so you can burn cds, dvds, and double layer dvds. Portable movie watching (and burning) machine.

Visually, the laptop has a 13.3-inch LCD screen with a widescreen 1280 x 800 pixel resolution. It uses XBRITE LCD technology, which gives you great brightness and amazing detail. Sony has always been know for breathtaking displays in their notebooks and the Sony VAIO VGN-SZ220/B definitely does not disappoint.

These are the connections available:
* 2 USB 2.0 ports for connecting a wide range of peripherals–from digital cameras to MP3 players
* 1 FireWire (also known as IEEE 1394 or i.Link) port for connecting digital video camcorders and other peripherals
* 1 VGA monitor port
* 1 PCMCIA (Type II/Type I) card slot with CardBus support
* 1 port replicator connector
* 1 headphone jack
* 1 microphone jack
* 5-in-1 memory card adapter (compatible with Memory Stick, Memory Stick PRO, Secure Digital, MultiMedia, and XD formats; also supports Memory Stick DUO with MagicGate functionality)

Looks are top-notch, meaning both the display and the outer shell. It also has a ton of cool features – so I gotta give this one two thumbs up! The Sony VAIO VGN-SZ220/B is currently selling for $1,698.99.

Dell Inspiron E1505

The Dell Inspiron E1505 is the perfect notebook if you value, well, value.

Geared toward someone who wants a more economical laptop computer, the Dell Inspiron E1505 definitely delivers for the money.

The Dell notebook features a dual-layer DVD burner and Windows XP Media Center with playback controls to make your multimedia adventures come to life.

The Dell tips the scales at 6.8 pounds with 1.4 inches in thickness. You got thick fingers? Don’t worry the Dell Inspiron E1505 has a full-sized keyboard so you can avoid the dreaded ‘double key hit’ syndrome. The notebook includes air vents so when you’re in your 8th hour of playing Doom, the notebook can keep it’s cool. The large touchpad makes navigation very simple and easy. And check out right under the touchpad: DVD/CD controls that illuminate.

The monitor is a decent 15.4″ widescreen with nice appearance from a bunch of angles. It includes an 80Gb hard disk for storing photos, music, games, and more. Note that the laptop has a nine-cell battery, which lasts about 5 hours.

It is powered by a 1.66-GHz Intel Core Duo processor and ATI Mobility Radeon X1300 graphics. As far as connection options? You got four USB ports, S-Video, FireWire, a 5-in-1 media card reader, and a VGA connection.

All in all, a pretty good value. 1 and a half thumbs up. Priced at $848.